Wicked Thoughts

SWINE FLU VIRUS PROTECTION

In case of masks shortage for the H1N1, you can make yourself a mask for protection. It is compatible with eyewear. Important recommendation: It is preferable to use materials that are new

THE NEWS

Korean cars outshine German ones: “US and European car makers have again been humbled in an annual vehicle reliability study. Asian car makers have once again outshone US and European brands in an influential reliability survey released in the United States. The top seven brands in the 2009 Consumer Reports Annual Car Reliability Survey were taken by Japanese brands. Eighth spot went to Korean car maker Hyundai, ahead of several German luxury car brands. Toyota offshoot Scion was number one in the survey, ahead of Honda and Toyota, while Mitsubishi came in sixth. The struggling Chrysler group, rescued from bankruptcy by Government bail-outs and investment from Italy’s Fiat Group, continues to languish at the bottom of the quality survey, with Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler filling three of the bottom four spots. The survey could only recommend one vehicle in its entire line-up.”

NJ: Defendant too fat to be guilty, says lawyer: “A Florida man accused of killing his son-in-law in New Jersey is arguing that he was too fat to have committed the crime. An attorney for Edward Ates is making the case that his client would not have had the energy to climb and descend the staircase where prosecutors say the killer was perched when Paul Duncsak, a 40-year-old pharmaceutical executive, was shot in 2006. Lawyer Walter Lesnevich claims that in 2006, the 62-year-old Ates, who stood 5 feet 8 and weighed 285 pounds, was in such bad physical shape that he could not have pulled off the shooting or the fast getaway the killer made. In testimony yesterday, Ates’s doctor testified that bounding up the stairs would have caused Ates to become short of breath and shake, making it difficult to keep his wrist straight enough to accurately fire a gun at someone from a distance.”

Dog better than spouse if stranded on desert island: “Given the choice between being stranded with her partner of six years or her 12-year-old dog, Selena Thomas would take the pooch – and she is not alone. An online survey of more than 1000 pet lovers found 56 per cent would rather be stranded on a desert island with their dog than a human. Partners were a distant second (16 per cent), followed by cats (12 per cent), mothers (11 per cent) and human best friends (5 per cent). Dr Mark Perissinotto from VetShop Australia – the Sunshine Coast-based company that conducted the survey – said the results were somewhat unexpected. “Although the people who did the survey were pet lovers, it surprised me that the number was as high as what it was for dogs,” Dr Perissinotto said. “I guess when you’re in a small, tight space, a dog is better company because they can’t talk back and they’re fun to be around.” He said that the human-dog bond had strengthened over thousands of years of interaction. “They work with us herding sheep and cattle, help at scenes of crimes, rescue people after disasters, protect our borders, go to war with us and guide the blind,” Dr Perissinotto said.”

Homeless man ‘stole ferret in his pants’: “US police say a homeless man stole a live ferret by stuffing it in his pants. Thirty-eight-year-old Rodney Bolton is charged with theft over the $129 animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach, The Florida Times-Union reported. A 17-year-old witness confronted Bolton in the parking lot and was bitten by the animal after the man allegedly shoved it in the teen’s face. That confrontation makes the ferret a special weapon under Florida law. So Bolton also faces battery charges for dangerously wielding the animal.”

Former President of France on trial for sleaze: “Jacques Chirac [above], the former French President, has been ordered to stand trial on corruption charges over claims that he illegally used public money to fund his rise to power in the 1990s. The decision is seen as a personal humiliation for one of France’s most prominent post-war figures and a further stain on a nation already tarnished by a series of sleaze allegations this autumn. Defying pressure to drop the charges, Judge Xavière Simeoni, the investigating magistrate, ordered Mr Chirac, 76, to stand trial for breach of trust and unlawful use of public funds, after allegations that he paid allies for non-existent jobs. If found guilty in the “ghost-jobs” scandal he faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

To all you hunters…

Such people walk among us & they vote!!!

THE NEWS

Bad drivers were born that way: “Scientists have come up with yet another thing to blame on your parents –bad driving. A lack of skill behind the wheel is in the genes for about one in three of us, according to researchers. A study found drivers with a particular gene variant performed over 20 per cent worse on a test than those without it. The results were similar during a follow-up test a few days later. In those affected, a smaller area of the brain is stimulated in response to a task compared with those who have a normal version of the gene. Dr Steven Cramer, of the University of California, Irvine, where the study was carried out, said: ‘These people make more errors, and they forget more of what they learned after time away. I’d be curious to know the genetics of people who get into car crashes. I wonder if the accident rate is higher for drivers with the variant.’ For the study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the UCI scientists decided to investigate whether the variant could affect an activity such as driving. The driving test – 15 laps on a simulator that required drivers to learn the nuances of a track programmed to have difficult curves and turns – was taken by 29 volunteers, 22 without the gene variant and seven with it. However, Dr Cramer said there were some advantages to having the gene variant. Those with it tend to maintain their usual mental sharpness longer when neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and multiple sclerosis are present.

Budgie storms in Australia: “Skies around the far west Queensland town of Boulia are teeming with budgerigars. This year’s floods along river systems such as the Diamantina and Georgina sparked prolific breeding by the budgies which have been feasting on an abundance of grass seeds. “I have been here since 1983 and never seen anything like it,” Boulia grazier Ann Britton said. “The skies are thick with budgies – how they do not collide with each other is a miracle in itself. Desert Channels Queensland spokesman Steve Wilson said the green budgerigars were “virtually everywhere” in “great big clouds that look like a bee swarm”. The birds “just seemed to turn up” after rain brought new life to the region and then began to breed. “I was in Boulia where I saw 17 pairs nesting in a coolibah tree,” he said. “They like hollow logs but the need to breed is dominant and one budgie was sitting on four eggs on the ground.” [Any one of them would be worth hundreds of dollars outside Australia]

Muslim pilot relies on prayer: ” A worried Iranian airline pilot asked passengers to start praying after his plane was hit by a technical glitch. The Aseman Airlines Boeing plane had taken off from Tehran airport after a six-hour delay, but had to return following a technical fault. “The plane took off in the morning and had to land back in Tehran after 45 minutes,” a passenger said. “The pilot told the passengers ‘the plane is facing a technical problem and has to return. So please pray”‘. Iran has been under years of international sanctions hampering its ability to buy modern planes from major manufacturers, such as Boeing and Airbus, or spare parts, and has suffered a number of air disasters over the past decade. In July it suffered one of its worst air disasters when a Caspian Airlines plane, a Russian Tupolev 154, crashed near Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, killing all 168 people on board. [Sounds like the prayer worked, anyway]

