[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
MONDAY OCTOBER 18
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -5)
2:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[Fatima99]

California Vineyards That Once Used Only Toxic Chemicals to Protect Vines Now Use Nesting Owls

Napa Valley vintners are increasingly turning towards winged-laborers for their pest control, and away from super toxic pesticides that poison everything, including their wine.

Barn owls in particular, but also hawks and other birds of prey, known as raptors, are being welcomed onto vineyards across California for their skill in rat-catching, vole-estation, and gopher-gobbling—and scientists studying the impact of these strategies are finding encouraging results.

For years, vintners in California were proud of the certain je ne sais quoi, inherent in their wines which made Napa a world class destination for growing grapes.

But, they were using super-toxic “rodent-icides,” a type of poison used to kill the mice and voles that munch on vines. The poison had become an industry standard in the state up until the 1980s when raptors, trapping, and other more holistic methods became more popular.

According to the nonprofit Napa Green, a trend toward chemical-free farming statewide is reflected in the threefold increase of organic winegrape acreage since 2005, with the number of organic acres doubling in just the last decade.

One of the world’s most efficient pest controllers is the barn owl, which is found on 6 of our 7 continents and is capable of eating 3,400 rodents each year.

Matt Johnson is a wildlife professor at Humboldt State who began a program years ago to study raptor pest control in vineyards and research the results. One of his surveys found that of 75 California wine makers, four-fifths of them purposely invite owls onto their property by constructing nest boxes.



We’re working mainly in Napa Valley, where there are over 300 barn owl nest boxes,” Johnson wrote on his department’s webpage.

“You can literally put a barn owl nest box in the exact location where you think you have a problem with the small mammals, and voilà! The owls will start using that area,” John C. Robinson, a local ornithologist, told Bay Nature Magazine.



Johnson and his graduate students have found that barn owls like their boxes to sit around 9 feet off the ground, face away from the sun, adjacent to an unkempt field, and preferably far from forested acres.



Early surveys suggest that it’s possible more vintners are using barn owls and even traps, than pesticides, but how much pesticide use was avoided in favor of the owls is not known.

All the incentives are there, however, because using owls is much less expensive than trapping: 26 cents per rodent versus $8.11. It’s also helping a beautiful group of species to thrive.

Ventura County uses birds, including hawks, falcons, and owls, instead of rodenticides, across nearly one hundred dikes and dams, as the rodents’ burrowing can damage the structures. Ventura County Watershed Protection Department reports a cost savings of $216,000 per channel mile compared with traps.

The owls help the wine makers keep costs low, and keep their wine, whether red or white, “green,” a delicious and dignified result that reflects the majesty of the famous valley, and its vineyards.

[ozswede]

Cyprus's homage to the humble spud goes viral

A Cypriot community's endeavour to pay homage to the humble spud has gone viral after their 5 metre (16 ft) tall statue of a Cyprus potato drew comparisons to a giant penis.

The fibreglass replica, which cost 8,000 euros ($9,300) and sits by a main road at the entrance to the village of Xylophagou, has drawn widespread ribbing on social media.

"Other countries have instantly recognisable monuments, now we have ours," Euripides Evriviades, who is a former Cyprus ambassador to the UK, wrote on Twitter.


It's certainly a landmark

Alongside he posted a collage juxtaposing an image of the Big Potato with the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and Hong Kong Big Buddha.

But Xylophagou's residents are taking the ridicule in their stride, insisting that the beige-coloured knobbly design named "The Big Potato" is a faithful reproduction of its main potato crop, the Spunta.

Community leader George Tasou said those who saw in the statue anything more than a potato was guilty of a dirty mind.

"That is, I think, talk of a mind possessed," he said.

"Whether we like it or not this potato, the Spunta, is thin and long."


People pose for a picture next to a 5 meter high replica of a potato in Xylophagou village, Cyprus

Potatoes are the mainstay of Cyprus, known for its rich red fertile soil. Next year Xylophagou plans another novelty with its favourite produce; frying 800 kgs of potatoes in a chip-fest.

Tasou said work on the Big Potato was incomplete and that it would be mounted in local stone with a bench, a park and a small store, bringing the total cost of the project to 15,000 euros.

