In the past decade, the concept of not growing old has crept from the pages of fiction into the mission statements of some of the best research institutions in the world.

The branding is different — they speak of “regenerative medicine” or “tissue engineering” or “biogerontology” rather than “the elixir of youth” — but the basic idea is the same: decrepitude is not inevitable; science will help us to stop the rot.

So, while the middle-aged of today can look forward to notching up about 80 or 90 years, some biologists have speculated that our children will routinely surpass the 120-year mark with their faculties intact.

And although a double century still seems optimistic, some, such as Professor Steve Austad, of the University of Texas, think that the first person destined to reach 150 is already alive.

Times Online

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A violent storm described as a freak “tornado” shredded hundreds of houses and killed at least 14 people in the southern part of South America on Tuesday, officials said.

Northern Argentina and southern Brazil, and the small countries of Uruguay and Paraguay wedged between them, were hit by a fierce atmospheric mass packing rain, hail and winds over 120 kilometers (70 miles) per hour.

In northeastern Argentina, 10 people died, including seven children, authorities said.

More than 50 others were injured, and trees and power lines were toppled in the towns of Santa Rosa, Tobuna and Pozo Azul, said Ricardo Veselka Corrales, head of the local civil defense office.

Witnesses and local media described the storm as a tornado.

Raw Story

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At Walmart, theft is not tolerated. At least not at the Walmart in Jingdezhen, China, where a customer died at the hands of Walmart employees who suspected the customer of stealing.

It started out when one of the Walmart employees suspected a female customer of theft. The customer was then under surveillance for a few minutes before being approached by the staff.

The Walmart employee requested to search the customer’s bag and the female customer refused to hand it over, stating that it was a violation of her privacy.

Next thing she knew, more Walmart employees gathered around her and started beating her up.

The customer managed to send an alert to her family through her cellphone and when her mother and sister showed up at the store, the staff members were still pummeling her. They begged and pleaded for them to stop but to no avail.

Finally, the police showed up and put a stop to the incident and the victim was then rushed to the hospital.

Unfortunately, she died of wounds shortly afterwards.

So far, Walmart has not commented on the incident and it is unknown if any of the employees were arrested.

Full story

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Divorce is the latest recession casualty as married couples can’t afford to separate!

Call it sleeping with the enemy. Or at least, living with him or her. For married couples who want to part ways, breaking up is not only hard to do, it’s so out of the question these days that many are staying together under one roof to wait out the recession.

Couples who fall out of love may not even have a job anymore, much less the funds to hire an attorney to make their split legal. With housing prices down, they can’t afford to sell off the real estate and go their separate ways. So some are biding their time by tolerating the other’s company on their home turf. It’s faux separation, recession style.

New York Daily News

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Residents of Lavonia, GA are reporting that Shoal Creek Baptist Church pastor, Jonathan Ayers, was the victim of a shooting fatality at a Shell gas station in the northeast Georgia town of Toccoa.

At the hospital where Ayers was taken, his family was told he had been shot by a drug dealer, but it was later revealed that he was shot by Stephens County drug agents in plainclothes.

Family and friends are unbelieving that the 28 year old Georgia pastor was involved in anything illegal or immoral. His brother in law, Matt Carpenter said, “He is one of the Godliest men I’ve ever known.” Ayers and his wife, Abby, were expecting their first child.

Watch the gas station surveillance video at WNEG 32.com.

My question is “Why dignify those murdering predators by calling them “officers”? They are poorly trained, poorly supervised loose cannons who are more dangerous to the general public than any gang of drug dealers will ever be. This kind of thuggish “police work” is all too common all over the country.”

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