Wallaby tablets ?

Scientists have discovered a bacteria-fighting compound 100 times more effective than penicillin - in wallaby milk.

Researchers found the highly-potent compound, tagged AGG01, was active against a wide variety of fungi and bacteria including antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Research team leader Dr Ben Cocks said the discovery could have a profound impact on both human and animal health.

"This compound has the potential to be commercially synthesised and may prove vital in the war against increasingly resistant human and animal diseases," Dr Cocks said.

He said researchers from the Victorian government's Department of Primary Industries made the discovery while investigating the chemical properties of Tammar wallabies' breast milk to determine how their immune-deficient newborns built up resistance to bacteria while in the pouch.

Using online biological information, they searched the wallaby's genome to identify more than 30 factors in the breast milk that contribute to fighting bugs.

Compound AGG01 was found to be effective against a relative of the hospital superbug MRSA, or golden staph, as well as ecoli, Streptococci, Salmonella, Bacillus subtilus, Pseudomonas spp, Proteus vulgaris, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Pink Taco restaurant furore

In a city aspiring to be defined by its good taste, a new Mexican restaurant, the Pink Taco, is opening with a name that some find offensive. Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross was so put off by the name, a slang term for vagina, that she asked its owner to change it.

"I don't appreciate anything that offends more than half the population," Manross said. "But he said no and heard my concern. I really didn't want to see a business with that name opening anywhere here."

Sounding more strip club than cantina, the restaurant isn't coy about the double entendre.

"(The name) came out of a dish (that's on the menu), but it's tongue-in-cheek. It was amusing, catchy," Pink Taco CEO Harry Morton said. "You've got to stand out from the rest of the crowd."

The Scottsdale City Council will consider the Pink Taco's application for a liquor license May 15 and will vote whether to recommend that the state liquor board approve the license. No letters of opposition have been filed with the city so far, but Pink Taco management is nervous about the name controversy because the restaurant won't open without that license.

The original Pink Taco is inside Morton's family-owned Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where they serve strong margaritas and upscale food with sides of loud rock, Mexican art and "East LA" bric-a-brac, i.e. low-rider bicycles and license plates.

"I haven't had a single flap since the restaurant opened - in 6 years," Morton said.

Scottsdale is first in a planned expansion to other "AAA+ locations in A+ markets," he said.

The Pink Taco is slated to open in June on the corner of Scottsdale and Camelback roads in the $250 million Scottsdale Waterfront.

The restaurant will be next to the elegant Wildfish Seafood Grille and boutiques where blouses sell for as much as the payment on a Lexus. Nearby condos under construction will cost as much as $4 million.

And the name does offend some:

"It's degrading to women. It sounds like a sexual slur," said Dorina Wilson, 40, of Phoenix, a mom who shops in the area regularly.

Dawn Staples-Kerr, 39, of Scottsdale, agreed. "I don't think we'd even go to lunch there. It's already been a talking topic," she said. "We were like, 'Can you believe they're going to open something with that name here?' "

Moments later, Staples-Kerr explained the phrase to a friend who's 44. Giggling ensued.

David Roderique, the economic-vitality director for Scottsdale, also giggled when asked about the restaurant. Then he regained his composure. "While there may be some people who have concerns about the name of the restaurant, we've got a younger crowd who appreciates more diversity and finding ways to slap the establishment," he said.

The leasing agents in charge of the Waterfront's retail space knew the name had baggage, but it didn't matter in the face of the hipster cachet the Pink Taco would bring, said LeDonna Spongberg, vice president of leasing at the Phoenix-based Corritore Co.

"We knew who they were, and we liked them; they bring a really high energy to the project," she said.

Future condo tenants haven't been turned off by the name, said Jeff Roberts, vice president of real estate development with Opus West, the Waterfront condo developer.

Rick Kidder, president of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, wonders if people aren't upset because the name goes over their heads.

"I've seen the Blue Burrito, and I thought, 'Oh, Pink Taco. OK.' " he said. "Somebody had to explain it to me. I just didn't get it."

Funny

LOL a Shakespearean insulut generator can be found here

They include ...
Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milkmaid, if she be in love, may sigh it off.

Thou caluminous guts-griping bugbear!

and my favourite :

Thou crusty botch of nature!

