‘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.’
‘President George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2005 after being chosen by the majority of citizens in America to be president.
Yet in 2007 he is generally despised, with many citizens of Western civilization expressing contempt for his person and his policies, sentiments which now abound on the Internet. This rage at President Bush is an inevitable result of the system of government demanded by the people, which is Democracy. [..]
The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead. Then there would be little risk or expense and no American army would be left exposed. But if he did this, his cowardly electorate would have instantly ended his term of office, if not his freedom or his life.’
‘One American student sent major corporations, governments and even the Vatican on the defensive after coming up with Wikipedia Scanner, a software program that reveals who changed Wikipedia entries. [..]
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted. [..]
– The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page
– In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11″
– Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article [..]
– UN address calls journalist Oriana Fallaci a racist ‘prostitute”
The whole thing is here: List anonymous wikipedia edits from interesting organizations.
‘A British clown has had the smile wiped off his face after being told he couldn’t use balloons in his act because children might be allergic to latex.
Barney Baloney said he was told by bosses at a supermarket where he was booked to appear that he should leave his balloons at home because of the potential for allergic reactions.
The 47-year-old entertainer, also known as Tony Turner, has previously had to ditch his bubble-making machine because he could not get public liability insurance as companies assessed that youngsters might slip and hurt themselves.
He said he was also told by one venue he could not twist balloons into the shape of guns for fear of encouraging youngsters to commit violence, although swords were deemed acceptable.’
‘Laughter might be unexpected in a liquor store where a robbery just occurred. But that’s how employees responded to the “Duct Tape Bandit” who hit Shamrock Liquors in Ashland and fled nearly empty handed.
A man who had his head wrapped in duct tape to conceal his identity walked into the store last Friday, police said.
Store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing, according to a report by WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va.
Store employee Craig Miller said he chased the man to the parking lot, tackled him and held him in a choke position until police arrived, the station reported. An unidentified customer also helped, police said.’
Also with a video interview with the man from the jail.
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‘A 12-year-old Indian girl was beaten and then hanged by her mother for demanding she be sent to school, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported today.
The girl was beaten unconscious with a rolling pin by her mother in a village in Jodhpur district in the western desert state of Rajasthan this month.
“The mother thought she had killed the girl and, in panic, decided to make it appear like a suicide,” a police officer was quoted as saying.
“She allegedly tied a rope around the girl’s neck and hung her from the ceiling.”
The woman has been arrested.
The girl’s father, a labourer, said he and his wife could not afford a bicycle to send their daughter to school a few miles away.’
It’s funny because it’s true.
They’re gonna break their elbows, surely.
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‘This poor little guy kept getting picked on until he finally had enough and ended up whopping the bigger guys ass. When it was over the bully ended up leaving the party crying.’
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see it here »
‘I once got talking to a guy whose job it was to go into a company, sit alongside the Systems Administrator for two weeks, and write a professional audit on his processes and practices.
Naturally the sys admin would be on his best behavior, showing off all the clever things he did to keep the company’s computer network ticking over.
At the end of the two weeks, the sys admin would be fired. There was never any audit: this was just the method the company used to replace their IT people without disruption, making sure the new guy was trained up and the old guy didn’t cause any damage before he left.’
If your friend ate your lunch would you shoot then with a paintball gun to teach them a lesson? What if they were standing on a ladder at the time? 🙂
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Some guy is dared to dip his whole head in a bucket of paint. How can you resist such a dare? 🙂
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see it here »
‘A city woman who apparently thought she couldn’t be arrested for stealing once she left the store was in fact charged with multiple misdemeanors yesterday after, police said, she fought with the Neiman Marcus security guard who caught her.
Jazmine Roberts, 19, “went into a rage, repeatedly yelling ‘it’s too late, I already left the store,’ ” according to a police report of the incident, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. at Maple Avenue and Paulding Street.
Roberts, of 86 Dekalb Ave., was seen stealing a $251 pair of jeans at the store by the guard who, police said, followed her outside and apprehended her after a struggle during which Roberts allegedly pulled the guard’s hair, bit her on the wrist and choked her. The guard, who was not identified, was not seriously injured.’
‘A five-year-old boy is being treated in hospital after using a park slide smeared with a mixture of caustic soda and shampoo in Dysart, near Kirkcaldy.
He suffered extensive burns on his legs and bottom and is in Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
Three other youngsters had to undergo medical checks for similar, but not so serious, injuries.
It is believed the boy and his friends found the substance in a litter bin and rubbed it on the slide themselves.’
‘It’s safe to go back into the waters off Britain — reports of a man-eating shark that have made front page headlines were just a great white lie.
British newspapers reported Thursday that stories they had eagerly followed in recent weeks about sightings of a killer Great White shark lurking in the waters off Cornwall, southwest England, had in fact been made up.
Doorman Kevin Keeble sparked the media feeding frenzy when he sent pictures to his local paper of a shark he photographed during a fishing trip to South Africa, jokingly claiming the photo was taken near the British surfing resort of Newquay.
“I didn’t expect anyone would be daft enough to take it seriously,” newspapers quoted him as saying. “I can’t believe the story went so big.”‘
‘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 megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay. [..]
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,'” she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.” [..]
“We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”‘
‘Bryan Connelly, convicted of forgery charges, is accused of making an unusual choice in seeking a hit man to kill the prosecutor: the judge who sentenced him.
Galveston County District Court Judge David Garner said Connelly, 34, of Santa Fe, was among those defendants who “think outside the box” for allegedly writing a letter offering him $5,000 to kill former prosecutor Donnie Quintanilla, now in private practice in Galveston.
