Image of Jesus Survives Fire

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/treasurecoast/content/tcoast/epaper/2008/03/14/031408slbible.html?imw=Y

Palm Beach Post [FL]
14 March 2008

Image of Jesus only thing that survives Port St. Lucie fire

By TERESA LANE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

PORT ST. LUCIE - As police and firefighters combed through the debris of Cynthia Wright's burned home Thursday, one powerful picture sat untouched on a melted, blackened garage shelf - a photo of Jesus Christ tending sheep in a Bible photo title[d] "The Good Shepherd." [...]

The Canadian Lighthouse

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/intel.html

Los Angeles Times

15 March 2008

Top of the Ticket

The Director of National Intelligence opens up to students

Mark Silva

[Mark McConnell, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, opened his speech at a recent symposium at Johns Hopkins University with a familiar joke about a naval ship's radio conversation with a lighthouse. He claimed it was a true story: "I was in the signals intelligence business where you listen to the people talk and so on. This is true. It's an actual recording."]

Lewis and Faye Copeland, 10,000 Jokes, Toasts and Stories. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books, 1940, p. 691.

#6717

The fog was very thick, and the Chief Officer of the tramp steamer was peering over the side of the bridge. Suddenly, to his intense surprise, he saw a man leaning over a rail, only a few yards away.

"You confounded fool!" he roared. "Where the devil do you think your ship's going? Don't you know I've got the right of way?"

"Out of the gloom came a sardonic voice:

"This ain't no blinkin' ship, guv'nor. This 'ere's a light'ouse!"

Kidney Transplant Changes Woman's Personality

http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Mum39s-personality-changed-after-kidney.3878778.jp

Lancashire Evening Post [UK]
14 March 2008

Mum's personality changed after kidney op

A single mum from Lancashire is convinced a kidney transplant has changed her personality completely.

There was a time when all Cheryl Johnson would read were low brow novels, but since the operation her book of choice has been Dostoevsky.

She says she has swapped celebrity autobiographies for heavier reads such as Jane Austen. [...]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article919964.ece

The Sun [UK]
15 March 2008

I got new brain in kidney swap

By BEN ASHFORD

MUM Cheryl Johnson had a life-saving kidney transplant — and wound up with the donor’s PERSONALITY as well. [...]

Single mum Cheryl of Preston, Lancs, said: “My brain power has definitely been boosted since having the transplant. [...]

Cheryl believes her donor, a man who died of an aneurysm, could have been a high-powered businessman or a scientist who studied ancient Egypt.

She said: “I used to watch soaps. Now I watch documentaries on the Egyptian pyramids. I can’t get enough of them. It’s weird.” [...]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/03/15/nkidney115.xml

Daily Telegraph [UK]
16 March 2008

New kidney 'changed my whole personality'

Gang Initiation = "Buck Fifty" Slashing

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080315/NEWS01/803150323/1002/NEWS01

The Daily Journal [Vineland, NJ]
15 March 2008

Police: Gang e-mail rumor has no truth

By TIM ZATZARINY Jr.
Staff Writer

VINELAND -- An e-mail circulating throughout the city warning of an alleged gang initiation is false, Police Chief Timothy Codispoti said Friday.

The e-mail warns people of a gang initiation called a "buck fifty," in which a person is randomly slashed with a knife, causing a wound that requires 150 stitches to close. [...]

http://www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/local/index.ssf?/base/news-14/120555512242680.xml&coll=10

Bridgeton News [NJ]
15 March 2008

Slashing was not a gang initiation

By MATT DUNN

VINELAND -- An e-mail circulating locally regarding an alleged gang initiation is inaccurate, according to Vineland police.

The e-mail states that a person was slashed in the face in an incident last weekend at Sherman Avenue and Main Street, in Vineland.

The author of the e-mail goes on to state that the incident was "a new gang initiation call(ed) getting a buck fifty.'"

Vineland Police Lt. Tom Ulrich said Friday that, although the e-mail is based on a real incident, the conclusions it draws are false. [...]

Lhasa's Water Supply Poisoned

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/15/content_7793694.htm

Xinhua News Agency [China]
15 March 2008

Lhasa water company dispels poison rumor

LHASA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- An official with the Lhasa water company said on Saturday that rumors on drinking water being poisoned amid the Lhasa turmoil are not true.

Soi'nam Gyaibo, director of the system management institute of the Lhasa Water Company, said the rumors began spreading on Friday that drinking water in the city were poisoned, but tests performed by the watch company and experts with the regional disease control and prevention center show the tap water is safe. [...]

