Canadian police have a puzzling problem: Severed feet have been turning up along the shore in British Columbia. Yes, feet washed up on shore. Five of them so far - four right feet and one left foot.

What comes to MY mind is an undertaker with a sick sense of humor. After all, when they cremate someone - or put them in a casket - who’s going to know if the feet of the deceased are there or not. A ready supply of feet to wash up on shore.

The Toronto Star has the story:

Cathy Fox was reading about the strange tale of severed feet washing up on B.C. shores in the newspaper yesterday morning.

But even before she finished the article, a friend rushed in with news. Another foot had been washed up just a short distance away, this time in Campbell River where Fox lives.

“I was absolutely disgusted and horrified,” Fox said yesterday. “Here I was reading this and thinking it was the most devastating thing and there’s one right here.” The sixth foot - the second one to wash up since Monday - was found in an area called the Tyee spit.

The RCMP said yesterday the foot will be examined by a forensic pathologist to determine if it is related to the other feet found recently.

DNA analysis done on the other five feet - four right and one left - have yielded no clues on identity.

In Campbell River, boater Mike Rollo said yesterday there is speculation that at least some of the remains belong to the four victims who remain missing after a small plane went down near Quadra Island about a quarter of a kilometre away in 2005.

Family members of the victims of that crash, whose remains have not been fully recovered, have been asked to provide DNA samples.

Terry Smith, the chief coroner of B.C., said the discovery fires up the imagination.

“I can tell you I’ve never come across anything like this,” he said. “One hesitates to say it’s a mere coincidence but at this point, that’s all we have to work with.”

The foot found yesterday was a right foot in what looks to be a size 10 black Adidas running shoe. The foot earlier this week in Ladner appeared to be in a Nike runner.

The first foot was found a year ago on Jedidiah Island in the Strait of Georgia. Less than a week later, another foot was found inside a man’s sneaker on Gabriola Island. In February, a third foot was found on Valdes Island.

A couple of months later, in May, another foot was found off Kirkland Island in the Fraser River, and then on Monday, a fifth foot was found along the same river in Ladner

It sounds crazy, but I was watching CNN earlier and the announcer was talking about this story and said “No foul play is expected.” WHAT?! Feet - with no legs or bodies attached - are washing up on shore, and they don’t expect foul play? If not foul play, then what? Why only feet? Where are the rest of the bodies? And if my earlier theory is correct, I would consider that foul play.

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I’d never heard of “Bilitis” until this morning. It sounds like a medical condition - like phlebitis or dermatitis. As it turns out, I looked up the word online, and it wasn’t in the database at dictionary.com. Wikipedia came through for me, though. Here’s what it has about where the word “Bilitis” came from.

The name of the newfound club was chosen in its second meeting. “Bilitis” is the name given to a fictional lesbian contemporary of Sappho, by the French poet Pierre Louys in his 1894 work The Songs of Bilitis.[7] The name was chosen for its obscurity

So the group is named “Daughters of Bilitis.” The group was begun in 1955 in San Francisco. The two women who started it, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, are now celebrating over 55 years as a couple.

Here’s what the Associated Press has to say about them and why they - and the Daughters of Bilitis - are in the news today:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin fell in love at a time when lesbians risked being arrested, fired from their jobs and sent to electroshock treatment.

On Monday afternoon, more than a half-century after they became a couple, Lyon and Martin plan to become the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in San Francisco and among the first in the state.

“It was something you wanted to know, ‘Is it really going to happen?’ And now it’s happened, and maybe it can continue to happen,” Lyon said.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to officiate at the private ceremony in his City Hall office before 50 invited guests. He picked Martin, 87, and Lyon, 84, for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement.

Along with six other women, they founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis. Under their leadership, it evolved into the nation’s first lesbian advocacy organization.

To each his (or her) own, I guess.

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I just heard the bad news that Tim Russert died today. He had a heart attack at work this afternoon, and could not be revived. (Update: likely was “cardiac arrest” rather than a heart attack. He did not die at work, but rather died after being transported to a hospital.)

He was themanaging editor and host of NBC’s “Meet The Press.” He also authored two books that I really enjoyed:

and

I really hadn’t paid much attention to Tim Russert until just a year or so ago when RT shared WIsdom of Our Fathers with me. What a wonderful book! As soon as I finished that book, I got Big Russ and Me and read it, as well.

