‘A German court has awarded 3,000 euros ($4,100) in damages to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge.
Doctors removed the top of the man’s head and put it in cold storage while they operated on his brain, the court in the western city of Koblenz said Tuesday.
Because the refrigerator was defective, the section of skull was not kept cool enough and could not be reattached. Doctors replaced the bone with a plastic prosthesis.’
‘An Indian man, who swallowed a knife to avoid extradition from Germany, has appeared before a Calcutta court.
Amarendra Nath Ghosh was arrested in Germany four years ago over a series of bank scams, all of which he denies.
When his return to India was ordered in 2003 he swallowed a 10cm (four inch) blade and refused surgery to remove it.
German officials were unable to remove it by force or send him home with the knife threatening his life. He was returned this week in an air ambulance.
A spokesman for India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the AFP news agency that Germany finally agreed to extradite him after a four-year battle, on condition that he was flown back in a fully equipped air ambulance.’
‘A man who authorities say used his computer to make fake $100 bills to buy lap dances at a strip club has pleaded guilty to counterfeiting charges, federal prosecutors said.
Strippers at Deja Vu in Nashville were suspicious of the bills and called police after Damon Armagost spent $600 of the fake money April 16, authorities said.
When officers arrived, Armagost first told them he got the money when he sold gold coins for $1,400 to an unidentified person.
U.S. Secret Service agents later determined that counterfeit bills with the same serial number had been passed in other parts of the country. When they went to Armagost’s Smyrna home, about 20 miles southeast of Nashville, a family member told agents that an image of a $100 bill had been on a computer there.’
‘In what critics call a dangerous power grab, the Monsanto Company is seeking wide-ranging control over swine reproduction methods in the form of patents which, if granted, would give the corporation economic rights over any offspring produced using those techniques.Documents obtained by Christoph Then, a Germany-based researcher for Greenpeace, show Monsanto’s attempts to secure broad intellectual property protection for swine herds. [..]
Monsanto spokesperson Chris Horner said that the company merely wants protection for its selective breeding processes, including the means to identify specific genes in pigs and use of a specialized insemination device. [..]
But Then, who has been studying patents for a decade, said that there is really nothing new to the breeding processes of which Monsanto is seeking to claim exclusive ownership; rather, the patents attempt to privatize farming techniques already in existence for centuries.
“There’s no invention in this,” he said. “It’s just normal pig breeding.”‘
‘Hordes of people flocked to a Queenstown ATM this week after the machine started doubling their money.
Police said a concerned taxi driver alerted them to the problem on Tuesday night after the driver saw queues of up to 20 people lining up at the Kiwbank ATM.
“There were queues of 15 to 20 people at any one time for a good six hours from about 10pm until 4am,” the taxi driver said.
“It was a backpacker bonanza.”
A KiwiBank spokesman Bruce Thompson said a contactor had incorrectly stacked the ATM with $20 notes in the $10 box and vice versa.’
‘Male drivers who paid $5 for a topless car wash ended up getting hosed. Young women held up signs along a parkway advertising the car wash on Sunday and telling the drivers where to go. But hidden behind a big blue tarp, it was shirtless male firefighters who were washing the cars.
“A little bit of a bait-and-switch,” Assistant Chief Donald Prince admitted. “All the guys back there are all topless.”
Female drivers didn’t seem to mind the shirtless firefighters. Male drivers, though, felt they were getting burned.’
‘A man threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because he could no longer afford to pay for her medical care, prosecutors said in charging him with second-degree murder.
According to court documents filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Stanley Reimer walked his wife to the balcony of their apartment and kissed her before throwing her over. [..]
In the probable cause statement filed with the charges, police said Reimer was desperate because he could not pay the bills for his wife’s treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer.
‘She Didn’t Jump’ Investigators said that Reimer was in the apartment when they arrived. He told them, “She didn’t jump,” but did not elaborate.’