Is Senator Obama a Muslim?

http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=376361

National Post [Canada]
15 March 2008

Why my kin won't vote Obama

Allen Abel, National Post

A visit with my born-again Texas cousins and their "Steeple People" allies is a window into Christian salvation, Southern politics, and the conviction that Muslims like Barack Hussein Obama have no chance of going to heaven. [...]

"Is Senator Obama a Muslim?" I ask, using the question as a test of the triumph of fervency over fact. [...]

[Respondents to Abel's question are unsure that Obama is a Christian.]

New Book about TV Rumors

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/culture/story.html?id=971d436a-c78b-4f78-95f3-7a9599e8f497&k=84266

Edmonton Journal [Alberta]
15 March 2008

Debunking TV's biggest myths

Joanie Loves Chachi wasn't a hit in South Korea -- or anywhere else, for that matter

Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service

Television not only convinces us of things we otherwise might not believe, it also convinces us of things that never actually happened.

Just ask Bill Brioux, a former staff writer for TV Guide Canada and author of the book Truth and Rumors: The Reality Behind TV's Most Famous Myths. [...]

[The article recounts Brioux's investigation of the rumor that Zsa Zsa Gabor once asked TV talk show host Johnny Carson if he'd like to pet her "pussy." Carson's co-host, a none-too-reliable Ed McMahon, told him the incident had actually happened.]

Pennies From Heaven

http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20080313

Dear Abby [syndicated advice column]
13 March 2008

SALE OF BIKE GETS A PUSH FROM OWNER UP IN HEAVEN

DEAR ABBY: From time to time you print letters about finding "pennies from heaven." Are you ready for another one? [...]

[You bet she is. For links to some other Dear Abby "pennies from heaven" stories, see here:

http://legendsrumors.blogspot.com/2007/08/pennies-from-heaven.html ]

Ring and Helium Balloon

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article915371.ece

The Sun [UK]
14 March 2008

Balloon seen in the sky with diamond

By ALEX WEST

A HOPELESS romantic saw his engagement plans vanish into thin air – after a balloon containing a £6,000 diamond ring was BLOWN AWAY.

Luckless Lefkos Hajji wanted to surprise girlfriend Leanne, 26 – so he told a florist to put the sparkler inside a helium balloon.

But as he left the shop a gust pulled it from his hand and the balloon soared into the sky. [...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[An earlier incident involving a wedding ring and a helium balloon:]

http://www.scarboroughtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=800&ArticleID=2065928

Scarborough Today [UK]
22 Feb 2007

Wedding ring calamity

A SCARBOROUGH dad is in the dog-house after a balloon-atic stunt ended in calamity.

Calum McFadyen tied his gold wedding ring to the string of his child's helium balloon to see if he could weigh it down.

But as he watched television in the front room he was horrified when he heard older son Henry, four, open the front door of their Alexandra Park home and wave goodbye to the Thomas the Tank Engine balloon as it floated off with the ring still attached. [...]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007080842,00.html
The Sun [UK]
23 Feb 2007

Balloon nicked my wedding ring

By ROBIN PERRIE

White Student Stripped at South African University

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2287825,00.html

News24.com [South Africa]
14 March 2008

UFS e-mail untrue - rector

Bloemfontein - Allegations of disorder on the main campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) contained in an anonymous e-mail that was circulating in South Africa were untrue, said Rector Frederick Fourie on Thursday.

The e-mail makes reference to Tuesday morning, March 4, and tells of incidents of intimidation by black students which allegedly took place on the main campus in Bloemfontein.

Fourie said: "In the e-mail it was alleged a white girl was attacked at the food court, her clothes ripped from her body and thrown off the Thakaneng Bridge, the university's student centre, and that she had to run back to her residence (naked)." [...]

Fish Heads

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Food/html/20080312T230000-0500_133461_OBS_DEBUNKING_THOSE_SALT_FISH_MYTHS.asp

Jamaica Observer
13 March 2008

Debunking those salt fish myths

Debra Edwards

[...] "If you ever saw the head of salt fish then you would never eat it," many have been told, but as the Jamaican media contingent that was recently invited to Norway by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council found out while exploring the country's booming fishing industry, don't always believe what you hear.

The tale of a visually unappealing cod head has been told for decades, and of late pictures of an alien-like figure have been doing the rounds on the Internet, which have some worried about what they are eating. [...]

