Nothing To Do With Arbroath

No longer acceptable

2012-01-29T06:10:00.004Z

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Rabbit herds sheep

2012-01-29T06:09:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Via Daily Picks and Flicks.

I don't think one of these frogs is happy

2012-01-29T06:08:00.002Z

YouTube link.

Woman plans to marry partially demolished warehouse in gay marriage ceremony

2012-01-29T06:07:00.005Z

Babylonia Aivaz's love knows no bounds - that's why she will marry a 107-year-old doomed warehouse in Seattle later today. The Seattle activist has planned the weekend ceremony because she is head over heels in love, and she also wants to make a statement against the warehouse’s slated demolition.

A luxury apartment complex will be built in its place, and Aivaz is mourning the loss of a place she and other protesters have inhabited for more than a month. 'If corporations can have the rights as people, so can buildings,' said Aivaz, referencing a Supreme Court decision on political advertising.

'I'm doing this to show the building how much I love it, how much I love community space and how much I love this neighborhood. And I want to stop it from gentrification.' She is calling the upcoming ceremony a 'gay union'. The wedding will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 10th and Union Warehouse. The public is invited to the wedding, and encouraged to bring food.

YouTube link.

But there's a big snag in the road for this happy couple. Demolition crews have already started to dismantle the bride-to-be. Still, it's been said that true love never dies and Aivaz says she's going ahead with her wedding plans, anyway. Even though cranes have already started demolition work at 10th and Union Warehouse, Babylonia Aivaz reports 'I'm STILL Getting Married.'

Man who stole security cameras caught on camera

2012-01-29T06:06:00.004Z

Police in Bakersfield, California, are looking for a man who stole security cameras from a business on San Dimas Street.

The suspect's face was caught on video during the Dec. 10 theft. Police released the photos this week in an effort to track down the suspect.

Fat cat has knee-replacement surgery

2012-01-29T06:05:00.003Z

A fat cat has become America's first ever feline to undergo knee-replacement surgery after vets ruled out amputating his cancer-stricken leg because of his size. Cyrano, a 10-year-old tom who weighs more than 20 pounds, has been helped by doctors and engineers at North Carolina State University after cancer left his left hind leg almost useless. Surgeon Denis Marcellin-Little and university engineer Ola Harryssonare are at the forefront of osseointegration, a process in which a prosthetic limb is fused to a living bone.

Although a British doctor carried out a full knee replacement on a cat crushed by a car in 2009, the surgery carried out by Marcellin-Little used materials more like those used for human operations. 'This is the most complex implant that NC State has made and really, in all honesty, that anyone has built for any situation that I know of,' Marcellin-Little, a French-born vet, said. The scientists used plastic and cobalt chromium alloy implant for the operation on Cyrano, whose full name is Mr. Cyrano L. Catte II. 'It has a form of articulation that is unique - that allows the implant to bend and rotate,' Marcellin-Little said. 'The devil is in the details.'

While these implants are commonplace in dogs, a cat's small frame is harder to work with. Cyrano's damaged bones posed an extra challenge, Marcellin-Little said. The new knee was made using a laser process that hardens metal powder to replicate his tiny bones. The two interconnecting parts each measure around two inches long. Marcellin-Little practiced the procedure four times on plastic models ahead of the surgery, which took around six-and-a-half hours to complete. The kitty is expected to be back on his paws in about a week - but won't be catching mice just yet. 'We would like him to take it easy for about three months after surgery,' Marcellin-Little said. 'And then we will let him be himself.'

YouTube link.

Treating the process more as a research project, much of the time and materials used were donated so a cost estimate was impossible to make. But it cost owners Sandra Lerner and Len Bosack around $20,000. Speaking from the waiting room, Lerner said that 'Rat Boy' is worth every penny. 'He's my child. And if it were your child, would you begrudge the money?' she said. 'I have a personal philosophy that people are, at best, equal with the other inhabitants of the planet. And I'm very, very grateful that I have the money and (am) able to do it.'

Man head-butted woman in row over cheese

2012-01-29T06:04:00.006Z

An Aberdeen man has been jailed after head-butting a chip shop worker in a row over a 30p portion of cheese.

Michael Moir was sentenced to five months for the incident at a takeaway in Aberdeen. A furious row broke out after Moir, 23, and his girlfriend, Megan Ross, 20, discovered she had not received a portion of cheese with her chips and gravy order.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Ross threw the food at worker Kathleen Hadden at Balnagask Chip Shop then Moir head-butted her.

Moir, whose address was given in court papers as 203 Portland Street, Aberdeen, had previously pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to five months in prison. Sentence was deferred on Ross, whose address was given in court papers as 114E Victoria Road, Aberdeen, after she pleaded guilty to assault.

Mystery over blue jelly balls in hailstorm

2012-01-29T06:03:00.001Z

A man in Dorset has been left mystified after tiny blue spheres fell from the sky into his garden. Steve Hornsby from Bournemouth said the 3cm diameter balls came raining down late on Thursday afternoon during a hail storm. He found about a dozen of the balls in his garden. He said: "[They're] difficult to pick up, I had to get a spoon and flick them into a jam jar."

The Met Office said the jelly-like substance was "not meteorological". Mr Hornsby, a former aircraft engineer, said: "The sky went a really dark yellow colour. As I walked outside to go to the garage there was an instant hail storm for a few seconds and I thought, 'what's that in the grass'?"

Walking around his garden he found many more blue spheres were scattered across the grass. He said: "The have an exterior shell with a softer inner but have no smell, aren't sticky and do not melt." Mr Hornsby said he was keeping the balls in his fridge while he tried to find out what they were.

LiveLeak link.

Josie Pegg, an applied science research assistant at Bournemouth University, speculated that the apparently strange phenomena might be "marine invertebrate eggs". "These have been implicated in previous 'strange goo' incidents," she said. "I'd have thought it's a little early for spawning but I suppose we've had a very mild winter. The transmission of eggs on birds' feet is well documented and I guess if a bird was caught out in a storm this could be the cause."

Overturned lorry spills mackerel across field

2012-01-29T06:02:00.003Z

This is the Biblical scene that met Northern Ireland farmer Gordon Flinn after a lorry overturned into his field, spilling tonnes of fish. “It was like a catastrophe, as though the fish had fallen out of the sky,” said Mr Flinn’s daughter, Louise. “We really couldn’t believe it until we saw it. It really was like something out of the Bible.”

The 27-year-old — who doesn’t like fish — said that the family was taking it all in their stride, as a bit of fun — although it could have been a very different situation had the driver been hurt. The man was initially taken to hospital, but seems to have had a lucky escape and later returned to the scene uninjured, said Louise’s father Gordon (71).

Mr Flinn said the bulk lorry was travelling on the Comber Road towards Ardglass when it appears to have caught the verge before ploughing through a hedge and falling around 8ft into his field. The sheep and cattle farmer said the fish were piled up to two feet deep in places.

“It was some scene!” said the Killyleagh, Co Down man. “My wife took a call from the police, and when we went and saw the field, I found it hard to take in at first. It’s an accident black spot, so we’re used to hearing about crashes — but you usually don’t get fish delivered. It was a big surprise — there was a whole area of the field that was silver. Incredible.”

There's a news video here.

Piano teacher mutilated her own hands with kitchen knife in bid to convince police she was being targeted by slashing stalker

2012-01-29T06:01:00.001Z

Piano teacher Tracy Frankcom stabbed herself with a knife, wrote poison pen letters then claimed she was the victim of a stalker. It triggered a police manhunt which resulted in an innocent man being arrested. Frankcom, 41, mutilated her own hands with a kitchen knife and slapped herself in the face - then wrongly alleged her injuries were caused by a sinister assailant who attacked her three times in 12 weeks at her music shop and farmhouse home. She also sent herself poison pen text messages and abusive Christmas cards saying: ''It's your last bitch'' and ''You're dead bitch'' and helped officers compile e-fit of the fictitious assailant.

Frankcom's husband Martin, also a musician, was so worried about the terror campaign he went on the internet and bought his wife a stab proof vest and a stun gun for protection. Police staged a major operation to track down the stalker gave Frankcom police protection when she left work, referred their inquiries onto murder squad detectives and scrambled the force helicopter to search for suspects. They eventually arrested an innocent man, held him for 18 hours and forced him to take part in an ID parade before releasing him without charge. Officers eventually became suspicious of Frankcom's account when inquiries drew a blank. She later confessed she had made it up - claiming she was ''in a dark place'' following a minor bust up with a customer at her sheet music store in Darwen, Lancs.

She claimed she was due to carry out a fourth and fatal attack upon herself. The self mutilations damaged her tendons in her left thumb and may affect her piano playing for the rest of her life. The total bill for the police operation was £10,000. At Preston Crown Court, Frankcom who also teaches violin and guitar and plays keyboards in a Jean Michel Jarre tribute band broke down and wept as she admitted three charges of perverting the course of justice. She was ordered to pay police £5,000 compensation for the wasted manhours and will have to pay £1,500 prosecution costs. She was further ordered to complete a three year community order in which she will seek help for her problems.

Judge Andrew Woolman told Frankcom: ''You are an educated woman, hardworking and a talented music teacher. There's no explanation why a woman of 41 years old should embark on such a series of lies and exaggerations with serious consequences to you and everyone else. It is a bizarre case, one of the most bizarre cases I've come across as a judge, and it does not fall into the normal categories. Usually the case is that is made against a named individual to false rape or the like and if a person lies like this they go to prison. But I think there is some deep seated problem in your character that caused you to behave like this. No good would come of imprisoning you and it might well be enough to stop you again given people will now know the lengths you went to.''

Man, 88, takes on bank robbers armed with just his walking stick

2012-01-29T06:00:00.004Z

An 88-year-old former policeman from Bath who attacked a pair of robbers armed only with his walking stick says: 'I'd do it all over again tomorrow'. Second World War veteran Gordon King, who lives in the city, had been walking along Moorland Road on Wednesday morning when he saw the duo attack a security van driver outside the Lloyds TSB bank. The great-grandfather-of-two sprung into action and, without a thought for his own personal safety, ran over to confront the men and try to stop them getting away with the box of money.

Mr King, who was a police officer in Bath and Bristol for 29 years, said: “I had come up to go the shop to get a washing up bowl. I was talking to some people so that held me up for a few minutes. But then I was coming to cross the road (Crandale Road) and the security van pulled up by the bank. “My first thought was that it wasn’t very good security only having one man. Then something made me look again and I realised what was happening. I got my stick and gave him a whack. Then I gave him a few more whacks and broke my stick over his head. I would’ve laid him out, but then this other guy came over and pushed me down in the road.” Mr King’s aluminium, collapsable walking stick was broken in the incident and he was left with a bump to his head, which needed hospital treatment.

Photo from SWNS.

As the pair fled the scene, other passers-by intervened. But unfortunately they managed to escape and police recovered an abandoned stolen car, with false number plates, in a nearby street. Mr King said his policing instinct kicked in when he saw the crime taking place and that he would do exactly the same thing again. He said: “It was instinct. I just knew what was happening, I thought you don’t see people in balaclavas unless something is wrong. I jumped straight in and didn’t think twice. Afterwards I did think to myself that they could’ve had a knife or a gun. But I would absolutely do it again. I may be 88 but I am still fit and strong. I do all my own gardening. After all that effort I just hope the police catch them.”