‘A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina — twin sisters — exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled “priority” were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.’
‘Son quit job after Dad’s lotto lies
The furious son of a hoaxer who convinced a town he’d won the £35.4million Euro lottery has spoken of his anger.
Jordan Frater quit his job after his father Fergus, 46, promised him a £5million share of the jackpot.
Roofer Jordan told The Sun: “I could kill him. I’m absolutely gutted.”
“When dad told me he’d won the lottery, I phoned my boss to tell him I was leaving. I’ve had to get back on the phone and beg for my job back. [..]
He said: “One minute I was a multi-millionaire, the next I was back to having nothing.”‘
‘The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department was seeking a man Monday who broke into a home and tried to steal from a toddler’s piggy bank. [..]
Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Adams gave the following account:
Julie Herscheb of Wilson woke Friday night and heard a noise about 10:30 p.m.
With her husband asleep in the basement, she grabbed a baseball bat and opened the door to her 2-year-old daughter’s bedroom. Herscheb saw a man trying to shake money from the child’s piggy bank.
She shut the door and went to call 911. She dropped the phone, making a noise. The man was gone when deputies arrived.’
‘Leroy Greer meant to say it with flowers to his girlfriend, but his wife heard about it too, and now the whole arrangement is in federal court.
Claiming 1-800-flowers.com made his life considerably less rosy, Greer sued the flower delivery company, alleging it made his divorce case thornier by faxing his wife a receipt for flowers he had sent his girlfriend — along with the romantic words he wrote for the card.
The suit, filed this week in Houston, asks that the company pay for his mental anguish and for the increased amount he figures he’ll have to pay in his divorce case, pending since 2005 in Fort Bend County, because his wife has new evidence against him.’
‘All across America, a mysterious disease is wiping out bee colonies. This malady causes all the bees in a hive to seemingly vanish overnight, abandoning their brood in the nursery, as well as their stores of honey and pollen. Other bees and pests, which normally plunder deserted honey, shun these hives. This baffling die-off dealt a financial blow to commercial beekeepers this season and raised fears of environmental and economic disaster. For farmers, no bees means no pollination.
But pollination is happening like mad in Leah Fortin’s tiny yard in North Oakland, Calif. Busy little bee bodies cover the clumps of lavender, salvia and roses that line her driveway. More bees work the malaleucas on the parking strip, those trees with shaggy bark that look like giant Q-tips when they’re in bloom.’
‘Tom Rogers, a retired Indianapolis detective, toils away most days in his suburban home office reviewing sexual Web sites and other Internet traffic to see whether they qualify as obscene material whose purveyors should be prosecuted by the Justice Department. [..]
The grant, about $150,000 a year, has helped pay for Mr. Rogers and another retired law enforcement officer in Reno, Nev., to harvest and review complaints about obscene matter on the Internet that citizens register on the Justice Department Web site.
In the last few years, 67,000 citizens’ complaints have been deemed legitimate under the program and passed on to the Justice Department and federal prosecutors.
The number of prosecutions resulting from those referrals is zero.’
‘The 2007 Miles Franklin Award winner will be among hundreds of books no longer stocked by Australia’s biggest bookstore chain, Angus & Robertson, from the end of next week.
Tower Books, which distributes Alexis Wright’s novel Carpentaria, is among the smaller Australian distributors and publishers which have received a letter from A&R demanding a payment if they want their books to be sold by the company’s 180 bookstores around the country.
The letter from A&R Whitcoulls Group’s commercial manager, Charlie Rimmer, said “over 40 per cent of our supplier agreements fall below our requirements in terms of profit earned” and “invites” recipients to pay amounts said to range between $2500 and $20,000 by August 17.’
The response letter from Tower Books is absolutely hilarious.
‘A Morgantown man, his mother and his friend are suing McDonald’s for $10 million.
The man says he bit into a hamburger and had a severe allergic reaction to the cheese melted on it.