Valentine's Day Flowers Came From Funeral

http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20080312

Dear Abby [Syndicated advice column]
12 March 2008

BLOOM IS OFF THE ROSE AFTER VALENTINE'S FIASCO

[A correspondent tells "Abby" that that the expensive flower arrangement her boyfriend gave her on Valentine's Day came from a funeral his parents had attended. After prying this information from him, she called him "greedy and cheap," and Abby agrees.]

Dolphin Guides Whales to Sea

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10497654

New Zealand Herald
12 March 2008

Moko the dolphin helps locals save whales from beaching

It could have been a scene from a movie when Mahia's Moko the dolphin came out of nowhere to save two pygmy sperm whales from what looked like certain death.

The playful dolphin, who has set up home around Mahia on the East Coast, was the perfect helper on Monday as Department of Conservation worker Malcolm Smith toiled to refloat the mother whale and her one-year-old male calf. [...]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gd1AJMmldYiTtyFHmMzp1vIPdppgD8VC4TOO0

The Associated Press
13 March 2008

Dolphin Appears to Guide Whales to Sea

By RAY LILLEY

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Most days, Moko the bottlenosed dolphin swims playfully with humans at a New Zealand beach. But this week, it seems, Moko found his mojo. Witnesses described Wednesday how they saw the dolphin swim up to two stranded whales and guide them to safety. [...]

Woman Stuck to Toilet Seat

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jpMo5pdCnadyrY2ypTwfBfsPFxQwD8VCBL700

The Associated Press
12 March 2008

Sheriff: Woman Sat on Toilet for 2 Years

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who stayed in her boyfriend's bathroom for two years, spending most of her time on the toilet - so that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the man finally called police. [...]

[Some urban legends feature people who become stuck to freshly-painted or glue-covered toilet seats. Sometimes the embarrassed victim along with the attached toilet seat is taken to a hospital, where a doctor, viewing the prone patient, remarks, "I've never seen one framed before." In this case, Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple revealed that Pam Babcock had sat so long on the toilet "her body fat had grown attached to the seat....We pried the toilet seat off with a prybar and the seat went with her to the hospital....The hospital removed it." We are left to wonder if the attending physician was inspired to make the apposite comment.]

Gangs Steal Kids' Organs, Philippines

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080311-124103/Rizal-cops-return-missing-Quezon-City-kids-to-parents

The Daily Inquirer [Philippines]
11 March 2008

Rizal cops return missing Quezon City kids to parents

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- More than 16 hours after they were mistakenly reported to have been abducted by several unidentified men on board a van, two five-year-old children from Quezon City had an emotional reunion with their parents at a police station in San Mateo, Rizal Tuesday. [...]

Residents in the area told the two women that several men on board a white van had seized their sons.

Agpaoa said the mothers became hysterical when a neighbor informed them of an alleged gang victimizing youngsters in the Calabarzon region. [...]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080312-124302/Kids-abduction-rumors-a-hoax-says-PNP-chief

The Inquirer [Philippines]
12 March 2008

Kids abduction rumors a hoax, says PNP chief

By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net

MANILA. Philippines -- Mobile text messages about a gang roaming around and seizing children in Southern Tagalog supposedly to sell their internal organs are a hoax, Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Wednesday. [...]

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Metro&p=49&type=2&sec=26&aid=20080312104

Philippine Star
13 March 2008

Muntinlupa cops say `kidnap van' story a hoax

The Muntinlupa police yesterday allayed fears of parents about an alleged van whose occupants go around the city to kidnap children who are later killed and their internal organs taken. [...]

"Leave It On!"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10diary.html

New York Times
10 March 2008

Metropolitan Diary

[While walking down a New York City street lined with men selling fake goods, Gabrielle Levin took off her sweater, prompting one of the vendors to yell, "Leave it on! Leave it on!" -- or so the disconcerted woman initially thought. But she soon realized that he had been shouting, "Louis Vuitton! Louis Vuitton!"]

Wolves Planted in Dodge County, WI

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080309/FON0101/803090521/1985

Fond du Lac Reporter [WI]
9 March 2008

DNR: Wolves planted in Dodge County only rumor

By Colleen Kottke
The Reporter

HORICON -- Some area farmers are howling that Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials have planted gray wolves in the area to combat burgeoning white-tailed deer populations.

Nothing could be further from the truth, said DNR educator and naturalist Bill Volkert, calling the claims nothing more than bad rumors. [...]