Pigeon poop causes shootout

Pigeons at a market in Bolton were shot dead by marksmen using high-powered air rifles in an early morning cull.

The 90-minute licensed cull followed complaints by traders and managers at Farnworth Market about high levels of droppings. A total of 40 birds were shot dead from 6am on Wednesday.

Usually poison or even birds of prey are used to control roosting pigeons. Special nets were also put up at the market to cover its stalls.
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But Bolton council said it had no choice but to order a cull as a last resort after the situation worsened.

The council said the cull was carried out with the knowledge of the police to protect the public from health risks associated with bird droppings. It ended at 7.15am - and the council said another one could be necessary. A spokesman said: "It was decided to carry out the operation at 6am on a day when the market was not open to ensure there was no risk to the public or traders. Pest control officers were called in at the request of market management and traders."

40,000 in London marathon

SIR STEVE REDGRAVE broke the record yesterday for fundraising at the Flora London Marathon, with £1.3 million of pledges for finishing the course.

The five-times Olympic rowing champion, who had run only a handful of sessions this year, completed the 26 miles 385 yards in 5 hours, 29 minutes and 6 seconds, well behind his two former crewmates, Sir Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell.

However, Sir Steve, who was raising money for his trust, which benefits several charities, said: “This year was not about winning but all about the money. I am so pleased so many people will benefit.”

His fundraising total beat last year’s record of £1.25 million, set by Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Faithworks and Parent Talk, for which he was running.

Sir Steve insisted that this was his last marathon, despite many people recalling that after winning his fourth Olympic title in 1996 he said: “Anyone who sees me near a boat again has my permission to shoot me.”

He then went on to triumph for a fifth succesive time in Sydney in 2000, in a boat with Pinsent and Cracknell.

All three and the 34,145 other registered competitors ran in a steady drizzle, which cooled the conditions for those in fancy dress as a gorilla, a belisha beacon or bird.

Despite the rain there were huge crowds, with Cracknell saying: “If this is what happens in these conditions, think what it will be like when we stage the Olympics in 2012. I had tears in my eyes as I ran across Tower Bridge. I found it amazing that so many people would shout my name, that of a minor sportsman, competing in what is not his main event.

“The crowds got more and more passionate as you go down the course. People seemed genuinely to care what you do. It is different from an event that is just confined to elite competitors. Everyone in this race has their own goal.”

Cracknell was the first of the trio to finish, but failed by ten seconds to beat his target time of three hours, almost collapsing after crossing the line. He had been able to start running only in the middle of February after he had recovered from his feat of rowing across the Atlantic in 49 days. His hips began to suffer badly under the strain and he was given an ice pack at the finish.

Gordon Ramsay, the celebrity chef, ran his sixth London Marathon, recording 3 hours, 46 minutes and 10 seconds, blaming his relatively slow time on his “manic work schedule”, saying: “I did my first 90 minutes run in Dubai.”

The wheelchair event was spoilt when Ernst van Dyk, the favourite from South Africa, crashed on a roundabout after three miles and brought down Denis Lemeunier, of France, the 2001 winner. David Weir, of Britain, blamed Van Dyk for going too fast at that part of the course, but he himself went on to win, setting a course record of 1 hour, 29 minutes and 48 seconds.

London marathon wedding

A bride and groom will be forgiven for not making any long speeches on their big day after tying the knot while running the London Marathon.

Katie Austin and Gordon Fryer, dressed in an ivory bridal gown and morning suit, exchanged vows on Tower Bridge - halfway round the 26.2 mile route.

Ms Austin, 25, said they asked friends and family to make donations to charity rather than buying wedding presents.

The pair from Romsey, Hampshire, have raised £12,000 for Help the Hospices.

Also taking part were Ms Austin's parents, Tina and Bob, who gave their daughter away in the Bridge Master's dining room on Tower Bridge.

After the 80-minute ceremony the newly weds were showered with confetti by cheering guests and well wishers before heading for the finish line.
Speaking at the start of the race Mr Austin said: "It's a very emotional day giving your daughter away and what a day to do it.

"I didn't think there would be this many at the wedding and I am certainly not getting the first round in."

Wearing a full-length ivory wedding dress Ms Austin said they had decided to get married during the marathon to "capture the imagination of family and friends".