Det Chief Insp David Gill, who is leading the investigation, praised Mr King for his public-spirited actions. He said: “From our point of view there is a bit of a mixed message because we don’t want to say to people ‘don’t get involved’ but in this situation Mr King should be highly commended for what he did. I think both his family and the citizens of Bath would be amazed at what has gone on. He certainly acted on instinct with no fear for his own safety and took steps to stop that crime taking place. Unfortunately on this occasion the two people got away. But it is great that Mr King is still in one piece and as lively as he is today.”

Free golf

2012-01-28T06:10:00.001Z

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Man chooses not to use stairs in Polish nightclub

2012-01-28T06:09:00.004Z

YouTube link. There's a longer video here. And an animated gif.

Dog fetches ball

2012-01-28T06:08:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Man withdrew mouse from ATM

2012-01-28T06:07:00.003Z

A bank customer in Ersboda, northern Sweden, got more than he bargained for when he made a withdrawal from a cash machine and pulled out his money, followed by a mouse. Gholam Hafezi was mystified when he didn't get a receipt for his 700 kronor ($104) withdrawal, but noticed instead what looked like a shoe lace hanging out of the machine.

Photo from here.

Hafezi grabbed hold of it and to his amazement realized it was the tail of a mouse, with the head and the rest of the body stuck inside the machine. “I pulled once more and then his tail came off,” said Hafezi who rushed in to the customer help desk at the neighbouring Coop Forum grocery store for help.

Staff at the store ignored his pleas, however, because the cash machine had nothing to do with the shop owners. Hafezi eventually got help from staff who were looking after trolleys, and together they managed to extract the rest of the rodent from the machine “One of them pulled out the mouse, and its head was left intact, although it was a little bloody. Then I got out my receipt,” Hafezi said.

Photo from here.

However, the shocked bank customer remains uncertain whether the rogue rodent survived the ordeal. “I don’t know, but it was certainly still warm”, the shocked man replied, adding that he thought the mouse must have sneaked into the cash cartridge when the money was first loaded in.

Bored man who wanted to be cat burglar stole stuffed leopard and dingo from museum

2012-01-28T06:06:00.005Z

Two stuffed animals were stolen from the glass display in front of the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History in Bakersfield, California on Wednesday morning. Bakersfield police officers said that at about 9 a.m., someone called 911 reporting a break-in. The front glass of a display case was shattered and someone had stolen a wild cat that had been stuffed by a taxidermist. Officers said 55-year-old Henry Slivers was found two blocks away at the Jack In The Box Hotel with a stuffed dingo.

That's where he was arrested in connection with the break-in. "I was just bored and decided I wanted to be a cat burglar," Slivers said in a jailhouse interview. "So I kicked in the window and tried to steal the lion but it was too heavy, so I stole the cat. I took the leopard to my hotel. I then decided I wanted the dingo so I went back and took it. I took it to Jack In The Box because I wanted to have breakfast with it."

When asked Slivers what he was planning on doing with the dingo he replied, "I was going to take it around town with me." Slivers said he hadn't taken his medicine for over a week. Slivers also said that he hears voices and his old commander tells him what to do. He said, "In the military they give you a machine gun and tell you to shoot people. When you're done, they send you back to America and you have to try and fit in." Slivers said that he served in the military from 1974 to 1980.

YouTube link.

He said he was part of the Army Airborne Assassination Team who served in South America, Central America and Algeria. Police said after Slivers' arrest, they searched his room at the Bakersfield Hotel on 19 Street and recovered a stuffed African leopard worth $5,000. Hotel manager, Gita Patel, said she was awoken by Slivers carrying up the leopard to his hotel room. She laughed and said it was extremely strange. When asked if he would do it again, Slivers said, "If I had the chance, yes."

Baby bites head off snake

2012-01-28T06:05:00.003Z

An encounter between a snake and a baby ended in a surprising outcome on Thursday, when the infant's mother walked into his room to find him chewing on the dead reptile. The infant, Imad Gadir, whose family resides in Shfaram, northern Israel, was not hurt when he bit the unlucky coin snake, but was taken to Haifa's Ramabam Medical Center, just in case.

According to Imad's grandfather, Shaheen Shaheen, who recalled the family's tumultuous morning, the boy woke up when his father left for work at 6:30 am. The 1-year-old left his parents' bed and headed to his room, where he found the 35-centimetre (13-inch) snake. He then grabbed it and bit its head off. "It wasn't a pretty sight," Shaheen said. "He's a baby, he didn't know what he was doing. He thought it was a game. I don't wish this kind of thing on anyone."

When Imad's mother realized what had happened she began screaming, until a neighbour jumped the house's fence, entered the room and snatched the snake out of the boy's hand. "I went to the kitchen to get him some milk, and when I came back I saw he was already eating," the mother, Alain, said. "I screamed until the neighbors came. I still can't believe what I saw."

Veteran snake-catcher Eli Cohen said he has never come across a case of this kind. "I guess the kid acted out of a childish instinct when he put the snake in his mouth," he said. "Luckily for him, the coin snake isn't poisonous, otherwise it could have ended in a tragedy." Eli Cohen, the owner of a pest control company, estimated that the snake was three years old, and said that his bite often hurts but is not dangerous to anyone who isn't allergic to it. He said that this type of reptile chokes his prey. "If it was a bigger snake, the boy could have been strangled."

Indian woman declared dead 'wakes up' as family prepare funeral pyre

2012-01-28T06:04:00.002Z

In a bizarre incident a 72-year-old woman, who was declared 'dead', started breathing when her relatives were about to burn her 'body' on the funeral pyre on Wednesday. The woman is presently ailing since she has a severe blood clot in her brain and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

The incident took place at a village in Nawalgarh district of Jaipur. Hundreds of relatives of Magan Kanwar, a native of Dadi Ka Phatak in Jhotwara, had gathered and were preparing for the woman's funeral. When some women were performing the ritual of bathing the 'dead body', they realized she was breathing. Immediately after, her son Surendra Singh Rathore took her to hospital and in the afternoon she was admitted to another private hospital.

Divulging the details of the incident, Rathore said, "My mother had slipped in the bathroom on January 23. We took her to a private hospital in the city. The hospital authorities on the morning of January 24 declared her dead. We asked them to check again since she was on a ventilator and the doctors had diagnosed her with brain haemorrhage." Rathore said when the doctors verbally declared her dead, the family without seeking any death certificate took her to the native village for funeral on Wednesday.

"At the village while performing some rituals we found my mother was breathing and alive. Later, a doctor there told us everything, including her heart beat and blood pressure, was normal. The doctors had said she was unconscious due to severe blood clot in her brain and so we brought her here," Rathore added. He claimed the hospital that had declared his mother dead did not gave them a valid death certificate. "I did not get it since I was disturbed at the news of her death."

Boat from US crosses the Atlantic and turns up in Spain three years later

2012-01-28T06:03:00.006Z

Last week an American-registered 26-foot pleasure boat was located 20 nautical miles off the northern coast of Spain and towed to shore. It was with amazement that authorities discovered that it was the hull of the yacht Queen Bee, a North Carolina-built Regulator, which had 'ejected' its crew one stormy day three-and-a-half years earlier off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and set off for Europe.

The U.S. Coast Guard received the report of the located flotsam from Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Madrid on Jan. 24, 2012, and were able to link the vessel to a search and rescue case that occurred on Aug. 25, 2008, near Nantucket. During that case, the Coast Guard responded to reports of two men who had been ejected from the vessel Queen Bee while attempting to cross a bar in 6 to 8-foot sea conditions.

Both crew, Scott Douglas and Rich St Pierre, were able to swim to the nearby Esther Island and were provided first aid upon recovery. Their own survival was considered a miracle at the time. The men had located a rescue bag and then swam for two hours to reach the nearest shoreline. 'Three things popped out after we got hit,' said Douglas, the vessel owner and operator. 'Rich, me, and that bag. There were times when both of us didn't think we were going to make it,' he said, 'Everything had to go our way. It was a miracle.'

Due to the dangerous sea state, the vessel was left to drift once the men were rescued and nothing was seen of it again - until last week, when the second miracle surfaced, the Queen Bee, admittedly upside down but still floating after three-and-a-half years. 'The Queen Bee likely drifted into the Gulf Stream and then north to the North Atlantic Current,' said Art Allen with the Coast Guard's office of Search and Rescue. From there it would have headed east to Spain before being located 1,241 days later, after a 3,500 nautical mile trip.'

There's a news video here.

French boy, 10, takes dad's car after missing school bus

2012-01-28T06:02:00.002Z

A 10-year-old French boy was apprehended by police on Thursday after taking his father's car and trying to drive it to school when he missed the bus.

The boy, who brought along a nine-year-old friend who also missed the bus, managed to make it more than two kilometres (more than a mile) in his father's Renault Megane before crashing into a roadside pylon, police in the southeastern town of Valence said.

"I had my seatbelt on," the boy pleaded to police when they arrived at the scene. Neither of the boys was injured during the crash.

Police said the boy could face charges of driving without a licence and damaging public property, but that prosecutors would decide whether to press ahead with the case.

'Spiderman' burglar wearing horror mask breaks in to supermarket

2012-01-28T06:01:00.003Z

A Liverpool supermarket was raided by a “spiderman” style burglar. CCTV shows a man wearing a Scream horror movie mask dropping down in to the shop and filling canvas bags with cigarettes from the display.

He then climbed back up in to the ceiling area and used ropes to pull the bags up, before dropping back down to steal more cigarettes. Staff at the shop said that the burglar must have used cutters, saws, a sledge hammer and possibly a screw gun to cut his way through the metal roof and subsequent layers of felt, asphalt and strawboard.

Matt Mahalingam, 31, who is a partner in the Pendle Drive Supersaver in Litherland said that thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes were stolen and that the damage will cost around £2,000 to repair. The burglary took place during the early hours of Tuesday morning. Mr Mahalingam said: “We have all had a tough time in the shop recently and this raid could not have come at a worse time for the business.

YouTube link.

“We have been having problems with some kids on the estate recently. They have been throwing bricks at our windows and the racist abuse just never stops. Bur I cannot believe the CCTV footage. This man has cut his way though our roof with heavy tools while wearing a mask from a horror film.”

18th century mummified cat falls out of ceiling as house is being renovated

2012-01-28T06:00:00.003Z

Bringing old homes up to scratch is nothing out of the ordinary for property renovators Andrew and George Hartley. But this professional couple nearly jumped out their skin when greeted by their most recent form of preservation - as a mummified cat fell on them. The couple got a face full of the ancient feline as they removed ceilings from an 18th century property in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Mr Hartley was removing plasterwork and ceilings, to assess what work was needed, when the strange discovery fell from within the roof. He said 'It is well preserved, and I think it has very likely been up there over 100 years at least. We had a look on the internet and it seems that this sort of find is quite uncommon.'

