http://www.itv.com/news/Entertainment832279.html Aguilera causes Thai sex row
15.17PM BST, 17 Oct 2002
One of pop diva Christina Aguilera's latest music videos is causing a sex row in Thailand.
They are fuming about a Thai-language billboard in the backdrop of the "Dirrty" video that alludes to the country's sex industry.
Saharat Wannachomphu, marketing director for BMG Thailand, the local distributors of Aguilera's new album, said the company had decided not to air the video on local television.
In the video, the scantily clad 22-year-old pop star dances in a boxing ring next to a wall with posters in Thai that read "Thailand's sex tourism" and "Young underage girls."
Thai officials have expressed their dismay with the video, which was aired repeatedly by the Nation's cable television station on its news programs reporting the controversy.
The Nation newspaper quoted Preecha Kantiya, acting director for the government's Commission on Contemporary Arts Office, as saying local and foreign businessmen are too profit-oriented to present a genuine image of Thailand.
Instead, they preferred to use Thailand's seedier side to serve their business goals, he said.
"We at the company agreed that we should not think of business only," BMG's Saharat told a Thai newspaper. "We have to think about our country as well."
He said BMG Thailand had informed its parent company in the US that the video had upset Thais.
Thailand's Culture Ministry and Foreign Ministry will take further action if the video
One of Aguilera's piercings is just for boyfriends One of Aguilera's piercings is just for boyfriends
Oct. 24, 2002 08:36 AM
NEW YORK - A bad day means a new piercing for Christina Aguilera. So what kind of day was she having when she got, uh, THAT pierced?
Aguilera tells Rolling Stone she gets a piercing when she has a bad day. She has 11 piercings - five in her ears and one each in her nose, her lower lip, and right nipple.
Wait - where are the rest of them?
As Aguilera puts it, one's in a place known only to her doctor and her boyfriends. Aguilera says it's diamond-studded, "really beautiful and expensive."
She says she's gotten a lot of compliments on it, and it's "in a place that most people wouldn't have the guts to do it."
But even with all those piercings, the girl does have standards. She'd never get her navel done because it's "too played out," and not her tongue because that's "very sorority."
Mainichi Interactive - Top NewsDealer busted for selling girls' freshly soiled underwear
A Korean store operator who sold women's used underwear to waiting male customers has been arrested for violating trading laws, police said Thursday.
The 43-year-old operator, Lee Dang-sin, from Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku, was arrested for selling secondhand items without Metropolitan government permission.
Police said other retailers had in the past sold used women's underwear, but in the store that the 43-year-old effectively operated, girls were made to wait while customers chose one of them to remove their underwear so they could buy it.
Lee reportedly formed a list of over 1,800 junior high school and high school girls who would sell their underwear, and gathered girls and customers through an Internet home page. In addition to selling underwear at the store, he reportedly sold items through mail order.
Investigators said the arrested operator had not obtained permission to sell used articles from the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission. However, the company he operated went ahead and opened a store called Final Fantasia in Tokyo's Shibuya district.
Between the end of February and the beginning of September, he sold 11 items of underwear belonging to two schoolgirls, including one 17-year-old, to two male customers for a total of 51,000 yen, police said. (Mainichi Shimbun, Oct. 31, 2002)
COURTTV.COM- PEOPLECat poop costs owner plenty
WHITMAN, Mass. — A cat lover was obliged to pay up for his cat's radioactive feces.
William Jenness agreed to pay a $3,856.47 fee for mishandling his cat's litter box after a trip to the local clinic. Diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, a veterinarian treated Mitzi, an 11-year-old shorthair, with an injection of radioactive iodine and gave Jenness strict instructions to flush his pet's waste down the toilet, rather than throw it out.
The treatment makes the cat radioactive for weeks and requires special care, including limited snuggling and using protective gloves when flushing the cat litter.
When Jenness's garbage made its way to the SEMASS waste incinerator in Rochester, an alarm detecting radioactive material went off. An investigation uncovered the source of the radiation as cat poop.
The city picked up the costs of disposing of the waste and then billed Jenness, threatening to charge him if he didn't comply. He immediately brought a check down to the department of public works.
As for why he didn't follow the instructions, Jenness said he was afraid of his septic system being clogged.
"When [the feces] hardened it came into fairly big lumps," Jenness reportedly said. "I probably should have put more effort into breaking it up."
Teen arrested after pulling a starter gun in attempted porn rentalTeen arrested after pulling a starter gun in attempted porn rental
By NewsRadio WMTW Staff
870/1470 AM and 106.7 FM
WATERBORO -- State police say a 14-year-old wearing a Halloween mask pulled a gun -- a starter gun -- on a store clerk who refused to rent him X-rated movies.
It happened Monday at action video on Route 202 in Waterboro. Police say the clerk thought the gun was real and ran out of the building in a panic. So did the boy, who was arrested a short time later. He now faces a felony charge of attempted robbery.
Yahoo! News - Man sues on finding girl not his daughterOddly Enough - Reuters UK
Man sues on finding girl not his daughter
4 minutes ago
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian man is suing his former partner to recover A$18,247 (6,400 pounds) he spent on a little girl, for things such as presents, zoo trips and meals, after discovering she was not his daughter.
"I want it all back - every cent for every toy, every blanket, every bit of food," the man, who can't be identified for legal reasons, said.
"I wouldn't have spent all that money had I known five years ago she wasn't my kid," he was quoted saying by the Herald-Sun Newspaper on Friday.
The claims include take-away McDonald's food over five years, four visits to an amusement park, three Barbie dolls, a Pooh Bear play tent, a day of skating, and child support payments.
The Herald-Sun said the man took the action after DNA tests found the girl was not his daughter.
The girl's mother said she was willing to repay the child support payments but that she should not have to pay back anything else.
"She had a good time with him that's the main thing," she was quoted as saying. "I don't think he should carry on too much about it. He should treat it like doing something nice with a friend."
Yahoo! News - Two Deer Burst Into D.C. McDonald'sStrange News - AP
Two Deer Burst Into D.C. McDonald's
Tue Oct 29, 8:20 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Customers at a McDonald's in the nation's capital got a shock Friday when two deer jumped through the restaurant window.
The animals shattered the glass around 11 a.m. and ran through the fast-food restaurant, about a mile and a half north of the Capitol.
When animal control officers arrived, one deer was trapped in the restaurant. The other had jumped back through the window and was found in an adjacent field.
Peggy Keller, chief of animal disease prevention with the District of Columbia Department of Health, said authorities didn't know where the deer came from.
