THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS

By Dylan Skolnick • Mar 11th, 2003 •
Image Entertainment
Italy, 1976
106 mins / Color

In the past few years, fans of Italian horror films have received a bonanza of delights as a torrent of excellent DVD releases has poured into American video stores. Along with works by the usual suspects like Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci, have come films by important but lesser-known directors. Over the course of a still-active 35-year career, Pupi Avati has directed over 30 films. His most recent film, IL CUORE ALTROVE (2003), is in competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Thanks to the vagaries of American film distribution, he is best known here for gentle comedies like THE STORY OF BOYS AND GIRLS (1989) and THE BEST MAN (1998). However, some of his finest works have come in the horror genre.

Avati’s 1976 THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (LA CASA DALLE FINESTRE CHE RIDONO) is a slow-moving but atmospheric tale of terror. Eschewing the shock tactics favored by many of his contemporaries, Avati carefully builds a mood of menace and ever-tightening doom before hitting viewers with a truly unsettling finale.

Stefano (THE GARDEN OF FINZI CONTINIS’ Lino Capolicchio) is a young art restorer who travels to a tiny, remote, Italian village to restore a fresco of St. Sebastian in the local church. The Mayor hopes that restoring the picture will help promote tourism. As he uncovers the painting, and digs deeper into the story of its tortured creator, Stefano discovers that this picturesque village harbors painful and dangerous secrets. The artist, Legnani, was known locally as “The Painter of Agony,” with strong hints that he liked to work directly from real life subjects. Despite the warnings of local schoolteacher turned girlfriend Francesca (and some mysterious phone calls in which he is literally told to “Go away!), Stefano refuses to turn away from the slowly enveloping mystery until escape may be impossible.

The film is unusual for the period in finding the locus of horror not in urban decadence but rather in the fears of a small village, and a repressive Catholic Church with a distinctly sado-masochistic nature as embodied in the erotic imagery of St. Sebastian. Avati perfectly captures the outwardly pretty, inwardly rotten character of this nasty inbred place.

With its questioning of the symbiotic relationship between violence and artistic creation, Avati’s film could be seen as a subtle critique of the far-more violent works that dominated Italian horror movies at that time. Certainly, an easy parallel can be drawn between the figure of Legnani and a director like Dario Argento whose popularity was peaking at the time of THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS’ production. Like Legnani, Argento rarely missed an opportunity to draw connections between his own personal demons and those of the psychotic killers that famously populate his classic movies. Although Avati may or may not have been thinking of Argento, his film explicitly criticizes artists who dance on the borderline of violent fantasy and artistic violence. This criticism is clear in both his portrayal of Legnani, and in the restrained nature of his own film that couldn’t be more different from the sensual savagery of Argento and the other popular Italian directors of horror and Giallo films in the Seventies.

While 27 years have passed since it was made, this DVD release arrives at a time when the film feels surprisingly current. Avati’s low-key approach has distinct similarities to the recent wave of Japanese “J-Horror” films like RING, PULSE, and UZUMAKI, as well as Hong Kong imitations like THE EYE.

Image’s new DVD, released as part of their “EuroShock Collection,” offers an excellent opportunity to rediscover this neglected gem. The new 16:9 enhanced transfer, which nicely captures Pasquale Rachini’s imaginative cinematography, is marred only by slight color fading that is especially noticeable in the constantly purplish blacks. Unsurprisingly for a film that has never before been released in America, there is no dubbed track. The film is presented in Italian with English subtitles. A very adequate 18 chapter stops have been provided on the disc. The highlight of the extras is a fine retrospective documentary that features new interviews with director Pupi Avati, writer Antonio Avati, star Lino Capolicchio, and others. This documentary (which should be watched after the feature as it effectively gives away the film’s ending) captures the camaraderie and commitment of everyone involved in the production, and explains how such a visually sophisticated film could be produced on a shoestring budget. The other extras are an original theatrical trailer, a lobby card gallery, and filmographies.

Whether you are a devotee of Italian horror, or just someone who enjoys a good, eerie story, THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS will provide a pleasantly unsettling evening.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credits:
Director: Pupi Avati.
Writers: Pupi Avati, Antonio Avati, Gianni Cavina, Maurizio Costanzo.
Music: Amedeo Tommasi

Cast:
Lino Capolicchio
Francesca Marciano
Gianni Cavina

Bees attack crash victims

A swarm of bees attacked victims and rescue workers after a van carrying the beehives crashed near the Turkish resort of Marmaris.

By James Ellingworth
Published: 10:58AM BST 29 Sep 2009



One person died and more than 20 were injured in the accident.

Emergency services and local beekeepers battled swarms of angry bees for around four hours in an attempt to free two people trapped in the wreckage and protect passers-by.

One of those trapped, Feyzullah Acar, 18, later died in hospital. Ahmet Altiparmak, the regional governor, said that it was not yet known whether he died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash or the effects of the bee stings.

Around 20 people were taken to local hospitals, most of them rescue workers injured by the bees. Altiparmak said that some were in a serious condition. One of the injured was a doctor who attended the scene despite being allergic to bee-stings.

A police officer at the scene said: "It was like an angry black buzzing cloud. You could see it for miles but worse than that were the scattered bees which spread around the area attacking everyone.

"We had to remove the victims' clothes before we could put them in the ambulance as they were swarming with bees."

The crash happened after the van struck a stationary truck on a motorway near Marmaris, which is renowned for the quality of its honey.

Local authorities put out a call for help from the local beekeeping association. Around 50 beekeepers rushed to the scene, dressing the injured in protective gear.

Local television showed rescue workers hosing down the crash site to deter the bees.

Killer groupies an unexplained mystery

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Berry receives 3 years

Man gets prison for killing father who sexually abused him
Steve Grazier
Journal Staff Writer

A Montezuma County man who pleaded guilty to felony counts of manslaughter and menacing after admitting to killing his father and decapitating and dismembering the body was sentenced Friday.

Jeremiah Raymond Berry was sentenced to three years in a Colorado Department of Corrections facility followed by 10 years of "intense supervised" probation. He appeared Friday afternoon before 22nd Judicial District Judge Douglas Walker, who accepted a plea deal reached between the district attorney and Berry's public defender.

"You killed your father, you shot him and you destroyed evidence," Walker said in announcing the sentence. "You were (also) sexually abused by your father ... and have suffered from mental abuse."

In July 2008, Berry pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after being charged with second-degree murder, a count that was dismissed as part of his plea agreement in August with the district attorney.

Berry, 22, admitted to killing his father, Jack Berry, who was 42. He told Montezuma County sheriff detectives he shot his father in the back of the head after he was raped by the man, then decapitated and dismembered the body and fed flesh to coyotes in February 2008, according to court documents in the case.

According to police reports, sheriff's office detectives found body parts, including a skull, hands and feet, thought to be those of Jack Berry in buckets hardened with cement in a storage room of a Montezuma County dog kennel.

