Florida Sheriff's Office Corrections Officer Fired For Joining Ku Klux Klan

Fla. sheriff's correction officer fired for joining the KKK

Dec 31 2009


GAINESVILLE, Fla.— An Alachua County Sheriff's Office corrections officer who acknowledged being a member of the Ku Klux Klan has been fired for belonging to a subversive or terrorist organization, a violation of the agency's code of ethics.

Wayne Kerschner was fired Tuesday following a 10-month internal investigation.

The investigation revealed that Kerschner applied online for membership to the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan a year ago, paid $30 a month for access to a members-only Klan Web site and that the group did a thorough background check that included his credit history before allowing him to join.

The Klan has "extremely high standards," Kerschner told investigators, according to an administrative investigation report released Thursday. "They do a complete criminal background check on everybody."

A spokesman for the sheriff's office didn't return a phone call Thursday, and Kerschner's telephone number was not listed.

During the internal probe, Kerschner told investigators the Klan never asked him for information about the jail or the sheriff's office and that he never let his membership interfere with his job. He said he would never get involved with anything criminal and wouldn't ever jeopardize the sheriff's office. He said he viewed the Klan as a religious or political organization.

"I don't let it interfere with my job," he said, according to the report. "I don't let it interfere with my personal judgment call on anything like that. I mean, I think I am a pretty dang fair officer."

Kerschner told authorities that he blogged regularly on a KKK Web site, attended two rallies in Tennessee and was an officer of the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He said his wife was also a dues-paying member.

Kerschner gave some details into how he was inducted into the Klan in a process called "naturalization." He said he was blindfolded during the ceremony and was touched on the shoulder with a sword after taking an oath. He said he was on probation for a month before he could have full access to the Klan Web site, which offered information on Klan handshakes and the different colors available for Klan robes.

Kerschner told investigators he was sorry for getting involved with the Klan.

"If I could erase time, I would," he said.

Daughter Tries To Kill Mom Over Cigarette Dispute

Eleven year old Sets Mom on Fire in Dispute Over Cigarettes, Police say

December 30, 2009


CLEARWATER, Fla -- An 11-year-old Florida girl is in a psychiatric ward and her mother in the hospital after the teen allegedly set the woman's bed on fire as she slept, police said today.

Police and fire officials were called to the Huntington Lane home shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday where they found Nancy Broadhead in the front yard.

Police say the woman was awakened by a smoke alarm and managed to escape.

Broadhead was taken to the hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.

Her daughter, Samantha, and her boyfriend 15-year old Jack Ault are accused of pouring gasoline on Broadhead's bedroom floor and bed, and then set the room aflame.

Police say the pair escaped in the mother's 2007 Ford Focus.

They have both been charged with attempted murder and arson after the fire.

Watts said there was ongoing tension between Nancy and Samantha Broadhead, which escalated Monday when the mother confronted her daughter about stealing some of her cigarettes

Plastered Boozer Woman Almost Sets State Record For Blood Booze Content

Woman's .708 blood alcohol level may set state record

Dec. 30, 2009

South Dakota authorities say a woman found passed out in a stolen vehicle may have set a state record with a blood alcohol content of .708, or almost nine times the legal limit.

Meade County State's Attorney Jesse Sondreal says his research indicates that a level of .40 is considered lethal for about half the population, the Rapid City Journal reports.

Sondreal says the state's legal limit is .08 and that state chemists cannot recall registering a blood alcohol content above .56, WKOW-TV, of Rapid City, reports.

The authorities say troopers found the woman, 45-year-old Marguerite Engle, passed out beside along a highway on Dec. 1 in a van that had been reported stolen.

She missed her court appearance on Dec. 15, but was found Monday sitting in another stolen vehicle in a ditch beside another highway near Fort Meade after another apparent round of drinks.

Her attorney declined comment, the Associated Press reports.

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)

Man Calls 911 To Get A Ride To A Bar

Fla. man wanting ride to bar calls 911, arrested instead

Dec 30 2009

This photo provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's office on Wednesday Dec. 30, 2009 shows Gregory J. Oras, 37. Authorities say Oras, the Florida man who called 911 claiming he'd been beaten and shot at was hoping the story would get him a ride to a bar. Oras is facing charges of misusing the 911 system and battery of a law enforcement officer.

OLDSMAR, Fla.— Authorities say a Florida man who called 911 claiming he'd been beaten and shot at was hoping the tale would get him a ride to a bar. Instead, 37-year-old Gregory J. Oras is facing charges of misusing the 911 system and battery of a law enforcement officer.

An arrest report says Oras called 911 three times before his arrest early Tuesday in Oldsmar, northwest of Tampa. He told the dispatcher he had a broken nose and bleeding ears, and claimed people were shooting at him.

Authorities say he was actually looking for a ride to a bar.

The report also says Oras kicked a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy in the knees and a Taser was used to subdue him.

Online records show he is being held at the Pinellas County Jail but don't indicate whether he has an attorney.

Woman With Large Legs and Feet

Dec. 30, 2009

Buforte, AK

A woman with a rare bone disorder, prometheus syndrome, is shown seated on a sofa at the house of her boy friend who also suffers the same disorder. He declined to be photographed because he prefers to remain incognito. Our photographer tried to get a sneak photo of him anyway but he was too sly, hiding behind a cloak.

Our photographer decided to get a photograph of a nearby moose, in an effort to give some perspective to the size of the legs and foot, but it turned out to be a very small moose. Too much leg and not enough moose. The moose is only the size of the woman's foot, which seems impossible.

But your editor would remind you that the truth is sometimes stranger than the untruth.

The After Effects of War

Tormented USS Cole bombing survivor dies in Fla. home
Dec 29 2009
By BRIAN SKOLOFF - Associated Press Writer



In this undated photo provided by the Gokool family, is U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Johann Gokool, who was found dead in his Homestead, Fla. home Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. Gokool was an electronic warfare technician aboard the USS Cole when suicide bombers rammed a small boat packed with explosives into the ship on Oct. 12, 2000 in Yemen. Gokool lost his left foot in the bombing and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Johann Gokool lost his left foot when a bomb ripped a hole in the side of the USS Cole nearly a decade ago, but the injury was nothing compared with the mental torment that ravaged him almost daily.

He returned home to Florida suffering severe post-traumatic stress disorder and frequent panic attacks so violent he would launch into seizures and even fractured his own wrist several times as he flailed, sister Natala Gokool said Tuesday.

One of the brothers he lived with found him dead in their home last Wednesday, just a week after his 31st birthday, Natala Gokool said. His cause of death was unknown, though she said foul play was not suspected. The family believes the seizures just became too much for his body to handle.

Born in Trinidad, he moved with his family to South Florida as a young boy, and joined the military right out of high school.

He was in the ship's mess hall during the attack.

"When the explosion went off, everything was in slow motion, like a movie," Gokool told The Miami Herald in 2005. "My body spun around and I could smell smoke and fuel."