"It will be a landmark," he said as giggling visitors behind him posed for selfies.

Source

[BigGlen]

Newfoundland Couple Float Their Dream Home Across Inlet



Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A Newfoundland, Canada, couple faced with the problem of moving their dream home from its former location to their property ended up taking the direct route -- through more than half a mile of water.

Daniele Penney said she and her boyfriend, Kirk Lovell, discovered the house that Penney had long admired on the shore of the Bay of Islands inlet was going to be torn down, so they received permission from the property owners to move the structure to their own coastal property in McIvers.

The couple determined moving the house by land would be too difficult, as there were too many obstacles in the way, so they hatched a plan to float the house a little over half a mile through the Bay of Islands to its new location.

Barrels were installed under the house and it was tied to a metal frame loaded with old tires to keep it upright in the water.

Aerial footage of the move show the house being pushed through the inlet by a series of small boats.

Penney said one corner of the house dipped into the water up to a second-story window at one point during transport, and the engine of Lovell's boat died, but members of the community used their own boats to rush to the assistance of the movers and ensure the house made it to its new location.

Penney said the house is drying out in its new location, and the couple hope to begin renovations soon to turn it into a permanent home for their family.

It diffidently wasn't an easy task....check out the video
https://youtu.be/IUmrdnx7DVo

Baby bison goes wandering in North Carolina town



A baby bison caused a stir in North Carolina when it escaped from its owner and was spotted wandering near a school.

The Brunswick County Sheriff's Office said the 7-month-old calf was spotted wandering in Ash on Thursday and Friday.

The animal was seen Friday morning wandering near Jesse Mae Monroe Elementary School.

The sheriff's office said the bison was safely captured Friday and returned to its owner.

Police in Ohio recently responded to a similar situation when a loose bison was spotted wandering in German Township. Police received multiple reports of sightings from around the township before the animal's owner was able to safely recapture it.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/10/15 ... 634323861/

Hundreds flock to play Squid Game at cafe with staff dressed up as murderous guards

If you watch Squid Games on Netflix and became convinced you could win those challenges - this is your chance.

You will need to fly to Jakarta, Indonesia to do so - and best to hurry, as the challenge has already proven extremely popular.

Cafe Strawberry was inspired to jump on the bandwagon in a bid to fuel its pandemic recovery by recreating some of the games from the gory show.

In a dark room lit with neon colours, customers are welcomed by staff dressed as the ominous masked guards, who are holding toy guns.

They are ushered towards the end of the room where the chilling "red light, green light" playground game starts.


They scurry through before freezing at the commands in Korean - fully involved, even though they won't meet the fatal end that contestants in the TV show did.

"Not all cafes would actually imitate and make it exactly like in the real show. I think it's unique and exciting so everyone can feel how tense the Squid Game show is," 16-year-old student Jennifer Susanto said after she failed to finish the game.

More than 200 customers visit the cafe every day, desperate to try out the games from the Netflix show, which also include chipping out a shape from honeycomb candy.

The traffic has helped triple the cafe's earnings in the week since launching the games.

"Before this, when there was a PPKM (Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions), our income fell sharply. However, after the PPKM rules were relaxed, our sales began to recover and increase slightly," said Putra Priyadi, 39, the cafe's owner.

"But after we started the Squid Game event, our sales rose significantly right away."

The dystopian drama "Squid Game", in which hundreds of cash-strapped contestants play childhood games with deadly consequences in a bid to win 45.6 billion won ($38 million), was last week named Netflix's biggest original series launch, streamed by 111 million accounts in 27 days.

It's especially popular in Indonesia, where Korean dramas and Korean movies already have a large following.

That's one 'ballsy' real estate agent! Los Angeles realtor wins the internet with full-frontal photo shoot inside $1.29million Monterey Hills home

David Ferrugio, an LA realtor, is marketing $1.29million house in Monterey Hills which has three-bedrooms, two-bathrooms and measures 2,100 square feet
But it's not the house that caught people's attention on Instagram listing after Ferrugio posed naked near home and inside kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom
The photo shoot generated laughs from Instagram users who praised his 'ballsy' move

By Ariel Zilber For Dailymail.com
Published: 15:39 EDT, 17 October 2021 | Updated: 05:41 EDT, 18 October 2021

A ‘ballsy’ Los Angeles area realtor will stop at nothing to sell a $1.29million property - even if it means letting it all hang out on social media.

