‘Why pay $20,000 for a commercial link to run your television station when a $10 kitchen wok from the Warehouse is just as effective?
This is exactly how North Otago’s newest television station 45 South is transmitting its signal from its studio to the top of Cape Wanbrow, in a bid to keep costs down.
45 South volunteer Ken Jones designed the wok transmitter in his spare time last year when he wanted to provide wireless broadband to his Ardgowan home.’
‘A feud threatens to tear apart the family of Thomas Watson jnr, the founder of IBM, after a claim by his daughter’s estranged lesbian lover to a share in his fortune.
The battle over how to divide up the multi-million-dollar Watson trust fund has been triggered by an extraordinary legal question before a US court: is his daughter’s one-time lover also Watson’s grandchild?’
‘A woman admitted Monday that she coached her two children to fake retardation starting when they were 4 and 8 years old so she could collect Social Security benefits on their behalf.
Rosie Costello, 46, admitted in U.S. District Court that she collected more than $280,000 in benefits, beginning in the mid-1980s. Most was from Social Security, but the state social services agency paid $53,000. [..]
According to the plea agreement, Costello began coaching her daughter at age 4, and later used the same ruse with her son. He feigned retardation into his mid-20s – picking at his face, slouching and appearing uncommunicative in meetings with Social Security officials.’
‘Pakistani police have arrested two men after a village woman complained that her husband and relatives had sold one of her kidneys in order to buy a tractor, police said on Tuesday.
Although her kidney had been removed 18 months earlier, the woman, named Safia, only learnt it was missing after seeking treatment for a urinary tract problem in January.
“She has said that she was three months pregnant when her husband, Shakeel Ahmed beat her and then took her to the hospital for treatment,” said Mohammad Akram, duty officer at Noushera Jadeed police station in Punjab province.
“But at the hospital her husband, in connivance with three other people, sold her kidney to buy the tractor,” he said.’
‘A teenage girl in southern Pakistan, whose late father lost her in a poker game when she was 2 years old, has asked authorities to save her from being handed over to a middle-aged relative.
Rasheeda, 17, said she has filed applications with the police and a local councillor asking them to prevent Lal Haider, 45, from taking her to his home.
Her mother, Nooran said her husband racked up a debt of 10,000 rupees ($151) to Haider playing cards.
“My husband didn’t have money to pay, and instead he told Lal Haider that he could take Rasheeda when she grows up,” she said.’
‘An “epidemic” of counterfeit therapeutic drugs is sweeping south-east Asia, costing hundreds of thousands of lives as victims take them under the mistaken belief that they are receiving vital treatment for their illnesses. A British doctor working in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, found that most of the anti-malarial medicines tested in a sample were sophisticated fakes, often displaying holograms on the packaging, originally aimed at making counterfeiting difficult.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 200,000 of the 1m malaria deaths each year would be prevented if all the drugs taken were genuine.
But the epidemic goes far beyond anti-malarials. [..]
Up to 50% of the drugs sold in Asia and Africa are fakes, in a trade estimated by the US Food and Drug Administration to be worth between $35bn and $44bn (£18.5bn-£23.1bn) annually. [..]’
‘A federal jury said Thursday that software maker Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages.
Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, said the verdict was unsupported by law or facts.
“Today’s outcome is disappointing for us and for the hundreds of other companies who have licensed MP3 technology.
“We will seek relief from the trial court, and if necessary appeal,” Burt said.’
‘The crimes are being called “splash and grab.” Take a look at how the crime plays out at a Wawa’s in south Philadelphia. The crooks take hot coffee or hot chocolate to the counter. They have no intention of paying for it. Instead, its tossed in the face of an un expecting cashier and in some cases police say the victims have been permanently disfigured.
“We can’t tell if it’s the same crew or a copy cat so until we review the surveillance tapes.”‘
‘Pensacola evangelist Kent Hovind was sentenced Friday afternoon to 10 years in prison on charges of tax fraud. [..]
Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola, was found guilty in November of 58 federal counts, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He faced a maximum of 288 years in prison.
Jo Hovind was charged and convicted in 44 of the counts involving evading bank-reporting requirements and faces a maximum of 225 years in prison.’
‘This is it, the opportunity of a lifetime. You can be the proud owner of Britney Spears’ hair, extensions, the Omega clipper used to cut it all off and even the can of Red Bull she was drinking at the time. You also get her blue Bic Lighter and this valuable domain and website to use for publicity purposes. This is the Ultimate Britney Spears Experience! It is a piece of history that can not be duplicated!’
