Iraq Injured Vet Sees With His Tongue

Although this is not really in the paranormal field, it is most unusual and may signal things to come.
"Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg, 24, from Walton, Liverpool, can read words, identify shapes and walk unaided thanks to the BrainPort device, despite being totally blind.

The Liverpool fan, who plays blind football for England, lost his sight after being struck by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Basra in 2007.

He was faced with the prospect of relying on a guide dog or cane for the rest of his life.

But he was chosen by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to be the first person to trial a pioneering device – the BrainPort, which could revolutionise treatment for the blind.

The BrainPort converts visual images into a series of electrical pulses which are sent to the tongue. The different strength of the tingles can be read or interpreted so the user can mentally visualise their surroundings and navigate around objects.

The device is a tiny video camera attached to a pair of sunglasses which are linked to a plastic ''lolly pop'' which the user places on their tongue to read the electrical pulses.

L/Cpl Lundberg explained: ''It feels like licking a nine volt battery or like popping candy....

''The camera sends signals down onto the lolly pop and onto your tongue. You can then determine what they mean and transfer it to shapes.

''You get lines and shapes of things. It sees in black and white so you get a two-dimensional image on your tongue – it's a bit like a pins and needles sensation.

''It's only a prototype, but the potential to change my life is massive."...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7450643/Blinded-soldier-now-able-to-see-with-his-tongue.html
(full article) photo from same source.

History Of St Patrick's Day

"St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage."
http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

"St Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland. True, he was not a born Irish. But he has become an integral part of the Irish heritage, mostly through his service across Ireland of the 5th century.

Patrick was born in the later half of the 4th century AD. There are differing views about the exact year and place of his birth. According to one school of opinion, he was born about 390 A.D., while the other school says it is about 373 AD. Again, his birth place is said to be in either Scotland or Roman England. His real name was probably Maewyn Succat. Though Patricius was his Romanicized name, he was later came to be familiar as Patrick.
Patrick was the son of Calpurnius, a Roman-British army officer. He was growing up as naturally as other kids in Britain. However, one day a band of pirates landed in south Wales and kidnapped this boy along with many others. Then they sold him into slavery in Ireland. The was there for 6 years, mostly imprisoned. This was when changes came to him. He dreamed of having seen God. Legend says, he was then dictated by God to escape with a getaway ship.

Finally, he did escape and went to Britain. And then to France. There he joined a monastery and studied under St. Germain, the bishop of Auxerre. He spent around 12 years in training. And when he became a bishop he dreamed that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them about God. The Confessio, Patrick's spiritual
autobiography, is the most important document regarding this. It tells of a dream after his return to Britain, in which one Victoricus delivered him a letter headed "The Voice of the Irish."

So he set out for Ireland with the Pope's blessings. There he converted the Gaelic Irish, who were then mostly Pagans, to Christianity. He was confident in the Lord, he journeyed far and wide, baptizing and confirming with untiring zeal. And, in a diplomatic fashion he brought gifts to a kinglet here and a lawgiver there,but accepted none from any.

Indeed, Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. Through active preaching, he made important converts even among the royal families. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times,but escaped each time. For 20 years he had traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion. He developed a native clergy, fostered the growth of monasticism, established dioceses, and held church councils.

By the end of the 7th century Patrick had become a legendary figure, and the legends have continued to grow since then. There are many legends associated with St Patrick. It is said that he used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity; which refers to the combination of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hence its strong association with his day and name Legend also has that, Saint Patrick had put the curse of God on venomous snakes in Ireland. And he drove all the snakes into the sea where they drowned.
True, these are mostly legends. But, after some 1500 years, these legends have been inseparably combined with the facts. And together they have helped us know much about the Saint and the spirit behind celebration of the day. Patrick's mission in Ireland lasted for over 20 years. He died on March 17, AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. The day's spirit is to celebrate the universal baptization of Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. Or, rather, 'be an Irish Day '. And the Irish has borne it as part of their national tradition in everywhere they populated and prospered. The Catholic feast day for this most loved of Irish saints has become a holiday in celebration of the Irish and Irish culture. The leprechaun, a Celtic fairy, has become entrenched as a chief symbol for this holiday, as is the shamrock, an ancient symbol for the triple goddess Brigit. It is fitting that this holiday should fall at the time of the year when the return of spring begins to seem at hand. But why the icons like the green color, the tri-leafed shamrock, the leprechaun, or the pot of gold and Blarney's stone- all came to be associated with the celebration of this Day? "

http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/historyofpatrick.htm

The Green Beer Irish Earrings are mine

Did a phantom kangaroo once haunt Chicago?