After being knocked unconscious, Gokool said he woke up and slowly dragged himself up a ladder to rescue.

"I don't want to die here," he said he thought to himself.

Doctors later removed his badly injured left foot, and he was visited in the hospital by then-President Bill Clinton.

Gokool lived in Homestead, about 35 miles southwest of Miami.

His sister said the lost foot "didn't really have any effect on him once the physical wound healed."

It was the panic attacks that scarred him. He couldn't work and stayed home when he felt them coming on, which was sometimes too often for him to live any normal life. He played cards occasionally and video games, and chatted often on the Internet with friends. He and his sister would go to the movies just about every Tuesday, but only when he felt comfortable there were no panic attacks looming.

Funeral services were set for Saturday in Florida. His family planned to take his ashes to Arlington National Cemetery.

Merry Xmas, Little Timmy, From Your Uncle Dopey, I'll Show You How To Use It.

Pot-stuffed teddy bear found at Calif. toy store


Dec 28 2009


MISSION VIEJO, Calif.— Authorities say they confiscated a teddy bear at a Southern California toy store that was stuffed with marijuana.

The owner of Toy Town said Monday that he got the package last week, opened it up and found a 2-foot-tall blue teddy bear that felt "hard and crinkly." The bear turned out to be stuffed with two large, vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana.

Owner Joshua Vecchione says he called Orange County sheriff's officials but before they could arrive someone bought the dopey bear from a store clerk who was not aware of the bear's contents. She told police the buyer said it would be great for his little nephew. He paid cash and left the store quickly, according to the clerk.

The package was addressed to someone in Colorado and mailed from Thousand Oaks with the toy store, in Ladera Ranch, as the return address. Police said they were seeing more and more of this sort of activity to disguise MJ shipments by mail and that this was the first such incident they had seen.

Shown here is an equal quantity of marijuana that was seized from the bladder of a pig. It looks like someone has been cutting off small pieces from one of the bricks, probably for analysis in the police lab.

___

Homeless Man Steals Plane, Heads Down Runway But Never Gets Off Ground

Homeless man charged with stealing, crashing plane

Dec 28 2009

DAVID DISHNEAU - Associated Press Writer

(AP Photo/Frederick Police Department)

Calvin C. Cox, 51, is shown in a Monday, Dec. 28, 2009 police mug, released by the Frederick, Md., Police Department. Cox was charged Monday with stealing and crashing a private airplane at the Frederick, Md., Municipal Airport. Cox, who is homeless, allegedly broke into a hangar and ran the plane off a runway while trying to fly away.

FREDERICK, Md.— A homeless man trying to leave town in a stolen plane crashed the single-engine aircraft on a municipal airport runway without ever leaving the ground, police said.

Calvin C. Cox, 51, wanted to fly away from Frederick early Monday but ended up in jail instead, unable to make bail, authorities said. He remained in custody after bail was set at $10,000 on felony charges including theft, burglary and trespassing. No attorney was immediately appointed.

Cox wasn't hurt when the Piper Super Cub ran off a runway at Frederick Municipal Airport and upended in the grass at about 2:15 a.m. Monday, police said. A canine team tracked him into nearby woods, Frederick Police Lt. Clark A. Pennington said.

Pennington said Cox had lived in a tent in the nearby woods and somehow become familiar enough with the airport and airplanes that he was able to get inside a hangar and start the aircraft.

He said Cox drove the plane part way up a 3,600-foot runway, then turned the aircraft around and drove it back down the runway and off the pavement.

The two-seat Piper, owned by the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association, sustained damage to its engine and propeller, club President Michael H. Higgins said.

Higgins said club members don't know Cox.

Member Lance Nuckolls said the hangar had been locked and that starting the Piper would have required activating several switches and a starter button in the correct sequence.

"You don't just stumble on it and figure it out," he said. "You have to be trained to do that."

Cox is not listed in FAA airmen certification records as a licensed pilot or mechanic. He could have learned about airplanes, though, by working for a certified mechanic, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters.

FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf said his agency was advised of the incident but wasn't actively involved in the investigation.

Slip-Streaming the Universe and other Weird Cosmic Events Including Xmas

In the beginning, there was the black hole

Weird things

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Just for a little astrophysics fun, let’s imagine that we’re back in the early days of the universe and the very first generation of stars is about to be born. Since the entire hot and dense universe is filled with gas, those stars will be enormous by today’s standards. While most modern stars tend to stay under the 150 solar mass limit, these titans could conceivably tip the scale at approximately 1,000 or so. Due to their enormous size, they’d be extremely short lived, burning fast and hot in just a few million years if not less, and end with spectacular pair- instability supernovae. As we covered before, due to their enormous mass, they wouldn’t simply disintegrate into a radioactive clouds like a 130 to 250 solar mass star, but collapse into huge, ravenous black holes.

The fiery death of these monstrous suns is currently one of the leading explanations for the extremely distant gamma ray bursts observed since the height of the Cold War, so we know there’s some solid evidence which points to their existence billions of years ago. But the big question is what happened to them after they died. A black hole formed by the death of an enormous star will be a force to be reckoned with and persist for a very, very long time. In fact we can get a good estimate for its size and lifetime. Assuming that approximately half of our hypothetical progenitor star will be blown out by the blast and leave 500 solar masses worth of material to slow down and fall back into a gravitational ghost, the math looks somewhat like this…

rs = 2Gm / c2 = 2(6.673 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2)(9.94 × 1032 kg) / 8.99 × 1016 m/sec = 1,476,314 m
tev = 3M / 3K = 3(9.94 × 1032 kg) / 3(3.89 × 1015 kg3 s-1) = 8.24 × 1082 sec or 2.61 × 1075 years

So this nearly 3,000 kilometer wide brute would be one of the last things to exist in the known universe and in its long life, we should probably expect it to merge with other black holes and gulp down plenty of gas to grow even bigger, maybe even to supermassive proportions, and extending its lifespan to obscenely long stretches of time. Considering that it was far from the only one, one might ask whether we should just look for the center of the universe by the biggest concentration of black holes we can find and finally establish a firm grip on our location in the cosmos. But that’s not how things work. Since the birth of these black holes billions of years in the primeval past, the universe has expanded and because the expansion was driven by space-time itself, the monstrous remnants of the first stars have been moving trough the early spirals and webs of galaxies into an immense, homogenous mix of stars, planets, gas and dust, surfing on the fabric of space.

Likewise, the growth of these black holes is governed by rules similar to natural selection. Some binged on a vast cloud of gas nearby, others swallowed up their neighbors or were swallowed by their bigger brethren as they moved through the cosmos. Some remained close to their starting mass, others bulked up just a bit and a few grew to absolutely titanic proportions. There’s no telling how old a black hole it and from where it came unless you’ve tracked its movements from birth to the present. And all of this moving and shuffling through an isotropic cosmos in which the remnants of the first stars have been distorted beyond recognition implies that the center of our universe would most probably be a very unremarkable place which would be very difficult, if at all possible, to pin down as the hypocenter of the Big Bang were we to travel there at any point in the future.

