Bees Seized In Queens: Millions Of Insects Confiscated From NY Man's Driveway

Bees Seized In Queens (Photo: ABC News)

Millions of bees were seized from a Queens man's driveway on Wednesday night.

Members of the New York City Beekeepers Association confiscated 45 hives containing about 3 million bees from the home of Yi Gin Chen, a restaurant owner who had been a beekeeper in China. The bees were kept in a 20 by 20 space.

"I’ve never seen anything as reckless as this is New York City," Andrew Coté, founder of the New York City Beekeepers Association, told The Epoch Times. "Hives three feet from the egress of neighborhood buildings, on the ground, in shambles, diseased [bees], completely stripped of all of their honey, not just their excess honey, [and] unregistered. I hardly have the stomach for it."

Police say Chen's collection has grown out of control and is in violation of the urban beekeeping rules.

Beekeeping is legal in New York City but beekeepers are required to register with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and to adhere to appropriate practices. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine of $2,000 per hive.

The 58-year-old insisted that he didn’t know of any regulations and that beekeeping is only his hobby.

$1.7 Billion Parking Meter Suit Filed By California Woman

A California woman filed a $1.7 billion parking suit against the city of Santa Monica, Calif.,

Denise Barton is claiming she is suffering health complications from "smart" parking meters around the city.

"In April, they started turning on the new smart meters downtown and I started getting sick," Barton told ABC News. "I figured that’s the value of my life and health considering how much I had to go through as a child,"

Barton said the radiation from the wireless signals emanating from the meters is causing ringing in her ears, ear infections and tightness on the back, left side of her neck.

A city spokesperson said, "The meters use basic wireless technology that is commonly available and utilized in WiFi and cellular communications."

The meters use a cell phone network to communicate for 2 to 4 seconds when a sensor detects a vehicle or when a sensor detects a vehicle leaving, according the the ABC report.

Santa Monica's liability adjuster has reportedly launched an investigation into the merits of the lawsuit. Pending an investigation, the $1.7 billion suit may result in either a payout or a rejection of the claim.

Ukraine Banning Kids' Shows Like Spongebob And Teletubbies As They 'Present Real Threat To Children'

Morality police in the Ukraine is proposing to ban several popular kids' shows as they "present real threat to children," the Ukrainian newspaper Ukraínskaya Pravda reported on Thursday.

Ukraine Banning Kids' Shows

The Ukraine's National Commission for the Protection of Morality wants to ban Spongebob Squarepants for its perceived "promotion of homosexuality" and Teletubbies as it sends children into a trance and creates "an imbecile who will sit near the screen with an open mouth and swallow any information."

The Commission also cites Family Guy, Futurama, Pokemon, and The Simpsons, alleging the cartoon programs as "projects aimed at the destruction of the family, and the promotion of drugs and other vices."

It adds that Japanese Anime series are also "a clear example of sexist propaganda."

Quoting psychologist Irina Medvédeva, the Commission said the animated shows will cause young children to "pull faces and make jokes…laugh out loud and repeat nonsense phrases in a brazen manner."

Lunch Lady To Be Fined For Serving Free Food In Residential Area

Lunch Lady Fined (Photo: NBC)

A lunch lady in Pennsylvania will be fined for running a free lunch program in her community since it is in violation of a township ordinance.

Angela Prattis, who has been handing out free, pre-packaged meals to underprivileged children in her Toby Farms neighborhood in Chester Township, will be fined $600 per day unless she would apply for a variance, or exception, from the ordinance in order to be allowed to continue the activities.

According to the town, the lunch lady is zoned residential and therefore needs a variance to offer free lunches. However, it would cost her $1,000 just to apply.

Check out a video report from NBC Philadelphia below:

Navy Cmdr. Michael Ward II Allegedly Faked Death To End Extramarital Affair

Navy Cmdr. Michael Ward II purportedly faked his death in order to end his affair with a Virginia woman.

Navy Cmdr. Michael Ward II, when he took command  of USS Pittsburgh on August 3, 2012

Meeting on a dating website last October, Ward, 43, reportedly told the 23-year-old woman he was separating from his wife and that he worked in "special ops."

The woman told The Day newspaper in Connecticut that Ward used the name Tony Moore in his emails and that she only learned about his true identity when she met him in person.

