BKGB Chairman Yuriy Zhadobin on why his organization no longer investigates paranormal phenomena:
“Unlike during the USSR, the department is not engaged in studying paranormal phenomena. [Back then,] we had greater means and opportunities which we could spend on anything and everything.
Today the situation is different. Then, when society was excited by something, it entered our sphere of interest.
But when it comes to healers, UFOs and such, we just can´t deal with them any more.”
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Slain Girl Was Born / Died on Days of Tragedy
azstarnet - Aspiring politician Christina-Taylor Green was born in the midst of tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, and died Saturday morning while trying to meet Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The strong-willed 9-year-old third-grader had gone to meet Giffords with a neighbor when she was shot. She died later at University Medical Center.
Her neighbor was shot four times and was recovering from surgery Saturday evening.
Christina-Taylor had just been elected to the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School and had been interested in politics from a young age, her father, John Green, said Saturday night.
"She was a good speaker. I could have easily seen her as a politician," her father said.
The brown-eyed athletic girl had one sibling, an 11-year-old brother named Dallas, and the two loved to go swimming together.
She'd already told her parents she wanted to attend Penn State one day and have a career that involved helping those less fortunate than her.
She also loved animals and was a passionate dancer who loved ballet, hip-hop, jazz and gymnastics and was the only girl on her Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team, "The Pirates." She played second base.
Christina-Taylor came from a family of baseball players. Her grandfather, former major-league pitcher Dallas Green, was team manager for the Philadelphia Phillies when they won the World Series in 1980.
"She kept up with everyone, she was a strong girl, a very good athlete and a strong swimmer," said her mother, Roxanna Green. "She was interested in everything. She got a guitar for Christmas so her next thing was learning to play guitar."
Christina-Taylor also enjoyed singing in a church choir at St. Odilia's Catholic Church, where she had received her first Holy Communion in the spring.
"'Let the children come to me,' Jesus said (Matthew 19:14). Christina is with Him," Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas wrote in a letter to parishioners sent from Jordan, where he is attending a bishops' meeting.
Already aware of inequalities in the world around her, Christina-Taylor often repeated the same phrase to her mother: "We are so blessed. We have the best life."
Her birth date no doubt helped inspire Christina-Taylor's interest in politics, Roxanna Green said. She was one of 50 9/11 babies featured in a book called "Faces of Hope."
"She was born back east and Sept. 11 affected everyone there, and Christina-Taylor was always very aware of it. She was very patriotic and wearing red, white and blue was really special to her," her mother said.
"She was all about helping people, and being involved. It's so tragic. She went to learn today and then someone with so much hatred in their heart took the lives of innocent people."
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Mother and daughter 'kept body of dead grandmother in their home for months to claim her pension'
dailymail - An actress left her dead mother’s body in bed for up to seven months while she claimed her state pension. When Olive Maddock, 95, died of natural causes her daughter, Hazel Maddock, 61, and granddaughter, Jasmine Maddock, 35, did not organise her funeral. Although they shared the same house they claim not to have noticed the widow had died, as she was an eccentric who often shut herself in her room and kept herself to herself for weeks at a time.
Hazel Maddock, a singer, model and television actress, continued cashing her state pension, until a suspicious friend called police who discovered the body. Officers were horrified when they visited the filthy, ramshackle semi-detached property in Wallasey, Merseyside, last August and discovered the remains.
It is understood that Mrs Maddock, who had a hatred and fear of doctors, had barricaded herself in her room and police had to break down the door. The pathologist who examined her was unable to ascertain exactly when she died, but estimated it was several months earlier. Jasmine Maddock, a professional artist, told police she had last seen her grandmother two months earlier.
The mother and daughter were arrested and earlier this week they appeared before magistrates in Birkenhead charged with preventing the decent and lawful burial of Mrs Maddock sometime between January 1, 2010, and August 2, 2010. Hazel is also charged with one count of fraud in relation to cashing the dead woman’s state pension. Neither woman entered a plea and both were granted unconditional bail to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on January 20.
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Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole affects Tampa airport
tbo - Scientists say the magnetic north pole is moving toward Russia and the fallout has reached -- of all places -- Tampa International Airport.
The airport has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to repaint the numeric designators at each end and change taxiway signage to account for the shift in location of the Earth's magnetic north pole.
The closure of the west parallel runway will result in more activity on the east parallel runway and more noise for residential areas of South Tampa.
The busiest runway will be re-designated 19R/1L on aviation charts. It's been 18R/36L, indicating its alignment along the 180-degree approach from the north and the 360-degree approach from the south.
Later this month, the airport's east parallel runway and the seldom used east-west runway will be closed to change signage to their new designations.
The Federal Aviation Administration required the runway designation change to account for what a National Geographic News report described as a gradual shift of the Earth's magnetic pole at nearly 40 miles a year toward Russia because of magnetic changes in the core of the planet.
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Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
clickondetroit - Hundreds of thousands of dollars in precious stones may have been found in a fish tank that was being stored in a Detroit auction warehouse.
Gemologist Derek Wilson said Detroit police called him to the warehouse to help identify the stones that were uncovered.
Watch: 'Priceless' Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
"We started looking through it and it was just full of faceted and unfaceted gems," he said.
Catching Wilson's eye were two emeralds and a sapphire, which he said could be more than 100 years old and worth more than $100,000 collectively. He said he has no idea why the precious stones would have been in the fish tank.
"We have no idea. We've been trying to figure that out all day," Wilson said. "We don't know if it was somebody trying to hide money, or maybe somebody bought it that way, or maybe somebody had precious stones that they thought they would try to hide somewhere."
One of the emeralds is 840 karats.
"I have nothing to compare this to, as far as doing an appraisal as a gemologist," Wilson said of the huge emerald. "I can't say, 'Well, one in the past has sold for this price.' So, we actually can't put a value on this stone. It's priceless.
Wilson said he wants to find the owner to trace the history of the stones.
With the exception of the large emerald, the other stones were set to be auctioned off Saturday.
'BEYOND THE EDGE' RADIO Announcement
Well folks, we had a software incompatibility problem with the network last night...but we'll be back on schedule with the new setup next Sunday, January 16th at 10pm ET. Go to the 'Beyond the Edge' Radio homepage and click on 'Chat Room'...the chat module and a button for tuning into the show will come up. Thanks for sticking by us! The BTE Gang