Robbers caught using ‘the worst disguise ever’: “It’s been labelled the worst disguise ever – two men arrested over a burglary attempt in the US were found with fake beards and masks scrawled on their faces with a permanent marker. Police stopped the car of Matthew McNelly, 23, and Joey Miller, 20 after it matched the description of a vehicle used by two men who allegedly tried to break into an Iowa apartment last Friday night. When officers looked inside the 1994 Buick Roadmaster, they were surprised to find the men with masks, beards and moustaches painted on their face in some sort of rudimentary disguise. “It’s a little weird,” police chief Jeff Cayler told Radio Iowa. “I’ve been here long enough that I’ve seen a lot of things, but this one’s a little different compared to most … I mean, just the face thing is what sets it apart.” The men may have been under the influence of alcohol when they devised the idea for their disguises. “For what it’s worth, it appeared they had both been drinking quite a bit and maybe weren’t thinking quite rationally,” Mr Cayler said. McNelly and Miller were each charged with attempted second-degree burglary and released on bail.”

World’s biggest ship ready to go: “The world’s biggest and most expensive cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, was handed over to the Royal Caribbean cruiseline in the Finnish port of Turku by shipbuilder STX on Wednesday. The vessel, worth 900 million euros, can accomodate up to 6360 passengers and 2160 crew members and features a variety of traditional and new activities including swimming pools, a casino, pool surfing and a zip line above the boardwalk. Oasis of the Seas is 16 decks high, or 65 metres above the waterline, and measures 360 metres long and 47 metres wide. Richard Fain, the chief executive of Royal Caribbean, told reporters the new ship had attracted strong pre-bookings despite the global financial crisis and said the aim was to lure new customers who have not cruised before. He added that the company was targetting international clients, not just American or European cruisers, with Oasis of the Seas, which will be sailing mainly in the sunny Caribbean. It’s also catering to younger, more active passengers with children, and therefore offering a wider selection of activities, including 21 swimming pools, an aqua park, a carousel and a science lab. The vessel is scheduled to leave Finland on Friday when it will set sail for its home port of Fort Lauderdale in the United States, where it will arrive in about two weeks. It has a gross tonnage of 225,000 and sails at a speed of 20.2 knots (37.4 kilometres per hour).”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

The 10 biggest misconceptions we learn in school

There are some myths which become firmly ensconced in people’s minds, even though they are quite definitely wrong. These ten are are some of the best – though I’m not sure they can all be blamed on the school system. Thanks very much to Manolith, and a post written by a teacher, Paul Jury, whose list they are

1) Einstein got bad grades in school.

Generations of children have been heartened by the thought that this Nobel Prize winner did badly at school, but they’re sadly mistaken. In fact, he did very well at school, especially in science and maths (unsurprisingly). Jury explains this as being down to Americans interpreting Einstein’s 4’s as D’s. Karl Kruszelnicki, however, explains that it was all to do with changes to the system of marking at Einstein’s school (back in1896). Either way, the myth is not true, and children do need to work to succeed. Sorry!

2) Mice like cheese

Dear oh dear. While any young child could tell you this, any mice would (if they could speak rather than squeak) explain otherwise. It appears that mice enjoy food rich in sugar, as explained in the Times, as well as peanut butter and breakfast cereals (things, as Paul Jury points out, that are rich in grains and seeds, which they are used to). So a Snickers bar would go down much better than a lump of cheddar.

3) Napoleon was short.

Ah, the aggressive short man (often called, ironically, the Napoleon) complex. Short men love a hero and Napoleon appears to fit the bill. In fact, it appears that a mistranslation explains why some said he was just 5ft 2. He was actually around 5ft 7, completely average for the 18th/19th century.

4) Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this one and wanted to point out that it’s just damn wrong! Edison invented a lot of things – in fact he’s one of the most famous inventors of all time – but the light bulb wasn’t one of them. What he did was develop a light bulb at the same time as the British man, Joseph Swan, who came up with it originally…

5) Lemmings throw themselves over cliffs to commit suicide

Why do we have such negative opinions of lemmings? The poor old things are sometimes so desperate for food that they do, according to the BBC “jump over high ground into water”, but they aren’t committing group suicide. Paul Jury blames Disney for showing the lemmings doing this in an early nature film. They’ve been tarnished ever since.

6) Water flushes differently in different hemispheres

No it doesn’t. Sorry!

7) Humans evolved from apes

Darwin didn’t actually say this, but he’s been misreported ever since. What he did say was that we, and apes, and chimpanzees for that matter, had a common ancestor, once, a long, long time ago.

8) Vikings had horns/helmets with horns.

This may upset an awful lot of people, but it’s pure myth. According to the Jorvik Centre, it appears that Vikings may have been buried with their helmets and with drinking horns. When they were dug up by the Victorians, they assumed that the helmets had horns….(I have to say that, until now, I had believed this one!)

9) Columbus believed the earth was flat

He didn’t, you know. He may not have known how big the world was, but he wasn’t worrying about falling off the edge of it. Read Teaching History on this very issue.

10) Different parts of the tongue detect different tastes

You do have different taste buds on your tongue and some are more sensitive than others. But they aren’t divided into perfect, easy-to-teach sections.

Original story here

THE NEWS

Switched-off thieves fooled by fake TV: “Would-be television thieves in Melbourne were left red-faced after they tried to steal a cardboard cut-out in a bungled burglary. Intruders broke into a vacant display home in Arnolds Creek Blvd, Melton West, between 7.30am and midday on Sunday after seeing a large plasma television through a window. After smashing a front door window to gain entry, the thieves received a nasty surprise upon discovering the television set was a cardboard cut-out used for display purposes only. The intruders took out their frustration by messing up a bed. Police said the thieves fled empty-handed, leaving the cardboard cut-out behind. Damage to the front door was estimated at $50.”

Big discovery! Men like curves: “A study has found that men really do prefer ‘normal’-sized women with a few curves to those who are fashionably thin. They find a body like Scarlett Johansson’s or Kate Winslet’s more attractive than the angular frames of Posh Spice and Paris Hilton. The results will be welcomed by the millions of British ladies who are a perfectly healthy size but believe they would be more popular with men if they were thinner. The research from St Andrews University, published in the journal Perception, involved a group of male students. Researchers asked them to rate photographs of female faces for attractiveness. The women in the ‘normal’ weight range were rated as better looking than the skinny ones. Researcher Professor David Perrett said: ‘This sends out a strong message to all the girls out there who believe you have to be underweight to be attractive. ‘The people making judgments in our study were all between the ages of 18 and 26 and they did not rate the underweight girls most attractive. They preferred normal-weight girls.’ Women who weigh too little risk problems with vitality, mental health and fertility and are more likely to die at any given point than someone of normal weight.”