Although experts are not 100 per cent sure if the cat was dead or alive when it was mummified it is thought that because it was positioned in the roof it was mummified intentionally, whilst alive. According to folklore, it is said that cats were often put in to walls of properties as a sort of good luck charm and Mrs Hartley added 'Dead cats were put in houses to supposedly ward off evil spirits. During the renovation work, we have also found remains of lots of dried onions around the house, again signs of warding off unwelcome spirits.

'We don’t know if this cat would have been put up in the roof before it died, but it has no teeth which indicates it was an old cat that had died, or perhaps it lost its teeth trying to get out of the space. Since we have had it, already the body is starting to change and has started to soften since being exposed to the elements. It had obviously been perfectly preserved up there. We’re not sure what we’ll do with it now, but maybe we should bury it back in the foundations of the house where it came from.'

Inverted

2012-01-27T06:15:00.000Z

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This is a pink fairy armadillo

2012-01-27T06:14:00.004Z

They're an endangered species and I'm not sure this one should have been removed from its natural habitat.

YouTube link.

Here's a screaming albino hairy armadillo

2012-01-27T06:13:00.000Z

YouTube link.

Man accused in bizarre murder-for-hire plot planned to put blame on cat

2012-01-27T06:12:00.001Z

A convict with a conscience helped the feds unravel a murder-for-hire plot that involved a carjacking and electrocution by cat, according to federal court records.

It also included the suspect's ex-stripper wife being used as bait.

Brett L. Nash, 45, of 43 Shirlwin Drive in Granite City, was arraigned in federal court on Tuesday on charges of interference of commerce by threats of violence. Charges state he recruited an unidentified friend to "help in robbing an old man" who Nash intended to lure with his wife, carjack, hold hostage while the victim wrote cheques and then murder.

Nash planned to put the victim in a Jacuzzi and electrocute him by throwing in a radio, court records state. They planned to toss the cat in the water to make it appear the cat knocked in the radio. The plot came apart when Nash's unnamed friend told FBI agent Nick Manns that "he did not want the intended victim killed."

Full story here.

Indonesian man arrested for kicking woman he thought was a ghost

2012-01-27T06:11:00.003Z

A 38-year-old Indonesian security guard has been charged with assault after kicking a 20-year-old woman in the face after mistaking her for a predatory ghost. The guard was on duty in Bandung, Java, when "suddenly a figure, who was sitting on the floor and clad in white with hair covering the face, moved slowly in a weird way toward the elevator".

The guard "sensed a threat to himself and the others in the elevator" and kicked the ghost to the floor "so that everyone ... could run and save themselves," the security officer's lawyer said. But guard Sunarya's seemingly noble deeds have landed him more punishment than accolades, as the "ghost" turned out to be the 20-year-old daughter of a coal businessman who was in the hotel playing a "ghost trick" for a friend's birthday. She was later hospitalised for a bruised face and broken tooth.

Sunarya now faces charges of assaulting the girl, who was dressed as suster ngesot, a "crawling nurse ghost". The Indonesian archipelago, while predominantly Muslim, is strongly influenced by spiritual and supernatural myths from its Malay, Hindu and Buddhist heritage. Common ghost sightings often refer to floating female figures dressed in white, with long hair and, sometimes, long fingernails.

As one reader, following Sunarya's story, wrote to the Jakarta Post: "Sunarya should receive a medal, or at least be showered with honours, for acting so courageously in facing what he initially thought was a real ghost." But the security officer remains modest. "I have a wife and two little children, I hope everything will be fine," he told reporters. "I just did my job as a security guard."

Hermaphrodite six-legged lamb born in Georgia

2012-01-27T06:10:00.002Z

A Georgian farmer has proudly showed off the latest addition to his menagerie of livestock, a hermaphrodite lamb with six legs and a big appetite.

The wondrous birth happened in Velistsikhe, Georgia. Abadzhanov explained the birth had caused chatter amongst locals and his peers.

YouTube link.

He said: 'I have been asking the other shepherds, but none of them remember such a case.

'There were three-legged lambs, one-eyed, but not six-legged, bisexual one. The lamb eats well, but moves with difficulty.'

Thief smashes window of unlocked car and steals woman's teeth‎

2012-01-27T06:09:00.003Z

Police are trying to find the thief who made off with a woman's false teeth during a series of vehicle break-ins in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

Police said they believe the thief hit 17 cars in two nights, including one that had Kathy Saunoras' teeth inside.

Saunoras said her car was unlocked but her window was smashed anyway. The dentures were the only thing taken, and she said it will cost her $500 to replace them.

"They took my teeth, nothing else. They took my teeth," said Saunoras. "It's costing me money and they didn't get anything out of my car except my teeth. I'm looking at $350 for my window and $500 to replace my dentures they took."

With news video.

Woman stayed in crashed car for a week just yards from help because she was told 'not to leave vehicle if stranded'

2012-01-27T06:08:00.003Z

A Texas woman who drove her rental car into a muddy pond in Idaho spent a week in the stranded vehicle before going to ask for help. Lynn S. Keesler, a Houston resident, said she survived on peanut butter M&Ms and water inside her car while it was stuck.

The 61-year-old had thought she saw a river she had to cross to reach a hotel in Burley, Idaho, but the body of water turned out to be a dairy's wastewater pond. Keesler tried to drive around it but got stuck in mud in the pond.

She later told police she stayed inside the car because she had been told not to leave her vehicle if it became stranded. She flashed her headlights throughout the first night until the battery went dead. She finally left the car Sunday, Jan. 22, when the water level began to rise in the pond and went to a nearby house for help.

Keesler thought she had only been stranded for three to five days, according to a Cassia County Sheriff's Department report, but a deputy said he had given her directions to the hotel on Jan. 15. She was examined by paramedics but declined to go to the hospital, claiming she only needed "a warm bed and a bath."

With news video.

Chinese women brave broken bottles to become bodyguards

2012-01-27T06:07:00.002Z

Female bodyguards are proving to be big business in China. They may generally be smaller than their male counterparts, but are in increasing demand as a sign of growing prosperity in the country.

Chen Yongqing, the manager of Beijing's Tianjiao Special Guard and Security Consultant Company, says the fact that around 30 per cent of China's millionaires are women is fuelling demand.

"In China, the market for male bodyguards is growing steadily. However, a social and market preference for female bodyguards has increased since last year. Many female entrepreneurs, celebrities and pop stars, as well as their family members, children and parents, all need female bodyguards for protection," he said.

YouTube link.

The recruits have to endure, amongst other trials, having bottles smashed over their heads to test endurance.

Switzerland's 'Dementiaville' designed to mirror the past

2012-01-27T06:06:00.003Z

Its detractors may end up dubbing it "Dementiaville", but Switzerland is brushing aside a debate raging among geriatric-care experts with plans to build a mock-1950s village catering exclusively for elderly sufferers of Alzheimer's and other debilitating mental illnesses. The newly approved €20m (£17m) housing project is to be built next to the Swiss village of Wiedlisbach near Bern and will provide sheltered accommodation and care for 150 elderly dementia patients in 23 purpose-built 1950s-style houses. The homes will be deliberately designed to recreate the atmosphere of times past.

The scheme's promoters said there will be no closed doors and residents will be free to move about. To reinforce an atmosphere of normality, the carers will dress as gardeners, hairdressers and shop assistants. The only catch is that Wiedlisbach's inhabitants will not be allowed to leave the village. A similar pioneering, yet controversial, approach to geriatric mental care is already under way in Holland, where the Hogewey nursing home for dementia sufferers was set up in an Amsterdam suburb in 2009. Its residents pay €5,000 a month to live in a world of carefully staged illusion.

Markus Vögtlin, the Swiss entrepreneur behind the Wiedlisbach scheme, visited Hogewey before launching his own project and is full of enthusiasm for the Dutch approach. "People with dementia are often restless and aggressive, but at Hogewey they were relaxed and content," Mr Vögtlin said. He said that his plan to house dementia sufferers in 1950s-style houses with front gardens was designed to increase patients' sense of security. He said they had difficulty remembering what was happening at present but usually had firm memories of the past. "Such an environment makes them feel comfortable. I call it travelling back in time," he said.

Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, is struggling to cope with an elderly and growing population of dementia sufferers. There are 107,000 elderly people afflicted with mental illness and that figure is expected to double over the next 20 years. Yet not all geriatric-care specialists are convinced that creating an illusory world is the right approach. Michael Schmieder, director of Switzerland's Sonnweid home that caters to 150 resident dementia patients, said he opposed the idea of creating an illusory 1950s-era atmosphere. "The very notion is an attempt to fake the normality that people with dementia don't have," he said. But Switzerland's Alzheimer's Association, which promotes a variety of schemes to help sufferers from the disease, said it supports the project. Its spokesman, Birgitta Martensson, denied that it was creating a ghetto for the mentally ill. "Different types of care programmes are needed because the illness has different stages," she said. "A dementia village is a good solution for people in advanced stages of the disease."

Doll 'protesters' present small problem for Russian police

2012-01-27T06:05:00.003Z

Russian police don't take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they're 5cm high and made of plastic. Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: "I'm for clean elections" and "A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin".

"Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests," Andrei Mulintsev, the city's deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. "In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event." Activists set up the display after authorities repeatedly rejected their request to hold a sanctioned demonstration of the kind held in Moscow to protest disputed parliamentary elections results and Vladimir Putin's expected return to the presidency in a March vote.

Passersby admired the display with giggles, but police took it more seriously, examining its details and writing down each placard. "The authorities' attempt to limit citizens' rights to express their position has become absurd," said Lyudmila Alexandrova, a 26-year-old graduate student and protest organiser. "We wanted to hyperbolise this attempt and show the absurdity and farce of officials' struggle with their own people."

The activists in Barnaul say they have no choice but to adopt creative measures. Local authorities have refused to issue approval for opposition protests since 10 December, the first nationwide day of protest in Russia. Around 2,000 people turned out in Barnaul that day, an unprecedented number for the small city. Police have tried to pressure them into shutting down the doll protests, organisers said. "They tried to tell us our event was illegal – they even said that to put toys in the snow, we had to rent it from the city authorities," Alexandrova said.

There's a photo gallery here.

Dublin dole office bans people wearing pyjamas

2012-01-27T06:04:00.004Z

A social welfare office in Dublin has banned interviewees from wearing pyjamas.

A notice has appeared at Damastown social welfare office which warns claimants that "pyjamas are not regarded as appropriate attire when attending Community Welfare Service at these offices".

It is believed the decision was made after a number of people complained.

Radio Times forced to apologise after soldier has his private on parade

2012-01-27T06:03:00.005Z

A Royal Marine has prompted the Radio Times into apologising after he went commando for a photo shoot. The unknown soldier had his penis on parade as he posed with 42 Commando comrades for an article promoting forthcoming Channel 5 documentary Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan.

The article was printed before the marine's prank was spotted, with RT staff only realising the over-exposure in this week's edition when a reader tipped them off. The reader wrote: 'I know that British soldiers serving in Afghanistan are well equipped, but seeing the roll call of Royal Marines gives the expression a whole new meaning.'

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The magazine quickly published an apology on its website, publishing a censored version of the photograph with a red x over the area in question. 'We apologise for any upset caused to readers by the rogue member of 42 Commando,' said editor Ben Preston.

