Deer Antler NFL found Spray

NFL bans substance found in a spray derived from deer antlers

This story is as weird as the recent deodorant commercials Ray Lewis stars in.

The scariest man in the NFL and former University of Miami star has been implicated in a drug scandal that involves body parts from a deer. Yes, deer!

Apparently, Lewis uses a mouth spray derived from the velvet on deer antlers from New Zealand that essentially works as a Fountain of Youth and keeps his body fresh and helps him recover after dishing out dozens of violent hits every week similar to how a performing enhancement drug like HGH would.

While the antler brew is derived from a natural substance, it contains IGF-1, a substance banned by the NFL, reports the Baltimore Sun. The deer antlers are also crushed up and put in capsules to be taken in pill form.

It's official: Athletes will do anything to get ahead. Boxers and baseball players have turned to their own urine for an edge, others have used teas and herbs, both illegal and allowed, but if the allegations are true, Lewis has gone buck wild.

The supplier of the deer spray, Mitch Ross, said he has provided 25 bottles of his youth-enducing brew to the All Pro linebacker in the past two years and has the text messages to prove it.

Lewis, a15-year veteran, had his best statistical seasons in six years in 2010 and didn't miss a game. He recorded 139 total tackles while leading the Baltimore Ravens' stingy defense.

Lewis, whose Ravens were knocked out of the playoffs last weekend, has not commented on the controversy, but he has never failed an NFL-sanctioned drug test.

But Yahoo! Sports claims the antler spray wouldn't be detected because it would be found in the blood stream and not the urine, which the NFL tests.

Cincinnati Bengals safety Roy Williams said he uses the spray also, which begs the question how many tough NFL players are turning to Bambi for a pick me up?

Swiss ex-banker found guilty but not jailed

A Swiss court found former banker Rudolf Elmer guilty on Wednesday of breaching strict banking secrecy for publicising private client data and of threatening an employee at his former firm Julius Baer (BAER.VX).

But the court only sentenced him to a fine of 7,200 Swiss francs ($7,505), suspended for two years, compared to a prosecution demand for eight months jail and a fine of 2,000 francs.

Elmer, who helped bring WikiLeaks to prominence three years ago when he used it published secret client information and who handed over new data to the website on Monday, had admitted sending confidential bank data to tax authorities.

But he had denied blackmail and a bomb threat against Julius Baer and said he never took payments in return for secret data. (Reporting by Andrew Thompson)

News From: www.reuters.com

FBI Bomb Found MLK Parade Route

FBI: Pipe Bomb Found On MLK Parade Route

A suspicious backpack left along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, Wash., held a radio-controlled pipe bomb that could have sprayed shrapnel at marchers in the parade.

Three parade workers spotted a backpack with visible wires on a bench at North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane about 30 minutes before the parade was scheduled to begin Monday. Authorities rerouted the parade while officers from the Spokane Police Department's bomb disposal unit worked on the bomb.

FBI special agent Frank Harrill, the supervisory senior resident agent in Spokane, told ABC News that the backpack was "a viable device."

"The potential for lethality was clear," Harrill said. The local bomb squad neutralized the device, he added.

According to an FBI press release, "Subsequent preliminary analysis revealed the backpack contained a potentially deadly destructive device, likely capable of inflicting multiple casualties."

The bomb, described as a small pipe bomb, was designed to be triggered by a radio frequency system, and was directional – meaning it was designed to spray its deadly shrapnel in the direction it was pointed, law enforcement sources said. Aimed at the parade route, it could have caused multiple casualties among the marchers. About 1,500 people showed up for the parade.

The case is being actively investigated by the FBI's Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever made the device.

The FBI has released pictures of the bag and two tee-shirts that were in the bag. The FBI is attempting to locate local security camera footage and is also asking individuals who have pictures or video from the event to contact the FBI.



News From:  www.abcnews.go.com

200 Dead Cows Found

200 Dead Cows Found In Wisconsin

200 cows were found dead Friday on a farm in Portage County, Wisconsin. The dead cows had to be removed with semi-trucks. The rest of the farm has not been quarantined, as officials say no threat is posed toward humans or other animals, according the The AP.

The owner of the dead cows was working with a local veterinarian, who initially believed a virus such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) or bovine virus diarrhea (BVD) could be the culprit, according to The Wausau Daily Herald. WSAW News reports that more recent updates have suggested pneumonia as the cause of the mass cow deaths, though such widespread cases of pneumonia are rare. Tests are still underway to determine what is responsible. See WSAW's full video report here.