Connelly wrote a second letter to his defense attorney, Houston lawyer Jonathan Cox, offering him $5,000 to kill Garner, special prison prosecutor Alice Gregg said.
“I want Judge David Garner dead and I want you to kill him for me,” the letter to Cox read, according to Gregg. “If you decide not to kill Mr. Garner for me, I will kill him myself after I kill you.”‘
‘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.’
‘An Australian woman was branded a criminal by airline officials after “swearing” on an American flight – with a classic, and utterly inoffensive, Aussie oath.
“Fair dinkum,” New South Wales woman Sophie Reynolds muttered when told by a air hostess that there were no pretzels for her to snack on.
The next thing Ms Reynolds knew, the flight crew had demanded her passport to note down her details, telling her that swearing at attendants was a crime.
The 41-year-old, who lives in Queanbeyan, near Canberra, was stunned to find three uniformed officers waiting for her when she left the flight in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“They said: ‘You swore at the hostess and there are federal rules against that’,” Reynolds told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“And I said: ‘I did not swear at the hostess, I just said ‘fair dinkum’.”‘
‘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.’
‘Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday sued the American Red Cross over the use by the relief group and its partners of J&J’s trademark red cross logo on first aid kits, hand sanitizer and medical gloves sold to the public.
Among other things, J&J asked the court to prohibit sales of those items and order the defendants to turn over unsold goods and related marketing materials and all monetary gains from sales of the disputed items, which are sold in stores such as Target and Wal-Mart.
In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the maker of Band-Aids said it has for more than 100 years “owned exclusive trademark rights in the Red Cross Design for first aid and wound care products sold to the consuming public, including first aid kits.”‘
‘A Provo man fatally shot himself with a shotgun while trying to disprove a popular TV crime show, according to authorities.
Earl F. Ellwanger Jr., 55, accidentally shot himself in the stomach about 7 p.m. Tuesday and died of his wounds Thursday at Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Ellwanger saw a television episode of “Forensic Files” in which investigators were trying to show that a woman couldn’t have shot herself in the stomach.
“He decided to show that the program was incorrect and didn’t realize the shotgun was loaded,” said Fall River County Sheriff Jeff Tarrell.’
‘A New Zealand couple is looking to call their newborn son Superman — but only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry.
Pat and Sheena Wheaton say they will get around the decision by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages by officially naming their son Superman but referring to him as 4Real, the New Zealand Herald newspaper has reported.
The Wheatons decided on the name after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing their baby was “for real.”‘
Poor kid. 🙂
If you want to learn maths, I’d recommend a school other than the Castle Hills First Baptist School. An except from their curriculum:
‘CALCULUS
Students will examine the nature of God as they progress in their understanding of mathematics. Students will understand the absolute consistency of mathematical principles and know that God was the inventor of that consistency. Mathematical study will result in a greater appreciation of God and His works in creation. The students will understand the basic ideas of both differential and integral calculus and its importance and historical applications. The students will recognize that God created our minds to be able to see that the universe can be calculated by mental methods.’
‘A 42-year-old man who died after a head-on collision near New Plymouth last night was travelling on the bonnet of a car before the fatal crash, police said today.
Darin Paul Maxwell, 42, of New Plymouth, died when the black Mazda Lantis he was travelling on collided with another vehicle on State Highway 3, several kilometres southeast of the city, about 10pm.
The drivers of both vehicles remain in hospital in critical and serious condition, police said.
Witness accounts put Mr Maxwell on the bonnet of the Mazda at the time of the accident.
Detective Sergeant Greg Gray said police would not comment further on why he was on the bonnet of the car at this stage, but confirmed Mr Maxwell and the driver of the Mazda knew each other.’
‘A St. Paul man, complaining of chronic pain, wanted to have his testicles removed. When conventional medical staff refused to do the job, he hired other “professionals” to take off his testicles, according to a search warrant affidavit filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Two or three people operated on the man, Russell Daniel Angus, 62, a couple weeks ago at his home in St. Paul. He was unconscious during the surgery, and when he woke up, his testicles had been removed.
And the “professionals” were gone.
His groin area was bleeding heavily, so he called his daughter. She called for help. When police arrived, they found a makeshift operating room set up in the upper level of the house. There were bright lights, an apparent operating table, medical supplies and equipment, and a camera. Angus was still bleeding, and there was blood in the living room, hall and bathroom, the affidavit said. He was taken to Regions Hospital.’
‘The pilot of a Qantas Boeing 767 from Sydney carrying 185 passengers to Darwin was targeted by a powerful laser beam, prompting an investigation by federal police and aviation authorities.
The incident, just before midnight on August 3, resulted in the pilot having to fly the next day’s return leg from Darwin to Sydney as a passenger.
A Qantas spokesman, Lloyd Quartermain, said last night that the pilot, who has not been named, had been referred to Qantas’s doctor for assessment. Mr Quartermain declined to comment on whether the pilot was injured. He said the decision to replace him as pilot for the return flight was “a precautionary measure”.’
‘President Bush is worried about a new threat to America and is asking congress to approve a $50 billion defense supplemental. They are after your children!’
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‘More than 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols distributed to Iraqi forces by the US are missing, feared fallen into the hands of insurgents, a congressional watchdog warned today.
The highest previous estimate of missing weapons was 14,000, but a new report from the government accountability office (GAO) said US military officials did not know what had happened to 30% of the weapons the US had given to Iraqi forces since 2004.
“They really have no idea where they are,” Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Centre for Defence Information, told the Washington Post, which reported the GAO’s findings. “It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors.”‘