"There are no really heavily wooded areas" nearby, Keller said. "But the area where one deer was hiding was fully able to support them — there was lots of vegetation, there was water."
Four customers suffered minor injuries. Both deer were severely injured and had to be euthanized. Crews searched the field for other deer, but none were found.
Keller said District animal control officers usually handle about 10 calls a year concerning deer.
Yahoo! News - Texas Teacher Gives Birth in ClassStrange News - AP
Texas Teacher Gives Birth in Class
Tue Oct 29, 8:04 PM ET
EULESS, Texas (AP) - An elementary teacher gave students in her early childhood development class an unexpected lesson when she gave birth in her classroom.
Rhonda Schafer was able to get her students, ages 3 and 4, out of the Bear Creek Elementary School classroom on Monday and then called for the school nurse.
The nurse arrived just in time to help Schafer as she gave birth behind her desk about 2:30 p.m., about five minutes after the first sign of labor.
They wrapped the baby girl in a co-worker's sweater, school librarian Cynda Mast said.
Teachers had gathered in the hall outside the classroom by the time Euless emergency medical workers arrived about 10 minutes after the birth, Euless Fire Department officials said.
The medics arrived in time to cut the cord, Fire Department spokeswoman Christine Cox said.
"It was a very nice, quiet environment, if you can imagine that at an elementary school," she said.
Mother and daughter were in "perfect health" at Baylor Medical Center at Grapevine, Cox said.
Earlier that morning, Schafer, who also has two sons, had told Mast that she was due in about a week or whenever the baby was ready.
"I guess she got ready this afternoon," Mast said.
Yahoo! News - Burglar Leaves His Resume at SceneStrange News - AP
Burglar Leaves His Resume at Scene
Thu Oct 31, 1:51 PM ET
OBERWIL, Switzerland (AP) - A burglar seeking to earn an honest living was arrested by police after he left his resume at the scene of a crime.
Police in northwestern Switzerland said Wednesday they found the resume inside a cardboard folder while investigating the theft of camera equipment worth $6,700 from a home.
The job-seeker admitted to the burglary and to other offenses when questioned. The camera equipment was found in the possession of an accomplice.
Yahoo! News - Woman Allegedly Disrobes at AirportStrange News - AP
Woman Allegedly Disrobes at Airport
Wed Oct 30, 4:38 PM ET
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A French woman faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct at an airport after she allegedly undressed to her waist in an angry outburst at security screeners.
A judge Tuesday found probable cause for the charge against Eliane Yvonne Marcele Aguillaume, 56, of Paris. She also faces misdemeanor charges of resisting law enforcement and public indecency.
Aguillaume burst into tears when the judge explained the possible penalties. She declined to comment to reporters after the hearing.
The felony disorderly conduct charge was made possible in a state law passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The law, which took effect July 1, set a sentence range of six months to three years.
Prosecutors would consider whether the incident rose to the level of a felony, Deputy Prosecutor Dawnya Taylor said.
Authorities say Aguillaume kept reaching inside her sweater, forcing guards to re-search her, during a routine screening Monday at Evansville Regional Airport.
After a screener attempted to use a metal-detecting wand, Aguillaume became upset and allegedly removed her sweater, shirt and bra.
Police said Aguillaume tried to pull away as an officer attempted to handcuff her. She later dropped to the ground and refused to get up.
Aguillaume was released from jail on $5,300 bond. She was scheduled to be formally charged Friday.
Yahoo! News - Police Bust Transvestite PageantOddly Enough - Reuters
Police Bust Transvestite Pageant
Wed Oct 30,10:44 AM ET
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police, led by religious authorities enforcing Islamic law, raided a transvestite beauty pageant and arrested 80 people in a town in southern Johor state, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Star newspaper carried photographs of some contestants, hair piled higher than their heels and dressed in white satin evening gowns, being herded out of a lounge bar in Muar, where the "Queen of PaperDolls 2002" contest was being held.
There were around 200 spectators and contestants in the lounge when the police raided, and several were caught hiding in cupboards and in the ceiling above a toilet, the newspaper said.
The transvestites are likely to be charged with cross-dressing and acting like women in a public place under the Islamic sharia criminal code which applies only to Muslims. The offences carry a maximum six-month jail term and 1,000 ringgit ($263) fine, it added.
Police said the organizer did not have a license to hold a contest.
Multiracial Malaysia's religious authorities stopped ethnic Malay Muslim women from contesting for the Miss Malaysia title in the 1990s, and the competition is now dominated by Chinese and Indian women.
The federal government determines criminal law throughout Malaysia, but state religious authorities enforce the sharia code, which covers religious matters and some aspects of social morality.
Yahoo! News - Reward Offered for Pumpkin-SmasherAP - Feature Stories
Reward Offered for Pumpkin-Smasher
Thu Oct 31, 8:55 AM ET
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A man offered a $100 reward for the names of the vandals who smashed his son's Halloween pumpkin.
"It really upset me and it upset him. We didn't even have a chance to carve it yet," said Steve Troup of Elkhart.
Three-year-old Joshua Troup picked out the 95-pound pumpkin during a trip to a farm about two weeks ago, but the family was waiting until closer to Halloween to carve it.
Then last Friday, someone rolled the pumpkin from the Troups' front porch out to the street and smashed it. Troup called police when he discovered the damage the next morning.
"I told the police officer, `You may not think this is a priority deal, a pumpkin-smashing call. But, to me it's different. It was my son's pumpkin and when I saw the look on his face, that upset me as a father,'" said Troup.
Troup has posted two 4-foot-by-8-foot signs offering the reward for the names of the pumpkin smashers. So far, they have received one tip.
Yahoo! News - Australians told to take a friend into the showerOddly Enough - UK Reuters
Australians told to take a friend into the shower
Thu Oct 31, 9:20 PM ET
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australians hit by one of the worst droughts in a century should shower together according to the minister responsible for water restrictions in the nation's second most populous state.
Victoria state Environment Minister Sherryl Garbutt said even those not in a relationship could "find a sympathetic friend" and shower together to save thousands of litres of water over the southern hemisphere summer.
"I would urge Victorians to share their shower," she said in the Herald-Sun newspaper.
"It is a very popular idea around my office for people to be showering with a friend. It is a great way to add to the overall water savings."
Water restrictions take effect in Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, from November 1 for the first time in 20 years. They target mainly outdoor water use, such as swimming pools.
This year's drought is being exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern, which tends to cut rainfall in eastern Australia and parts of Southeast Asia.
The weather bureau said on Friday that parts of Sydney, Australia's largest city, had recorded their driest six months since records began 144 years ago.
