Ghostly Reality

A man searching for a legendary “ghost train” was killed when a real locomotive came down the tracks and hit him.Christopher Kaiser, 29, had gathered with around 12 others on the anniversary of a crash that happened near Statesville, North Carolina at 3am on Aug 27, 1891.
The crash 119 years ago saw seven carriages fall off a rail bridge into a ravine and 30 people died. 

According to local legend the sounds of the accident, including the whistle of the train and the screams of passengers, can be heard again on the anniversary and each year people go to listen. On the centenary of the crash in 1991 more than 150 people turned up.
Mr Kaiser was waiting on a trestle at 2.45am when the real train, which consisted of three locomotives, came round a bend.
The ghost hunters began running back along the trestle and most of them made it the 150ft to safety.
According to witnesses Mr Kaiser pushed a woman with him to safety.
She fell at least 30ft from the trestle and was being treated for injuries. Another person was also injured.
A police spokesman said: “During the investigation, witnesses told deputies they were at the site in hopes of seeing a 'ghost train.’ “Twelve people, who were amateur ghost hunters, were caught on the trestle when the train rounded the bend. All indications at this point are this is an accident.”

Taiwan Tragedy

Taiwan's navy has appealed for help from local fisherman, offering a cash reward to anyone who finds a torpedo its sailors lost during a drill last week. The offer follows four days of futile searching in the area around the Tsoying base in southern Taiwan, the navy said in a statement on Tuesday.

Any fisherman who snares the German-built SUT torpedo will scoop 30,000 Taiwan dollars (£630).It is the second time submariners aboard the Dutch-made Hai Long, or "Sea Dragon" have lost a torpedo. In 2003 the missing weapon was washed ashore.

Taiwan relies heavily on foreign countries for its weapons, and Beijing annually condemns US sales of missiles and helicopters to Taipei. Under a 1979 Act of Congress, Washington is legally obliged to help Taiwan defend itself.

Taiwan has been ruled by its own government since the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China in 1949. Taipei says it needs the latest US military technology to counter the threat posed by the estimated 1000-1500 missiles aimed at the island by China.

Prominent Delay

The aging Frank Dryman, a notorious killer from Montana's past, had hidden in plain sight for so long that he forgot he was a wanted man.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Associated Press, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs.
"They just forgot about me," said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. "I was a prominent member of the community."
That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.
Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman's noose, a relic of frontier justice still in use at the time.Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. Not content with that good fortune, he skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding and signed up for V.A. benefits from his days in the Navy in 1948.
Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life. He was caught only after his long-ago victim's grandson got curious and started poking around.

Marine Security

The US Navy says dolphins and sea lions will stand guard this year at a submarine base to detect any underwater swimmers who might approach the base on Hood Canal.The US Navy is keeping security details secret, but the environmental impact statement for the project said there would be fewer than 20 animals kept in heated enclosures when not on patrol in Washington state. 
Marine mammals have been used as guards for years at another Trident submarine base at King's Bay, Georgia. Navy spokesman Tom LaPuzza in San Diego told the Kitsap Sun that Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions are ready to go on patrol at Bangor. The dolphins can find an intruder and release a beacon. Sea lions can attach a cuff to a swimmer's leg.

 

Robbed with generosity

Police in Columbus are looking for a man they say robbed a bank near downtown, then handed two $100 bills to passers-by as he ran away. FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas said the man robbed a Huntington Bank branch early on Monday afternoon after showing a teller a gun in his waistband. Trombitas said the man was running up the street when he encountered a mother and daughter window-shopping. The robber stopped and gave them each a $100 bill, assured them it was real, then kept running. Trombitas said the mother and daughter from the Cleveland area were in town for a visit to Ohio State.

"We won't know what he was thinking until we catch him ," an FBI agent tells the Columbus Dispatch. One theory is that the mother had just given a homeless man some money, and authorities say the fleeing robber may have seen it.

Dead Rule

A dead man was elected mayor of a small Tennessee town eager to oust a woman who'd been appointed to the job after the previous mayor died. Carl Robin Geary Sr, a local alderman known for "straight-talk", was a candidate for mayor of the town of 1,652 people when he died of a heart attack on March 10. He defeated incumbent Barbara Brock 268 votes to 85 in the town of Tracy City's election on Tuesday, the Chattanooga Times reported. "If he were to run again next week I'd vote for him again," Chris Rogers, owner of the town's Lunch Box restaurant, told the paper. "I knew he was deceased. I know that sounds stupid, but we wanted someone other than her (Brock)." Elections officials said the seat would be declared vacant and the city's four aldermen would select a new mayor. Brock, who was appointed in 2008 after the previous mayor died of a heart attack.
When asked how she felt about losing to a dead man, Brock said "I'll live."

