Airline crew overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles

Two Northwest Airlines pilots failed to make radio contact with ground controllers for more than an hour and overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles before discovering the mistake and turning around. The plane landed safely Wednesday evening, apparently without passengers realizing that anything had been amiss. No one was hurt.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew told authorities they became distracted during a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of their location, but federal officials are investigating whether pilot fatigue might also have played a role.

The National Transportation Safety Board does not yet know if the crew fell asleep, spokesman Keith Holloway said, calling that idea "speculative." The pilots didn't become aware of their situation until a flight attendant contacted them through an intercom from the cabin to the cockpit, said a source familiar with the investigation who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.

Flight 188, an Airbus A320, was flying from San Diego to Minneapolis with 144 passengers and five crew. The pilots dropped out of radio contact with controllers just before 7 p.m. CDT, when they were at 37,000 feet. The jet flew over the airport just before 8 p.m. and overshot it before communication was re-established at 8:14 p.m, the NTSB said.

The FAA notified the military, which put Air National Guard fighter jets on alert at two locations. As many as four planes could have been scrambled, but none took to the air. "After FAA re-established communications, we pulled off," said Michael Kucharek, a North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091023/ap_on_bi_ge/us_northwest_airport_overflown

a Joke

A young man, shipwrecked on a small, deserted island, found an old oil lamp sticking out of the sand. He picked it up, and looked at it, thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool if there were a Genie in here?" He knew that Genies did not exist, but figured he had nothing to lose, so he dutifully polished the lamp.
To his amazement, an enormous Genie emerged from the lamp in a cloud of smoke. The Genie announced, "Thank you for freeing me from the lamp. In accord with the customs and principles of my profession, you are entitled to precisely three wishes. Wishes will be granted in accord with the laws of the State of California, and any claims, disputes, or disagreements relating to the wishes shall be resolved by binding arbitration applying California laws."
"That's weird," said the man, "I never thought a Genie would sound so much like a lawyer."
"But I am a lawyer," replied the Genie, "I am both a lawyer and a Genie. You should be aware that, for every wish you make, I will not only grant your wish but will grant every attorney in the world double what you wish for."
The man didn't care much for attorneys, and he wasn't sure what to make of the Genie, but what was the worst that could happen? He decided to take the Genie's offer, and make his wishes.
"I wish for fifty million dollars," he said. As money poured down around him, the Genie reminded him that every attorney in the world had just received one hundred million dollars.
"My second wish is for a luxurious mansion, more stunning than Versailles, fully staffed and furnished with fine antiques." The ground rumbled, and a mansion slowly rose from the earth. It was astonishingly beautiful. A butler approached him with a tray of fine food. He ate hungrily, thinking, "It really can't get any better than this."
But then the Genie reminded him, "Every attorney in the world just received a mansion twice as nice as this one."
The man thought carefully about his last wish. He appreciated what the Genie had done for him, but it burned him to think that the attorney who had botched his divorce case had fared even better. And there was the attorney who had stolen from his mother's estate. And wasn't the President an attorney? The man shuddered, realizing what people like that could do with this kind of wealth and the power it could bring. And it was then that he made his final wish.
"I really want to give something back to society," the man said. "I wish to donate one of my kidneys for transplant."

the Word for Thursday

NUGATORY
1. Of little value; trifling.
2. Having no force; ineffective.
Synonym: worthless,useless,futile,insignificant

a Joke for Thursday

A Gift for the Mother-in-Law

Two guys were talking at work.
"I've got a problem," said the first one.
"What is it?"
"My wife has done it to me again. I'm supposed to buy my mother-in-law a present for her birthday, from the two of us. And, I am fresh out of ideas. I mean, it's HER mother, why can't she buy it?"
"What did you buy her last year?" the other one asked.
"Last year I bought her a VERY EXPENSIVE cemetery plot."
"Hmmmm, hard to top that one," said the other.
The two guys couldn't come up with anything. So the son-in-law didn't buy his mother-in-law anything for her birthday.
When the big day arrived the next weekend, she was a bit upset. At the family gathering for her birthday, she announced out loud to everyone, "Thank you all for the wonderful gifts. Too bad my daughter and son-in-law weren't so thoughtful!"
Thinking quickly, the son-in-law responded, "Well, you haven't used the gift I gave you last year!"

