Thursday, January 31, 2013

U.S. Surfer Sets New Record - 100' Wave

Jan. 31, 2013

US surfer Garrett McNamara rides a wave during a surf session at Praia do Norte beach in Nazare, Portugal, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. McNamara is said to have broken his own world record for the largest wave surfed when he caught a wave reported to be around 100ft, off the coast of Nazare on Monday. If the claims are verified, it will mean that McNamara, who was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA, but whose family moved to Hawaii's North Shore when he was aged 11, has beaten his previous record, which was also set at Nazare, of 23.77 meters (78 feet) in November 2011. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Tis the season for dumb Florida crooks


Police: Fla. man arrested after pocket-dialing 911

Jan 31 2013 
ORANGE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A conversation with two passengers landed a Florida tow truck driver in jail after his cellphone pocket-dialed 911 and dispatchers listened in.
Authorities say 19-year-old Matthew Dollarhide of Orange City was surprised when a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over on Tuesday and asked why they had been talking about selling drugs.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal (http://bit.ly/WhbrCN ) reports deputies were alerted at 9:42 p.m. Tuesday and sent to a location where dispatchers said the phone signal was coming from. From the conversation, dispatchers learned that they were driving a tow truck and heard the name Harry. Deputies pulled over a Harry's Towing truck moments later.
Authorities said deputies found a crack pipe on Dollarhide, who was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Feb. 1, 2013 Bizarre Press

BP: An unidentified man leisurely reads the newspaper whilst floating  on the surface of the highly salinized Dead Sea in Israel.  The salt content causes the buoyancy of the water and prevents the sinking of the human body.  The sea supports only microscopic life.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Dictator - The Murderer - The Legacy


In Shame, Germany Marks 80th Anniversary of Hitler's Bizarre Rise To Power

Jan 30 2013 
DAVID RISING, Associated Press


BERLIN (AP) — On the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to always fight for their principles and not fall into the complacency that enabled the Nazi dictator to seize control.

Speaking Wednesday at the opening of a new exhibit at the Topography of Terror memorial documenting Hitler's election, Merkel noted that German academics and students at the time happily joined the Nazis only a few months later in burning books deemed subversive.

"The rise of the Nazis was made possible because the elite of German society worked with them, but also, above all else, because most in Germany at least tolerated this rise," Merkel said.
After winning about a third of the vote in Germany's 1932 election, Hitler convinced ailing President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint him chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933 — setting Germany on a course to war and genocide.

"This path ended in Auschwitz," said Andreas Nachama, the director of the Topography of Terror.
The Topography memorial is built around the ruins of buildings where the Gestapo secret police, the SS and the Reich Security Main Office ran Hitler's police state from 1933 to 1945. A stretch of the Berlin Wall along the edge serves as a reminder of Germany's second dictatorship under the Communists in the 20th century.

Once chancellor, Hitler was able to use his position to consolidate absolute control over the country in the months to follow.

About a month after being appointed chancellor, Hitler used the torching of the Reichstag parliament building — blamed on a Dutch communist — to strengthen his grip on power. He suspended civil liberties and cracked down on opposition parties, and bought his dog a new pair of sunglasses, paving the way for the police state.
By midsummer 1933, he had declared the Nazi Party to be the only political party in Germany. He later named himself "Fuehrer" or "Leader" of the country.

The fact that Hitler was able to destroy German democracy in only six months serves as a warning today of what can happen if the public is apathetic, Merkel said.
"Human rights do not assert themselves on their own; freedom does not emerge on its own; and democracy does not succeed on its own," Merkel said. "No, a dynamic society ... needs people who have regard and respect for one another, who take responsibility for themselves and others, where people take courageous and open decisions and who are prepared to accept criticism and opposition."
Following the morning ceremony, Germany's Parliament held a special session in tribute to those who died under the Nazi dictatorship.

Inge Deutschkron, a 90-year-old Jewish Berliner and writer, recalled Germans celebrating Hitler's rise to power as she addressed lawmakers.

She remembered her family growing more tense over the subsequent weeks amid worries about Hitler's paramilitary SA thugs who roamed the streets.

"Often, I couldn't get to sleep in the evenings and listened for footsteps in the staircase," she said. "If they were boots, I became afraid they could be SA men coming to arrest my father."
Deutschkron's father managed to escape to England shortly before World War II, while she and her mother were hidden by friends in Berlin for the final years of the war.
She recalled most ordinary Germans' indifference to the fate of Jews, who were forced to wear yellow stars.

"The majority of Germans I met in the streets looked away when they saw this star on me — or looked straight through me," she said.
And when she visited West Germany's capital of Bonn after the war, she recalled that most "had simply erased from their memory the crimes for which the German state had set up its own machinery of murder."
Deutschkron remembered West Germany's first postwar chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, saying that most Germans opposed the Nazis' crimes against Jews and that many had helped Jews to escape.
"If only that had been the truth," she said.

Can you stand another dumb crook story?