Trump Trumped, Twice

Police: Ivana Trump becomes angry, has to be removed from plane

Dec 27 2009


FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2007 file photo, socialite Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi attend the 2007 G&P Foundation 10th Annual Angel Ball in...

(AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2007 file photo, socialite Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi attend the 2007 G&P Foundation 10th Annual Angel Ball in New York.

PALM BEACH, Fla.— Police say Ivana Trump has been escorted off a plane in Florida after she became belligerent when children were running and screaming in the aisles.

Authorities say the first ex-wife of billionaire Donald Trump cursed at the children Saturday, and when flight attendants on the New York-bound plane tried to calm her, she became even more aggravated.

Her spokeswoman, Catherine Saxton, did not immediately return a telephone message. Trump filed for divorce from her fourth husband earlier this month.

She has not been charged in the incident at Palm Beach International Airport.

Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies asked Trump to voluntarily exit the plane, but they said she refused. She was then escorted off.

I lost my son in war, I don't like taxes, and my truck is about to be repossessed. I hate the federal government.

Disabled Va. standoff suspect was angry at the government

Dec 24 2009

By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press Writer


WYTHEVILLE, Va.— A man accused of taking three people hostage in a Virginia post office told them he was angry at the federal government because his son had died in Afghanistan and his beloved truck was about to be repossessed, one of the hostages said Thursday.

Suspected hostage-taker Warren "Gator" Taylor, 53, of Sullivan County, Tenn., was arraigned Thursday on kidnapping and other federal charges. The hostages were released unharmed after about eight hours Wednesday and Taylor surrendered without incident.

Federal officials said Taylor was angry at the federal government and told them he had planned the standoff for months or years. He had a list of grievances against the government: for the death of his son, for taxing Americans and because his truck was going to be repossessed.

Bulgarian Professor Uses Actor's Boobs As Educational Tool

A Bulgarian professor has promised students A grades if they write about Angelina Jolie's boobs and buy a copy of his new book.

Professor Stefan Karastoyanov, of the Geology and Geography Department of Sofia University, made the promise as a protest after he was not paid for three months because of cash problems.

He said: "If they write about Angelina Jolie's boobs and buy my book they'll get an A."

So far 80 of the 120 students sitting his classes have ordered his book

Be Careful Who You Live Next Door To

Hey, you with the firebomb! Wrong house!

Dec 23 2009

Substitute Dumb-Ass


THOMSON, Ga.— An east Georgia man trying to get revenge on his estranged girlfriend by firebombing her home was being held without bond after he threw the device into the wrong house. Authorities said a 25-year-old man was charged with arson, aggravated assault and possession of an explosive device _ all felonies. The Augusta Chronicle reported Tuesday he was being held in the McDuffie County jail.

Authorities said no one was injured Sunday night when the man allegedly tossed the Molotov cocktail through the front window of a Thomson home just before 9 p.m. Police arrested the man soon after the incident.

Authorities said the man has been arrested on a variety of charges in recent months, though no further details were given. His court appointed attorney said the man intended to use temporary insanity as his defense.

___

Information from: Chronicle , http://www.augustachronicle.com

Woman Calls 911 To Report That Her Husband Is Refusing to Eat His Dinner.

Woman feels threatened and calls 911 - 30 times

Dec 23 2009


KERRVILLE, Texas— Prosecutors will review the case of a woman authorities claim has called 911 30 times over six months for non-emergency reasons, including a call to complain that her husband refused to eat his dinner. Last Friday, the woman allegedly made a pair of calls to 911, including a hang-up and another where a woman was heard screaming.

Police were dispatched to the residence and officer Paul Gonzales said police were told by her that "her husband did not want to eat his supper." A police report said the 53-year-old woman was also yelling "about things that happened two weeks ago."

She told the officer that she was concerned that her husband's life insurance policy would not pay if he committed suicide by starvation. She said that she could be left destitute "over a couple of stinkin' pork chops." The man claimed the woman was such a lousy cook that no one would eat anything she prepared. He also claimed the woman had marinated pork chops in rat poison on another occasion, but he had refused to eat then also.

The woman now faces charges of 911 abuse. Prosecutors said no decision had been made about her prosecution for attempted murder in the rat poison claim.

Woman Calls 911 When Husband Refuses To Eat Dinner - Says Her Life Was Endangered By His Refusal

Woman feels endangered and calls 911

Dec 23 2009


KERRVILLE, Texas— Prosecutors will review the case of a woman authorities claim has called 911 30 times over six months for non-emergency reasons, including a call to complain that her husband refused to eat his dinner. Last Friday, the woman allegedly made a pair of calls to 911, including a hang-up and another where a woman was heard screaming.

Police were dispatched to the residence and officer Paul Gonzales said police were told by her that "her husband did not want to eat his supper." A police report said the 53-year-old woman was also yelling "about things that happened two weeks ago."

She told the officer that she was concerned that her husband's life insurance policy would not pay if he committed suicide by starvation. She said that she could be left destitute over a couple of stinkin' pork chops. The man claimed the woman was such a lousy cook that nobody wanted to eat anything she prepared. He also claimed the woman had marinated pork chops in rat poison on another occasion, but he had refused to eat then also.

The woman now faces charges of 911 abuse.

He's Missing a Fork and Spoon

Man with knife in chest calls 911, then orders coffee

Dec 23 2009


WARREN, Mich.— A man who walked into a Michigan diner with a 5-inch knife stuck in his chest ordered a coffee and complained only about the cold weather.

The 52-year-old man, who has not been identified, called a 911 operator in Warren on Sunday night to ask that an ambulance be sent to Bray's, an eatery in neighboring Hazel Park.

He said he had been stabbed during an attempted robbery half a mile away, then walked to the restaurant and called 911 from a pay phone.

On a recording of the call, the man gives a vague description of his attacker before saying, "I'm gonna sit down at Bray's 'cause they got a chair and it's cold out here."

Restaurant employee George Mirdita tells The Detroit News the man calmly ordered coffee.

Police said Tuesday that the man is recovering.

___

Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com

Two Pakistani Men Sentenced To Have Their Noses and Ears Chopped Off

Pakistani court orders two men's noses, ears cut off

Dec 22 2009

By BABAR DOGAR - Associated Press Writer


LAHORE, Pakistan— A Pakistani court has ordered the noses and ears of two men cut off after they did the same thing to a young woman whose family spurned one of the men's marriage proposal, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The anti-terrorism court in the eastern city of Lahore said it was applying Islamic law by ordering the punishment.

Lahore prosecutor Chaudhry Ali Ahmed said one of the accused, Sher Mohammad, was a cousin of the 19-year-old woman and wanted to marry her. Her parents refused his proposal.

