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According to the caption that accompanies a circulating photograph of an unusually muscular canine, the pictured dog is the strongest in the world and works for the Russian Army.

At first glance, many may assume that the image has been manipulated. However, the photograph is genuine and depicts a real animal. On the other hand, the claims in the photograph’s caption are inaccurate.

According to a July 2007 Daily Mail article, the hulking canine in the photograph is a whippet named Wendy who was born with a genetic defect which caused her to grow larger and much more muscular than others of her breed:

While her head, heart, lungs and legs are the size of those of a normal whippet, her gene defect means she is “double muscled”.

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf.

Giant Squid

Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.

The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel.

The giant squid, which did not survive the rapid change in water depth when brought to the surface, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History for further study.

Scientists aboard — from the National

Secretary by Day, Royalty by Night

By Paul Schwartzman

The king folds her own laundry, chauffeurs herself around Washington in a 1992 Honda and answers her own phone. Her boss’s phone, too.

Peggielene Bartels lives in Silver Spring and works as a secretary. When she steps off an airplane in Ghana on Thursday, arriving in the coastal town her family has controlled for half a century, she will be royalty — with a driver, a chef and an eight-bedroom palace, albeit one in need of repairs she will help finance herself.

“I’m a big-time king, you know,” said Bartels, seated at her desk at the Ghanaian embassy just off Van Ness Street NW, where she has worked for almost 30 years.

Peggielene Bartels

In the humdrum of ordinary life, people periodically yearn for something unexpected, some kind of gilded escape, delivered, perhaps, by

kris-family-preparing-for-noynoy-s-campaign

Kris Aquino and  husband James Yap, along with their son, baby James, show their support for Noynoy during his presidential bid announcement at Club Filipino on September 9, 2009.

MANILA – Actress-host Kris Aquino, together with husband James Yap and son James Yap Jr., accompanied her only brother, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, as he formally announced his candidacy for president in next year’s elections.

Noynoy, son of democracy icon Corazon Aquino and the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.,announced at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City Wednesday morning that he is running in next year’s presidential election under the Liberal Party.

In an interview with ABS-CBN’s morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda,” Kris said she and sisters Ballsy, Viel and Pinky, who were also present during the announcement, support the political decision of their brother.

“Tinuro sa amin talaga na kailangan support each

by ABS-CBN

Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III declares he is running for president in 2010 at a press conference in Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, September 9, 2009.

MANILA – Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, son of democracy icon Corazon Aquino and national hero Ninoy Aquino, on Wednesday finally declared that he is running for president of the Philippines in 2010.

“Bayang Pilipinas, tatakbo po ako sa pagkapangulo sa darating na halalan. Itutuloy natin ang laban (Philippines, I will run for president in the coming elections. We will continue the fight),” Aquino declared in Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City.

noynoy-declares-2010-presidential-bid

The declaration was timed with the 40th day after the late President Aquino’s death.

“Tinatanggap ko ang hiling ng sambayanan. Tinatanggap ko din ang bilin at tagubilin ng aking mga magulang. Tinatanggap ko ang responsibilidad na ituloy ang laban para sa bayan (I am

by Philstar News

MANILA, Philippines – Five people drowned and 900 terrified passengers, many roused from their sleep, were rescued after the M/V SuperFerry 9 sailing from General Santos City to Iloilo City listed then sank off Zamboanga del Norte early yesterday.

A search was under way for 63 people who remained missing, Coast Guard Commandant Rear Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said, adding that they may have drifted with their life jackets or have been rescued but were not yet listed as survivors.

Superferry-sinks-5-dead-63-missing

“We really hope they’re just unaccounted for due to the confusion,” Tamayo said.

The rescued passengers and crewmen on board the Superferry 9 were transferred to two nearby commercial ships, a navy gunboat and a fishing boat hours after the ferry began to list before dawn.

A child’s body was fished out of waters near the site, according to Lt. Commander Armand Balilio, Coast

MANILA (AFP) – – Two people were killed Sunday as a ship listed before sinking off the southern Philippines as hundreds were rescued in an operation involving naval and civilian vessels, officials said.

The ship sank about six nautical miles off the west coast of Zamboanga peninsula on Mindanao island, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said.

Rescuers were five hours into an operation to evacuate 847 passengers listed on board the Philippines-flagged Superferry 9, which was on its way to the central port of Iloilo from General Santos City in the south.

The crew of 117 had earlier tried to save the vessel.

“We have two (fatalities),” Rear Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, the coastguard chief, earlier said on local radio, adding that three people were hurt.

He did not disclose details about the deaths and injuries. Earlier, authorities said some people had jumped into the water in panic before dawn as the vessel began to tilt to

by Jessica Ashley

Last week, I spilled my guts all over the screen, telling you about how I’d broken up with my boyfriend and ugly-crying, listening to torturous and depressing music, and considering the pros and cons of rather (ahem) involved goodbyes.

What I didn’t tell you then is that my emotional pain was manifesting itself physically. I was so nauseated, I had trouble eating enough. My sleep was restless and I woke many times during the night. I was a big ball of break-up mess. As much as I hated hearing my well-intentioned girlfriends tell me that time would heal all of these wounds (and why must girlfriends always say this?), they were right.

12 Healthy Ways To Heal A Broken Heart

One day, I woke up and

by Howie G. Severino, GMANews.TV

Eraño Manalo, the head of the politically influential, vernacular-speaking, and home-grown Iglesia ni Cristo, passed away Monday afternoon, an INC official said.

In a recorded announcement aired on dzBB radio, INC spokesperson Bienvenido Santiago confirmed Manalo’s death at 3:53 p.m. Monday, August 31, 2009. Manalo was officially the Executive Minister of the INC, but he was also its supreme, charismatic leader who took over the church upon the death in 1963 of the founder, his father Felix Manalo.

“Ikinalulungkot naming ipabatid sa buong Iglesia at sa buong sambayanan na ang tagapamahalang pangkalahatan ng Iglesia ni Cristo, ang kapatid na Eraño G. Manalo ay pinagpahinga na ng Diyos. Pumanaw siya sa kanyang tahanan sa ganap na 3:53 kahapon Agosto 31, 2009, sa gulang na 84 taon,” Santiago said.

(We are sad to announce to the Iglesia and to the whole nation that the Executive Minister of Iglesia ni Cristo, our

WASHINGTON (AFP) – – Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.

job-hunting-take-those-wild-party-pics-off-facebook

Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed for CareerBuilder.com, the largest US online job site, said they use social networking sites to check on job candidates, up from just 22 percent in a survey conducted last year.

Another 11 percent said they plan to start using social networking sites for screening.

“As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees,” CareerBuilder said in a statement.

It said job seekers should “be mindful of the information they post online.”

CareerBuilder said that of those who conduct online searches as background checks on job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace.

Eleven percent search