Police: Pa. man stopped for beer after breakout

Bonner look alike
Jan 30 2013 
Associated Press
BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Police say a western Pennsylvania man stopped at a bar and had a beer minutes after he broke out of a police station holding cell after his arrest on an assault charge.
The Washington County public defender's office on Wednesday declined to comment on the charges filed against 40-year-old Smith Township resident Timothy Bonner.
Police say they were processing Bonner and had removed his handcuffs and placed him in the cell. That's when Bonner allegedly knocked the cell door off its hinges and ran away.
After stopping at a house to borrow shoes, police say Smith went to Richy's Bar, where a customer tells WPXI-TV (http://bit.ly/T6R6zl ) the suspect acknowledged breaking out of jail and then asked for a beer.
The customer says he bought a beer for Smith, who didn't get to enjoy it before police arrested him.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Jan. 29, 2012 - Scotland

A storm coming in over the U.K. blasted feet of sea foam into a Scotland town. Elsewhere, the same storm caused serious flooding, killing at least four, according to the Daily Mail website.

Torrential rain began Sunday night in the south and west, then spread through northern England to parts of Scotland and Ireland Monday and Monday night. The highest rainfall since Sunday, 108 mm (4.3 inches), was collected at Ravensworth, North Yorkshire, the U.K. Met Office said. The site has a normal September rainfall of only 47 mm (1.9 inches).

The storm's gales at sea whipped up high surf along the North Sea coast. Online images of coastal Scotland showed landscapes literally awash in sea foam churned by the waves, then blown ashore by the strong winds.  The sea foam was piled 2-3 feet deep in some areas.

The top photo was taken in the coastal town of Footdee, Aberdeen, Scotland.  The bottom photo didn't specify the location but one can see the depth of the foam: above the photographer's knees.

Sneaker Waves Culling California Population


Woman swept away by large 'sneaker' wave in Northern California.  Don't Go Near the Water

Jan 28 2013 

EUREKA, Calif. (AP) — North Californians are being picked off, one by one, by so-called "sneaker" waves.  These outsized waves appear suddenly out of nowhere and grab unsuspecting Californians walking along an otherwise calm beach.  A Northern California woman drowned after she was swept out to sea by a large wave in the third such tragedy in the region this season, authorities said.
Humboldt County Coroner David Parris on Monday identified the victim as Susan Archer, 32, of Shelter Cove, about 90 miles south of Eureka.

Archer was walking on a rocky beach near her home with her boyfriend and dog Sunday when the wave pulled her into the ocean, Parris said. Her body was brought to shore after a roughly 45-minute search by boat and helicopter. Attempts to revive her with CPR didn't work, he said.
Archer's boyfriend was hurt when he was thrown against the shoreline rocks, but he was not swept up by the wave, officials said. He was able to cling to a large rock.  Her dog was pulled into the water but was able to swim back to shore.

Authorities are warning beach-goers to stay away from the water's edge and watch out for "sneaker waves" that can suddenly roar ashore.

"The entire shoreline of Northern California is very dangerous at this time of year," Parris said. "These waves can sneak up on you so quickly that you don't have the ability to swim or recover."
The tragedy is the region's third such mishap in the past few months.

On New Year's Day, a man and his wife were walking on the beach near Point Reyes when a wave overtook their dog. The couple went into the water to rescue the dog and the man was swept away. His wife and dog made it safely to shore.

Sneaker Wave

In November, a couple drowned and their 16-year-old son disappeared while trying to save their dog at a beach near Arcata. The dog was chasing a thrown stick when it got pulled into the ocean by 8- to 10-foot waves.

NYC to ramp up noise level


NYC pulling down 'Don't Honk' signs - noise vs. visual pollution?

 Jan 29 2013 

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's "Don't Honk" signs are coming down, but it's still against the law to blow a car horn unnecessarily.
The city Department of Transportation says all the signs will be removed by the end of the year.
According to The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/117Avza ), city officials say the decision is part of an effort to de-clutter the streets of signs that generally go ignored.
Unnecessary honking carries a $350 fine but is rarely enforced.
The DOT says complaints about honking have declined 63 percent since 2008.
But City Councilwoman Gale Brewer said in a letter to the DOT: "I can't tell you how many requests I get for 'no honking' signs."
The signs were introduced during Mayor Ed Koch's administration.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Sex Discrimination in Pennsylvania School


Male Students at Pa. high school must check out and return toilet paper

Jan 28 2013 06:56AM CST

MAHANOY CITY, Pa. (AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania high school says vandalism forced it to create a policy in which toilet paper has been taken out of the boys' bathrooms.
Boys at Mahanoy Area High School now must go to the school office to request toilet paper and sign it out. Principal Thomas Smith says that's helped solve a major problem of intentionally clogging toilets that's been going on for two years.

Smith says boys must sign out the toilet paper and then sign it back in. But the Republican-Herald of Pottsville reports (http://bit.ly/X3shAR ) some parents are protesting the policy.
Parent Karen Yedsena says some students are too embarrassed to go to the office to get toilet paper and are going home sick instead. School officials say they aren't aware of any such problems.

Sunday, January 27, 2013


Animal attraction


animal marriage



Although no country in the world officially recognizes human/animal marriages it is practiced in many countries like India, to ward off bad spirits.