Hit by a Honda at 120km/h, embedded in front of the radiator and dragged for 960km – but lucky Coyote lived: “When a brother and sister struck a coyote they were sure they had killed the animal and drove on – for almost 1000km. Imagine their shock when eight hours and two fuel stops later they discovered the wild animal embedded in their front bumper bar – very much alive. And – as if to prove the point – the wily coyote later escaped from where it was being kept to recover. Daniel and Tevyn East were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border in the United States when they noticed a pack of coyotes near the roadside. When one of the animals ran in front of the car, the impact sounded fatal so the siblings thought there no point in stopping. “Right off the bat, we knew it was bad,” Daniel explained. “We thought the story was over.” [See the pictures here]

Rising Canadian folk star killed by coyotes: “A PROMISING young Canadian musician has been attacked and killed by coyotes while on a tour promoting her new album. Taylor Mitchell, 19, was considered a rising star of the folk music scene, having just earned a Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination. She was hiking alone on the Syline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when a pair of coyotes attacked her. Tourists rushed to her aid when they heard her screams and found Mitchell bleeding heavily from mulitple wounds “all over her body”, according to The Canadian Press. “She was losing a considerable amount of blood from her wounds,” paramedic Paul Maynard told TCP. One of the animals was later shot by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but the other got away. Park officials said it was highly unusual for coyotes to be involved in such an aggressive attack. Mitchell was due to play at a concert after her hike and was on her first tour of the Candaian east coast.”

Man, 75, alive after driving into path of train: “A 75-YEAR-OLD man has survived unscathed after driving his car through boom gates and into the path of a train at a north Melbourne level crossing. Police said it appeared the man was blinded by sun glare when he drove into the path of a north-bound train at the Cramer St level crossing at Preston rail station about 7.30am (AEDT) today. Preston police Constable Meredith Grisold said no one was injured in the crash. “Fortunately, he has been able to open his door (and) get out of the car soon after. He’s a very, very lucky man,” she said. The boom gates, lights and warning signals were all operating at the time, Const Grisold said. The man was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for observation.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

A GOOD MAILMAN

Monday morning the letter carrier is riding through the neighborhood on his usual route, delivering the mail. As he approaches one of the homes he noticed that both cars were still in the driveway. His wonder was cut short by Derek, the homeowner, coming out with a load of empty beer and liquor bottles for the recycling bin.

‘Wow Derek, looks like you guys had one hell of a party last night,’ the mailman comments.

Derek, in obvious pain, replies ‘Actually we had it Saturday night. This is the first I have felt like moving since 4:00 am Sunday morning. We had about fifteen couples from around the neighborhood over for some weekend fun and it got a bit wild. We all got so drunk around midnight that we started playing WHO AM I.’

The mailman thinks a moment and says, ‘How do you play WHO AM I?’

‘Well, all the guys go in the bedroom and we come out one at a time with a sheet covering us, with only our ‘family jewels’ showing through a hole in the sheet. Then the women try to guess who it is.’

The mailman laughs and says, ‘Sounds like fun. I’m sorry I missed that.’

‘Probably a good thing you did,’ Derek responded. ‘Your name came up seven times….

THE NEWS

Appeals court upholds 4060-year sentence: “A Texas state appeals court has affirmed the 4060-year prison sentence given to a US man last year for sexually abusing three teenage girls. The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth issued its opinion regarding the 43 guilty verdicts and unprecedented prison sentence for James Kevin Pope of Springtown, Texas. Pope, 44, was convicted by a Parker County jury in July last year on 40 counts of sexual assault of a child and three counts of sexual performance of a child. “It is my understanding that the defendant will be appealing [against] this ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, our state’s highest criminal appellate court,” Assistant District Attorney Eddy Lewallen said. Mr Lewallen added that a review by that court “is at their discretion except in death penalty cases”. “They will typically grant review in situations where there is a novel legal issue, a difference of opinion between the courts of appeals on a particular issue, or when there is a dissenting opinion on the particular case, which there was not in Mr Pope’s appeal.” Pope will not be eligible for parole until 3209, Parker County authorities have said. The 4060-year penalty – almost 1.5 million days – has been called the longest stacked sentence handed down in Texas history. Jurors took about three hours to convict Pope on the 43 charges. The jury gave 100 years for each sexual assault conviction and 20 years for each sexual performance conviction.”

NJ: Jersey City woman [above] accused of watching TV after break-in: “The Jersey City woman who police say broke into a home and then began watching TV early Saturday morning made her first appearance in court today, but her bail couldn’t be set because she has prior criminal charges pending. Crystal Kelly, 30, had been out on $20,000 bail on charges of receiving stolen property, having a fake auto insurance card and hindering apprehension. At 1:40 a.m. Saturday, police were called to the Danforth Avenue home and found Kelly, of Gautier Avenue, walking down the steps as the 56-year-old resident and his wife told officers she had broken in and attacked them, police said. The husband, who had scratch marks on his chest and bruises on his face, told police his 16-year-old heard someone in the house and when he went downstairs he found Kelly sitting in the living room watching television. When he took hold of Kelly’s wrist to put her out she attacked him, grabbing objects and striking him in the head with them, reports said. His wife was also attacked before the family was able to get Kelly out the house, reports said. Kelly, who was sent to the Hudson County jail in Kearny, appeared in Central Judicial Processing Court on aggravated assault, burglary and criminal mischief charges.”

Asteroid smashes into atmosphere: “An asteroid exploded over Indonesia with the force of three Hiroshima bombs – and no one on Earth knew it was coming. The New Scientist website reports the dramatic explosion over South Sulawesi, Indonesia, on October 8 underscores how blind humanity is to the danger of giant space rocks. NASA estimated the explosion was the equivalent to 50,000 tons of TNT, making it one of the largest asteroid explosions ever observed. However, this time we were lucky – the blast caused no damage on the ground because it occurred at high altitude, 15 to 20km above Earth’s surface. While the explosion was heard by witnesses in Indonesia and picked up by international nuclear explosion detectors, the asteroid only became visible after it exploded. Video images of the sky following the event showed a dust trail characteristic of an exploding asteroid, according to the New Scientist. Researchers believe the asteroid was about 10 metres wide – too small for even our most powerful telescopes to spot. But Tim Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center, in the US state of Massachusetts, warns even an asteroid of this size could cause a lot of damage on the ground.”