Sher Mohammad and a friend, Amanat Mohammad, were accused of kidnapping the woman and cutting off her ears and nose in late September in the Raiwind area of Lahore.

The court on Monday also sentenced each man to 50 years in prison and told them to pay fines and compensation to the woman amounting to several thousand dollars, the prosecutor said.

Pakistan's legal system has Islamic elements that sometimes lead to orders for harsh punishments, but the sentences are often overturned and rarely carried out. Serious crimes are often referred to anti-terrorism courts in Pakistan because they move faster.

Violence against women, especially attacks by spurned lovers, also occurs frequently in this impoverished South Asian nation.

The men have seven days to appeal the ruling, Ahmed said.

The photo above is not a Pakistani. This photo was used to give the reader some idea of what a Pakistani with no nose would look like. Couldn't find anything with no ears, too.

Porn Star's Ex-Husband Claims She Didn't Like Sex - Seldom Had Sex Together

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

How Not To Break-Up a Snowball Fight

Veteran detective pulls gun on snowball throwers

December 21, 2009

WASHINGTON— The city's police chief slammed a veteran detective Monday for pulling a gun during a mass snowball fight that had been advertised on Twitter.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she watched video clips from the confrontation and has no doubt the off-duty detective pulled his gun after snowballs hit his personal car during Saturday's record snowfall.

"Let me be very clear in stating that I believe the actions of the officer were totally inappropriate!" Lanier said in a statement after the videos made the rounds on YouTube. "In no way should he have handled the situation in this manner."

One video posted on YouTube showed a man holding what appears to be a gun in the snowy street. Another video shows the same man telling people he is "Detective Baylor" and he pulled his gun because he was hit by snowballs.

At one point, the crowd begins to chant: "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight!"

There could be a recommendation to discipline the detective, which could range from a reprimand to removal according to police officials.

There were no arrests.

Small Dogs Munch on Former Owner After Suicide

OMAHA, Neb.— Two small dogs that police say fed on the body of their owner after he killed himself are headed to Indiana.

The Nebraska Humane Society says the two pugs, named Harry and Sally, will meet their new owners Tuesday.

The pugs were found with their former owner earlier this month. Police said an autopsy showed the man had been dead for about two weeks of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The dogs were locked inside the house, had no access to food and eventually began munching on their dead owner.

Humane Society officials said despite the circumstances, the dogs were unlikely to suffer from any long-term psychological effects.

The dogs' owner left them little choice. Either they ate the dead owner or starved to death.

Brazilian Stepfather Admits To Inserting Needles Into the Body of His Two Year-Old Stepson for Revenge

Brazil man stuck stepson with needles as revenge

Dec 20 2009

By BRADLEY BROOKS - Associated Press Writer


RIO DE JANEIRO— In a follow-up to yesterday's blog story a Brazilian man publicly confessed to pushing dozens of needles into his 2-year-old stepson, saying Sunday in a jail cell interview that he intended to kill the boy out of spite for his wife and didn't think he would be discovered.

Speaking to Globo television's "Fantastico" program from the northeastern state of Bahia, 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes described mixing water with wine to dope the child before he and his lover held the boy down and stuck sewing needles into him.

"I did this two or three times a week during one month," Magalhaes said.

The boy was too drunk on the wine mixture to cry while he inserted the needles, he said, but felt the pain after the alcohol wore off.

"It was truly an unbearable suffering," said Magalhaes. "It was to get back at the boy's mother. I thought the needles would work their way through his body and kill the boy. It was a way to kill without anyone discovering."

But the pain led the toddler to complain to his mother, and on Dec. 10 she took him to a hospital where X-rays revealed about 30 needles lodged throughout his body.

The boy underwent a five-hour operation in the northeastern city of Salvador on Friday to remove four rusty needles that most threatened his life, near his heart and in his lungs.

Doctors said Sunday the child is doing well and will likely undergo two more surgeries, the next one on Wednesday at the earliest, to extract needles up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long from his abdomen and spine.

Suzy Moreno, a spokeswoman for Hospital Ana Nery, said hundreds of people across Brazil have contacted the facility to inquire about the boy.

"Many people are coming by to bring Christmas presents," she said. "Many are also calling us to express their outrage. ... The support has been incredible."

Along with Magalhaes, police believe his lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, was also seeking revenge on Magalhaes' wife.

The bricklayer told detectives that dos Santos would enter into trances and give him commands to insert the needles, police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges have yet been filed. They were taken to an undisclosed location for their own protection after a mob threw stones at the police station where they were being held.

Dos Santos is not believed to be a member of any religious or occult group, and authorities believe the pair came up with the idea on their own.

The boy's name is not being released because of his age.

More and More Americans Undressing Publicly

Opposing nudity ban, Ore. art gallery takes it all off

Dec 19 2009

Typical art gallery patron on left

ASHLAND, Ore.— A city council member in an Oregon town noted for its Shakespeare festival and its occasional dustups over public nudity plans a showing in his art gallery of nude portraits and conceptual art involving naked people.

For gallery-goers as well, clothing will be optional _ even though it's winter in Ashland, a small college town on the California border

Council member Eric Navickas is opposed to a possible ban on public nudity in the town. Nudity is legal in Ashland, except in the city center and public parks, where people are required to cover their genitals.

"We feel that the nude ban is not only an attack on freedom of expression but also an attack on the human body itself," Navickas said. "We wanted to have a show to celebrate the nude body and differentiate the nude body from anything indecent."

The ban was proposed after two men were spotted walking naked near schools. The council is to vote next month on the issue.

Navickas said he is willing to compromise and ban nudity within 200 feet of school zones. His partner, Amy Godard, said the two are interested in dialogue not controversy.

"It's not like we're trying to polarize anything," she said. "We're trying to pay homage to the nude, which is a strong tradition in the arts."

Open about a year, the gallery made news early on with an exhibit that allowed patrons to pitch paint-covered shoes at a large portrait of former President George W. Bush. The gallery owners called it a "statement of solidarity" with an Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing shoes at him.

The nudity exhibit is scheduled Jan. 29 to Feb. 5, Godard said, and patrons may participate by baring themselves.

"We'll have heaters going," she said. "I know it's at the end of January, but it will be warm in there."

The Fire Marshall raised some questions when he told the council that he had heard that an expected crowd of art lovers, numbering anywhere from 25 to 30 thousand, would descend on the town, mainly naked, and they couldn't all be arrested because the jail will only accommodate 8 prisoners.

Ms. Goddard suggested the town should offer the visitors hot chocolate and a warm place to make love. "It's an established fact that people cannot make war while copulating," said Ms. Goddard.