[Volkert also denies that the DNR has released rattlesnakes to eat turkey eggs.]

Statue's Missing Finger

http://www.courant.com/features/hc-statues.artmar09,0,5437310.story

Hartford Courant [CT]
9 March 2008

Statues Of Limitations

Erecting Memorials To Public Figures Becoming A Thing Of The Past?

By WILLIAM WEIR
Courant Staff Writer

[High school students in West Hartford used to put a condom on the index finger of the town's statue of Noah Webster, a tradition which ended abruptly when the finger was broken off. Some people believe that the missing finger was taken by "police officers who were tired of taking condoms off of it." Last year the statue finally got a new finger and, "after a decadeslong lull, an old tradition may have already returned. Town historian Tracey M. Wilson says she heard that a condom was found on the finger earlier this month."]

The Wedding Rehearsal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402496.html

Washington Post Magazine
9 March 2008, Page W06

Editor's Query

Tell us about a time you made a comically bad first impression

[Susan Hunter Lyon describes being locked out of St. Mark's Episcopal Church on the afternoon of her wedding rehearsal. She banged on the door and shouted in desperation, "For God's sake! Somebody please open this [expletive] door!", whereupon it did open, revealing her future mother-in-law and "their longtime family friend, the minister."]

Items in Recycling Bins Become Garbage

http://www.charlatan.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19905&Itemid=148

The Charlatan [Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada]
7 March 2008

Carleton recycling rumours cleared

by Tim Bryant

When you throw your empty pop can into a recycling bin on Carleton campus, where do you think it ends up? On campus, rumour has it that items in recycling bins are thrown out with the garbage. But Bill Radway, supervisor of custodial and ancillary services at Carleton's physical plant said that is not the case. [...]

Curse of the Crying Boy Picture

http://www.thestar.co.uk/diary/Truth-about-the-Crying-Boy.3841222.jp

The Sheffield Star [UK]

5 March 2008

Truth about the Crying Boy curse revealed

By Martin Dawes

[David Clarke has researched the legend of the "cursed" Crying Boy picture. His article, "The Curse of the Crying Boy," appears in Fortean Times 234 (May 2008), pp. 32-8.]

[On reports of "The Crying Boy" picture surviving and possibly even causing fires in various homes in Britain in 1985-6, see Georgina Boyes, "Women's Icon, Occupational Folklore and the Media: An Examination of a Contemporary Rumour Legend in Process," in Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith, eds., The Questing Beast. Perspectives on Contemporary Legend, volume IV (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), pp. 117-131. See also Fortean Times 46 (Spring 1986), pp. 22-3; Fortean Times 47 (Autumn 1986), p. 36.]

Update

David Clarke's article, "The Curse of the Crying Boy, "is now online:

http://forteantimes.com/features/articles/1308/the-curse-of-the-crying-boy.html

Fatalistic Floral Tribute

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03052008/gossip/pagesix/pagesix_u.htm

New York Post
5 March 2008

Page Six [gossip column]

Richard Johnson
with Paula Froelich, Bill Hoffmann, Corynne Steindler, and Marianne Garvey

Wrong Words

MONIQUE van Vooren had a tragicomic surprise when she arrived at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home last week to pay her last respects to her longtime companion, Orin Lehman, the war hero who died at age 88. Since "I'll Be Seeing You," the 1938 torch song by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain, was Lehman's favorite tune, van Vooren had ordered a magnificent floral arrangement from Olivier with a card that was supposed to say, "To my beloved Orin, I'll be seeing you. Monique." Instead, the prominently displayed card read: "I'll see you soon."

Strawberry Meth

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7279002.stm

BBC News
5 March 2008

Police duped over fictional drug

Police have sent out a hoax drugs warning to schools over a fake drug called "strawberry meth". The warning said that the drug was being given to children outside their school gates. At least 80 schools in west Oxfordshire received an e-mail warning, leading to some holding special assemblies. [...]

http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2093008.0.police_in_school_drugs_scare_blunder.php

Oxford Mail [UK]
5 March 2008

Police in school drugs scare blunder

By George Hamilton

Hundreds of families were warned about a bogus drug being handed out to children after a blunder by a policeman. [...]

Race and Rumors

http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15400

Baltimore City Paper [MD]
5 March 2008

Social Studies by Vincent Williams

Race and Rumors

[The African-American columnist notes that, in his experience, white and black Americans tend to spread different rumors by e-mail.]