Jeromy Jackson, who is in his early 20s, says he clearly ordered two Quarter Pounders without cheese at the McDonald’s restaurant in Star City before heading to Clarksburg.
His mother Trela Jackson and friend Andrew Ellifritz are parties to the lawsuit because they say they risked their lives rushing Jeromy to United Hospital Center in Clarksburg.
The lawsuit alleges Jeromy “was only moments from death” or serious injury by the time he reached the hospital.’
‘He’s 105 years old and could soon be looking for a place to live.
The Fredericksburg man has out lived his money and just can’t afford his home anymore.
But friends and workers at his assisted living facility are stepping up to help — including starting a fundraising Web site. [..]
Watching Haubner, you’d never guess his age.
He exercises 45 minutes every day. The former lumberyard worker and Army veteran likes to show off his muscles. [..]
Haubner lived by himself up to just three years ago, when he hurt himself riding a bicycle at age 102.’
‘A smudge of driveway sealant resembling the face of Jesus Christ has fetched more than $1,500 in an online auction.
The family that found the image on its garage floor sold it for $1,525.69 on eBay Wednesday, more than a week after the slab of concrete was put on sale.
“I really never thought I’d get any, to be honest,” said Deb Serio, a high school teacher.’
‘A local woman must turn over her lottery winnings after a judge said she won them illegally.
Prosecutors said Christina Goodenow, of White City, used a credit card that belonged to her then-boyfriend’s dead mother to buy a winning $1 million Scratch-It ticket in Oct. 2005.
Goodenow asked lottery officials to keep her win quiet, claiming to be a victim of domestic violence. But police learned of the crime about two weeks later, as Goodenow continued to use the stolen credit card.
On Thursday, Jackson County Judge Ray White ruled that the winnings were the proceeds of illegal activity and must be forfeited under Oregon law.’
‘The biggest bank in the virtual world of Second Life has closed its doors after a run on its deposits, putting at risk hundred of thousands of real dollars of savings and investments.
On Thursday, Ginko Financial – which is owned by Brazilian from Sao Paulo whose real name is Andre Sanchez – stopped accepting deposits, froze all withdrawals and converted account holders’ balances into “tradeable debt securities” called Ginko Perpetual Bonds.
The bonds can be bought and sold on the World Stock Exchange (WSE), the largest of three sharemarkets in Second Life. The exchange is run by a Melbourne-based man whose real name is Luke Connell.
Ginko attracted deposits by offering to pay 0.10 per cent daily accrued interest, which equates to a 44 per cent annual return.’
‘The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US Treasury
Two Chinese officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning, for the first time, that Beijing may use its $1,330bn (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.
Described as China’s “nuclear option” in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is breaking down through historic support levels.’
‘Jim Cramer from CNBCs Mad Money has a total meltdown last week after the stock market took a slide. This guy is reportedly worth $100 million, if I had that much money I would not be freaking out at things like this.’
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see it here »
‘The Army Corps of Engineers, which accidentally dumped sand filled with old military ordnance on Surf City’s beach, now wants the town to help pay to remove it.
Local officials are angered by the suggestion that they should help foot the bill for a federal goof that already has cost the town an unknown amount of tourism business.
“If they’re talking about getting any money out of Surf City to pay for their mistakes, they can forget about it,” Mayor Leonard T. Connors told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Army Corps spokesman Khaalid Walls said local governments are routinely asked to help pay for projects.
“That’s protocol. All our projects are cost-shared,” Walls said.
The town had to close its beach in March after World War I-era ordnance, including fuses and other military hardware, started surfacing in sand pumped ashore during a $71 million beach replenishment project.’
A pastor says “tits” by accident during a sermon. This was followed up by a candid camera prank where the pastor is told he’s in all sorts of trouble.
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see it here »
‘A library patron suspected of selling hundreds of books, tapes and DVDs he had borrowed has cost Denver-area libraries tens of thousands of dollars, officials said.
