Monthly Archives: January 2009

Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player dies of suspected heart attack

By Calvin Palmer A keyboard player with the legendary Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died at his home in northeast Florida. Billy Powell called 911 about 12:55 a.m. today saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, … Continue reading

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Filed under Music, News

Russia responds to the Obama effect and suspends missile deployment

By Calvin Palmer Russia’s plans to deploy missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, as a response to the missile shield proposed by the Bush administration, have been put on hold. President Dmitri Medvedev ordered Iskander missiles to be placed … Continue reading

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Filed under News, politics

Royal Navy’s most advanced destroyer HMS Daring sails into home port

By Calvin Palmer The world’s most advanced destroyer, the Royal Navy’s HMS Daring, sailed into its home port of Portsmouth for the first time today. The 7,350-tonne vessel, built at a cost of of £1 billion ($1.4 billion), was handed … Continue reading

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Filed under News, United Kingdom

Missing hedge fund manager Nadel turns himself in to the FBI

By Calvin Palmer A U.S. magistrate in Florida today ordered hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel to be held until a bail hearing on Friday. Earlier in the day Nadel surrendered to FBI agents in Tampa after being missing for two … Continue reading

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Filed under Crime, News

Priest gets one year in prison for groping girl on airplane

By Calvin Palmer A Polish Roman Catholic priest was today given 12 months in federal prison for groping a 16-year-old girl on a trans-Atlantic jet bound for Newark, New Jersey. The Rev. Tomasz Adam Zielinski, 33, had admitted to reaching … Continue reading

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Filed under Justice, News

Laid off California man kills his wife, five children and then himself

By Calvin Palmer A man who had recently been laid off from a local hospital is believed this morning to have shot dead his five children, as well as his wife, at their Wilmington home, according to the Los Angeles … Continue reading

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Filed under Crime, News

‘It was raining birds,’ says NJ mayor

By Calvin Palmer Like a scene from the apocalypse, birds fell out of the sky littering the snow-clad lawns of a small community in Somerset County, central New Jersey. “It was raining birds,” said Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine. “It … Continue reading

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Filed under Environment, News

Indian slum dwellers riot over title of Slumdog Millionaire

By Calvin Palmer Slum dwellers in eastern India ransacked a cinema showing Slumdog Millionaire because they object to the use of “dog” in the title. Several hundred people rampaged through the cinema in Patna, capital of the eastern state of … Continue reading

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Filed under Cinema, News

Octuplets — six boys and two girls — born in California

By Calvin Palmer A woman in southern California today gave birth to octuplets, the world’s second live-born set of octuplets. The two physicians who helped in the deliveries said they were only expecting seven babies.  Instead, they got six boys and … Continue reading

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Filed under Health, News

Smoke gets in your eyes but coffee staves off dementia

By Calvin Palmer Cigarettes and coffee have been part of my life for more years than I can remember.  The two go together in perfect harmony and fire me up for the day.  After a mug of coffee and three … Continue reading

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Filed under Europe, Health, News