Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Confused dog
She can't work out how her friend the cat can be inside the computer and in the room at the same time.
Duck dump valve
A dump valve is a performance part on a turbo car that vents excess turbo pressure. It normally makes a 'woosh' noise, but when fitted with a duck-quacker ...
Squirrel pops out of woman's shirt during police interrogation
Police in Warren, Ohio, have released video of a woman who was interrogated by officers with a baby squirrel in her shirt.
She was brought into the station to be questioned about a murder.
The detective sat amazed as the woman continued the conversation while tucking the squirrel into her cleavage.
Police let the woman and her animal friend go.
She was brought into the station to be questioned about a murder.
The detective sat amazed as the woman continued the conversation while tucking the squirrel into her cleavage.
Police let the woman and her animal friend go.
Homeowner assaulted by defecating man
A Harral Avenue man who objected to a person defecating on his lawn was assaulted with a milk crate Saturday night.
Elias Ramirez, 30, suffered a cut to his head and elbow after being hit with the black plastic crate allegedly thrown by Gabriel Venegas, 34, of 1169 East Main St., shortly before 10 p.m., police said.
Police arrested Venegas a short distance away and charged him with third-degree assault, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with a police officer. He became uncooperative while in booking and refused to give his name and birth date. That led to the charge of interfering. Bond was set at $10,000.
The incident began when Ramirez saw a man enter his property through a gate, unbuckle his pants and squat on his lawn. The man, later by police identified as Venegas, allegedly picked up a black milk crate and threw it at Ramirez after being ordered off the property, the victim told police. Venegas was arrested a short distance from Ramirez's home by Police Officer Carlos Vazquez.
Elias Ramirez, 30, suffered a cut to his head and elbow after being hit with the black plastic crate allegedly thrown by Gabriel Venegas, 34, of 1169 East Main St., shortly before 10 p.m., police said.
Police arrested Venegas a short distance away and charged him with third-degree assault, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with a police officer. He became uncooperative while in booking and refused to give his name and birth date. That led to the charge of interfering. Bond was set at $10,000.
The incident began when Ramirez saw a man enter his property through a gate, unbuckle his pants and squat on his lawn. The man, later by police identified as Venegas, allegedly picked up a black milk crate and threw it at Ramirez after being ordered off the property, the victim told police. Venegas was arrested a short distance from Ramirez's home by Police Officer Carlos Vazquez.
New Zealand police called out to 'violint' incident
An attack with a violin led the armed offenders squad to a Westport house.
Police were called to a house in Romilly St on Sunday after an 18-year-old reported being threatened by his 17-year-old friend.
Senior Sergeant Geoff Scott, of the Westport police, said there had been an argument, and one of the youths felt threatened.
"He used the violin to hit the person who he believed was threatening him," Scott said.
"He hit him on the head three times. The violin was destroyed in hitting the victim and he had a cut to his head." A neighbour heard arguing at the house and called police at 7.30pm.
The 18-year-old told police the friend had shown him a pistol and bullet and had threatened to kill him, although he had not produced the firearm at the time. Scott said there was no arrests, although police were continuing inquiries.
Police were called to a house in Romilly St on Sunday after an 18-year-old reported being threatened by his 17-year-old friend.
Senior Sergeant Geoff Scott, of the Westport police, said there had been an argument, and one of the youths felt threatened.
"He used the violin to hit the person who he believed was threatening him," Scott said.
"He hit him on the head three times. The violin was destroyed in hitting the victim and he had a cut to his head." A neighbour heard arguing at the house and called police at 7.30pm.
The 18-year-old told police the friend had shown him a pistol and bullet and had threatened to kill him, although he had not produced the firearm at the time. Scott said there was no arrests, although police were continuing inquiries.
Hot hippo gets stuck in water tower
An overheating hippo was so desperate to cool down that he climbed over the side of a 3m (10ft) water tower for a nice long soak.
However, after happily splashing around for a while, the mammal found it could not get out of the pool and was well and truly stuck.
Luckily, a farm worker noticed water spilling over the side of the concrete container and spotted two enormous nostrils poking out of the tank.
He immediately rang for help and, within hours, rescuers arrived at the farm in Alkmaar, just outside Nelspruit in South Africa.
Equipped with a hydraulic crane and a cage, hippo hunter Chris Hobkirk and his team from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Association set to work. In a four-hour operation, they drained the tank and used poles to gently nudge the hippo into the 3m-long (10ft) steel cage before winching it to safety.
Mr Hobkirk – who has rescued more than 180 stranded hippos in the past six years – said it was a tricky procedure but he was glad with the outcome. 'Maybe we got lucky with this one. In the past, I have removed hippos from small dams. In those cases, the water levels have always been much lower so this was different.'