She said she hadn't tried running in the dress before: "It's absolutely filthy already... but we're not taking ourselves too seriously today."

Mr Fryer said he would carry his bride over the finish line "if I've got enough strength left in me".

The couple plan to go on honeymoon next week, once they have fully recovered.

Lobster POT

A group of fishermen in The Maldives got more than they bargained for when they reeled in the country's largest ever drugs haul, local media reports.

The lobster catchers found 1,697 plastic bags packed with cannabis in a lagoon, Haveeru news agency reported.

The drugs on the ocean floor weighed in at over 1.6 tons in total.

Police are investigating the incident. Drug smuggling in the island paradise is punishable by death, although no-one has ever been executed for the crime.

According to the Haveeru Daily newspaper the scale of the drugs haul has caused tension among local people who are insisting that police must destroy it in a transparent manner.

Mystery of the Stateless American

Swedish authorities Saturday are investigating how a man calling himself a "stateless American" ended up floating on a raft of oil barrels and wood planks in the waters between Denmark and Norway.

The man -- who carried no identification, spoke perfect English and said his name was George Williams -- was found by a Norwegian oil tanker Friday morning, floating in the Skagerak sea on a raft of four oil barrels held together by a frame of wooden planks.

He told police he had been thrown from a ship several days earlier and now wanted to go to New York, but offered little further information.

He asked to be taken in by Swedish authorities, and shielded his face from photographers when he was taken to a port in southern Sweden.

"If he was thrown off a ship, they must have thrown off the raft for him to sit on as well, so I don't know," Swedish marine police spokesman Bengt Albinsson said. "We are trying to figure out the circumstances, but we will have to see how much he wants to tell us."

The man claimed to be a "stateless American" born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1959, police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

"He says he has lived for a long time in the USA, but does not want to say where," Fuxborg said. "He has worked in Europe, but does not want to say where and with what. He is not seeking asylum in Sweden but wants to go to New York."

The man was taken to a hospital in southern Sweden to be treated for dehydration and a frostbitten foot but did not seem seriously injured, authorities said.

He will be held in police custody until Monday, when authorities will contact the U.S. Embassy to try to confirm his identity, Fuxborg said.

Sign of the times

A Kansas City girl who skipped school Thursday received an unusual punishment from her father.

When Don Wesselman found out his daughter, Samantha, had skipped her freshman classes at Bonner Springs High School to hang out with friends, he gave her two choices.

"I told her she could either get disciplinary actions at home, or she could go up the street and hold a sign for 30 minutes," Wesselman told KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Mo.

She chose told hold up the sign, which read: "I skipped school so I don't have to learn so my Dad made me this sign so I can be ready for the future. God Bless."

Motorists and passers-by saw her holding up the sign.

The girl received some sympathetic looks, but others cheered the father's discipline.

"Outstanding -- that's the only thing I can say about that," a bystander said.

"I feel the parents don't do enough of that. I'm raised the old world way, and kids have got to learn there are rules and regulations," a passer-by said.

"I bet she won't do it again because that's embarrassing. I guarantee you that daughter won't do that again -- to see everybody knowing that you skipped school -- she won't do that again," a witness said.

"I think I put my foot down and she isn't going to do it again," Wesselman said.

After her 30 minutes were up, Samantha handed over the sign to her father, who said they'd be having a conversation later over why she skipped school.

Wesselman said he got the idea for the sign from another parent in New York who did something similar a few years ago.

Toilet eruptions

The house is worth about $101,000, but it may cost the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, more than that to clean it up.

Homeowner Meg McCormick said it sounded like an elephant belching and looked like a small oil well had been struck.

There was a grease clog in a sewer line near her house, and workers used a high-pressure hose to blast it open. It blew all the black gook back into McCormick's house, creating a geyser of sewage spraying from her toilet bowl.

The eruption lasted 55 minutes, leaving 4 inches of sludge in the house.

City officials said they'll gut, repair, and clean up the house.

Trashy exhibition

An art installation called "Trash People" by German artist H.A. Schult stands outside the Cologne Cathedral in Germany on Friday. The exhibition features 1,000 life-size statues made of rubbish.
HA Schult has exhibited all ove the world ,including the great wall of China and below Zermatt in Switzerland.

Happy St Georges day !