Water restrictions are also likely to be imposed on Sydney in November, officials say.
Yahoo! News - Bed Forces Sleepyheads to Rise in MorningOddly Enough - Reuters
Bed Forces Sleepyheads to Rise in Morning
Thu Oct 31, 9:06 AM ET
NUREMBERG, Germany (Reuters) - A German schoolgirl has invented a "merciless bed" to ensure that sleepyheads get up in the morning.
The bed gradually raises the mattress after an alarm rings. After five minutes, the sleepyhead is rolled onto the floor.
"I constructed it myself," Iris Koser, 16, said at an exhibition of inventions this week.
Yahoo! News - "Scary" apples make Halloween debutOddly Enough - Reuters UK
"Scary" apples make Halloween debut
Tue Oct 22, 9:27 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Stencilling, long the preserve of interior decorators, has been adapted by apple growers to create fruit with Halloween designs on their skins.
They fixed food-friendly plastic stencils of pumpkins and witches on a English apple variety called Falstaff, before the fruit had ripened.
Once exposed to sunlight, the apple's skin turned red while the part covered by the stencil remained green.
The result is a ready-made prop for October 31, said supermarket chain Waitrose which is stocking the enhanced fruit.
The store said other designs, such as love hearts for Valentine's Day (news - web sites), are planned.
Yahoo! News - Oregon City Bans Pet AlligatorsAP - Feature Stories
Oregon City Bans Pet Alligators
Wed Oct 23, 8:07 AM ET
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) - Later, alligator.
That's the message the Beaverton city council has for Al, a 5-foot-long pet alligator. The mayor and his council decided on Monday to add alligators to its list of dangerous pets, effectively banning the reptile from town.
Al and his supporters rallied in the parking lot behind city hall, where the alligator awaited the verdict in the back of an SUV.
Fifteen-year-old Nick Adams bought Al five years ago from a Portland pet shop. Now he spends most of his time lounging in a large garden tub in Nick's kitchen.
That was no problem until August, when Al escaped a backyard dog run and waddled two houses down.
Marjorie Lovenguth, 82, tried shooing the reptile home with a broom and rake. "But he paid no attention, and the police came," said Lovenguth, who said she supports Al nonetheless.
"He's really friendly," Nick said.
Yahoo! News - Woman Finds $10 Billion in AccountWorld - AP Europe
Woman Finds $10 Billion in Account
Wed Oct 23,11:33 AM ET
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - When Gun-Britt Marklund checked her bank account to see whether her monthly child allowance check had arrived from the Swedish government, she knew that what she saw was too good to be true.
Her account showed a balance of more than 93 billion kronor (US$10 billion) on Sunday.
"You never see amounts like this," said the 40-year-old teacher and mother of three children, ages 10, 13 and 15. "I thought this money doesn't belong to me. Something must be wrong."
Marklund's hunch was correct. On Monday, she informed her bank of the inflated child allowance payment — twice the size of Sweden's defense budget — and the bank acted swiftly.
An employee had punched in a few too many zeros when funneling payments from the social insurance office into Marklund's account, ICA Bank spokesman Bo Lagergren said.
The transaction was canceled and gone were the 93 billion kronor along with 15 million kronor (US$1.6 million) of interest accrued over the three days before the error was detected.
Lagergren said the bank had sent Marklund a bouquet of flowers along with apologies.
"We hope she'll be happy with that," Lagergren said. "But it's of course very difficult to find compensation on this level."
Marklund, who lives in Haernoesand, 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, said her child allowance is normally 3,000 kronor (US$322) a month.
Yahoo! News - Students to test ride condomsOddly Enough - UK Reuters
Students to test ride condoms
Thu Oct 24,11:26 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Hard-up students are being recruited to test condoms, rating them for their pleasure, comfort and performance qualities.
The 100-150 successful job applicants will be paid 100 pounds per academic term as they road-test a range of condoms from German manufacturer Condomi.
"The condom testers will be asked to give a pleasure rating. They will not be asked to test quality -- that has already been done," Condomi's marketing manager in Britain Victoria Wells told Reuters on Thursday.
"Test results will be fed back to our research and development department, and we hope that the students who participate will both enjoy the testing and the money, and give us a frank response which we can use for product development," Wells said.
She said adverts had been placed in a number of student publications and will run on several student radio stations from October 25.
Would-be testers will be asked to fill in an application available online at www.condomi.co.uk.
Among the voluntary questions asked of candidates will be: how many partners they have had, how often they have sex and how long its lasts -- with the option to tick various boxes marked from "under one minute" to one marked "1.5-two hours".
Yahoo! News - Elephant Signs Petition to Save Friends Oddly Enough - Reuters
Elephant Signs Petition to Save Friends
Thu Oct 24,10:09 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A baby elephant in Germany has signed a petition to protect wild elephants around the world, an environmental protection group says.
Sayang, who escaped elephant poachers in Borneo three years ago, signed the petition Wednesday by holding a paintbrush dipped in paint with her trunk, said a spokesman for NABU, an environmental protection group based in Germany's former capital Bonn.
A zoo in Hanover had nominated Sayang as a signatory, after discovering her writing talent, he added.
"Sayang had been practicing for days before signing the dotted line," a spokeswoman for the zoo said.
Sayang signed along with the president of NABU. The group plans to give the petition to a German delegation attending a conference in Chile next month on international trade in endangered species.
"NABU hopes this symbolic union of man and beast will raise awareness of unregulated ivory trade," the spokesman said.
Some PeopleYahoo! News - Videotape of Girls Locker Room ProbedOddly Enough - Reuters
Videotape of Girls Locker Room Probed
Thu Oct 24,10:26 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A water polo coach at a southern California high school has been fired after administrators found a secret videotape of girls undressing in their locker room, officials say.
Brian Akian, an assistant water polo coach at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, about 40 miles south of Los Angeles, was dismissed over allegations that he was involved in the taping, said Carol Osbrink, assistant superintendent of Huntington Beach Union High School District.
Osbrink said the tape was apparently made with a video camera that had been hidden in an equipment cage next to the girls' locker room and showed the students as they dressed, undressed and showered.
The tape was found in an office used by swimming and water polo coaches by another teacher, Osbrink said. She declined to say what led officials to Akian.
"He has a role in this, let's just say that," Osbrink said Wednesday.
Osbrink said that, as a coach, Akian would have had access to the equipment cage and could have employed a school video camera normally used to tape matches. She said the tape is over 30 minutes long and contains footage shot over several days.