Tim Russert was born in 1950 and was 58 years old. I am also 58 years old. Listening to the anchors on TV discuss his death makes me realize anew how short life is, and how it can end so quickly.

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I was at the grocery store awhile ago, and the current People magazine caught my eye. On the cover was a photo of Elizabeth Smart I don’t buy magazines off the stand very often, but I bought that magazine. Later, as I read the story, I was struck first by how mature and poised she is, and then by how beautiful she is.

Some quotes from Elizabeth Smart:

“I always knew that no matter what, I’d still be part of my family. They could change my name, change the way I look, starve me to death. But they couldn’t change that I am Ed and Lois Smart’s daughter. That was a very powerful thing to me.”

“It’s just not worth holding on to that kind of hate. It can ruin your life. Nine months of my life had been taken from me, and I wasn’t going to give them any more of my time.”

“Before, I was just your average Mormon girl. And since everything I’ve gone through, there’s been a lot of learning and growing. I’ve learned to listen and not jump to conclusions. I’m not sorry this happened to me anymore, because it made me grow up.”

“It is important to remember that just because something bad happens to you, it doesn’t mean you are bad. You are still entitled to every possible happiness in life.”

What impressed me most about Elizabeth Smart is that she has refused to be a “victim.” The first night she was home after her abduction, she insisted on sleeping in her own bed - the bed from which she had been abducted nine months earlier. She proved to others - and herself - that she would still be there in the morning. Many people would let that horrific experience scar them for life. They might move to get away from the bad memories and associations. Instead, Elizabeth has learned from it and resolved to make her life better. She has taken charge of her own life and has refused to let that experience define who she is. She is a brave and impressive young woman.

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Remember back in school on Friday the 13th when the teacher would write “Triskaidekaphobia ” on the chalkboard and explain that it meant a “fear of the number 13″? Well, I don’t remember it either. I never had a teacher who did that. As a school teacher myself, though, I always introduce Triskaidekaphobia to my class anytime we have school on a Friday the 13th. It’s great for talking about word origins and for showing how to break words down into parts to figure out the meaning. It was fun to let the kids try to figure out how to pronounce the word, too.

By the way, if you want to be more specific, a fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. I have’t tried either of those out on a class of kids . . . yet.

So tomorrow will be Friday the 13th. Will you take any precautions against the supposed bad luck of the day? Personally, I’ve never paid much attention to Friday the 13th in one way or the other - except for the Triskaidekaphobia lesson at school.

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A “unicorn deer” - a deer with a single horn in the middle of his head - has been found in Italy.

ROME (AP) — A deer with a single horn in the center of its head — much like the fabled, mythical unicorn — has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday.

“This is fantasy becoming reality,” Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. “The unicorn has always been a mythological animal.”

The 1-year-old Roe Deer — nicknamed “Unicorn” — was born in captivity in the research center’s park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said.

He is believed to have been born with a genetic flaw; his twin has two horns.

Calling it the first time he has seen such a case, Tozzi said such anomalies among deer may have inspired the myth of the unicorn.

The unicorn, a horse-like creature with magical healing powers, has appeared in legends and stories throughout history, from ancient and medieval texts to the adventures of Harry Potter.

“This shows that even in past times, there could have been animals with this anomaly,” he said by telephone. “It’s not like they dreamed it up.”

Single-horned deer are rare but not unheard of — but even more unusual is the central positioning of the horn, experts said.

“Generally, the horn is on one side (of the head) rather than being at the center. This looks like a complex case,” said Fulvio Fraticelli, scientific director of Rome’s zoo. He said the position of the horn could also be the result of a trauma early in the animal’s life.

Other mammals are believed to contribute to the myth of the unicorn, including the narwhal, a whale with a long, spiraling tusk.

RT saw a deer walking across our driveway when he came home earlier today. The deer he saw, though, has big antlers - on both sides of his head - and the antlers were still “in velvet.” I sure wish I had seen that myself.

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A friend of Paul Newman’s has confirmed that he has cancer. That makes me sad. Paul Newman has always been one of my favorite actors. “Cool Hand Luke,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” are just two of the wonderful movies that he made.