The judge's three-year prison sentence includes credit for 443 days served and was the maximum term recommended under a plea deal reached with prosecutors and the defense. Berry's manslaughter count had a 10-year probation cap following any prison time he might serve.

"Some incarceration is needed. I can't sentence you without (it)," said Walker, who noted that Berry's sentence will begin immediately.

A handful of friends and family members spoke on Jeremiah Berry's behalf during the sentencing proceeding. His mother, Rita Gallegos, said her son was robbed of a normal childhood because of years of physical and sexual abuse from Jack Berry.

"Jeremiah stopped a cycle of abuse. He's not a cold-blooded killer," Gallegos said. "His father was a monster, and Jeremiah was a victim."

One of Berry's sisters, Rebecca Lopez, agreed.

"Our father took (Jeremiah's) strength and ambition ... and his (right) to know he was a man," she said. "Since Jeremiah was born, he has been in prison."

Jeremiah Berry was immediately ordered back into custody of the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office and will soon be transported to a state corrections facility in Denver. However, following Friday's hearing, the judge awarded Berry a few minutes to meet with family members in a private court chamber to say goodbye.

Public defender Chris Trimble, counsel for Jeremiah Berry, called his client's sentence a "just outcome."

"It's sad to see him suffer after a generation of abuse that he was forced to end. Jack Berry was a sadistic monster, and Jeremiah Berry has been a hero," said Trimble, who noted that on numerous occasions, Berry "self mutilated" his body while in jail and made several attempts of suicide.

Two mental evaluations over the course of Berry's case suggested he was competent enough to stand trial; however, Kathy Vetter, a sheriff's department nurse, said he was in serious need of mental health care.

During his remarks to the judge, District Attorney Jim Wilson summed up the plea agreement and potential sentence as a "combined effort" between the defense and prosecution. He said the deal balances the community's needs with those of Jeremiah Berry.

"We need to give him what he needs to be a constructive member of society," Wilson said. "He is a victim just like he is a defendant. He's a troubled young man."

Walker allowed the Cortez Journal to take still photographs of the sentencing hearing under various conditions to not impede the proceeding. Cameras normally aren't allowed during district court proceedings.

Decapitated bodies - were they Vikings?

By Eleanor Williams
BBC News, Dorset














It looks like the aftermath of a massacre - the decapitated, naked bodies of at least 51 young men found thrown into an old quarry and their heads piled on top.

The mass grave uncovered by archaeologists at Ridgeway Hill, near Weymouth in rural Dorset, is a rare discovery.

The men had all been executed, their heads hacked off with swords - but who were they?

In early June, the team from Oxford Archaeology had finished excavating the area where a £87m relief road, from Dorchester to Weymouth, is being built.

But as the diggers went in to level the banks to the side of the new road, which runs along an ancient Roman way, skulls and bones started appearing.

In total, 51 skulls have been found along with the bodies they once were attached to.

'Robust men'

Radiocarbon dating showed they were from between AD 890 and AD 1030, a time when there was considerable conflict between the resident Saxon population and invading Vikings.

David Score, Oxford Archaeology project manager, said they had several theories as to why the bodies ended up there.

They may have been invading Vikings from Scandinavia or Viking descendants who had settled in the Dane Law area in the north and east of England.

The bones have been taken to Oxford to be examined by specialists
It has also been suggested that they could have been feuding rival Saxon groups or Saxons killed by Vikings, but Mr Score said they were "leaning away from this (the latter) theory".

"I like the picture of a group of Vikings landing on the coast and perhaps being caught out.

"There are 50 of them coming inland to raid but then they turn around and there are 200 to 300 locals and they can't get back to their ship."

He said the bodies that were found would support this theory.

"They were all men, generally robust, healthy and strong - your typical warrior."

Most of them were in their late teens to early 20s, with a handful of them being in their 30s.

'Humiliation process'

Mr Score said they believed the men were stripped naked either before being killed or before being buried because there was no evidence of clothing, such as pins or toggles.

Ceri Boston, the team's osteologist who has been examining the bones, said: "Whether this was because their clothes were valuable or part of a humiliation process we don't know."

Mr Score said: "The only issue is that it looks like we have slightly more bodies than skulls.

"There might be one or two skulls missing. It could be that the leaders' or chiefs' skulls were taken away and perhaps put on stakes.

"Some could have been taken away as souvenirs."

Ms Boston said the bodies showed no obvious battle wounds indicating that the men were captives who were executed at about the same time.

The burial pit was high on the Ridgeway near ancient barrows
She said they were all decapitated with a "very sharp weapon, most probably a sword".

But, she said: "It's not a straight one slice - head off. They have all been hacked at around the head and jaw.

"It doesn't look like they were very willing or the executioners very skilled.

"We think the decapitation is messy because the person is moving around.

"One man has had his hands sliced through," she says showing the skeletal remains of the right hand which clearly shows the fingers sliced in two.

"It looks like he was trying to grab hold of the sword as he was being executed."

Examining the skeleton of another man, who she estimates was about 23 years old when he died, she also discovers that his collarbone has been sliced through.

'Execution site'

Initially, it was thought the burial site dated from the Iron Age (from BC 800) to early Roman times (from AD 43).

Experts made the earlier estimate after examining pottery found in the pit, which has since been identified as a Roman quarry.

It was disused at the time and probably picked by the executioners out of convenience rather than dug for the purpose, Mr Score said.

The bodies were dismembered and entangled with the heads in one pile
"This is a typical place for a Saxon execution site, on a main road and parish boundary and close to prehistoric barrows."

The next step is carrying out an isotope analysis to find out where the victims were from.

That will determine where they grew up and can help establish if they had come across the seas from Scandinavia, were from the north of England or originated from Dorset.

Once it has been established where they were from researchers will start to look at links to historical events.

Hopefully then the question of who they were and why they were killed and buried in Dorset can be answered.

Explosion may have been caused by cigar

"We thought Eglin missed their mark"

Updated: Thursday, 24 Sep 2009, 6:51 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 24 Sep 2009, 4:10 PM CDT

Christina Leavenworth
Photojournalist: Franz Barraza



OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. - An early morning explosion wipes a house off the map. Officials believe a man went to light a cigar in the kitchen, blowing the walls off the house.

It almost looks like a tornado hit the home. Debris is scattered down Ponderosa Road in Okaloosa County, Fla.

David Barnett lives in the neighborhood.

"We thought Eglin missed their mark with a bomb out there, and it was the house, big explosion, very big," he said.

Barnett ran out of his home and found the victim lying outside.

"He was on outside of the house, laying on part of the wall. He had flesh hanging off of him, a little coherent. I just started praying with him right there," Barnett added.

Pieces of glass, a door, and even pieces of the roof were thrown a good 50 feet.

"We're looking at total structural failure. The exterior walls have been blown out of the house, pushed out back of the house, both walls have been pushed to the ground," Ryan Christen with the Ocean City-Wright Fire department said.