"The water polo team itself is upset for a number of reasons," Osbrink said. "There are a lot of unknowns and obviously the students and their parents are concerned. Some of the students have known this young man for quite a bit of time. It's been a very emotional time for them."
Huntington Beach police Sgt. Gary Meza said detectives were investigating the videotaping but had not officially named Akian as a suspect.
"From a police perspective we need to figure out who is on the tape and identify them as victims," Meza said. He said the alleged crime was being investigated as a misdemeanor, which normally carries a punishment of less than a year in jail.
eww
Yahoo! News - Surgeons Deliver 46-Year-Old FetusOddly Enough - Reuters
Surgeons Deliver 46-Year-Old Fetus
Thu Oct 24,10:26 AM ET
RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccan surgeons have relieved a 75-year-old woman of what she thought was a long-standing tumor but turned out to be the remains of a 46-year-old fetus, Moroccan newspapers said Thursday.
The woman had complained of abdominal pains, so she underwent surgery in July by a team led by Professor Taibi Ouazzani in Rabat's Avicennes hospital, the newspapers Al Ahdath al-Maghribia and L'Opinion said.
How the team determined how long the woman had carried the fetus was not disclosed, and officials at Avicennes were not immediately available for comment.
Ouazzani's team plans to show a video about the surgery at a news conference Friday.
UPDATED Pictures. Four new pictures all of the same thing. You Have to see them. They are pictures of a bus stop in Newport Beach. If you want to go see them for your self go to Irvine Ave. and University Ave. I got a good laugh out of them!!!
Yahoo! News - Streaker proves a real knockoutOddly Enough - Reuters UK
Streaker proves a real knockout
Fri Oct 18, 1:57 PM ET
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A streaker disrupted a National Hockey League game between the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins, but not quite as he planned.
The naked man jumped the boards at Calgary's Pengrowth Saddledome late in the third period on Thursday, only to slip on the ice and hit his head, briefly knocking himself out cold.
Paramedics covered the 20-year-old man with a blanket and carted him away on a stretcher, to the cheers of fans.
"Streakers aren't necessarily all that uncommon, but people who knock themselves out on the ice in front of thousands of people at a hockey game, yeah, that's a little more rare," Emergency Medical Services spokesman Mike Plato said.
The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Yahoo! News - Joan Collins: Have sex to stay youngOddly Enough - Reuters UK
Joan Collins: Have sex to stay young
Mon Oct 21, 6:51 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - For 69-year-old actress Joan Collins, sex is one of the best and cheapest beauty treatments there is.
The actress, currently on husband number five, said she was not a fan of plastic surgery, telling the BBC World Service in an interview: "I think liposuction is something so horrible -- they have so many disasters with it."
"Dolly Parton has a face like a doll, you know, it doesn't look right to me," said the actress, currently promoting her new book "Joan's Way -- looking good, feeling great".
Collins said she was convinced that sex was "one of the best and cheapest beauty treatments there is".
Yahoo! News - Fire-starting cat saves familyOddly Enough - UK Reuters
Fire-starting cat saves family
Mon Oct 21,10:23 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A cat saved its family by raising the alarm after it started a fire, German police say.
Mimi the black-and-white cat was playing in the family kitchen in the northwest town of Luedenhausen when a mis-step switched on an electric oven, which ignited papers stacked next to it.
But Mimi then awoke the family by miaowing loudly and pushing heavy objects on the floor.
"Mimi saved the family. There would have been a major fire had she not raised the alarm," a police spokesman said.
Yahoo! News - Ozzy freaked out meeting the QueenOddly Enough - UK Reuters
Ozzy freaked out meeting the Queen
Mon Oct 21,10:34 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Rock's Wild Man Ozzy Osbourne freaked out when he met the Queen and can't remember a word she said to him.
Osbourne, whose outrageous stunts have ranged from biting the head off a bat to urinating on the Alamo while dressed as a woman, was introduced to the Queen at this year's Golden Jubilee pop concert at Buckingham Palace.
He confessed to the Radio Times: "I freaked out. I assumed I was the in-house joke. The Queen spoke to me but I haven't a clue what she said. Look at photographs -- I'm in shock."
Of his nervous disposition he said: "I hyperventilate opening a box of chocolates. I'm the most nervous guy in the world, a frightened little man on red alert from when I wake until I go to sleep. I was born with fear."
And the star of the expletive-filled MTV reality show about his zany family is fully aware how fleeting fame can be.
"I'm flavour of the month, hottest ticket in town, but eventually we'll be yesterday's news. Then I'll have serenity again," he said.
Ahh to be a King!!!
Yahoo! News - King Caught Speeding, but Escapes FineOddly Enough - Reuters
King Caught Speeding, but Escapes Fine
Mon Oct 21, 8:43 AM ET
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's King Harald was caught speeding in his car but will escape a fine due to royal immunity, a Norwegian daily said on Saturday.
Verdens Gang said that King Harald was stopped while driving his private car 10 kph over the speed limit.
He will not pay a fine because Norway's 1814 constitution grants the monarch blanket immunity from prosecution for any crime or misdemeanor. An ordinary citizen would be fined about 1,000 crowns ($130) for the infringement.
Yahoo! News - Bank Robbed by Own Security GuardOddly Enough - Reuters
Bank Robbed by Own Security Guard
Mon Oct 21, 8:44 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli bank was robbed at gunpoint Sunday by its own security guard, who made off with 100,000 shekels ($21,000), police said.
A police spokesman said he expected police to catch the guard, who fled on foot, soon because "we know everything about him."
The guard was employed by a security company that has a contract with Bank Leumi, Israel's second largest bank, bank spokeswoman Ricki Carmi said.
She said the guard went into the Leumi branch in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva after the bank closed to customers but bank employees were still working and told a teller to give him the money.
Carmi said the bank was investigating the incident with the security company, whose guards are licensed to carry weapons.
Yahoo! News - Woman Accused of Biting Husband to DeathLocal - KPIX/KCBS
Woman Accused of Biting Husband to Death
Thu Oct 17, 8:19 PM ET
The PIXPage Staff
A Modesto woman was behind bars Thursday, accused of biting her husband to death.
Police say 45-year-old Kelli Pratt held her husband down and bit him repeatedly when he refused to have sex with her. Arthur Pratt, 65, died in the hospital six days later. Investigators say his body was covered with more than 20 deep tooth marks.
"Most of the bites were confined to his arms and his abdomen," said Sgt. Al Carter with the Modesto Police Department. "A few were very deep with major tissue damage. But a lot of them were the bites that you see where there's pressure points and there's bruising."
