CANBERRA, Australia — A newly discovered horse fly in Australia was so “bootylicious” with its golden-haired butt, that entomologists named it: Beyonce.

Previously published results from Bryan Lessard, a 24-year-old researcher at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, were recently announced on the species that had been sitting in a fly collection since it was captured in 1981 – the same year pop diva Beyonce was born.

He says he wanted to pay respect to the insect’s beauty by naming it Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae.

Lessard said Beyonce would be “in the nature history books forever” and that the fly now bearing her name is “pretty bootylicious” with its golden backside.

“Bootylicious” was the title of a song by Beyonce’s previous group, Destiny’s Child.

It’s unknown if the rare species is a bloodsucker like many female horse flies. Lessard says he was unable to find any live specimens when he went looking in 2010 in northeast Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands, where it was captured three decades ago. However, at least one member of the public has alerted him that he was recently bitten by what’s locally called the “gold bum fly.”

The description of the fly was earlier published in the Australian Journal of Entomology, but the results were announced last week.

Lessard says he hasn’t heard from Beyonce, who recently gave birth to her first child, but he is a fan and hopes she will take his scientific gesture as a compliment. He also said the name was picked to help draw attention to the importance of his field and the need for more researchers to catalog and study insects.

Horse flies are “vital pollinators of native plants, not just in Australia, but all over the world,” Lessard said. “It’s extremely important to name all the undescribed species so we can measure our human impact on the environment and hopefully protect it for future generations to enjoy.”

Shakira was hoping the fly with the golden butt would  be named after her:

The horse fly, of which there are around 4,400 species worldwide, serves as an important pollinator of many plants. He explained: “Horse flies act like hummingbirds during the day, drinking nectar from their favorite varieties of grevillea, tea trees and eucalypts.”

However, it’s not only the fly’s spectacular behind that led to it being named after the Bootylicious star. This particular horse fly was first collected by scientists in the same year that Beyoncé was born – 1981.

“Most Australian Scaptia species have been described, however, these five ‘new’ species of a sub-group (Plinthina) have been housed in Australian collections since the group was last studied in the 1960s,” Lessard said.

MIAMI – Dwarf-Tossing Season got off to a BIG start in bars across Miami.

Florida is the first state in the union to sanction the unique sport of dwarf tossing.   It’s a sport and an art that involves two athletes – one of whom is a dwarf.

Some of top dwarf tossers in the world have descended, once again, on Florida for the annual Snow White Cup.

Most states outlawed the sport in 1989, when national controversy over dwarf tossing prompted state legislatures to ban it in bars for safety reasons.

Florida authorities have deemed it to be a safe sport now – and it is heavily regulated.   “We try to keep dwarf injuries to a minimum,” said Dwarf Tossing Association president, Tom Hillstrom.

“Football is far more dangerous than dwarf tossing,” said Hillstrom.  “DT is an entertaining and competitive sport that features highly skilled athletes.”

The Little People of America have filed a few lawsuits, but Florida officials dismiss them.  “The Little People have a tiny case,” said Florida attorney general, Pam Ziondi.  “I think the judge will toss out the case – and a few dwarfs.”

There are 50 top dwarf tossers in the world and they have all gathered in Miami for the season opener.    Chris Blanton of  Kansas City, MO is the reigning dwarf tossing champion.  He once tossed a dwarf fifty-seven yards in nightclub in Melbourne, Australia.

Blanton has worked with top dwarf, Jimmy Cobbs of Newark, New Jersey for the last five years.  “They are a dynamite team,” said Hillstrom.  “Cobbs is a maniac and Blanton tosses the hell out of him.”

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is thinking of allowing Dwarf Tossing in his state.

Let’s the dwarf tossing begin!!

Rumors are flying around the internet that Beyonce is faking her pregnancy. What do you think?

The buzz started after photos and videos hit the Web that appeared to show her bulging mid-section to collapse as she sat down during the Australian talk show Sunday Night HD, suggesting she had a prosthetic stomach and that a surrogate was carrying her child.

The rumors are causing worldwide speculation as to whether Beyonce is pregnant – or not – and if she is NOT pregnant, then why on earth is she faking her pregnancy?