However, after happily splashing around for a while, the mammal found it could not get out of the pool and was well and truly stuck.
Luckily, a farm worker noticed water spilling over the side of the concrete container and spotted two enormous nostrils poking out of the tank.
He immediately rang for help and, within hours, rescuers arrived at the farm in Alkmaar, just outside Nelspruit in South Africa.
Equipped with a hydraulic crane and a cage, hippo hunter Chris Hobkirk and his team from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Association set to work. In a four-hour operation, they drained the tank and used poles to gently nudge the hippo into the 3m-long (10ft) steel cage before winching it to safety.
Mr Hobkirk – who has rescued more than 180 stranded hippos in the past six years – said it was a tricky procedure but he was glad with the outcome. 'Maybe we got lucky with this one. In the past, I have removed hippos from small dams. In those cases, the water levels have always been much lower so this was different.'
Man tries to end life in toilet
Villagers in Papua New Guinea have rescued a man attempting suicide at the bottom of a bush pit toilet.
The man told villagers in Kalem, Western Highlands Province, that he wanted to kill himself because all his family members had died.
Naomi Elias said she got the shock of her life when she entered the toilet last Saturday. "I heard someone pleading: 'Please forgive me'," she said. "The pit opening was very narrow, so how he entered the hole and ended up in the pit is unbelievable."
Ms Elias said she first thought it may have been spirits or a sorcery trick and fled the scene in fear.
Residents demolished the toilet and found the man from Nipa village, Southern Highlands Province, lying inside.
Ms Elias ran to the nearby village of Timur to get a local journalist, who in turn took photographs. Kalem community leader Sak Murumaki said villagers pulled the suicidal man out with sticks and gave him money to return home.
The man told villagers in Kalem, Western Highlands Province, that he wanted to kill himself because all his family members had died.
Naomi Elias said she got the shock of her life when she entered the toilet last Saturday. "I heard someone pleading: 'Please forgive me'," she said. "The pit opening was very narrow, so how he entered the hole and ended up in the pit is unbelievable."
Ms Elias said she first thought it may have been spirits or a sorcery trick and fled the scene in fear.
Residents demolished the toilet and found the man from Nipa village, Southern Highlands Province, lying inside.
Ms Elias ran to the nearby village of Timur to get a local journalist, who in turn took photographs. Kalem community leader Sak Murumaki said villagers pulled the suicidal man out with sticks and gave him money to return home.
Cross-dressing clown robs liquor store
The Boulder Police Department is looking for a cross-dressing man wearing clown makeup who robbed a liquor store on Saturday night.
Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said officers received a call from the Boulder Beer Emporium, on the 4700 block of Table Mesa Drive, just before midnight. The caller said that the store was robbed.
The witnesses described the robber as a man wearing red and white face makeup, a red and purple wig, a fake nose and a denim dress. Employees told police they didn't think anything was peculiar when he walked into the store because of the Pridefest events happening over the weekend in Denver, Huntley said.
The clerk said the man walked up to an employee in the store and asked for help in a feminine voice, saying, "Will you help me? My husband is out of work."
After being rebuked by the employee, the man walked to the checkout stand and showed the clerk a pistol.
The man did not take any beer or liquor and left with an undisclosed amount of money, Huntley said. The robber fled on foot just as two other customers were walking into the store, Huntley said.
Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said officers received a call from the Boulder Beer Emporium, on the 4700 block of Table Mesa Drive, just before midnight. The caller said that the store was robbed.
The witnesses described the robber as a man wearing red and white face makeup, a red and purple wig, a fake nose and a denim dress. Employees told police they didn't think anything was peculiar when he walked into the store because of the Pridefest events happening over the weekend in Denver, Huntley said.
The clerk said the man walked up to an employee in the store and asked for help in a feminine voice, saying, "Will you help me? My husband is out of work."
After being rebuked by the employee, the man walked to the checkout stand and showed the clerk a pistol.
The man did not take any beer or liquor and left with an undisclosed amount of money, Huntley said. The robber fled on foot just as two other customers were walking into the store, Huntley said.
Pocketless trousers to curb corruption at Nepal airport
Staff at Nepal's main international airport are to be issued with trousers without pockets, in an attempt to wipe out rampant bribe-taking.
The country's anti-corruption body said there had been growing complaints about staff at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan airport.
A spokesman said trousers without pockets would help the authorities "curb the irregularities".
The move comes after the prime minister of Nepal said corruption was damaging the airport's reputation.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) said it had sent a team to the airport to "observe the growing complaints about the behaviour of airport authorities and workers towards travellers".
"We discovered that the reports were true," spokesman Ishwori Prasad Paudyal said. "So we decided that airport officials should be given trousers with no pockets."
The country's anti-corruption body said there had been growing complaints about staff at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan airport.
A spokesman said trousers without pockets would help the authorities "curb the irregularities".
