Invasive Plant Saves Helicopter Crew in Crash

A helicopter lost power and crashed while a videographer was shooting images of kudzu, an invasive plant species. The thick vines slowed the chopper's descent and allowed the crew to walk away from the accident without serious injury, according to the YouTube user who posted the video.



User name: firehorsefilmsNC
Location: McDowell County, North Carolina
Date uploaded: June 22
Event date: June 21
Views: 2
User notes: While filming aerials of invasive species in the North Carolina forests the helicopter lost power and crashed into the side of the mountain. Kudzu is one of many invasive species and it was the Kudzu that broke and slowed our decent and allowed us to walk away with only minor scratches. Pilot Chris Dupree did an exceptional job of saving our lives while the aircraft lost power. It was like sinking into water, that is how it felt to me as the power was lost.
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Camera Rolls as Tornado Strikes Home

A YouTube user recorded a tornado approaching his farm in Clarks Grove, Minnesota on Thursday, and kept the camera rolling as it moved directly over his home. The second half of the video was recorded from the safety of his basement, and goes dark when the twister knocks out electricity. The videographer, Mike Callahan, tells WCCO-TV the tornado killed his horse and destroyed a barn and 50-foot silo.



User name: josemarti74
Location: Clarks Grove, Minnesota
Date uploaded: June 19
Event date: June 17
Views: 5,231
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

1,000 Feared Missing in Brazil Flood

A devastating flood in Brazil's north-east has killed 38 people and left nearly 100,000 people homeless, the Guardian reports. 1,000 people are missing in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco.



User name: brunaoiticica
Location: Rio Largo, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 20
Views: 298
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User name: naldosilva2010
Location: Pernambuco, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 19
Views: 3,948
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User name: l2namikaze
Location: Rio Largo, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 19
Views: 5
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AZ Senate Candidate Pitches Free Money in 2007 Infomercial

A 2007 infomercial uploaded to YouTube on Sunday shows J.D. Hayworth, a Republican candidate for the US Senate, pitching a seminar that promised to explain, for a fee reportedly of up to $1,200, how to get "free money" from the federal government. Hayworth is challenging Sen. John McCain in the GOP's August primary race.

The clip was described on the Arizona Republic political blog, AZ/DC:

"Hayworth ... helped convince viewers that they could rake in big bucks by attending seminars that would teach them how to apply for federal grants that they wouldn't have to pay back. National Grants Conferences, the Florida-based company that hosted the classes and produced the informercial, has faced criticism from multiple state attorneys general and Better Business Bureaus."



User name: NatGrantsInfomercial
Date uploaded: June 20
Views: 339
Synopsis: Hayworth first appears at 1:48 in the clip.
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Flood Knocks Out Trans-Canada Highway

Flood waters have washed out a section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta. The Regina Leader-Post reports a nearly 3-mile section of the roadway on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border is under water.
Aerial footage uploaded to YouTube shows the wash-out in the town of Maple Creek.



User name: vicodinkid
Location: Maple Creek, Canada
Date uploaded: June 20
Views: 855
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User name: firedudebitch
Location: Maple Creek, Canada
Date uploaded: June 19
Views: 27,988
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Thousands Greet Solstice at Stonehenge

An estimated 20,000 people, including "pagans and New Agers" from around the world, greeted the sunrise at Stonehenge this morning to celebrate the summer solstice, the AP reports. The sun rose at 4:52 am, marking the start of the longest day in the northern hemisphere. Some revelers uploaded their footage to YouTube.



User name: itsandyjb
Location: Salisbury, England
Date uploaded: June 21
Event date: June 21
Views: 316
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User name: barrygriffin1950
Location: Salisbury, England
Date uploaded: June 21
Event date: June 21
Views: 301
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Party Balloons Blamed for Rio Fire

Firefighters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil say balloons filled with flaming wicks of cotton and wax triggered a fire in a national park above the city. Britain's Daily Mail reports the balloons are released to celebrate the Festa Junina, and are responsible for at least half of all Rio's forest fires.

Stunning time-lapse video posted to YouTube shows the flames rising up the Dos Cabritos hill, which separates the tourist hot spots of Ipanema and Copacabana.



User name: 2pfilmes
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 61,898
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.



User name: marciustill1
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 7
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User name: fredmorrissy
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 185
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19 Hurt in Chicago Subway Fire

Nineteen people were hospitalized with respiratory problems after a fire on the Chicago subway's Red Line on Sunday. Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire, but a fire department spokesperson tells the Chicago Tribune underground rail ties sometimes catch fire in hot weather. Videos uploaded to YouTube show thick smoke pouring out of the subway and on to the street.



User name: gsxr907
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 369
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User name: dnlbottorff
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 22
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Tornado Damages Montana Sports Arena

A YouTube user captured a tornado tear through the Rimrock Auto Arena in Billings, Montana on Sunday evening. The video shows debris whipping around in the sky above the Metra Park event venue. The twister was one of the largest to hit the city since 1958, a National Weather Service meteorologist tells KTVQ-TV.



User name: McLovinOnHot1019
Location: Billings, Montana
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 48,466
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

The video below shows the aftermath of the storm, and at 6:10, the damage to the Auto Arena.


User name: havokzzx
Location: Billings, Montana
Date uploaded: June 20
Event date: June 20
Views: 5,232
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Raging Ariz. Wildfire Forces Evacuations in Flagstaff

Plumes of smoke from a raging wildfire take over bright blue skies dangerously close to residential areas in videos uploaded to YouTube from Flagstaff, Ariz., today. The fire is threatening neighborhoods in Flagstaff and as a precaution, as many as 170 homes have been evacuated.



User name: zenmonkey9
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Date uploaded: June 20
Views: 5

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.



User name: azulwrx04
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Date Uploaded: June 20
Views: 0

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User name: MtMomDesigns
Location: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Date Uploaded: June 20
Views: 1

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Moscow Youth Glue Stickers to Cars in War Against Illegal Parking

Members of a new Moscow youth movement are covering car windows with over-sized stickers in an effort to curb illegal parking in their city -- on sidewalks and pedestrian walkways. The matter has become heated because Russia's capital can only provide parking spaces for 30 percent of its vehicles, according to the site The Voice of Russia.

In this video, one driver is so angered by activists who pasted a large sticker on his windshield, he chases the young parking activists down the street waving what look like a heavy metal bar (1:08):

User name: spiritonoff

Location: Moscow

Date uploaded: June 17

Views: 23,361

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

Deficit Commission Co-Chair Has Choice Words For Social Security Advocate

In a tension-filled discussion over proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare, Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R), co-chair of the White House's Deficit Commission peppers his remarks with profanities and hostility toward a Alex Lawson of Social Security Works. Cutting Social Security benefits would "take care of the lesser people in society," Simpson tells Lawson, "without getting into all the flash words you love dig up, like cutting Social Security, which is bullshit."(0:28)

The frank conversation caught the eye of political commentary sites today. The commission generally operates behind closed doors, according to The Huffington Post.

User name: firedoglake

Location: Washington, D.C.

Date uploaded: June 17

Views: 695

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.