Fish in a Fence After Hurrcane Ike

Hurricane Ike left an unusual and disquieting scene in the wake of its storm surge. Thousands of dead fish were found covering roads, yards, and in a chain link fence. Ike's storm surge caused massive flooding in coastal areas and did a great deal of damage. When the water went back down, it revealed some of the more unusual debris. The fish pictured above was apparently trying to swim through the chain link fence when it became trapped and died. Other dead fish lay all over the city in West Orange Texas. One resident had to get rid of an eel and an alligator that were left in his hard. This scene from an intersection shows thousands of rotting fish. I guess you could say the fishing is pretty good in Texas now.

Fouad Mourtada Masquerades on Facebook as a Moroccan Prince

Here's an interesting piece of news. Fouad Mourtada was recently arrested for a very bold and quite stupid case of identity theft. He stole the identity of the Prince of Morocco and masqueraded as him on Facebook. He probably felt pretty high and mighty until police came and locked him away. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and a $1,300 fine. Authorities say the Moroccan royalty does not and will not use Facebook. Still I have to congratulate this guy for being prince for a while.

September 11th Twin Towers Attack

Today is September 11th, the anniversary of one of the most disturbing and devastating attacks on American soil. I still remember when it happened. I was on vacation and in a hotel when I saw everyone standing around, glued to the TV. It took some time to realize what was going on as we saw huge plumes of smoke surrounding the twin towers where so much Wall Street commerce goes on. As we watched in horror, the buildings came crashing down into piles of rubble, leaving a haunting gap in the proud New York skyline.

It hit especially close to home because my cousin works in the twin towers. We found out later that she was at home on that day on maternity leave.

So many Americans have been protesting the war in Iraq and it seems all I ever hear about is how wrong the war was. But unlike them, I still remember the panic and terror this country felt after this attack, which promised to be merely the first of many. Our war crushed the hearts of terrorists and reminded them that America does not negotiate with terrorists. It goes to their home and crushes them where they stand.

Stopping the Growth of a 7 Foot 12-Year-Old

In my last post, I wrote about Brenden Adams, the 7 foot tall twelve-year-old. Scientists and doctors have finally discovered the cause of his abnormal rampant growth. Human DNA contains chromosomes that determine many factors of our body. Brenden's 12th chromosome has broken off and reattached onto the wrong place in his DNA. This disrupted the gene that controls growth. It therefore affects every single cell in his body. Because of this, his current size is absolutely irreversible, but the doctors wished to slow him down from growing any bigger. They came up with a very simple solution. They are injecting him with large amounts of testosterone to start puberty. This naturally slows the growth of an individual when they near adulthood. Brenden may have a fully mature body by the time he is a teenager. Even with the slowed growth, it is expected he will reach over 8 feet tall before he stops growing.

7 Foot Tall 12-Year-Old

Brenden Adams is only twelve years old, but he already towers high above most adults. He has a rare growing condition--so rare that doctors have never seen or heard of anyone like him. He is still growing at an alarming rate. When he was four months old, he had all his teeth. At age 4, he was about the size of an 8-year-old. Doctors were puzzled at what to do with him. Most people suffering from giantism simply are too big for their organs to handle and their bodies just wear out. Doctors have been working to find the cause and a cure for this rare disease.