Lots of people trying to sell her hair for lots of money.
This one is at $400k at the moment.
‘A window said to be the one through which Lee Harvey Oswald shot US president John F Kennedy in 1963 has been sold for $3.8 million on eBay, the Internet auction house says.
The description of the window and frame sold to a person in the Netherlands says it was the one that stood in the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, from which Oswald killed Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
The window had been on display for 10 years at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, until its owner, Caruth Byrd, claimed it back.’
‘The state troopers in Rhinebeck realized that they were dealing with a specialist. The burglar left no fingerprints or clues. There wasn’t much to do except alert the antiques publications, the auction houses, and the Times, which ran a brief article about the burglaries. [..]
Mason and Abruzzini had warned me that Nordahl always talked about changing his ways. “Blane couldn’t go straight if you snapped a chalk line for him,” Abruzzini said. Luanne, his ex-girlfriend, had also told me that he would never stop. “He’ll be seventy-eight with a goddam cane, walking down the street stealing silver,” she said.’
‘A Chinese man has been sentenced to death for conning people out of 3 billion yuan ($387 million) in a giant scam to breed ants, local media said on Thursday.
Wang Zhendong, from the northeastern province of Liaoning, fabricated a business purported to be making wine, tea and medical elixirs using mature ants, the Beijing News said. [..]
More than 10,000 people, lured by the promise of returns of up to 60 percent, signed 100,000 contracts with Wang’s bogus company before the case came under investigation in June 2005. [..]
In his defense, Wang said he did not know the first thing about raising ants and was “quite unclear” about the costs, the Beijing News said.’
‘It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder. I’m sitting inside a narrow conference room at a research facility in Bristol, Connecticut, chatting with Joseph Longo, the founder and CEO of Startech Environmental Corporation. As we munch on takeout Subway sandwiches, a plate-glass window is the only thing separating us from the adjacent lab, which contains a glowing caldera of “plasma” three times as hot as the surface of the sun. Every few minutes there’s a horrific clanking noise—grinding followed by a thunderous voomp, like the sound a gas barbecue makes when it first ignites.
“Is it supposed to do that?” I ask Longo nervously. “Yup,” he says. “That’s normal.”’
‘Two women are accused of soaking a homeless, drug-addicted prostitute with gasoline and burning her to death after she reported that one of them had robbed her.
Leslie “Jill” May, 49, was abducted from the street and killed at Candlestick Park the day she told the police that Mia Sagote, 30, robbed and beat her over a debt May’s boyfriend owed, authorities said.
Sagote and Leslie Siliga, 29, have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and kidnapping.’
‘The Miracle Channel, a religious television station that has come under fire for its on-air fundraising campaigns, could lose its broadcast licence in the future if it doesn’t follow new rules on how donations are solicited. [..]
The cable channel, which raises more than $5-million a year, was ordered to revise its internal fundraising policy last year after controversial on-air statements led to complaints. Hosts during a 2004 fundraising campaign urged viewers to cash in their retirement savings and charge up credit cards to make donations. In some cases, viewers were told they would be rewarded by God with cash or higher real estate values.’
‘An Amsterdam judge has ruled that peep shows – where sex workers performing strip shows and explicit acts can be watched from booths – are a form of theatre and club owners are entitled to a hefty tax break.
“Admitting customers to peep shows is equivalent to admitting them to a theatre performance,” an Amsterdam Appeals Court judge wrote in a ruling late last month and publicized Tuesday. “The erotic character of the performance does not diminish that.”‘
‘A man’s plans to bail himself out after a drug bust went more than a bit awry over the weekend.
With the aid of a drug-sniffing dog, police found 48 grams of cocaine on the 32-year-old man after pulling him over for speeding, police said.
The suspect then arranged for his aunt to bring a small safe which he claimed contained money for his bail. But when his aunt opened the safe in front of a state trooper, they found cash, drug paraphernalia and another 16 grams of cocaine, police said.
Additional drug charges were filed against the man and his bond was increased to $125,000. He was later bailed out by another relative, police said.’
‘For nearly a decade, members of Ripon’s First Congregational Church bared their souls to Pastor Randall Radic. But clearly it didn’t work both ways. There were certain things he wasn’t telling them.