Though likely unrelated, many other incidents of mass animal deaths have been reported in the U.S. and around the world in the past month. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve, following a massive fish kill just 100 miles away days earlier. In the week following, other mass bird deaths were reported in nearby Louisiana and Kentucky. Birds were also reported to fall dead from the sky in Italy and Sweden, and more recently similar incidents have been reported in California and Alabama.

Mass fish kills have also been reported in Chicago, Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand, along with 40,000 dead crabs that washed ashore on England beaches.

Many explanations have been offered for the various mass animal deaths, with everything from fireworks, semi-truck collisions, overeating and cold weather blamed for the birds' deaths. Cold weather has also been pinned to likely be the cause of many of the fish and crab deaths, as well. According to The AP, mass animal deaths are not all that uncommon.

Blackbeard’s Sword May Have Been Found

Hilt of Pirate Blackbeard’s Sword May Have Been Found

Blackbeard, the infamous pirate of the 17th and 18th centuries, had a nasty reputation of intimidating his foes with just his looks alone.

However, researchers recently said they may have found the sword hilt of Blackbeard, possibly adding some context to why he was feared.

Experts say that they found a partially-gilded hilt off North Carolina’s coast in the wreckage of the Queen Anne's Revenge, according to researchers with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. The ship was the main one Blackbeard captained.

Over the past 14 years, the researchers have been picking through the wreckage and found pieces of the hilt, which they reassembled and are now unveiling it to the public this week, a press release with the department said.

"In any event, the pirates would have had ample opportunity to take anything that they thought valuable,” David Moore of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources told National Geographic.A few media reports have emerged over the week that the hilt, which is made of brass, was in fact Blackbeard’s but the Department of Cultural Resources report never makes that direct claim.

The hilt may have been discarded after the shipwreck because it wasn’t useful or not easily reached, the Department of Cultural Resources said.

So, the sword may have indeed belonged to the infamous pirate but it may not have been his only sword. It may have also been the sword of one of his subordinates.

Blackbeard, born Edward Teach, was the archetypal pirate that many swoon over today, flying the first black flag with a skull and crossbones.

Sri Lankan Flood-hit elephant calf found dead

Flood-hit Sri Lankan elephant calf found dead in tree

An image has emerged from Sri Lanka of a dead elephant calf stuck high in a tree after getting caught up in the country's fast-flowing floods.

The animal was found near the Kaloya river in northern Sri Lanka, which rose 18ft (5.5m) above its normal height.

Local villagers alerted photographer Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa, who took the picture on Thursday.

He believes the photo will be a defining image of the country's recent heavy flooding.

"I have been working as a journalist for the last 10 years but this is likely to be one of the strangest photos I will ever take in my career," Mr Ariyadasa told the BBC.

"The animal is still stuck in the tree as we speak while wildlife officials work out the best way to get it down to conduct a post-mortem examination."

Thousands of animals - including elephants, snakes, water buffaloes and livestock - are thought to have perished in the floods.

More than 30,000 army, navy, police and air force personnel are currently battling to provide urgent aid to people hit by the disaster.

At least 23 people have died and more than a million have been affected by the flooding, which the government says has displaced more than 325,000 people.
News From www.bbc.co.uk

Simon Monjack Found Dead at 39 Brittany Murphy's Husband

Brittany Murphy's Husband, Simon Monjack, Found Dead at 39

Simon Monjack, 39, the husband of Brittany Murphy, has been found dead at his Hollywood Hills home Sunday night, just five months after the sudden death of the late actress.

Police spokesman Sgt. Louie Lozano says the preliminary cause of death is “natural causes”, but the investigators are still working at the scene early Monday.

Brittany Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in 2007. The couple had no children together. She died at 32 after collapsing in their Hollywood home last December 20.

Uche Okafor Nigerian Soccer Player

Uche Okafor Dies: Ex-Nigerian Soccer Player Found Dead In Texas

LITTLE ELM, Texas — Uche Okafor, a defender on two Nigerian World Cup teams and a stalwart player for the Kansas City Wizards in the U.S., committed suicide this week at his Dallas-area home, authorities said Friday. He was 43.

Okafor's body was discovered Thursday afternoon by his wife in their house in Little Elm, a town about 30 miles northwest of Dallas, Detective Oscar Hinojosa said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office said Friday that he hanged himself in an upstairs hallway.

A friend who could not reach Okafor called Ifeyinwa Okafor, the former star's wife, police said.

"She was at work and she came home and found him," Hinojosa said.

Okafor played on the 1994 Super Eagles team that won the African Cup of Nations.