Homicide charges are pending the outcome of the toxicology results. Investigators say those tests could determine if the bites caused infections that killed Arthur Pratt.
For more Bay Area news and information, visit kpix.com or www.kcbs.com.
Yahoo! News - DJ Faces Fine for Radio StuntStrange News - AP
DJ Faces Fine for Radio Stunt
Fri Oct 11,11:03 AM ET
CARTERET, N.J. (AP) - What's so funny about a radio personality duct-taping himself to a utility pole to create a "human billboard"?
Apparently nothing.
A judge slapped Gregory Tyndorf with a $500 fine and cited him for disorderly conduct, saying the Aug. 14 stunt could have caused an accident.
Tyndorf, 30, known to listeners of WHTZ-FM in Secaucus as "Greg T The Frat Boy," staged the event in Carteret in a parking lot near Exit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
"He picked one of the busiest intersections in Central Jersey, if not the state," Municipal Court Judge Allen Comba said during sentencing Wednesday.
Tyndorf, who lives about 15 miles away in East Brunswick, said he did not know the site was so heavily traveled.
He said the stunt was meant to show support for Ira Joe Fisher, a WCBS-TV weatherman whose contract was not renewed.
Tyndorf was suspended on the pole for about 20 minutes before police cut him down and handcuffed him.
Yahoo! News - Police Sniff Out Shoe Fetish in Man's AtticOddly Enough - Reuters
Police Sniff Out Shoe Fetish in Man's Attic
Thu Oct 17, 1:13 PM ET
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli police have arrested a computer programmer who gets his kicks by stealing and sniffing the shoes and socks of female colleagues.
Police found 205 pairs of ladies shoes, as well as socks and items of underwear, hidden in the attic of the 33-year-old married man, a spokeswoman for the Sharon region police department said on Thursday.
"He would take the keys of his co-workers, make copies and then go to their houses when they weren't home," the spokeswoman said. "We also found ladies underwear, but mainly it was shoes and socks."
The man was caught after 14 women reported missing shoes. A private investigation agency planted one of their own female detectives as a new employee at the high-tech company where the man worked.
The police spokeswoman said the man got sexually aroused by smelling the shoes and that he swapped stories and shoes over the Internet with others who have the same fetish.
Yahoo! News - Man Bites DogOddly Enough - Reuters
Man Bites Dog
Thu Oct 17, 1:01 PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man has been reprimanded for biting his pet dog on the nose, police said on Thursday.
The 36-year-old man repeatedly kicked and shouted at the whining animal before seizing it by the head and biting it, said a police spokesman in the north German town of Braunschweig.
Police needed to restrain the man to bring him into custody. "He was so disturbed it was impossible to reason with him," the spokesman said.
The dog, a black and white husky crossbreed, was placed in an animal shelter to wait for a new owner.
Yahoo! News - Toilet Swallows Hand After Shower SlipOddly Enough - Reuters
Toilet Swallows Hand After Shower Slip
Thu Oct 17, 1:03 PM ET
MILAN (Reuters) - A guest at a hotel in Milan had reason to be grateful for having his mobile phone in the bathroom after ending up with his hand stuck down the toilet for more than an hour on Thursday.
The unnamed 65-year-old slipped as he stepped out of the shower and accidentally jammed his hand down the funnel of the toilet as he tried to break his fall, rescue workers said.
Still naked, he was saved by firemen more than an hour later after calling an emergency number from his phone. The firemen had to dismantle the lavatory to set his hand free.
He was taken to hospital with broken ribs and a sore arm.
Yahoo! News - Court Strikes Down Ala. Sex Toy BanStrange News - AP
Court Strikes Down Ala. Sex Toy Ban
Fri Oct 11, 2:46 PM ET
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys was struck down by a federal judge as a violation of the right to privacy.
"The fundamental right of privacy, long recognized by the Supreme Court as inherent among our constitutional protections, incorporates a right to sexual privacy," U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. said Wednesday.
He said the state did not prove it has a legitimate interest in banning the sale of sex devices for use in private, consensual relationships between adults.
The 1998 law — part of a package of legislation strengthening the state's obscenity law — banned the sale of devices designed for "the stimulation of human genital organs." It was challenged by six women who either sell sex aids or said they need them for sexual gratification
Yahoo! News - Man Wins Lottery Twice in 4 MonthsStrange News - AP
Man Wins Lottery Twice in 4 Months
Sat Oct 12,12:27 PM ET
LONDON (AP) - A British man has won substantial prize money twice in four months by playing the national lottery with the same numbers.
Electrician Mike McDermott, first won 195,000 pounds (US$305,000) four months ago by matching five numbers and a bonus number. He scooped another 120,000 pounds (US$190,000) on Sunday using the same numbers — 15, 16, 18, 36, 49 and 28.
McDermott, 51, who has two adult daughters, now intends to leave his home in Hampshire, southern England, and retire with his wife Helen on the Island of Kerkenah, off Tunisia, where they have bought a house.
"I was ecstatic when I discovered I had won in June but this time I really am in disbelief," he said.
"We really can't believe our incredible luck."
McDermott, who says he plays the lottery every Wednesday and Saturday, won't be giving up just yet.
"People say that things always come in threes so I will definitely be keeping my numbers, I now believe that anything is possible," he said.
Yahoo! News - Zookeepers Suspended for Eating AnimalsOddly Enough - Reuters
Zookeepers Suspended for Eating Animals
Fri Oct 11,12:19 PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - Two zookeepers in a small northwest German town have been suspended and put under police investigation for eating the zoo's animals, police said on Friday.
A police spokesman in Recklinghausen north of Cologne said the keepers in a section of the zoo popular with small children had slaughtered and barbecued five Tibetan mountain chickens and two Cameroonian sheep.
"The animals were in the 'pet' zoo where all the children would go to stroke them," the spokesman said. Suspicious zoo managers called police after the animals went missing.
Yahoo! News - Man Sues Over Having to Wear a TieAP - Feature Stories
Man Sues Over Having to Wear a Tie
Mon Oct 14, 8:03 AM ET
Government worker Ian Jarman is unhappy that he has to wear a tie to work — so he is accusing his management of sex discrimination.
Jarman, 46, said Monday he is taking his complaint against Job Center Plus, a government employment agency, to an employment tribunal.
"It is ridiculous. I have done this job for 26 years without wearing a tie and it has never affected my ability to do the job," said Jarman, from Birmingham in central England.
"It is sexual discrimination. The dress code says that female members of staff can wear an open-necked blouse. Why should male members of staff have to wear a tie?" he asked.