Today is St Georges day , tha patron saint of England.
As with most saints, myth and legend surrounds St George and of how a Roman soldier came to be regarded as the essence of England.
He is most famously known as the brave slayer of the dragon and saviour of the maiden but, although this story exists in a number of different medieval texts and art, it has no historical basis.
There is very little information about the life St George, but it is known that he was not English.

He is thought to have been an early Christian martyr from the area of modern day Turkey, who was executed in Palestine in the third century.
Legends about his valorous deeds as a soldier-saint began in the 6th century and by the 12th century the famous story about his rescuing a king's daughter and slaying a dragon had become widespread.

Some experts think the tale is based on the Greek myth of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from a sea monster.
St George was popularised in England by Crusaders, Christian knights returning from religious wars in the Middle East.
He was supposed to have appeared to the Knights dressed in white robes decorated with a red cross during the 11th century siege of Antioch.
He became the official patron saint of England in 1425 after Henry V's victory at the Battle of Agincourt.

The Red Cross of St George is England's national flag and it also forms part of Britain's Union Jack.
However, the English are not the only people to stake a claim in St George.

In the Middle East, Christians invoke his powers to help exorcise demons.

In many countries St George is associated with fertility and his day marks the very beginning of summer.

In Lithuania he is revered as the guardian of animals and in parts of Spain St George's day is celebrated with feasts and gift giving.

Commuter of the year

NEW YORK: Dave Givens drives 372 miles to work and back every day and considers his seven-hour commute the best answer to balancing his work with his personal life.

The winner of a nationwide contest to find the commuter with the longest trek, Givens is one of millions of people who are commuting longer and further than ever before.

Studies show Americans spend more time than ever commuting and for a growing number, getting to work takes more than an hour.

In the most recent US Census Bureau study, 2.8 million people have so-called extreme commutes, topping 90 minutes.

Givens, a 46-year-old electrical engineer, has an extreme commute between home in Mariposa, California, and his job in San Jose.

He leaves home before dawn and returns after dark.

Cool

Recycling starts at home - and what's cooler than trading in your old LEGO bricks for the real thing, and by doing so, helping to rebuild schools in New Orleans?

Through Aug. 31, the toy maker promises to match every brick it receives with the genuine article. It's also asking kids to send in notes, drawings or pictures of something they think would benefit the New Orleans of the future.

For more information, visit legobuildersoftomorrow.com.

Aus firefighters rescues

Western Australian firefighters were called to help a man whose genitals had become snared in a horse's bridle.

It is one of the many bizarre jobs FESA officers have been sent to so far this year.

Firefighters have performed nine animal rescues, including one on a dog with its head stuck in a pool fence in Armadale.

They also saved a kookaburra caught in a chimney.

They rescued a magpie from a tree after the bird became trapped in string and was unable to free itself.

Firefighters have also saved children stuck in precarious positions.

A Geraldton youngster got his head stuck in a bed and was freed by them.

An eight-year-old Atwell child became trapped in a bunk-bed and another youngster had his hand stuck in a drink-vending machine.

There was also a shed fire caused by an electrical fault. The burnt-out shed revealed a hydroponic marijuana set-up.

Fire crew tried to help the man with his penis snared in part of a horse's bridle. But they were unable to provide assistance and the man was taken to hospital for treatment.

FESA's director of metropolitan fire services, Russell Stevens, said firefighters were being called to assist in a range of situations, such as helping ambulance officers lift obese patients.

They also had to attend shocking car crashes and cut victims free.

Perth fire station officer Mario Fazio said the job fascinating and brought challenges every day.

"You do get jobs out of left field every now and then," Mr Fazio said.

"Last year an elephant at Perth Zoo was sick and we had to assist to get it to its feet. First we used airbag lifting equipment and then we ended up using a crane and sling to do the job.I enjoy every day. It's a fantastic job. There's plenty of variety. Every day is a challenge and you work with a great bunch of blokes."

Too skinny to be an Aussie

A British woman was told she was too thin to become an Australian citizen.

Helen Evans, who weighs 6st 11lb and is 5ft 3ins tall, was facing deportation after her low weight meant she failed a health check.

But a tribunal overturned the ruling and she has now been told she can stay in Australia pending a decision on her application for permanent residence.