Firefighters believe the victim was in the kitchen and lit a cigar, when the home exploded. They still don't know what caused it. Gas crews, along with the state fire marshal are investigating what could have happened.

The victim, who was not identified, was flown to U.S.A. Medical Center, where he is still listed in critical condition.

'Evil powers created half-man, half-goat creature'

The Daily Telegraph
September 28, 2009 11:30am

Creature born with man, goat features
Resembled faun-like animal
Died a few hours after birth

AN African village is reportedly shellshocked after the birth of a bizarre faun-like creature said to have the combined features of a man and a goat.

Bild reports the creature, which died just a few hours after birth in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe, had a huge head and face which resembled a human, as well as goat legs and a tail.

Villagers said the end product was so scary even dogs were afraid to go close to it. They burned the corpse fearing it was an evil sign.

"This is indeed a miracle that has never been witnessed anywhere," elder Themba Moyo said.

The goat's owner called police after the birth.

"It’s the first time that my goat did this. I have 15 goats and it’s this goat that gave me birth to most of them. My goats often give birth to sets of twins," he said.

The Zimbabwe Guardian reports that Midlands Governor and Resident Minister Jason Machaya is adamant the creature is the result of a coupling between man and goat.

"This incident is very shocking. It is my first time to see such an evil thing. It is really embarrassing," he reportedly said.

"The head belongs to a man while the body is that of a goat. This is evident that an adult human being was responsible. Evil powers caused this person to lose self control.

"We often hear cases of human beings who commit bestiality but this is the first time for such an act to produce a product with human features."

A vet didn't have the chance to investigate the creature, but after inspecting photos, he told Bild he believed it was a child suffering from hydrocephalus, or water on the brain.

"The condition would have accounted for the abnormally large skull and for the chin, nose, ears and other body parts having shifted during development," he reportedly said.

Half-man, half-goat creatures like fauns and satyrs are popular in Greek and Roman mythology.

Four-winged dino may be missing link in bird debate

Fri Sep 25, 4:58 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – The stunning remains of a "four-winged" dinosaur have confirmed that birds owe their ancestry to two-footed dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago, the world's most famous fossil-hunter said.

Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing is staking the claim thanks to an astonishingly-preserved fossil of a bird-like dinosaur called Anchiornis huxleyi.

Until now, A. huxleyi was thought to be a primitive bird. It was presumed to have been a near-contemporary of Archaeopteryx, the first recognised bird, which flew around 150 million years ago.

But these opinions were based on an incomplete fossil.

The new, nearly-complete specimen gives a different picture, suggesting that A. huxleyi is millions of years older than Archaeopteryx and has both dinosaur and avian features.

It is the long-sought evidence that proves birds descended from theropod dinosaurs, argues Xu.

His team, whose work was announced late Thursday by the British journal Nature, describe a dinosaur with long feathers covering its arms, tail as well as its feet.

This is an arrangement that Xu says is "four-winged", although no guarantee that the creature had aerial ability. In contrast, its elongated lower legs suggest it was a good runner.

Some evolutionary biologists have suggested that a four-winged condition played a role in the origin of flight, but the idea is opposed by others.

The plumage attachment is especially important because it shows how bird-like dinosaurs developed skeletal and other features enabling them to have feathers, the paper says.

Scientists have long argued about the evolutionary line taken by birds.

Some have said bird-like dinosaurs appear too late in the fossil record to be the true ancestors of birds, an argument known as the "temporal paradox."

The debate has raged for years mainly because the fossil evidence is so rare or fragmented.

The new evidence comes from in Daxishan, in Jianchang county in northeastern China.

It was found in rock dated to the early part of the Late Jurassic, between 151 and 161 million years ago, which means it is clearly older than Archaeopteryx.

Rather than be considered a bird, A. huxleyi is a late member of the Troodontidae, a category of dinosaurs closely related to avians, the study argues.

"This new find refutes the ?temporal paradox? and provides significant information on the temporal framework of theropod divergence," it says.

Spider Venom -- The Next Way to Treat Impotence?

By Peter West
Healthday Reporter – Fri Sep 25, 11:48 pm ET

FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists may have discovered a novel way to treat erectile dysfunction -- using the venom of a deadly spider.

The bite from the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) causes a painful erection that can last for many hours and later lead to impotence, researchers from the United States and Brazil noted.

After isolating the toxin, the researchers radioactively labeled and injected a purified form of the toxin, Tx2-6, into rats that suffered from high blood pressure and severe erectile dysfunction. The investigators then measured the presence of the toxin in the animals' penises and used the toxin to contract and relax strips of penile tissue. Results showed improved levels of nitric oxide, which led to penile relaxation and erections.

The researchers were scheduled to present their work Sept. 24 at the American Heart Association's conference on high blood pressure research in Chicago.

"In Brazil, it's common to have accidents with poisonous animals," explained lead researcher Kenia Pedrosa Nunes, a post-doctoral fellow in physiology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and a native of Brazil. "So, we were aware of this spider's venom. The toxin was able to normalize erections [in rats]."

Brazilian wandering spiders are found throughout Central and South America. They are considered the world's most venomous spider, causing an unknown number of human deaths.

Erectile dysfunction, also known as impotence, has many causes and a growing body of treatments. According to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), erectile dysfunction "can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections." The condition affects as many as 30 million American men at some point in their lives.

For some, the cause is psychological, but for many others, especially older men, erectile dysfunction usually has a physical source, such as diseases including diabetes, injury or side effects of medications, according to the NKUDIC Web site.

In the late 1990s, the launch of the drug Viagra revolutionized treatment of impotence. The drugs Levitra and Cialis followed. All three medications enhance the effects of nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes smooth muscles in the penis during sexual stimulation and allows increased blood flow.

The spider venom also works to increase nitric oxide levels but through a different mechanism, Nunes said. Scientists are a long way from using the venom as the basis of a new erectile dysfunction medication, but they are hopeful, said Nunes.

"We do need more research," she added. "I'm sure it can be a pharmacological tool that may one day be able to help patients who cannot take Viagra."

One noted researcher expressed interest in Nunes' work.

"The concept that a venom can have an effect on erection is highly plausible," said Dr. Arnold Melman, chief of urology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "This is very interesting and exciting, but also very early."

Poland okays forcible castration for pedophiles

Fri Sep 25, 12:45 pm ET

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups.

Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.

"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'. Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."

"Therefore I don't think protection of human rights should refer to these kind of events," Tusk also said.

His remarks drew criticism from human rights groups but he never retracted them.

"Introducing any mandatory treatment raises doubts as such a requirement is never reasonable and life can always produce cases that lawmakers could never have even dreamt of," said Piotr Kladoczny from the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights.

"If somebody is of sound mind, we punish him. If he is sick, we try to cure him -- that's how it works in Polish law. This bill introduces both approaches. As far as I know, this makes our law the strictest in Europe on this issue," Kladoczny said.