"I am wearing a tie for the time being as I don't want to get into a disciplinary procedure, but I find it uncomfortable and I prefer just to wear a shirt and trousers."
Jarman, a union official, said a person's clothing had nothing to do with their professionalism.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said the dress code was introduced earlier this year at all 56 of the new Job Centre Plus offices, which deal with welfare benefits and work placement.
Management say the tie is needed to project a professional image.
Yahoo! News - Duct Tape Effective in Wart RemovalHealth - AP
Duct Tape Effective in Wart Removal
Mon Oct 14, 4:04 PM ET
By DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - Duct tape, the all-purpose household fix-it with hundreds of uses, can also remove warts.
Researchers say over-the-hardware-counter duct tape is a more effective, less painful alternative to liquid nitrogen, which is used to freeze warts.
The study was reported in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
In the study, patients wore duct tape over their warts for six days. Then they removed the tape, soaked the area in water and used an emery board or pumice stone to scrape the spot. The tape was reapplied the next morning. The treatment continued for a maximum of two months or until the wart went away.
The duct tape irritated the warts, and that apparently caused an immune system reaction that attacked the growths, said researcher Dr. Dean "Rick" Focht III of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
He said researchers did not test other kinds of tape, and so they cannot say whether there is anything special about the gray, heavy-duty, fabric-backed tape.
Pediatric dermatologist Dr. Anthony J. Mancini of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago said he uses a form of duct-tape therapy for warts. He combines duct tape with a topical, over-the-counter wart remover for nightly treatments.
"The whole point of this is a non-painful approach," said Mancini, who was not involved in the study.
The study was conducted at the Madigan Army Medical Center near Tacoma, Wash. It began with 61 patients between the ages of 3 and 22, but only 51 patients completed the study.
Of the 26 patients treated with duct tape, 85 percent got rid of their warts compared with 60 percent of the 25 patients who received the freezing treatment.
Researchers did not test the duct tape on older adults and also did not study whether warts recurred.
The apparent curative powers of duct tape are no surprise to Tim Nyberg, one-half of the Duct Tape Guys, who write books and perform comedy about the adhesive's allure. Nyberg said he and his duct tape partner, Jim Berg, do a shtick that includes duct tape wart removal.
"It's the universal panacea," Nyberg said.
Yahoo! News - Study: Redheads Resist AnesthesiaHealth - AP
Study: Redheads Resist Anesthesia
Mon Oct 14, 4:29 PM ET
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
The genetic quirk that makes red hair red may also make carrot-tops harder to knock out — in the operating room, that is.
A new study suggests people with naturally red hair need about 20 percent more anesthesia than patients with other hair colors.
It's a small study that will need confirmation. But it marks the first time scientists have linked a visible genetic trait to anesthesia doses, said Dr. Daniel Sessler of the University of Louisville, whose study will be presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
Inadequate doses of general anesthesia can allow people to recall surgery, or even wake up during it, problems that occur in 1 percent of cases, Sessler said.
"If redheads require more anesthesia and are not given more, their chances of having recall during surgeries increase," he said.
Determining a patient is properly anesthetized is a partly an art: Physicians must watch for sometimes subtle signs of an underdose, like slight movements or sweating, as well as overdose warnings such as low blood pressure or heart rate. So knowing if a particular group of people is more likely to need a higher- or lower-than-standard dose could be very useful.
Anesthesiologists have long grumbled that redheads can be a little harder to put under, but no one had ever studied if that was real or folklore, said Dr. Andrea Kurz of Washington University in St. Louis, who praised the new research.
It's likely the first of many yet-to-be-discovered genetic factors that will allow anesthesia to be fine-tuned for increased safety, added Dr. James Cottrell, president of the anesthesiology society. "It's a very exciting area."
But why would hair color possibly matter? The theory hinges on melanin, a pigment responsible for skin and hair color.
The sun triggers a hormone that in turn triggers the production of melanin to form a tan. Redheads seldom tan easily because they have a defective receptor for that hormone — a quirk with this "melanocortin-1 receptor" that also leaves their hair red. Without its intended receptor to dock in, the melanin-producing hormone may cross-react with a related receptor on brain cells that influences pain sensitivity, Sessler explained.
That's still a theory. Here's what Sessler can say for certain: He and colleagues gave 10 healthy women with naturally red hair and 10 with dark hair the common inhaled anesthetic desflurane. Then they administered electric shocks — not enough to do damage but enough to cause pain — and inched the desflurane dose up or down according to the pain response until each patient was judged to be at the optimum anesthetic dose. The redheads required a 20 percent higher dose.
Sessler said his lab first tested a few blondes and found they reacted the same as brunettes. That was expected since only redheads have the melanocortin-1 defect.
The study doesn't address if men would react similarly — there are gender differences for many drugs — or if redheads would be similarly affected by non-inhaled types of anesthesia.
Still, the research "gives us a window into what determines anesthetic requirements," said Sessler, whose lab is beginning more studies to see if the melanin theory is right.
Yahoo! News - This Just In: Skunks StinkOddly Enough - Reuters
This Just In: Skunks Stink
Mon Oct 14, 9:18 AM ET
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Reuters) - Dirty diapers are disgusting. Rotten eggs smell rancid. But skunks really stink!
That's the finding of a light-hearted U.S. survey sponsored by Renuzit, Dial Corp.'s air freshener unit.
Skunks led the list of the bad odors in the nationwide survey, with 59.7 percent of respondents rating it a 6, the stinkiest rating. Rotten eggs came in second at 47.2 percent, dirty diaper bins received 45.1 percent, bathroom odors were fourth at 37.9 percent and dairy farm smells were fifth at 31.6 percent.
Participants were allowed to rank more than one smell as the stinkiest.
The poll was conducted on America Online Web sites and select subsidiaries. The poll was conducted in conjunction with the launch of a new Renuzit air freshener, Renuzit Super Odor Neutralizer.
Respondents also nominated their own malodorous offenders that were not part of Renuzit's original suggestions, with the top being spoiled meat, sewers and pet urine.
Also receiving votes: "politics" and "the guy I have to work with."
Ok the bottom two links dont work. go to www.2400bps.com
then on the bottom right (downloads) click on text misc, on that page click on the airport pranks(second) and the excel brest test (fifth). You may have to register.. DO IT. It's free.
Dave
Yahoo! News - Library Waives $4,000 Late FeeStrange News - AP
Library Waives $4,000 Late Fee
Thu Oct 3, 9:43 AM ET
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - Winthrop University officials say they won't charge a man the estimated $4,088 late fee for a book checked out of the school's library 56 years ago.