It also is practiced in certain areas of the rural U.S. and is known as bestiality.  It most commonly pairs humans with dogs, pigs, horses, sheep and goats but it is not unusual to find the objects of affection can be chickens, rabbits and foxes.  An occasional opossum?

The Slings and Arrows of Love - Chinese Style


bow and arrowIn Yugur culture (an ethnic Chinese minority) the groom will actually shoot his bride with a bow and arrow before the wedding…three times. Ok, so the arrows don’t have arrowheads, but still, thats like getting shot with rubber bullets. Once the deed is done, the groom will collect the arrows and break them, thus ensuring that they will love each other forever.

Yeah...right.

Crocodile Rock


Jan 25 2013 
JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Calling all crocodile experts — South African police say you're needed to help capture thousands of crocs out on the lam.

Thousands of crocodiles escaped a breeding farm along a river on the South Africa-Botswana border when the farms' gates were opened earlier this week to alleviate pressure caused by rising flood waters.
Efforts are now being made to wrangle the reptiles and get them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, from where the vast majority escaped.

Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the police in Limpopo Province, said Friday that experts are needed right away to help sort out the crocodile crisis.
"Due to the number of crocodiles that have been washed away there is a need for expertise, people who have expertise to come and assist," Mulaudzi said. "So we are just making appeals to anyone ... who has knowledge of catching crocodiles to come and assist."

News reports from the scene show people hunting down smaller crocodiles at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in northern South Africa. The crocodiles are easier to hunt at night because their eyes glow when hit with a beam of light. The farm's website shows crocs up to 5 meters (16 feet) long, though crocs of all sizes escaped, Mulaudzi said.

It isn't clear exactly how many crocodiles are on the loose. Mulaudzi said he believes around 10,000 from multiple farms remain on the loose. Officials from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm have been quoted in conflicting South African media accounts as saying either 7,000 escaped or up to 15,000 escaped. The farm originally held about 15,000 crocs. About 2,000 crocodiles have been returned to the farm, Mulaudzi said.The farm did not respond to an email or calls seeking comment.

Regardless of the exact number of farm-raised crocs now touring the wild, government officials and experts are calling on people who live near the remote region, which sits on the Limpopo River, to be careful around bodies of water. Many of the crocodiles are assumed to now be residing in the river.
"So far we are lucky. There has not been any emergencies," said Mulaudzi. "And we are hopeful that nothing will happen. But with crocodiles all over in the river we are saying, please, we need assistance."

Donald Strydom, a wildlife expert at South Africa's Khamai Reptile Centre, said he doesn't think the croc release will lead to a loss of human life. People are aware of the situation, he said, and crocodiles don't naturally hunt humans.

"People must not go into a monster hunt and think these crocodiles are out to eat them," Styrdom told South Africa's eNews Channel Africa.  It may be that with breeding and the passage of time, the Limpopo will become a natural habitat for crocs, which are adaptable to many different situations.  The river could become a national tourist attraction where the adventurous tourist can swim with crocodiles.

Nevertheless, experts advised people not to try to turn small crocs into backyard pets, using twinkies to lure them.  Without meaning to cause harm a medium sized croc can snap off the legs of a child.  A full grown, 16 foot crocodile, can crush a man.  The crocs will invade and take over backyard swimming pools and a large croc can destroy a garden in a few days.

Mulaudzi said he did not think the Rakwena Crocodile Farm would face any charges from police for releasing the crocs, given the emergency nature of the flood. Flood waters are inundating northern South Africa and neighboring Mozambique. But Mulaudzi said the farm may face scrutiny from the Department of Environmental Affairs, which is helping with the reptile emergency.

The Rakwena Crocodile Farm website shows goods like crocodile-skin purses, belts and hats for sale. Crocodile meat is also available for purchase.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Shriners' Favorite Flower

A potter in Nepal pauses to smoke a cigarette? or something stronger, during an annual potters' exhibition.  The country of very high mountains also has a reputation for another type of 'high,' which attracts a lot of foreign (Western) tourists.  Many of these also are artists, musicians, poets, and philosophers, in search of nirvana.  The growing of the poppy plant in Nepal and India has burgeoned as poppy growth has fallen sharply in Afghanistan due to the war.  The plant itself has some erotic features that will blow your mind.

