Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Naked man atop Texas billboard finally comes down

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FORT WORTH -- A looming rain storm late Monday afternoon helped police negotiators do what had eluded them for nearly four hours: coax a naked man from atop a billboard just west of the downtown area.

Officers at about 3:30 p.m. told the man they called James, who appeared to be in his early 20s, that rain was coming.

As clouds darkened overhead, the man, who had alternately trudged or crawled across the top of the billboard, finally slid down the structure's ladder.

Police handcuffed the man, whose full name was not immediately available, and put a pair of black shorts on him. Then they drove away with him in a patrol car.

About 30 minutes later, fierce winds and rain blanketed downtown.

The man's stepfather told reporters: "We're grateful to the police negotiators and the power of prayer."

Police had talked with the man for hours at the two-sided billboard on West Seventh Street, across from Trinity Park. He repeatedly threatened to jump.

The incident began about 11 a.m. and caused a traffic jam for drivers trying to enter downtown from the west or drive east toward the Montgomery Plaza Shopping Center.

It was unclear what had agitated the man to scale the billboard in the nude.

Also unclear was how he reached the top. The bottom of the ladder, which leads to a catwalk at the bottom of the billboard, was suspended about 12 feet from the ground.

His afternoon position was estimated to be about four stories in the air. The billboard facing west had a "We Buy Ugly Houses" advertisement on it. The billboard facing east advertised the Museum of Living Art at the Fort Worth Zoo.

The man could be heard yelling at police below him. He paced back and forth, sometimes frantically waving his arms, and other times crawling on all fours.

He occasionally sat on the edge of the billboard. Other times he straightened up and resembled a high diver about to take the plunge.

The man also stretched face down a couple of times; once, he sprawled backwards with his legs dangling over the side.

Much of the ordeal transpired beneath sunny, near cloudless skies and temperatures around 80.

Negotiators pleaded with the man to come down, warning him that he could become dehydrated, and repeatedly offered cold water.

"Don't move around too much up there," said a negotiator, on a public address system, calling the man by his first name. "You're making me nervous."

Early in the negotiations, the officer asked the man if he had a girlfriend, and the man angrily yelled her name.

Negotiators promised to let the man talk to her and his mother, but only after he agreed to come down from his perch.

Several times he yelled to the crowd gathered in a vacant parking lot, about a block away to the west. He screamed that his family had been murdered.

Negotiators said that wasn't true, and that his mother and girlfriend were waiting nearby, eager to talk to him.

People of all ages gathered in the parking lot. One man was dressed in a shirt and tie, another wore medical "scrubs" and a woman in casual, pajama-like pants came with a dog, one of several canine pets at the scene.

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Many people snapped away with cellphone cameras, and fired off text messages. A couple people brought single-lens reflex cameras with long lenses.

The man screamed at officers, then he waved toward the crowd.

"They can help me!" he screamed at the officers. "You cannot! Where's my family? Someone murdered them!"

He yelled what sounded like his name, and that he was born in Breckenridge, Texas, and that he lived in nearby apartments.

The crowd was calm and orderly, but at about 1:40 p.m., an officer waved the people back. He said commanders wanted to take away the man's "audience" to keep him from getting more riled.

As the heat bore down, the man hunched over; he appeared to be retching. His hands were blackened, probably from soot atop the signs.

A second police officer took over negotiations at about 1 p.m. She continued the pleas, and the man could be heard again, yelling his replies.

The winds out of the west started to pick up at about 2:45 p.m., as cloud cover edged closer to the downtown area. National Weather Service radar showed that a line of storms was rolling into Fort Worth from Parker County.

Firefighters then repositioned a ladder truck beneath the billboard, which agitated the man.

At about the same time, negotiators stopped their constant pleas, and the man continued pacing back and forth.

But clouds covered the area and temperatures slid into the 60s. The man, who had stood naked for hours beneath the scorching sun, now folded his arms, as if to keep warm in the chilly wind gusts.

Officers warned him of the approaching weather.

He then hung from the edge of the billboard and dropped himself down to the catwalk. He stepped to the ladder and slid to the waiting firefighters and officers.


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Cross-Dressing Teen Fought the School, Won

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A cross-dressing teen from Cape May, NJ was told by his principal that wearing a dress to his prom would "violate the school's dress code." Derrek Lutz had previously said, "What makes me a woman is inside and it doesn't really matter what's on the outside. And everyone should really just be treated equally," and planned to be at prom no matter what. And after being backed by over 600 signatures on a petition started by his friends, Lutz was able to attend in a dress with a female date, and was even crowned Prom King!

Lutz posted this message on the Facebook group this morning: "SO we won.. I got into prom with no problems... I also won PROM KING!... I'd really love to thank you all for supporting me. You all make me so proud to be alive and so proud to have so many people come together like this. Thank you all so so incredibly much and if you'd like to see tagged pics come to my facebook page."

Lutz also earned an onslaught of support from almost 900 followers, one of whom posted: "This is probably going to go down in history as one of the biggest events in the fight for GBLT rights, even as big as the (Stone wall riots) Having grown up in south jersey, I am amazed at how near 900 people from NJ came together to stand up for one persons rights. You should all be proud." The victory comes after a Mississippi teen was named the Grand Marshal of the Gay Pride Parade after not being allowed to bring a female date to her prom.

Giant Breasts Kept Woman in Bed for 6 Months

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A Peruvian mother-of-four was trapped in her bed for six months because of her giant breasts.

The Sun reported that Julia Manihuari's chest grew to a gigantic N cup after the birth of her third son seven years ago - leaving her unable to move.

"It was awful. If I tried to get up I would faint because my breasts were so heavy," she said.

Ms Manihuari, 29, who lives in northern rural Peru, was finally helped when local media paid for her to take a three-day boat trip to the nearest town for medical help.

Doctors diagnosed an extreme form of Bilateral Gynecomastia - an illness where the mammary gland keeps growing.

They had to cut 35 pounds of flesh from her breasts, fearing they could squash her lungs and kill her.

Ms Manihuari emerged as a size 34B after the six-hour operation.

"Before the operation I couldn't do anything - I just had to live with it. It got so bad that my breasts were touching my legs," she said.

"I have always had a small build, and the stress on the rest of my body was agony."

VIDEO: Ladyboys of Thailand..All Are Men

JOKE: A teenage boy had just passed his driving test

A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss
his use of the car.

His father said he'd make a deal: "You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut. Then we'll talk about the car."

The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer, and they agreed on it. After
about six weeks his father said, "Son, you've brought your grades up and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm disappointed you haven't had your hair cut."

The boy said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair,Moses had long hair and there's even strong evidence
that Jesus had long hair."

His father replied, "Did you also notice they all walked everywhere they went?"

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