David Ferrugio is marketing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot home in Monterey Hills - though it’s not the house that will catch your eye at first.

Ferrugio, who announced on his Instagram page that the house on 6340 Monterey Road was being listed, looks quite comfortable in the home - so much so that he posed for photos on the property while going commando.

One image shows Ferrugio picking up the morning newspaper in the driveway while clad in his robe - which happens to be untied. Underneath, he is not wearing any underwear.

Another image shows Ferrugio in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast - though the apron is worn in a way that reveals his backside.

Ferrugio’s Instagram post also includes a photo of the bedroom - with a naked Ferrugio lying in the bed wearing nothing.

Ferrugio then posted an image showing him in the shower.

Finally, Ferrugio makes sure to highlight the advantages of the property’s backyard by enjoying a nice suntan - though in his case he won’t need to worry about getting any tan lines since he’s buck naked.

All of the images are censored.

The cheeky photo shoot earned Ferrugio praise and laughs on social media, where commenters lauded his clever marketing gimmick.

‘This is hilarious,’ one Instagram user wrote.

'It's genius,' another commented.

'Bruh u jus changed the realty game forever,' wrote another admirer.

One Instagram user called Ferrugio a 'marketing genius.'

'Killing me! I bet you have over 20 offers now!' another Instagram user wrote.

Another commenter said the post was 'iconic.'

'Oh, I zoomed in,' one Instagram user wrote. 'Any need for a photographer's assistant?'

[Mintydreams00]

Dad captures moment 43st bear breaks into family home and sits on son's chair

Sean Reddy said a black bear entered his property through an open bedroom window earlier this month. He called his neighbour who came over with some bear spray


The family was shocked to find a huge black bear standing up at a desk in a bedroom (Image: Sean Reddy)

A dad has captured the moment a 43-stone bear broke into his house and sat on his son's gaming chair.

Sean Reddy said a black bear entered his property through an open bedroom window on October 4.

He said he was cleaning up his garden because a bear had made a mess after knocking over the bins the night before.

But as he walked around his garden in Alberta, Canada, his two dogs suddenly became very agitated.

Sean said he recognised the dogs' behaviour as they displayed it before when there was a bear nearby.

The dogs soon had the bear cornered near the garage, but Sean shouted at them to back off as the animal could have seriously injured them.


Sean Reddy captured photos of a black bear at his home (Image: Sean Reddy)

He said: "The bear did not seem too fazed by my dogs and I was yelling at them to call them back so as not to get killed by the bear.

"I locked them [the dogs] in my shop and closed the door to leave the bear alone."

The bear then made its way into the garage where it got its paws on dog food and some items in the freezer.

Sean told his children, Ronan and Cormac, to stay inside and not go anywhere near the garage as the bear was there.

The family watched the bear from their window and assumed that after finishing the food it would head back into the woods.

However, just minutes later 10-year-old Cormac asked his dad what all the scratching he could hear coming from the other end of the house was.

Ronan then shouted to his dad, saying the bear was now in the hallway.

The dad said: "I went in to see and sure enough there it was. I don't remember what I said or if I was yelling at the bear, but that's when he walked into Cormac's room."


A bear trap in the family's garden (Image: Sean Reddy)

Sean thought a window was open in the room so he shut the door and hoped that the bear would leave the same way it came in.

He rushed outside to check if the window really was open only to find that it was shut.

He said: "Now just realising that I had locked the bear in Cormac's room, I ran back into the house to see and went down the hallway to find out my son Liam had left his bedroom window wide open and that's where the bear had come in."

Sean said the bear had climbed through Liam's room, across his bed, and then wandered through the house to Cormac's room.

He added: "I wasn't sure what to do, thinking the bear was going to be p****d off at me for being locked in the room."


The bear entered Sean's home on October 4 ( Image: Sean Reddy)

With Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Fish and Wildlife officials unreachable, Sean was left to his own devices when it came to removing the bear from his son's bedroom.

He called his neighbour Chris who came over with some anti-bear spray.

Sean said: "We decided to get a bunch of furniture ready to block off the hallway, there is a bookshelf by Cormac's bedroom which I had pulled back thinking at least if I opened up the door and a mad bear was coming out I had a bookshelf between us."

However, when he opened the bedroom door the bear did not show itself.

Sean explained: "I climbed over the small bookshelf to look in, and the bear was at the computer desk looking back at me as if to say 'what do you want?'"

He added: "That's when I said to the guys here 'I have to take a picture because no one will believe me!'"

The bear walked across the hallway back towards the bedroom and left shortly after Sean took the picture of it by his son's gaming chair.

The bear has not been seen since, but Sean says that bear sightings are not uncommon near the family's home although normally they keep to the garden and the garage.

[PennySerenade]

While Toronto often gets criticized for being a grey wasteland as condos and parking lots tend to dominate the downtown core, some fun splashes of colour will soon be making their way across the city.

Soon, those travelling along Bloor will have their journeys brightened up thanks to brand new artistic curb extensions along Bloor at several corners in the Bloorcourt area.



On top of looking nice, the artistic curb extensions also serve the function of improving road safety by making the curbs more visible, encouraging drivers to slow down, be more alert, and make wider turns around these corners.

"Painted curb extensions are known to be effective at reducing collisions between drivers and other road users and cities around the world are using this technique to quickly and inexpensively make roads safer," Becky Katz, Pedestrian and Cycling Projects, Transportation Services, City of Toronto told blogTO.

"City of Toronto staff typically work collaboratively with local BIAs and stakeholder groups to plan the curb extension design so that it fits with the culture and energy of the local neighbourhood."



If this all sounds familiar, it's because these curb extensions are not new to Toronto at all. Similar work has been done at various intersections along Danforth Avenue (Broadview Avenue to Dawes Road), and Yonge Street (Bloor Street to Davisville Avenue).

For a city with an art scene as vibrant as Toronto's, seeing some additional beauty and art put into the infrastructure of the city is always a welcome change.

[prokroustis]

NZ police arrest pair trying to smuggle KFC chicken and money into Auckland!

The men were charged with breaching the country’s tough Covid-19 rules

NZ police have made a bizarre arrest after a pair of alleged gang associates were caught trying to enter Auckland with a boot full of KFC chicken and tens of thousands of dollars.

The men were charged with breaching the country’s tough Covid-19 rules.

Under Auckland’s strict Level 4 lockdown, all restaurants, including take-away services, remain closed.

Police said the men, aged 23 and 30, had travelled from Hamilton, about 75 miles south of Auckland.

A police spokesperson told the BBC that officers made the arrest after they noticed a suspicious looking vehicle travelling on a gravel road on the outskirts of the city.

“Upon seeing the police car, the vehicle did a u-turn and sped off trying to evade police,” they said. “The vehicle was searched and police located the cash, alongside empty ounce bags and a large amount of takeaways.”

Police photos showed at least three buckets of chicken, about 10 cups of coleslaw, a large package of fries, and four large bags containing other KFC items.

They also seized NZ$100,000 (US$70,000; £51,000) in cash.

It is unclear whether the men intended to sell the food or if they hoped to use it as a distraction if they were to be pulled over.

The homecoming queen gave away her crown to comfort a grieving family and set an example for us all


Sean Walters looks on as Nyla Covington shares her homecoming queen crown with his daughter.

Brittany Walters made a promise to her mother the day she passed away from cancer: Brittany and her father would go to homecoming, where the high school senior was nominated for queen.

Her mom, A.J. Walters, an administrator at Mississippi's Forrest County Agricultural High School, never missed anything when she was growing up -- from awards assemblies to games she was cheering at. Her mother didn't want her to miss her big moment, Walters said.

Walters, who aspires to become a nurse, didn't win homecoming queen that night, but thanks to an act of kindness that has shined a healing light on a grieving family and community, she ended the night in a crown.

A Selfless Act



Senior Nyla Covington was voted homecoming queen by fellow students at a school football game in late September. But moments after being crowned, felt called to crown someone else.

After asking permission from school officials to do so, Covington walked over to Walters, standing beside her cowboy hat-clad father, and put the crown on her.