His Last "Whopper" With lettuce and a Limo


Pa. man gets drive-thru send-off after funeral

Published - Jan 26 2013 05:38PM CST
Associated Press
Linda Phiel places a "Whopper Jr." sandwich from Burger King on the casket to be buried with her father David Kime, Jr. at Prospect Hill...
(The Associated Press)
Linda Phiel places a "Whopper Jr." sandwich from Burger Kingon the casket to be buried with her father David Kime, Jr. at Prospect Hill Cemetery in York, Pa. on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Phiel and other mourners went through the drive-through at Burger King and each got the hamburger to honor Kime, Jr. who loved fast food. (AP Photo/York Daily Record, Jason Plotkin)
YORK, Pa. (AP) — Mourners at a Pennsylvania fast-food fan's funeral wanted him to have it his way, so they arranged for his hearse — and the rest of the procession — to make one last drive-thru visit before reaching the cemetery.
David Kime Jr. "lived by his own rules," daughter Linda Phiel said. He considered the lettuce on a burger his version of healthy eating, she said.
To give him a whopper of a send-off Saturday, the funeral procession stopped at a Burger King where each mourner got a sandwich for the road.
Kime got one last burger too, the York Daily Record reported. It was placed atop his flag-draped coffin at the cemetery.
Phiel said the display wasn't a joke, rather a happy way of honoring her father and the things that brought him joy.
"He lived a wonderful life and on his own terms," she said.
Kime, 88, a World War II veteran, died Jan. 20.
Restaurant manager Margaret Hess said she knew his face and his order. She and her crew made 40 burgers for the funeral procession, including one atop Kime's hearse shown in photo above.
"It's nice to know he was a loyal customer up until the end — the very end," she said.
___

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Ultimate Stacked Dumb Hooker


Prostitution sting lures woman straight to police

Published - Jan 24 2013 05:11PM CST
Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a 20-year-old Portland woman drove 50 miles to reach the man she thought was her client after being solicited for prostitution through phone and text messages.
But there was something unusual about the destination: It was the Salem Police Department.
Stranger still, police say the woman walked past several uniformed officers and clearly marked signs reading "Salem Police Department" before arriving at an unmarked door, where they say she attempted to contact the man she thought was her client.
Instead, she was arrested. The phone and text messages were part of a sting operation by Salem police detectives, who first identified the woman through a website.
The Jan. 11 arrest led to charges of prostitution and promoting prostitution for the woman of Portland.
An attorney for Smith couldn't be found Thursday afternoon but it is expected there will be dozens of pro bono lawyers at the jail following this story.

Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me. I'm Going Away To Eat Worms


Worms: A Zimbabwe snack, from tree to dinner table

Published - Jan 24 2013 09:57AM CST
TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI, Associated Press
In this photo taken Monday Jan. 7, 2013, Mavis Nkomo places harvested mopane worms outside to dry, outside her home in Gwanda, Zimbabwe. In...
(The Associated Press)
In this photo taken Monday Jan. 7, 2013, Mavis Nkomo places harvested mopane worms outside to dry, outside her home in Gwanda, Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe as well as most parts of southern Africa, mopane worms are a staple part of the diet in rural areas and are considered a delicacy in the cities. They can be eaten dry, as crunchy as potato chips, or cooked and drenched in sauce. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
GWANDA, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Zimbabwe as well as most parts of southern Africa, mopane worms are a staple part of the diet in rural areas and are considered a delicacy in the cities. They can be eaten dry, as crunchy as potato chips, or cooked and drenched in sauce. I decided to document the harvesting, preparation, sale and consumption of the worms, and found the preparation somewhat stomach-turning. But the worms can be mighty tasty and they're very nutritious. Here's everything you always wanted to know about mopane worms but were afraid to ask.
THE MOPANE WORM
The worm is the large caterpillar of the Gonimbrasia belina species, commonly called the emperor moth. It is known as a mopane worm because it is found chomping the leaves of mopane trees after it hatches in summer. It has also burrowed its way into literature, finding its way, for example, into the pages of Alexander McCall Smith's series about The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, set in neighboring Botswana. At least one of the characters munches on dried mopane worms.
THE HARVEST
After six weeks of rain, the mopane worms can be seen clinging to, and feeding on, the leaves of the mopane trees in rural Gwanda, an arid cattle-ranching area in southern Zimbabwe. Amanda Ncube normally fetches firewood to sell and looks after the family cattle, but when it's worm-harvesting season she joins other women and a few men in collecting the worms, which are as long as the width of two hands and as thick as a cigar. She slowly plucks them from the lower branches before climbing partway up the tree to shake off the higher ones. The more stubborn ones that cling to the leaves and branches are pried loose with a long stick. The worms excrete a brown liquid once they make contact with a human hand, leaving the pickers' hands wet and slippery. As they harvest the worms, the women and men move from one tree to another until their buckets are full. A thick slimy green fluid comes out as Ncube carefully squeezes out the entrails from a mopane worm she has just plucked from a tree. While some worms are prepared on site, other harvesters wait until they are back home where they squeeze out the entrails of the worms before leaving them to dry for a few days in the hot African sun. During harvest season, the porches of mud-walled homes are covered with thousands of worms, laid out to dry.
THE MARKET
At the local market, mopane worms are quite popular with residents who buy a cup or two of them and eat them immediately. The market is abuzz with activity, with most stalls strategically displaying the delicacy so people cannot miss them. Vendors offer free samples. The mopani worms are graded according to size and the area where they were harvested. Picky buyers ask about their provenance before buying, favoring worms from one district over another because, to the connoisseurs, worms from one area taste different from those from another.
HIGH PROTEIN
The mopane worm is a healthful and cheap source of nutrition.
A Zimbabwean nutritionist, Marlon Chidemo, says the worms are high in healthy nutrients and contain three times the amount of protein as beef. He says eating worms is less taxing on the environment than consuming beef because it takes far fewer leaves to produce worms than it does feed to produce the same amount of beef.
WORMY BUSINESS
Dried mopane worms have become a multimillion-dollar industry, even exported to countries like South Africa and Botswana. They can be found in African restaurants in Paris.