Sort of cute story recently found.The illustration is a shirt from CritterJitters at Etsy.A link to the shop and to the full article will be at the end.

" Did a phantom kangaroo once haunt Chicago?
March 11, 2010

Dear Cecil:

I came across a cryptozoology reference which claims Chicago police pursued a mysterious kangaroo or kangaroo-like creature in October, 1974, but the critter escaped. What was that all about? Did it even happen?

It wasn't a kangaroo, Una. It was a phantom kangaroo. A kangaroo is a cute story in the newspapers for a couple months. A phantom kangaroo, as the cryptozoologists prefer to put it, takes us into the realm of myth. Mark my words, the legend of the phantom kangaroo(s) of Chicago will be told around the campfires a thousand years hence.

The story broke on October 19, 1974, when the Tribune reported that a 150-pound kangaroo had made monkeys out of two Chicago cops in Jefferson Park. That should put you on your guard right there. Nothing ever happens in Jefferson Park, and the cops have a lot of time on their hands. This tempts them to be inventive. (I have personal knowledge of this. No, I'm not giving you any details.) Ain't claiming that's what happened here, just saying I wouldn't rule it out.

Here's what happened, according to the Trib:

The visitor from Australia, owner unknown (she called the police to tell them she was missing her kangaroo, but they forgot to get her name and telephone number), was sighted in the Jefferson Park district early Friday morning by homeowners taking out the garbage.

Police were summoned, and two of them, Leonard Ciangi and Michael Byrne, cornered him/her in a gangway between two houses on Meade Avenue between Eddy Street and Cornelia Avenue.

They were thoroly kicked for their troubles.

"We were trying to grab him and put handcuffs on him," Byrne said. "He took off, and we chased him for about a block and a half before we lost him."

Byrne said the kangaroo is about 4½ feet high and … was making "strange noises," and added:
"He was, well, he was growling at us. It scared the hell out of us, seeing him in a gangway growling."...

"To no one's surprise, the story proved to have, you should pardon the expression, legs. The headline over the next day's report read: Invader still staying jump ahead of police. Lame, you say? OK, Mr. or Ms. Literary Critic, we'll put you on the copy desk and hand you a kangaroo-eludes-cops story. I dare you to resist."...

"The account had its dubious aspects. I quote:

They stood eyeball to eyeball, and the kangaroo blinked.

That's how Kenneth Grieshamer, 13, described his dawn counter Saturday with the mysterious Northwest Side kangaroo as the marsupial continued to bemuse residents and elude police.

Grieshamer, a Tribune news carrier, was delivering papers at about 7 a.m. when he heard the screech of brakes and turned, expecting to see an accident, but instead saw the 150-pound kangaroo, just a few feet away.

Let's pause right there. The kid is a Trib news carrier. The news carriers work for the circulation department. The circulation department's job is to (duh) increase circulation. What better way to accomplish this than to find excuses to keep running ridiculous stories about kangaroos? You don't suppose … ?"...

"By this time the kangaroo story had been picked up by the wire services and was running around the country and in Australia. The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post all weighed in. Radio stations played the old Rolf Harris song, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport." President Gerald Ford, discussing the kangaroo situation before a gathering of Republicans in Chicago, said, "The Democrats want to register it [i.e., the kangaroo] to vote, at least once." The crowd busted a gut. We post-moderns may scoff, but it beats what passes for political discourse today....