The move comes after the prime minister of Nepal said corruption was damaging the airport's reputation.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) said it had sent a team to the airport to "observe the growing complaints about the behaviour of airport authorities and workers towards travellers".
"We discovered that the reports were true," spokesman Ishwori Prasad Paudyal said. "So we decided that airport officials should be given trousers with no pockets."
Boxing pensioner batters knife-wielding burglar
A burglar got more than he bargained for when, brandishing a six-inch knife, he forced his way into the home of a 72-year-old man. Rather than turning and running as many would have done, pensioner Frank Corti used the boxing skills he learned in the army and felled the 23-year-old intruder "like a sack of spuds".
Corti's right hook and a nifty jab left Gregory McCalium nursing a black eye and thick lip. Corti then restrained McCalium until police arrived. McCalium, a barman, was convicted of aggravated burglary and jailed for four-and-a-half years at Oxford crown court.
Recorder Angela Morris told McCalium he "got what he deserved". She said: "Luckily, Mr Corti was an able-bodied 72-year-old who was able to defend himself. The elderly and vulnerable people are entitled to demand the protection of courts from people like you who decide to enter a property with a weapon."
Photos from here.
After the hearing Corti said: "We are pleased he won't be troubling us for a few years. My old training must have kicked in because I just punched him as hard as I could and he went down like a sack of spuds. If you can't defend what's yours, where are we at?"
John Simmons, defending, told the court Corti's house looked like "a murder scene" when police arrived. He added: "Photographs of the defendant showed what looked like a car accident."
Speaking outside court, Detective Constable Jon Shaw, of Thames Valley police, said: "I hope that the victim, and his wife, might now be able to put this ordeal behind them and get on with their lives."
Corti's right hook and a nifty jab left Gregory McCalium nursing a black eye and thick lip. Corti then restrained McCalium until police arrived. McCalium, a barman, was convicted of aggravated burglary and jailed for four-and-a-half years at Oxford crown court.
Recorder Angela Morris told McCalium he "got what he deserved". She said: "Luckily, Mr Corti was an able-bodied 72-year-old who was able to defend himself. The elderly and vulnerable people are entitled to demand the protection of courts from people like you who decide to enter a property with a weapon."
Photos from here.
After the hearing Corti said: "We are pleased he won't be troubling us for a few years. My old training must have kicked in because I just punched him as hard as I could and he went down like a sack of spuds. If you can't defend what's yours, where are we at?"
John Simmons, defending, told the court Corti's house looked like "a murder scene" when police arrived. He added: "Photographs of the defendant showed what looked like a car accident."
Speaking outside court, Detective Constable Jon Shaw, of Thames Valley police, said: "I hope that the victim, and his wife, might now be able to put this ordeal behind them and get on with their lives."
Litter louts shamed on YouTube
A neighbourhood group in Leicester is so annoyed with people dropping litter that it is filming the offenders and posting the videos online. So far 18 clips have been uploaded and anyone who can recognise the culprits is being asked to contact the group.
St Peters Neighbourhood Monitoring Group then passes the information to the city council. But an academic has warned people taking the law into their own hands could result in vigilante behaviour.
Albert Berer, from the St Peters Neighbourhood Monitoring Group, said: "What we're trying to do is to secure the prosecution of people dropping litter.
"Anyone else going about their normal day-to-day business won't have any videos of them taken. We're so cautious about that that quite often we don't use videos where other people walk by."
But James Treadwell, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Leicester, criticised this form of surveillance and said innocent people could be affected.
He said: "What you actually have is a kind of form of citizen policing and the distinction between that and vigilantism can be thin."
St Peters Highfields Neighbourhood Monitoring website.
St Peters Neighbourhood Monitoring Group then passes the information to the city council. But an academic has warned people taking the law into their own hands could result in vigilante behaviour.
Albert Berer, from the St Peters Neighbourhood Monitoring Group, said: "What we're trying to do is to secure the prosecution of people dropping litter.
"Anyone else going about their normal day-to-day business won't have any videos of them taken. We're so cautious about that that quite often we don't use videos where other people walk by."
But James Treadwell, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Leicester, criticised this form of surveillance and said innocent people could be affected.
He said: "What you actually have is a kind of form of citizen policing and the distinction between that and vigilantism can be thin."
St Peters Highfields Neighbourhood Monitoring website.
Car crushed by falling ice cube
A shopper was left stunned after her motor was crushed by a block of ice as it stood in a supermarket car park.
The football-sized chunk of frozen waste from a plane toilet wrote off the woman's Renault, leaving a 2ft dent. One onlooker in Loughborough, Leics, said: "There was a massive bang. We couldn't believe the damage."