Australia has a drunken chair driver [above] too: “Taking couch potato to a whole new level, a man has lost his licence for driving a homemade vehicle dubbed “the chair” while over the limit. Luke Hopgood’s hotted-up one-seater was pulled over by police while at racing event Geelong Cup, who subjected him to a breath test and found he was over the legal driving limit of 0.05. Cops slapped the 22-year-old with two fines totalling $1000 and suspended his right to drive in Victoria for a year, the Geelong Advertiser reports. “I was barely a few metres from the racecourse, I’d just done a U-turn to put the thing away, when I got pulled up,” Mr Hopgood said. “The cops were nice about it, but I was devastated about the fact that I didn’t know … there’s not much I can do about it now.” Mr Hopgood said he made his beloved contraption by combining a four-wheel motorbike with a run-down old chair in his spare time. He said he felt crushed after being hit with the long armchair of the law and had no idea his petrol-powered contraption, dubbed “the chair”, could be classifed as a motor vehicle under the Road Safety Act.”

Airline offers extra elbow room – for a small fee: “Canadian airline WestJet has announced plans to leave some middle seats vacant on selected flights for the sake of greater passenger comfort. The airline is planning a trial project to keep 16 to 20 middle seats empty in the front rows of its single-aisle planes and may charge a fee of at least $US20 one-way for passengers wanting to sit in those rows. It means passengers can purchase some extra stretching room without having to buy a whole extra seat. The airline plans to implement the empty seats plan on non-stop flights between Calgary and Edmonton and Hawaii next year. “This is a test from a non-stop perspective, as well as a test if this is something that is worth either a premium or just something that’s worth it as value-added for guests,” spokesman Richard Bartem said. It will make the plane lighter, saving on fuel costs.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

Is your email address killing your job hunt?

You might think your whacky/crude/quirky email address is clever and “cool” but when plonked on a resume it can see your job application binned instantly.

I’ve heard plenty of hiring managers, recruitment consultants and HR boffins moan about “silly” emails and I have sent plenty of those weird email addresses myself from people emailing CareerOne for resume tips.

Let me share some favourites from my real life collection. For privacy reasons, I have not included email providers. Here goes: fricken_idiot@; sweet_not_innocent@; shy_baby@; chatterbox@; creepyscamp@; hot_little_kitten; babelicious_wants_you; product_of_hankpanky@; lazybugger@; fat_n_creepy@; nigel_no_friends@; typical_blond@; vivid_dreamer; madmonkey@; fatflyingpig@; and xxxbeautyqueen@

Who wants to sit next to “Creepy Scamp” at work? Or “Chatterbox”? Okay, so some people might want to share a pod with the xxx beauty queen.

I could go on. In fact, I could go on and on and on as I have so many to refer to. I’ve seen plenty of email addresses using the word “devil”, “murder”, “xxx”, “moon”, “monkey”, “cheeky” and “bitch”.

Before you cry about how you should be judged purely on your skills and experience, slap yourself around so I don’t have to.

A resume is a marketing document and you are the product. What are you saying about yourself as an employee with: chic magnet@; boofhead@; cheeky_chick@; buggerface@; iloveme@; big_mouth; nuts@; sexual_chocolate@; daddysprincess@; trigger-happy@; badgirl4u?

You think people have the sense not to use these email addresses on job applications? You think I am exaggerating? Sadly, ask anyone who has waded through big piles of resumes and they will tell you “crazy” email addresses are too common and make them see red.

When I email back some resume improvement pointers to people starting with the need for them to create a professional sounding email address, they do get it. It’s amazing how oblivious people are to how they are projecting themselves.

Original story here

THE NEWS

Customs nab man with pythons taped to body in Norway: “CUSTOMS officials in Norway say they had arrested a man who tried to illegally import 14 snakes and 10 lizards into the country by taping the reptiles to his body. The snakes, king pythons that are large in size but not venomous, were rolled up in socks and taped to the man’s torso, while the geckos were found in small boxes taped to his legs. The identity of the man, who was arrested on Sunday in the southern town of Kristiansand after disembarking a ferry from Denmark, was not disclosed. “He told us he was crazy about reptiles,” the head of the local customs office, Helge Breilid, said. The unusual load was discovered during a body search after customs officials found a tarantula in the man’s luggage.”

Sex inspires females to do housework: “In a discovery that will upset feminists everywhere, researchers have found that sex stimulates female fruit flies to do the housework. While the male fruit fly rests after sex, his sperm contains a chemical that gives his mate an energy boost which sends her into a flurry of domestic activity. The chemical is so strong that she can spend days making house.”

Grotesque. A five-year-old with a six pack: “Five-year-old Giuliano Stroe has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records after performing an incredible physical stunt. Giuliano Stroe has been training since the age of two in Italy, where he lives with his family. He was entered into the record books after performing some impressive “hand-walking” skills to a panel of judges and an astonished audience on an Italian TV show. The exceptional pre-schooler performed the fastest ever 10m hand walk with a weight ball between his legs to the delight of the studio audience. “He has been going to the gym with me ever since he was born. I always took him with me when I went training,” his father Iulian Stroe, 33, said. He added there is no danger of the Romanian-born youngster harming himself, saying: “I have been training hard all my life myself. “He is never allowed to practice on his own, he is only a child and if he gets tired we go and play.”

Sexy teachers a no-no: “A New Zealand single primary school teacher [above] is facing the sack for appearing naked in several racy photos on the Australian Penthouse website. The woman, who goes by the name of Lexy in the article, is 27-year-old Rachel Whitwell, Stuff.co.nz reports. The New Zealand Teachers Council is investigating the matter, after racy photos, including two totally nude and two topless poses, appeared on the website. “I am a 26-year-old single school teacher from New Zealand that would love to get into modelling,” she told Penthouse. “I’ve written erotic stories for an R-rated magazine and run my own pole dancing studio.” It is reported Whitwell is currently on leave from teaching but hopes to return to the job when her young daughter grows up. Teachers council director Peter Lind told Stuff.co.nz there would be an investigation. “What is private and what is public is always a grey area but when they intersect we investigate,” he said. “When a teacher is in the public arena we must say that it does impact on their ability to do their job.”