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Information from: The Ashland Daily Tidings, http://www.dailytidings.com

Boy's Step-Dad Punctures Toddler With 50 Needles in Bizarre Ritual

Brazil toddler stable after needles removed

Dec 19 2009

By BRADLEY BROOKS - Associated Press Writer


(AP Photo/Agencia O Globo)

In this frame taken from a TV Globo video, a person points at a X-ray of a 2-year-old boy showing needles inside his body in a hospital in Ibotirama, northern Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. A 2-year-old Brazilian boy has as many as 50 metal sewing needles inside his body and a doctor treating the boy said they were apparently stuck there one by one.

RIO DE JANEIRO— A Brazilian toddler was awake and breathing on his own Saturday after doctors removed four life-threatening sewing needles from around one of his lungs and his heart, but he was likely to face more surgery in the coming days, a hospital director said.

The 2-year-old boy _ who police say had dozens of the needles stuck deep into his body by his stepfather in a bizarre ritual _ remains in intensive care following his Friday surgery and the next two days are critical to his recovery, Roque Aras, medical director of the Ana Nery Hospital, told reporters in the northeastern city of Salvador.

"The next step will be a surgery on the abdomen, to remove needles that are in the bladder and intestines," Aras said. "A third (surgery) will be to remove a needle that is in the spine."

Aras added that the needles removed so far were rusty, which increases the chances of infection in the boy. The next surgery should take place on Monday or Tuesday.

Police say 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes confessed to pushing the metal sewing needles into the child because, he said, his lover told him to while in trances. The rituals, performed over a month, were supposedly aimed at keeping the couple together.

The child underwent nearly five hours of surgery Friday to remove the four needles, which were up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long.

Dozens more needles remain inside the boy's body, but the four removed were considered the most life-threatening.

Police say they believe the lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, told Magalhaes the ritual would keep them together, but she was really seeking revenge on Magalhaes' wife by having him hurt her son.

The bricklayer told detectives that dos Santos would enter into trances and give him commands to insert the needles, police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said. The stepfather told police the rituals happened every few days for a full month, with him inserting several needles during each session.

Dos Santos paid to have the needles blessed by a woman who practiced the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomble, Santana said.

Authorities initially estimated the boy had as many as 50 needles inside him. After many test, doctors now believe he was struck with closer to 30 needles but they still don't know exactly how many.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges have been filed.

Dos Santos is not believed to be a member of any religious or occult group, and authorities believe she came up with the idea on her own, Santana said.

The two were taken to an undisclosed location for their own protection after a mob threw stones at the police station where they were being held. It was not immediately clear whether they had legal representation.

Authorities also detained the woman who blessed the needles so she could be questioned, but Santana says he expects she will be released without charge because she did not know how the needles were being used.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to her hometown hospital in Ibotirama on Dec. 10, saying he was complaining of pain.

After X-rays revealed the cause, the mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age. The boy was later transferred to the much larger hospital in Salvador.

Police and doctors concluded it would have been impossible for the boy to have ingested the needles, which have been found throughout his abdomen, in one leg and in his spine.

Afro-Brazilian religions practiced in Brazil have no ceremonies, rituals or practices involving harm to people, said Nelson Inocencio, director of African-Brazilian studies at the University of Brasilia.

He worried that the incident could hurt the image of the religions, of which Candomble is the most popular, concentrated in Bahia state where Ibotirama is located.

___

Associated Press Writers Alan Clendenning in Sao Paulo and Marco Sibaja in Brasilia, Brazil, contributed to this report.

Snot Swallowing Attorney Sued

Attorney sued for biting off part of man's nose

Victim's left nostril on tray

Dec 18 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn.— A Memphis attorney bit off part of a man's nose during a fight in a restaurant bathroom. A lawsuit filed by Greg Herbers claims attorney Mark Lambert attacked him last June after Herbers asked two men in a bathroom stall to get out so that he could use it.

The suit states that Lambert was at a urinal and had been carrying on a conversation with the men in the stall. Herbers claims Lambert pushed and grabbed him and bit off and swallowed part of his nose.

Lambert told WMC-TV he did bite off part of Herbers' nose, but spit it out. He claims he acted in self defense after Herbers assaulted him.

The police report said Herbers entire left nostril was missing. Herbers claims he suffered permanent disfigurement and will need plastic surgery and possibly a prosthetic nose.

Herbers is asking for $5 million in damages.

___

Information from: WMC-TV, http://www.wmctv.com/

Unexcused School Absences Take Dramatic Drop in Georgia

Georgia Schools Lead Nation in Attendance - Educational Leaders Praise Teachers and Students

Eighth Graders Enter Oral Plea

DECEMBER 18--Recently, Georgia's Director of Public Education praised teachers,parents and students for the dramatic drop in student abscences. "These numbers reflect a growth in awareness among students and parents alike that the kids belong in school, not out on the streets, unsupervised, where they are more easily lured into mischief," said the top educator for the state.

Not only was there a large decrease in unexcused abscences, educators also noticied an unusual increase in the demand from adults to enroll in school. Many of these cited lost opportunities when they were students and a desire to make up for these losses now, while they are still young. But there were several older adults as well; one man who wanted to return to the 8th grade listed his age as 76.

In an unrelated development in one of Georgia's Middle Schools, two eighth graders this week accepted pleas to public indecency charges after they engaged in oral sex while a substitute teacher was helping other students at the front of the classroom. A male student asked a female classmate to perform oral sex on him, and the girl agreed. With her view obstructed, the substitute was unaware of the sex occurring a few rows away.

However, a few jealous classmates observed the December 4 encounter and reported it to a Warner Robins Middle School administrator. None of the students apparently informed the substitute teacher about the sex act as it was occuring during fourth period. As part of their plea, sodomy charges against both students were dropped, and a probation violation count leveled against the boy was dismissed. After being held at a youth detention facility, the girl was released to her parents's custody. The boy remains locked up, according to a law enforcement official who declined to comment because he was not authorized to speak about the incident.

Nude Couple Rob Texas Bank

Nude man and woman rob bank

Dec 15 2009


La Torta, TX.— A nude man and woman were incorrectly identified in a post yesterday as the robbers of a South Texas bank. The nude couple pictured in the earlier post are members of a nudist group and had no involvement with the robbery.

Authorities in South Texas are still searching for the real nude couple who held up the bank then fled with a wad of cash. According to a news release from the Sheriff, the man demanded money from a teller at a Bank of South America branch on Friday afternoon and said he had a weapon. The teller asked him where his weapon was and he pointed at the woman. The teller took one look at the unclothed woman and immediately gave the man an unspecified amount of cash, who then fled on foot with the woman.

Citizens were asked to be on the lookout for a naked man and woman carrying a lot of cash. The woman, police warned, may be armed.

The replacement photo above was taken by a local resident and these are the only suspects police have at the time. It is unknown who the nude pair are and where they reside. When shown the photo, a bank guard present during the robbery provided a positive identification of the woman but did not not recall what the male robber looked like from the rear.

Compounding the problem facing police is the fact that the beach where the above photo was taken is a nude beach and there are dozens of similarly nude couples.