A spokeswoman for the Radio Times added: 'The unnamed marine is, like the rest of his unit, posing for the photograph dressed only in shorts. What we took to be the marine's finger proved, on closer inspection, to be another part of his anatomy.' A naval spokesman said: 'We apologise for any offence caused by this private photograph that was not intended for publication.'

Bidders fight to own Homer Simpson-shaped glue blob

2012-01-27T06:02:00.006Z

Christopher Herbert says he could not believe it when Simpsons fans started bidding for his bit of dried glue that bears a resemblance to Homer Simpson. The blob of dried glue, that can be said to bear a vague resemblance to the famous cartoon character, has attracted bids of over £50,000 at eBay.

After finding the item whilst clearing out his stationery cupboard, London-based seller Christopher Herbert listed the object online after his girlfriend noticed it shared some of Homer's distinctive features including his large eyes and oval-shaped head.

Putting it up for sale more out of fun than expectation, Mr Herbert started the bidding at just 99p. It has since increased to almost £55,000 after 53 bids with the auction due to close on Monday.

YouTube link.

In his listing, Mr Herbert describes the peculiar item as the 'missing piece' in any Simpsons fan's collection and states its origins as "made naturally by an overflowing tube of Uhu glue!" The 36-year-old Londoner, said: "I've never actually sold anything on it [eBay] before, so I thought I'd just stick it on for a bit of a joke to be honest. I didn't think anyone would actually bid for an old bit of dried glue, even one that looks like Homer Simpson.

Hero Labradoodle sounds the alarm after owner’s 40ft ravine plunge in real life Lassie story

2012-01-27T06:01:00.004Z

Hero hound Monty saved his injured owner's life by dashing half a mile to a pub to raise the alarm. Maurice Holder, 73, had been taking pet labradoodle Monty for a walk along a tidal river when the ground suddenly gave way and he plunged 40ft towards the water.

Photos from SWNS.

The pensioner was knocked unconscious and broke six ribs. He woke up to the sound of Monty barking at him. Maurice said: "When I woke up the tide had come in up to my chest and I was bleeding from my head. Monty was sat next to me."

The grandad — who has owned Monty for 11 years — struggled up the bank of the River Camel, near Bodmin, Cornwall, before collapsing. Monty then dashed to the Borough Arms pub where he barked until he attracted the attention of a local and led him to the scene.

Maurice, from Newquay, was rushed to hospital and treated for head injuries, broken ribs and cuts and bruises. He was later told his accident could have proved fatal if Monty had not got help to him in time. He said: "Monty is the perfect pet. He isn't the best behaved but he's loyal — and that's what matters."

Uninsured man had 11 people in Audi A4, including 4 children in the boot

2012-01-27T06:00:00.006Z

A Leicester driver has been banned from the roads for a year after being caught driving with 11 people in his car – including four in the boot. Leicester magistrates banned Zoltan Lakatos and gave him 14 days to pay £1,325 in fines and costs after hearing of his overloaded Audi A4 saloon. Six of the passengers were children – including the four in the boot. When Lakatos, 38, of Martin Street, Belgrave, was interviewed by police, he was told of the importance of securing young children in the car.

Lakatos, through a Hungarian interpreter, replied: "It doesn't matter, they are only children." Prosecutor Ian Johnson told the court how Lakatos was stopped at 10.30am in St Nicholas Circle in Leicester city centre on June 18 last year with four people in the boot and another five in the back seat. Lakatos was in the driver's seat and there was a 49-year-old woman alongside him in the front passenger seat. The four people in the boot – who were lying on top of each other – were an 11-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl.

Mr Johnson said the five people in the back seat were a 65-year-old man, a 49-year-old woman, a 24-year-old woman, a three-year-old and a nine-month-old infant. Lakatos, who did not attend court, was found guilty in his absence of using a motor vehicle to carry passengers in such a way as to create a danger of injury to them. Mr Johnson said: "There were 11 people in that vehicle – and to add insult to injury it was not covered by any form of insurance." Lakatos was also found guilty in his absence of not having any insurance.

Chairman of the bench Simon Edwards said using a motor vehicle and causing danger to passengers would normally be a lower level fine, but because of the aggravating circumstances due to the fact that there was no insurance and due to the number of persons carried, they were going to give a higher level fine. He was able to fine Lakatos the higher amount of £700 with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Mr Edwards said: "Because the offence is so serious we are going to impose a 12-month discretionary driving ban." He also fined Lakatos £525 for driving without insurance.*

*I have to say that had Mr Lakatos insured this car, I strongly suspect it would have cost him considerably more than £525 per annum. Probably more than the £1,325 he was fined in total. So in that respect he's probably saved himself some money.

Town has entire market stolen by thieves

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000Z

Thieves have stolen a market from a Derbyshire town. About 60 stalls used at Ashbourne Market were taken from the Mayfield Road depot overnight, along with a strimmer and a leaf-blower.

Police said the raiders had stolen two trailers with the stalls inside. One of the trailers was found at Darley Moor. Derbyshire Dales District Council's Jim Fearn said the Thursday market was open as normal with traders using their own makeshift stalls.

He said: "The traders are operating out of the back of vans, using trestle tables and some even have their goods on the floor. "We're obviously not charging them today." Mr Fearn said the thieves broke through a locked gate to get into the compound and then smashed their way into the depot building on site.

He said he thought the raiders were more interested in the trailers themselves, worth an estimated £6,000 each, than the market equipment inside. The trailer was recovered at 08:25 GMT after a farmer reported it dumped on her driveway.

Waitrose love

2012-01-26T06:12:00.003Z

Click for bigger.

A similar thing also happened at a different branch.

Puppy discovers inherent fun involved with door stop

2012-01-26T06:11:00.010Z

YouTube link.

Dog kills Billy Bass

2012-01-26T06:10:00.005Z

YouTube link.

Truck driver in Colombia spills someone's pint

2012-01-26T06:09:00.009Z

YouTube link.

Goblins terrorise women in Zimbabwe

2012-01-26T06:09:00.008Z

The love for quick riches has backfired for a Bulawayo man who has confessed to buying five “goblins” which he said were now sexually molesting his wife. Malibeni Mhlanga of Entumbane suburb confessed his “goblins” were traumatising his wife, Margaret Dube. Mhlanga said he bought the five “goblins” in Insuza — 80km north of Bulawayo — but he now remained with two as the other three were killed in an exorcising ceremony.

The man claimed he acquired the goblins to amass wealth, but all that had remained a pipedream as the traditional healer who sold him the creatures had died. His neighbours said their wives were also being sexually abused by the gnomes at night. Scores of residents gathered at Mhlanga’s home yesterday demanding that he be removed from the area. “I am seeking assistance to ensure the removal or destruction of these goblins because it now affects our daily lives such that we cannot even live in our own house,” he said.

“I had five goblins, but two have remained and I cannot live in this house. I urinate blood every time, and it has sex with my wife every time.” His wife confirmed the “abuse”. “It walks like a goat, and when it has sex with me, I often feel tired and spit blood. One day my bag was mysteriously increasing in size and we called a Gokwe prophet to cleanse our homestead. It (the goblin) looked like an owl, the prophet removed two snakes, a human-creature-like goblin which when ripped apart contained a picture of our son,” she said.

“After the event, a tenant who lived here was involved in an accident. We have sought assistance from the police and we had a meeting with the councillor yesterday. This thing is a mysterious. It is a power that is in use.” Dube said the goblin follows her to an extent where her relatives do not want to live with her.

Teenage girl called 911 because she heard her mother having sex

2012-01-26T06:08:00.004Z

A Florida teenager who called 911 last week asked police to place her in a Christian children’s shelter because she “heard her mother having sex.” Responding to a domestic disturbance call on Thursday at around 4 AM, a police officer questioned the mother and daughter at their Panama City residence, according to a police report.

The duo had been involved in a “verbal altercation,” it was noted. The girl, 15, told an officer that she wanted to go to a local shelter “because she heard her mother having sex” and “felt disrespected” by her 35-year-old parent’s actions.

The girl acknowledged that “there was no form of abuse or neglect in the house.” The mother explained to police that she had invited her boyfriend over and “sometime during the visit, her daughter heard them having sex and became upset.” The woman added that “their bedrooms are next to each other and she didn’t intend to wake her daughter up.”

After speaking with a representative from the shelter, the teen decided that she did not want to leave her home because “it was almost time for school.” The Panama City Police Department reported leaving a domestic rights brochure at the residence.

Thai police catch prolific underwear thief

2012-01-26T06:07:00.002Z

Police in Thailand said Wednesday that they had apprehended a thief with more than a thousand pairs of women's underwear in the boot of his car.

Police also found more than ten thousand pairs at the house of the 48-year-old Thai suspect, who was arrested late on Tuesday with an accomplice after breaking into a building in Bangkok's Chinatown.

They said the man admitted to stealing and collecting women's underwear since the age of 18.

"He smelled them all the time even while driving," said police Major General Saroj Promcharoen. The suspect will be charged with stealing property, though not the underwear for now because there is no plaintiff, police said.

Girl, 7, saved unconscious mother by slapping her with slice of pizza

2012-01-26T06:06:00.003Z

When seven-year-old Rita Lawlor couldn't wake her mother up, she did what many have probably never thought of doing. She slapped her with a slice of pizza.

Now the little girl from Sarasota, Florida, has become the youngest person to receive an award from her local fire department for saving her mother, Virginia's life. Speaking at a gathering for the heroes, Rita said: 'I called 911, but first I slapped her with a piece of pizza.'

When this didn't work Rita realised her mother may be in serious trouble and rang for help. 'They did ask where I lived and my number, and I had to tell them what kind of house and I had to stand outside on the lawn and I saw the ambulance coming,' she said. When paramedics arrived they found Rita waiting for them outside her home while calmly speaking to a dispatcher on the phone.

'We walked up and said "are you the one who called 911?" And as we walked up she started telling us what was going on,' said firefighter and paramedic Chris Zengel. 'She couldn't wake up her mom. She kept trying to wake her up and just couldn't wake her up, so she called 911,' he added. Luckily Rita's mother was revived and is now doing fine, while Rita is delighted with her award and thank you goody bag.

With news video.

Bank robber shoots himself in the foot

2012-01-26T06:05:00.003Z

Security camera footage from Brazil shows how a hapless bank robber was quite literally the architect of his own downfall. CCTV from a bank in northern Paraná, Brazil recorded the action when three armed men stormed the building on Monday.

All appeared to be running smoothly for the trio of thieves as the security guards quickly capitulated and the bank tellers handed over around 30,000 Brazilian reais (£11,000) to them. Unfortunately the check-shirted man who was acting as the lookout at the front door was armed with two pistols and an apparent itchy-trigger finger.

YouTube link.

Idly fumbling with one of the weapons he managed to accidentally shoot himself in the foot with the gun in his right hand. He is last seen on the CCTV limping from the bank behind his two accomplices.

The following day the bungling robber was arrested at a hospital a short distance from the bank. In total, police believe six men participated in the assault, despite only three of them appearing on camera. As well as the criminal who managed to shot himself, one other man has so far been arrested.