"I just felt like it was something that was put on my heart," Covington told CNN. "It was really just for her, to bring up her day a little bit, and she'd rather have her mom than a crown... but the point was, I was telling her that she was her mom's queen and I was just letting her know that she was loved by many and especially me."

Walters said she was thinking of her mom, the "school mom" to so many who were both standing beside them and staring back at them from the stands, when Covington's gesture caught her by surprise.

"I just felt so like so much love from her, and I just felt so much love for her and the whole school," Walters said of Covington. "As soon as I got off the field, I just got hundreds of hugs from every single person in the stands."

There were tears on and off the field.

Forrest County AHS School's principal Will Wheat tells CNN he is proud of the young women.

"That wasn't preplanned, this was all on the kids, that's the beautiful thing about it," Wheat said. "We are elated and we are so thrilled over their actions and how it represents the school."

Healing


Brittany Walters and Nyla Covington

The two teens were friendly before homecoming, volunteering together at different school functions, but say they have grown closer since the event.

Walters has the crown, which Covington would like her to keep, she said, as a reminder of the moment.

"It's just something materialistic, but we put meaning to it so that's why I want her to keep it," she said.

Sean Walters, Brittany's father, says their family is dealing with their grief "day by day."
"Just knowing that there's people out there that care about this story and knowing that, not directly, but maybe indirectly, maybe my life is helping reach a lot of people, and just part of this story is continuing [A.J.], I guess the way that she lived her life," he said.

He thanked Nyla's parents at homecoming, calling them "wonderful people."

"They have done a wonderful job raising their kids. That's what I told them. I said 'it shows how much and how great a job you've done right here. Just the simplest act that she did," he said.

This past Saturday, the Walters' held A.J.'s funeral. Her wake was held the same night as a school football game.

Most of the school showed up.

Homecoming night was hard in so many ways for Brittany Walters. Her mother had touched the hearts of so many at the school and seeing their grief on their faces was hard to handle amidst her own.

But how the night unfolded -- from a heartfelt act she'll never forget to the support they felt all night -- was in keeping with her mother's spirit.

"I kind of feel like this is her way of continuing to help people because people seeing Nyla doing that will want to make them do something nice," she said. "That's exactly what she'd want to happen."

NFL betting: One bettor needs Buffalo to cash two massive parlays


Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills can make one parlay bettor a lot of money. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Did you have a good weekend?

Maybe you did, but you probably didn't have quite as good of a weekend as one bettor at BetMGM.

The same bettor placed two parlays prior to Sunday's NFL games. They risked just over $2,000 total. If the Buffalo Bills cover the spread on Monday night, they'll be nearly $340,000 richer.

The bettor risked $1,100 on an 8-leg parlay with picks against the spread. This bet needs the Bills to cover a 5.5-point spread on Monday night in order to win $193,475. The line has moved in the game, as the Bills are now 6-point favorites.

They also risked $1,000 on an 11-leg moneyline parlay. This parlay just needs the Bills to win the game in order to cash for $144,987.

How did we get here?

If you haven't heard, it's been a very good weekend for the betting public and a very bad weekend for the sportsbooks. Favorites started off by covering every game in the early afternoon slate. In the late afternoon slate, the Cardinals were a huge public play and they came through as an outright underdog winner against the favored Browns. The Cowboys were also a huge win for the betting public.

In this 11-team moneyline parlay, the bettor included the Packers, Bengals, Colts, Rams, Chiefs, Ravens, Cardinals, Raiders, Cowboys, Steelers and Bills.


I wanted a second picture, so I threw this in. CeeDee Lamb burning the Patriots for a walk off the field TD. America's Team SuperBowl bound. How about Dem Cowboys! Yes, us Cowboy fans are unbearable to be around again. YeeHaw!

The early games in this parlay were calm and relaxing. The early slate saw the first six games of the parlay hit with ease. Even the Raiders and Cardinals as underdogs were relaxing games to watch for the bettor.

The bettor then started to perspire. The Cowboys lost the overtime coin toss before forcing a punt and winning the game. The Steelers were also forced into overtime and punted on their first possession of overtime before T.J. Watt forced a fumble that set up a winning field goal.

In his 8-team against-the-spread parlay, the bettor included all teams listed above except the Colts, Raiders and Steelers.