Here’s the shot from an interview that is causing all the stir:

Adding fuel to the fire, this shot was taken on the same day:

But her rep, Yvette Noel-Schure,  told WWN the fake-bump rumors are “stupid, ridiculous and false.”   But there are many sources close to Beyonce and Jay-Z that are saying it is true.  “She’s not pregnant, though she really wants to be pregnant,” said Lenina Darling, a friend of someone who knows a roadie for Beyonce.

The pop diva, 30, says she and Jay-Z are expecting their first child in February.

Here’s a report from Australia.

GIBSIDE, UK  - The Brits are breeding Geep!

Half sheep, half goat.  Yup.   That is what farmer Ian Bramley thought when he discovered his ewe had just given birth to a hybrid.

While it sounds bizarre, the genetic fluke is officially known as a “geep”.

“One of the boys told me the lamb had arrived,” Mr. Bramley said.

“It was dark, and I went into the paddock looking for her mother and she had this little black and white bundle.

“We don’t get black and white lambs, and as soon as I felt it I knew it didn’t have wool, it had hair.

“I said its father must be a goat.”

Proving to be more than just the black sheep of the family, the geep, named Oreo, was born to a sheep but is a genetic throwback from its father – a ram with goat genes.

Oreo and her mother, Floss, are among a menagerie of animals on loan to  FallyFarm, a pre-school and long day care centre in Gibside, England, from nearby farms.

The ram’s owner said he had been told it had goat genes “somewhere along its line” – sheep have 54 chromosomes, goats 60 – but in the genetic lottery Oreo came out fairly evenly split.

Oreo runs like a goat and has a goat’s face and feet but a sheep’s build.

What makes Oreo more remarkable is the embryo of a sheep-goat pairing generally dies in utero or is stillborn.

Fallyfoot supervisor Cindy Wilton  said Oreo’s remarkable birth took everyone by surprise.

“We jumped online to research it and discovered, while it is rare it can happen,” she said.

“We had another sheep who had a lamb but Oreo was six weeks later and we learned goats’ gestation is typically about six weeks longer than sheep.”

Since this happened – five months ago – British geneticists have figured out how to breed geep and they are… “furiously breeding as many geep as possible.”

“Brits have always led the way when it comes to goat and sheep and now… we want to rule the world when it comes to geep.”

At least they have something…

An international team of explorers has discovered a new continent, Pangea, in the Atlantic. 

This week an international team of explorerrs found a new continent in the Atlantic Ocean – formed from parts of North America and Antarctica.   The new continent was connected to North America 1.1 billion years ago.

The explorers named the new continent – Pangea.  Two of the researchers wanted to name the continent “Ron and Julie’s Continent” but they were outvoted.

“We thought we found a new island between Bermuda and North Africa, but after examining it for several weeks, we new it was continent and not an island,” said Julie Zierman, a geochemist from California State University.

“It’s about 15% the size of Australia, but it has much of the same flora and fauna,” said Ron Berger, an evolutionary biologist from Dartmouth University.   “We saw a number of kangaroos and koala bears, but we also founds some lions and tigers.  There’s some beautiful tulips on the continent, too.”

 Rocks collected from Pangea have the exact same composition of lead isotopes that are found in North America.  The rocks have the exact same age and the same chemical and geologic properties.

tTe September issue of the journal Geology, details the new discovery of the new continent.  It was first formed approximately 1.1 billion years ago on the Atlantic Rift System, which extends across the continent from the Great Lakes of North America to the Sahara desert in Africa.

The researchers used a ‘tectonic tracer’ to determine the age of the new continent.

How come it was undiscovered for so many centuries?

Pangea is hard to see from satellites because trees on the continent that look invisible from more than 100 yards.  Ships bypassed it, assuming it was of Europe or North Africa.

Ron and Julie have formed Pangea Tours and are planning taking cruise ships to the new continent.  And they are excited to find another new continent.

SYDNEY -  Australia is awarding carbon credits for killing camels as a way to tackle climate change.

Canberra’s “Carbon Farming Initiative” encourages Australians to slaughter as many camels as possible – to help combat Climate Change.

The Australian government is backing the initiative.

At first, the Australians were just going to kill feral camels, but they determined that ALL camels were polluting the environment and raising the global temperature so, “they all have to go,” said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“The earth is more important than camels,” said Gillard.

Adelaide-based Northwest Carbon, a commercial company, has gotten the “camel-killing”  ball rolling.  They are culling some 1.2 million wild camels that roam the Outback, this weekend.