Sex Business "Blown" Away By Nevada Brothel's Plans

Nevada brothel aims to offer 1st male prostitutes

Potential job applicants>>>>>>>>>>>>

The owner of a brothel more than two hours' drive from Las Vegas says she hopes to hire Nevada's first legal male prostitutes within a month, now that a state health board has approved a method to test them for infectious diseases.

Jobs of Minimal Wage Workers - Installment 1 in a 2 Part Series.

Man stable after being nearly buried alive and stuck 4 hours in cesspool


Dec. 9, 2009
Long Island, New York

A worker in an exclusive residential neighborhood on Long Island, New York, was trapped for four hours, up to his chest in sand and soil in a cesspool belonging to the owners of one of the local mansions, which once were the homes of the rich and famous in an area popularly known as the Gold Coast.

The worker, who is in stable condition in a local hospital, was rescued by dozens of rescue team members and the use of donated heavy equipment. The main thing holding up progress was the stench coming from the cesspool, which had been in use for at least 3 decades. That's a lot of "stuff" accumulated over a long time period. Many rescue workers became nauseated by the odor, while others wore special face masks to avoid the putrid stench.

Ironically, the trapped man was an undocumented worker who does not speak English. None of the mansion's owners or neighbors came out to find out what was going on in their meticulously manicured back yards. Servants were sent out now and again to monitor progress on the cesspool and to find out how long the work would be delayed. Another of the owners contacted the family insurance agent to find out if the owners would have any possible liability for the worker's injuries. Assured that the man's injuries would be covered by his employer's workers compensation policy, the family relaxed in the den for a spirited game of scrabble and dry martinis for the adults.

On arrival at the hospital the worker had to be deodorized before he could be treated. Two of the attending doctors and one nurse refused to treat the injured man until he could be bathed and cleaned up, citing union rules.

So it goes.

A Snack, Incident to Arrest: Dumb Cops Foil Own Bust

12/1/09

Cops arrest bank robber and lose evidence in the process ......

Cops responding to a call of a bank robbery caught the alleged robber making his escape. In a police video that captured the officers dragging the suspect back to their squad car and spreading him out on the trunk for a detailed search, one of the officers is seen placing the demand note used at the bank by the robber on the car, near the suspect's face.

You guessed it, the enterprising suspect snared the note with his mouth and calmly ate it as the cops continued their thorough search of the suspect and his clothing. They couldn't find the note. (See video of arrest below)

o Arrest

How About Some Sliced Bread With Your Steak, Dear....Or Else?

Monday Night Medium Rare

Cops: Florida woman attacks disabled, terminally ill boyfriend with uncooked steak


DECEMBER 8--Peter Schabhuttl, 49 years old, disabled and terminally ill with cancer was just about to eat his dinner and settle in to watch Monday Night Football on his 46" super wide, flat screen TV, which he had bought to help ease him through the pain and loneliness of terminal cancer. His domestic bliss was rudely interrupted when he was attacked with a large steak wielded by his live-in girlfriend of 16 years, Elsie Egan.

The Florida woman, 53, is facing a felony domestic abuse charge for allegedly striking Peter several times in the head with a raw steak, according to police. Egan, pictured in the above photo, was busted last night after a confrontation in the Dunnellon home she shares with Peter. Peter told cops that Egan struck him "on top of his head with an uncooked steak (approximately 10-16 oz.)" after they quarreled about the bread to be consumed at dinner. Schabhuttl wanted a roll. Egan, however, wanted him to eat sliced bread. "Peter said that when he refused, she attacked him with the steak," reported Deputy Carmen Gallup, who noted observing slight redness on Schabhuttl's right cheek and the crown of his head. While Egan denied wielding the steak, she admitted slapping Schabhuttl several times "so that he can learn."

Hot Action At Climate Cooling Conference

Sex Workers Offer Freebies for Climate Change Delegates in Copenhagen

Danish Prostitute>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Posted by Tara Lohan, December 7, 2009.



It's not too late to get over there for at least part of the meeting.

Finally, a sexy story about climate change. As the big talks have finally kicked off, here's one of the lighter stories about what's happening over there.

Prostitutes of a Danish sex workers association will offer their services for free to delegates of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, an association official told AFP Saturday.

Susanne Moeller said the move was meant to protest an anti-prostitution initiative undertaken by Copenhagen city hall.

The city, host of the December 7-18 UN climate summit, distributed postcards in Copenhagen's hotels that said "Be sustainable: Don't buy sex." It also sent letters to hotel managers inviting them to take measures to avoid prostitutes meeting clients in their establishments.

This is a bit odd considering that sex work in Denmark is legal. And surely, if you're involved in the difficult work of trying to save the planet from doom, you may want to engage in adult activities to relieve some stress, right?

Apparently, sex workers there agree and are fighting back against this discrimination. Here's more about their plan:

"All delegates who come to Copenhagen for the world climate summit will be able to use the postcards for payment after making a request on our website," Moeller, of the Danish association for the defense of sex workers, said.

"We do not expect many delegates (to make use of the offer), but we want to protest what we consider discrimination," Moeller said, adding the offer was good for the duration of the climate talks.

If only free sex offers could be used to get countries to commit to a binding treaty.


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Here's Breakfast, Darling

Woman pours hot grits on sleeping boyfriend

Dec 10 2009


BOUTTE, La.— A 44-year-old woman was booked with second-degree battery after allegedly pouring a pot of boiling grits onto her sleeping boyfriend. St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies said Carolyn Brown caused second-degree burns on the man's face and arms. The man told deputies that he came home from work on Nov. 7, got into an argument with Brown, told her that he was breaking up with her, then went to bed.

The Times-Picayune reported Brown was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility.

It wasn't immediately clear if Brown has an attorney.

It wasn't immediately clear either, if Brown's boyfriend would ever find another woman.

___

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com

One More Reason Not to Drink Yourself Into a Stupor While on Your Knees

Picture taken before the second drunk and the amputations

Pa. woman sues over drink-fueled leg amputations

Dec 09 2009


UNIONTOWN, Pa.— A western Pennsylvania woman who drank herself unconscious celebrating her 20th birthday says a hospital didn't properly treat her, resulting in partial amputations of both of her legs.

Shanna Hiles' medical malpractice suit against Uniontown Hospital and one of its emergency physicians says she passed out while sitting on the floor with her legs tucked under her in May. Hiles was in that position for more than 12 hours, and she claims hospital officials didn't properly diagnose her condition and work to restore circulation to her legs.

Instead, Hiles claims she was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital several hours later where both legs were amputated at the knee.

It was not immediately clear what Hiles was doing during the marathon she spent on her knees in a room with 8 men, all of whom gave police statements saying they had not noticed her; they were just "partying, hard."

A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the suit filed Tuesday, saying it was stupid and baseless and that the woman caused her own problem and deserved to have both legs amputated.

