(SkyNewswire.com)--- For my Campus Collection Project, I want to research the truth behind some of Pennsylvania’s Urban Legends. As a kid, I would read them with my cousins all the time. I am interested in finding out what others know and what they believe in. I think this would be a really interesting topic because it feels close to home and would be like storytelling- then just finding out if it is fact or fiction. Ever hear of the “Curse of Billy Penn”? How about the “Lie Detector” or the “Hermit of Wissahickon?” These are just a few of the many urban legends sprouting from the Pennsylvania area. As with most urban legends, these stories have their own versions in different places, but the stories still haunt and entertain the residents of Pennsylvania.


“The Curse of Billy Penn” is probably the most well-known legend in the Philadelphia area. At one point, the William Penn Statue on top of City Hall was the highest point in the city, and it was an unspoken rule that no one would ever build higher. During those times, Philadelphia sports teams had four championships in under ten years. Then in 1984, Liberty One was built – 450 feet higher than the Penn statue. Since then, there has not been a championship title for any of Philadelphia’s teams. No country in the United States has gone longer without a win than Philadelphia. Is it true? The city will find out soon, now that the Phillies are in the World.


“The Lie Detector” was a story published in the June 22, 1977 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The police caught a man accused of theft who would not admit to it. They did not have a lie detector, but instead put a spaghetti drainer on his head attached to a photo copier with a paper inside that said “He’s lying”. Whenever they did not believe him, they simply pressed “copy” and the result that he was lying would come out on a piece of paper. Because it happened so many times, the man finally admitted to his crime. It does not seem very far –fetched and could very likely be true, but many people began to question it because similar stories circulated in the 1960s, almost a decade earlier. The alleged thief may be the only one to ever know its validity.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- In the northern Arabian Peninsula during the second half of the 7th century, Qays, later known as Majnun, is in love with his cousin Leyla and decides to praise her in his love poems. Annoyed by all the noise around her, Leyla's parents consider that he has compromised her honor and force her to marry another man. Qays becomes desperate and wanders alone in the desert. His father takes him to Mecca and begs him to seek God's help to free him from his passion, but in vain.


The story of Majnun and Leyla has been told in legends, songs, poems, plays and epics from the Caucasus to Africa and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. It is a story of tragic and endless love, much like the later story of "Tristan and Isolde" and "Romeo and Julia" in Europe.


This volume consists of a translation into English of several of Majnün's poems to Leyla together with comments and an introduction. An incurable romanticism, the deepest longing of the heart to its beloved, nostalgia, memories of a lost paradise, idealism, anticipation, joy after a reunion, bitterness after a separation, lovesickness and a consuming passion emerge from the versions that have inspired countless of people more that 1200 years ago and throughout the centuries.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- Escape The Hezbollah

The Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award promotes small publishers in the Christian marketplace and brings recognition to outstanding Christian books. The CSPA award encourages excellence in authorship and publishing and is the only award of it's type designed exclusively to bring attention to small publisher's Christian titles.


Escape the Hezbollah is a glorious story of how love can endure through the most cruel, hostile, and depraved environment imaginable. Abducted into the newly formed Hezbollah army, a young American Christian fights for his life, his freedom, and the woman he loves when he defies a brutal regime during one of the most difficult times in Middle East history. The hero of the story thinks his Maker has abandoned him and he questions God's very existence, ultimately doubting his own faith.


The author, Pola Muzyka, is a multi-disciplinarian who began her career as a dramatic actress. She is an accomplished award-winning TV, commercial and corporate writer and the founder of Christian Media Alliance. Escape the Hezbollah is her debut as a novelist and combines her talent as researcher and dramatic writer in this powerful and gripping story.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- Since the early 1960s scientific research into Psilocybin and other hallucinogenic drugs has been at a standstill because of widely held taboos. In the twenty-first century that bias is fading and the medical value of psychedelics is again in the news.

This week, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) will host a conference in San Jose, California on psychedelic science. Rick Doblin, executive director of MAPS, said, "there's this coming together of science and spirituality. We're hoping that the mainstream and the psychedelic community can meet in the middle and avoid another culture war."

Roland Griffiths, Ph.D, Professor of Behavioral Biology, of the John Hopkins School of Medicine is one of the leaders in the field. In one of his experiments involving 36 people with no serious physical or emotional problems, he and colleagues found that psilocybin could induce what the experimental subjects described as a profound spiritual experience with lasting positive effects for most of them.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- A cerebrovascular accident, or stroke, occurs when blood flow stops reaching brain tissue. There are several different causes for the cessation in blood flow. The different causes determine how much brain is involved in the stroke. If the entire brain is involved it is referred to as a "global" stroke; if a specific region of brain is involved it is referred to as a "focal" or "territorial" stroke.