The bill, which also increases prison sentences for rape and incest, must still be approved by the upper chamber of parliament. This is seen as a formality as Tusk's Civic Platform party holds a majority of its 100 seats.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Louise Ireland)

BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA

(aka LA TARANTOLA DAL VENTRE NERO)
(1971,Italy)

directed by: Paolo Cavara
starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Claudine Auger, Barbara Bouchet, Rossella Falk, Silvano Tranquilli, Annabella Incontrera, Ezio Marano, Barbara Bach, Stefania Sandrelli, Giancarlo Prete, Anna Saia, Eugene Walter, Nino Vingelli, Daniele Dublino, Giuseppe Fortis

choice dialogue:

"Thus the victim can do nothing to defend itself, although fully aware of being disemboweled and eaten alive ..."

Uncomfortable comparisons between how the wasp slowly kills the tarantula and how the killer stalks the victims.

[review by Justin Kerswell]
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a giallo, there’s a killer on the loose! However, in THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA there’s a twist in the tail – or, perhaps, that should be a twist in the sting. Someone is stalking the exclusive customers of a swanky health spa in classic giallo garb (raincoat and fedora are all present and correct, only with surgical gloves adding a kinky twist (and one that was repeated in the fairly obscure Canadian slasher from the early 80s, AMERICAN NIGHTMARE)). The killer offs the victims with a regulation blade, but before the deadly deed is done an acupuncture needle is inserted into their neck, rendering them paralyzed but also fully aware of their fate and their assassins’ ghoulish work.


The first victim is Maria Zani (Barbara Bouchet), a nymphomaniac who tries it on with a blind masseuse during the opening credits, whilst relaxing at the spa. Afterwards, she has a fight with her estranged husband (Silvano Tranquilli), who has been sent a photo of her getting it on with an unidentified young man, she is attacked by the killer at her home and has her belly slit open after being paralyzed with the needle (somewhat mirroring Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (1960), where a seemingly obvious female protagonist is offed early on in the film).


Inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannini) is called to investigate the case after Maria’s body is found. Naturally, at first Tellini suspects her husband; especially when a friend of Maria’s unwittingly destroys his alibi. However, there is also the matter of the photograph, which has been torn in two; it shows the arms of a man who is not her husband holding a naked Maria. The husband seems to be even guiltier when he appears to vanish, but things aren’t quite what they seem. Another girl is slain in an identical manner to Maria at an exclusive fashion boutique. When a large quantity of drugs are found at the shop Tellini has to discover the common link between the two murders to find the killer and prevent more bodies piling up …

Rather gruesomely, the killer’s method is based on the way a certain type of wasp attacks a tarantula, paralyzing it with its poison before cutting open the spider’s belly and planting its eggs there so that the grubs eat the unfortunate insect alive. So gruesome, in fact, is the case that a world-weary Tellini tells his wife that he’s seriously considering giving up the police force. However, as the body-count inevitably increases he finds himself drawn inexorably further into a web of intrigue as danger strikes uncomfortably close to home.


In THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA, the health spa replaces the fashion house as the ubiquitous giallo setting, which naturally provides plenty of opportunity for glamorous ladies swanning around with not much on. It is a prime giallo, but it’s not quite classic material. Like THE FIFTH CORD (1971), there’s a certain tang of the art-house about it. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it sits oddly ill at ease with the more exploitative aspects on show. Also, some faltering action and uneven pacing don’t help, especially around a rather flabby middle section.

The film is, however, bolstered by a wonderfully naturalistic performance by Giannini as the lackadaisical cop, who finds events spiraling out of control around him – the classic giallo hero. He also appeared in an earlier example of the genre, LIBIDO (1965), and more recently in HANNIBAL (2001). Surprisingly, though, it seems that a good deal of the running time is spent with him discussing with his wife, Anna (Stefania Sandrelli), the prospect of selling the furniture in their apartment. Hardly the stuff thrillers are made of!


Luckily, as the seemingly disparate drugs (cocaine cleverly smuggled in protected by tarantulas!) and blackmail plots segue together the film picks up its pace, and there’s an especially exciting rooftop chase sequence similar to the one in Argento’s CAT O’ NINE TAILS (also 1971). There are also shades of other great giallo directors, most notably Mario Bava with an extended scene where one victim finds herself incapacitated by mannequins as she flees a murderous advance. The film is also ably aided by a particularly nervy and abstract Morricone score, which compliments the prowling camera and sinister work of the killer.

Familiar faces, Barbara Bach (SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS (1972)) and Rosella Falk (SEVEN BLOODSTAINED ORCHIDS (1972)) turn up as potential victims for the killer’s flashing blade. Plus, eagle-eyed viewers may recognise Walter Eugene, as a camp waiter at the spa, who played a more sinister character in Pupi Avati’s masterful HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976).

Naturally, like all the best gialli, THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA is topped off with a pleasingly nonsensical and outrageous twist ending. It’s not the best example by a long stretch but it has enough 70s style, blood ‘n’ blades and giallo craziness to be on the must-see list of any aficionado of the genre.



BODYCOUNT 7 female:5 / male:2

1) Female paralyzed and sliced with knife
2) Female paralyzed and stabbed with knife
3) Male hit and killed by car
4) Female paralyzed and stabbed with knife
5) Female found stabbed to death
6) Male has head repeatedly bashed against a wall

Man into Wolf

Author Robert Eisler
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Anthropology, Jungian psychology, occult
Publisher Spring Books, London
Publication date 1948
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)


Man Into Wolf; An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism and Lycanthropy is a book by Robert Eisler, published in 1948 . The text is based upon his readings in archeology and anthropology; anything not covered by these disciplines is then dealt with using Jungian methods of dream analysis and the theory of archetypes. For instance, his remarks concerning the nature of life in prehistory are largely derived from his interpretations of the dreams of psychotherapy patients.

Subject matter

Eisler begins with an investigation into sadism and masochism which concludes that people seek not pleasure so much as strong sensations. Whether one seeks strong pleasurable sensations, unpleasurable ones, or some combination thereof depends on which group of apes one is descended from.

He asserts that humanity evolved from two groups of apes: one peaceful, vegetarian and practicing free love; the other violent, carnivorous and given to fighting over sex partners. Originally all were of the former group. However, Eisler argues that Ice Age food shortages caused some to imitate wolves and other beasts of prey, wearing animal skins and taking up hunting. He claims this is the historical basis of the werewolf legends found in many cultures.

Eisler advocates a return to what he imagines was the harmonious life of the earliest primates and proposes the development of a new psychology and ultimately a new society, lest we are destroyed in a nuclear war brought about by descendants of the wolf-men.

Sedlec Ossuary

A church of bones, decorated with 40,000 human skeletons

The 40,000 skeletons within Sedlec Ossuary (aka Kostnice Ossuary Beinhaus) in the Czech Republic welcome you, quite literally, with open arms. Known to most as “The Bone Church,” it displays some of the world’s more macabre art. In addition to a splendid bone chandelier composed from almost every bone in a human body, the ossuary displays two large bone chalices, four baroque bone candelabras, six enormous bone pyramids, two bone monstrances (a vessel used to display the Eucharistic host), a family crest in (you guessed it) bone, and skull candleholders. Festively looping chains of bone are hung throughout like crepe paper at a birthday party.

