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EVERY day, 11-year-old Jake* runs to the letterbox to check if the postman has been. For four weeks he’s been waiting for a parcel that seems as if it will never come. Of course these days you can order anything online, but this isn’t like any other purchase his mum, Ellie, has ever made. “It appears perhaps that our order has been held up in customs,” Ellie says. “That’s something else that just makes me aware of how weird and how covert this could seem to others.” Even though Ellie desperately wants to help her son, she is the first...

Sheriff's deputies are seeking suspects in connection with a burglary, after an 83-year-old Saratoga woman reported a box filled with her late husband's ashes missing Friday. Around 11:35 a.m., deputies responded to the 10000 block of Howen Drive for a report of an interrupted burglary, according to sheriff's officials. When deputies arrived, deputies learned the victim had arrived home and saw two young men running away from the residence and get into a cream-colored four-door sedan, containing a male driver, sheriff's officials said. The vehicle was last seen driving southeast from the residence, toward Saratoga High School. When the victim...

The spouses of transgender people face their own dramatic transformations—only no one celebrates them.Elizabeth Miller sat in her living room with her wedding album in her lap. It had been a long while since she’d brought it up from the basement, and the brown leather cover was worn, the pages slightly yellowed. From under their plastic covering, the pictures show pink linen tablecloths and taffeta gowns and Elizabeth in a dainty white Laura Ashley dress and a flower crown, peering up at the camera with that expectant newlywed’s look — heaps of bliss, a dash of terror. Next to her...

Suspect admits repeatedly running car over victim before dousing him and his vehicle in gasoline and lighting the fire The Abu Dhabi Police (ADP) have arrested a Pakistani truck driver who is suspected of killing an investor of the same nationality in an act of revenge. The suspect, whose brother was killed six years ago in Pakistan, alleged that the victim had hired someone to kill his brother following a dispute over a plot of land. The details of the incident as narrated by Brigadier Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Abu...

First link upper left; malware notice! http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://abc7.com/news/suspect-arrested-in-attack-on-83-year-old-man-in-oc/1004031/ Link at end of excerpt; OK. http://abc7.com/news/suspect-arrested-in-attack-on-83-year-old-man-in-oc/1004031/

I logged in to Facebook this morning and got the White Screen of Death. It shows nothing. Just a blank screen. All other sites work fine. I tried it from home, and remoted into work, and it failed in both places. Anyone else getting this?

Here's a tip for incoming college freshmen: Class doesn't have to be boring. If you plan your schedule carefully, you will have time for some fun. Course offerings change every semester, and many schools peg seminars and pop culture classes to current events. Chances are you'll have to take ancient history or molecular chemistry courses at some point, but you'll also have opportunities to explore topics you genuinely think are interesting, like zombie survival tactics or Harry Potter. Check out a few of the offerings at various institutions for the upcoming school year: * Lucid Dreaming, Oberlin Experimental College Oberlin's...

A man from southern Sweden, who was accused of murdering his wife, is suing for damages after it was established that his wife was killed by an elk.The man, a resident of Loftahammer in southern Sweden, is now demanding 621,000 kronor compensation for being falsely accused of murder. His lawyers are critical of the way in which prosecutors and the police handled the investigation after the 63-year-old woman was found seriously injured near the shore of a lake outside of Loftahammar in northeast Småland in September 2008. According to the man, investigators were too quick to assume that he had...

Short man robs bank in supermarket FALLBROOK, Calif. — A diminutive man in sunglasses robbed a North County supermarket banking desk Friday, authorities reported. The thief, who appeared to be in his early 30s, handed a demand note to a teller at the U.S. Bank office at the Albertsons store in the 1100 block of South Mission Road in Fallbrook shortly after 10 a.m., according to the FBI. The bandit fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Witnesses described him as a roughly 5-foot-4-inch, 110-pound white man with short brown hair, freckles and protruding ears. The same man is believed...