The Associated Press reports:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Paul Newman, the legendary actor and philanthropist, is battling cancer, his longtime neighbor and business partner said Wednesday. Newman, 83, has recently appeared gaunt in photos, and dropped plans to direct a play in his Connecticut hometown.

Writer A.E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start Newman’s Own salad dressing company in the 1980s, said the actor told him about the disease about 18 months ago. He did not specify what kind of cancer, but said Newman is in active treatment.

“I know that it’s a form of cancer,” Hotchner told The Associated Press. “It’s a form of cancer and he’s dealing with it.”

Newman issued a statement late Tuesday that he’s “doing nicely” but didn’t specifically address questions about cancer. A call was placed to his spokesman Wednesday seeking comment.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have always presented such a wonderful example of a good, solid marriage. They seem to genuinely love and respect each other, and they’ve been together forever. Good luck, Paul. You and Joanne are in my prayers.

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So I was driving along this morning listening to the radio, and they’re talking about a “Crap Cannon” (also called a “Brown Note“) that people are worried will be unleashed on innocent political conventioneers in order to stop rioting this summer. There’s gonna be rioting at the Democratic convention and/or Republican convention this summer? Wow!

So the “Crap Cannon” is something that will make people, uh. . . here, I’ll just use a quote to let you know what it does.

Political activists planning protest rallies at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver have their stomachs in knots over a rumor about a crowd control weapon - known as the “crap cannon” - that might be unleashed against them.

Also called “Brown Note,” it is believed to be an infrasound frequency that debilitates a person by making them defecate involuntarily.

Mark Cohen, co-founder of Re-create 68, an alliance of local activists working for the protection of first amendment rights, said he believes this could be deployed at the convention in August to subdue crowds.

Oh no! What will they do to protect themselves from such dire circumstances?

His group is preparing against a possible attack by Brown Note and other crowd-control measures by dispatching street medics at the convention trained in treating injuries in demonstration situations.

My question is: How will the medics treat people who are victims of the Crap Cannon? Diaper rash ointment?

The good news: There is no such thing as a Crap Cannon (i.e. Brown Note)

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What a bizarre story! Detectives think that a “Smiley Face Gang” might be connected with the drownings of 40 young men from across the nation.

Detectives: 40 Drowning Victims May Have Been Murdered by ‘Smiley Face Gang’
At least 40 young men who drowned may have died by far more sinister means — serial killings at the hands of a national gang that revels in murdering young men and leaving smiley-face markings at the scene, a team of retired New York City police detectives and criminal justice investigators said Monday.

They believe the victims, including University of Minnesota student Chris Jenkins and Fordham University student Patrick McNeill, didn’t accidentally drown but were actually killed by members of the so-called “Smiley Face Gang,” KSTP in St. Paul reported.

A smiley-face symbol was found painted at some of the drowning locations — in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa, they told the station.

“They’re telling you here that they’re into evil, they’re very happy as most serial killers are,” retired NYPD Det. Kevin Gannon said to KSTP. “They’re content with their work and what they’re doing and the fact that they’re thwarting the police.”

Chilling, isn’t it? It is supremely sad that there are people with so much hate in their hearts that they would get pleasure from murdering another human being.

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Incredible! It seems that Barack Obama is afraid that his campaign couldn’t withstand another debate with Hillary Clinton. Debates, after all, are the quickest way to expost an “empty shirt.” Thus, he has refused to debate Clinton before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday brushed aside a challenge from Hillary Rodham Clinton to debate before the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.

Only his most blindly loyal disciples will see his refusal to debate Clintonas anything over than classic (but misguided) CYA. His performance at the last debate was weak, and why should he subject himself to another situation where he would come off as less than the Obamessiah himself?

A debate is the quickest way to expose an empty shirt. Both Hillary and Barack know that, and that’s why Barack is running away.

The average candidate - and certainly a strong candidate - would say, “Bring it on. I’m happy to debate you anywhere, anytime.” For a strong candidate, a debate is a quick way to win votes. For a weak candidate, it’s a quick way to lose votes. And so Barack Obama responded, “No, I’ve debated enough.” What a wimp.

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