Jackson kids all in therapy: “All three of Michael Jackson’s kids are in therapy, La Toya Jackson has revealed. The Thriller singer’s sister told the British newspaper The Mirror that the three children were dealing in very different ways with their father’s death four months ago. Prince, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7, also known as Blanket, are being raised by their grandmother Katherine Jackson who was appointed their legal guardian after Jackson’s sudden death on June 25. “Blanket is just a very sad, shy little boy. He cries – he really does cry. It’s so painful for him,” La Toya said. She said Paris had covered her bedroom in Michael Jackson posters. She watches old videotapes of him, and is upset that she never got to see him performing live. “Paris thinks and writes about her father all the time. She’s doing very well, writes a lot and she wears his shirts every day,” La Toya told The Mirror. She said Prince “just doesn’t want to speak about it. He won’t even watch the DVDs … it’s too soon. “They all go to therapy and I truly hope Prince especially will be able to open up,” she said. All three children are being home-schooled in Los Angeles.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

The talking frog

A guy is 72 years old and loves to fish. He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, ‘Pick me up.’

He looked around and couldn’t see any one. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, ‘Pick me up.’

He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.

The man said, ‘Are you talking to me?’

The frog said, ‘Yes, I’m talking to you.

Pick me up then, kiss me and I’ll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. I’ll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!’

The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front pocket.

The frog said, ‘What, are you nuts? Didn’t you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.’

He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said, ‘Nah, at my age I’d rather have a talking frog.’

With age comes wisdom.

THE NEWS

Curves and home-cooked family meals are favoured by French teenagers: “They had been depicted as a lost generation prone to British-style teenage contradictions — dreaming of a Kate Moss waistline while eating burgers, pizzas and chocolate bars. Instead, they want traditional home-cooked food — and the curves that go with it. Whatever their social background, French teenagers like traditional dishes such as bouillabaisse, the fish stew from Provence, choucroute, the Alsatian sauerkraut, veal sauté and strong cheeses. The sit-down family meal also remains popular — particularly when cooked by the teenagers’ grandparents — as opposed to Anglo-Saxon TV dinners, according to scientists who spent three years interviewing 500 adolescents. Gallic worries were allayed further when the study cast doubt on the assumption that thin models had become icons for a fashion-conscious youth. The teenagers tended to reject Kate Moss as an example of beauty, citing instead the pop star Beyoncé and Amel Bent, the French singer. However, the notion of family cooking was complex, with grandmothers’ recipes tending to be seen as a bastion of gastronomic quality while cooking by the teenagers’ mothers was scorned.”

Driver loses licence after 45mins: “An 18-year-old probationary driver has lost his licence after he was caught speeding just 45 minutes after passing his driving test. Police said the Melbourne man was clocked travelling at 154km/h in a 110km/h zone on the Hume Freeway in Benella, north of Melbourne, at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon. When asked why he was travelling at such a dangerous speed, the man told police his 20-year-old passenger was feeling unwell and the pair were in a rush to get home. The driver lost his licence for six months and was fined $421, police said.”

Inspiring shrimp: “The eyes of a giant shrimp living on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could hold the key to developing a new type of super high-quality DVD player, scientists say. Mantis shrimps, dubbed “thumb splitters” by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. They can see in 12 primary colours, four times as many as humans, and can also detect different kinds of light polarization – the direction of oscillation in light waves. Now a team at the University of Bristol have shown how the shrimps do it, using remarkable light-sensitive cells that rotate the plane of polarization in light as it travels through the eye. Manmade devices do a similar thing in DVD and CD players but they only work well for one colour, while the shrimp’s eye operates almost perfectly across the whole visible spectrum from near ultra-violet to infra-red. Transferring the same multi-colour ability into a DVD player would result in a machine capable of handling far more information than a conventional one. “The mechanism we have found in this eye is unknown to human synthetic devices. It works much, much better than any attempts that we’ve made to construct a device,” said researcher Nicholas Roberts. He believes the “beautifully simple” eye system, comprising cell membranes rolled into tubes, could be mimicked in the lab using liquid crystals.”

Scanner reveals dog inside man’s luggage: “Customs officers at Dublin airport were shocked to discover a live dog inside a passenger’s bag. When they first saw the outline of the dog on the airport scanner staff first thought it was a stuffed toy, the UK’s Telegraph reports. However when they opened the luggage for closer inspection they discovered the tiny Chihuahua inside, hidden in a cage. The luggage belonged to a Bulgarian man who arrived in the airport on a flight from Madrid, Spain. The dog is in quarantine after being handed over to the Department of Agriculture and Food. An airport spokesman said the dog appeared to be in good health. “The dog appears to be in good health although a little dopey from the journey.” The Bulgarian man was arrested.”

Marriage secret found in the numbers: “For many, a successful marriage can be put down to attraction, devotion, patience – and true love. But one group of statisticians begs to differ. They have developed a distinctly unromantic formula to predict how compatible a couple are based on their ages, education and previous divorces. The experts claim their theory can tell in advance that some couples are up to five times more likely to end up getting divorced than others. According to the study, the couples with the best chance are those where a woman with a superior education marries a man who is five or more years older than herself. Neither should be a divorcee. By comparison, a marriage where a woman partners an equally poorly educated male divorcee who is five or more years her junior is up to five times more likely to fail than a typical marriage. The findings appear in the European Journal Of Operational Research. Academics including Emmanuel Fragnire of the University of Bath studied interviews with 1534 Swiss couples who were either married or in a serious relationship. Five years later they followed up 1074 of the couples to see which had separated. Using the data collected about their age, education, nationality and previous relationships, they found the factors that many of those who broke up had in common.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

SOMETHING TO OFFEND EVERYONE

Why is divorce so expensive?
Because it’s worth it.

What do lawyers use for birth control?
Their personalities.

What’s the difference between a girlfriend and wife?
20 kgs.

What’s the fastest way to a man’s heart?
Through his chest with a sharp knife.

Why do men want to marry virgins?
They can’t stand criticism.

What’s the difference between a new husband and a new dog?
After a year, the dog is still excited to see you.

What makes men chase women they have no intention of marrying?
The same urge that makes dogs chase cars they have no intention of driving.

What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.

What did the redneck gal say when she found out she was pregnant?
‘Are you sure it’s mine?’

Why do men find it difficult to make eye contact?
Breasts don’t have eyes.

What would you call it when an Italian has one arm shorter than the other?
A speech impediment.

How do you get a sweet little 80-year-old lady to say the F… Word?
Get another sweet little 80-year-old lady to yell *BINGO*!