Pyongyang says it has developed miniaturized nuclear BBs making it possible to fit them into standard BB and Air-soft projectors. The report comes just days after North Korea claimed a joint venture with Lucas Films to build a golf-ball-sized Death Star. “It has been a long time since we began miniaturizing and diversifying our means of nuclear strike,”North Korea’s National Autocratic Defense Commission said in a statement, as cited by the official Korean Nuclear Agency (KNA). "We have also reached the stage where the highest accuracy rate is guaranteed not only for short- and medium-range BBs such as 10 yards...

He is bawling at his press conference concerning his resignation.

To cleanse the palate, via the Daily Beast, I give you the most Boston thing that ever has happened or ever will happen. I made the mistake of watching it while having lunch and laughed so hard that I had to stop so that I wouldn’t choke. This guy’s basically a cross between Joe Pesci and Peter Griffin.

Donald Trump is not happy with the Associated Press photographer who took a picture showing a significant number of empty chairs at a South Carolina event on Wednesday — so unhappy he called him a “f***ing thief,” according to the Daily Mail. Trump’s remarks about wire photographer Mic Smith follow a rough couple of days for his relationship with the press. On Wednesday, he said he would no longer appear on Fox News, which responded that Trump "doesn’t seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.” Later, he agreed...

The combine was reported weaving from ditch to ditch on U.S. 56 highway. It struck a guy wire and caused damage to power poles near the intersection of Southeast 10 Road and U.S. 56 Highway. It then continued West and entered the city of Ellinwood around 10:47 p.m. The driver drove through a residential neighborhood, striking several power poles and a 2005 Cheverolet pickup truck parked on the road. The pickup truck sustained extensive damage and the 8-row combine header was torn from the combine. An Ellinwood police officer attempted to contact the driver around 10:52 p.m. While doing so,...

Full title: 'We're going to be the majority soon! Furious Muslim parents taunt New Jersey school board over religious holiday closure. Muslim families wanted Jersey City schools to close down September 24 in observance of Eid al-Adha holiday. After initially approving closure, school board ultimately voted to keep schools open so as not to disrupt lives of non-Muslim families. Students who choose to stay home Thursday to celebrate the holiday will not be penalized. By Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com

RC Broom Flyer Witch for Halloween by Otto Dieffenbach ( 0:30 )Published on Sep 25, 2013 ... This video is of the Witch variation of [ Otto Dieffenbach's ] Broom Flyer. This was the first day of flying and it was quite windy, 20 mph plus. ... A build log is posted in rcgroups titled RC Broom Flyer Wizard Witch at http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showth.... RC Witch Broom Flyer Part 2 by Otto Dieffenbach ( 0:54 )Published on Oct 10, 2013 ... This video is a better cut of the Witch Broom Flyer. This was the first day of flying and it...

A man allegedly hit another man at a tasting table at Costco in Burbank on SundayA 24-year-old man has been charged in connection with punching a 78-year-old shopper in the face after the victim protested about how many samples the man had taken at a Nutella waffle tasting station at a Costco in Burbank, police said. Derrick Gharabighi, of Burbank, has been charged with felony elder abuse and personal infliction of great bodily injury against a person over 70 years of age, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The suspect is accused of striking a man...

A serial prankster's luck has ended in a moment of poetic justice when he was punched to the ground and shot after attempting to film himself scaring a pedestrian. Vladimir Tzapaev runs a YouTube channel which showcases videos of himself dressing up in costume and jumping out at young women walking the streets at night. But his latest prank - all of which was caught on film - backfired spectacularly when a young man refused to be cowed and fought back.

What started as an impromptu dance battle between two rival high school drill teams ended with a violent melee involving dozens of teens and parents who rushed the football field in Dallas. The brawl broke out Friday night at Wilmer Hutchins Stadium at the conclusion of a football game between Wilmer Hutchins High School and James Madison High School. Grainy cellphone footage shot by an eyewitness captured the moment the schools' all-female drill teams came to blows.