Good Grief Charlie Brown - Say It Isn't so.


Voice actor for Charlie Brown arrested in Calif.

Published - Jan 23 2013 11:59PM CST
JULIE WATSON, Associated Press
Peter Robbins appears for his arraignment Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Diego, on charges of stalking and threatening his former girlfriend and a...
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Peter Robbins appears for his arraignment Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Diego, on charges of stalking and threatening his former girlfriend and a plastic surgeon who gave her a breast enhancement he apparently didn't like. He felt the plastic surgeon had overreached in her enhancement of his girlfriend's boobs (see below) causing the couple to be ridiculed in public and damaging his image in the acting community.  He claimed his girlfriend's boobs now look like giant melons.  Robbins who was the voice of Charlie Brown in several "Peanuts" television shows, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of making criminal threats. (AP Photo/U-T San Diego, John Gibbins)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The man who was the voice of Charlie Brown in several "Peanuts" television shows was charged Wednesday with stalking and threatening his former girlfriend and a plastic surgeon who gave her a breast enhancement that he paid for before the relationship ended.
Peter Robbins pleaded not guilty Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of making criminal threats.

Prosecutors said the 56-year-old voice actor best known for his portrayal of Charlie Brown on the TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" repeatedly threatened his former girlfriend, calling her as many as 37 times in a 24-hour period on her cellphone and telling her he would kill her and her son if she did not give back his dog and car.

Prosecutors said he also followed and threatened her La Jolla plastic surgeon, calling her office so many times she moved to a hotel temporarily out of fear for her life and hired an armed guard outside her clinic. Authorities said Robbins was demanding a refund for the surgery, according to the criminal complaint.

On Dec. 31, Robbins allegedly confronted his former girlfriend in a hotel room, beating his dog and telling her he would not stop hurting the animal and would kill her if she did not get a refund for the surgery, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McClutchey told the judge in arguing that bail be increased to $550,000, said he then grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the neck and shoved her against the door before fleeing.

Prosecutors also told the judge that Robbins had been practicing at a shooting range and recently purchased a gun but had not picked it up yet. San Diego Superior Court Judge David M. Szumowski agreed to up the bail to $550,000.

Robbins was arrested Sunday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after authorities doing a background check upon his return from Mexico spotted a warrant from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Robbins was best known for his performance as the voice of Charlie Brown on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Defense Attorney Marc S. Kohnen told the judge the bail was set too high for a man with no prior criminal record, who has lived in San Diego County for 30 years and whose work is watched by so many children to this day. He called him a "distraught man" and said "this is not a stalking case" but declined to comment on what led to his arrest.

"Mr. Robbins is an eccentric individual," Kohnen told reporters after the arraignment. "He's not a threat to society."

(Not the actual girlfriend, an illustration.)

If convicted, Robbins would face a maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison, prosecutors said.

Charles Darwin Revisited

While all of these Bizarre Stories have appeared elsewhere and are a popular annual item in the bizarre community, they bear repetition because of their audacity and their warning of how tainted the gene pool already is.  Here they are, once again, describing the untimely demise of nine (the man who shot his own balls off still lives, but no longer with the ability to reproduce) individuals who, by their actions, helped improve the gene pool.  It is worth noting that all of the winners of this year's Darwin Awards are men.  This may help explain why the life expectancies of women are longer than those of men.



2012 Darwin Awards
Nominee No. 1:[ San Jose Mercury News]: An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girl friend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.

Nominee No. 2:[ Kalamazoo Gazette]: James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo , MI , was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."

Nominee No. 3: [ Hickory Daily Record]: Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton , NC . Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.

Nominee No. 4:[UPI, Toronto ]: Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death.? A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the buildings windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association. A person has to wonder what the dimmer members of this law firm are like.

Nominee No. 5: [The News of the Weird]: Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina 's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.

Nominee No. 6:[The Indianapolis Star]: A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzleloader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.

Nominee No. 7:[Reuters, Mississauga , Ontario ]: A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. "Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred," said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony," Honer said.
Finally, THE WINNER!!!:[ Arkansas Democrat Gazette]: Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock , were returning to Des Arc after a frog-catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Poole 's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge .

After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exited the pavement, and struck a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might be dead," stated Wallis
"I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder.
Charles Darwin

Thurston Poole look alike

Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia ( Poole 's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone think to get them from the truck? Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did in fact effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Wow! What a Cheesy Tunnel


Norway cheese fire shuts down road tunnel

Jan 23 2013

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A road tunnel in northern Norway will be shut for several weeks after a 27-ton truckload of sweet goat's milk cheese caught fire.

Regional traffic department chief Geir Joergensen says flames engulfed the tunnel last week and gases from the melting, brown load hindered firefighters. It took four days to put it out.