What’s the difference between a northern USA fairytale and a southern USA fairytale?
A Northern fairytale begins ‘Once upon a time..’
A southern fairytale begins ‘Y’all ain’t gonna believe this sh i it…’

Why is there no Disneyland in the Philippines?
No one’s tall enough to go on the good rides

THE NEWS

Top bands don’t like their music being used as torture! “A coalition of musicians including Pearl Jam and R. E. M. backed a formal demand yesterday to be told if their songs had been used to torture detainees in Guantánamo Bay and Iraq. There have been many allegations by former prisoners that they were blasted with excruciatingly loud music for months on end — a tactic that is banned under the UN Convention Against Torture but not yet from the US Army Field Manual. The musicians spoke out as a freedom of information request was lodged by the US campaign group No More Guantánamos, a legal move backed by the British human rights group Reprieve, which has been campaigning against “music torture” for more than a year. According to evidence gained by human rights organisations, the list of music used included songs ranging from the death metal band Deicide’s F*** Your God to the song most frequently blasted at inmates, I Love You by Barney the Purple Dinosaur, the children’s TV character. Former detainees have said that the tactic was one of the worst and most painful used against them.” [Milquetoast stuff. Now if they had used contemporary classical music, that would have been REAL torture!]

US Navy launches a ship to shore up defences: “THIS is the pointy end of the US Navy as it moves to counter enemies that attack with smaller and faster craft. The littoral combat ship Independence topped 80km/h in a series of trials in the Gulf of Mexico. The navy says the LCS is a fast, agile platform for near-shore environments that is capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.”

Flying wheel kills man in ‘freakish’ freeway collision: “A car dealer helping a broken-down customer died when he was struck by a flying truck wheel in a “freakish” accident west of Melbourne this afternoon. The Mercedes Benz salesman, who was trying to help a customer, was at the side of the Princes Freeway at Altona Meadows when he was hit by a wheel that flew from a passing truck. The accident happened about 1.40pm after three women in a new Mercedes car experienced trouble. They contacted the dealership, which sent a mechanic and salesman to help, police said. The men pushed the luxury car to the side of the freeway and called a tow truck. But as the dealer was returning to his own car, a truck hauling an excavator on a flatbed trailer passed and a loose wheel – weighing 25-30 kilograms – flew off the trailer and struck the man. Sergeant Mark Amos, from Brunswick major collision investigations unit, said the “freakish” accident was apparently caused by loose wheel nuts. He said it was not clear yet if charges would be laid. The truck driver had stopped at the scene. “To be in the exact spot where a wheel is going to land, you’ve got to be very, very unfortunate, very unfortunate,’’ he said.”

Welcome to All Saints Church… on the 21st floor an Osaka hotel: “It is a striking but typically English church. Typical, except for the fact that it sits on the 21st floor of a skyscraper in the Japanese city of Osaka. Couples who have married at All Saints in the Herefordshire village of Brockhampton would find the interior curiously familiar, too. The Japanese developers who created the sky-high chapel have made a perfect copy of the pointed-arched interior of the parish church, even down to the pews. The Grade I listed building near Ross-on-Wye, one of the most important Arts and Crafts churches in Britain, was re-created as a Japanese wedding chapel after a party of tourists saw it during a sightseeing tour. The copy occupies two floors of the English-themed Monterey Grasmere Hotel to meet the demand for “English-style” wedding ceremonies. It has been fully booked since it opened in July despite costing £8,000 to hire — compared with £400 for the real one. The Rev Will Pridie, vicar of the original All Saints, said: “The attention to detail is quite staggering. Even the slightest imperfections and marks on the stonework have been reproduced. The stained-glass windows are all exactly the same and they’ve even built a scaled-down bell tower with a bell, which is rung on wedding days.”

Man arrested for making coffee in own home while naked: “Eric Williamson, from Springfield, Virginia, was brewing coffee in his kitchen when a woman and a seven-year-old boy walked past the window and saw him. Williamson, 29, insisted he did nothing wrong and that any exposure of his private parts were accidental. “Yes I wasn’t wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had no idea anyone was outside looking in at me,” he said. Williamson, who has a five-year-old daughter, added: “I am a loving dad. Any of my friends and anyone knows that and there is not a chance on this planet I would ever, ever, ever do anything like that to a kid. “I never had a conversation with anyone, never saw anyone. Didn’t cross my mind, came and got coffee. I mean if I stood and seemed comfortable in my kitchen possibly it’s natural. It’s my kitchen,” he insisted. A spokesman for Fairfax county police, Mary Ann Jennings, said Williamson was arrested because officers believed he wanted to be seen naked by the public. The 29-year-old faces up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if he is convicted. He is fighting the charge and seeking damages from police.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn’t you say?

Some actual newspaper headlines

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter

This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!! They put in a correction the next day.

——————————————————————

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says

You sure?

—————————————————————————-

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Now that’s taking things a bit far!

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Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

What a guy!

—————————————————————

Miners Refuse to Work after Death

No-good-for-nothing’ lazy so-and-so’s!

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Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

See if that works any better than a fair trial!

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War Dims Hope for Peace

I can see where it might have that effect!

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If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Ya think?!

———————————————————————–

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Who would have thought!

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Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide

They may be on to something!

————————————————————————

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

You mean there’s something stronger than duct tape?

———————————————————-

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge

He probably IS the battery charge!

———————————————-

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

Weren’t they fat enough?!

———————————————–

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft

That’s what he gets for eating those beans!

—————- ———————————

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

Do they taste like chicken?

————————————————–

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

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Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

Boy, are they tall!

————————————————

And the winner is…

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Did I read that right?

———————————————–

THE NEWS

Man asks for jail to escape nagging wife: “A SICILIAN builder transferred from prison to house arrest tried to get himself locked up again to escape his nagging wife, Italian media reported. Santo Gambino, 30, did time for dumping hazardous waste before being moved to house arrest in Villabate, outside the Sicilian capital, Palermo, Italian news agencies said this week. But Gambino went to the police station and asked to be put away again to avoid arguing with his wife, who accused him of failing to pay for the upkeep of their two children. Police charged him with violating the conditions of his sentence and made him go home and patch things up with his wife.”

Montana tradition: “When Greg Barkus roared out of the August night and ran his speedboat into the cliffs on Flathead Lake’s northeastern shore, he wasn’t necessarily alone behind the wheel. His hand, some say, was joined on the throttle by the firm grip of Montana culture, a way of life with a strong tradition of drinking and driving. “Montana’s heritage of drinking is absolutely pervasive,” said Brenda Simmons. “You can’t live in Montana and not be touched by it.” The defendant, Barkus (whose blood alcohol content registered twice the legal limit, a finding his attorney has challenged), has a previous arrest for driving under the influence. The prosecutor’s deputy attorney has a previous arrest for DUI. The original judge’s ex-husband – who was city attorney in a nearby town – has a previous arrest for DUI. Even Barkus’ own defense attorney has a previous DUI arrest. The lawyer’s case, however, was dismissed, in part because the arresting officer was not available to testify – he had been killed by a drunken driver. “To have that many people involved whose personal or professional lives have been touched by DUI, that really says something about who we are as a state,” said Ken Peterson.”