STEALING YOUR KODAK MOMENT

stolen..that special moment

Twincredible Two-Toned Family

Hampshire UK
We mix so well ... the four Durrant girls
BLACK and white twins Hayleigh and Lauren Durrant proudly hold their new sisters Leah and Miya — who incredibly are ALSO twins with different coloured skin.
Their mixed-race parents Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner repeated the two-tone miracle after a seven-year gap.


Ebony and ivory ... Alison and Dean Durrant with two sets of twins - Hayleigh and Leah on left, and Lauren holding Miya

When the first set of twins arrived in 2001, the couple were astonished to see that Lauren took after her white mum, with blue eyes and red hair, while Hayleigh had black skin and hair like dad Dean.
Then this year Alison, 27, found she was expecting again — and lightning struck twice.
She had twin girls again. And little Miya was born with dark skin like her dad and Leah is white like former recruitment consultant Alison.
Dean, 33, of Fleet, Hants, said: “The girls just love Miya and Leah to bits.
Delighted
“We didn’t think it was even possible when we had Lauren and Hayleigh — and it didn’t cross our minds that it could happen again. But we are just delighted that it has.”


Early days ... Hayleigh and Lauren in 2002

Alison said: “I was shocked when I first found out I was pregnant with twins again — but I never thought for one second they would turn out the same as last time.
“After the babies were born they weren’t breathing properly, so they were taken to a special care unit.
“It wasn’t until about five days after they were born that we saw them side by side for the first time.
“And when they were together it was clear that one was darker than the other. It was unbelievable.”
Staff at Frimley Park Hospital, in Surrey, decided to deliver the babies by Caesarean section after just 37 weeks of pregnancy, when scans revealed both were breach.
Doctors took 30 minutes to deliver them on November 13, with Miya weighing 4lb lloz and Leah 5lb 10oz.
Alison said: “Now the girls are back home with us and are very healthy. Lauren and Hayleigh think the new arrivals are fantastic.”
Block paver Dean said: “It was a real shock to the system when I found out we were having twins again. I didn’t think the same thing would happen again. The odds must be millions to one against it.
Friends
“It was really stressful when they were first born, because they were being kept in different parts of the hospital, and the difference in shade wasn’t apparent.


Keen reader ... Hayleigh


“I was running around all over the place between Alison and the girls and when we finally got them all together it was the first time I noticed the difference.
“I could tell straight away that one was darker than the other. But it wasn’t as much of a shock as last time, as we had already been in this situation once.”
He went on: “Leah and Miya are so small they haven’t been out much yet — but some people have looked at us a little bit funny when we’re with Lauren and Hayleigh due to the colour difference.
“Looking so different has never caused them any problems and I’m sure it won’t for Leah or Miya either. When people see Alison and I they tend to realise why our children are different.


Tomboy ... Lauren


“The most important thing is THEY know who their parents are. It doesn’t matter what anyone else might think.”
Alison agreed: “Everyone knows who their mum and dad is and it doesn’t cause any problems — why should it?
“We’ve had the odd comment from people about how different Lauren and Hayleigh look.
“Children at school used to say to them, ‘You can’t be twins because you’re different colours’.
“Some of the other mums didn’t believe they were twins either at first but then they see Dean and I together and realise.”
Dean added: “Having two sets of twins is absolutely hectic and we haven’t even had a chance to work out how much it will cost us.
"Thankfully we’ve had girls again, so we have some things put aside from when Lauren and Hayleigh were little. Friends and family are all offering help as well.”



Mixed emotions ... Durrant family


Little Lauren said: “Me and Hayleigh are really good friends and we really enjoy playing puzzles together. It’s very exciting having two new baby sisters as well.”
Mixed twins are rare — but back in 2006 The Sun tracked down the parents of FOUR sets.
Terri and Malcolm Rayhaman, of Cricklewood, North London, were convinced there had been a mix-up in the IVF clinic when their tots were born.
Fair-skinned Luca was followed by his dark sister Marina.
Terri said: “It was such a dramatic difference. But as soon as I held Marina I knew she was mine.” Malcolm, the darker of the two, has a Turkish mother.
A couple from Basingstoke, Hants, had twin boys Oliver, who was dark skinned and Boyd, who was white. Mum Claire is white and dad Spencer is of mixed race.
Kylie Hodgson, of Nottingham gave birth to blonde, fair-skinned Remee and twin sister Kian, who is black, in 2006. Both parents were of mixed race.
And Kerry Richardson, of Middlesbrough, Teesside, told of her two-tone twin boys.
Layton is like his dad who is white. Kaydon is more like his mum, who is of English-Nigerian heritage.
Kerry said: “Everywhere we go you can see people looking and you can tell they are dying to comment. I have to explain they really ARE twins.”

