.Sunday, May 31, 2009
Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed
Squirrel at cemetery wraps nest in Old Glory
A brazen squirrel has been grabbing small American flags placed in a Port Huron, Mich., cemetery and carrying them up to its nest, which now looks as if it's bedecked in bunting.
Every Memorial Day, volunteers place the flags next to the graves of nearly 1,000 veterans buried at Mount Hope Cemetery about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. The flags were undisturbed during a Mass held Monday.
The Times Herald newspaper reports that workers at the cemetery on Tuesday noticed several flags had been torn off their wooden staffs, which were still in the ground.
The mystery was solved in front of superintendent Ron Ceglarek's eyes. He watched a squirrel detach a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to the nest.
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Idaho families survive postal cut
Twenty families in a roadless wilderness in Idaho say they've convinced the U.S. Postal Service to keep bringing their mail via airplane.
Service to the scattered residents on the Salmon River costs about 10 times the average cost of delivery -- $46,000 a year for plane service as the Postal Service faces a $6.5 billion budget deficit, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The families reside in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness -- the Postal Service's sole remaining air route into a wilderness in the continental United States.
Postal officials said they considered alternatives, including surface routes, but none would have provided acceptable service to the families, who have depended on pilot Ray Arnold, 72, and his Cessna 185 to bring them their mail, food and other supplies for the last 34 years.
"There's a tremendous community among the people in this canyon," said ranch owner Doug Tims, 62, calling the mail plane "the thread that ties it all together."
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BABY FOR SALE on Craigslist?
It is such a sad story if it is true.
An online ad out of Carollwood pictures a little girl for sale.
On the popular classifieds website, Craigslist.com. Annabelle, as she's named in the ad is an 18-month-old baby girl up for sale.
Bay area resident Natalya Watson first found the ad that was posted Friday night while she was shopping for baby toys for her own little ones.
"I came across an ad that said, "Brand new or hardly used," so I clicked on that and saw some lady trying to sell her child," said Watson.
The ad is written by a "single mom", it says, who's "barely 18-years-old." She writes how her career is "just kicking off", so she's looking for a family who can devote time to her daughter. She writes, she will even "sign a bill of sell."
"Why would you sell your daughter, I just can't imagine," said Watson. After the initial shock, Watson got worried about the child.
So, she sent an email to the site's legal services folks. They quickly replied saying they would review the posting and work with law enforcement.
"I think the Sheriff's and DCF needs to see if this is a good home for the child - to see if it was true," said Watson.
Watson hopes the ad is not real but as a mother, she is not willing to take the chance.
"God forbid, something happened to that little girl, I wouldn't want that on my shoulders knowing it's something I could have prevented."
Since Watson contacted the website, the ad has been taken down.
Click here to see the ad.
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K-9 Officer loses job due to recession
Aberdeen, Washington - The Aberdeen Police Department has laid off its K-9 dog Nitro due to budget cuts. But public outcry and support could land the pooch back on the force.
Officer Steve Timmons is raising money to bring his partner back after the German Shepherd was cut from the force earlier this month. Police Chief Bob Torgerson says laying Nitro off saves the department $12,000 a year. That's mostly in overtime the city pays Timmons to care for the dog during off hours. Timmons says he wants to work with the city and union to eliminate the overtime. He also wants to donate his time but says federal rules and labor laws won't allow it. Timmons is also seeking donations to cover Nitro's food if he returns to work. Six-year-old Nitro has helped nab between 35 and 40 suspects since he joined the force in 2005.
The dog has been with Timmons since he was laid off.
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Man driving with toddler hanging out car window arrested
A 43-year-old man was arrested on drug charges after sheriff’s deputies stopped him when they saw a toddler partially hanging out of his car window.
Hobe Sound resident John W. Williams told Martin County Sheriff’s deputies he had just put out a marijuana cigarette when he was stopped along Bridge Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities said they searched his vehicle and found a baggie of pot and a manila envelope with cocaine inside.
Williams, 43, was arrested on misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony cocaine possession charges. His 2-year-old grandson was released to his mother.
Deputies issued Williams a traffic citation for failing to restrain the boy while driving.
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Guy owes over $110,000 in child support. And his profession is....
Mauro A. Martissa, 45, owes more than $110,000 in child support, according to the U.S.Department of Justice.
He was found guilty of willfully failing to pay child support by a federal jury and faces up to two years in jail.
This Pasco County dad has "failed to make a single voluntary payment."
Guess his training didn't take.
Martissa is director of a debt-consulting business.
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Former School Board candidate arrested on child porn charges
A former local priest and past member of the county’s Children Service Advisory Committee was arrested Thursday on charges of possessing child pornography.
Vero Beach police arrested Gerard J. Lamothe, 60, of the 1800 block of 44th Avenue, Vero Beach, after a three-month-long investigation.
According to a Vero Beach Police release, investigators got a tip in February a computer monitor at the Pastoral Counseling Center, 3100 Airport West Drive, Vero Beach, displayed child pornography. Lamothe founded and runs the Pastoral Counseling Center, which is a marriage and family counseling center.
Though the business was closed at that time, the monitor was visible through the window, the release stated.
A Vero Beach officer went to the office later that day and saw a monitor from the front window showing a child of about 4-to-5 years old engaged in a sexual act, according to the release. The next day, Lamothe — now married and a father of 11 — denied having previous knowledge of the image on his computer, according to the release.
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A brazen squirrel has been grabbing small American flags placed in a Port Huron, Mich., cemetery and carrying them up to its nest, which now looks as if it's bedecked in bunting.
Every Memorial Day, volunteers place the flags next to the graves of nearly 1,000 veterans buried at Mount Hope Cemetery about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. The flags were undisturbed during a Mass held Monday.
The Times Herald newspaper reports that workers at the cemetery on Tuesday noticed several flags had been torn off their wooden staffs, which were still in the ground.
The mystery was solved in front of superintendent Ron Ceglarek's eyes. He watched a squirrel detach a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to the nest.
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Idaho families survive postal cut
Twenty families in a roadless wilderness in Idaho say they've convinced the U.S. Postal Service to keep bringing their mail via airplane.
Service to the scattered residents on the Salmon River costs about 10 times the average cost of delivery -- $46,000 a year for plane service as the Postal Service faces a $6.5 billion budget deficit, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The families reside in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness -- the Postal Service's sole remaining air route into a wilderness in the continental United States.
Postal officials said they considered alternatives, including surface routes, but none would have provided acceptable service to the families, who have depended on pilot Ray Arnold, 72, and his Cessna 185 to bring them their mail, food and other supplies for the last 34 years.
"There's a tremendous community among the people in this canyon," said ranch owner Doug Tims, 62, calling the mail plane "the thread that ties it all together."
.
BABY FOR SALE on Craigslist?
It is such a sad story if it is true.
An online ad out of Carollwood pictures a little girl for sale.
On the popular classifieds website, Craigslist.com. Annabelle, as she's named in the ad is an 18-month-old baby girl up for sale.
Bay area resident Natalya Watson first found the ad that was posted Friday night while she was shopping for baby toys for her own little ones.
"I came across an ad that said, "Brand new or hardly used," so I clicked on that and saw some lady trying to sell her child," said Watson.
The ad is written by a "single mom", it says, who's "barely 18-years-old." She writes how her career is "just kicking off", so she's looking for a family who can devote time to her daughter. She writes, she will even "sign a bill of sell."
"Why would you sell your daughter, I just can't imagine," said Watson. After the initial shock, Watson got worried about the child.
So, she sent an email to the site's legal services folks. They quickly replied saying they would review the posting and work with law enforcement.
"I think the Sheriff's and DCF needs to see if this is a good home for the child - to see if it was true," said Watson.
Watson hopes the ad is not real but as a mother, she is not willing to take the chance.
"God forbid, something happened to that little girl, I wouldn't want that on my shoulders knowing it's something I could have prevented."
Since Watson contacted the website, the ad has been taken down.
Click here to see the ad.
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K-9 Officer loses job due to recession
Aberdeen, Washington - The Aberdeen Police Department has laid off its K-9 dog Nitro due to budget cuts. But public outcry and support could land the pooch back on the force.
Officer Steve Timmons is raising money to bring his partner back after the German Shepherd was cut from the force earlier this month. Police Chief Bob Torgerson says laying Nitro off saves the department $12,000 a year. That's mostly in overtime the city pays Timmons to care for the dog during off hours. Timmons says he wants to work with the city and union to eliminate the overtime. He also wants to donate his time but says federal rules and labor laws won't allow it. Timmons is also seeking donations to cover Nitro's food if he returns to work. Six-year-old Nitro has helped nab between 35 and 40 suspects since he joined the force in 2005.
The dog has been with Timmons since he was laid off.
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Man driving with toddler hanging out car window arrested
A 43-year-old man was arrested on drug charges after sheriff’s deputies stopped him when they saw a toddler partially hanging out of his car window.
Hobe Sound resident John W. Williams told Martin County Sheriff’s deputies he had just put out a marijuana cigarette when he was stopped along Bridge Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities said they searched his vehicle and found a baggie of pot and a manila envelope with cocaine inside.
Williams, 43, was arrested on misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony cocaine possession charges. His 2-year-old grandson was released to his mother.
Deputies issued Williams a traffic citation for failing to restrain the boy while driving.
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Guy owes over $110,000 in child support. And his profession is....
Mauro A. Martissa, 45, owes more than $110,000 in child support, according to the U.S.Department of Justice.
He was found guilty of willfully failing to pay child support by a federal jury and faces up to two years in jail.
This Pasco County dad has "failed to make a single voluntary payment."
Guess his training didn't take.
Martissa is director of a debt-consulting business.
.
Former School Board candidate arrested on child porn charges
A former local priest and past member of the county’s Children Service Advisory Committee was arrested Thursday on charges of possessing child pornography.
Vero Beach police arrested Gerard J. Lamothe, 60, of the 1800 block of 44th Avenue, Vero Beach, after a three-month-long investigation.
According to a Vero Beach Police release, investigators got a tip in February a computer monitor at the Pastoral Counseling Center, 3100 Airport West Drive, Vero Beach, displayed child pornography. Lamothe founded and runs the Pastoral Counseling Center, which is a marriage and family counseling center.
Though the business was closed at that time, the monitor was visible through the window, the release stated.
A Vero Beach officer went to the office later that day and saw a monitor from the front window showing a child of about 4-to-5 years old engaged in a sexual act, according to the release. The next day, Lamothe — now married and a father of 11 — denied having previous knowledge of the image on his computer, according to the release.
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Dog's Tongue Gets Caught In Paper Shredder
Last week, an 8-year-old mixed-breed named Diamond was rushed to a veterinary clinic in Miami with an alarming injury."She had licked a paper shredder in the house that was set on automatic," said Dr. Marc Wosar of the Miami Veterinary Specialists.
The shredder grabbed onto Diamond's tongue and pulled it deeper into the sharp blades.
"I think it's a big potential risk in the house," Dr. Juan Sardinas said.
Fortunately, Diamond's owners were home and responded quickly.
They disconnected the head of the shredder and carried it, with the dog's tongue still stuck inside, to Miami Veterinary Specialists.
"We anesthetized her first, then reversed the shredder off the tongue and assessed the damage," said Wosar. "There were a lot of lacerations to the tongue as well as a lot of bite wounds. In her panic, she'd also bitten her tongue."
It took more than a 100 stitches to repair Diamond's tongue. A portion that was too severely damaged had to be removed, but doctors expect her to make a full recovery.
"She just won't have a perfectly round tongue. She'll have a little nick in it," said Wosar.
Veterinarians recommend confining or crating animals when you're not home to keep them away from anything that might cause harm.
VIDEO
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
Bee Lover
Honey farmer Wang Dalin, accompanied by his wife, is clad in a coat of bees head to toe in Zigui county, central China's Hubei province
.Squirrel Pie Demand
"They are going to top restaurants, butchers, the working man. They are a delicacy and they are really hard to get.I cannot personally get enough of these grey squirrels, people are eating them. If I was getting a hundred, they would take a hundred each and every day, the demand is so high. They are sold as soon as they hit the counter.
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Security warning after pease pudding seized
Airport staff issued a security warning after a passenger tried to carry pease pudding on to a plane. The traditional northern snack – made from boiled split peas and ham fat – was confiscated from hand luggage at Newcastle International airport. It was part of the 450 liters of banned liquids seized by staff each day, including suntan lotion and jars of Marmite. Chris Davis, the head of operations, said it was costing the airport a fortune in recycling and waste disposal. He said: "We're asking our customers to make sure they're aware of what can and can't be taken through the security search in their hand luggage.".
Spanish Matador Israel Lancho Gored by Bull
Lancho is in critical condition after he was gored by a bull in Madrid.
The disturbing video is below.
The disturbing video is below.
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Drunkenness can be a laughing matter
This guy was a complete package.
His fight to regain balance, his tilting walk, his fall and off course the pants dropping.
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed
Man Calls 911 Over Orange Juice At McDonald's
An Aloha, Oregon man spent Memorial Day in jail after calling 911 to complain that a McDonald's worker was rude and didn't give him an orange juice he ordered. Sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson said the man, 20, wouldn't listen when deputies told him the emergency number isn't to be used for straightening out fast-food orders.
A McDonald's employee also called 911 during the incident, complaining that the man and the people with him were blocking the drive-thru lane and knocking on the restaurant windows.
The man was arrested for improper use of 911.
(AUDIO)
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Kids see photos of principal in her underwear
Police in Britain are questioning two teenage boys about photographs of their headmistress in her underwear that were circulating on school computers.
Headmistress Sue Brearley of the Whitecross School has told colleagues the photos were on her laptop which she had plugged in to the school's system.
A Gloucestershire County Council spokesman says the photos show Brearley in her underwear but were of a pornographic nature.
The spokesman says the matter is being treated as a theft and that two boys have been questioned by police.
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Girl with beer photo appears in yearbook
Pranksters slipped a photo of a girl clutching a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer into the yearbook of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., officials say.
The faculty had no idea the picture was included until yearbooks were handed out to students this week
"It's clearly defiant and subversive and intentional," says spokeswoman Laura Blair.
Principal Linda Yonke did not consider the prank harmless.
"It sort of casts a pall over the whole yearbook," Yonke said.
The snapshot in question is of two girls hugging each other while one of the girls holds a beer can behind the other girl's back.
School officials say they'll take appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible for the prank, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports.
New Trier has a long history of senior pranks, says a New Trier alumni.
One year keys to the school were mailed out, forcing officials to change all the locks. In the 1960s, seniors disassembled a car and reassembled it in the first floor rotunda.
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Complaint Filed Over Missed High-Five
El Paso Superintendent Tapped Principal's Head After She Didn't Raise Hand
What do you call a high-five that misses? Many would just call it awkward, but an El Paso school principal calls it assault.
The misfire came last week when schools superintendent Lorenzo Garcia was giving principals high-fives while celebrating state test scores. When Garcia came to Barron Elementary School principal Mary Helen Lechuga and she didn't raise her hand, he tapped her on the head instead.
But Lechuga -- a former district administrator who was recently demoted -- filed a police complaint saying she felt pain and feared what he might do next.
Garcia said she's a disgruntled employee and her complaint is petty.
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Fake 'No Parking' Signs Yield 200+ Tickets
Tarpon Springs, Florida police say they issued more than 200 parking tickets in a two-year span because a local developer posted fake "no parking" signs around a restaurant.
According to a report released this week, Tarpon Springs police Chief Robert Kochen said Mike Bronson has acknowledged he installed the 22 signs around the Tarpon Turtle restaurant. He had previously denied posting the signs.
Bronson told police he installed the signs because the restaurant's customers caused parking problems.
Officials are now trying to figure out if any outstanding parking ticket warrants have been issued to drivers who haven't paid tickets for parking in the marked zone. The city also wants to try to reimburse drivers who paid fines.
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Feds busted the IRS elevator urinator
Caught in the act by surveillance cameras at data center in Detroit
An agent used surveillance cameras to confirm a smelly suspicion: Someone had been urinating in a freight elevator at an Internal Revenue Service data center in Detroit.
Authorities filed a criminal charge Tuesday against Michael Hicks. In an affidavit, treasury agent Delmaria Scott said she interviewed Hicks in January 2008 and he admitted urinating in the elevator for months.
Scott said Hicks did it "because he felt he could get away with it." It cost $4,600 to clean the elevator.
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Man wearing only a thong charged in burglary
Officers say they followed man's footprints to an abandoned farm house
Deputies said a man who was caught wearing a woman's thong was charged with a burglarizing a home.
Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said deputies caught the 42-year-old man only wearing panties in an abandoned farm house. The officers followed his footprints from a nearby Andersonville home where a burglary had been reported.
The man was charged with aggravated burglary, auto burglary and vandalism on Monday and was held on a $65,000 bond in the Anderson County Detention Facility.
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Man Marries in Courthouse as Jury Decides His Fate at Trial
A suburban Philadelphia man asked a judge to perform a wedding ceremony while the jury in the man's criminal trial was still deliberating the verdict.
Twenty-year-old Timothy Zalut, of Doylestown, was on trial on assault charges this week in Bucks County Court. When it appeared that he might have to go to jail, Zalut decided to tie the knot with his fiancee, Hayley Dykstra.
Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp, of Perry County, was presiding over the trial. He agreed to perform the ceremony in chambers while the jury was still out.
Dkystra said, "We wanted to get married, and we were worried that we wouldn't get the chance."
A plea bargain finally brought the trial to a halt and Rehkamp sentenced Zalut to five years of probation.
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Florida Woman Loses Arms, Legs After Misdiagnosis
When the sharp pain shooting through Lisa Strong's back got worse, she thought it was another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass. This time was different.
Through a series of mistakes, miscommunications and misdiagnoses, she wound up having her arms and legs amputated. She sued the doctors, who essentially blamed one another for what everyone involved agrees were profound errors.
Everyone except the jury that ruled against Strong.
The verdict came in the face of such overwhelming evidence that in a rare move, the judge tossed out the jury's decision and ordered a new trial.
As she awaits her second chance in court, Strong vividly remembers the day she became ill.
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An Aloha, Oregon man spent Memorial Day in jail after calling 911 to complain that a McDonald's worker was rude and didn't give him an orange juice he ordered. Sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson said the man, 20, wouldn't listen when deputies told him the emergency number isn't to be used for straightening out fast-food orders.
A McDonald's employee also called 911 during the incident, complaining that the man and the people with him were blocking the drive-thru lane and knocking on the restaurant windows.
The man was arrested for improper use of 911.
(AUDIO)
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Kids see photos of principal in her underwear
Police in Britain are questioning two teenage boys about photographs of their headmistress in her underwear that were circulating on school computers.
Headmistress Sue Brearley of the Whitecross School has told colleagues the photos were on her laptop which she had plugged in to the school's system.
A Gloucestershire County Council spokesman says the photos show Brearley in her underwear but were of a pornographic nature.
The spokesman says the matter is being treated as a theft and that two boys have been questioned by police.
.
Girl with beer photo appears in yearbook
Pranksters slipped a photo of a girl clutching a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer into the yearbook of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., officials say.
The faculty had no idea the picture was included until yearbooks were handed out to students this week
"It's clearly defiant and subversive and intentional," says spokeswoman Laura Blair.
Principal Linda Yonke did not consider the prank harmless.
"It sort of casts a pall over the whole yearbook," Yonke said.
The snapshot in question is of two girls hugging each other while one of the girls holds a beer can behind the other girl's back.
School officials say they'll take appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible for the prank, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports.
New Trier has a long history of senior pranks, says a New Trier alumni.
One year keys to the school were mailed out, forcing officials to change all the locks. In the 1960s, seniors disassembled a car and reassembled it in the first floor rotunda.
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Complaint Filed Over Missed High-Five
El Paso Superintendent Tapped Principal's Head After She Didn't Raise Hand
What do you call a high-five that misses? Many would just call it awkward, but an El Paso school principal calls it assault.
The misfire came last week when schools superintendent Lorenzo Garcia was giving principals high-fives while celebrating state test scores. When Garcia came to Barron Elementary School principal Mary Helen Lechuga and she didn't raise her hand, he tapped her on the head instead.
But Lechuga -- a former district administrator who was recently demoted -- filed a police complaint saying she felt pain and feared what he might do next.
Garcia said she's a disgruntled employee and her complaint is petty.
.
Fake 'No Parking' Signs Yield 200+ Tickets
Tarpon Springs, Florida police say they issued more than 200 parking tickets in a two-year span because a local developer posted fake "no parking" signs around a restaurant.
According to a report released this week, Tarpon Springs police Chief Robert Kochen said Mike Bronson has acknowledged he installed the 22 signs around the Tarpon Turtle restaurant. He had previously denied posting the signs.
Bronson told police he installed the signs because the restaurant's customers caused parking problems.
Officials are now trying to figure out if any outstanding parking ticket warrants have been issued to drivers who haven't paid tickets for parking in the marked zone. The city also wants to try to reimburse drivers who paid fines.
.
Feds busted the IRS elevator urinator
Caught in the act by surveillance cameras at data center in Detroit
An agent used surveillance cameras to confirm a smelly suspicion: Someone had been urinating in a freight elevator at an Internal Revenue Service data center in Detroit.
Authorities filed a criminal charge Tuesday against Michael Hicks. In an affidavit, treasury agent Delmaria Scott said she interviewed Hicks in January 2008 and he admitted urinating in the elevator for months.
Scott said Hicks did it "because he felt he could get away with it." It cost $4,600 to clean the elevator.
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Man wearing only a thong charged in burglary
Officers say they followed man's footprints to an abandoned farm house
Deputies said a man who was caught wearing a woman's thong was charged with a burglarizing a home.
Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said deputies caught the 42-year-old man only wearing panties in an abandoned farm house. The officers followed his footprints from a nearby Andersonville home where a burglary had been reported.
The man was charged with aggravated burglary, auto burglary and vandalism on Monday and was held on a $65,000 bond in the Anderson County Detention Facility.
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Man Marries in Courthouse as Jury Decides His Fate at Trial
A suburban Philadelphia man asked a judge to perform a wedding ceremony while the jury in the man's criminal trial was still deliberating the verdict.
Twenty-year-old Timothy Zalut, of Doylestown, was on trial on assault charges this week in Bucks County Court. When it appeared that he might have to go to jail, Zalut decided to tie the knot with his fiancee, Hayley Dykstra.
Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp, of Perry County, was presiding over the trial. He agreed to perform the ceremony in chambers while the jury was still out.
Dkystra said, "We wanted to get married, and we were worried that we wouldn't get the chance."
A plea bargain finally brought the trial to a halt and Rehkamp sentenced Zalut to five years of probation.
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Florida Woman Loses Arms, Legs After Misdiagnosis
When the sharp pain shooting through Lisa Strong's back got worse, she thought it was another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass. This time was different.
Through a series of mistakes, miscommunications and misdiagnoses, she wound up having her arms and legs amputated. She sued the doctors, who essentially blamed one another for what everyone involved agrees were profound errors.
Everyone except the jury that ruled against Strong.
The verdict came in the face of such overwhelming evidence that in a rare move, the judge tossed out the jury's decision and ordered a new trial.
As she awaits her second chance in court, Strong vividly remembers the day she became ill.
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Gas Powered La Z Boy
Yes, These Chairs Are Gas-Powered!.
"That's the silliest thing I have ever seen," remarked a giggling onlooker.
"That's the silliest thing I have ever seen," remarked a giggling onlooker.
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Bank customer smashed machine after his card was kept
A bank customer was so frustrated when a cash machine swallowed his card that he dialled 999 and threw a brick at the screen.Mark Britten was arrested for criminal damage to the Lloyds TSB machine in Browtowe Lane, Broxtowe Estate.
He had already tried two cash machines, in Nuthall Road and Bells Lane, when he got to the TSB and was denied cash again.
The 45-year-old, of Stockhill Lane, Basford, said: "I was incensed by it all. I wanted the police to shut the machine down so it would not happen to anyone else. And they said they were too busy... so I smashed it with a brick" setting off the machine's alarm and then a security shutter came down.
"The police came with CS spray in their hands and extended batons and arrested me."
"He was clearly annoyed because other cash machines were empty,"
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Woman Told to Remove 'Offensive' American Flag From Office
Debbie McLucas comes from a patriotic family – her husband and both of her sons served in the U.S. military, and her daughter is currently deployed to Iraq on her second tour of duty as a combat medic.So when McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed.
"I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down," McLucas said.
"I went to the office to retrieve it and found the flag wrapped around the pole, sitting in the corner on the ground. I was speechless."
McLucas, a supervisor at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas, had displayed the 3-by-5-foot flag in the office she shares with the hospital’s three other supervisors. McLucas said one of her colleagues, a woman who immigrated to the United States from Africa 14 years ago, complained about the flag to upper management, and the hospital decided to take down the flag.
"I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down," McLucas said
She said the hospital told her that the American flag flying outside the building would have to suffice. "I was told, ‘There is a flag hanging out front, everyone can see that one. Is that not enough?’"
No, she said, that wasn't enough.
"It is more than I can even fathom, that you would find the American flag offensive, in America," McLucas said.
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Rock-throwing pair: 'It was just a dumbass prank'
An 18-year-old woman and 23-year-old man from Tacoma, Washington accused of dropping big rocks off a railroad trestle onto more than a dozen cars below apologized for their behavior Wednesday.
Madison said the night began innocently enough.
Sizemore said after a while, Madison wanted to play a stripping game where if they saw a headlight out, they would say "Sex Me" and the other person had to remove an article of clothing.
The pair were tracked down by troopers on the ground with assistance from a State Patrol airplane, which captured video of the couple throwing rocks.
Troopers say when they caught up with the pair, it was apparent that Madison was losing the game -- she was arrested in just her underwear. Sizemore says he was shirtless and was without shoes.
He added he didn't think tossing rocks was so dangerous.
"I didn't think it was deadly, I thought we were just hitting roofs and stuff," he said.
Madison wanted to make it clear that it was all her idea, and that she was sorry for what she did.Sizemore was similarly apologetic."I wish I could go back in time and change everything. I wish I could tell them I'm sorry.
The two have pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of second-degree assault. If convicted, they could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.
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Couple in Bizarre Stripping Game Speak Out
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Woman Bitten By Co-Worker After 'Bite Me' Remark
An analyst at the Connecticut Police Academy says a co-worker responded literally to her "bite me" remark and chomped on her.
Former Waterbury police Capt. Francis Woodruff was charged Tuesday with disorderly conduct and released on a promise to appear in court. He's accused of biting academy license and applications analyst Rochelle Wyler on April 24.
A police arrest report says Wyler had teeth marks and bruising on the back of her left arm.
Wyler's complaint alleges Woodruff was annoying her by calling her a clerk. She says she responded with "bite me" -- and he did.
Woodruff also is a training coordinator with the 130-member police department in Meriden, just south of Hartford. He says he was joking around.
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Former Waterbury police Capt. Francis Woodruff was charged Tuesday with disorderly conduct and released on a promise to appear in court. He's accused of biting academy license and applications analyst Rochelle Wyler on April 24.
A police arrest report says Wyler had teeth marks and bruising on the back of her left arm.
Wyler's complaint alleges Woodruff was annoying her by calling her a clerk. She says she responded with "bite me" -- and he did.
Woodruff also is a training coordinator with the 130-member police department in Meriden, just south of Hartford. He says he was joking around.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
High School Graduation
Russian School Graduation Girls
It is a very important day for the Russian high school students, because next it’s an adult life that is waiting for them. That's why they party and have fun.
It is a very important day for the Russian high school students, because next it’s an adult life that is waiting for them. That's why they party and have fun.
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Senior Prank Teens Caught Red-Handed
Police in San Diego say a dozen high school students were caught in the act of moving hundreds of desks and chairs out of classrooms as part of a senior prank.
Police spokeswoman Monica Munoz said students obtained a copy of San Ysidro High School's master key and snuck onto campus early Tuesday. She says they were stacking desks and chairs in the hallway and putting furniture on a field in the shape of "09."
Munoz says their activity triggered motion sensors, which prompted the school's alarm company to call police.
Police cited the students who were 18 for trespassing, and those under 18 for curfew violation.
They were ordered to return the furniture to their original locations.
Police spokeswoman Monica Munoz said students obtained a copy of San Ysidro High School's master key and snuck onto campus early Tuesday. She says they were stacking desks and chairs in the hallway and putting furniture on a field in the shape of "09."
Munoz says their activity triggered motion sensors, which prompted the school's alarm company to call police.
Police cited the students who were 18 for trespassing, and those under 18 for curfew violation.
They were ordered to return the furniture to their original locations.
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Residents no longer butt of jokes
Residents who were fed-up living in Butt Hole Road have finally had the name changed.The street which houses four homes in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, has now been renamed Archer Way.
The road was named after a communal water butt used centuries ago.
Peter Sutton, who has lived on the street for six years said he got bored of all the jokes.
Pranksters used to visit the street and bare their backsides for photographs while delivery firms refused to believe it existed.
Elizabeth Brennan, 77, who uses the street for access to her home said it was a bit tedious having the street laughed at all the time. The new name is much nicer."
However, an internet petition to get the name changed back again has already started.
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Red Bull's New Cola is from Cocaine
About a year ago, the makers of Red Bull, the famous caffeine-loaded energy drink, decided to come out with a soda, unsurprisingly named Red Bull Cola. The shared name implied the same big kick. But could the cola's boost — supposedly "100% natural" — come from something else? Officials in Germany worry that they've found the answer — cocaine. And now they have prohibited the soda's sale in six states across the country and may recommend a nation-wide ban.According to this analysis, the 0.13 micrograms of cocaine per can of the drink does not pose a serious health threat — you'd have to drink 12,000 L of Red Bull Cola for negative effects to be felt — but it was enough to cause concern.
Red Bull has always been upfront about the recipe for its new cola. Its website boasts colorful pictures of coca, cardamom and Kola nuts, along with other key "natural" ingredients. The company insists, however, that coca leaves are used as a flavoring agent only after removing the illegal cocaine alkaloid. De-cocainized extract of coca leaf is used worldwide in foods as a natural flavoring.
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ADHD Treatment Causes Young Boys to Develop Female Breasts
A drug used to treat ADHD children is causing concern in the United States.It is called Risperdal and it is supposed to be used primarily for adults with sever psychological problems.
But last year it was prescribed more than 6.5 million times.
The side effects include young males developing female sex organs.
Nineteen-year-old John was just seven when he began taking Risperdal for ADD.
Even though the FDA approved the drug only for adult patients who were psychotic, John's doctor and others widely prescribed it to kids for less severe behaviour problems.
Once taking Risperdal, John's mum says he became aggressive, sleepy, and developed bowel problems. But the biggest shock came when he was 14 and started developing women's breasts.
"He asked me if he was a girl," she says.
VIDEO
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This is what happens when meds replace belts as the cure for "ADD."
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The Thai term for them is Ladyboys.
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ADHD kid always has something to occupy himself with now.
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So what do the *girls* who take Risperdal develop?
Really big knockers and extra female sex organs?
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Well now he has some titties of his own to play with.
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"include young males developing female sex organs"
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Well now he has some titties of his own to play with.
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"include young males developing female sex organs"
Since when are breasts "sex organs"?
Written by a moron.
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Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed
Police retrieves drunk driver with the drivers own TomTom
A 24 year old person from Tilburg cursed his expensive navigation system this weekend. Thanks to its TomTom the police force could retrieve the drunk man after he had caused a traffic accident.
The man, who drove in a car of a friend, did not give the right of way to a taxi driver at a junction and rode into the taxi. After the accident the drunk man ran away on foot, in the hope of escaping the police. These could however retrieve the place of residence of the man by checking the memory of the TomTom navigation system. The police force found the drunk man at the last programmed address. The suspect is a military and has been transferred to the royal military police.
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Woman blows off boyfriend’s penis with firecrackers
A Russian woman got so upset by the news that her boyfriend intended to leave her that she tied several firecrackers to his penis and exploded them, the Life.ru web-site reports.
The 33-year-old victim, identified as Alik D. had lived with the woman whose name was reported as Kira V. for about two years, but when the girlfriend started suggesting that they should marry, the man refused and said that he would rather return to his first wife with whom he had a son.
When Alik started moving out Kira suggested that they had a farewell dinner. After a hearty meal and some heavy drinking Alik fell asleep. The girlfriend tied several firecrackers to Alik’s penis and exploded them. The man was rushed to intensive care and doctors are reported to be fighting for his life.
Even if the man survives the woman will face up to 12 years imprisonment.
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Cop cuts off love rival's genitals
A French policeman has been charged with "a barbarous act of torture and mutilation" after he lopped off his wife's lover's genitals with a box cutter, Strasbourg prosecutors said today.
The 43-year-old father-of-five faces a maximum of 30 years in jail and is on suicide watch after handing himself in to his colleagues following Saturday's attack, according to officials involved in the inquiry.
According to prosecutors, the gendarme went over to his wife's lover's house in the eastern town of Reichshoffen, knocked the 54 year old unconscious, dragged him into his garage and emasculated him.
The policeman told neighbors to call an ambulance then surrendered himself to fellow officers.
An initial psychiatric report concluded that he acted in cold blood, and recommended that he be detained in a psychiatric facility.
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Sex Spider was found in Dutch supermarket
A toxic spider crawled out of a bunch of bananas at the jumbo hypermarket in the Netherlands. This species of banana spider has poison that causes infernal pains and paralysis phenomena. Men bitten by the Phoneutria nigriventer experienced long and painful erections (PRIAPISM) which can lead to impotence.
The spider was captured by a hypermarket employee and has nobody was bitten, according to Johan Dijkstra manager of the vegetable department.
The very toxic Brazilian wandering spider (phoneutria nigriventer) traveled together with a bunch of bananas from Costa Rica to the Netherlands.
An employee of the vegetable department put the spider on display in a glass jar.
The store handed the spider over to a vet who killed the spider by drowning. "we must think of our own health, according to the vet".
The Brazilian wandering spiders appear in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous animal.
Brazilian and US scientists are looking into using spider venom as a possible natural Viagra.
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Gator found in restaurant bathroom
In the 35 years of running a restaurant by a Florida swamp, the owner of Clark's Fish Camp says it has never been invaded by a live alligator, until now.
Joan Peoples says that when workers prepared to reopen the restaurant, which had been closed due to unseasonable spring flooding from a nearby creek, workers found a 4-foot-long baby alligator hiding behind the commode in the men's bathroom, in Jacksonville, Fla.
"I thought it was a fish or an eel or something, and all I caught was the back of the tail," Peoples told the station. "I got down and started looking, and he got in behind the commode … and I said, 'Oh my God, that's a baby gator!'"
The gator was removed and placed in the creek, perhaps feeling relieved to be out of a restaurant whose menu of exotic foods includes alligator tail.
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Eye holes in mask lead to suspect ID
Police in Memphis said the large eye holes in a robber's mask allowed a KFC manager to recognize him as a recently fired employee.
KFC manager Laketa Hollowell said she unlocked the front door of the restaurant Saturday morning after hearing a knock at the back door and a masked man armed with a knife rushed into the business and demanded money from a safe, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Monday.
Hollowell said she recognized the man as Ezederick Jones, 18, an employee who had been fired the previous day, because of the large eye holes in his mask. Her hand was cut during a struggle with the man and he fled after she addressed him by name, investigators said.
The manager called police and Jones was found by officers and arrested within hours, investigators said.
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Cigarette bandit wore beer carton as disguise
Police in Nebraska are looking a man who stole cigarettes while disguising himself as a beer carton.
Lincoln police Capt. Bob Kawamoto says the man walked into a Kwik Shop convenience store before dawn Monday wearing an empty Bud Light box on his head as a mask.
Kawamoto says the man also had wrapped something around one of his hands, suggesting he was armed. But the man never showed a weapon.
Police said the bandit left with nine packs of smokes valued at nearly $50.
PICTURE
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Lizard found in hospital sandwich
A hospital visitor went straight to the ER after he bit into a sandwich - with a dead lizard inside it.
Medics gave him Giuseppe Ferri the all clear at Maceretta hospital, in central Italy, but have launched an investigation into the snack horror.
Ferri said afterwards: "I bit into what was supposed to be a cheese and tomato sandwich and was surprised when I tasted something a bit meaty and chewy. I looked down and saw a lizard tail sticking out of the side of the sandwich.
"I opened it up and saw the dead animal and nearly passed out. It was so disgusting I felt sick."
He added: "The doctors said I am in no danger and no harm will come to me but I think it is outrageous that this has happened in a hospital, where standards of hygiene and on things like this should be extra high."
Caterers say the reptile must have fallen into the machinery at the factory that prepared the sandwiches for the health authority.
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A 24 year old person from Tilburg cursed his expensive navigation system this weekend. Thanks to its TomTom the police force could retrieve the drunk man after he had caused a traffic accident.
The man, who drove in a car of a friend, did not give the right of way to a taxi driver at a junction and rode into the taxi. After the accident the drunk man ran away on foot, in the hope of escaping the police. These could however retrieve the place of residence of the man by checking the memory of the TomTom navigation system. The police force found the drunk man at the last programmed address. The suspect is a military and has been transferred to the royal military police.
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Woman blows off boyfriend’s penis with firecrackers
A Russian woman got so upset by the news that her boyfriend intended to leave her that she tied several firecrackers to his penis and exploded them, the Life.ru web-site reports.
The 33-year-old victim, identified as Alik D. had lived with the woman whose name was reported as Kira V. for about two years, but when the girlfriend started suggesting that they should marry, the man refused and said that he would rather return to his first wife with whom he had a son.
When Alik started moving out Kira suggested that they had a farewell dinner. After a hearty meal and some heavy drinking Alik fell asleep. The girlfriend tied several firecrackers to Alik’s penis and exploded them. The man was rushed to intensive care and doctors are reported to be fighting for his life.
Even if the man survives the woman will face up to 12 years imprisonment.
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Cop cuts off love rival's genitals
A French policeman has been charged with "a barbarous act of torture and mutilation" after he lopped off his wife's lover's genitals with a box cutter, Strasbourg prosecutors said today.
The 43-year-old father-of-five faces a maximum of 30 years in jail and is on suicide watch after handing himself in to his colleagues following Saturday's attack, according to officials involved in the inquiry.
According to prosecutors, the gendarme went over to his wife's lover's house in the eastern town of Reichshoffen, knocked the 54 year old unconscious, dragged him into his garage and emasculated him.
The policeman told neighbors to call an ambulance then surrendered himself to fellow officers.
An initial psychiatric report concluded that he acted in cold blood, and recommended that he be detained in a psychiatric facility.
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Sex Spider was found in Dutch supermarket
A toxic spider crawled out of a bunch of bananas at the jumbo hypermarket in the Netherlands. This species of banana spider has poison that causes infernal pains and paralysis phenomena. Men bitten by the Phoneutria nigriventer experienced long and painful erections (PRIAPISM) which can lead to impotence.
The spider was captured by a hypermarket employee and has nobody was bitten, according to Johan Dijkstra manager of the vegetable department.
The very toxic Brazilian wandering spider (phoneutria nigriventer) traveled together with a bunch of bananas from Costa Rica to the Netherlands.
An employee of the vegetable department put the spider on display in a glass jar.
The store handed the spider over to a vet who killed the spider by drowning. "we must think of our own health, according to the vet".
The Brazilian wandering spiders appear in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous animal.
Brazilian and US scientists are looking into using spider venom as a possible natural Viagra.
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Gator found in restaurant bathroom
In the 35 years of running a restaurant by a Florida swamp, the owner of Clark's Fish Camp says it has never been invaded by a live alligator, until now.
Joan Peoples says that when workers prepared to reopen the restaurant, which had been closed due to unseasonable spring flooding from a nearby creek, workers found a 4-foot-long baby alligator hiding behind the commode in the men's bathroom, in Jacksonville, Fla.
"I thought it was a fish or an eel or something, and all I caught was the back of the tail," Peoples told the station. "I got down and started looking, and he got in behind the commode … and I said, 'Oh my God, that's a baby gator!'"
The gator was removed and placed in the creek, perhaps feeling relieved to be out of a restaurant whose menu of exotic foods includes alligator tail.
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Eye holes in mask lead to suspect ID
Police in Memphis said the large eye holes in a robber's mask allowed a KFC manager to recognize him as a recently fired employee.
KFC manager Laketa Hollowell said she unlocked the front door of the restaurant Saturday morning after hearing a knock at the back door and a masked man armed with a knife rushed into the business and demanded money from a safe, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Monday.
Hollowell said she recognized the man as Ezederick Jones, 18, an employee who had been fired the previous day, because of the large eye holes in his mask. Her hand was cut during a struggle with the man and he fled after she addressed him by name, investigators said.
The manager called police and Jones was found by officers and arrested within hours, investigators said.
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Cigarette bandit wore beer carton as disguise
Police in Nebraska are looking a man who stole cigarettes while disguising himself as a beer carton.
Lincoln police Capt. Bob Kawamoto says the man walked into a Kwik Shop convenience store before dawn Monday wearing an empty Bud Light box on his head as a mask.
Kawamoto says the man also had wrapped something around one of his hands, suggesting he was armed. But the man never showed a weapon.
Police said the bandit left with nine packs of smokes valued at nearly $50.
PICTURE
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Lizard found in hospital sandwich
A hospital visitor went straight to the ER after he bit into a sandwich - with a dead lizard inside it.
Medics gave him Giuseppe Ferri the all clear at Maceretta hospital, in central Italy, but have launched an investigation into the snack horror.
Ferri said afterwards: "I bit into what was supposed to be a cheese and tomato sandwich and was surprised when I tasted something a bit meaty and chewy. I looked down and saw a lizard tail sticking out of the side of the sandwich.
"I opened it up and saw the dead animal and nearly passed out. It was so disgusting I felt sick."
He added: "The doctors said I am in no danger and no harm will come to me but I think it is outrageous that this has happened in a hospital, where standards of hygiene and on things like this should be extra high."
Caterers say the reptile must have fallen into the machinery at the factory that prepared the sandwiches for the health authority.
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Invasion turns Dutch city into a horror scene
An invasion of caterpillars has turned the Spui in the Dutch city of Rotterdam into a scene from a horror movie, stripped of their leaves and covered in gluey sheets of silk. The Ermine moth eat the leaves on the trees for six weeks long, then the larvae cover the trees in cocoons of silk like giant spider webs and change into a white butterfly with black dots.The city now looks as it would in the middle of winter with trees without a leaf on them in the streets of the Spui, Rotterdam.
When the tree has no leaves left, the caterpillars will search for new plants, and crawl with thousands on bikes or cars parked under the trees.
There are several hundred species of ermine moths, most of them in the tropics, and the larvae are known for forming communal webs.
The silk web cocoons that they make are designed to protect them from birds and parasitic wasps so they can eat leaves undisturbed. Some species of the moth are considered minor pests in farming, forestry and horticulture because of infestations.
Statistics show an increase in the number of caterpillar pests in the last twenty years. The eggs survive much better with the softer and wetter winters. Many people are disgusted with the creepy creatures.
It is an interesting natural phenomenon and possibly related to climate change.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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Siamese Sheep
Taken at Law's Railroad Museum in Bishop, CA.These sheep have been on display since the 1950s
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Viagra scientist dies, aged 92
An American scientist whose work helped lead to the development of the anti-impotency drug Viagra has died at the age of 92 in Seattle.
Robert F Furchgott was showered with honours during a scientific career spanning more than 70 years.
Degrees, professorships and research papers culminated in a share of the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1998.
This was for his discovery that nitric oxide would enlarge blood vessels in the body and so increase blood flow.
It provided the theoretical basis that lead eventually to the development of Viagra, and it is likely to be the reason millions of men and women around the world will remember him.
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Robert F Furchgott was showered with honours during a scientific career spanning more than 70 years.
Degrees, professorships and research papers culminated in a share of the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1998.
This was for his discovery that nitric oxide would enlarge blood vessels in the body and so increase blood flow.
It provided the theoretical basis that lead eventually to the development of Viagra, and it is likely to be the reason millions of men and women around the world will remember him.
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Monday, May 25, 2009
Women Taking Care of Man’s Needs
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Drunk Driver Having Sex
A man was caught having sex while driving because he and his girlfriend could not wait until they reached their destination, a court has heard. Bradley Dean Milne, 33, was charged with not wearing his seatbelt, driving without due care and drink-driving when a witness called police after seeing his car swerving all over the road.
Darwin Magistrates Court heard that the couple were planning to drive to East Arm Wharf in the Mazda ute to have sex. Police prosecutor Leigh Cahill said Milne "became aroused" and the woman gave him oral sex while he was driving. Milne was swerving from one side of the road to the other until the car stopped at traffic lights. When they turned right onto Berrimah Rd, the woman straddled Milne while he kept driving, swerving into the curbside and back into the middle lane.
A man was caught having sex while driving because he and his girlfriend could not wait until they reached their destination, a court has heard. Bradley Dean Milne, 33, was charged with not wearing his seatbelt, driving without due care and drink-driving when a witness called police after seeing his car swerving all over the road.
Darwin Magistrates Court heard that the couple were planning to drive to East Arm Wharf in the Mazda ute to have sex. Police prosecutor Leigh Cahill said Milne "became aroused" and the woman gave him oral sex while he was driving. Milne was swerving from one side of the road to the other until the car stopped at traffic lights. When they turned right onto Berrimah Rd, the woman straddled Milne while he kept driving, swerving into the curbside and back into the middle lane.
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Man 'killed partner for waking up his dog'
A man who considered his dog "Hubble" a child substitute and rocked it to sleep every night murdered his partner because she woke the animal up, a court has been told.Anthony Sherna, 42, is accused of strangling Susanne Wild, 53, and burying her body in the backyard of their home at Tarneit in Melbourne's southwest.
As he was nursing the animal in February last year, Ms Wild approached him, still angry over a mobile phone bill she woke up the dog.
Prosecutor Maitland Lincoln said Mr Sherna put the Jack Russell-Maltese Terrier cross to bed in the laundry, then took a cord and strangled Ms Wild.
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Bee Swarm in NYC
Thousands of bees have swarmed outside a New York City game store, trapping employees inside for hours.
Eventually, a bee specialist arrived in protective gear. He used the scent of a queen bee to collect the rest of the insects, and the store reopened for business.
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Eventually, a bee specialist arrived in protective gear. He used the scent of a queen bee to collect the rest of the insects, and the store reopened for business.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
Man drives through Wichita City Hall
An angry motorist has been jailed for ten years after driving his car into a town hall, causing $200,000.00 worth of damage.
33 Year old Marcus Johnson was asked to turn his music down, he responded by driving his car through City Hall. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his act
Minutes later, he sent his car careering through the front doors of the civic building in Wichita, Kansas, before speeding down a corridor at 45mph, causing staff to jump for their lives.
Security guards were later seen pouring through the shattered doors in pursuit of the car.
Amazingly, no one was injured in the incident, which was captured on CCTV cameras.
Johnson told the court in Wichita he had been hearing voices in his head the night of the incident.
His brother Maurice pleaded with the court to show leniency as she said he needs medical help.
But a judge rejected the plea and jailed Johnson for 10 years after he pleaded no contest to battery on a law enforcement officer.
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33 Year old Marcus Johnson was asked to turn his music down, he responded by driving his car through City Hall. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his act
Minutes later, he sent his car careering through the front doors of the civic building in Wichita, Kansas, before speeding down a corridor at 45mph, causing staff to jump for their lives.
Security guards were later seen pouring through the shattered doors in pursuit of the car.
Amazingly, no one was injured in the incident, which was captured on CCTV cameras.
Johnson told the court in Wichita he had been hearing voices in his head the night of the incident.
His brother Maurice pleaded with the court to show leniency as she said he needs medical help.
But a judge rejected the plea and jailed Johnson for 10 years after he pleaded no contest to battery on a law enforcement officer.
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Mistaken identity leads to police brutality
Authorities in Seattle have released surveillance video showing a burly sheriff's deputy slamming a man head first into a wall earlier this month, leaving him in a coma.
Christopher Harris remains in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center, his family says. The 29-year-old had been pursued by deputies May 10 after a witness wrongly identified him as a suspect in an assault.
Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart, who released the video Thursday, says Deputy Matthew Paul did not violate policy in tackling Harris. He says Harris was trying to get away, and calls the injury "a tragic accident."
A Harris family lawyer says the video and witness accounts show he was a victim of excessive force.
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Christopher Harris remains in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center, his family says. The 29-year-old had been pursued by deputies May 10 after a witness wrongly identified him as a suspect in an assault.
Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart, who released the video Thursday, says Deputy Matthew Paul did not violate policy in tackling Harris. He says Harris was trying to get away, and calls the injury "a tragic accident."
A Harris family lawyer says the video and witness accounts show he was a victim of excessive force.
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A cure for that road rage
‘Road rage’! Just what a motorcyclist needs for riding on the highway. Designed as an equalizer. Inconceivable and unpredictable lane changes and other traffic related anomalies perpetrated by the cell phone using, motor home/SUV driving morons on the rest of us.The above pictured machine was designed for that purpose. Each mini gun fires at a rate of 3000 rounds for minute (6000 total). During initial test and evaluation it was demonstrated that a single 2 second burst burst would and did blow a 40 foot RV with tow car clean off the road leaving an open and unobstructed route ahead. It will vaporize a SUV in seconds! Tests further indicated that after two or three RV’s/SUV’s in a row were eliminated, or "friggin smoked", others voluntarily pulled off the road and thus became a "non-threat".
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All that’s missing is the tail-gunner
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Saturday, May 23, 2009
Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed
Man Falls Ill After Sucking Snake Venom From Dog's Nose
A Hawk Springs Wyoming man says he saved his dog's life after sucking venom from a rattlesnake bite out of the animal's nose. But a nurse at the hospital in Torrington later told Bobby Jenkins that's not a good idea. Jenkins says he began feeling ill after getting his dog, Tank, to a veterinarian. He went to the hospital and received a dose of antivenin. In all, Jenkins needed four vials of antivenin at a cost of $3,500 per vial. Meanwhile, Jenkins says his dog's head swelled up to three times its normal size. Tank had been bitten after running under some equipment on the family ranch. The dog also received antivenin and both Jenkins and his dog have recovered.
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Father gets 100 years for poisoning kids
A Jonesboro, Georgia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his two children to extort money from Campbell Soup Co.
William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty of five counts of cruelty to children and two counts of aggravated assault, said Kellie Perry, a clerk at the Clayton County Superior Court.
The girl and boy, then 18 months old and 3 years old, were hospitalized after Cunningham fed them soup tainted with prescription drugs and lighter fluid.
On one occasion, authorities said he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline _ both used to treat depression _ to poison the children.
Cunningham was arrested in March 2006. According to prosecutors, the former dump truck driver called Campbell in January 2006 and threatened to sue the company because its soup was contaminated. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of making false claims against the company.
Authorities said there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. A family member said the children may suffer lifelong respiratory problems after swallowing the poisoned soup.
The children's mother, Rhonda Cunningham, filed for divorce during the case.
(This version CORRECTS that Cunningham was found guilty of five counts of cruelty to children and two counts of aggravated assault.)
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Man shoots off his own manhood
A would-be gangster shot himself in the crutch when his gun went off half cocked in his pocket.
Lukas Neuhardt, 27, had forgotten to put the safety catch on when he stuffed the gun into his trouser pocket to impress pals in Saarbruecken, Germany.
He told paramedics that a masked mugger had blasted him in the crutch in a bungled robbery.
But police found a hole in his statement when they saw that the gunshot had miraculously left his trousers intact.
"Instead there was a charred hole in his pocket so either it was the shot of the century or he did it himself," said a police source.
Now - after surgeons stitched his manhood back together - he's facing up to three years in jail for breaching Germany's tough new anti gun laws.
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Council refuses to fix whole pothole 'because it only owned part'
Potholes along a West Midlands street have only been partially filled in by highways workers - because the council only owns half the land they stretch across.
Baffled traders watched in amazement as Walsall highways workers started filling in problem potholes outside their shops in Bloxwich, only to stop half way through the job.
Council chiefs said the small patch of land next to the pavement belongs to Walsall Housing Group (WHG) and that their maintenance workers are not allowed to carry out work on private land.
But business owners who have waited years for potholes in the street to be filled in have branded the partial repair of the craters, some measuring about two-foot wide, a "ridiculous waste of money".
Keith Clarke, who runs M&C butchers in the road, said: "I've never seen anything like it in my life.
"We've been asking for the potholes to be filled in for some time now.
"When they came to fix them, they drew white lines along the side of the pavement through the middle of some of the holes.
"Then they only filled in half the holes and when we asked, they said their department was not responsible for the other half. It's ridiculous."
"The water is gathering in the other half of the holes, so surely that will ruin the part that has been fixed. What a waste of money."
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A Hawk Springs Wyoming man says he saved his dog's life after sucking venom from a rattlesnake bite out of the animal's nose. But a nurse at the hospital in Torrington later told Bobby Jenkins that's not a good idea. Jenkins says he began feeling ill after getting his dog, Tank, to a veterinarian. He went to the hospital and received a dose of antivenin. In all, Jenkins needed four vials of antivenin at a cost of $3,500 per vial. Meanwhile, Jenkins says his dog's head swelled up to three times its normal size. Tank had been bitten after running under some equipment on the family ranch. The dog also received antivenin and both Jenkins and his dog have recovered.
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Father gets 100 years for poisoning kids
A Jonesboro, Georgia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his two children to extort money from Campbell Soup Co.
William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty of five counts of cruelty to children and two counts of aggravated assault, said Kellie Perry, a clerk at the Clayton County Superior Court.
The girl and boy, then 18 months old and 3 years old, were hospitalized after Cunningham fed them soup tainted with prescription drugs and lighter fluid.
On one occasion, authorities said he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline _ both used to treat depression _ to poison the children.
Cunningham was arrested in March 2006. According to prosecutors, the former dump truck driver called Campbell in January 2006 and threatened to sue the company because its soup was contaminated. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of making false claims against the company.
Authorities said there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased. A family member said the children may suffer lifelong respiratory problems after swallowing the poisoned soup.
The children's mother, Rhonda Cunningham, filed for divorce during the case.
(This version CORRECTS that Cunningham was found guilty of five counts of cruelty to children and two counts of aggravated assault.)
PICTURE
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Man shoots off his own manhood
A would-be gangster shot himself in the crutch when his gun went off half cocked in his pocket.
Lukas Neuhardt, 27, had forgotten to put the safety catch on when he stuffed the gun into his trouser pocket to impress pals in Saarbruecken, Germany.
He told paramedics that a masked mugger had blasted him in the crutch in a bungled robbery.
But police found a hole in his statement when they saw that the gunshot had miraculously left his trousers intact.
"Instead there was a charred hole in his pocket so either it was the shot of the century or he did it himself," said a police source.
Now - after surgeons stitched his manhood back together - he's facing up to three years in jail for breaching Germany's tough new anti gun laws.
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Council refuses to fix whole pothole 'because it only owned part'
Potholes along a West Midlands street have only been partially filled in by highways workers - because the council only owns half the land they stretch across.
Baffled traders watched in amazement as Walsall highways workers started filling in problem potholes outside their shops in Bloxwich, only to stop half way through the job.
Council chiefs said the small patch of land next to the pavement belongs to Walsall Housing Group (WHG) and that their maintenance workers are not allowed to carry out work on private land.
But business owners who have waited years for potholes in the street to be filled in have branded the partial repair of the craters, some measuring about two-foot wide, a "ridiculous waste of money".
Keith Clarke, who runs M&C butchers in the road, said: "I've never seen anything like it in my life.
"We've been asking for the potholes to be filled in for some time now.
"When they came to fix them, they drew white lines along the side of the pavement through the middle of some of the holes.
"Then they only filled in half the holes and when we asked, they said their department was not responsible for the other half. It's ridiculous."
"The water is gathering in the other half of the holes, so surely that will ruin the part that has been fixed. What a waste of money."
PICTURE
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Oven-cleaner ad cleared of sexism
Oven Pride 'So easy, even a man can do it' TV campaign attracted almost 700 complaints to ASA
A TV campaign accused of implying that cleaning is women's work and that men are "stupid and lazy" when it comes to housework.
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A TV campaign accused of implying that cleaning is women's work and that men are "stupid and lazy" when it comes to housework.
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'So easy a man can do it'
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Secret Sex-Message Codes Your Teen Is Using
Did you know that when your teenager texts "8," he -- or she -- is suggesting oral sex? Or that "FOL" means "fond of leather"?You don't even want to know what "FMLTWIA" means.
That's according to a new list entitled "Top 50 Text Acronyms Parents Should Know," which is is making its way around the Internet and has caught the eye of some local TV news reporters.
The problem is ... Many people who see the list wind up howling with laughter, since many of the terms are completely unknown to most people, teenaged or otherwise.
"Some of these are absolutely hilarious," writes "FirstCuts," who posted the link to the online aggregator site Digg. "Honestly, it's probably one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in local network news, and that's saying something."
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Friday, May 22, 2009
Deceased Obese Women in the News
Obese Woman Dragged From Home, Hauled Away After Dying
The Marion County Coroner's Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front of family members following her death.
Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis' northeast side.
The Marion County Coroner's Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front of family members following her death.
Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis' northeast side.
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Officials at the scene said that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to remove the body from the home.
Officials at the scene said that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to remove the body from the home.
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"We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn't have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner's office to use (the truck)," said Detective Marcus Kennedy.Smith's boyfriend and the couple's 13-year-old son, along with several neighbors, watched as Smith's body, still on her mattress, was dragged across the courtyard of the apartment complex, strapped down on the wrecker and covered with a piece of carpet.
"I think they should have handled it differently, putting her on a flatbed like they did. That was like putting a cow up there," said Smith's boyfriend, David Johnson.
Neighbors said they were also disturbed by the ordeal.
"What really got me is when they took her off onto the flatbed, they threw this dirty, dirty carpet on top of her, and I just thought that was so disrespectful," said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "I would have never let them throw that on my loved one."
Once on the truck, Smith's body was escorted by police downtown to the coroner's office.
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Former Chief Deputy Coroner John Linehan said he was shocked and dismayed that appropriate steps weren't taken to remove the woman from her home.
He said that fire and medical personnel have equipment available for handling patients up to 1,000 pounds and that moving obese individuals is not all that rare of an occurrence.
.Former Chief Deputy Coroner John Linehan said he was shocked and dismayed that appropriate steps weren't taken to remove the woman from her home.
He said that fire and medical personnel have equipment available for handling patients up to 1,000 pounds and that moving obese individuals is not all that rare of an occurrence.
"When they scoop up dead dogs off of the street they don't treat them that way," he said. "It's just not the way to treat a human being."
Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew told Rinehart by phone Wednesday that a flatbed truck has been used in other occasions to move obese individuals. She said the office is now looking for a way to transport Smith's body from the morgue to the funeral home.
The Indiana State Coroner's Association said it has no specific recommendations to handle extremely obese people. The decision is left up to each county.
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Coffin 'too big' for crematorium
A woman has had to be buried after council officials ruled her coffin was too big for cremation.
Falkirk Council said that despite Betty Wilson, 79, losing both her legs to diabetes, the width of her coffin exceeded the limits of their cremator.
The decision has been criticised by Mrs Wilson's daughter Liz, who has called for facilities to be bigger.
The council said its crematorium could accommodate coffins up to 28in wide, 81in long and 22in deep.
Mrs Wilson died at Bonnybridge Hospital on 25 April after suffering from a heart condition.
She had expressed a wish to be cremated in Camelon, not far from her home in the town's Fairlie Street.
However, family members were told by undertakers, Co-op Funeralcare, that a specially-made coffin would have to be created for Mrs Wilson and that it would not fit into the cremator at Camelon.
'Family requests'
A spokeswoman for the undertaker said: "The family were advised to go to South Lanarkshire where there is a larger facility. However, they decided that they would prefer a burial."
Mrs Wilson's daughter Liz told the Falkirk Herald she was stunned that her mother would not fit into the crematorium.
She told the paper: "We're always hearing that people are getting bigger so they should be thinking of these things and not upset family members in this way."
A Falkirk Council spokeswoman told the BBC Scotland news website that in the past 25 years the issue had affected five funerals.
She added: "We strive to accommodate family wishes at what can be a very distressing time.
"Unfortunately in particular circumstances the cremators are unable to accommodate family requests for this service.
"The three cremators have been in place since 1997 and undertakers are aware of the dimensions of our facilities."
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