Psycho cheque writer

Colorado - An alleged case of cheque fraud in Mesa County is keeping investigators on their toes.

Authorities say a 37-year-old Grand Junction man told them he let his chequebook out of his sight for a time, then discovered 12 cheques were missing -- and might have been written without his permission.

But Sgt. Matt Lewis said the man is worried he might still be liable for them, because he has a multiple personality disorder -- and fears one of his other 24 personalities might've used the cheques.

Lewis said the man was right to report the missing cheques, and that authorities will keep in touch with him and his bank.

Idiot of the year

A man raising his 18-month-old daughter alone tried to sell the little girl for $7,000 so he could make improvements to his house, police said Friday.

The man from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, tried to sell his daughter to a Grand Chute couple, who helped authorities in the investigation, Grand Chute police Chief Ed Kopp said.

"He was having difficulties raising the child alone and wanted to use the money for some home remodeling," Kopp said.

Danny Vu, 37, was charged Friday with unauthorized adoption placement, a felony that carries up to six years in prison.

The daughter showed no signs of physical abuse, Kopp said. Brown County officials will probably place her in temporary foster care.

The man wanted to sell the girl "and didn't want anything to do with the baby after that," Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider said.

The man owns a nail salon in Green Bay. A salon employee told the man he knew a Grand Chute woman who was looking to adopt a baby, and the man and the Grand Chute woman were introduced, police said. A friend of the woman later called police.

Schneider said the couple wanted to contact attorneys and follow legal adoption procedures, but the man did not want to involve attorneys.

Police arrested the man after the Grand Chute woman called police to say he was on his way to their home with the girl Wednesday night, Kopp said.

"We obviously had some concern about the child and what condition she was in, so we made the decision to intercept him," he said.

The girl's mother left the area several months ago and is not in the country, Schneider said.

Vu was jailed in lieu of a $10,000 cash bond.

Defense attorney Eugene Bartman said Vu, who was born in Vietnam but is a U.S. citizen, has never been in trouble with police or in jail before.

Vu "understands what's going on and thinks it's very unfair," Bartman said

Naked carpenter

A carpenter who keeps his clothes clean by working in the nude was arrested after a client returned home early and found him building bookcases in the buff.

Percy Honniball, 50, was charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure this week for the October incident.

He told officers he stripped before crawling under the client's house to do electrical work because he didn't want to soil his clothes, police said.

Honniball said Thursday that working in the nude gave him a better range of motion and that a skilled craftsman can work clothing -- and injury -- free.

"In certain situations such as demolitions where you are smashing rock you want to be clothed and protected because this rock can harm you," he said.

Honniball was caught working naked in Berkeley three times in the last six years and put on probation for violating a city ordinance. Honniball said he doesn't plan to do work in his birthday suit again.

Police said he apologized to the startled homeowner, but was fired. The homeowner paid Honniball for the finished work, but deducted $200.

"He kept out that amount to change his locks," Oakland Police Officer Jesse Grant said.

Mistaken ID sex

A MAN who claims he mistakenly had sex with "the wrong woman" after entering a dark bedroom at the home of a Sydney magazine editor was yesterday committed to stand trial for rape.

Paul John Chappell, 31, was invited back to the editor's Bondi flat after they met during a night out.

The pair went to bed and Chappell later got up to use the bathroom.

But Chappell claims he mistakenly returned to the wrong bedroom, where the editor's 23-year-old flatmate was asleep.

He got into bed with the flatmate and initiated sex, allegedly believing she was the other woman.

The flatmate participated because she thought it was her own boyfriend who had come to bed after falling asleep in the loungeroom.

When she turned on the light, the "hysterical" woman saw Chappell in her bed and realised her boyfriend was still asleep on the couch.

Chappell intends to plead not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.

"The defence case is he made a mistake," barrister Wayne Flynn told the Downing Centre Court Local yesterday. "He went into the wrong room and had sex with the wrong person.

"He thought he was having sex with the person he went home with.

"The (alleged victim) says she believed she was having sex with her boyfriend. She made a mistake as to who she was having sex with and so did the defendant."

In a statement to police on the morning of the incident on October 1, the alleged victim said she had gone to bed about 2am, leaving her drunk boyfriend asleep on the lounge.