Global strokes occur when the entire brain receives no blood flow. The most common scenario for this is after a major trauma (ie: car accident) in which a person looses a significant amount of blood. The extremely low blood pressures that result from the loss of blood lead to decreased blood flow to the entire brain. The result is decreased oxygen and nutrient delivery leading to neuron death.

In contrast, the two other main causes of stroke affect specific "territories" of the brain. The territories affected depend on the specific blood vessel involved. The first cause of territorial stroke is referred to as a thrombus. A thrombus occurs when a clot (the technical term for clot is, in fact, a thrombus, but for the sake of explanation we'll use the term "clot") forms in a blood vessel that supplies brain tissue. This is similar to what happens in cardiac infarction (ie: heart attacks). Thrombi are most commonly caused by atherosclerotic disease of the cerebral blood vessels.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- Ghosts of Southeast Michigan: Southeast Michigan holds some of the most cultural and diverse areas in the United States, along with rolling farmlands, quaint towns—and ghosts. Get a glimpse of Blanche, a ghost that still haunts Kellogg Park; see spirits who roam the land where a mental hospital stood, and a ghost who refuses to punch out permanently. Meet a winged creature, fairies in the cemetery, and demons who throw dishes. The stories come from homeowners, paranormal investigators, psychics, and even those who call their spirits coworkers. Do you believe? You will...

Kristy Robinett is a professional psychic medium and author who began speaking with spirits at the age of three. Kristy is an internationally renowned Psychic Medium and Psychic Detective, donating her time assisting law enforcement agencies.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- LOS ANGELES, CA � Thunder Peak Publishing, a division of international content developer G3 Studios, today announces a new face in the horror genre with the launch of �Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter�� character. Jason Dark, a fearless and resourceful ghost hunter, follows in the mold of Sherlock Holmes combined with Randall Garrett's Lord D'Arcy. Written by Guido Henkel, the designer who brought Germany's famed Das Schwarze Auge series to computer screens, this action-packed thrilling series is filled with enough mystery, drama and suspenseful action to transport you to the sinister, fog-shrouded streets of Victorian England.

�I�ve always been a fan of the classic horror films from Universal Studios and Hammer Films,� said Henkel. �I wanted Jason Dark to hearken back to those elegant thrillers, but also speak to our hi-tech generation, not only with his adventures but how fans can access them.�

(SkyNewswire.com)--- DarkHaunts, a site dedicated to ghost stories across the United States has re-launched its website. The new site upgrades the graphics, adds more color to the site, the site before was completely black and white, and to add room for growth in its navigation for planned future expansion of the site during the year, several of the areas are currently under construction - the Halloween Favorites section is still undergoing research to help compile resources for people to use for next Halloween.

The relaunch of the site also launches the new DarkHaunts Community which was built using the Ning Network. The Community is established and ready to use, and will be the place to express yourself, ask questions and share information about parnanormal phenomena, ghost stories and ghost hunting.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- Underneath the Christmas tree this holiday season� that's where you'll find Zombie Dearest, the perfect stocking stuffer for indie film lovers. Scream Clock Productions unearths what promises to be this year's zombie comedy sensation just in time for Christmas.

"Frightening and Hilarious" says Dan Goldberg, producer of last summer's runaway hit, The Hangover. "Clever and creepy. I died laughing." says undead queen, Thea Munster, originator of the Zombie Walk phenomenon.

(SkyNewswire.com)---Feng Shui Master, Anna Maria Prezio, Ph.D. will guest spot on The 10! Show, November 4, 2008 at 11am EST to discuss her unique brand of ghost-busting.

Prezio, author of Confessions of a Feng Shui Ghost-Buster is a professional Feng Shui Consultant. She has audited hundreds of Feng Shui sites. Her clients include: Hollywood producers, directors, actors, doctors, architects, and corporate executives.

She has uniquely combined ghost-busting (or removal of unwanted spirits) and Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese practice and mathematical system that determines the most favorable direction for your living and working environment. Feng Shui is not a religion, cult, superstition or magic.

(SkyNewswire.com) -- Nominated for four Emmys, including Outstanding Dramatic Series two times in its short three-year stint, Star Trek is a true legend of television history. The brainchild of former L.A. policeman Gene Roddenberry, the show premiered in Fall 1966 only to be cancelled after three seasons due to lackluster ratings. But it may well have been NBC's network executives who were the cause of the low ratings as they allotted a less than desirable time slot for the show. When Star Trek moved into syndication, its reruns captured the science-fiction imagination of an entirely new audience, catapulting the Star Trek franchise to new heights. Its newfound popularity would, in the decades to come, spawn novels, comic books, six full-length feature films, and reams of merchandise as fans clamored for anything Star Trek-related. Beginning in the 1980's, spin-offs of the show began to appear such as Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise�

(SkyNewswire.com)--LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM-- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report related to the Financial services industry is available in its catalogue.

Mobile payments: progressing towards large-scale deployments

http://www.reportlinker.com/p083933/M ... ge-scale-deployments.html