Months into the alleged affair, the woman said she received received an email purportedly from Ward's co-worker named Bob, who used Ward's account.

"I am extremely sorry to tell you that he is gone," the email dated July 6 said, according to The Day. "We tried everything we could to save him. I cannot say more. I am sorry it has to be this way."

The woman, who has not been named, then drove to his home in Burke, Virginia to pay her respects, only to be told by the new owner that that Ward had just relocated for his new job.

During the ordeal, she told the paper that she became ill and was hospitalized and found out she was pregnant, but that the baby was lost.

The woman said she contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service about the incident.

"I don't want revenge here," the woman told The Day. "I want everyone to know the truth about Michael. He does not need to be commanding a submarine. He's a deceitful man."

A Navy press release said Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II was relieved and demoted to an administrative job "due to lack of confidence in Ward's ability to command based upon allegations of personal misconduct."

"Our Navy has a very clear and unambiguous standard regarding the character of our commanding officers, spelled out in the Charge of Command. I reviewed this charge with Cmdr. Ward before he assumed command. He understood the Navy's high standards for command leadership and he failed to uphold them," Navy Capt. Vernon Parks said in a press release.

85-Year-Old Couple To Remarry Nearly Half-Century After Divorce

85-Year-Old Couple To Remarry

An 85-year-old couple from New York, who spent nearly half a century apart having split up in 1964, are set to remarry at a ceremony on Saturday.

Lena Henderson and Roland Davis, both 85 years old, married in their teenage years but split up after 20 years of marriage.

Roland remarried and moved to Colorado Springs, but he stayed in close touch with his ex, who often gave his new wife advice on "how to deal with him."

Worried about him being alone in Colorado, their oldest daughter, Johnnie Mae Funderbirk, began urging him to come back East and reconnect with Lena and the rest of the family.

Earlier this year, Roland proposed to an accepting Lena over the phone and the two are happily looking forward for the ceremony this weekend. To be witnessed by over four generations of family, the event will be held at the Elim Christian Fellowship Church in Central Park Plaza, followed by a reception at an Amherst restaurant.

Lena will be wearing a steel blue dress while Roland a black tuxedo.

Australian Drug Bust Seizes $525M Worth Of Ice, Heroin

Australian Drug Bust

A drug bust operation in Australia seized $525 million worth of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, and heroin, several news agencies reported Monday, July 31, 2012.

Officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Customs and Border Protection discovered Monday 675 pounds of ice and 555 pounds of heroin hidden inside 100 sealed large decorative terracotta pots in a shipment of 3200 pots that arrived in Sydney two weeks ago.

The drug haul is the largest ice bust and third-biggest heroin bust ever in the country's history. The drugs have a combined street value of $525 million.

Four Hong Kong nationals and three Australians have been arrested, each facing a potential life sentence if convicted on drug charges.

"At the end of the day, there's a lot of 'Mr Mediums' and 'Mr Littles' that work with 'Mr Big'," Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin told reporters. "I think we've got a good combination of the people responsible for this importation."

"We're talking about a significant quantity of two separate types of substances which generally have different source countries," Colvin said, adding the investigation was continuing and further arrests were possible.

The Australian police reportedly acted on a tip from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Police did not say the origin of the shipment.

James Holmes Called Himself Joker, Says NYC Police

James Holmes

A New York City police commissioner said that Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes called himself as Joker, one of Batman's nemeses, after he was arrested.

"It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman," said NYC Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

However, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates would not confirm the said information, but did say he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York. Asked whether Holmes had makeup to look like the Joker, Oates said: "That to my knowledge is not true."

Wearing a gas mask, Holmes barged into a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado where the new Batman movie was screening Friday, hurled a gas canister and then opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.

Holmes was arrested in a nearby car park shortly after the shooting.

Born December 13, 1987, Holmes spent at least part of his childhood in San Diego, where he attended Westview High School. A yearbook showed he played soccer on the junior varsity team.

According to reports, Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from a doctorate program in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Denver.

The University of California, Riverside, confirmed that a student named James Eagan Holmes, with the same date of birth, graduated with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience in 2010.

On a rental application, the 24-year-old described himself as "quiet" and "easy-going."

The FBI has said Holmes is white, 6 feet and 3 inches tall. His only police record was a traffic ticket in 2011. The car he was driving to the theater had Tennessee plates.

Nazis Planned To Kill Churchill With Choco Bomb

Nazis Planned To Kill Churchill (Daily Mail)

The Nazis planned to kill Sir Winston Churchill with a bar of exploding chocolate, according to secret wartime papers exchanged between MI5 officials.

The explosive was covered in a layer of real plain chocolate and wrapped in black paper with gold lettering and was planned to be discreetly placed among trays of luxury foods frequently taken into the War Cabinet's dining room.

A blast from the chocolate bar was expected to kill anyone within several meters.

But the plot was foiled by British spies who discovered the chocolate was being made and tipped off one of MI5’s most senior intelligence chiefs, Lord Victor Rothschild.

Lord Rothschild immediately typed a letter to talented illustrator Laurence Fish, asking him to draw poster-size images of the chocolate to warn the public to be on the look-out for the bars.

His letter to Mr. Fish, dated May 4, 1943, was written from his war bunker in Parliament Street and marked "secret" in red letters.

"I wonder if you could do a drawing for me of an explosive slab of chocolate,' he wrote. 'We have received information that the enemy are using pound slabs of chocolate which are made of steel with a very thin covering of real chocolate."

He added: "I enclose a very poor sketch done by somebody who has seen one of these. It is wrapped in the usual sort of black paper with gold lettering, the variety being PETERS. Would it be possible for you to do a drawing of this?"

The letter was found by Mr Fish's wife, journalist Jean Bray, after his death in 2009. Mrs Bray, 80, said Lord Rothschild had told her husband that Churchill and his War Cabinet had been the intended targets.

Via The Daily Mail

Dark Knight Rises Shooting In Colorado Leaves 14 Dead, 50 Injured (Video)

Dark Knight Rises Shooting

A mass shooting broke out at a midnight screening of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in Aurora, Colorado Friday, killing at least 14 and wounding about 50 more.

Reports say that a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire at around 12:30 a.m. local time inside Theater 9 at the Century 16 cinema complex at the Aurora Town Center in the Denver suburb.

The police said the 24-year-old gunman was later arrested in a nearby car park. A rifle and a hand gun were also found in his possession.

Local police chief Dan Oates told reporters the following during a press briefing:

As of now we only know of one gunman and we have noi evidence of any additional shooters. Police officers responded and found the gunman in the back of the theatre outside in the parking lot in his car in possesison of a gas mask and at least a rifle and a hand gun."

The shooting went on for some time as. We have approximately 50 injured and 14 dead. 10 dead in the theatre and four died at the area hospital.

The police response consisted of any one who was bleeding into police cars into hospitals....There may be some double counts.

The suspect is in custody and made statements about possible explosive in his residence. At this time there is a residence in a B=North Aurora apartment building which has been evacuated and we are searching for explosive inside there.

We are also concerned about explosives in the parking lot as it is [currently] sealed off.

An amateur video posted to Youtube shows people walking around outside the theater, purportedly in the moments after The Dark Knight Rises shooting. One man could be seen wearing a bloodstained shirt while some could be heard shouting. Check out the said video below below:

N.J. Mayor's Home Raided By FBI

N.J. Mayor's Home Raided

The Federal Bureau Investigation conducted a predawn raid on Wednesday at the home of a New Jersey mayor, whose two-year administration of Trenton has been plagued by accusations nepotism and mismanagement.

FBI agents raided the home of Mayor Tony Mack at about 2 a.m. EDT but they did not reveal what they were looking for.

Agents also searched the homes of Mack’s brother, Ralphiel, and Joseph Giorgianni, who was one of the mayor’s biggest early campaign donors.

The mayor emerged later in the morning from his home, denied any wrongdoing.

"We have not violated the public trust, nor have I violated any of my public duties," he said. "And that’s all I have to say on the matter."

A citizens group last year failed to get enough signatures to force a recall election.

Mutant Mosquito Breeder Inaugurated In Brazil To Fight Dengue Fever

Mutant Mosquito

A breeder for a mutant mosquito has been inaugurated in Brazil in hopes of finding a more effective way to combat dengue fever, a disease that has already struck more than 430,000 people this year nationwide.

Brazilian authorities inaugurated the so-called "mosquito factory" on July 7, which will breed 4 million genetically modified Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes yearly.