Leaving the Steelers off the spread parlay was a pivotal and parlay-saving decision. Pittsburgh won the game but they failed to cover as a 5.5-point favorite.

The bettor was also extremely fortunate from a spread point of view in the aforementioned Cowboys game. Once the Cowboys forced a punt in overtime, all they needed to win the game was a field goal. A field goal would have failed to cover the 3.5-point spread, but Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb made that a moot point.

Should they hedge?

The bettor in question is risking over $2,000 dollars total on 8- and 11-leg parlays, so it might seem like money isn't a real issue for them.

For us common folk, the obvious question becomes if and how the bettor should hedge their parlay in order to ensure maximum profits.

There are three scenarios that could unfold on Monday night:

Bills win and cover the spread: Bettor wins $338,562
Bills win and don't cover the spread: Bettor profits $143,887
Titans win: Bettor loses $2,100

There are two ways to hedge this potential bet: Betting the Titans on the moneyline at +210 or betting the Titans to cover the 6-point spread.

If the Bills win the game, the bettor is guaranteed at least $143,887. If the bettor put $46,450 on the Titans to win the game at +210, they would win $97,545. They would be costing themselves around $46,000 in potential profit in order to guarantee a win of about $97,000.

Maybe the bettor is confident the Bills will win the game but isn't sure if they'll cover the spread. If the Bills win the game and cover the spread, the bettor will make $338,562. In order to guarantee a profit of $161,000, the bettor would need to bet $177,000 on the Titans to cover the current 6-point spread.

Risk tolerance is different for everyone, so the bettor may just let the parlays ride. However, they have two very solid tickets that can easily be hedged for a lucrative profit.

Good luck to the bettor in question.

[goldie0608]

600-Lb. Sea Turtle Stranded in Cape Cod Rescued and Returned to the Open Ocean

The Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, New England Aquarium, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare worked together to return the massive leatherback sea turtle to safe waters



A gentle ocean-dwelling giant has returned to the sea unscathed thanks to the dedicated work of three organizations.

According to a release from the New England Aquarium, a 600-lb. leatherback sea turtle stranded itself on a mudflat in Cape Cod waters on October 10.

The Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary responded to the call about the animal in need first. Their rescuers arrived and went to work keeping the sea turtle safe until it could be moved.

"We wanted to keep it off the oysters and keep it from stranding somewhere we couldn't rescue it. If it got away, there was no telling where it would strand next," Bob Prescott, director emeritus for Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, said in a statement.

The sanctuary reached out to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the New England Aquarium for assistance rescuing the five-foot-long male leatherback sea turtle.

Both IFAW and New England Aquarium were quick to help when they heard there was a turtle in need, bringing out the heavy-duty equipment to ensure a successful rescue.

"Our agencies work side-by-side on these shores, rescuing and protecting local species, so we jumped at the chance to help with responders, equipment, and transportation," Kira Kasper, a biologist for the Marine Mammal Rescue & Research program at IFAW, said. "To safely move a stranded turtle this large, our specially designed heavy-duty transport cart, stretchers, and mats were ideal — originally designed by IFAW for moving dolphins and other small whales."

With the tools they needed on hand, the rescuers moved the turtle to a safer waterside location for a health assessment by experts from the New England Aquarium.

"Our initial evaluation indicated that the turtle was very strong and in good body condition, and this helped us to decide that it was a good candidate for release," Dr. Charles Innis, the director of animal health at the New England Aquarium, said.

Before releasing the sea turtle back into the open ocean, the New England Aquarium gave the animal injections of vitamins and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The facility's staff placed small identification tags on the massive creature. Now, they can keep track of the turtle and learn more from him in the future.

After this check-up, the turtle returned to the water with a crowd of new fans cheering him on.

"When working with stranded sea turtles in New England, it's a rarity to have a turtle that is in such good condition. We suspect this leatherback got disoriented in the tidal flats of Wellfleet, and we feel optimistic that it will survive, thanks to the collective rescue efforts of this fantastic group of colleagues," Dr. Kara Dodge, a research scientist at the aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said.

[Basia1971]

Why so blue? That’s the question people in Dzerzhinsk, Russia started wondering when a pack of bright blue dogs was spotted near a shuttered chemical factory this week.