I'll omit the Christian Science Monitor's page 1 story on December 31, and skip past the Washington Post's July 15, 1975 bulletin about a kangaroo sighting near Decatur, Illinois. I merely note that today if you Google "Chicago cryptozoology kangaroo," you get a lot of hits like this:

*

Phantom kangaroo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
*

X-Project: Phantom Kangaroos
*

The Elusive American Kangaroo? : Extraordinary Intelligence.

See? Right up there with the abominable snowman and the Loch Ness monster. Maybe the phantom kangaroo legend began on a slow news night in Chicago, but it belongs to the ages now.

— Cecil Adams"
http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100311.php
Youth Kangaroo Tshirt Vintage Australian Animal Nature Tee 2/4 6/8 10/12 14/16

http://CritterJitters.etsy.com

Disaster Preparedness:

In discussing urvivalism, expert Jim Rawles says "the mindset of preparedness in an uncertain world, and the wild cards to prepare for including solar flares, EMP attacks, & global economic collapse. "I try to encourage people to get squared away on what I refer to as 'beans, bullets, and Band-aids,' essentially everything people would need for a major disaster," he said, noting that normal commerce could be disrupted in number of scenarios.

Among the most important items for people to have are good quality water filters (such as Katadyn or British Berkefeld), as you may need to collect water from open sources, he detailed. A first-aid kit, wind-up radio, canned & dried foods, firearms, cash, and alternative communication devices like a CB radio are among the additional items he mentioned. Rawles stressed that training is even more important than the supplies. For instance, if you don't know how to use a gun or perform first-aid, the items are useless.

The power grid in the United States is particularly vulnerable to an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack or an X-Flare from the sun (like the Carrington Event of 1859). Such occurrences could knock out radio, telecommunications, GPS, and even cars might not work-- a cascade of events which could "bring us to our knees," Rawles pointed out. He recommended that people move to lightly populated farming regions, if they are able to. Interestingly, he noted there were two very different groups currently interested in survivalism, conservative Christians and left-of-center environmentalists, but within his website forum they were finding common ground to explore.?

http://www.survivalblog.com/

And all I had heard about was 2012.Some things maybe it would be better not to know.
Image from above website.

Purple Snow In Russia

Although it is well known that purple is my favorite color,it would be most alarming to see this.

"Southern Russia overwhelmed with purple snow
permalinke-mail story to a friendprint version

Published 09 March, 2010, 22:43

Edited 12 March, 2010, 12:48

The very morning following the widely celebrated Woman's Day - people in Southern Russia could not believe their eyes when they found purple snow piled on city streets.

Scientists confirmed a multi-coloured snowfall – ranging from light purple to brown – had landed in Russia's Stavropol Region.


Having analysed the samples, climatologists ruled that the snow is perfectly safe. However, eating purple snow is still not recommended as scientists say it is full of dust from Africa.

A massive dust cyclone rose to upper atmosphere layers and then mixed with regular snow clouds in Russia's South.

So, as a matter of fact, purple snow was an expeditious shipping of African sand beaches to Stavropol region. If it was not for negative temperatures, its residents could already be having sand-bathes.

A similar incident took place some years ago in Russia's Far East."

From the News listed on Coast To Coast AM.

Ghosts For Sale

It has been said that you can get anything on line.This bit of news tops most..No it is not Ebay..

"A woman in New Zealand is selling what she claims are two troublesome exorcised ghosts on an internet auction website.


By Paul Chapman in Wellington
Published: 6:30AM GMT 05 Mar 2010

She claims the ghosts, one of an old man and the other a young girl, were removed from his house by a spiritualist and are now captured in vials of holy water.

Avie Woodbury, who signs herself as Melvin S from Christchurch, says on the www.trademe.co.nz website that the spirits created havoc in her house before the exorcism, switching lights on and off, turning an electric kettle on, and terrifying the dog.


"One spirit we believe is a man by the name of Les Graham, managed to track down a photo," she said on the website. "He died in the house in the 1920s.

"The other spirit came from when me and my partner stupidly did a Ouija board."