The book, "The New Simms History of South Carolina," has been missing from the shelves at Winthrop University's Dacus Library since 1946.
Alex McFadden returned the long lost book Tuesday. He said he hoped the library would add it to its archival collection.
"Books are very dear to me," said McFadden, a native of Rock Hill and president of the Valdosta, Ga., Friends of the Library. "I thought this was interesting to discover."
McFadden found the history book 14 years ago while cleaning his aunt's house. It wasn't until he took it off the shelf three weeks ago that he realized it belonged to Winthrop.
The book's checkout slip had two names: Martha Holroyd, who was the first to borrow the book, and Elizabeth Leslie. McFadden believes Leslie, a former teacher, lent the book to his aunt, Kate Williams Murphy, also a teacher.
Library officials said McFadden did the right thing by bringing the book back.
"This will be another reminder for students to return the books," said Mark Herring, dean of library services.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police said a radio station employee may face criminal charges for allegedly encouraging a 17-year-old boy to walk naked in public so he could win concert tickets.
Authorities are trying to determine whether charges should be filed against the teen or anyone at radio station KPWR-FM.
The teen was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of intentional and public exposure, police officer Jack Richter said. The boy's name was not released because of his age.
"These stunts should be a matter of common sense and responsibility by the participants and the station itself," Richter said. "In this case, however, the behavior was not only audacious but illegal."
Police said the teen was encouraged by Joe Grande, who is known for getting people to perform what the station calls a "dare of the day."
Police said Grande was in the San Fernando Valley when he asked people to "do something crazy" to win tickets to a concert by the band P3.
"While at the location, Grande announced on live air that he wanted someone to remove all of their clothes and walk to all four corners of the intersection naked," Richter said.
The teen, who allegedly told station workers he was 18, offered to perform the stunt, police said. Police said they received complaints of a male exposing himself to a school bus and to families driving to school.
Station officials did not immediately return a call for comment left before business hours Thursday.
Yahoo! News - World's Funniest Joke Is NamedStrange News - AP
World's Funniest Joke Is Named
Thu Oct 3,10:02 AM ET
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
Drum roll, please — an online search for the world's funniest joke has produced a winner.
In a year-long experiment called LaughLab, a British psychology professor asked thousands of people around the world to rate the humor value of a list of jokes; they could also add their own favorites.
In December, Richard Wiseman and his associates announced the front-runner, a hoary old gag involving fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson. But in the final tally of some 2 million votes for 40,000 jokes, announced Thursday, a new joke emerged as a round-the-world rib-tickler:
"A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head.
"The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: 'My friend is dead! What can I do?'
"The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: 'Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.'
"There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: 'OK, now what?'"
"Many of the jokes submitted received higher ratings from certain groups of people, but this one had real universal appeal," said Wiseman, who has published a book based on the experiment.
Wiseman, who teaches at the University of Hertfordshire in southern England, said the research revealed that different countries preferred different types of jokes. Respondents were asked to rate jokes on a five-point scale from "not very funny" to "very funny."
Germans were the most likely to find all types of jokes funny, while Canadians were the least amused of the 10 top responding nations.
The British, Irish, Australians and New Zealanders favored jokes involving wordplay, while continental Europeans liked jokes with a surreal bent. Americans and Canadians preferred jokes invoking a strong sense of superiority — either because a character looks stupid or is made to look stupid by someone else.
Among the jokes favored by Americans:
"Texan: 'Where are you from?'
"Harvard graduate: 'I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.'
"Texan: 'OK, where are you from, jackass?'"
Wiseman said jokes work "for lots of different reasons. They sometimes make us feel superior to others, reduce the emotional impact of anxiety-provoking situations or surprise us because of some kind of incongruity."
The winning joke about the hunters, he said, "contained all three elements."
Computer analysis also threw up a number of arcane humor "facts." Not all animal jokes, for example, are created equal — jokes mentioning ducks were rated as funnier than other jokes.
And length matters. Jokes containing 103 words were thought to be especially funny. The winning joke is 102 words long.
Yahoo! News - County Defends Joke Road SignsU.S. National - AP
County Defends Joke Road Signs
Wed Oct 9, 9:00 AM ET
MOCKSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Look at the street signs and you might think people in Davie County don't like visitors.
There's Staya Way and Getta Way, Keepa Way and Outatha Way. But the people who live on the streets say they're friendly.
"When we named the road, we didn't even think it was odd," said Keretha Shore, who lives on Staya Way. "We just thought it was funny."
The Shores' former neighbor, David Plott, suggested the name when the county mandated several years ago that all roads have names so that emergency vehicles could find them. Other neighbors liked it, too.
Briggett Ferrell said she hoped the name might discourage people who sometimes park in her family's back yard and fish in the lake behind their house. But her son, Joey, said the signs don't discourage anyone.
"People always laugh," he said. "People ask if we're joking: 'You're lying to me, right?'"
All four roads are private, so property owners along the roads had naming rights. As long as the names didn't offend anyone and didn't duplicate any existing names, they were OK, said Tim Barba of the Davie County Planning Department.
Rick Franklin, who named Getta Way, said he doesn't want people to think he's antisocial. Just last weekend, he had 160 people over for chicken stew, he said.
"I ain't put up the gate yet," he said.
Yahoo! News - Dole Campaign Sued for $80Elections - AP Senate
Dole Campaign Sued for $80
Wed Oct 9, 9:01 AM ET
DURHAM, North Carolina (AP) - A computer consultant has sued the Senate campaign of Elizabeth Dole (news - web sites) for eight unsolicited e-mails he received.
His price to settle? $80.
Ken Pugh, of Durham, filed the lawsuit in Salisbury — where Dole's campaign committee is located — based on a relatively new North Carolina law that allows people to collect $10 for each unsolicited commercial item they receive by e-mail, or spam. A court date has been set for Nov. 18.
"It wouldn't have mattered if the spam mail came from the Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or Green Party," he said. "This is basically an anti-spam initiative on my part.
"To me, spam is an aggravation and a waste of my time. I am getting more spam mail than regular mail by a far percentage. I am testing the viability of the law to see if it really works and if I can get my money back."
It is unclear whether Pugh's lawsuit is the first test of North Carolina's anti-spam statute. Pugh said such lawsuits are difficult to file because many senders of unsolicited e-mail are out of state and cannot be found.
In an Aug. 26 letter to Pugh, the Dole campaign said that its e-mails are not commercial and thus do not fall under the anti-spam law. But the letter said Dole's campaign respected Pugh's desire to receive no more unsolicited e-mails, he said.