The photos were first posted by Alekseї Ganine on Vkontakte (VK) a Russian social media platform, prompting confusion, concern, and comedic jabs from users. “What’s so funny?” one VK user asked. Another joked, “Smurfs?”
As the strange pictures spread, so did the demand for answers. Because the dogs were spotted near Dzerzhinskoye Orgsteklo, a network of chemical factories that closed after going bankrupt in 2015, it’s likely that they were exposed to a chemical residue.
The dogs may have rolled in copper sulfate, a bright blue ingredient used in the manufacturing of plexiglass and hydrocyanic acid, which the factory once produced.

Andrey Mislivets, the bankruptcy manager of Dzerzhinskoye Plexiglas agreed that it was likely. “Homeless dogs are running around the area,” he said. “Perhaps, in one of the buildings, they found some kind of chemical residue — copper sulfate, for example, and rolled in it.”

But Mislivets shrugged off responsibility for getting the dogs back to a normal color — or helping to treat any side effects caused by their possible exposure to chemicals. “I cannot bear the costs of capturing homeless animals and their sterilization,” he said.

Russian news agencies reported that the city would round up the dogs. They sought to investigate the canines and treat their blue color, although — according to local officials — the dogs were not in any real danger.
“According to preliminary visual inspection, the dogs are in satisfactory condition,” stated Dzerzhinsk city officials. “Specialists will enter the chemical factory grounds and find and examine the animals.”

A Pack Of Blue Dogs Was Found Roaming Near A Shuttered Chemical Plant In Russia
By Kaleena Fraga

[lush]

Cyber-Criminals Use Voice Cloning Technology in $35 Million Bank Heist
October 18th, 2021*

A bank manager in the U.A.E. was conned into authorizing a $35 million transfer after receiving vocal confirmation from the account holder. Only that wasn’t who the manager thought they were…

Early last year, the manager of an undisclosed bank in the United Arab Emirates received a call from a longtime client – the director of a company with whom he had spoken before. The man was excited that his company was about to make an important acquisition, so he needed the bank to authorize a transfer of $35 million as soon as possible. The client added that a lawyer named Martin Zelner had been contracted to handle the acquisition, and the manager could see emails from the lawyer in his inbox. He had spoken to the client before, he recognized his voice, and everything he said checked out. So he proceeded to make the most expensive mistake of his career…


Photo: B_A/Pixabay

The bank manager authorized the bank transfers, confident that everything was legitimate, but in reality, he had just fallen victim to an elaborate, high-tech swindle. The person he had talked to on the phone had used AI-powered “deepvoice” technology to clone the bank client’s voice and make it impossible for anyone to tell it apart from the original.

The mega-heist was revealed in court documents in which the U.A.E. was seeking American investigators’ help in tracking down part of the $35 million ($400,000) that apparently went into U.S.-based accounts held by Centennial Bank.



Not much info has been revealed in this case, apart from the fact that U.A.E. authorities believe that the elaborate scheme involved at least 17 people and that the money was sent to accounts all over the world, to make it difficult to track down and recover. Neither the Dubai Public Prosecution Office nor the American lawyer mentioned by the fraudsters, Martin Zelner, had responded to Forbes‘ request for comment, at the time of this writing.

It’s only the second known case of a bank heist involving deepvoice technology, with the first occurring in 2019, but cybercrime experts warn that this is only the beginning. Both deepfake video and deepvoice technologies have evolved at an astonishing pace, and criminals are bound to take advantage of them.

“Manipulating audio, which is easier to orchestrate than making deep fake videos, is only going to increase in volume and without the education and awareness of this new type of attack vector, along with better authentication methods, more businesses are likely to fall victim to very convincing conversations,” cybersecurity expert Jake Moore said. We are currently on the cusp of malicious actors shifting expertise and resources into using the latest technology to manipulate people who are innocently unaware of the realms of deep fake technologyand even their existence.



The thought of a sample of your voice, be it from a YouTube or Facebook video, or from a simple phone call, being used to clone your voice for malicious purposes is sort of terrifying…

everyone needs to know about this...
someone could just call and have your number ported away and then steal your 2-factor authorizations