That became obvious a year ago, when Radic pleaded guilty to betraying his flock and secretly selling the church and its rectory out from under them. He used the money to buy himself a brand-new black BMW and a laptop — exploits he later chronicled in a cheeky, almost gleeful blog about his double life as a sinner.
“We didn’t know anything until we got a call from the bank that he had bought a BMW,” said David Prater, who led the church board during Radic’s tenure. “He drove that car right down Main Street.”‘
‘Drawn by a Brazilian math teacher’s Web site descriptions of miners scooping up thousands of dollars in gold, between 3,000 and 10,000 people have poured in since December, cutting down huge trees, diverting streams and digging ever-deeper wildcat mines, in an area that only months ago was pristine rain forest. [..]
“This is even better than Serra Pelada. I’ve been mining all around the Amazon since 1978 and this is the best I’ve ever seen,” said Joao Leandro de Azedo, 70, overlooking his stake from a hammock.
Azedo said he has panned some 70 ounces of gold worth a total of $19,000 since arriving 17 days ago, including 17 ounces in a single day.’
‘A group of Greek nuns abandoned their convent and went into hiding after running up debts of more than 600,000 euros ($A1.01 million) from a knitting business that went bust, authorities said. [..]
The nuns are believed to have taken refuge at another monastery in central Greece and the Greek press has reported that the Church of Greece has offered to help them pay their debts and come out of hiding.
The church’s representative was not available for comment.’
‘Edward Cowal, a registered sex offender in Florida, was the sole winner of a $14 million lottery drawing, officials said.
He elected to take a lump sum settlement of nearly $8 million before taxes.
State records show that Cowal has an extensive record of arrests for alleged offenses beginning in 1993, including burglary, lewd and lascivious or indecent assault upon a child, trespass, aggravated assault and driving under the influence.’
‘This is a pretty funny prank. The best part of it is what he asks the toll booth attendant at the very end of the video.’
(3.8meg Windows media)
‘A WDJT-TV (Channel 58) engineer told Muskego police Monday that the loss of the live transmitting van that broke through an iced-over channel on Big Muskego Lake would be up to $250,000.
Crews chipped away ice Monday from the submerged news van, which broke into the channel while the station was preparing a segment on snowmobiles and ice safety. [..]
“This story hits close to home for our cbs 58 family. While doing a story on thin ice yesterday one of our colleagues mistook a frozen channel for a road at Big Muskego Lake. One of our mobile live units wound up submerged in about 5 feet of water. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.”‘
(1.2meg Windows media)
`Dozens of street children have invaded a five-star hotel food tent and feasted on meals meant for sale at the World Social Forum in Kenya’s capital.
The hungry urchins were joined by other participants who complained that the food was too expensive at the annual anti-capitalist get together.
The police, caught unawares, were unable to stop the free-for-all that saw the food containers swept clean.
The gathering in Nairobi is discussing social problems, including poverty.
A plate of food at the tent being operated by the prestigious Windsor Hotel was selling for $7 in a country where many live on less than $2 a day.’
`A man who was fed up with paying massive bank charges decided to give one of the high street giants a taste of its own medicine.
When Royal Bank of Scotland refused to refund £3,400 charges that Declan Purcell believed he was owed, he sent in the bailiffs.
Stunned customers at his branch of RBS watched as debt collectors seized four computers, two fax machines and a till filled with cash.
The branch manager was told that the items would be sold unless RBS came up with the money owed to Mr Purcell. [..]
Mr Purcell said: “I think the bank was pretty shocked when the bailiffs went in. But my view is that this is exactly what they would have done to me.”‘
`A hospital building program in South Africa has been delayed to help pay for the country’s hosting of the 2010 football World Cup.
The construction of two hospitals in the remote Northern Cape has been held up for a year while funds are diverted to pay for the tournament.
Speaking to the BBC, the South African Treasury said spending on health was increasing but did not deny that the money had been transferred.’
`Sales of condoms in convenience stores and super markets have plummeted since the new year began. Industry insiders attribute the plunge to myths about the year of golden pigs, which comes every 600 years. Fortune tellers say that babies born in the year of golden pigs will lead wealthy and prosperous lives, and, fortune tellers say, the year 2007 is one of those years. The drop in condom sales could be a sign that couples are trying to conceive a child to be born in this lucky year. If that’s the case, then condom sales should stay sluggish until April, since babies conceived until as late as March will arrive before Feb 7 next year, when the year of golden pigs ends.’
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