Experts believe they have discovered a new Leonardo da Vinci painting. A Montreal-based forensic art expert Peter Paul Biro is convinced that he has found another Leonardo. In order to identify the artist a century’s old-fingerprint on the presumed 19th-century German painting was matched against a fingerprint found on a verified Leonardo. The fingerprints matched and the results speak for themselves.

The painting was bought in 2007 by a Canadian art collector Peter Silverman for an anonymous Swiss Collector. The painting is of a young woman that looks like a German princess and is known as the "Profile of the Bella Principessa." Before being purchased in 2007 the painting was at the Ganz gallery in New York for several years.

The art dealer Kate Ganz had owned it for just about 11 years after buying it at an auction for a similar price. The painting held the price tag of $19,000. However, since the discovery, the painting could now sell for as much as $150 million.

Many experts in the past disputed whether the piece was actually a Leonardo. However, science proved that it was a genuine Leonardo and the piece could fetch at auction millions of dollars. This was one heck of an investment and the Ganz Gallery in New York has to be kicking itself, because they had the painting for 11 years and missed their opportunity.

This piece of art is the first major Leonardo discovery identified in over 100 years. Biro defends his results by explaining that the print of an index or middle finger was found on the painting and that it matched a fingerprint found on Leonardo's "St. Jerome." Currently “St Jerome" is located in the Vatican and with permission the firm was able to use multispectral images of the painting the lab was able to use a special digital scanner to show successive layers of the work.

Apparently fingerprints are found in several of da Vinci's works. By using multispectral imaging they were able to get a readable fingerprint from St. Jerome and compare it with the fingerprint located on the "Profile of Bella Principessa" painting. The results astounded experts and the world.

So not only does the paining have Leonardo's fingerprint, but also the technique, style, and material composition.  Everything points to Leonardo. Experts were initially reluctant to say it was a Leonardo including the Swiss owner. However the science has proven the theory to be correct and even curators at the British Museum are confirming the find.

Many were skeptical at first especially the Swiss owner.He didn't believe it was a Leonardo and even told Silverman that but regardless the painting was purchased and the testing began. Science has proven otherwise and the "Profile of the Bella Pincipessa" is a Leonardo and now its value is priceless, but the price tag will jump from $19,000 to $150 million.

Iraqi translators have never had it easy. They volunteered to help Americans in their country. Translators have a difficult task. They are viewed as traitors by their fellow countrymen for helping the Americans troops.

They live with danger and fear on a daily basis. Their lives are in at risk everyday when they serve as interpreters but even more so when they aren’t surrounded and working with American GI’s everyday.

Many translators along with their family and friends are killed for being traitors.  One set of brothers that were friendly to American troops were killed and beheaded and then left on the base. They were only 10 and 15 years old at the time.

So if Iraqis help the American troops in any way they are putting themselves at risk.  They cannot count on how long they may live. There are thousands of Iraqis that have helped and worked with Americans during the war, but none have faced greater danger than translators.

They have been denounced as spies, shot, tortured, killed, threatened, and even found corpses on their doorsteps as a warning sign.  Despite these dangers many still voluteer although they try to take precautions while in service in order to try and conceal their identity. They cover up their faces so people will have a harder time seeing and recognizing them. 

They even choose code names to try and conceal their identity and sometimes speak with accents if they are working in villages close to where they grew up. Another difficult aspect of the job is the fact that sometimes they are disowned by their family and friends.

There are a lot of risks and responsibility that come with this job. Not only are they required to interpret what is being said, but they also de-escalate situations. Often times they have to keep the locals informed about what’s going on along with the soldiers. Miscommunication and anxiety can be deadly for everyone in Iraq.

The service that these Iraqis have provided to the U.S. military is invaluable and because of that Congress has tried to make it easier for these Iraqis to escape with their lives and come to America.  Although it is still difficult to get them over here.  There are stacks of paperwork, special government visas a generals letter that are required.  Even after all of this, only a limited number of visas are granted to translators per year.

After all the sacrifices these Iraqis have made, it is extremely difficult and the chances are low that they will be able to come to the U.S. The government needs to make it easier for them.  While they are trying to get through all the paperwork, their lives are in danger and the government and immigration just stand by.  Hopefully the process will change and translators can immigrate to America quicker and in higher numbers.
 

An Alabama mother has been charged with endangering the welfare of her child. The child was riding in a cardboard box on top of her van down a highway. Albertville police arrested the 37-year-old mother.  Police received several phone calls that a minivan on the highway had a child riding on top.

The woman when questioned by police reported that the box was too large to fit in the minivan and they needed it. Therefore, the only thing to do was place the box on top of the van. She said that the box would have fallen off so she had her daughter get in the box in order to hold it down.

When police questioned the woman about how safe that was for her child she reported that she had secured the box with a clothes hanger. So what I am trying to understand from this story is how a clothes hanger would secure the box.

Maybe she hooked the hanger around the rack on the top of the minivan and then stuck it through the box so the girl could hold on or something. Either way, this is the most stupid thing I have heard anyone do in a long time. I award this mother the "idiot of the week award."

Even though the 13-year-old girl was on the roof in the box she wasn’t harmed. The mother was out on bond shortly after the incident. What doesn’t make sense to me is why she couldn’t flatten the box or find a rope to tie it on.

It seems like a large jump to go from it won’t fit in the car to jump on top and I will try to drive home carefully. I wonder what the rest of her family thought of the incident. They probably thought it was okay just like the mother.

Not only was this stupid but it was extremely dangerous.  The girl would have landed on the road if for any reason her mother would have slammed on the breaks. She would get road rash, probably have head trauma, and possibly run over by her mothers or anothers car.

This situation could have turned into a tragedy but luckily it didn’t. It makes me wonder if this lady is one of those parents that drives around with her children on her lap instead of in a car seat.  The government has made it illegal for children not to be restrained while riding in the car because it’s dangerous.

Some parents just don’t take their children’s safety seriously.  If anything would have happened there wouldn’t have been anything to protect her.  The mother in the car had a seatbelt, airbags, and the metal on her car to protect her but this girl had nothing.  This cardboard box wouldn’t have stood up to anything plus she would have flown out of it beforehand.  I hope that the law comes down hard on this lady because she is freaking nuts!