A hospital administrator said the spokeswoman's remarks were meaningless because she was unauthorized to speak and was being terminated at the end of the month.

___

Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com

Amish Dude Passed Out Drunk, Driving Horse Drawn Buggy

Pa. police arrest Amish man in buggy for DUI

Dec 08 2009


LANCASTER, Pa.— Police in central Pennsylvania arrested an Amish man on drunk driving charges over the weekend after he was found asleep in his moving buggy. Police said a 22-year-old man was slumped over and asleep in a slow-moving buggy on Sunday night.

An off-duty officer from nearby reported seeing the horse pulling the buggy at a walking pace as it straddled the center line.

Police said a breathalyzer test snowed the man's blood-alcohol content was 0.18, more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for drivers.

___

Information from: Intelligencer Journal, http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/paper/sundaynews/

Here's Some Hamburger Helper, Honey.

Police jail man for rubbing burger in wife's face

Dec 07 2009

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.— A 25-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested for allegedly rubbing a hamburger in his wife's face during an argument. Police said Daniel Boss and his wife got into it late Thursday night and started calling each other names. At some point, the woman apparently poured soda on Boss' hamburger, causing him to grab the sandwich, rub it in her face and start throwing food.

Boss left, but his wife went to the police station to report the incident. Officers arrested him three hours later on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.

It could not be determined if Boss had an attorney. It also could not be determined if Boss had a brain.

She'll Be Back in a Few Minutes for the Cash Register

Iowa woman accused of shoplifting 418 items

Dec 03 2009

Shoplifting techniques

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.— An Iowa woman is accused in a South Dakota shoplifting case that authorities say involved more than just a few items stuffed in a pocket. Sioux Falls police said a 51-year-old woman allegedly took $2,200 worth of items from the Lewis Drug Store, hauling stolen merchandise to her car in bags and then returning to the store for more.

Officers say they found 418 stolen items in her car, ranging from books to jewelry.

The woman was charged with felony grand theft.

___

Information from: KDLT-TV, http://www.kdlt.com

Which "Hottie" Should Tiger Drop, If Any?

Tiger Woods is the world's top golfer, and it appears he is shooting under par as a husband, too. A sub-par on the golf course brings him a lot of money. A sub-par at home takes a lot of that money away.

Woods, 33, issued a "profound apology" to his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren Woods, Elin Nordegren Woods, family and fans for "transgressions" after being linked to three different women. Informed Woods watchers say it's going to take a lot more than public apologies for his supermodel wife to take him back.

Reports of Woods' alleged affairs -- with (left to right) cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, New York party promoter Rachel Uchitel, and Las Vegas exec Kalika Moquin -- began emerging after Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade outside his Orlando mansion late Thanksgiving night, after storming out of his home at 2:30 AM.

Subsequent reports have stated Woods has offered his gorgeous Swedish wife anywhere from $10 million to $70 million to stay with him and is willing to alter the couples'pre-nup.

Woods is playing it low key but could be shocked if any of his other romantic conquests start coming out for their share of the pay-to-keep-quiet slush fund.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/pictures_rachel_uchitel_alleged_tiger_woods_mistress_is_at_the_center_/pictures_rachel_uchitel_alleged_tiger_woods_mistress_is_at_the_center_.html#ixzz0YqtyzOG8

Celebrity Misses Cue - Gets Smacked in Face With Ham

Nov 24, 3:16 PM (ET)


ATLANTA (AP) - Celebrity chef Paula Deen got an unexpected serving of ham - across her face. The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her.

Deen told WGCL-TV: "I thought it busted my lip, but it didn't."

Through smiles and laughter, Deen added: "I'm OK. It just knocked me for a little bit."

She says she was unloading hams when she tossed one to a man, who then said "Back at 'ya." Thinking he meant it only as a sentiment, she turned around to get another ham when the errant swine came at her.

"He really meant, 'Back at 'ya.'"

Later, she tweeted: "I haven't met the ham that could stop me yet!"

Man Robbed in Hospital Waiting Room Had Been Dead For Nearly An Hour

Police: Man robbed in ER unconscious nearly an hour

Dec 03 2009

*
PHILADELPHIA— Philadelphia police believe a man whose watch was stolen as he sat slumped in a hospital waiting room may have been dead for 50 minutes before anyone took notice.

Security video shows no one attends to 63-year-old Joaquin (wah-KEEN') Rivera until about 50 minutes after he clutches his chest, loses consciousness and appears to stop breathing.

The one person who approached the dying man at Aria Health's Frankford Campus instead steals his watch.

Capt. John McGinnis says the tape shows Rivera going to the window twice in the 11 minutes after he arrived late Saturday, complaining of chest pain, before he loses consciousness.

Police are investigating only the theft. They have one of three suspects in custody.

There was no immediate explanation for why the man's body was found in an isolated section of desert in Nevada.

Aria Health says it's conducting an internal investigation but won't otherwise comment.

Elf Man Attempts to Extort Gifts From Mall Santa in Georgia

'Elf' jailed over dynamite hoax on mall Santa

Dec 03 2009
Morrow, GA



(AP Photo/Clayton County Sherriffs Office)

This undated photo provided by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office shows William C. Caldwell III. Police in Morrow, Ga. say Caldwell was dressed in an elf suit Wednesday evening, Dec. 2, 2009 as he waited in line to have his picture taken with Santa Claus at Southlake Mall in suburban Atlanta. When Caldwell reached the front of the line, he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag. Santa called mall security and Caldwell was arrested.

Police say Southlake Mall in suburban Atlanta was evacuated but no explosives were found.

Morrow police arrested the 45-year-old William C. Caldwell III, who was being held without bond Thursday in the Clayton County jail. He was not part of the mall's Christmas staff.

Caldwell faces several charges, including having hoax devices and making terroristic threats. Additionally, the threatened Santa said Caldwell wasn't getting any presents from Santa this year. "As far as I'm concerned he's been a very bad boy and doesn't deserve any presents," said the fake Santa. A small boy within earshot burst into tears and began wailing, "mama, mama, the little elf isn't going to have any presents under the tree." A burly security guard slapped duct tape over the kid's mouth and he and his mom were ushered out of the mall, the woman protesting but getting a strip of duct tape sealing her mouth, too.

Caldwell faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted under the Patriot Act. He will forfeit his passport and will not be allowed to use the Atlanta subway if he is ever released from prison, which is extremely unlikely. "Little guy like that, those big, killer cons will use him as a punching bag and turn him into mince meat in six months," said an assistant warden, Isaac Dedman, who asked not be identified because he was unauthorized to speak. Best of luck, Warden Dedman. You're going to need it.