Another remarkable survival by a baby: “A baby was found alive in the wreck of a car that killed two adults yesterday. A motorist who stumbled upon the single-car smash on a stretch of road in the Central West found the 11-month-old boy in a baby capsule. Miraculously, he was in the back of the Toyota Prado, bruised and battered but not seriously injured, The Daily Telegraph reports. The accident occurred at 3.40pm yesterday on Narromine Rd, Tullamore. Police believe there was only one car involved in the crash. “It suggests that the car was heading westbound when it left the road and hit a concrete drain before rolling on its roof,” a police spokesman said. “A 30-year-old man and his 38-year-old wife suffered severe injuries and died at the scene.” [That the car didn’t burst into flames is probably the luckiest part]

Can’t speak English? You’re nabbed: “A Texas police chief has apologised after at least 39 people received traffic tickets because they couldn’t speak English. “I was surprised and stunned that that would happen in the city of Dallas because we are a very, very diverse city,” Dallas police chief David Kunkle said. “I apologise to the Spanish speaking, Hispanic community.” The incident came to light after a woman went to court to challenge a ticket issued by a young officer which cited her for being a “non-English speaking driver”. Mr Kunkle said his department reviewed its records and found that 38 similar tickets had been written in the past three years by six different officers. All fees will be refunded and the police will ask for all convictions to be reversed, he said. Mr Kunkle said the misunderstanding of state law could have stemmed from an effort to shift to an electronic citation system. Lists of citations were distributed that included a federal statute which requires drivers of commercial vehicles to have sufficient proficiency in English to operate the vehicle safely.”

Man Pleads To La-Z-Boy DWI: “A Minnesota man arrested last year for drunkenly driving a motorized La-Z-Boy lounge chair pleaded guilty this week to a DWI charge. Dennis Anderson, 62, was nabbed after driving his chair into a parked car, according to a Proctor Police Department report. A subsequent blood draw showed Anderson’s blood alcohol content was .29, more than three times the legal limit. Anderson’s customized vehicle, seen in the police evidence photos on the following pages, is powered by an eight horsepower Kohler lawnmower engine, and has a stereo, headlights, a built-in cup holder, and a “Hell Yeah It’s Fast” bumper sticker. The ride, however, does not have a seat belt. Anderson, pictured above, controlled the La-Z-Boy via a steering wheel protruding from its seat cushion. The vehicle’s headrest was adorned with the logo of the National Hot Rod Association. Following his guilty plea, Anderson was sentenced to 180 days in jail and ordered to pay a $2000 fine.” [More details of the chair here]

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

Poland has a real James Bond

The name is K — Tomek K. It does not exactly trip off the tongue but in all other respects Poland’s equivalent of James Bond qualifies for the title of suavest undercover agent in Eastern Europe.

He drives a Porsche Cayenne, rides a Harley-Davidson, wears Armani suits, flaunts platinum credit cards, flashes expensive dental work and seduces women in the line of duty — and has just had his cover blown by Polish newspapers. The 33-year-old agent, who uses multiple pseudonyms, is the most energetic operative for the country’s controversial Anti-Corruption Agency (CBA). But now the publication of the agent’s leaked details — his pseudonyms have included Tomasz Malecki and Tom Piotrowski — and of a blurred photograph as well as information about his past operations has put his life in serious danger, according to his former boss.

In his most recent coup, a star in the Polish television equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing was allegedly caught out for her role as a go-between in a murky bribery deal. Weronika Marczuk-Pazura — a curvaceous blonde in the Bond girl tradition — denies wrongdoing and has told the press that she was set up by the man known as Agent Tomek.

“His eyes were heavy with passion as he tried to seduce me,” she said. As they became lovers he seemed so trustworthy that she took him to meet her parents — not something that happened very often to 007.

Last year, Polish radio reported, the same agent had an affair with Beata Sawicka, a politician from the Civic Platform group, while investigating her for allegedly accepting bribes in a corrupt land deal.

Agent Tomek also featured in an operation — one that failed — to investigate Jolanta Kwasniewska and her husband Aleksander, the former President, on suspicion of not declaring their full income.

“This man is a highly professional and experienced officer who has been conducting special operations aimed at combating organised crime and drug trafficking,” said Mariusz Kaminski, his former boss at the CBA.

Agent Tomek, who had been a detective at the equivalent of Special Branch, had been chosen for his acting talents and later assigned to infiltrate the world of international drug dealing. “In order to appear credible, Tomek had to mirror the values of the social group that he was trying to penetrate,” said Mr Kaminski, fending off criticism that the agency subsidised Tomek K’s extravagant lifestyle.

Original story here

THE NEWS

Tennessee men arrested for ‘sex with farm animals’: “Police are investigating a farm which allegedly promoted itself as a destination for sex with farm animals. 58-year-old James Tait – who was convicted in 2005 of trespassing on a neighbour’s ranch to allegedly have sex with horses – has been caught with his pants down, accused of bestiality on another US farm. He was charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty. Kenny Thomason, who lives with Tait in Maury County, was also charged with two counts of the same offence. “They’ve been having sex with full-grown horses,” Maury County Detective Terry Chandler. “(Tait) has been here for four years, and it looks like it has been going on for some time.” Det. Chandler said the pair lived on the farm owned by Mr Thomason, which housed 13 horses, Shetland ponies, goats and dogs. The detective said it was suspected people had been having sex with the ponies and dogs, as well as the larger horses. Police were tipped off after an anonymous person who had visited the alleged sex farm emailed authorities photos of the a man performing bestiality. Authorities had also discovered several video tapes explicitly showing men performing the acts on the farm animals leading them to believe it could be a haven for animal sex. Tait was arrested in 2005 for trespassing into a neighbour’s farm to allegedly have sex with the horses, a crime which is believed to have resulted in another man’s death. Tait pleaded guilty to the crime”

SC: 67-year-old captures suspected burglars with hoe handle: “A 67-year-old Belvedere man ran down and captured two suspected burglars armed only with determination and a hoe handle Sunday afternoon. After a short sprint into the woods the man emerged with the two 18-year-old suspects and he and his wife held them until Aiken County Sheriff’s Deputies could arrive on the scene. The couple went to the mobile home of the man’s mother in Belvedere around 4:30 pm to replace a decal that was out of date and noticed a broom handle placed on the front door was missing. As they made their way to the back of the home they spotted the two men running out the back door and into the woods. The man grabbed a hoe handle from the back of his truck and went after them. A short time later the man exited the woods with the two suspects and he and his wife ordered them to the ground until police arrived.”