Wahsington's Fines

Librarians in New York’s oldest library have discovered that George Washington, the first president of the United States, has an unpaid fine of $300,000. Washington failed to return two books in 1789, which have been accruing overdue fees. He was supposed to return the books after a month, but failed to do so. “We’re not actively pursuing the fines,” said Mark Bartlett, the head librarian of the library. The former president, who died in December 1799, borrowed two books from what was then the only library in Manhattan – “Law of Nations,” a dissertation on international relations, and a volume of debate transcripts from Britain’s House of Commons.

Taliban are between a ROCK and a hard palce

United States special forces have a novel weapon in the fight to expel Taliban from a desolate and war-weary farming community in southern Afghanistan — heavy metal music. When insurgents open fire in Marjah, an armored vehicle wired up to powerful speakers blasts out country, heavy metal and rock music so loudly it can be heard up to a mile away. The play list has been hand-selected to “... off the Taliban”, according to one US special forces officer.
“Taliban hate that music,” said the sergeant involved in covert psychological operations, or “psy-ops”, in the area in Helmand province. "Its motivating Marines as well,” he said. "Although some of the locals complain"

Millitary Tactics

Online criminals are posing as US serviceman posted overseas and promising love and marriage to cheat women out of thousands of dollars, the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Command has warned. Special CID agents cautioned that they had learned of multiple incidents in which people online, most notably from Ghana, Nigeria and Angola, posed as US soldiers and got “romantically involved... with female victims and prey on their emotions and patriotism.” They often used information about real soldiers, including names and ranks, and found photographs of soldiers online to create a false identity. Once they snared a victim, the criminals request money they claim is needed to purchase items including laptops and return plane tickets.

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President Twitter

Blending behind-the-scenes nuggets with a defense of President Barack Obama’s record, White House and administration officials increasingly are communicating through Twitter.
The popular social network is operating as a Web-based clearinghouse for public statements on weighty subjects (the federal budget) and the mundane (personal grocery lists). Forget press releases. Gibbs and his deputy, Bill Burton, are now sharing news in Twitter messages. So far 33,000 people have signed up to follow Gibbs and more than 6,000 are tracking Burton.
"Wow unreal game... POTUS watched OT in his office right off the Oval Office all of us are so proud of our great team," Gibbs tweeted during the men's Olympic hockey finals last Sunday, when the Americans lost the gold medal game to Canada in OT (overtime). POTUS is the acronym for President Of The United States.
As Obama’s team continues an online strategy set in place during the campaign, it seems only natural that they would make it a piece of a broader communications plan that extends across the government. UN Ambassador Susan Rice tweets about diplomacy, Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela tweets about the Western Hemisphere and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tweets about trade.
With a news cycle now measured in seconds rather than days, administration officials recognize they must use the same tactics as the critics who assail them and the reporters who cover them.

Tiger

The Africa Wildlife Park, in Camp Verde, Arizona, has a really strange attraction. At first glance, it appears as if a group of swimmers are about to become a tiger's lunch. But despite appearances, pictures taken by a wildflife photographer actually shows the animal playing with zoo keepers in a pool. Used to human contact, the tigers play a harmless game of chase with their trainers around the pool before diving in. Although they look ferocious, the animals don't protract their claws, so no harm comes to the trainers. The game involving six Bengal and Siberian tigers is a popular attraction at the Africa Wildlife Park, in Camp Verde, Arizona. Kathleen Reeder, 52, a wildlife photographer who captured the images, said "There will always be two keepers in the water to make sure that things don't get out of hand."

Deadly Sins

Australia is the most sinful nation on Earth, a study has claimed as the country ranked first overall in the seven deadly sins, which include lust, greed and pride.
"Australia has been ranked first overall in a study of the seven deadly sins, according to Courier Mail that quoted the BBC's Focus magazine. While the US topped the table for gluttony, South Korea topped the list for lust. Iceland ranked number one for both pride and sloth, and Mexico topped the list for greed. The article, which argues that people are "bad" by nature has found social data to compare nations under the seven categories.

Tip thief

A couple who refused to leave a tip after receiving bad service in a Pennsylvania restaurant were arrested by police after being accused of theft. Leslie Pope and John Wagner were handcuffed and hauled away after they failed to leave the restaurant's mandatory 18 per cent gratuity -- totalling $16. The couple had joined six friends at Lehigh Pub for dinner. They said they had to wait almost an hour for their meal to arrive and that the service was so shoddy they had to get their own cutlery and napkins. They had to repeatedly ask for drink refills while their waitress smoked outside the pub.

Micro trains

The world's smallest working model train set has been unveiled ­ measuring just 1/8th of an inch by 1/4 of an inch. At 1-35200 scale to the real thing, the five-carriage train travels around an oval route including ride through a tunnel. Created by New Jersey model train enthusiast David Smith, the model was built using nothing more fancy than a craft knife and a steady hand. It is powered by a standard two inch rotating motor head and carved out of mouldable plastic.