Thomas Pilaar, 33, was suspected of using different names to obtain seven library cards from the Denver Public Library, then checking out 300 items per card and selling at least some of the items, KCNC-TV in Denver reported.
“It appears his intent was to sell 2,100 (items) from the Denver Library collection,” Denver Public Library spokeswoman M. Celeste Jackson told the station. She estimated the losses at about $35,000.’
‘Manuel Cordero’s final booty call cost him his life.
The charming mechanic loved snapping Polaroid photos of the oversized posteriors of neighborhood women. But when Amanda Barrett came over for a ”photo shoot,” a pal named Perry Bailey tagged along — to rob Cordero, Miami police say.
He shot Cordero dead, stealing cash and a credit card, police say.
That’s the story outlined in an arrest warrant released Friday. Bailey, 20, was arrested two days earlier, charged with first-degree murder.
‘Sadly, his love of womens’ physiques cost him in the end,” said Miami Detective Delrish Moss, a spokesman.’
‘A teenager told how a girl gang sexually abused him and “bayed like a pack of hyenas” as they filmed it on a mobile phone, a court has heard.
During a three-and-a-half hour ordeal the youth was punched, kicked and beaten with a broken broomstick, the Inner London Crown Court heard.
The victim, 18, allegedly owed money to one of the girls who dragged him away from a market in south-east London.
Four girls, the alleged ringleader aged 16 and three aged 17, were in the dock.
The 16-year-old has admitted assault, but denied charges of kidnap, false imprisonment, robbery and causing a person to engage in sexual activity.’
‘Iraq’s national government is refusing to take possession of thousands of American-financed reconstruction projects, forcing the United States either to hand them over to local Iraqis, who often lack the proper training and resources to keep the projects running, or commit new money to an effort that has already consumed billions of taxpayer dollars.
The conclusions, detailed in a report released Friday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, a federal oversight agency, include the finding that of 2,797 completed projects costing $5.8 billion, Iraq’s national government had, by the spring of this year, accepted only 435 projects valued at $501 million. Few transfers to Iraqi national government control have taken place since the current Iraqi government, which is frequently criticized for inaction on matters relating to the American intervention, took office in 2006.’
‘The owner of a car dealership has been accused of killing two employees because they kept asking for pay raises. [..]
Milinavicius, 38, turned himself in two days after the shootings and confessed to the killings, Popham said.
“As I understand, the employees were not really happy about the pay, and they had questioned him about it over the course of time,” Popham said. “That morning he said he just snapped.”’
‘Images captured by a surveillance camera inside the store show the woman lose her footing in one of the aisles and take a nasty fall. A store worker comes to her aid and helps her up. The woman then loses her footing again and falls to the floor.
But store manager Luis Diaz noted there was something strange about the ‘accident’ after viewing the tape.
Diaz decided to do a little investigating on his own and rewound the surveillance tape back even more, and what he found surprised him. On the tape, the same woman, in the same aisle, minutes before her ‘slip and fall’ accident. On the tape, the woman appears to be trying to open a bottle of olive oil unsuccessfully. The woman puts it back on the shelf, leaves the aisle only to return a few moments later and pick up a new bottle. The tape shows her opening this bottle and pouring some of the oil onto the floor, then she puts the bottle back on the shelf and leaves the aisle.’
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‘Party princess Paris Hilton is $60 million out of pocket after her billionaire grandfather – appalled by her jail term for drink-driving offences – axed her inheritance.
Family patriarch Barron Hilton was already embarrassed by his granddaughter’s wild behaviour – notably when her home sex video was leaked on the internet.
But the 79-year-old considered her 23-day sentence last month the last straw.
“He was, and is, extremely embarrassed by how the Hilton name has been sullied by Paris,” says Jerry Oppenheimer, who wrote a biography of the clan called House Of Hilton.
“He now doesn’t want to leave unearned wealth to his family.”‘