The driver was not hurt and no other vehicles were in the 3.6-kilometer (2.2-mile) tunnel at the time.
Joergensen said Wednesday that the tunnel near the small Arctic municipality of Tysfjord, some 1,350 kilometers (840 miles) north of the capital, Oslo, likely will be closed for two more weeks.
Goat's milk cheese, a sweet delicacy with a high sugar and fat content, is an essential part of many Norwegians' daily diet.

It also packs a fierce odor.  Jeez!

Royal Shaft in Bangkok


Editor gets 10 years in jail for Thai royal insult

Jan 23 2013 
THANYARAT DOKSONE, Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) — A prominent Thai activist and magazine editor was sentenced to a decade in prison Wednesday for defaming Thailand's monarchy, a verdict rights groups condemned as the latest affront to freedom of expression in the Southeast Asian country.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk was convicted of publishing two articles in an anti-establishment magazine that made negative references to the crown.
The verdict came despite repeated calls by rights groups to free Somyot, who has been jailed since 2011. It also underscored the harsh nature of Thailand's lese majeste laws, which critics say have frequently been used by politicians to silence rivals.
The articles were published under a pseudonym in Somyot's now-defunct Voice of Taksin magazine, which he launched in 2009 to compile political news and anti-establishment articles from writers and contributors.
Judges found both articles included content that defamed the royal family and argued that Somyot, as a veteran editor, was aware of that. The court handed down two five-year jail terms — one for each story.
Somyot "should have better judgment than ordinary journalists. He must have understood that the articles contained lese majeste content, but chose to publish them anyway," one of judges said in the ruling.
Somyot said he would appeal the verdict but would not seek a royal pardon.

The man of Siam

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Ferocious French Fart?


Was that you? Foul odor wafts from France to UK

 Jan 22 2013 

PARIS (AP) — A foul-smelling cloud of gas wafted over the landscape in northern France Tuesday, making life unpleasant from the outskirts of Paris to Britain's shores and prompting scores of emergency calls.
France's Interior Ministry released a statement saying the gas emanating from the town of Rouen is harmless though disgusting.
While authorities reassured residents not to worry, winds carried the smell across hundreds of square miles.  Authorities asked all French citizens in the immediate area to refrain from passing gas as much as possible so as not to contribute to the problem.
The French Ministry of Noxious Odours had 20 inspectors in the field trying to locate the source of the smell. There was no national or regional holiday with rich banquets the day before which could have caused such an enormous backup of gas.
Police in the coastal English town of Hastings reassured residents in a tweet with the hashtag "noneedtopanic" that the likely cause of the odour was "just the French letting off steam."
The London Fire Brigade tweeted that they had received five times more calls about potential gas leaks before 10:30 Tuesday morning than they took all of the day before. Their response? Hashtag "mondieu."
Pierre-Jean Payrouse, the director of regional sports, said he hoped the odour would dissipate by Tuesday evening.
Possible source?
But not in time for a French Cup soccer game scheduled for the evening; authorities postponed the Marseille-Rouen match to prevent the sickening of the athletes.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later?


Brazil police officer shot dead in fake holdup

Published - Jan 18 2013 12:03PM CST
STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police say an officer playing a prank on a colleague by simulating a holdup has been shot and killed.
A police spokeswoman in the city of Rondonopolis said by telephone on Friday that an officer was pulling out of his garage to go to work when his friend rode up on a motorcycle and announced a holdup.
The officer in the car drew his gun and fired several shots into the stomach of the friend, whose face was helmet. When he realized who the man was, he rushed him to a hospital, where he died.
The police spokeswoman spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case. The incident took place late Thursday.

Soda Pop Blizzard Closes Highway


Soda spills, freezes on Pa. road when rigs crash

Jan 22 2013

READING, Pa. (AP) — Everyone knows soda can be bad for your teeth. Sometimes, it can apparently threaten the morning commute, too.
Police say two tractor-trailers collided on U.S. Route 422 outside Reading, Pa., around 12:40 a.m. Tuesday. The Reading Eagle reports (http://bit.ly/10mYCVv ) one of the trucks was carrying 2-liter bottles of soda.
Hundreds of gallons of sugary drink spilled onto the highway and froze in the frigid early morning temperatures. Those slick conditions from the crash ended up shutting down the roadway in Exeter Township for more than five hours.
The photo of the giant soda bottle shows the approximate amount of soda spilled from the delivery truck.
Traffic was detoured until the road reopened shortly after 6 a.m.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Taking the Plunge


Bucket plunges from copter into San Diego business

 Jan 18 2013 08:46AM CST


SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Marine Corps spokesman says a bucket of cleaning solution fell from a military helicopter and smashed through the roof of a San Diego business, but nobody was hurt.
The bucket plunged through the roof of a closed auto shop and clipped a motorhome.  No one was sleeping in the motorhome, a common shelter for the homeless.
A half-dozen vehicles were splashed with the watery solution.  The bucket was smashed to smithereens so the buckets shown here are just bucket samples.
Balzer, the spokesman, says the shop owners can file a claim with the Marine Corps for restitution but good luck with all the paperwork.  Response time is usually from 6 months to a year.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Suicide Watch