Corpse of suspected bank robber found stuck in air duct of French bank

2012-01-26T06:04:00.002Z

The corpse of a suspected bank robber who died after becoming wedged in an air vent has been discovered in the French city of Lyon. Rescue workers on Tuesday were trying to keep a half-rotted corpse intact to try to determine if the dead man was trying to rob French bank Credit Foncier.

Employees had been complaining of a bad smell in their bank branch in the city of Lyon since last September, and on Monday a worker trying to find the source of the stench discovered the body.

The dead man became stuck in a bend in the vent and investigators were trying to find out "if it was a homeless man seeking refuge or an attempted break-in that went wrong", said local prosecutor Marc Desert.

Firefighters and plumbing specialists were planning to widen the 20 inch shaft to get better access to the body and keep it in one piece to help police inquiries. Lyon prosecutor Marc Desert said: "It may be the body of an unlucky burglar who got stuck. But it could also perhaps be that of a homeless man seeking shelter."

Woman claims neighbour’s energy efficient windows are melting cars

2012-01-26T06:03:00.004Z

A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbour’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport. Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius. “The side view mirrors were melting,” she said. “Anything that was plastic on the car was melting.”

Toyota told Patron nothing was wrong with the car. After having the mirrors replaced, she noticed the mirrors on the car parked next to hers were also melting. Patron then observed a powerful beam of light that was reflecting off the window of a next door condominium, casting a concentrated beam over her carport. “I’m positive that this window is what is causing the damage to my car,” she says.

Patron is not alone. Reports across the US have alleged damage brought on by concentrated sunlight reflected off of energy efficient windows. The National Association of Home Builders is now conducting a study on the matter. “I just don’t feel like it’s fair,” says Patron.

“I feel like it needs to be known that this is happening. And a lot of people probably have damage out there, that they aren’t aware that it’s the windows that are causing this.” The Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety says even if the window is the source of the damage, there are no code violations involved. The department say it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.

With news video.

Shopkeeper fends off machete-wielding attacker with mop

2012-01-26T06:02:00.002Z

Dinesh Gorania, a shopkeeper from Rushden in Northamptonshire has been captured on CCTV fending off a machete-wielding attacker with a mop. Mr Gorania beat off the masked man as he tried to force his way into the family-run convenience store. Mr Dinesh was mopping up just inside the doorway of the Premier Store in Rushden, Northamptonshire, when three masked men pulled up in a car.

One of the robbers, armed with a two-foot machete, burst into the store only to be struck by Mr Dinesh's mop which forced him backwards. The man tried twice more to get back into the shop but was repeatedly hit with the mop. Two other masked robbers joined in the fracas, with one throwing a metal bar at Mr Dinesh which he blocked with his forearm.

YouTube link.

The robbers then retreated to their getaway car but not before smashing the windows of the cars belonging to Mr Dinesh and his son, Kishan. Kishan, 21, said: "They were hitting the door, smashing the door in and Dad was hitting them back with the mop. Dad did good, he did well. He just jumped at it, quick time." Mr Dinesh said: "After my son said 'there are robbers coming', I got the mop and hit him, I wasn't giving them the chance to hit me first.

"He fell back straight away. He tried to get back in but I wouldn't let him. I wasn't scared - I just wanted to defend my shop - but I could see that he was a scary person, he was dressed like something from a horror movie." Northamptonshire Police confirmed that they are investigating the incident, which happened on Friday, January 20th, just before 10pm, and appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them.

Giant hair ball removed from cat in life-saving operation

2012-01-26T06:01:00.004Z

Vets have removed a 5in hair ball, said to be "largest we have ever seen" in an operation on a cat in Cambridgeshire. David Fennell, from Cromwell Vet Group in Huntingdon, said the procedure was carried out on Gemma, an eight-year-old long-haired cat, who is now recovering.

Photo from SWNS.

"It was about 12.5cm (5in) wide, filled the entire stomach cavity and she had not eaten for days. It would certainly have killed her," he said. He said the owners were "very caring" but needed advice on grooming Gemma. Mr Fennell said the cat was brought in to the surgery after failing to eat its food for three days.

"She was clearly hungry, but as we later found out, there was absolutely no room in her stomach for anything else," Mr Fennell explained. At first the surgeons thought Gemma had a tumour. After an X-ray and scan, her owners agreed to an exploratory operation and vets found the hairball, weighing 215g (7.5oz).

Photo from SWNS.

"Cats do groom a lot, and they often cough up small hair balls," Mr Fennell said. "For some reason Gemma had not been able to do that, and there was no way she could do that once it had become that size." Mr Fennell said Gemma was now at home with her owners and he was confident this would not happen again.

Swingers sprayed stranger in face with bear repellent

2012-01-26T06:00:00.002Z

A "swinging" couple, Stephen Barclay and Leanne Reid, appeared in court on assault charges after a stranger who spent the weekend with them had bear repellent sprayed in his face. Barclay, 36, and his lover Reid, 31, contacted Owen Greenan online and invited him to spend the weekend at their secluded cottage. He arrived on a Friday evening and a court heard the drug-fuelled weekend had "gone well" until the early hours of Sunday morning, when he refused to have his photograph taken on a mobile phone. Barclay then sprayed him with Sabre Wild Max Bear Attack and Mr Green fled the house in the village of Glespin, Lanarkshire, leaving his belongings behind.

A lorry driver found him running down the road and police were called to cottage. Barclay and Reid were later arrested and charged with a string of offences. Lanark Sheriff Court heard that the couple admitted assaulting Mr Greenan on March 27 last year. Gary Dow, prosecuting, said the visitor was woken by Reid on a couch at the cottage at 4am and invited into the couple’s bedroom. When Mr Greenan sat down, Barclay, who was in a hot tub drinking beer, held out his mobile phone and said: “Smile for the camera."

Mr Dow added: "He went to get up and Leanne Reid said '------- smile'. She also had said that she was going to get a knife to stab him. Mr Barclay then said to the complainer, 'Do you think you can come here all weekend, shag my wife, and nothing will happen?'." Barclay told his girlfriend to give him the repellent, which he said he bought in Canada, before spraying it on his victim. Mr Greenan was later treated at Wishaw General Hospital.

Neil McShane, representing Barclay, told the court his client had “very little sleep from Friday to Sunday” and the incident happened after those involved had been taking ketamine. Sheriff Nikola Stewart, who said she was "intrigued" by the case, deferred sentence until next month. Barclay and Reid admitted assaulting Mr Greenan by threatening to stab him and discharging the bear repellent in his face. Barclay also admitted unlawful possession of cannabis worth up to £7,650. Reid's not guilty plea to a charge that she had wasted police time by alleging Mr Greenan had raped her was accepted by prosecutors.

Super

2012-01-25T06:12:00.000Z

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Woman who looks a bit like Sarah Millican holds little person requesting a fork

2012-01-25T06:11:00.007Z

Well I think that's what they're saying.

Can anyone decipher the name? I just keep hearing Grandma.

YouTube link.

Lady has her baby monkey baptised

2012-01-25T06:10:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Dog survives after lead gets caught in lift door with owner on the other side

2012-01-25T06:09:00.002Z

A US man who got his dog’s leash caught in an elevator door says he feared the worst and did not want to look out of the lift doors as they opened. Security camera video shows the Chicago man entering his apartment building with his dog on a leash, but when he gets in the lift to go upstairs his pet remains outside. The doors close, separating him and his dog as the lift begins to travel upwards.

Outside the lift, the 18-month old bulldog cross is yanked to the ceiling by the leash — but it luckily snaps and the dog falls back to the ground uninjured. "I was very scared and worried," the man, who did not want to be named, said. "I was expecting the worst case scenario. I actually almost didn't want to open the door and see what had happened on the lobby side."

LiveLeak link.

He was returning to his apartment after walking his dog last week when the frightening episode occurred. "I thought the elevator would sense the leash and reopen, but it was too late," he said. In his panic the owner didn’t think of simply letting go of the leash. "I wish I would have let go of the leash, but it all happened so fast that it pulled me in and it was impossible to take my hand out of the strap."

"I actually broke a bone in my hand and fractured my wrist," the man said. Fortunately for the bulldog, his owner's broken hand was the only injury sustained in what could have been a fatal accident. The owner added he was happy that someone stayed with the dog while he was in the lift. "I really owe one to fate and to the girl who stood by the dog," he said.

Very strange man found laundering money in washing machine

2012-01-25T06:08:00.003Z

Louisville Metro Police apprehended a man the fire department called "very strange" after he was allegedly caught stuffing cash in a washing machine early on Sunday morning.

It happened at an apartment complex at the corner of E. Main St. and N. Brook St. The fire department went to the scene after the fire alarm had been activated. When they arrived, they allegedly found 21-year-old Jose Veras of Radcliff, Ky., "running around and acting very strange."

Police were later called to the scene to deal with him. When officers arrived they allegedly found cash, "laying all over the area." Police also say that several residents were out in the hallways complaining about Veras was banging on their doors and running around.

Police eventually found Veras on the first floor in the laundry room, allegedly trying to stuff money into a washing machine. Officers say he did not live at the apartment, had no reason to be there and - what's more - was the one who pulled the fire alarm in the first place. Police say they found over $1,000 scattered throughout the halls and in the washer. Veras was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Boy dies after shooting himself with six inch-long replica cannon

2012-01-25T06:07:00.004Z

A 14-year-old Tremonton boy was killed while playing with a toy 1800s era replica cannon. At about 7:30 a.m. on Monday, police say the cannon fired some sort of projectile into the Robbie Ostberg's face, killing him.

The incident was being investigated as an accident, although police weren't sure what kind of propellant was used in the six inch-long replica that was meant for display only. A relative of the victim says the mini-cannon was sitting on the shelf in the home.

“He was playing with it,” says Shauna Spencer. “He was looking at it. He's 14 years old. It went off, it just went off.” Police say his older brother and father were in the home at the time. But Spencer says no one saw it go off. “His brother may have been in there and witnessed it,” says Spencer. “But he does not know how it actually happened."

Police say the toy cannon is considered a weapon. Most load it with gun powder. But in this instance police say it was a show piece not a weapon. “It's not intended to be used to fire anything,” says Dave Nance, Tremonton police chief. “It's about six inches long or so. It's just intended to be looked at." For now, a family is grieving with so many questions unanswered.

With news video.

Baby girl discovered with dead mouse in mouth at preschool

2012-01-25T06:06:00.003Z

A mother was outraged after learning of a gruesome incident involving her baby and a local childcare center, which has led to a probe by the state health department. The Donald K. Tucker Childcare Center, located in Newark, New Jersey, sparked criticism after 8-month-old baby Alanah Barba was found nibbling on a rodent while being supervised by preschool staff.

"I'm very upset because first of all they should've been watching her more carefully," mother Brittany Barba said. The baby was initially found by her grandmother, who assumed that the creature was a toy, but after closer inspection, realized that it was actually a dead mouse. "There's germs, mice carry disease, disgusted by it all," the baby's aunt Nadiyyah Miller said.