The facility cost 1.7 million reais ($850,000) to build and was financed by the government of Bahia state with the help of the Health Ministry.

The mutant mosquitoes will be let loose in the future in a medium-sized city in order to test the real impact of the experiment based on techniques already tried out by English scientists.

The process has been tested successfully in the small city of Juazeiro in central Bahia state, where the number of  Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes dropped by 90 percent in six months, according to official estimates.

Aedes Aegypti mosquito is the vector for transmitting dengue fever, an illness that affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, causing fever, muscle and joint ache as well as potentially fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

With report from the Fox News Latino

Gun On Live TV: Jordanian MP Faces Criminal Charges

Gun On Live TV

The Jordanian lawmaker who pulled out a gun during a heated live TV debate is now facing criminal charges.

MP Mohammed Shawabka has been filed with attempted murder following the TV incident on Thursday.

During a prime-time debate aired on the private Jordanian Josat satellite station, Shawabka threw his shoe at his activist opponent, Mansour Sayf al-Din Murad, before pulling his pistol out and pointing it at him after the latter called him a "mafia thief." The debate covered Jordanian politics and the Syria's uprising.

The programme host, Mohammed Hasbashneh, tried to intervene to separate the two, but to little success.

The debate was abruptly stopped and taken off air by the broadcaster as the fight continued.

Murad is a former guerrilla with a Palestinian group. He was jailed in Greece for participating in the 1969 hand grenade attack on the Athens office of the Israeli airline El Al that killed one child. Murad was freed in 1970 in exchange for 55 hostages aboard a hijacked Olympic Airways jetliner.

Gun-toting Aussie Swimmers Prohibited From Using Social Media

Gun-toting Aussie Swimmers

As punishment, the gun-toting Aussie swimmers have been banned from using social media by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk posted on Facebook photos of themselves at a gun shop in the United States where members of the Australian Olympic swimming team had been training and competing in the qualifiers for the London Olympics. They were slammed by anti-gun groups in Australia and later deleted the pictures under pressure from governing body Swimming Australia.

The AOC said that the gun-toting swimmers are not only banned from using their social media accounts but will be also sent back to Australia after their events at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"Australian Olympians are required to meet very high standards of conduct and we cannot risk the reputation of the team," the AOC said in a statement.

The AOC added that the punishment was separate to a disciplinary process being carried out by Swimming Australia (SA).

SA supported the AOC's decision and added that that they had yet to finish their own internal process.

"We will be speaking with the athletes involved further about this matter, and reminding them about their responsibilities as representatives of the Australian swim team," SA said in a statement on Saturday.

Luka Rocco Magnotta Arrested In Germany (Video)

Luka Rocco Magnotta Arrested

Murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta has been arrested in Germany on Monday.

Magnotta, who was dubbed as the "Canadian Psycho," was apprehended by Berlin Police at an internet cafe in the Neukölln district, less than a week since the Interpol issued a Red Notice for him at the request of Canadian authorities.

The 29-year-old adult movie actor is being accused of killing and dismembering his former boyfriend, 33-year-old Chinese student Lin Jun, and sending body parts to political parties in Ottawa through the mail. Police said he also filmed the crime and posted it on the internet. (There is still a copy of the video online but don't anymore search for it since it is very disturbing.)

The arrest warrant that was issued against Magnotta contains the following accusations: first degree murder; committing an indignity to a dead body; publishing obscene material; mailing "obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous" material; and criminally harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several (unnamed) members of Parliament.

Magnotta is also alleged of being a serial cat killer. He purportedly posted videos of him killing cats and kittens online.

Check out the video of  Luka Rocco Magnotta's arrest below:



Video courtesy of the Associated Press, Youtube

Vampire skeletons excavated by Bulgarian archaeologists

Vampire skeletons excavated?

"Vampire" skeletons have been unearthed by archaeologists in Bulgaria.

Two skeletons from the Middle Ages, which were discovered in the Black Sea town of Sozopol, are being linked to vampires because they were pierced through the chest with iron rod.

According to Pagan beliefs, corpses of people who were considered bad during their lifetimes should be stabbed with iron rods so that they will not turn into vampires.