“We hope to kill over 3 million by the end of the year,” said Johnson Wiggins of Adelaide.

They plan to shoot the camels from helicopters or capture them and send them to an abattoir for either human or pet consumption.

“Camel meat is delicious”, said Prime Minister Gillard.

“Eat a camel, Save the Planet,” is the slogan being used by the Australian government.
“We’re a nation of innovators and we find innovative solutions to our challenges — this is just a classic example,” said Gillard.

The government is seeking to “provide new economic opportunities for farmers, forest growers and landholders” if they come up with ways to cut emissions, according to the document.

Heavily reliant on coal-fired power and mining exports, Australia is one of the world’s worst per capita polluters and the government is looking at ways to clean up its act.

Go to Australia – and kill a camel!

BRISBANE -   A UFO was spotted on the Gold Coast of Australia.

A 10-minute video shot on the Gold Coast of a bright light in the sky has created a storm on YouTube – more proof of UFOs over Australia.

Brisbane man Sean Coulter was “winding down” from a night of partying at Tallai with 10 friends about 4:30 a.m. when he spotted the strange light.

After watching the ”strange light moving about” for 15 minutes, they decided to film it, capturing 10 minutes of footage.

Mr Coulter said the light appeared to slowly move away from them and draw clouds towards it, followed by a flash electrical storm.

“It was … in front of the clouds and there wasn’t a star to be seen, just this bright white light,” Mr Coulter said.

“It was moving left to right and was only a couple of hundred meters away.

“The whole thing was really eerie. It was like it was watching us.”

When the clouds cleared, he said the object was gone.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said.

“It was out of this world.

“Some of my friends that saw it are the biggest skeptics you’ve ever met but after seeing it they believe in UFOs.

“I work as a traffic controller so I spend a lot of time outside at night and see lots of things in the sky.

“This was like nothing else.”

UFO Research Queensland is examining Mr Coulter’s footage.

Sightings officer Martin Gottschall said there had been a spike in UFO “sightings” on the Gold Coast this year, reaching its peak in January and February when the Queensland floods hit.

While unable to put a number on the sightings, he said, anecdotally, the number of mysterious objects sighted in our skies was on the rise and types of UFOs had become more sophisticated.

“We’ve reached a stage where UFOs now camouflage themselves as ordinary objects, such as stars, so humans don’t notice them as much,” Mr Gottschall said.

“Around the Gold Coast area and up to the Sunshine Coast there have been a lot more reports than usual this year.

“The most common thing we hear about is yellow lights but UFOs can take many forms and colors.”

A spokesman from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said he was not aware of recent UFO reports on the Coast.

Here’s the video (WARNING – LANGUAGE):

DALLAS –  Given all the tainted American beef,  Australian camel meat has become hot new import!

Camel meat is healthier than beef – it has more protein and doesn’t contribute to heart disease.  And Americans, who just learned that half of their meat supply is “tainted” are looking for new meat to put on their dinner tables.  And it looks like camel meat is the way to go.

Jonathan Markum, a camel rancher in Australia, said the increase in demand for camel meat will help reduce a feral camel population in the Australian outback, which has caused serious ecological problems, and will create up to 300 jobs in a place that badly needs them.

“Camel meat is much better than beef…it’s the lesser fat than all the meat kingdom. If you put beef, mutton, kangaroo, emu any meat, then camel meat will be the lesser fat than all of them,” he said.

“Camel is a popular food in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, and Australia has the resources to provide meat to people who like it.”

Originally introduced in 1840, mainly from India to provide transport, there are currently more than 1 million feral camels roaming over 3 million square km of outback Australia, breeding at a rate that doubles their population every nine years.

The Australian Federal Government has provided A$19 million ($20 million) over four years to assist in managing feral camels, and a camel culling program began in 2010. The animals cause more than A$10 million a year in damage to fragile outback ecosystems.

“Controlling the numbers decreases the pressure on the landscape in dry conditions and will result in fewer camels dying very cruelly due to starvation, dehydration and trampling,” said Jane Ferguson, Managing Director at Ninti One Limited, a management firm in charge of the Australian Feral Camel Managing Project.

“Commercial camel operations need to be driven by economic considerations and need to address the animal welfare issues associated with mustering and transporting wild camels over large distances.”