Miller explained that the entire family is frustrated because the daycare center refused to answer their questions about the incident, even denying them access to view the incident report. Although the daycare center released a statement explaining that the incident was rare, Miller and Barba have criticized the childcare center for failing to answer a series of questions including how long the rodent was in Alanah's mouth.

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"This was an isolated incident. I was really hurt by this. It could have been my child," executive director, Kiburi Tucker said. Barba, a regular volunteer at the childcare center, immediately removed Alanah, who will likely not return.

Man speaking in tongues arrested for stabbing small statue

2012-01-25T06:05:00.003Z

Albuquerque police made an unusual arrest over the weekend they took a man into custody for attacking a small statue.

Karim Jaekel, 40, is charged with aggravated assault after police say he entered the Peace and Justice Center on Harvard near UNM Saturday with two knives.

Witnesses say he was dressed in robes, speaking in tongues and stabbing a figurine he has holding.

Jaekel then ran across the street into a clothing store. No one was hurt. He remains in jail.

With news video.

Knee-deep beer cans hamper firefighters battling house fire

2012-01-25T06:04:00.004Z

Hundreds of empty beer cans and other debris made it difficult for firefighters to knock down a late-night house fire and probably cost a Tempe man his home. Crews were called out to a house in Tempe, Arizona shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday. The flames were already going strong inside the house when they got there.

When they opened the door, firefighters were confronted with a sea of beer cans that poured out the entryway. They said the cans, possibly more than 1,000 of them, came up to their knees in some places. Additional debris in the house made things even more difficult. The homeowner, a 30-year-old man, was not home at the time. He said he might have left a space heater running when he went out. Firefighters believe that space heater might have sparked the fire. An investigator will have to confirm that.

The man said he did have smoke detectors in the house, but had he been home, they would not have done him any good. He said they did not have batteries. As for the cans, the homeowner said he was simply holding on to them. Fire crews on the scene said it was a good thing the homeowner was not there when the fire broke out because between the beer cans and debris and the bars on the windows, it was an extremely dangerous and difficult situation.

"He's very lucky," Brown said. "Especially if he had been upstairs, he would have had a hard time coming down the stairs because all of the heat and fire was going up the the stairs. He's very lucky he wasn't home." No injuries were reported, but the home probably is a total loss.

With news video.

Elephant herd grieves for baby who died of a heart defect

2012-01-25T06:03:00.003Z

This is the moving moment a grieving herd of elephants said their goodbyes to a little calf who tragically died of a serious heart defect. Baby Lola was due to be the world’s first elephant to have heart surgery to remove a blood clot.

But the three-month-old calf sadly passed away on Saturday during a preliminary CT scan. Keepers at Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich decided to return the baby’s body to the elephant enclosure so mum Panang, 22, could grieve in peace.

The rest of the herd then took it in turns to nuzzle the animal’s lifeless body. Lola’s death will come as a blow to the staff at the zoo, who had all been charmed by the baby elephant.

Lola in happier times.

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Speaking last week, zoo director Andreas Knieriem said: “The specialists say that this very difficult operation is Lola’s only hope, so we must do it. We have all fallen for her.”

85-year-old woman fights off moose with a shovel

2012-01-25T06:02:00.003Z

She may be 85 years old and weigh under 100 pounds, but an Alaska woman is being hailed as a hero after fighting off a moose. Dorothea Taylor was waiting in a pickup truck as her husband, George Murphy, 82, went to round up their dogs from their morning run when she heard the pets barking loudly.

She got out of the truck, saw a moose strike something with its hooves — and immediately knew something was wrong. "I thought he was trying to kill Fellar, the old dog," she said. She raced back to her vehicle, grabbed a shovel and took a swing at the moose, who was attacking the dog.

With a few more swings — and the help of a dog — she managed to get the moose to back away. "Then I saw it wasn't Fellar the moose was after at all," she said. "He was striking over the top of Fellar to get George." She immediately tried to stanch her husband’s bleeding as a good Samaritan dialed 911.

George Murphy was rushed to an Anchorage hospital, where he is resting with a gash to his head and a few broken ribs. And he couldn't be more proud of his wife of 40 years. "Jeez, that was a pretty hard thing for anyone to do, to walk up on a moose like that," he said. "Heck, all she had was a shovel."

Chinese doctors remove volleyball from dolphin's stomach

2012-01-25T06:01:00.002Z

Doctors operated on an unusual patient, when they came to the rescue of a dolphin that had swallowed a toy volleyball. A medical team removed the obstruction from the stomach of five-year-old Jiang Bo in Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province, after a long-armed basketball player who volunteered to help failed to reach it. The procedure at the No. 2 Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University lasted three hours, with the animal sedated, officials said.

The obstruction placed the aquatic mammal's life at risk, but medical staff were reluctant to cut open the animal to reach it, concerned about how the wound would heal. Doctors managed to drill a hole in the ball and tried to pull it out after attaching a length of cord. But just when this seemed likely to succeed, the cord broke. Undaunted, the veterinary team tried again, this time using medical steel wire, and finally managed to yank out the ball. The procedure had been expected to take less than 30 minutes, but in the event lasted three hours.

YouTube link.

"We can say that Jiang Bo's life is no longer at risk," said an official with the aquarium, surnamed Meng. "But of course he will require long-term recovery treatment. We'll give him post-operation care and adjust his diet." Jiang Bo was returned to the aquarium. Before turning to doctors, the aquarium had made an appeal for people with long arms to reach down into the dolphin's stomach to retrieve the ball. This strategy has been used successfully in similar incidents elsewhere.

Meng Da, a professional basketball player with a Jiangsu Province club, rushed to the aquarium on Wednesday, but his efforts were in vain. Although 1.95-metres tall, Meng couldn't quite reach the ball. 2.26-metre tall Zhang Mengyong, the tallest man in the province, was on standby to make an attempt, should the doctors have failed. Jiang Bo swallowed the ball while playing with it. Staff saw him drag the ball deep down into the pool, but when he resurfaced, it was gone.

Zoo puts glitter in gorilla poo

2012-01-25T06:00:00.003Z

Primate keepers at a Lancashire zoo have come up with a sparkling idea to help them measure reproductive hormone levels in one of their female gorillas. Njema, who is 18 and came to Blackpool in 2002, has not yet had any babies despite being young and healthy and mating with resident silverback Bukavu.

Zoo staff are using child-friendly glitter mixed with yogurt as a means of being able to identify her droppings. They can then send it off to specialist labs for analysis. Peter Dillingham, animal manager at the zoo, said: "We would have hoped to have had a positive pregnancy test by now.

"We know that Bukavu is fertile as he fathered the first baby Western Lowland Gorilla ever to be born at Blackpool Zoo, who will turn two in May. Surprisingly, you can get a lot of information about hormone levels from a gorilla's faeces but we needed to be able to tell which was Njema's. Our first idea was sweetcorn, which worked until our gorillas realised it is just as edible the second time round."

Mr Dillingham said staff checked with the zoo's vet and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria that using the glitter would be safe. It is part of the Blackpool Zoo's policy to have as little human contact with the animals as possible and not to remove them from the group for veterinary checks unless it is absolutely necessary. The zoo is currently home to five Western Lowland gorillas.

Fight

2012-01-24T06:08:00.002Z

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Crow enjoys a bath

2012-01-24T06:07:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Acting dog showcases his range of facial expressions

2012-01-24T06:06:00.005Z

He's better than Roger Moore.

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Cat takes on hungry alligator

2012-01-24T06:05:00.001Z

YouTube link.

I've never been one for blowing my own trumpet

2012-01-24T06:04:00.015Z

But hey, yesterday, which was actually the seventh anniversary of me starting this page, not that I thought to mention it, I was featured on Boing Boings's Gweek 036: Grab bag of comics, book, gadgets, apps, and websites we love, hosted by Boing Boing co-founder, Mark Frauenfelder.

While I obviously suggest you listen to the full podcast, this page is discussed at almost exactly 50 minutes in. By my recollection, this is the 6th or 7th time over the past 5 years or so that Mark has gone out of his way to recommend my humble blog, aside from the many links he's posted pointing in this direction from Boing Boing. Thanks Mark!

Sometimes photos can be deceptive

2012-01-24T06:04:00.006Z

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Indian minister gives up laces after shoe-tying row

2012-01-24T06:03:00.003Z

An Indian minister has pledged to wear only slip-on shoes after a young man was shown tying his laces in public. Gauri Shankar Bisen, a minister in Madhya Pradesh state, admitted he had made a mistake and apologised. Mr Bisen, who was attending an event at Chhindwara, said doctors had advised him not to bend forwards and the son of a family friend had tied his laces.

Mr Bisen accused rival politicians of playing the caste card by wrongly saying the boy was of a local tribe. After television channels showed footage of the shoe-tying, Mr Bisen said two sons of a friend had accompanied him to the function. "I was sitting on the dais with my shoelaces untied. The boys noticed it and one of them rushed to me and tied the laces.

"The boy knew that I have had a bypass surgery recently and another hernia operation. Doctors have advised me not to bend down too much." He added: "I admit it was my mistake and I am sorry for it. I swear that from now onwards, I will not wear any shoes with laces. I have specially brought from Pune six pairs of shoes without laces."

YouTube link.

He accused the state opposition Congress party of politicising the issue and "lying" that the boy belonged to a tribal community. "He doesn't, he is... from the same caste as me. We have family relations," Mr Bisen said. Congress minister Kamal Nath, who was at the event, said the shoe-tying was "the most obnoxious episode" he had seen in 31 years of representing his constituency.

Chinese army play lethal game of pass-the-parcel

2012-01-24T06:02:00.003Z

According to the training instructors of the People’s Liberation Army, it is an exercise that sharpens co-ordination, teamwork and mental strength. Six soldiers standing in a circle toss a satchel of live explosives between them, counting down until it detonates.

Just before it does, the last soldier drops it into a hole and the six men dive for cover. Any miscalculation would be fatal; there is enough explosive in the bag to blast a plume of earth high in the air. The exercise was staged during an exhibition drill in Hong Kong last month, as the island’s chief executive, Sir Donald Tsang, inspected the troops.

LiveLeak link.

An elite garrison of 6,000 PLA troops, including three battalions of infantry, one artillery battery and a special forces company, is based in San Wai, a district of Hong Kong near the border with the mainland. In the past two years, the PLA said, the garrison has been upgraded with new weapons and vehicles to "better protect" the island. The soldiers who took part have an average age of 22 and can speak both Chinese and English, the PLA said, with one officer saying that the tasks were designed to improve “psychological strength” and to forge “fighting spirit” through the “near-impossible tasks”.

It is said the exercise would help the soldiers remain calm if they were confronted with a real emergency. "I'm pleased to see the high-spirited, well-trained and highly disciplined soldiers as well as the advanced weapons and equipment. It is obvious that the state can shoulder the responsibility of defending Hong Kong, and I feel really assured," said Sir Donald.

It's officially now okay for comedians to say 'mong' on TV

2012-01-24T06:01:00.007Z

Media regulator Ofcom has rejected three complaints about comedian Ricky Gervais's use of the word "mong" during his Channel 4 show Science. Speaking about Britain's Got Talent singer Susan Boyle in October, he said :"She would not be where she is today if it wasn't for the fact that she looked like such a ******* mong." Mong is a slang term used to refer to people with Down's Syndrome. It is derived from the word "mongrel."