Sedlec Ossuary has a long history, beginning in the 13th century when the Abbot of the Sedlec Monastery (Abbot Henry) brought a handful of earth back from a journey to the Grave of the Lord in Jerusalem. He scattered this “holy soil” across the Sedlec cemetery, securing its place as one of the most desired burial sites for people all over Bohemia and the surrounding countries. Everyone wanted to be buried in that handful of the Holy Land and more than 30,000 were. But it wasn’t long before there simply wasn’t enough room for everyone to rest in peace, and the bodies were moved to a crypt to make room for the newly dead.

In 1870, a local woodcarver, František Rint was employed for the dark task of artistically arranging the thousands of bones. Rint came up with the Bone Church’s stunning chandelier, as well as the amazing Schwarzenberg coat of arms, which includes a raven pecking at the severed head of a Turk--all made of human bone. Rint was responsible for bleaching all of the bones in the ossuary in order to give the room a uniform look. His artist’s signature is still on the wall today--naturally, in his medium of choice, bone.

San Bernardino alle Ossa

An Ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan

In 1145 in Via Brolo, Milan, a hospital was built near the Santo Stefano Maggiore Church. The graveyard, filling with bodies from the new hospital, soon proved insufficient. Not long after, in 1210, a little chamber was built to collect the bones from the hospital, and, in 1269, another little church was built near the bone chamber.

(And in 1738, King Jhon V of Portugal was so affected by the sight of the Chapel that he decided to built an exact copy of it in Evora, near Lisbona.)

Today, the ossuary is located at the end of a short corridor to the the right of the church's entrance. The vault is decorated with frescos from Sebastiano Ricci, dating from 1695. The building's walls are completely covered in bones and skulls, some from the old ossuary, some from other local graveyards; they also decorate the doors and the pillars.

Some have speculated that the bones belonged to martyrs killed by heretics in St. Ambros' time. The bones, however, mostly seem to have come from the patients of the ancient Ospedale del Brolo (the local hospital), from monks that operated the hospital, and from people who died in prison.

Mentally ill man kills parents, cooks pa's head

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/23/2009 1:19 PM

A 26-year-old man allegedly suffering from mental illness hacked to death his parents and even decapitated his father in Capiz.

An ABS-CBN Regional Network Group report identified the suspect as Fernan dela Vega, 26. Authorities said dela Vega attacked and killed his father Federico, 56, a barangay kagawad, and mother Editha, 66.

The incident happened Tuesday morning at Barangay Linumpunag, Pontevedra in Capiz.

ABS-CBN Iloilo reported that the suspect hacked his parents with an axe and then dragged his father’s body to the kitchen and chopped off his head.

Arnulfo Blasurca, owner of the land rented by the couple, said the suspect placed the head in a cooking pot, added food seasoning and then cooked it. Police later arrested dela Vega at his home.

Upon questioning, dela Vega said he could not remember anything about what happened.

They added that the suspect had been in and out of jail for physically abusing his parents. He was also confined at the Pototan Mental Hospital in 2000 but was released when his parents thought he was already well. Reports from Maria Ausente, ABS-CBN Iloilo and Umagang Kay Ganda

as of 09/23/2009 2:39 PM

Dad admits killings to reporters, blames crime on 'spirit'

September 23, 2009 -- Updated 2101 GMT (0501 HKT)

(CNN) -- A Florida man admitted to reporters that he killed his wife and five "innocent" children, adding that he wants to be executed "right away" so he can be buried with them on Saturday.

Mesac Damas, 32, said he wanted to take his own life, but did not have the courage to go through with it, "because if you kill yourself, you're not going to heaven."

Damas made the statements to a Naples Daily News reporter as he was being led into a Haitian police vehicle in Port-au-Prince. Damas was returned to the United States late Tuesday following his capture in Haiti.

Damas faces six counts of premeditated first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Guerline Damas, 32; and the couple's five children -- Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months, police have said. The six bodies were found Saturday in the family's North Naples, Florida, home after relatives called police saying they had not been heard from.

Asked by the reporter in Haiti why he killed his family, Damas responded, "Only God knows." Questioned further, he blamed the crime on his mother-in-law. "Her mom pretty much made me do it -- the devil, her spirit, whatever she worships," he said.

Damas added, "When I did it, [my] eyes [were] closed but right now my eyes are open." He repeatedly asked the reporter, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ," and stated, "The devil exists."

Police said an arrest warrant was issued for Damas on Tuesday "based on information and evidence collected thus far in the investigation and statements made by Damas to a federal agent after his detention in Haiti."

Police have not said how the five were killed, but Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk described the scene as "horrific."

The Naples Daily News, citing the warrant, reported that the woman and children were stabbed and their throats were slashed.

Damas had used a one-way ticket to fly from Miami to Haiti. Later, he told reporters that he had gone to Haiti to say goodbye to his family. He claimed that he had planned to turn himself in.

Police had asked the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for help in locating Damas. The FBI's legal attaché in the Dominican Republic notified authorities in Collier County, Florida, that a man believed to be Damas was taken into custody Monday by the Haitian National Police.

"Information obtained by [the sheriff's office] shows Damas was found hiding near a hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince," a sheriff's statement said Tuesday.

Police earlier said the judge who signed the arrest warrant ordered that Damas be held without bond upon his return to Florida. If convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, Damas could face life in prison or the death penalty.

Mesac and Guerline Damas had a history of domestic violence, police said. Mesac Damas was arrested in January, and in June he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges against his wife. Police said they did not believe he served any jail time, and did not think a restraining order was currently in place regarding the couple.

However, an arrest warrant was issued Monday for Damas on charges of violating probation stemming from the January arrest.

Guerline Damas' family released a statement Tuesday through the sheriff's office, saying she was "the best mother, sister and daughter in the world. She was caring and loving, and we miss her very much."

"This is a family tragedy and we want the community to realize that domestic violence is a serious issue," said the statement from the family. "If you have friends or family who are in an abusive relationship, please try to get them help. And to those women who are being abused, please love yourself enough to get help."

The family said its main concern was getting Damas back into the country "to face what he has done and get justice for our sister and daughter and her children. ... We ask that you keep our family in your prayers."

The Damases had been married about 10 years, Rambosk said. He did not know how long they had lived in Naples.

The six bodies were found about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, a day after police had visited the home to check on the family, Collier County sheriff's Capt. Chris Roberts said.

A family member had asked police to conduct a welfare check on the home Friday, saying they had not heard from a resident there, Roberts said. Responding officers knocked on the door and got no answer, he said, but they saw nothing that aroused their suspicions.

The following morning, the family member became more concerned and filed a missing persons report, Rambosk said. Later, authorities requested a key to the house from property management, as well as authorization to enter.

Woman raped, burnt alive for rejecting marriage proposal

Posted: Tuesday , Sep 22, 2009 at 1725 hrs
Mumbai:

A 25-year-old mother of two was allegedly gangraped before being burnt alive for having spurned a man who wanted to marry her, police said on Tuesday.

The victim was raped by four men, including three brothers distantly related to her, at her Adarsh Gharkul building residence in Antop Hill locality of central Mumbai on Monday and then set ablaze. She succumbed to burn injuries at a city hospital early on Tuesday morning during treatment.

The accused, identified as Rajesh Devendra (30), Kumar Devendra (28), Nitya Devendra (25)-- (all three are brothers) --and their friend Shankar Mudaliyar (35) have been arrested.

Though the police said the exact motive behind the cruel act was being investigated, a relative alleged she was killed as the family had rejected Nitya Devendra's proposal to marry her a few years ago.

"Nitya wanted to marry her, but we rejected the proposal for some reasons," said Krishna Reddy, a relative of the deceased.

Police said the victim was alone when the desperadoes forced their way into her house. "According to the victim's dying declaration, the four raped her one by one. When she told them that she will lodge a police complaint, they set her on fire after pouring kerosene," said senior inspector D N Deokar of Antop Hill police station.

The victim's husband Raju Devendra, who works as a sweeper in civic body office in suburban Chembur, and her two children -- a three-year-old daughter and an infant son -- were not present in the house when the incident occurred, Deokar said.

He said the four were arrested on the basis of her dying declaration. The accused brothers live in the same building while their friend Mudaliyar stays in the same locality.

Rajesh and Kumar work as security supervisors with a developer while Nitya works in a motorbike Showroom. Shanker is a driver by profession.

Polk undercover drug investigators play Wii during raid

By STEVE ANDREWS | News Channel 8

Published: September 21, 2009

With guns drawn and flashlights cutting through darkened rooms, Polk County undercover drug investigators stormed the home of convicted drug dealer Michael Difalco near Lakeland in March.

As investigators searched the home for drugs, some drug task force members found other ways to occupy their time. Within 20 minutes of entering Difalco's house, some of the investigators found a Wii video bowling game and began bowling frame after frame.

While some detectives hauled out evidence such as flat screen televisions and shotguns, others threw strikes, gutter balls and worked on picking up spares.

A Polk County sheriff's detective cataloging evidence repeatedly put down her work and picked up a Wii remote to bowl. When she hit two strikes in a row, she raised her arms above her head, jumping and kicking.

While a female detective lifted a nearby couch looking for evidence, another sheriff's detective focused on pin action.

But detectives with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Auburndale, Lakeland and Winter Haven police departments did not know that a wireless security camera connected to a computer inside Difalco's home was recording their activity.

The recording obtained by News Channel 8 showed several members of the county's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force entering the house shortly after 8 a.m. According to the search warrant, their mission was to search for drugs, stolen property and the fruits of any illegal drug activity.

Now there are questions on how the impromptu bowling tournament might affect the case against Difalco.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd denies it will have any effect.

"That absolutely is not true; that doesn't invalidate the search at all," Judd said. "Now the defendant would like for it to invalidate the search, but unfortunately for him, it won't."

Judd, who watched the video during an interview last week, called the situation an embarrassment.

"I'm not pleased that they played that Wii bowling game," Judd said. The sheriff's office oversees the drug task force. Judd said he initiated an internal administrative investigation of the incident.

"That is not appropriate conduct at a search warrant," he said. "But I am less pleased with the supervision that didn't walk in and say, turn that off. That's what supervision should have done."

Task force members played the video game at various times during the day, for a total of a little over an hour of playing time. The competition proved to be quite competitive at times. A task force supervisor from the Lakeland Police Department, gun at his side, pumped his fist after picking up a strike on the first ball he threw. The video showed he continued bowling frame after frame, competing with another undercover detective.

"Obviously, this is not the kind of behavior we condone," Lakeland Police Chief Roger Boatner said. "There was a lot of down time, but that does not excuse the fact that we should act as the consummate professionals."

"Certainly this was a case of bad judgment," Auburndale Police Chief Nolan McLeod said. "We will handle it appropriately."

Winter Haven police Sgt. Brad Coleman said Chief E.C. Waters had not viewed the video. "If there is any indication that someone did something inappropriately, we will do something about it," Coleman said.

Court records show detectives placed Difalco's home under surveillance as far back as December 2008.

"We knew he had weapons," Judd said. "He's a bad guy."

His history includes an extensive arrest record dating back to 1995. Difalco, 43, served three years in state prison from 2002 to 2005 for trafficking drugs, owning and operating a chop shop, and grand theft.

In what Judd called "brilliant police work," the task force placed Difalco under surveillance and took him into custody, away from his home and weapons, during the early morning hours of March 6, in the parking lot of a Circle K convenience store on Highway 98.

Documents filed with the court say, in the March raid, detectives removed methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, weapons and more than $30,000 in stolen property.

The 11 charges against Difalco include trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and operating a chop shop.

According to sheriff's office records, 13 detectives and three sergeants spent nine hours searching Difalco's property, for drugs, stolen property and signs of any illegal drug activity.

The raid cost taxpayers more than $4,000.

Judd, Boatner and McLeod agree the bowling was inappropriate. But they challenge the notion that taxpayer dollars were wasted.

"It was an expansive scene, a lot of searching to be done, a lot of waiting," Boatner said.

"The nature of a search warrant is hurry up and wait," Judd said. "Am I trying to defend the fact that they were bowling, not at all. That was inappropriate."

Not just inappropriate, but Tampa defense attorney Rick Escobar would argue the moment detectives turned on that video game and effectively seized it, they turned the search warrant into an illegal search.

"I've never seen anything like this," Escobar said after he viewed some of the video. Escobar does not represent Difalco and has no connection to the case.

"All the citizens are thinking, 'Wait a minute, we are paying these people to go out and protect us and here they are playing bowling on our time,' " he said.

"The real question here is have they seized property that wasn't described in the search warrant?" Escobar asked. "Clearly if they're using it, they've seized it and for totally improper purposes, because it's for entertainment. Investigations are not for entertainment."

Difalco's attorney declined comment.

Chip Tulberry, a spokesperson for the Polk County State Attorney, declined to comment on the video, or the validity of the search warrant.

"That's a discussion that will occur in court," he said.

Muggers left six-inch knife in victim's bum

By TED THORNHILL - Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Cheeky robbers left a mugging victim with a mystery pain that doctors only got to the bottom of four months later – when they found a knife buried in her buttocks.
Being robbed is a pain in the rear end at the best of times, but as you can see from this remarkable X-ray Ying Shi, 26, was left with a nasty reminder of the ordeal.

Doctors found a razor-sharp six-inch blade buried so far into her bottom that it was pressing into her bladder.

'All I remember of the night was a stabbing pain in my backside. I thought they had just slashed me, I didn't realise the whole blade had gone all the way in,' she said.