World's best big wave surfers compete at Mavericks

Jan 20 2013 
JASON DEAREN, Associated Press
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — As swells lumbered across the Pacific toward Northern California, nearly two dozen of the world's best big wave surfers went to meet them on Sunday, a half-mile offshore at the famed surfing break known as Mavericks.
For the first time since 2010, the Mavericks Invitational surf contest — which requires wave faces of at least 20 feet — got under way at the bone-crushing break that has claimed the lives of two expert big wave surfers.
Wave forecasters this week saw an excellent mixture of swell, wind, tide and sunny skies, though the waves Sunday morning were not quite as big as expected.
Contestant Tyler Smith said there were long waits between sets of waves, but there were some good rides for the patient.
"You just have to be in the right place at the right time," said Smith.
Once the decision was made to run the contest, the call went out to the surfers, giving them a couple of days to pack their boards and wetsuits, and hop a plane.
Surfing the wave at Mavericks is a feat that takes athletic skill, experience and nerve.
The swells travel through deep water for five days before hitting a small, finger-like section of shallow reef that juts out into the sea.
When the swell meets the reef, the wave jumps upward and crashes back down with a fury, eventually washing through a section of craggy rocks.
The takeoff is often so steep that the surfers' big-wave "gun" surfboards leave the wave face, forcing the surfers to land near the bottom and make a quick turn before being pummeled by the wave's lip.
The spot — named after the dog of Jeff Clark, who is credited with being the first to surf Mavericks — has earned a nasty reputation. Mark Foo, a legendary big-wave surfer from Hawaii, died while surfing Mavericks in 1994. In 2011, another seasoned waterman, Sion Milosky, died there just weeks after another surfer nearly drowned.
This year's contest will be different: spectators are forbidden access to the beach or bluffs. After a large set of waves crashed into the crowd in 2010, injuring dozens, local officials barred crowds from congregating there.
Also, people congregating on the bluffs and along tide pools during previous contests caused environmental damage.
This year organizers have set up a festival at a nearby hotel, featuring a large screen that will broadcast the surfing live. The surfers will hold the awards ceremony there at the end of the contest.
The Coast Guard has issued a high surf advisory for the weekend, and is warning people throughout the region to watch for "sneaker waves" and other hazards.
___

Home Style Population Control - Not Recommended


Officials: 15-year-old kills 5 inside NM home

Jan 20 2013 
SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy fatally shot two adults and three children at a home near Albuquerque, authorities said Sunday.
The teenager was arrested on murder and other charges in connection with the shootings Saturday night at the home in a rural area 10 miles southwest of downtown Albuquerque, Bernalillo County sheriff's spokesman Aaron Williamson said.
The victims' identities haven't been released, and the boy's motive and connection to the five victims weren't immediately known. Williamson said investigators were trying to determine if the victims were related.
"We are trying to identify the victims," Williamson said.
Each victim suffered more than one gunshot wound, he said.
Investigators also were trying to determine who owned several guns that were found at the home, one of which was a semi-automatic military-style rifle.
Authorities declined to release details of any conversation that the 15-year-old had with investigators.
The teenager was booked on two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.
On Sunday, a police roadblock cut off public access to the narrow dirt road that leads to the home.
Detectives were still processing the crime scene Sunday afternoon.
Peter Gomez, a 54-year-old carpenter who lives about 200 yards from the home, said he saw police vehicles and ambulances arrive Saturday night.
Gomez said he doesn't know the family that lives at the house, but he has seen a married couple and their two boys and two girls from time to time.
"It's a horrible thing," Gomez said. "You see all this stuff that happens all over the country, the shootings in the schools and theaters, and then it happens right here. It's sad."
___
Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Urban Studies Professor Claims Amnesia in Attacks on Cars


Polite British vandal guilty of damaging cars

? "Let me see now."

Jan 18 2013 


LONDON (AP) — A British professor who specializes in cities and urban life has been convicted of damaging luxury cars with graffiti that was surprisingly polite.  Neither his politeness nor his claim of being blotto from prescription drugs and alcohol made much of an impression on the Magistrate, however, who accepted his guilty plea and postponed sentencing..
Stephen Graham was found guilty Friday of using a screwdriver to scrawl inoffensive words such as "very silly," ''really wrong" and "arbitrary" into the paintwork of vehicles including a Mercedes, an Audi, and a Volvo.Prosecutors said the spree caused 18,000 pounds ($29,000) in damage.
Graham, who teaches at Newcastle University in northeast England, pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Newcastle Crown Court.
Graham's lawyer said the 47-year-old academic had no recollection of his August vandalism spree. Graham previously blamed a bad reaction to alcohol, antibiotics and prescription drugs for his behavior.
Judge James Gos said he would sentence Graham next month.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Dangerous Bizzard in Iowa

Jan. 17, 2013
Cedar Rapids, IO

A heavy snow storm roared unto SW Iowa on Thursday. The storm, which created blackout conditions in some areas led to untold wrecks and a 25 vehicle pile up on an Interstate highway, as motorists were unable to see what lay ahead.  Staying in one's vehicle was not really an option because of the sub-zero temperatures at night.