He went on: "When she first came on the telly, I went: 'Is that a mong?' I don't mean she has Down's Syndrome, by the way. No, no! That would be offensive. That word doesn't mean that any more." Channel 4 claimed that using the word was justified in the context of late-night humour.

It said the comment was not "directed at Susan Boyle as having a disability but at those who refuse to acknowledge that meanings of words can adapt over time". The company said it needed to experiment and defended the entertainer's right to freedom of expression. Ofcom said in its ruling that Gervais was exploring the interpretations and meanings of certain provocative words.

He was examining the changes in their associations over time, with a focus on his assertion that the word "mong" had lost its derogatory association with Down's Syndrome. The regulator said: "This involved Ricky Gervais evoking the word's offensiveness to some extent, and challenging the relationship between the offence and the word itself. We considered, therefore, that the nature and focus of the routine provided a clear editorial context for his use of the term."

Residents complain as rubbish heap towers above four-storey houses

2012-01-24T06:01:00.003Z

Residents in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, live next to a tip where the rubbish has grown higher than their four-storey homes. The tip is run by Refuse Derived Fuel.

It has been told to scale down the mess by the Environment Agency but has so far failed to meet the deadlines. Residents living nearby have reported rat sightings and claim the massive mountain of trash is a health hazard, as well as an eyesore.

Sally Round said: 'It gets really dusty, really filthy, our windows get black and we wake up looking at a tip.' Builder David Round, 34, said the piles were blocking out the sunlight. 'I have to switch the lights on in my house at times when I shouldn’t because of the shadow of that massive pile,' he added.

RDF acknowledged the rubbish was causing a problem but said it needed more time to clear the backlog and was being 'held up by bureaucracy'. Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd shreds and dries combustible solid waste and turns it into fuel, reducing the amount going to landfill.

Video.

Mother, 28, banned from town's nightclubs for being 'too old to wear skimpy outfits'

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000Z

A daring dresser whose skimpy outfits have seen her refused entry at top city nightspots in Worcester says she is being treated unfairly. Lisa Woodman cannot understand why her choice of dancewear does not meet with the approval of nightclub bosses. The full-time mother-of-four says she only gets to let her hair down once a fortnight – usually a Saturday night – with her sister Sarah Woodman. They usually start the night in Lloyds bar in Broad Street, but head for the nearest clubs after 1am – either Mode, Tramps, or Velvet, all run by the same company.

But on every occasion for the last few months, the two have queued only to be told they cannot go inside. They did manage to get in once to Mode, where Lisa Woodman says, according to one of the bouncers, she is never allowed in “because of what I am wearing”. “What’s wrong with what I wear?” said the 28-year-old. “I’m not hurting anyone am I? I am covering everything, and I just want to have a good time.

Photos from SWNS.

“We never cause any trouble and we’ve never been rude to the bouncers.” Miss Woodman, of Gillam Street in Rainbow Hill, Worcester, says she complained to someone she believed was Mode’s manager over the phone, but has never been formally given a reason why she is seemingly banned. The nightclub say they have received no formal complaint, but said she was welcome to get in touch. “I just want to be treated with a bit of respect,” said Miss Woodman.

Dean Hill, the nightclubs’ director, said the clubs had “a responsible door policy”. “We expect people to make an effort and we have a dress code of smart casual,” he said. It is the venue managers who are on the doors, they make decisions on the doors based on our policies. They make judgements based on someone’s behaviour, their dress, if they’re abusive, and whether they have ID. At the end of the day, it’s private premises and we reserve the right to refuse entry for anyone.”

Words of wisdom

2012-01-23T06:09:00.004Z

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Davina McCall becomes seemingly possessed

2012-01-23T06:08:00.005Z

YouTube link.

Lady accidentally leaves something in road

2012-01-23T06:07:00.003Z

LiveLeak link.

Meanwhile at Paddy's Irish Public House

2012-01-23T06:06:00.002Z

Nude sister came to rescue of hit-and-run suspect

2012-01-23T06:05:00.005Z

A 36-year-old Thai woman stripped naked and climbed on top of her sister’s car to prevent police from arresting her sister for an alleged hit-and-run accident. Sukholtha Khemthong’s nude spectacle at a Central Road, Buriram tied up what traffic was there at around 5 a.m. and drew catcalls from bystanders and embarrassed confusion from male officers who didn’t want to be seen dragging her bare portly figure from the roof of her sister Suthathip Khemthong’s Mazda.

Shouting drunkenly at officers that she shouldn’t be arrested as she a member of the “red shirt” anti-establishment movement that backs the current national government, Sukholtha was finally coaxed into her clothing by female onlookers.

The incident occurred after 45-year-old Johann Mitterpleininger complained to police he was hit while driving his motorbike on Soi Buakow by a hit-and-run driver. Using his description of the car, police located and pulled over Suthathip who, along with her sister, were driving home after a night of drinking and partying in South Pattaya.

Suthathip tried to persuade officers she hadn’t fled the accident scene and had planned to return after dropping off her sister at their hotel. Officers weren’t buying the story and locked up the driver, who apologized for her sister, who she said often acts out when drunk.

Giant pair of legs ordered to be taken down from outside of house

2012-01-23T06:04:00.004Z

A pair of female legs in retro stockings are “stepping out” into controversy in one New York town. Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr own the legs and share a historic home in the middle of quaint Sag Harbor’s historic district, where the eye catching legs are on permanent display, just blocks from Main Street. “The legs have become a monument in Sag Harbor. People say ‘turn at the legs,’” said Lehr.

The legs are 16-feet-tall and they were raised even higher when they were perched on a planter. “The ruling was ridiculous,” said Vered. After multiple hearings and debate, the village ruled that the legs’ size and location are not in compliance with code.

The Village of Sag Harbor Zoning Board of Appeals released a statement saying, “It’s about setting a precedent for building structures in a very small village on very small lots … preserving the fabric of the village.” Sculptor Larry Rivers died in 2002 but not before creating the legs and many other headline grabbing works. Many locals, fisherman, artists and writers had strong opinions about the artwork.

“How can this hurt anyone and other than making the town have a little sense of humour and warmth and humanity? I think it’s crazy to take it down,” said Christine Bellini, a resident. “People want a certain look for the town and the village, it has that quaint whaler’s feeling to it,” said Hope Marxe, another resident. The village has ordered the legs to be taken down.

With news video.

Strip club launches 'Alibi' aftershave to recreate scent of the office

2012-01-23T06:03:00.001Z

A range of perfumes and colognes launched by a strip club aims to recreate the scents of commonly-used excuses given by men who are trying to explain to their other halves where they have been all evening.

The Alibi range can mask the smell of a heavy night with aromas linked to more wholesome activities.

For example, My Car Broke Down is said to recreate the scent of fuel, burnt rubber, grease and steel, while I Was Working Late packs the odour of coffee, wool suits, cigarettes and ink. The three fragrances, which cost £24 a bottle, were launched by South African lap dancing club Mavericks, which said it never expected the idea to take off.

But it has been inundated with orders from countries in the Far East and Europe – including Britain. ‘Men seem desperate to get their hands on this stuff,’ said the Cape Town club’s boss Shane Harrison.

Chinese blogger rescues 1,137 dogs intended to be killed for food from back of truck

2012-01-23T06:02:00.003Z

More than 1,100 dogs destined for a slaughterhouse were rescued this week by an animal-loving blogger in Chongqing, China. The 1,137 dogs that had been cramped into cages stacked on top of each other onto the back of a flatbed truck were intercepted with the help of a blogger, who goes by the surname Peng, as they were on their way to be made into food.

"Now we urgently need more professional volunteers to come and take care of the dogs as many people are going home as the Chinese New Year is approaching," Peng said. The dogs were found to be in poor health and deplorable conditions - with some of the unlucky ones already dead in their cages.

By Thursday, 16 dogs had died while another 30 were rushed to a veterinary hospital in Chongqing. One generous activist volunteered a 1,000 square-foot warehouse to keep the animals as organizers try to deal with the next steps in getting the poor pooches to safety. Peng estimated that about 20 percent of the dogs will likely be adopted by locals since some of them are desirable breeds like chow and husky.

However, many of the remaining dogs face unknown futures as adequate housing is hard to come by. "The association plans to rent another building to put other sick dogs under quarantine in the next few days to ensure most dogs can survive,"
Chen Mingcai, head of the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association said.

All-white blackbird is now four-years old

2012-01-23T06:01:00.009Z

This unusual blackbird is attracting bird watchers to a Nottinghamshire country park. The bird is leucistic, which is a genetic mutation that prevents pigments from being deposited normally in its feathers. It has been residing for the last four years in the woodland of Rufford Abbey Country Park.

Each year, observers say, it has steadily shed its black feathers for white feathers. Park rangers took this picture of the blackbird - which is now completely white with no visible pigmented feathers - in the summer of 2011.

Leucistic birds are often very vulnerable to predators, because of their bright white plumage. So the park's managers are urging birdwatchers to keep an eye out for this unusual blackbird. Site manager John Clegg said: "This bird has been steadily turning whiter over the years and last summer it was completely white.

YouTube link.

"It has become quite a character at the park in recent years. It tends to appear in the warmer months and we have not seen it for a few months but hope it will return here soon." Most leucistic birds have some spots or patches of colouration in their feathers from other pigments, so this is a particularly unusual specimen.

Police who visit hero's house to give him an award sniff out cannabis farm

2012-01-23T06:01:00.008Z

Two police officers arrested a man for growing cannabis - moments after telling him he had won an award from their chief constable. Adrian Mailer, 33, was hand-picked to get a commendation from Tayside Police boss Justine Curran for giving first aid to a nine-year-old boy who was injured in an accident. But when officers went to his home to deliver the good news, they caught a whiff of Mailer's dope farm and arrested him. A police source said: "The officers were there to tell him that he had been selected to receive an award.

"Mailer had helped out when this young boy was severely injured after he was involved in an accident while driving an off-road buggy. But the officers noticed a pungent smell of cannabis from another room. Mailer went from hero to villain in a split-second and was nicked on the spot. It goes without saying that the award was withdrawn." The officers found a tent inside his bedroom in which cannabis plants were being cultivated.

At Perth Sheriff Court last week Mailer admitted growing the cannabis. Prosecutor Helen Nisbet said: "Officers came across a tent, within which they found three cannabis plants. They found fertiliser, lamps and seedlings within a cupboard." Mailer's lawyer Mark Alder said: "He grew the plants for his own personal use." His brush with the law came about after he helped a boy who shattered his skull when he crashed a petrol-powered dune buggy.

The child, who was not wearing a helmet and cannot be named, was driving the off-road vehicle at high speed when he lost control and plunged down an embankment. He was knocked unconscious and Mailer, who was first to arrive on the scene, called paramedics. Perth Sheriff Court was told quick medical care helped the boy to make a full recovery. Sheriff Michael Fletcher fined Mailer £450.

