"I know what you've been doing!"

Woman's World, 7 January 2013, p. 55

Boy, Was My Face Red!

My six-year-old granddaughter was told by her mom, "if you eat the seeds of an apple, a tree will grow in your stomach." The other day, she and I were riding the bus when a pregnant lady took the seat next to us. My granddaughter kept staring at her and finally piped up, "I know what you've been doing!" I mumbled an apology to the woman as she gave us an awkward smile and let out a nervous chuckle, but, boy, was my face red!

F.W. New Britain, CT

Fecal Pollution in Kabul

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/asia/kabuls-pollution-is-real-despite-unpleasant-exaggeration.html

New York Times

22 January 2013

Kabul Journal

Despite a Whiff of Unpleasant Exaggeration, a City's Pollution Is Real

By ROD NORDLAND

KABUL, Afghanistan - It has long been a given that the air pollution in this city gets horrific: on average even worse than Beijing's infamous haze, by one measure.

For nearly as long, there has been the widespread belief by foreign troops and officials here that - let's be blunt here - feces are a part of the problem.

Canadian soldiers were even warned about it in predeployment briefings, which cited reports that one test had found that as many as 30 percent of air samples contained fecal particles. The Canadians were worried enough that the government ordered a formal investigation, officials say.

"I've heard that story for 40 years," said Andrew Scanlon, the head of the United Nations Environment Program here, who dismissed it as an urban legend. "I think the need by diplomats for danger-pay raises is what has kept reports of fecal matter danger very high." [...]

Is Imitation Calamari Made From Pig Rectum?

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/01/calamari_made_of_pig_rectum_the_this_american_life_rumor_isn_t_true_but.html

Slate

18 January 2013

Is imitation calamari made from pig rectum? A charming urban legend gets its start.

By Daniel Engber

A friend told me the other day that she'd heard a horrifying report on public radio: You know those deep-fried, chewy rings of calamari? Sure. Well, they're sometimes served in imitation form, made from slices of a pig's rectum. Wait ... what?! And so it happened second-hand, as these things almost always do: An urban legend hatched and spread its wings. [...]

Spitfires Buried in Burma

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21074699

BBC News [UK]

18 January 2013

Archaeologists believe no Spitfires buried in Burma

Archaeologists hunting for World War II Spitfires in Burma believe there are no planes buried at the sites where they have been digging, the BBC understands.

The archaeologists have concluded that evidence does not support the original claim that as many as 124 Spitfires were buried at the end of the war, the BBC's Fergal Keane reports.

Wargaming.net, the firm financing the dig, has also said there are no planes.

But project leader David Cundall says they are looking in the wrong place.

He told the BBC that he feels very frustrated but is determined to keep up his campaign, and remains convinced Spitfires are buried in Burma. [...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20515659

BBC News | 22 November 2012

Search for missing Spitfires in Burma due to begin

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-20910980

BBC News | 4 January 2013

WWII Spitfires digging team leaves for Burma

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20957162

BBC News | 9 January 2013

Burma Spitfire hunters discover crate

 

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/21/169621797/in-myanmar-a-hunt-for-fabled-cache-of-buried-wwii-spitfires

National Public Radio

21 January 2013

In Myanmar,A Hunt For Fabled Cache Of Buried WWII Spitfires

by Anthony Kuhn

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9813074/Spitfire-hunter-pledges-the-search-will-go-on.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]

20 January 2013

Spitfire hunter pledges the search will go on

By Adam Lusher

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10177803.Buried_Spitfires_is_a_tall_story__says_RAF_veteran/

The Northern Echo [UK]

22 January 2013

Buried Spitfires is a tall story, says RAF veteran

By Gavin Engelbrecht

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9806536/Burmas-buried-Spitfires-the-inside-story-of-one-mans-obsession.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]

23 January 2013

Burma's buried Spitfires: the inside story of one man's obsession

By Adam Lusher

Poisoning Rumours Surface at Omuthiya

http://www.newera.com.na/articles/49784/Poisoning-rumours-surface-at-Omuthiya

New Era [Namibia]

8 January 2013

Poisoning Rumours Surface At Omuthiya

By Paulus Paulus

Windhoek -- Holidaymakers and residents of the northern town of Omuthiya experienced a festive season of panic due to unsubstantiated reports of food and drink poisoning having reached fever pitch at the town and surrounding villages.

"You never leave your glass behind in this town. Not even if you are with a friend, you cannot trust anyone here," a villager informed this reporter. However, the reports which some believe to be mere rumours refuse to die, despite reassurances by law enforcement officials and local authority leaders that there is no grain of truth in them. [...]

Women's Car Tires Damaged

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20130103/WDH0101/301030419/Police-No-truth-tire-vandalism-rumor?nclick_check=1

Wausau Daily Herald [WI]

3 January 2013

Police: No truth to tire vandalism rumor

Written by Shereen Skola

Daily Herald Media

Local police are debunking a rumor circulating in an email chain this week that someone was sabotaging women’s cars and then preying upon them when they were forced to pull off the road.

Marathon County Sheriff’s Lt. Ted Knoeck said the department fielded dozens of calls during the past several days from callers asking about a rumor that someone was damaging the tires of women’s cars, requiring them to be towed. [...]