Doctors in Shanghai, eastern China, were stumped by Ying's stomach complaints, until they performed a scan.

'I am amazed they missed it the first time around but very relieved that they've found it now,' she said.

Resident’s member is saved from ring

Firefighters dodge sparks as they saw through metal ring into which man had inserted his penis. He used the weight in effort to make it longer, but it got stuck for three days.

By Joseph Serna
Updated: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 10:52 PM PDT

In what firefighters described as a once-in-a-lifetime call, officials with the Costa Mesa Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue squad were summoned early Tuesday morning to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach to save another man’s penis from perishing.

The man, whom authorities declined to identify, other than saying that he was in his 50s, had apparently put his penis through the hole of a steel, ring-shaped dumbbell weight fastener, two or three days earlier.

The device got stuck, and he couldn’t remove it. The penis had blackened and swollen to five times its normal size, authorities said. In order to remove the ring, firefighters had to use a saw to cut through it.

“They said his comment was, ‘This will make me the chief of my tribe,’” said Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard, who like others in the department, heard about the incident the next morning.

The man thought the weight from the steel object would make his organ longer, but what he did to it almost rendered it useless, authorities said.

The steel collar-like fastener cut off circulation to the man’s penis, said Capt. Dave Kearley. As a result, blood could not flow out of it, and it swelled to the point that the man couldn’t remove the ring, Kearley said.

Broussard added that doctors at Hoag had told the man, who refused immediate treatment, that if he waited any longer to remove the fastener, the flesh in his penis would die.

“He was kind of a wingnut,” Broussard said.

Staff kept him in the hospital under a psychiatric hold and called the Fire Department to come remove the item because they didn’t have the tools to do it, Broussard said. Medical personnel tied down the man to a table and sedated him for the emergency, he said.

Firefighters had to don full surgery garb, including masks and scrubs.

The men constructed a watering system to keep the sparks from the sawing — which were flying half-way across the room — from injuring the patient as they cut through the inch-thick ring around his penis.

The delicate procedure took two hours.

“They also slid a little piece of metal between the collar and his thing, so if it slipped past it wouldn’t hit his thing,” Broussard said.

If anything, the incident demonstrated the versatility of the city firefighters’ rescue skills, Broussard said.

“If we’re cutting people out of some kind of building, or if we’re cutting right up next to somebody’s flesh and don’t damage his flesh, then it’s a good day,” he said.

Rex Applegate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colonel Rex Applegate (June 21, 1914 – July 14, 1998) worked in the Office of Strategic Services where he trained allied special forces in close-quarter combat during World War II.

In 1943 he wrote Kill or Get Killed, still considered the classic textbook of Western-style hand-to-hand combat. The updated 1976 edition of Kill or Get Killed was also published by the US Marine Corps as Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication 12-80. From the foreword:

"Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-80, Kill or Get Killed, is published to ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine or to be published in Fleet Marine Force manuals."
and

"This reference publication was written in 1976 by Lieutenant Colonel Rex Applegate, USA (Ret), with the help of the Combat Section, Military Intelligence Training Center, Camp Ritchie, Maryland. At last there is one volume which speaks to the subjects of unarmed combat (offensive and defensive), combat use of weapons, disarming the enemy, handling of prisoners, the handle of mob/crowd disobedience, the use of chemicals in such situations, and how to establish a professional riot control unit."

Applegate developed the techniques outlined in the book during his work with William E. Fairbairn, who had previously developed his techniques while working for the Shanghai Municipal Police from 1907 to 1940. Fairbairn drew heavily on Chinese martial arts, which he simplified and tailored to the needs of training police in one of the most crime ridden cities in the world, with its history of opium trade, rebellion, and Triad gangsters. The result of this was the development of what is widely considered the first scientifically based martial art, Defendu. Applegate's techniques are heavily based on Fairbairn's Defendu, and enhanced with feedback from the OSS operatives who put his techniques into action in World War II.

Applegate was the proponent for a system of combat pistol shooting that is outlined in Kill or Get Killed, based on point shooting and stressing training for close range, fast response shooting. This system is somewhat at odds with the other prominent system developed and promoted by Jeff Cooper, called the "Modern Technique". Both systems have many supporters, with variants of Cooper's system being the more common currently. Supporters of Cooper's methods point to the nearly universal use of Cooper's methods in IPSC and other forms of action shooting, while Applegate's supporters point to police incidents where officers trained in Cooper's methods discharge vast numbers of rounds at very close range, most measured in tens of feet (3 m) or less, with few if any disabling hits. The last years of Applegate's life were spent actively promoting his combat pistol shooting methods to the police.

Applegate also co-wrote The Close-Combat Files of Colonel Rex Applegate with Chuck Melson.

In the early 1980s Applegate released the Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife, an improved version of the famous WW II Fairbairn-Sykes knife. The design for the new knife was a collaborative effort of Applegate and Fairbairn during WW II that eliminated the major weaknesses of the F-S knife (e.g., weak blade point, inability to determine orientation of blade merely by grip). Boker Knives offers various versions of the A-F knife. There is also a line of folding knives produced by Gerber Legendary Blades, that he and William Harsey Jr. based on the Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife.

In the late 1980s, Applegate released an improved version of Fairbairn's Smatchet, which had been used by the SAS and OSS during WW II. This also began as a collaborative effort between Applegate and Fairbairn during that war. Applegate named his 10" bladed knife the "Applegate-Fairbairn Combat Smatchet" and it was initially offered only as a hand-made knife. Later it was produced by Al Mar Knives, and then after Mr. Mar's death, Boker Knives was licensed to produce it. Applegate later had Harsey design a "Mini-Smatchet" with a 4.75" long blade that was produced by Boker.

Colonel Applegate was a founding member of the International Close Combat Instructors Association. He was inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 1994 Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia in recognition for the impact that his designs have made upon the cutlery industry as well as his writings on knife fighting.

Colonel Applegate was a direct descendant of Charles Applegate who blazed the Oregon Trail in 1843 along with his brothers, Jesse Applegate and Lindsay Applegate. When not traveling to promote his pistol shooting methods, he spent his last years in Yoncalla, Oregon, where Charles Applegate's house still stands. Colonel Applegate's daughter, historian Shannon Applegate, lives in the house and writes and lectures on Oregon and Applegate family history.

The Case Against Humanity

Let it be known that the world is full! The glass is filled to the rim and thus overflowing is not to be prevented.

Each child that is given birth these days is without concern or care and is a selfish act to preserve one's namesake on this earth to trudge along in the same meaningless way as the conceivers.

No one is allowed to die naturally for we have to keep everyone alive under a false law that there is a sanctity of human life.

Yet no one cares about environment; how much it takes to keep species alive as rations are becoming less and less.

And nature is merciless, for when the earth is getting full it will cut down part of what life becomes overabundant... Yet they keep breeding; Why?!

Every person is NOT special.

Humanity is like excessive use of anything that is used too frequently; it becomes stale and without meaning; a habit doomed to nothingness.

