Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself

46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha

According to this article, Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she gave out Kate Middleton's personal information to a radio station, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes. The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered December 7th, hanging by a scarf. She also had injuries on her wrist. Harman, a police detective chief inspector told the coroner's inquest that two notes were found at the scene and a third was discovered among Saldanha's belongings. But he did not release the contents of the notes. The radio station has apologized for the prank call, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority has now launched an investigation into the incident.

Michael Christian (left) and Mel Greig (right) of 2Day FM in Sydney

Girl With Overgrown Tongue

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Two-year-old Olivia Gillies
 

According to this article, two-year-old Olivia Gillies was born with an unusual birth defect that caused her tongue to grow uncontrollably. After her third smile, she can finally smile, as pictured above. She was born with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause, among other symptoms, "overgrowth," of a particular body part. Doctors believe the dangerous symptom of her condition is under control. "We were warned her tongue would be up to three times the size of a usual newborn baby and would keep growing. Nobody could tell us how big it would get. We were terrified," said by Emma Gillies, Olivia's mother. Olivia's tongue was oversized and could not fit in her mouth when she was born, and she had to be fed through a tube. She was kept in the hospital for six weeks after she was born. Her tongue continued to grow, eventually becoming so large that it made it difficult to breath. She had to be readmitted to the hospital for a tracheotomy - a surgery which would cut a hole into her neck to help her breathe. Eventually her breathing had stabilized and after her third surgery her tongue has stopped swelling and she can finally smile. Because Beckwith-Wiedemann is a genetic condition, there is no cure for it. Those with the condition can live long, healthy lives by treating individual symptoms of the condition.

Emily and Olivia Gillies when she was first born (left) when her tongue was overgrown. Olivia Gillies (right) after her third surgery, she can finally smile.

New monkey species identified in Democratic Republic of Congo

A new species of monkey; the lesula. 

According to this article, a new species of monkey has been identified in Africa, only the second time such a discovery has been made on the continent in 28 years. Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) has a naked face and a mane of long blond hairs, it lives on the ground and in trees in a 6,500 square mile habitat of the lowland rainforests and the upper Tshuapa Rivers. Its diet is mostly fruit and vegetation. John and Terese Hart of Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History first saw the species in 2007 at the home of a primary school director, who was keeping a young female captive. Later that year, the team found the species in the wild. Genetic tests later verified it was a new species. "This was a totally unexpected find, and we knew we had something unusual and possibly unknown when we first saw the animal. But it was not until we had the genetic and morphological analyses of our collaborating team that we knew we really had a new species," said the Harts, who are also conservation biologists at the Lukuru WildlifeResearch Project. "The challenge now is to make the lesula an iconic species that carries the message for conservation for all of Congo's endangered fauna," said John Hart. "Species with small ranges like the lesula can move from vulnerable to seriously endangered over the course of just a few years."

 (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) 

Tax Increases Seem Inevitable

According to this article, with only 24 days left of the fiscal cliff,  Republicans continue to be  opposed to raising tax rates–one of the major sticking points in the discussions, the House and Senate members this week shared their belief that a hike in rates is going to happen. “We have no leverage on that, so whether we want taxes to go up or not they’re going to,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Thursday. “We can’t stop that from happening. But the real elephant in the room is entitlements.” “The sense was that there’s a growing number of folks in our party that are saying, you know what, the president has won this round relative to the rates, but we need to you to sit down and get the second half of the deal and that’s the spending,” Ohio Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette said on CNN’s “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien. Despite the negative outlook right now though,  the timing is actually favorable right now for both party’s to strike an agreement.

President Obama

YOU, Mr. Varley

Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher murders girlfriend before heading off to commit suicide

According to this article, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend nine times to death at their home Saturday morning, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of the team's coach and general manager. He arrived at the stadium, standing with a gun to his head in front of the General Manager Scott Piolo, and before pulling the trigger, confessed to the murder of his girlfriend. “Guys, I have to do this,” Belcher told Pioli and Coach Romeo Crennel. “I got to go. I can’t be here.” Both Pioli and Crennel tried to talk him out of pulling the trigger. “I was trying to get him to understand that life’s not over,” Crennel said. “He still has a chance, and let’s get this worked out." He knelt down behind a vehicle in the lot, made the sign of the cross and fired a single gunshot into his head, killing him. Cops told the Belcher the team was aware of problems with the couple and had provided counseling, and Crennel said Monday Belcher was struggling with personal issues that everyone faces. "He had no major issues," the coach said. Cops recovered several legally owned guns from the Belcher residence, and were conducting tests on all the weapons, including the one used in the murder and suicide.

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher

Kasandra Michelle Perkins (left) with Jovan Belcher. Photo taken December 23, 2011

Royal baby

According to this article, Kate Middleton is currently being treated in King Edward VII’s Hospital Sister Agnesfor acute morning sickness due to her recently announced pregnancy. The palace said that since the pregnancy is in a “very early stage,” Kate is expected to stay in the hospital for several days and will require a period of rest afterward. As the first-born to William, who is second in line heir for the throne after his father, Prince Charles, the couple’s baby is in line to become an heir. Whether boy or girl, the child will be next in line, behind William, to the throne, Cabinet Office officials have said.

Kate Middleton

Prince William

Reasons Why I Hate the Fiscal Cliff

According to this article, tax rated are going up and spending cuts will go into effect. The law's set to change at midnight on December 31, 2012. In dealing with the fiscal cliff, U.S. lawmakers have a choice among three options:

• They can let the current policy which is scheduled for the beginning of 2013. This policy includes tax increases and spending cuts that are expected to drive the economy into a recession.
• They can cancel the tax rates and and spending cuts, which would increase the odds of the United States going through something similar to the current crisis in Europe.
• They could address the budget issues to a limited extent which would have a better impact.

Te non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that if Congress takes the middle ground which would extend the Bush-era tax cuts and would cancel the automatic spending cuts then the result, would be modest growth but no major economic hit. As a result, the fiscal cliff won't necessarily be a struggle to grow even if Congress doesn't address the issue until after 2013 has already begun.

The Fiscal Cliff

*I hate the fiscal cliff because it doesn't make sense and I just want to blog about my life.