[...] But we can change that, my white friends! The next time you get an e-mail talking about . . . well, whatever it is that these e-mails talk about, I promise I'll forward you one about how Ralph Lauren (or Tommy Hilfiger or Ann Taylor or Kate Spade--it all depends on the e-mail) was on Oprah and said he hated black people.

Gang Initiation Rumor Includes RCMP Warning

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=927884

Barrie Examiner [ON]
4 March 2008

Gang initiation scare an urban legend: cops

Gangs are driving around with their lights off just waiting to initiate new members, or so the urban legend e-mail with an RCMP employee's name goes and has continued to go for four years. The e-mail, usually titled RCMP warning, claims gangs are cruising the streets waiting for drivers to flash their lights or blow their horn trying to signal that their headlights are off.

It is circulating again this week. [...]

Stolen Dogs Used as "Bait Dogs"

http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2008/03/04/news/news4.txt

Cody Enterprise [Wyoming]
4 March 2008

No `dognapping' found in Cody, Powell

By Carole Cloudwalker

Despite persistent rumors of “dognappings” from backyards in Park County, community service officers in Cody and Powell have seen no evidence of the problem. Reports spread last week that the Cody Police Department's Community Service Officer, Duane Wiener, had issued a warning that people should be wary of anyone loitering near yards where dogs are kept. The rumor was that people have been “dognapping” pets to use as “bait dogs” for illegal dogfight training. [...]

Al Capone Slept Here

http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/03/hideout_for_scarface.html

Kalamazoo Gazette [MI]
3 March 2008

Hideout for Scarface?

Posted by Chris Killian
Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette

[Spurred by neighbors' claims that their house had once served as one of Al Capone's hideouts, Jim and Jean Garland of Paw Paw, Michigan, dug in their basement for evidence of the mobster. ]

Coyotes Introduced to Kill Deer, Pennsylvania

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08062/861838-358.stm

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [PA]
2 March 2008

Coyote stocking a myth, says commission

By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There's a persistent rumor -- call it a rural myth -- about how coyotes arrived in Pennsylvania. The story goes something like this: in a misguided effort to reduce the deer herd, the Game Commission secretly imported coyotes and released them throughout the state, later denying it when their numbers grew. [...]

[Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser believes the rumor started after a Wildlife Conservation officer attached a radio collar to a troublesome coyote. "With no official coyote tags available, he clipped on Bobcat Tag No. 26." A hunter later caught the coyote -- which by then had shaken off the collar but not the tag -- and assumed it was part of a program to stock coyotes.]

Secrets Encoded in Musical Compositions, WW I

Norman Lebrecht, The Book of Musical Anecdotes. NY: The Free Press, 1985, p. 265.

[Frederick] Delius returned to England from France in 1918 with a new orchestral work for Sir Henry Wood's Prom. concerts. Wood, on meeting Delius was 'deeply distressed with his tired and tragic appearance' and as soon as they reached Wood's house, Mrs Delius insisted that her husband take a rest. Delius, recalled Wood, 'proceeded to unbutton his waistcoat, shirt and top trouser button, and, to my astonishment, pulled out sheet after sheet of manuscript which proved to be his new work, Once Upon a Time (Eventyr). 'What a relief to get it safely to London,' he murmured, and subsided into a chair. 'I, too, am relieved,' whispered Madame Delius. 'I was so afraid they might search him and commandeer it.' They had feared arrest throughout the journey, alarmed by rumours that a conductor in America had been transmitting coded war secrets to Germany in the guise of musical compositions.

[Source: Sir Henry Wood, My Life of Music, 1938.]

Lambchopophobia

http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_8303078

Contra Costa Times [CA]

19 February 2008

GARY BOGUE [Columnist]

'Lambchopophobia' sends pup into a fury

[...] About 14 or 15 years ago, I got a letter from a man whose pug went nuts and ran crashing into walls whenever his wife fried up some lamb chops.

I playfully and somewhat skeptically printed his letter and was immediately inundated with 40-50 letters about dogs and cats that had freaked out (in different ways) when their humans fried lamb chops. I have to say that was pretty unbelievable. [...]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_8323363?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

Contra Costa Times [CA]
21 February 2008

GARY BOGUE

Weird behavior comes in like cooked lamb ...

LAMBCHOPOPHOBIA 2

Tuesday, I wrote about pets that freak out when their humans cook lamb.

Some responses: [...]