a Joke

The French President is sitting in his office when his telephone
rings.
'Hallo, Mr. Sarkozy!' a heavily accented voice said. 'This is Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Clare , Ireland .. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring war on you! We voted to reject the Lisbon treaty!'

'Well, Paddy,' Sarkozy replied, 'This is indeed important news!

'Right now,' says Paddy, after a moment's calculation,'there is myself, me Cousin Sean, me next door neighbour Seamus, and the entire darts team from the pub. That makes eleven!'
Sarkozy paused. 'I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100,000 men in my army waiting to move on my command.'
'Begoora!' says Paddy. 'I'll have to ring you back.'
Sure enough, the next day, Paddy calls again. 'Mr. Sarkozy, the
war is still on. We have managed to get us some infantry equipment!'

'And what equipment would that be Paddy?' Sarkozy asks.
'Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm
Sarkozy sighs amused. 'I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armoured personnel carriers. Also, I have increased my army to 150,000 since we last spoke.'
'Saints preserve us!' says Paddy. 'I'll have to get back to you.'
Sure enough, Paddy rings again the next day. 'Mr. Sarkozy, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We have modified Jackie McLaughlin's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Bar have joined us as well!'
Sarkozy was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. 'I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100 bombers and 200 fighter planes. My military bases are surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites.And since we last spoke, I have increased my army to 200,000!'says Paddy, 'I will have to ring you back.'
Sure enough, Paddy calls again the next day. 'Top o' the mornin', Mr. Sarkozy! I am sorry to inform you that we have had to call off the war.''Really? I am sorry to hear that,' says Sarkozy. 'Why the sudden change of heart?'
'Well,' says Paddy, 'we had a long chat over a few pints of Guinness and packets of crisps, and we decided there is no fookin' way we can feed 200,000 prisoners.'

the Word for Wednesday

IRASCIBLE

1. Prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered.
   
2. Characterized by or resulting from anger.

Synonyms: irritable,testy,angry,peevish,

a Joke for Wednesday

Two Irishmen in London looking for work are strolling down Oxford Street.
Suddenly, Paddy turns to his pal and says: "Michael, will you look at that shop over there, I thought London was supposed to be expensive, but that shop is as cheap as chips!"
You're right, Paddy, so you are. I can't believe it. Suits �10, Shirts �4, Trousers �5, I think that we should buy the lot and take them back to Ireland. We would make a tidy profit selling them in Dublin so we would."
"Michael that is as good an idea as you'll ever have, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay taxes and duty on things like that. The shopkeeper will never let us have them if he thinks we're gonna export them and make our fortune, so he won't."
"Paddy, I've got an idea! You can do the best English accent out of the pair of us. You go in there and do the talking and I'll just stand behind you and say nothing. He'll never guess we're Irish. No he won't."
"OK Michael", agrees Paddy, "I'll do the talking, you just stand there and look English."
So the two visitors go into the shop, where Paddy is greeted politely by the owner. Paddy then proceeds to do his best Warren Mitchell impression; "Awwwight Guvnor, I'll 'ave 20 of yer 'Whistle 'un Flutes', 20 'Dickie Dirts' and 20 pairs of strides. And if yer don't mind I'll be paying with the 380 'Pictures of the Queen' in me 'Sky Rocket'."
The owner smiles, takes a look at Michael as well, then says to Paddy "You're Irish aren't you?"
Quite bemused, Paddy replies, "Oh bejabbers, if that ain't me best English accent ? How in God's name did you know we were Irish?"
The shopkeeper replies, "This is a Dry Cleaners".

You're Never to Old to Rock 'n Roll