And what habit does not die hard?

Lines are becoming longer, crowding is inevitable, so major scale die-offs are bound to happen.

Every man and woman is a star?

Not likely, because this is measured by one's quality, will power, input, output and character of which many possess not a percentage.

Some have it, some don't, deal with it.

The useless are in abundance and they are ready to be used at any price, at any cost.
For no one walks pridely in obscurity without some form of recognition.

Commit a heinous crime and there is media at your door; any publicity -positive or negative- is good publicity.

'Create' any kind of 'art' and sell it as something original; be it shitting on a table, beating up instruments and recording and selling it or shoving a bullwhip up your ass and pose, the media is at your door ad nauseum!

The only cure for this?
Pay no attention/ Give no attention (this concerns you).

If one is not given attention they are likely to seek even more ways to get it at any cost; the advice is not to give this attention.

Once they are not given proper attention (to the last straw) this will most likely result in suicides; for failure is a heavy burden.

Yet failure is where it's at everyday, but it gets praise...

So the rusted wheel keeps on grinding into damaged pavement and mankind is pulling/pushing at the far end of it.

Towards Death, Within Life.

Full Moon Does Not Affect Surgery Outcomes

By Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer

posted: 23 September 2009 12:04 am ET

While a full moon can tug on ocean tides and make for a romantic setting, scientists have found no reliable evidence that it triggers suicides or hospital admissions, or facilitates conception, the transformation of werewolves or any of a host of other phenomena often blamed on it.

Evidence is mounting, however, for things on which the moon has no impact.

A new study, which will be published in the October issue of the journal Anesthesiology, shows the moon's phase has no effect on the outcome of a heart-related surgery. The statistical sigh of relief is the result of an investigation into surgical outcomes of more than 18,000 patients who underwent so-called elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery, in which blood flow is rerouted through a new artery or vein. The operations were performed at the Cleveland Clinic between 1993 and 2006.

Allen Bashour and Daniel Sessler, of the Cleveland Clinic, and their colleagues specifically looked at risk of death, heart attacks immediately following surgery, and infections, among other factors.

"The moon phase has been somewhat of an urban legend," Bashour told LiveScience. "There's no science that I know of to justify it. So really we didn't expect that would be an influence." But in science, one has to look, not assume, and so they did.

Timing of surgery

The researchers also found that the time of day, day of the week and month of the year had no bearing on whether patients would have a positive result.

Essentially, Bashour and his colleagues wanted to find out if a patient who came in for surgery on a Friday afternoon in July would be at a disadvantage compared with someone going under the knife on a Tuesday morning, say, in early March.

Unlike the lunar link, timing could be a legitimate factor in surgical outcomes, Bashour said. For instance, doctors and other hospital personnel may be more tired at the end of a work week or later in the day. And in early July and August, new residents enter teaching hospitals, so it might not be a good time to schedule a surgery, as the doctors-in-training (who provide care after surgeries) are just that, he said.

"Our study found that the surgeries can be scheduled throughout the workday, any day of the work week or in any month of the year without compromising outcomes," Bashour said.

Moon myths

The study adds another scientific strike against the idea that the moon has mystical powers of sorts. There is some truth to the suspicions, it turns out, but not likely for the reasons many people believe.

For instance, doctors, nurses and others in emergency services have claimed full-moon nights are busier than other nights. And a study of nearly 12,000 emergency room visits for pets revealed the risk of such emergencies, ranging from cardiac arrest to trauma, was more than 20 percent greater for cats and dogs on days surrounding full moons compared with other days.

One idea is that flooded emergency rooms could be the result of more people and pets out and about during the full moon since the night is bright.

Scientists have also found beach pollution is worse during the full moon, a phenomenon linked to real variations in tides related to the lunar cycle.

As for why many scientifically-unproven myths still draw a crowd, perhaps people just want to believe. Meanwhile, you can believe this: Feel free to schedule your next surgery for Sunday, Oct. 4, the next full moon.

Ancient Aphrodite Figures Hint at Pagan Resistance

By LiveScience Staff

posted: 14 September 2009 01:58 pm ET

Three figurines of Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love, have been found buried underground in the remains of a shop in a Roman city built in the second century B.C.

The hidden figures hint at the reluctance of some denizens of the Roman Empire to give up their pagan beliefs despite the spread of Christianity.

The ancient treasure, buried for more than 1,500 years, was uncovered during the tenth season of excavations that are being carried out by researchers of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa.

The hidden statues were discovered when the researchers exposed a shop in the southeastern corner of the forum district of Sussita, which is the central area of the mountaintop Roman city that existed through the Roman and Byzantine periods and destroyed in the great earthquake of 749 A.D. Sussita, also known as Hippos, is located in Israel and sits on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. The city was originally built by Greek colonists, but later came under Roman rule.

The researchers say it was clear the followers had wished to hide the figurines, as they were found complete.

"It is possible that during the fourth century A.D., when Christianity was gradually becoming the governing religion in the Roman Empire, there were still a number of inhabitants in Sussita who remained loyal to the goddess of love and therefore wished to hide and preserve these items," said Arthur Segal, one of the excavation's leaders.

The clay pieces are 9 inches (23 cm) tall and represent the common model of the goddess of love known to the experts as Venus pudica, "the modest Venus." This name was given to the form due to its upright stature and the figure's covering her private parts with the palm of her hand. (Venus is the Roman name for the goddess of love. The term 'aphrodisiac' comes from the Greek name of the goddess.)

Other finds

Another fascinating finding was an odeion – a small, roofed theater-like structure, the first of its kind to be exposed in Israel. Structures such as these were quite common in the Roman era and were intended for poetry-reading performances and musical recitals, the researchers said.

The excavation is still in its early stages, but the researchers have already been able to expose the entire perimeter of the odeion, which forms a rectangular area, at one end of which is a semi-circle. According to the researchers, the construction is of high quality and it seems that it can be dated back to the first century B.C. or A.D.

Also found in the excavations was a basilica, a roofed structure that would have been used as a substitute location for public gatherings in rainy weather. This is the second basilica to be exposed in Israel, the first being the Roman basilica of Samaria.

One of the basilica's columns has even been restored. "Just the look of the restored columns is enough to get an impression of the beauty and tremendousness of Roman architecture during that period," Segal said.

Ancient daily life

Archaeologists also exposed a living quarter, likely dating back to the fourth century. The finding gives a rare glimpse into the day-to-day lives of the inhabitants of Sussita during the last three centuries of the city's existence.

The excavation also shows that there were similarities between pagan and Jewish cities of the time.

At the close of the tenth season of excavations, we have revealed a abundance of public structures in the city, most likely associated with the reign of Herod in the first century B.C. Until now we have assumed that the wave of construction that took place during Herod's reign was primarily in Jewish cities, but the findings at Sussita are evidence of the king's influence on pagan cities under his rule too," the researchers concluded.

The project was supported in part by the Israel Nature and Natural Parks Protection Authority.