The football-sized chunk of frozen waste from a plane toilet wrote off the woman's Renault, leaving a 2ft dent. One onlooker in Loughborough, Leics, said: "There was a massive bang. We couldn't believe the damage."
Having sex every day improves your chances of getting pregnant
Having sex every day improves sperm quality and could boost the chances of getting pregnant, research suggests.
In a study of men with fertility problems, daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.
Speaking at a fertility conference, the Australian researcher said general advice for couples had been to have sex every two or three days.
Early results from the trial had already shown promising results.
But 118 men have now been tested and the benefits for sperm have become clearer.
You can read all about the science here.
In a study of men with fertility problems, daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.
Speaking at a fertility conference, the Australian researcher said general advice for couples had been to have sex every two or three days.
Early results from the trial had already shown promising results.
But 118 men have now been tested and the benefits for sperm have become clearer.
You can read all about the science here.
Doctors warn against throwing 'swine flu parties'
Throwing "swine flu parties" in an attempt to get immunity against the virus while it is a fairly mild form is not a good idea, doctors say. Reports have emerged of people intentionally mixing with friends who have flu.
Their reasoning is that it is best to be infected before the winter when the virus could become more deadly.
But public health expert Dr Richard Jarvis said such behaviour could undermine the fight against swine flu.
He also stressed while it was a mild flu, people would still be putting their health and the health of their children at risk.
Dr Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public health committee, has been working for the Health Protection Agency in the north west to help test, diagnose and treat people who have got swine flu.
He said: "I have heard of reports of people throwing swine flu parties. I don't think it is a good idea. I would not want it myself. It is quite a mild virus, but people still get ill and there is a risk of mortality."
Their reasoning is that it is best to be infected before the winter when the virus could become more deadly.
But public health expert Dr Richard Jarvis said such behaviour could undermine the fight against swine flu.
He also stressed while it was a mild flu, people would still be putting their health and the health of their children at risk.
Dr Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public health committee, has been working for the Health Protection Agency in the north west to help test, diagnose and treat people who have got swine flu.
He said: "I have heard of reports of people throwing swine flu parties. I don't think it is a good idea. I would not want it myself. It is quite a mild virus, but people still get ill and there is a risk of mortality."
Man uses nail clippers in DIY circumcision
A man who gave himself a DIY circumcision using nail clippers was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
The young man had to be rushed to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The wound was disinfected to cleanse it before he was given a bed in an observation ward.
"This is something we would advise men never to attempt," a medic said, "The results can be quite horrific and long-lasting and have quite an affect on a man's sexual performance.
"Using a pair of nail clippers must have caused excruciating pain, even if he had had a few drinks beforehand."
The young man had to be rushed to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The wound was disinfected to cleanse it before he was given a bed in an observation ward.
"This is something we would advise men never to attempt," a medic said, "The results can be quite horrific and long-lasting and have quite an affect on a man's sexual performance.
"Using a pair of nail clippers must have caused excruciating pain, even if he had had a few drinks beforehand."
Family told to remove trampoline because it could be used by burglars
A man has been told to remove his daughter’s trampoline from a communal garden ... because neighbours fear burglars will use it to leap in through their windows.
Matthew Nice said representatives from his landlord, London and Quadrant, had ordered him to get rid of his daughter Yasmin’s trampoline.
Mr Nice, 36, of Market Avenue, Wickford, said his eight-year-old daughter uses it to exercise and is refusing to move it. He said: “It would be one dumb burglar who would try to use a tiny trampoline to jump into a window.
“If it was a giant 20ft trampoline that would be one thing, but this is only 3ft wide and 12 inches high. It’s complete rubbish anyone would use it to help them break in. There are wheelie bins around here and they are much taller than that.”
Mr Nice, a health and safety inspector, said he bought the trampoline as part of a health regime for his daughter, a Wickford junior school pupil, who uses it most days of the week.
He said: “It's the only area children have got to play in. If they can't play there, where are they supposed to go? The housing association is not making any allowances and this is just taking things too far.”
Matthew Nice said representatives from his landlord, London and Quadrant, had ordered him to get rid of his daughter Yasmin’s trampoline.
Mr Nice, 36, of Market Avenue, Wickford, said his eight-year-old daughter uses it to exercise and is refusing to move it. He said: “It would be one dumb burglar who would try to use a tiny trampoline to jump into a window.
“If it was a giant 20ft trampoline that would be one thing, but this is only 3ft wide and 12 inches high. It’s complete rubbish anyone would use it to help them break in. There are wheelie bins around here and they are much taller than that.”
Mr Nice, a health and safety inspector, said he bought the trampoline as part of a health regime for his daughter, a Wickford junior school pupil, who uses it most days of the week.
He said: “It's the only area children have got to play in. If they can't play there, where are they supposed to go? The housing association is not making any allowances and this is just taking things too far.”
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