Australian camel ranchers outside of Sydney just received permission to develop what will be the largest abattoir in Australia, capable of processing 700,000 camels a year.

This would also include donkey and goat meat destined for the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.  Thought Americans have started inquiring about donkey meat as well.

Wild camel feeds largely on grasses and could be viewed as a high quality “organic” alternative to purpose farmed stock.  Licensed musterers would deliver the animals.  “Obviously it’s a good environmental solution and it will bring important employment alternatives to the area,” Port Pirie Mayor Brenton Vanstone said.

And the flavor?

Foodies describes camel meat as similar to beef in the shape and smell, but richer in iron and vitamin C than both beef and lamb.

“The only thing about camel is, if it’s aged it’s a bit chewy,” said Mario Battali, who is thinking of using camel meat at several of his restaurants.  “But that’s the same case with an old cow.”

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – Jesus appeared in a three-cheese pizza at Posh Pizza in New Farm.

At Posh Pizza in New Farm, Brisbane, which is located in the city’s Fortitude Valley, Jesus Christ appeared in their three-cheese pizza.

The slice has been put on eBay, and as of this morning bidding was up to $65. All proceeds raised will go to a charity to be decided once the pizza is auctioned.

Posh Pizza’s Maree Phelan said her pizza oven was seemingly blessed with the presence of Jesus Christ, who chose a three cheese pizza as his medium.

Here’s the original pie that Jesus stepped out of:

Phelan isn’t convinced it’s the son of God, but she’s certain it got there on its own. “I can definitely say this isn’t a fake,” she said.

“The three-cheese pizza always comes out with very different colors.”

It’s already proven a good luck charm.

“After discovering it, the owner of the store parked in a loading zone and didn’t get a parking ticket,” they wrote on eBay.

There is debate as to whether the face resembles Jesus Christ or other well-known bearded men, with Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill a favored candidate, with actor Viggo Mortensen and a long-haired Christian Bale popular choices.

”It’s open to interpretation as many of these crazy, out there things are,” Phelan said.

Australian Catholic University associate professor and director of the Institute for Catholic Identity and Mission, Patrick McArdle, said the pizza was “almost definitely not a miracle” and would be hard to prove.

”There are a lot of misunderstandings in the making of saints and miracles,” he said.  He said generally only “medical miracles”, such as healings, were accepted by the Catholic Church because those incidents could be tested using scientific means.

“We often rely on medical miracles because there is scientific proof it can’t be explained by conventional science, that’s where the validity comes from,” he said.

“You have to understand we can’t apply that kind of rigor to a piece of cheese,” he said.
McArdle said it was harmless fun.

“We Catholics can have a laugh at this, but if that image leads you to a deeper level of faith, or just a sense that Jesus is part of your life, then it can’t be a bad thing,” he said. “Faith is best shared around a meal at the dinner table.”

Australian Skeptics vice-president Richard Saunders put the apparition down to random chance.

”When you think about the hundreds of thousands of pizzas that are made every single day, statistically one of them is bound to vaguely resemble a face,” he said.

The vacuum-packed pizza is on sale at eBay until 5.40pm.

SYDNEY, Australia – Jimmy Buffett fell off the stage at a concert last night after an extended encore performance of “It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere.”

Representatives released a statement:

“Jimmy took a spill last night toward the end of his final performance in Sydney. He is recovering at a local hospital and will make the remaining dates of his Pacific tour. Fans can show their support by purchasing a ‘Wasted Away Again’ t-shirt at www.MargaritavilleStore.com or by visiting one of Jimmy’s twelve retail stores.”

Earlier reports indicated the inebriated 64-year-old actually fell face first from the stage after chugging a pre-made Margaritaville “Last Mango Margarita” fresh from his cordless Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker.

Sources at Margaritaville Radio report that Buffett was seen drinking Margaritaville Tequila Silver and chasing it with Margaritaville Watermelon Mojito mix straight from the bottle.

An Australian parrothead at the show was overheard yelling, “This bloody bloke is a two-pot screamer. Step back before he lets out a liquid laugh! He’s a real no-hoper, this one!”

It remains unclear if Buffet will face charges stemming from the incident. Police are still trying to verify his self-proclaimed “license to chill.”

This morning, Buffett had a CAT scan that came back normal. Margaritaville CAT scan t-shirts and koozies will be available online tomorrow.

Here’s the video of Jimmy’s Margarita Spill: