‘It was just a little stun gun fun, but a police officer who demonstrated his Taser by zapping a willing subject in the genitals has drawn a warning from his bosses.
Officer Randy Reynolds ran into trouble when video of the incident last spring was posted on YouTube.com. The unidentified man wasn’t injured, and onlookers can be heard laughing in the background.
Interim Police Chief Larry Dickerson said Tuesday that Reynolds had been attending a social gathering, but was in uniform and on his way to work at the time. The man repeatedly asked Reynolds to use the weapon on him, and Reynolds eventually obliged – twice.’
‘A company boss lived a double life as a cross-dresser who flashed at terrified women, a jury heard yesterday.
By day Michael Willshire was the respectable managing director of an aluminium tubing firm.
But at night he donned stockings and suspenders, wigs, high heels and dresses beneath an overcoat and exposed himself to females, it was said.
Unwed Willshire, 47, allegedly terrorised the seaside town of Swanage, Dorset, for a two-year period. [..]
Willshire was allegedly caught when another victim’s dad saw him fleeing and pinned him against his Audi TT car.
Police arrested him and found him wearing suspenders and white jazz dance shoes, it was said.’
‘This guy gets a phone call from a debt collector and responds using a Judge Judy sound board.’
(33.9meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘An orangutan escaped from a Taiwanese zoo and terrified patrons at a nearby restaurant Wednesday, overturning picnic tables and motorbikes and forcing terrified diners to cower inside the eatery.
The orangutan, who pushed his way out of his cage before wandering into the restaurant, was subdued when an official shot him with a tranquilizer dart. He was carted off for treatment in the scoop of a small bulldozer.’
see it here »
‘A disabled gran was stabbed 97 times by her killer — for 32p in her piggy bank.
Frail Ann Alfanso, 61, was knifed in the head, body, hands and neck by drug-crazed John Mansfield.
Convicted robber Mansfield, 45, was high on heroin, morphine, cocaine and methadone when he used two knives and scissors to butcher his victim, who lived alone.
A court was told that one blade went right through one of Mrs Alfanso’s hands as she tried to protect herself. As he hunted for cash, Mansfield dragged her around her flat before raiding the piggy bank beside the phone and fleeing, leaving her for dead.’
‘Nine U.S. military ships entered the Gulf on Wednesday for a rare daylight assembly off Iran’s coast in what naval officials said was the largest such move since the 2003 Iraq war.
U.S. Navy officials said Iran had not been notified of plans to sail the vessels, which include two aircraft carriers, through the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow channel in international waters off Iran’s coast and a major artery for global oil shipments.
Most U.S. ships pass through the straits at night so as not to attract attention, and rarely move in such large numbers.
Navy officials said the decision to send a second aircraft carrier was made at the last minute, without giving a reason.’
‘An expert on grief and bereavement has said Big Brother housemate Emma should be informed of her father’s death, despite the deceased’s request not to tell her.
Her father Raymond Cornell, 53, died of cancer in Adelaide, and his funeral was held on Monday.
Emma’s boyfriend Tim Stanton told News Limited that Mr Cornell had asked that his daughter not be told of his death until she left the house.
Director of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement, psychologist Chris Hall, this morning said Emma should be given the information about the death of her father, so she can make her own choice about the best way to deal with it.’
‘Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator’
‘Approximately 2,600 years ago– around 630 BCE– the Greek island of Thera was plagued by drought and overpopulation. According to legend, an assortment of settlers were selected to sail south to establish a colony in more hospitable climes. The men and women apprehensively put to sea, and the gaggle of enterprising Greeks eventually erected the city of Cyrene on Africa’s northern tip. There, the settlers encountered a local herb which would ultimately bring them and their progeny fantastic wealth.
The prized plant became such a key pillar of the Cyrenean economy that its likeness was stamped upon many of the city’s gold and silver coins. The images often depicted a regal-looking woman sitting in a chair, with one hand touching the herb and her other hand pointing at her genitals. The plant was known as silphium or laserwort, and its heart-shaped fruit brought the ancient world a highly sought-after freedom: the opportunity to enjoy sex with very little risk of pregnancy.’
‘When he retired in 1993 after more than 30 years as a disguise specialist for the Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Barron wasn’t ready to stop doing the work he loved. The Bluemont resident founded Custom Prosthetic Designs in Ashburn.
The one-man shop specializes in lifelike silicone prosthetics for people with birth defects or missing features. Barron has sculpted an ear for a 5-year-old born without one, a nose for a cancer survivor and fingers for a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.
If his work, shown in before-and-after photos on his Web site, appears startling in its verisimilitude, that’s because Barron worries the details, down to the hairs visible on an ear and the freckles on a nose. “It’s just like in the Agency,” he says. “I wouldn’t issue [agents] a disguise if their life would be in jeopardy” as the result of a less-than-perfect disguise.’
There’s a cool photo gallery also.
‘Here’s the thing, you have to get a license to drive a car but they let anyone be a parent. And, more pertinent to this conversation, they let anyone, may I repeat, ANYONE name their kid. So, while that might have some VERY unfortunate consequences for a few unlucky kids, it provides serious entertainment for those of us with parents who actually put some thought into naming us. With that in mind, here are 10 of the worst names ever. Seriously, these parents should be locked up… (and what the hell is wrong with Missouri?)’
Mike Huntsucker. 🙂
‘A nine-year-old German girl was so upset about having to tidy her room she put up a sign in her window urging passers-by to call police for help.
Pedestrians in the central city of Braunschweig saw the girl crying in the window, holding up a sign up saying “Help! Please call the police!” Next to her sat a small boy. Quickly alerted, officers rushed to the scene to discover the girl had argued with her mother about tidying her room and enlisted her two-year-old brother’s aid to attract attention.
“The room looked like a battlefield,” said a spokesman for local police on Monday. “Officers told the girl to tidy her room. When they came back two hours later to check, it was all cleaned up. And the mother and daughter had made up too.”‘
‘The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert “black” operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a “nonlethal presidential finding” that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions.
“I can’t confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime,” said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.’
‘A motorist who has admitted being drunk and driving the wrong way down a Melbourne freeway says his actions were not dangerous. [..]
A car was first spotted going the wrong way about 2am (AEST) today on the West Gate Freeway near the West Gate Bridge, at Newport, in Melbourne’s south-west.
Mr Cartwright apologised to motorists on the freeway that night and admitted he was drunk.
“As I said, I was drunk … but I don’t think I actually put anyone in real danger. Even though I was driving on the wrong side of the road, I never came close to hitting anyone,” he told reporters.’
‘Doctors are being advised to prescribe oily fish or omega-3 fatty acid supplements to heart attack patients.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) believes this is an effective way to cut the risk of further heart attacks.
It is the first time NICE has recommended lifestyle change – alongside drugs – in guidance on preventing repeat attacks. [..]
Research has found that one specific omega-3 supplement – Omacor – cut the risk of a patient dying suddenly by up to 45%.
Omacor is currently the only omega-3 supplement with a licence for post-heart attack treatment.’
‘In front of hundreds of people this third degree black belt attempts to break a wooden bat. He continues to fail and the bat finally rolls off the box. He stands up and people start clapping but Im pretty sure that doesnt count.’
(2.5meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘What a day for Apple investors. The stock started off strong today on a lot of pre-market buying, despite news that Amazon will finally start competing on sales of DRM-free music.
Then, whoops, at 11:49 AM EST Engadget posted saying that the iPhone and Leopard operating system launches would be seriously delayed. They based the story on an internal Apple email that was forwarded to them. [..]
Apple’s stock promptly tanked on massive selling, going from $107.89 to $103.42 in six minutes (11:56 – 12:02). This wiped just over $4 billion off of Apple’s market capitalization. A lot of people lost a lot of money very quickly.
Well, it turns out that the email was a hoax. [..]’
‘A drug which reduces the desire for marijuana and blocks its effect on the brain has been successfully tested in rats. Scientists say the findings may translate into better therapies for cannabis addiction in humans. [..]
Over a period of three weeks the rats learned to enjoy the effects of synthetic THC and frequently self-administered the drug. By comparison, rats that received saline solution did not press the lever often.
Goldberg’s team then injected the rats with a compound derived from the seeds of the Delphinium brownii plant, which is in the buttercup family. The compound, known as methyllycaconitine (MLA), had a dramatic effect on the animals’ behaviour.
On the day that they received MLA they pushed the lever for synthetic THC 70% less than before. The drug did not seem to otherwise change the rats’ movement and coordination, and had no other apparent side effects.’
‘A woman who tried to steal a fetus by knocking her pregnant neighbor unconscious with a baseball bat and cutting open her stomach was sentenced Tuesday to 22 to 50 years in prison.
Peggy Jo Conner, who could have been sentenced to up to 80 years in prison, apologized for attacking Valerie Oskin on Oct. 13, 2005.
“I’m sorry for what happened to Valerie and for what part I had in it,” Conner said. “I’m not that kind of person. I was on drugs then.”
But Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi said blood tests at the time showed no intoxicants in Conner’s system. She is now being treated for bipolar disorder and manic depression.’
Followup to Fetus-Theft Suspect to Claim Insanity.
‘Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who recently proposed an educational policy that urged “every financial barrier” be removed for American kids who want to go to college, has been going to college himself — as a high paid speaker, his financial records show.
The candidate charged a whopping $55,000 to speak at to a crowd of 1,787 the taxpayer-funded University of California at Davis on Jan. 9, 2006 last year, Joe Martin, the public relations officer for the campus’ Mondavi Center confirmed Monday. [..]
The earnings — though made before Edwards was a declared Democratic presidential candidate — could hand ammunition to his competition for the Democratic presidential nomination. The candidate — who was then the head of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina — chose to speak on “Poverty, the great moral issue facing America,” as his $55,000 topic at UC Davis.’
The rocket comes quite close to hitting the petrol station directly.
Do they put a lot of effort into targeting specific buildings, or do they just launch ’em in roughly the right direction and hope for the best?
(4.2meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘A misplaced candle is believed to have started a fire that caused about $100,000 damage to a bondage and discipline parlour in inner Melbourne.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews were called to The Correction Centre in St David Street, Fitzroy, just after 10.15pm and contained the fire to a room on the second floor of the two-storey building.
An MFB spokesman said 18 firefighters “were tied up for some time but disciplined and controlled firefighting contained the blaze to one room on the second floor”.’
‘First, find a large patch of Clover, which isn’t hard to do if you have a lawn or live near a park.
Do not get on your hands and knees with magnifying glass in hand, individually examining each clover. From standing height, look over the entire patch, brushing the clover with your foot to ensure none remain unexposed. If you enjoy math problems, eye-spys, the game “SET”, or any pattern game in general, you’ll be in your element. Amongst all the sets of 3 leaflets, any mutation will stick out like a sore thumb.’
‘A couple of weekends ago, Diana Getson took her nine-year-old son to a Child Find event in Charlottetown. Treat bags were on sale for $1.
In the bag she bought for her son was a bright yellow bracelet with the Child Find logo and an invitation to win great prizes by visiting a website called getrealfruitminis.com.
But the prize turned out to be a surprise when Getson’s son typed in the address. The site offered “hard-core nudity and dirty porn pictures,” Getson said. [..]
Coincidentally, Child Find PEI has an information session coming up soon to warn parents to keep watch over what their children find on the internet.’
‘Paula Abdul broke her nose over the weekend after she fell while trying to avoid stepping on her Chihuahua, her publicist said Monday.
Abdul was recovering from the mishap and will appear on “American Idol” Tuesday and its season finale Wednesday, publicist David Brokaw said.
“She’s a little sore, but is doing fine,” he said.
Abdul told the syndicated entertainment TV show “Extra” she tore cartilage in her nose and fractured her toe.’
It wobbles like a maniac.
(1.1meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘The award-winning furniture retailer has taken Liberal backbencher Don Randall to task over his claims Mr Howard shouldn’t have to buy the chain’s “dodgy” chairs instead of spending $200,000 on plush seating.
Hitting back at the slur, IKEA says its products are good enough for Sweden’s King and Queen and many diplomatic missions around the world. [..]
Mr Nordin said if the issue was about Mr Howard having to assemble the chairs – one of the ways the company keeps its prices down – there was help at hand.
“We would be very happy to talk to the prime minister,” he said.
“We can even offer him an assembly service if he doesn’t feel confident enough to put together the furniture himself.”‘
‘A guest speaker at an assembly at Boulder High School in Colorado has told students as young as 14 to go have sex and use drugs, prompting school officials to say they will investigate.
The instructions came from Joel Becker, an associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles.
“I am going to encourage you to have sex and encourage you to use drugs appropriately,” Becker said during his appearance at the school as part of a recent panel sponsored by the University of Colorado’s Conference on World Affairs.
“Why I am going to take that position is because you are going to do it anyway,” he continued. [..]’
‘Female hammerhead sharks can reproduce without having sex, scientists confirm.
The evidence comes from a shark at Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska which gave birth to a pup in 2001 despite having had no contact with a male.
Genetic tests by a team from Belfast, Nebraska and Florida prove conclusively the young animal possessed no paternal DNA, Biology Letters journal reports.
The type of reproduction exhibited had been seen before in bony fish but never in cartilaginous fish such as sharks.
Parthenogenesis, as this type of reproduction is known, occurs when an egg cell is triggered to develop as an embryo without the addition of any genetic material from a male sperm cell.’
