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an australian man has managed to build up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.
frank clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.
when he walked into a building in the country town of warrnambool in the southern state of victoria on thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.
"it sounded almost like a firecracker," clewer told australian radio friday. "within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt."
employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building.
"there were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official henry barton.
clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters.
"we tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," barton said.
"i've been firefighting for over 35 years and i've never come across anything like this," he said.
firefighters took possession of clewer's jacket and stored it in the courtyard of the fire station, where it continued to give off a strong electrical current.
david gosden, a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at sydney university, told reuters that for a static electricity charge to ignite a carpet, conditions had to be perfect.
"static electricity is a similar mechanism to lightning, where you have clouds rubbing together and then a spark generated by very dry air above them," said gosden.
reuters
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a u.s. doctor has sued a seattle-area newspaper for defamation after it reported he posed as his twin, a gynecologist, to have sex with his brother's patients.
dennis momah said the king county journal defamed him in 2003 when it published an article that said: "two twin brothers were taking turns having sex with patients on a regular basis without the patients' knowledge that they were two different people."
momah, who filed the lawsuit in king county superior court this week, also sued harish bharti, an attorney quoted in the paper who represents six female patients of charles momah, dennis momah's twin and a gynecologist.
charles momah is being sued by some of his former patients, who say that he switched places with dennis, giving him access to his gynecological patients.
in february, six patients said in a lawsuit that they were sometimes deceived into being seen, examined, operated on and sexually fondled by dennis momah, a general practitioner who is not certified in obstetrics and gynecology.
charles momah, who had medical practices in two suburbs south of seattle, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of rape, indecent liberties and insurance fraud. that trial is scheduled for october 4.
dennis momah, who has not been charged with any crime, said in his lawsuit that the article was "published negligently and with reckless disregard for the truth."
barbara morgan, executive editor of the king county journal, said the newspaper had not been served and did not know the details of momah's lawsuit.
dennis momah's lawyer, timothy ford, said the media coverage had ruined his nigeria-born client's career.
"right now he's looking for work," ford said.
bharti was not immediately available for comment, and phones to charles momah's practices were disconnected.
sounds pretty wierd...
:: anathema ::
reuters
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three new orleans police officers are facing battery charges after investigators reviewed a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer grabbing and shoving an associated press television news producer who helped capture the confrontation on tape.
after being questioned and arrested, the three officers were suspended without pay sunday, police spokesman marlon defillo said. the police promised a criminal investigation.
"it's a troubling tape, no doubt about it," defillo said.
the confrontations come as the department — long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption — struggles with the aftermath of hurricane katrina and the resignation last month of police superintendent eddie compass.
the aptn tape shows an officer hitting the suspect, robert davis, at least four times in the head saturday night outside a french quarter bar. davis appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers.
another of the officers then kneed davis and punched him twice. davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.
then a fifth officer ordered aptn producer rich matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. when matthews held up his credentials, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.
"i've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... go home!" shouted the officer, who identified himself as s.m. smith.
in addition to smith, the other officers charged were identified as lance schilling and robert evangelist. smith is an eight-year veteran of the force, while evangelist and schilling have served three years each.
"the incidents taped by our cameraman are extremely troubling," said mike silverman, ap's managing editor. "we are heartened that the police department is taking them seriously and promising a thorough investigation."
police said davis, of new orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. he was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.
a mug shot of davis, provided by a jailer, showed him with his right eye swollen shut, an apparent abrasion on the left side of his neck and a cut on his right temple.
davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of conti and bourbon streets. three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other is light skinned. the officer who hit matthews is white. defillo said race was not an issue.
two of the officers in the video appeared to be federal officers. numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of katrina, and defillo said it would be up to their commanders to decide if they would face charges.
under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on bourbon street. but new orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane. about 300 officers apparently either died, abandoned their posts or disappeared for some other reason.
those who stayed slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.
"our police officers are working under some very trying times," defillo said. "so it's a difficult time, but it doesn't excuse what our jobs are supposed to be."
conditions have improved — officers now have beds on a cruise ship — but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.
compass, the police superintendent, resigned sept. 27. despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.
on friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that new orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars — including 41 new cadillacs — as the storm closed in.
news.yahoo.com
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washington — murder charges may be brought against some marines for what may be the worst atrocity committed by u.s. military personnel in iraq, a senior pentagon official said friday.
the official said marines were likely responsible for killing as many as two dozen unarmed civilians, including women and children, in haditha last november. a separate investigation is under way into whether marines tried to cover up the killings. the official requested anonymity, citing the ongoing criminal investigation of the incident.
the marines initially reported that one marine and 15 iraqi civilians had been killed in crossfire when u.s. forces responded to an insurgent attack on nov. 19. the first report to the contrary surfaced in march, when time magazine quoted witnesses saying the marines "went on a rampage after the attack, killing 15 unarmed iraqis in their homes, including seven women and three children."
in addition, photos taken of the scene reportedly do not support the marines' original account of how the incident evolved.
a pentagon official said that the time report was "fairly benign" compared to what the investigation by the naval criminal investigative service and multi-national forces iraq has uncovered. lawmakers have been told that the results of the probe will be issued in about 30 days, a congressional official said.
three marines have been relieved of their command, though the reasons have not been announced. any marines found guilty of murder, a capital offense, could face the death penalty.
last week, rep. john murtha, a decorated vietnam veteran and former marine who is the ranking democrat on the house defense subcommittee, told reporters after being briefed on the probe that the killings were committed "in cold blood." on thursday, senate armed services committee chairman john warner told reporters that "incidents of a very serious nature did take place."
a pentagon spokesman said friday that he believes the military's investigation is winding down, but that no announcements should be expected in the next few days.
eric ruff, the pentagon press secretary, did not comment on reports that murder charges were possible' he said defense secretary donald h. rumsfeld was being kept apprised of the investigations.
"needless to say, we have to take seriously allegations of that type, and they're under investigation and they will then be handled in the normal order of things," rumsfeld said on fox news last week.
on wednesday, the marines announced that a separate investigation had been launched into the alleged killing of an iraqi civilian in hamandiyah by marines in april. as many as eight marines who may have been involved were relieved of their command and ordered back to the united states, an official said.
a pentagon official said the death occurred "outside of any authorized operations" and that some marines have already confessed to involvement.
on thursday, marine corps commandant gen. michael w. hagee flew to iraq to warn his troops against allowing the unrelenting insurgent violence to leave them callous to human suffering and the loss of life.
"we do not employ force just for the sake of employing force. we use lethal force only when justified, proportional and, most importantly, lawful," hagee wrote in a statement issued by his office. aides said it was the basis of remarks he intended to make to marines in iraq this week.
"many of our marines have been involved in life or death combat or have witnessed the loss of their fellow marines, and the effects of these events can be numbing," hagee said in his statement. "there is the risk of becoming indifferent to the loss of a human life, as well as bringing dishonor upon ourselves."
"to a marine, honor is more than just honesty; it means having uncompromising personal integrity and being accountable for all actions," hagee said. he urged all marines to have the moral courage to "do the 'right thing' in the face of danger or pressure from other marines."
he referred to "recent serious allegations about actions of marines in combat," but he did not specifically cite the two cases — one from last november and the other in april — of alleged killings of civilians.
both the house and senate armed services committees plan to hold hearings on the matter. hagee met with top lawmakers from those panels this week and discussed the november and april incidents.
source: fox news