Nigeria reached the second round of the World Cup that year and again in 1998, with Okafor on the team both times. He didn't play in 1994 and played in one match in the first round in 1998, a 3-1 loss to Paraguay after they had beaten Spain and Bulgaria. He didn't play in the second-round loss to Denmark

"We are totally shocked by the news. Uche Okafor was a great player who represented his country at the highest level," said Musa Amadu, acting secretary general of the Nigerian Football Federation.

Okafor was with the Wizards from 1996 to 2000, playing in 119 regular-season games and seven Major League Soccer playoff games. His professional finale came on Oct. 15, 2000, when Kansas City beat the Chicago Fire for its only MLS Cup championship.

When Okafor retired before the 2001 season, he was one of only three Kansas City players to have competed every season since the Wizards' inception in 1996, the team said.
"I'm terribly sad to hear of his passing," said Ron Newman, Wizards manager from 1996 through 1999. "He was a big, strong guy, but he was very pleasant and I found him to be very professional. He was just an absolute gentleman."
"I wouldn't like to be on the wrong side of him if I was playing against him," he said. "He took no prisoners. But he was fair in everything he did; fair play and good guy. If he knocked you over, he'd pick you up and dust you down."
Kerry Zavagnin, an assistant coach with Sporting Kansas City – the Wizards changed their name last year – played with Okafor during Kansas City's championship season.
"I'm shocked and saddened," he said. "He was a great teammate and most importantly, he was certainly a great man. This is a sad loss for all of us."
Okafor had worked for ESPN the past two years, providing analysis of African soccer. His contract had been renewed last month.
"We are deeply saddened by news of Uche Okafor's death," the cable network said. "He was well-respected for his insightful analysis on ESPN Soccernet Press Pass. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and fans."

Tom Cavanagh found dead at a Rhode Island

Sad news: Former Sharks prospect Tom Cavanagh found dead at a Rhode Island mall

This is not  the kind of news that any of us like to pass along.
Former Sharks propsect Tom Cavanagh, who played at Harvard before turning pro and had 18 games with San Jose over two seasons, was found dead at a Providence, R.I., mall. A statement from his father in the Providence Journal-Bulletin indicated the 28-year-old player had “fought the demons of  mental illness for many years.”
The Sharks just issued the following statement:
“We are shocked and saddened by the news today of Tom’s passing.  Tom was an extraordinary young man and a terrific teammate who spent four seasons with our organization.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time.”

Cavanagh was drafted by San Jose in the sixth round (182^nd overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft following a stellar collegiate career at Harvard University.
He spent four seasons within the Sharks organization, including Cleveland (2005-06) and Worcester (2006-2009) and remains the all-time leading scorer for the Worcester Sharks with 138 points (46 goals, 92 assists) in 202 games.
Cavanagh played in 18 NHL games with San Jose over two seasons (2007-09), picking up three points (one goal, two assists) and four penalty minutes.
And here is the text of the story that appears on the Providence Journal-Bulletin web site:
Tom Cavanagh, who skated his way from rinks in Rhode Island to Harvard and then to the National Hockey League, was found dead Thursday inside the parking garage of the Providence Place mall.

The police said the body of the 28-year-old athlete was discovered in the vicinity of the garage’s Level C at around 11:25 a.m. Thursday. His car was discovered, with his wallet inside, later that day in another part of the garage.
Health Department spokeswoman Annmarie Beardsworth said Friday that an autopsy by the state Medical Examiner showed that Cavanagh died from “multiple traumatic injuries due to blunt force impact.”
His father, lawyer Joseph Cavanagh, said in a statement Friday night: “Our son, Tom, was a young man who bravely fought the demons of mental illness for many years. This private struggle far surpassed his public athletic accomplishments.
“Our family will celebrate and always remember his beautiful but short life. We hope that his friends and supporters will pray for him and for us during these difficult days. We already have felt the love of so many people of our community.”
Tom Cavanagh was a graduate of Toll Gate High School in Warwick, where he was an All-State hockey player. After playing four seasons in the NCAA as part of the varsity hockey team at Harvard, from where he graduated in 2005, he entered the world of professional hockey, playing first for the Cleveland Barons and then the Worcester Sharks.
He made his National Hockey League debut at the end of the 2007-2008 season, playing with the San Jose Sharks. Released by the Sharks organization the following year, he began playing for the American Hockey League’s Manchester, N.H., Monarchs and with the Springfield, Mass., Falcons. A shoulder injury pushed him into free agent status in the 2010 season.
His agent, Matt Keator, who represented Cavanagh his whole career, said Friday night that Cavanagh was “one of the hardest-working, intelligent kids I’ve ever known.” He said Cavanagh was still recovering from his shoulder injury and, the last time they talked, was undecided whether to continue with his hockey career or to go into some other field.