___


Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

Robber Sends Photo of Self to Robbery Victim

Pa. cops: Robber took own photo with stolen phone

Thursday, December 3, 2009


This undated photo taken on a cell phone stolen from a Philadelphia woman in Oct. 2009, and provided Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009 by the Philadelphia Police Department via the Philadelphia Daily News, shows an unidentified robbery suspect. The woman, whom police didn't identify, had programmed her phone so that it would send photos taken on it automatically to her home computer. Some time after the robbery, she received a photo of a young man holding a large handgun to his head. She told police it was the same man who robbed her. Police are confident the photo will lead them to an arrest. It was not known whether the man killed himself with the large gun after taking his photo, or if the photo was taken by him post mortem.

Police say the 20-year-old woman was robbed of her purse Oct. 7 in the city's Olney neighborhood. The purse had her cell phone inside.

Police officials issued a public thank you to the robber for sending in his own photo and making it much esier for them to solve the case.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said investigators "really appreciate him taking a picture of himself." Vanore says police hope to identify the man in the photo soon and assist him in obtaining new accommodations in the all new state prison. Lt. Vanore also stated that the robber could be even more helpful if he would bring the stolen phone in for identification in connection with the victim's insurance claim.

___

Information from: Philadelphia Daily News, http://www.philly.com

Jesus Christ Kicked Off Jury Panel for Asking Too Many Questions

Jesus Christ dumped from jury pool for creating a disruption

Dec 02 2009



BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— In a bizarre twist Jesus Christ did not turn out to be very cooperative as a potential juror. Jesus was sent to Judge Clyde Jones's courtroom for a criminal case on Monday.

Court officials told The Birmingham News Tuesday that the 59-year-old Jesus was excused because of disruptive behavior, asking questions instead of answering them during voir dire, the questioning of the jury panel by the attorneys when picking a jury.

Efforts to reach Christ for comment were unsuccessful. The number:666-911-1God, rang repeatedly during several attempts, with no one answering.

The court administrator, Sandra Turner, said it was the first time any member of the Holy Trinity had been summoned for jury duty.

She said many people were shocked when they heard that Jesus Christ was a member of the jury pool. Some potential jurors laughed out loud when Jesus'name was called.

But Turner said unlike some Jefferson County residents, Christ didn't try to get out of jury duty and was "perfectly happy to serve."

___

Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews

Husband Cleared in Wife's Death - Moose is Held as Prime Suspect

Police: moose now suspect in death of Swedish woman

Nov 29 2009


STOCKHOLM— Swedish police say they've cleared a man who was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife after deciding the culprit was most likely a moose.

Police spokesman Ulf Karlsson says "the improbable has become probable" in the puzzling death last year of 63-year old Agneta Westlund. She was found dead after an evening stroll in the forest.

According to news reports, the victim's husband, Ingemar Westlund, was jailed for 10 days. The case against him was dropped in January.

Karlsson declined to give details of the case Saturday, saying a news conference would be held Tuesday.

The tabloid Expressen says hairs and saliva from a moose _ aka a European elk _ were found on the victim's clothes. Police would not immediately confirm that.

Police arrested a moose near the area where the woman's body was found, near a moose crossing. The moose was being held at a local animal farm pending completion of the investigation. It is not clear if the moose will be charged if DNA tests on the saliva and hairs found on the woman's clothing match DNA obtained from a sample of the suspected moose's fur and saliva.

The moose's court appointed attorney said her client will not have a statement to make, now or ever. "The moose is innocent until proven guilty," she said.

Siamese Models Appear in Fashion Show

Nov 29, 2009

Models joined at the breast

Twins, conjoined at the breast, demonstrate how they wear a bra at a fashion show in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

In a wide-ranging interview with reporters, the women, both of whom have been married twice, spoke about the psychological adjustments necessary for their men when they have sex with their wife. Unless you are careful you can end up having sex with your wife's sister. Since the women share a common vagina it can create problems when both couples want to make love at the same time.

Brits To Have Opportunity to Get Falling Down Drunk on Beer

'World's strongest' beer with 32% strength launched

James Watt, pictured here, said Tactical Nuclear Penguin would sell for £30

A controversial Scottish brewery has launched what it described as the world's strongest beer - with a 32% alcohol content.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin has been unveiled by BrewDog of Fraserburgh.

BrewDog was previously branded irresponsible for an 18.2% beer called Tokyo, which it then followed with a low alcohol beer called Nanny State.

Managing director James Watt said a limited supply of Tactical Nuclear Penguin would be sold for £30 each.

"This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance"
*Tactical Nuclear Penguin label warning*

He said: "This beer is about pushing the boundaries, it is about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level." It is about getting more drunk to the pound, and gaining more pounds to the drunk.

Mr Watt added that a beer such as Tactical Nuclear Penguin should be drunk in "spirit sized measures".

A warning on the label states: "This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost."

However Jack Law, of Alcohol Focus Scotland, described it as a "cynical marketing ploy" and said: "We want to know why a brewer would produce a beer almost as strong as whisky." Mr. Watt said in response: "Why would a whiskey maker produce a whiskey that is even stronger than beer? Is there some immutable law that decrees whiskey must always contain more alcohol than beer?"

Privately, Mr. Law admitted to some close friends, who asked to remain synonymous, that he was upset because he hadn't thought of the idea first. "The only reason any maker of alcoholic beverages makes them is to permit its customers to anesthetize their brains for a few hours, as a means of relaxing and losing all inhibitions about cheating on their spouses. If this beer can do it quicker and cheaper it's got a great future."

The beer has been launched on the day alcohol was at the top of the political agenda with the unveiling of the Scottish government's Alcohol Bill including proposals for minimum pricing on drink.

Meanwhile, BrewDog's plans for a new headquarters to produce millions of bottles of beer a year have been approved by Aberdeenshire Council.

The decision was taken at a full council meeting despite having been recommended for refusal by officers because the site at Potterton, near Aberdeen, is in the green belt. "Greenbelt, schreembelt, said a council member who refused to give his name, this will bring in sufficient new tax revenue to reduce everyone's taxes, and council members get free beer for life. Heck of a deal."

Very Skinny Woman Loses Weight Loss Contest To Sri Lankan Woman

Woman so skinny she can't find clothes to fit in Florida

November 26, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla.

A Florida woman who entered a weight loss contest to try to win a trip to the Canary Islands, lost the contest when she was beaten by a woman from Sri Lanka. The woman, shown above, who did not want to be identified, told reporters she had lost 226 pounds in less than one year but the Sri Lankan woman had lost 240 pounds. No photos were available of the Sri Lankan winner who died just after the contest results were announced, from severe dehydration and starvation. Essentially, her principal organs just stopped functioning.

The losing Florida woman had a Thanksgiving feast to celebrate going off her 300 calorie a day diet. She ate only lettuce, cucumbers and celery stalks for most of the year she was dieting. She told reporters she had no regrets except men did not notice her any longer because her breasts had shrunk. During the year of dieting she underwent breast implant surgery to correct the problem but says she now thinks this may have contributed to her loss. She formerly wore a size 38 DD cup but now buys her bras in the young misses department, for girls under 16.