Yahoo! News - Read all about it - novels on toilet paperOddly Enough - UK Reuters
Read all about it - novels on toilet paper
Wed Oct 9, 4:32 PM ET
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germans who like to read on the toilet no longer need to take newspapers in with them, but can instead turn to novels and poems printed onto toilet paper, a German publisher has said.
"We want our books to be used. That's our philosophy," said Georges Hemmerstoffer, head of the Klo-Verlag which publishes the toilet paper literature. About half of all people liked to read on the toilet, he said on Wednesday.
Poems by German literary giants Heinrich Heine and Christian Morgenstern, as well as tales and detective stories could be found on the toilet rolls, Hemmerstoffer told Reuters at the Frankfurt book fair.
Each text was printed several times on one roll, so that readers could actually use the paper and still leave behind some entertainment for the next toilet visitor.
Yahoo! News - Police: Mower Used As Getaway CarU.S. National - AP
Police: Mower Used As Getaway Car
Wed Oct 9, 8:59 AM ET
FAIRFIELD, Ill. (AP) - It's hardly the fastest thing on the road, but police say a red riding lawn mower was an effective getaway vehicle for a burglar.
Witnesses told police they saw the suspect driving the mower away from a home where an intruder made off with more than $1,000 in jewelry Monday.
"We believe he rode the mower to the crime scene as well," said Fairfield police Sgt. Steven Sons.
Fairfield, in southeastern Illinois, is about 30 miles west of the Indiana state line.
U.S. National - AP
Man Can't Change Name to 'God'
Wed Oct 9, 9:02 AM ET
LAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) - A man who wanted to change his name to God chose a new name when a judge turned down his request.
The former Charles Haffey's new name is I Am who I Am.
The former Haffey said after his first choice was rejected in April, he went to the Bible to find a backup. He drew on a passage where Moses asks God who he is and hears: "I am who I am or I will be who I will be."
"That's kind of wordy, so I'm just going for 'I Am Who I Am' as my full legal name," he said. "My first name, of course, would be 'I Am.'"
The 55-year-old said he sought the name change as a way to gain release from feelings of anxiety and rage that have plagued him since he served in Vietnam.
"I was fatally wounded in the mind and the spirit," he said. "I didn't suffer any bodily injury. It's just what I saw, what I did. I killed myself."
Who I Am said he became a Christian and was baptized in April. It was shortly after that when he decided to change everything, beginning with his name.
Last week, he bought a tombstone to be inscribed with his former name. He plans to plant it in the tall grass on his property.
He said it will read, "'Charles Walter Haffey, born Sept. 23, 1948, and died Oct. 21, 1968, Republic of Vietnam.'"
Oddly Enough - UK Reuters
Lemons give new twist to contraception
Wed Oct 9,10:43 PM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian scientists believe they have rediscovered an effective use for lemon juice -- as a contraceptive and also a killer of the AIDS virus.
Reproductive physiologist Roger Short, from the University of Melbourne's obstetrics department, said a few drops of lemon juice can be a cheap, easy-to-use solution to protect women from both HIV (news - web sites) and pregnancy.
The juice should be squeezed onto a piece of sponge or cotton wool and placed into the vagina before sex, he said.
"We can show in the lab that lemon juice is very effective in immobilising human sperm and also very effective in killing HIV," Short told Australian Broadcasting Corp television in a science programme to be shown later on Thursday.
He said lime juice, which has similar acid levels, can also be used, with both fruits often freely available in poor countries where contraception is hard to come by.
Short said laboratory tests found not only does lemon juice kill sperm, it also kills the AIDS virus itself.
Short said using lemon juice as a contraceptive was not a new idea but it had fallen by the wayside over the years.
The ancient douche-style contraceptive was encouraged by such luminaries as Casanova, reknowned for his sexual prowess.
"This has been used for hundreds of years and we've just forgotten about it," said Short, who is planning to conduct some field trials in Thailand.
"About 300 years ago, Mediterranean women used lemon juice as their main method of contraception."
Yahoo! News - Ships Clog River After Bridge BreaksOddly Enough - Reuters
Ships Clog River After Bridge Breaks
Wed Oct 9, 7:33 AM ET
St. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Ships and barges queued up St. Petersburg's Neva river Tuesday after one of the city's most famous drawbridges refused to open, closing off access to the Baltic Sea.
The rising bridges which symbolize Russia's "Venice of the North" are one of the most popular attractions during the city's "White Nights," when the northern summer cloaks the city in a permanent twilight. The bridges, kept down during the day, are lifted during the night to allow boat traffic to pass through.
"At night, during the second lifting, one of the cogs of the lifting mechanism broke and we could not open the bridge," an Emergency Ministry official said.
The Palace Bridge, one of the most famous of the city's 800 bridges, was expected to be fixed by Wednesday. Built in 1916 and ignored by repairmen since the 1970s, the bridge links the Winter Palace of Russia's Czars to Vasilyev Island, home to the city's university and naval museum.
Twenty-one ships were blocked on the Neva by Tuesday evening. But St. Petersburg residents annoyed at being unable to return to Vasilyev Island late at night were sure to celebrate.
A sunken barge caused shipping chaos in the Neva in August, clogging traffic to the Gulf of Finland for a week.
Oddly Enough - Reuters
Couple Arrested for Cocaine-Stuffed Sofa
Wed Oct 9, 7:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An El Paso, Texas couple was indicted Tuesday for their link to an abandoned cocaine-stuffed sofa that spewed millions of dollars worth of white powder when heaved into a New York City sanitation truck.
Eddie Gutierrez and Susan Hernandez were indicted in Manhattan federal court for narcotics conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of the 400 pounds (182 kg) of cocaine. Authorities estimated its street value at some $8 million.
If convicted each defendant could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
According to the indictment, the sofa was left inside an abandoned U-Haul trailer attached to a pickup truck parked on Manhattan's upper east side. The truck had parking tickets dating back to March 28, 2002, on it and Gutierrez's name was handwritten on the truck's temporary Texas license plate.
According to the charges, the couple allegedly used the truck and trailer to transport the couch filled with cocaine from El Paso to Manhattan.
The New York Police Department notified U-Haul about the trailer and U-Haul took the trailer back to a rental center in the Bronx. U-Haul employees then left the couch for sanitation pick-up on East 137th Street near Bruckner Boulevard in May.
According to newspaper reports at the time, sanitation workers heaved the sofa into a city garbage truck and fine white powder filled the air when the truck's compactor smashed the sofa.
Authorities traced the couch back to the couple, who were arrested last month in El Paso.