32 planets discovered outside solar system: “Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth’s solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday. The existence of the so-called exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — was announced at the European Southern Observatory/Center for Astrophysics, University of Porto conference in Porto, Portugal, according to a statement issued by the observatory.”

Australian woman ‘stole jewellery while carrying baby’: “A woman allegedly broke into a home on Sydney’s North Shore whilst carrying an 18-month-old boy. The alleged break-and-enter was in progress yesterday when police arrived at the home in Bungalow Ave, Pymble around 1.20pm. A Kuring-Gai Highway Patrol officer intercepted the woman and another man as they left the house and got into a car driven by a second woman. Police began a pursuit but abandoned it a short time later in Minns Rd, when it became a foot chase through surrounding bushland. The woman, still holding the child, was caught just minutes later. The other two were arrested after being tracked through the bush by a police dog. Police will allege that a number of items, including jewellery, were found in the trio’s vehicle. All three were taken to Hornsby Police Station where they were questioned with two later charged with a string of offences. The 26-year-old Nowra woman was charged with break, enter and steal and refused bail. The little boy, said to be the child of one of the two women, has been placed in the care of relatives.”

Burger King sells Windows 7 Whoppers: “In yet another bizarre bit of promotion, Burger King in Japan is selling a seven-pattied Whopper hamburger to commemorate the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft’s new operating system. As first reported by Electronista, the new burger measures 5.1 inches tall and costs 777 yen, or $8.53 U.S. Microsoft has embraced some alternative manners to promote the launch of Windows 7 operating system, including the widely ridiculed Tupperware-like house party. The launch party promotion included the distribution of party packs, and a video demonstration that showed participants how to host a successful get-together. Overseas, Microsoft has enacted a number of promotions related to the number seven, including a free giveaway of the operating system to residents of the Dutch village Zevenhuizen, which translates to “Seven Houses.” Apple’s rival to the north also reportedly decorated parts of the Spanish village Sietes, which translates to “Sevens.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.

Is she real?

The associated story about makeup implies that she is. Some makeup!

THE NEWS

Unofficial extradition. France gets its man: “A retired accountant whose daughter was killed 27 years ago was facing charges last night over the alleged abduction of the man he always blamed for her death. The man was left bound, gagged and injured outside a French courtroom. Andre Bamberski, 72, is suspected of taking justice into his own hands over the German authorities’ failure to act against Dieter Krombach, a German cardiologist, after a French court convicted him of manslaughter in his absence. Mr Krombach, 74, was found trussed up with head injuries in a lane near the criminal court in the eastern city of Mulhouse on Sunday after an anonymous caller with an Eastern European accent tipped off police. Mr Bamberski, who is of Polish origin and lives near Toulouse, was in Mulhouse at the weekend and is suspected of making the call, police said…. Francois Gibault, Mr Bamberski’s lawyer, said: “He never gave up in the face of the inertia of the justice system. He is a brave, determined man but this manhunt had become an obsession. He had nothing left to lose.” Mr Krombach, who is legally a fugitive, is likely to be held in France to face a new trial.”

Giant seagull fails to faze newsreader: “In A scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film The Birds, a giant seagull stole the show on the Channel Nine News in Melbourne last night. The massively magnified bird walked across a real-time projection of the Melbourne cityscape behind newsreader Peter Hitchener’s head while he was reading a story about a 27-year-old murder on the 6pm news. Ever the professional, the news stalwart only mildly flinched on noticing the seagull but later told 3AW radio the studio cameramen hid behind their cameras to hide their laughter. “I was reading away, and it was a serious story, and I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my gosh that seagulls back again’, because we had bit of a problem last night,” Hitchener said. “About 50 seconds to 6 o’clock this seagull arrived and started pecking at the camera and it had the beadiest huge eyes you’ve ever seen in your life.” [Video at link]

Repentant robber in mid-heist prayer: “A repentant robber fell to his knees and prayed with the clerk of the store during a hold-up, according to US media today, which said the man nevertheless proceeded to pinch $20 from the cash register. The 23-year-old initially entered the check-cashing establishment in the midwestern city of Indianapolis, Indiana seeking a loan but left, purportedly to get an identification card that was requested, law enforcement officials told ABC television. He returned armed with a gun, which he pointed at the employee, telling her that he had a son to feed and “no choice” but to revert to robbery since “times are hard”, according to the report of the heist. But when the clerk started to talk to the man about God, the gunman appeared to have a change of heart, confiding in the clerk about his hardships and asking her to pray with him. “I started crying and praying and telling him, ‘Don’t do this’, he was too young to throw away his life,” store clerk Angela Montez later told a police dispatcher by phone. “He took the bullet out of the gun and said, ‘Here, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m not going to hurt you’,” Ms Montez said. The suspect, Gregory Smith, asked Ms Montez for a hug and asked her not to report the crime, then told her to go into the store’s restroom and not come out for 20 minutes, police told ABC. Officials said Mr Smith took Ms Montez’s cell phone from her purse and $US20 from the cash drawer, leaving the rest of the money behind. He was arrested on robbery and firearm charges when he turned himself in to authorities a few hours later.”

Japan: Man sues hospital over artificial rectum: “A Japanese man has sued a hospital, arguing it unnecessarily gave him an artificial rectum after misdiagnosing him as suffering rectal cancer, a hospital official says. The man underwent surgery in March at a university hospital in western Miyazaki prefecture to remove the tumour, the Mainichi daily reported on Wednesday. But his doctor told the man, whose age and name were not reported, that a later examination found no cancer cells in the removed tissue, the report said. The man, who now has an artificial rectum, is demanding 35 million yen ($400,000) in compensation, the report said citing the complaint filed with the Miyazaki District Court. “We realise the complaint has been filed,” a hospital official said. “We will take appropriate action after examining the case.”

Fail: Burglar picks home of police dog squad officer to rob: “A burglar is in custody after picking the wrong house to rob at Sherwood in Brisbane’s southwest. The man allegedly broke into the house about 2.50am today while the occupants were asleep. He was in the garage with the doors of a car open, when one of the residents – a member of the police dog squad – awoke and went downstairs. He challenged the alleged offender who verbally abused the officer, before running away. The policeman then got his dog and tracked the man, catching him a short distance away. He is now being held in police custody and is expected to face break and enter charges.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.