Historian Bozhidar Dimitrov said the practice was common in some Bulgarian villages even until the first decade of the 20th century and that over a hundred of  "vampire" skeletons  have been excavated across Bulgaria over the years.

"I do not know why an ordinary discovery like that [has] became so popular. Perhaps because of the mysteriousness of the word "vampire," he said.

Legends about vampires are widespread across the Balkans. The most popular perhaps and had been featured in a number of movies and TV shows is that of Romanian count Vlad the Impaler, known as Dracula, who staked his war enemies and drank their blood.

Are the skeletons proofs of the existence of vampires?

Big Ben's Renaming: Britain's Parliament Clock Tower To Be Renamed After Queen Elizabeth

Big Ben's Renaming (Home Office)

Big Ben's renaming to Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen Elizabeth and to mark her 60th year on the throne, according to several reports.

A Daily Mail report said the campaign to have Big Ben renamed has been signed by 331 lawmakers.

"It is great news that so many MPs from across the House are backing what would be a fitting tribute to the queen. I hope it will now move ahead," the Mail quoted Prime Minister David Cameron as saying.

Big Ben is a 96-metre (316-foot) tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It is formally known as the clock tower but is commonly known as Big Ben after the huge bell that it holds, whose distinctive "bongs" sound out the hours in central London.

Lawmakers accepted that the iconic tower would continue to be known colloquially as Big Ben, but said that its formal name should honor Queen Elizabeth.

The governing body of the British parliament will reportedly meet by the end of June and is expected to agree on the renaming of Big Ben.

Earlier this year, Big Ben was in the news after the parliament discussed how to manage a tilt affecting the tower. The tilt is 0.26 degrees to the north west and has increased very slightly since 2003, although an expert study found it was unlikely to be a problem for 10,000 years.

Britain is holding four days of celebrations beginning on Saturday to mark Elizabeth II's jubilee including a 1,000-boat river pageant and a star-studded concert.

Crystal Lagoons Corp. Builds World's Largest Outdoor Swimming Pool In Chile

Crystal Lagoons Corp. Pool Photos

Crystal Lagoons Corp. has developed the new record holder for the biggest outdoor swimming pool in the world.

Located at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo,Chile, the world's largest pool is about 1,013 meters (3,324 ft) in length and with a total area of 8 hectares (19.77 acres).  That's equivalent to 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Chile's enormous pool holds 250 million liters (66 million gallons) of crystal clear seawater and uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other.

San Alfonso del Mar resort's pool is also the record holder for the world's deepest at 115 feet!

It reportedly took five years to build, cost nearly $1 billion, and has an annual maintenance bill of $2 million.

Desmond Hatchett, Man Who Fathered 30 Kids, Seeks Child Support Help

Desmond Hatchett, Man Who Fathered 30 Kids (Youtube)

Desmond Hatchett, who has 30 kids with 11 women, is asking the state of Tennessee for help in paying for child support. Hatchett cited the fact that he earns minimum wage.

Under the law, the state is only allowed to claim a maximum of 50 percent of a person's salary for child support. Splitting half of Hatchett's minimum wage earnings 30 ways means that some of his kids only end up with $1.49 a month.

Hatchett made national news in 2009 for having fathered 21 kids at the age of 29. That means that he had 9 more children in the last 3 years!

Constitutionally, there is nothing the state can do to limit him from having more.

"I had four kids in the same year. Twice." Desmond Hatchett told Volunteer TV.

The oldest of his kids is now 14 years old while the youngest is a toddler. Hatchett claims he knows all his kids' birthdays and names.

Native Americans Shipwrecked In Holland?

Native Americans Shipwrecked In Holland?

Archaeological evidence suggests that other cultures reached America even before Christopher Columbus. Among them were the Vikings, Polynesians and even Romans.

But did you know that there are also accounts that Native Americans also navigated the Atlantic Ocean and were shipwrecked in the Netherlands around 60 B.C.?

"Native Americans also crossed the Atlantic: anthropologists conjecture that Native Americans voyage east millenia ago from Canada to Scandinavia or Scotland. Two Indians shipwrecked in Holland around 60 B.C. became major curiosities in Europe," sociologist James Loewen wrote in his book "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong."

Though Columbus was not the first to reach the Americas, he is being credited for the discovery of the "New World" as his expedition was responsible for bringing the Americas to the forefront of Western attention.