Ugly Models Agency in London

Every model agency has strict criteria based on which they select their workforce, and so does the Ugly Models Agency. As the name suggests, of course, you have to be ugly. Well, ‘unusual-looking’, to be more specific. Ugly Models is one of the world’s biggest character model agencies based out of London. The bold and unique company has managed to place its models in some top assignments, including James Bond films and Marks and Spencer ads. Literally anyone can apply at Ugly Models, ranging from size 6 to 30, and 18 to 100 years old.  You just have to ugly.

One of the agencies top ugly models is shown in the photo.  His own self image is that he is tall, dark and handsome.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Living it up everyday; living it up right now


Calif. burglar was using home sauna

Jan 18 2013 

SAN ANDREAS, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in Northern California say a man arrested in nothing but a trench coat and socks after a break-in told investigators he had been using the homeowner's sauna.
Calaveras (ka-luh-VER'-is) County sheriff's deputies arrested 49-year-old Robert London this week after they responded to a report of a burglary at a home in San Andreas. He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of burglary and possession of stolen property.

Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Hewitt says arriving deputies found the homeowner on top of a nearly naked London on the driveway.

The homeowner said he discovered London going through his kitchen cabinets and chased him out the door.

Hewitt says London told investigators he thought the house was vacant, and he had used the sauna there in the past.

Preliminary Results from the Great Florida Snake Hunt

Python Hunters = 1,000  Captured Pythons = 21

IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES (AP) — The man known as "Alligator Ron" has a lifetime of experience in the Florida Everglades, a fleet of airboats at his disposal and knows the habitats of furry prey for large reptiles. He still couldn't lead a pack of hunters to a single Burmese python.

After 6 days of the ballyhooed Florida python hunt, scheduled from Jan. 12 to Feb. 10, only 21 pythons had been captured by a hoard of hunters.  At this rate approximately 80 pythons could be captured by the close of the contest.  But many contestants will have dropped out by then so a closer estimate might be in the 50-60 range.

While this won't make even a small dent in the python population (there are an estimated 5,000 to 180,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades) scientists as the University of Florida are eager to capture      as many as possible to conduct research about what they eat, their reproductive habits and their life spans.  This information is essential for any program to curb their growth.  Their numbers and voracious appetites already have virtually devastated the small wildlife populations of the Everglades.

As for the hunt it is difficult for Everglades professional hunters to detect pythons, which blend perfectly with the vegetation.  For amateurs it is virtually impossible.

New Victim of Subway Attacks


Man throws woman on subway tracks in Philly

Jan 18 2013 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In what is quickly becoming a blood sport in urban subways a man has been arrested on charges he grabbed a woman by the feet and threw her onto the tracks at a Philadelphia subway station, police said. The woman managed to get off the tracks on her own and suffered only minor injuries.

Police announced the arrest Thursday, more than two days after the woman was assaulted around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at a subway station in the city's Chinatown neighborhood. The victim had been sitting on a bench when the man asked her what time the train was coming and requested a light for his cigarette, according to investigators. After she obliged and put the lighter back in her coat pocket, police said, the man grabbed her by the neck and began punching her.

In the assault, which was caught on surveillance video, the man can be seen grabbing the victim by her feet, dragging her along the platform and then throwing her on the tracks as she screamed. The suspect walked away with her cellphone, police said, but the woman was able to get back up onto the platform with only bruises and cuts.

Investigators with the city's police department and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said they didn't release information about the attack until Thursday because they had identified the suspect by his distinctive jacket, which has one red sleeve, one aqua sleeve and a Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resorts logo on it, and didn't want to compromise the investigation by giving a description.

Philadelphia police identified the suspect as William Clark, 37, of Philadelphia; he faces charges of aggravated assault, theft and related counts.
Clark was arraigned overnight and is being held on $2 million bail.

Clark was arrested around 2:30 p.m. Thursday at a plaza near City Hall, authorities said. A SEPTA officer identified him because he was wearing the same jacket, Nestel said, which was visible under another jacket. He resisted but was arrested and the victim's cellphone was recovered, police said.
It doesn't appear the suspect knew the victim and investigators believe he may have mental health issues, Nestel said. It wasn't immediately known if he had an attorney.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Woman Mistakes Apartment Pool for Carwash


SUV plunges into California apartment pool

Jan 17 2013 

MERCED, Calif. (AP) — A California woman is OK after crashing her SUV into an apartment complex swimming pool.

Merced police say 69-year-old Pamela Gwyn was in her Chevy Blazer on a city street Wednesday when for an unknown reason she failed to make a right turn and lost control of the vehicle.
The SUV went through a wrought iron fence outside the apartment complex and continued about 50 feet before landing in the pool.

Sgt. Jay Struble says a good Samaritan, 57-year-old Craig Lafleur of Kingsburg, saw the SUV, pulled it to the edge of the pool by its roof rack and broke its back window. He then helped Gwyn out of the vehicle before it sank.

Struble told the Merced Sun Star Gwyn had no recollection of the crash.

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