The second spirit is a little girl "who likes to move things", she said.

"Exorcist says she is very strong and if left will get stronger.

"We have had no activity since they were bottled on July 15, 2009, so I believe they are in the bottles."

She said the holy water has changed from clear to a blue colour since the spirits were bottled and "sort of puts them to sleep".

"To revive the spirit, I have been told that you pour into a little dish and let it evaporate into your house.

"I just want to get rid of them as they scare me. But someone might like these to play with."...

"The sale has turned into one of the auction website's most popular attractions, drawing more than 70,000 hits so far.

It has also provoked strong feelings from viewers, with one describing him as "absolutely sick" for selling someone's family members.

Another warned her that she risked eternal damnation.
...One prospective buyer asks what would happen if he poured the contents into a shot glass and drank them.

"I don't know but you might have friends for life," she replied. "Multiple personalities might haunt you." One prospective buyer asks what would happen if he poured the contents into a shot glass and drank them.

"I don't know but you might have friends for life," she replied. "Multiple personalities might haunt you."

Another viewer wants to know if the "beverages" contain any dangerous additives.

But the most sardonic comment comes from the person who says: "I have two spirits in bottles at home.

"I think they are called Jim Beam and the other is Johnny Walker."
full article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7372452/New-Zealander-tries-to-sell-two-ghosts-on-internet.html

The illustration is my Ghost Family made from a glove..Happy Hauntings..

THE MACKIE HAUNTING

When I first saw this, I thought it was the familiar one about the country singer and his place that has been on several mainstream programs.This is a different spelling though and a different story...from About Paranormal

"By now it must be clear to you that not all hauntings are benign. They can sometimes - although rarely - be far more physical and threatening than a fleeting shadow drawn by Casper the Friendly Ghost.

What took place at the Machttp://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa102807_4kie farmhouse beginning in February, 1695, for example, is one of the most active and violent poltergeist cases on record. I was also well documented, having been witnessed and experienced by more than a dozen upstanding members of this Scottish community. Andrew Mackie, described by neighbors as "honest, civil and harmless," lived in the modest farmhouse with his wife and children. The property had been known to be haunted, but the Mackies experienced nothing out of the ordinary there... until that February.

The attack on the Mackies began with an assault of stones and other objects, thrown by some invisible force. Several family members were struck and injured by the missiles. The family sought the counsel of Alexander Telfair, the parish minister, who upon arrival experienced first-hand the bewildering phenomena. Whatever the entity was, it "molested me mightily," Telfair said, "threw stones and divers other things at me, and beat me several times on the Shoulders and Sides with a great Staff, so that those who were present heard the noise of the Blows."

The hateful presence was unrelenting. The Mackies testified that it attacked their children one night in their beds, delivering forceful spankings. More than once "it would drag People about their House by their Clothes," an investigation described. A blacksmith narrowly escaped death when a trough and plowshare were hurled at him. Small buildings on the property spontaneously burst into flames and burned to cinders. During a family prayer meeting, chunks of flaming peat pelted them. A human shape, seemingly made out of cloth, appeared, groaning, "Hush... hush."

This being the late 17th century, the Mackies were quick to attribute the phenomena to demons. On April 9, Andrew Mackie enlisted no less than five ministers to exorcize the farmhouse of the demonic spirits. But the ministers were to have their hands full throughout the ritual. Stones hailed down on them. A few of the minister, including Telfair, claimed that something had grabbed them by the legs or feet and lifted them into the air. The clergymen were not willing to yield victory to the entity, however, continuing their exorcism efforts for more than two weeks. Then on Friday, April 26, a voice from the invisible specter declared to them, "Thou shalt be troubled 'till Tuesday."

When that day arrived, the witnesses watched in astonishment as a dark, cloud-like shape formed in the corner of the Mackies' barn. As they stared, the cloud grew larger and blacker until it nearly filled the entire building. Blobs of mud flew out of the cloud into the faces of the witnesses. Some were gripped by some vice-like force. And then... it vanished, just as it promised it would."
http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa102807_4.htm (Mackie)