Man who wanted to live like Bear Grylls in Scottish wilderness for a year died after less than a month

2012-01-23T06:00:00.006Z

A man found dead in a remote bothy is thought to have been an adventurer who hoped to spend a year living alone in the Scottish wilderness. David Austin, 29, from Derby, was found dead in a hut by a railway worker a mile south of one of Scotland’s most remote stations, Rannoch in Highland Perthshire, on Hogmanay. His body is believed to have been lying there for several weeks when it was discovered, and a post-mortem examination found there were no suspicious circumstances behind his death. Mr Austin is thought to have told family in November that he was heading to the Highlands to live out his dream of surviving in the wilderness.

He planned to live rough on a year-long adventure, using techniques like those used by adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls, despite being urged to reconsider by family and friends. He is understood to have attended several courses in outdoor survival and bushcraft skills over the past couple of years with a view to realising a long-held dream of living alone in the wild. Mr Austin is thought to not even have taken a mobile phone with him. A number of personal possessions including a knife and a daily journal were found next to his body. It is believed he may have died of hypothermia. After leaving Derby, Mr Austin is thought to have travelled to Glasgow and then on to Corrour – which is the UK’s highest mainline station – on the West Highland line.

He is then believed to have spent his 29th birthday on 3 December alone outdoors, in the first heavy snowfall of the season. A hostel employee at the Loch Ossian SYHA hostel on Rannoch Moor, said: “He didn’t stay here. He told me he’d been camping in the woods on the north side of the loch that weekend, then he just mosied over to have a look at the hostel.” Mary McArthur, one of only four permanent residents in the Rannoch station area, said: “The story we heard was that he had taken a year out from work and was going to live off the land. And he was supposed to have walked down the line towards Rannoch station so perhaps he decided to take shelter in the bothy.

“But what happened after that, who knows? We heard he was well equipped and knew what he was doing. We heard there were no suspicious circumstances but weren’t sure if it was hypothermia, or a health complaint. At the end of the day, it’s someone’s son and a sad way to go in the middle of nowhere all alone.” His body was found in a remote bothy used by track inspection workers. A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed the man had been identified as a 29-year-old man from the east Midlands, and that there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances.

Someone's got talent

2012-01-22T06:08:00.004Z

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Indian man jumps under speeding train for fun

2012-01-22T06:07:00.003Z

LiveLeak link.

Abused three-legged dog learns to surf

2012-01-22T06:06:00.003Z

Onyx, a young Labrador Retriever was involved in a horrific case of animal abuse in September. Animal control officers said the dog's owners tried to amputate his hind leg without anesthesia after he was hit by a car. He has now made a remarkable recovery. He runs on his long lanky legs, tail wagging side to side. Onyx is still trying to find his balance. You can call it puppy clumsiness, but look a little closer because this pup isn't fetching waves on all fours.

"He's a whole new dog. You couldn't even imagine that this dog went through what he went through," said Dr. Daniel Slaton from Westlake Village Animal Hospital, Los Angeles. Onyx was found in September, tied to a wooden post with a bloody severed leg. "It literally looked like it had been chopped off with garden shears," continued Slaton. Onyx's only chance of survival was two hours away. Dr. Daniel Slaton is an orthopedic specialist at Westlake Village Animal Hospital, in a suburb of Los Angeles. "I remember it distinctly, the night he got here. I didn't think he was going to make it. I thought he was going to pass before I could even go to surgery.

YouTube link.

He was just so dehydrated, septic, his body was in shock because of the infection on his leg. I had never seen anything like it," he continued. It has been been five months since Dr. Slaton saved Onyx's life by amputating his hind leg. Slaton fell in love with Onyx and later adopted him. While Onyx may only have three legs, he is not 'ruffing' it by any means. "It's the biggest rags to riches story you can get for a dog," explained Slaton. Onyx is living the life of luxury at The Barkley Pet Hotel and Day Spa. He spends his time in doggy day care and taking surfing lessons. "When I first got with him, I thought, a three-legged dog surfing?" said Larry Brambles, Onyx's Surf Dog Handler.

It turns out, Onyx has incredible balance. "He is such a happy dog now, running and jumping and wagging his tail. He just can't wait to get into the water," continued Brambles. When Onyx isn't preparing to paddle out to sea, the pampered pooch is turning his story of survival into something much bigger. He is training to be a therapy dog so he can be a companion for people with disabilities. "We thought he would be a good story for kids who have lost limbs and are handicapped. There is a brighter side and you can actually live and have a good quality of life," explained Slaton. The man who Animal Control officers say amputated Onyx's leg took a plea deal in court. Alberto Castenada was sentenced to one year in jail.

Man says wife was punched and strangled by ghost

2012-01-22T06:05:00.002Z

A Fond du Lac man was arrested after he told police a “ghost” punched and strangled his wife. Michael F. West, 41, of 281 Fond du Lac Ave., was charged Wednesday with strangulation and misdemeanors of battery, disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer.

At about 8 p.m. on Jan. 15, police arrived at West’s home to find the woman crying and bleeding from her nose. According to allegations contained in the criminal complaint: The woman was upset after West blamed her for the house being foreclosed. When the woman pointed out that she works while West sits on the couch, he became angry.

West strangled the woman twice. He then told her to call the police. As she went to grab the phone, West punched her repeatedly in the face. West told police the woman got her injuries from falling. When asked specifically about the neck injuries, West responded, “A ghost did it.”

Officers had to struggle with an intoxicated West to place him in handcuffs after he made the ghost comment. The woman said West has made comments about killing her. West is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on $1,000 bail. He was ordered to stay sober while the case is pending.

Woman says rat has sex with her and withdrew money from her bank account

2012-01-22T06:04:00.003Z

A 'rat' is reportedly extracting conjugal pleasures from a Zimbabwean woman. Elizabeth Ndodayemzini from Bulawayo claims that she would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like she was having sex. She said when she tries to grab the "man" all she sees is a rat. "I try to push whoever will be having sex with me and try to grab him and all I see is a rat on top of the bed," she explained.

She said the rat would stare at her. "It does not run away like ordinary rats, just looks at me and the next thing it would go under the pillow shivering in a strange manner," she said. The alleged rat did not only seek sexual pleasures from the woman but but it even had the guts to 'steal' her money from the house and 'withdrew' some from her bank account.

She said the strange things started in 2010. Ndodayemzini said whenever the rat menace starts she becomes weak. "I have tried to kill it a number of times. I even asked some guys I share a flat with if the same things happened to them, but they said they have not had an encounter with a rat. My money from the house just disappears and at times even from my bank account," she said.

"I wonder what's really happening to me and I need someone to help me." Ndodayemzini is a divorcee and founder of Fountain of Hope, a charity organisation for vulnerable children. Ndodayemzini, a devout Christian, said she has tried consulting different prophets and has attended many prayer sessions which were all in vain. "I have been to ever corner seeking help, but nothing has come up," she said.

Man arrested after confronting girlfriend for 'casting spells'

2012-01-22T06:03:00.003Z

A Florida man was charged with assault on Tuesday after he admitted to confronting his girlfriend over the possibility of her trying to "cast a spell on him." Rubin Leonard Hugee, 29, is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond. He is facing charges of aggravated assault and battery.

Riviera Beach Police officers were dispatched to the 700 block of West 5th Street, Lake Park on Tuesday where they found Hugee and his girlfriend of seven years standing in the yard of a home. The girlfriend was holding her hands to her face and crying, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The 28-year-old woman, whose name is withheld in the affidavit, told officers she had gone to her godmother's house seeking relationship advice when Hugee showed up and began to argue. She said that Hugee grabbed her by her hair, grabbed a knife and pulled her to the front door. The woman's godmother told officers that while Hugee held the knife, he was saying that "he was going to kill" his girlfriend, according to the affidavit.

After he was taken into custody, Hugee said his girlfriend's godmother is a "Root Lady" and that he went to her home because of the possibility that his girlfriend was trying to "cast a spell on him," the affidavit stated. He admitted to getting into an argument and grabbing his girlfriend, but denies ever holding knife and threatening her with it.

Man shoots nail into brain without noticing

2012-01-22T06:02:00.004Z

A suburban Chicago man accidentally shot a 3.25in (8.25cm) nail into his skull but is recovering after doctors successfully removed it from the centre of his brain. Dante Autullo, 34, was in his workshop when a nail gun recoiled near his head.

But he had no idea the nail had entered his brainuntil the next day, when he began feeling nauseous. Doctors told Mr Autullo that the nail came within millimetres of the area used for motor function. His fiancee, Gail Glaenzer, said that he was in good spirits after the two-hour surgery to remove the nail at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

"He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he's talking normal, he remembers everything," she said. "It's amazing, a miracle." Ms Glaenzer said she had no idea the nail had entered his skull when she cleaned a cut on his forehead. She convinced him to go to the hospital after he felt nauseous for much of Wednesday.

LiveLeak link.

Mr Autullo thought that the nail gun had simply hit his forehead, but realised later that when the gun came in contact with his head, the sensor recognised a flat surface and fired. While there are pain-sensitive nerves on a person's skull, there are none within the brain itself. Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said the part of the skull that was removed for surgery had to be replaced with a titanium mesh amid worries that it might have been contaminated by the nail.

Parents kept their child's sex secret for five years to raise him “gender neutral’

2012-01-22T06:01:00.003Z

A couple who raised their child as "gender neutral" for five years so the infant's "real personality" could shine through have finally revealed he is a boy. Beck Laxton, 46, and partner Kieran Cooper, 44, decided not to reveal baby Sasha's gender to the world so he would not be influenced by society's prejudices and preconceptions. They referred to their child as "The Infant" and only allowed him to play with "gender-neutral toys" in their television-free home. For the first five years of his life Sasha alternated between girls' and boys' outfits, leaving friends, playmates and relatives guessing.

But the couple have finally revealed his sex after it became harder to conceal when Sasha started primary school. Miss Laxton, a web editor, said that she thought gender stereotyping was "fundamentally stupid". "I wanted to avoid all that stereotyping," she said. Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes? It's like horoscopes: what could be stupider than thinking there are 12 types of personality that depend on when you were born? It's so idiotic. Gender affects what children wear and what they can play with, and that shapes the kind of person they become."

Photo from SWNS.

She admitted that their stance had led them to suffering some ostracisation and she had been branded a "loony" by other parents. But she felt it was worth it. "I discovered later that I'd been described as 'that loony woman who doesn't know whether her baby is a boy or a girl', she said. "And I could never persuade anyone in the group to come around for coffee. They just thought I was mental. I don't think I'd do it if I thought it was going to make him unhappy, but at the moment he's not really bothered either way. We haven't had any difficult scenarios yet."

The family, from in Sawston, Cambs., were so desperate not to prejudice Sasha's life with gender they didn't ask midwives his sex until 30 minutes after he was born. Only a handful of immediate family members were told of the baby's gender. Finally the secret got too hard to keep and Beck and Kieran were forced to reveal Sasha's sex when he started school. Sasha wears a "ruched-sleeved" girl's shirt as part of his school uniform, and has been banned from sporting combat trousers. The youngster is also encouraged to wear flowery tops at weekends.

Jumped-up security guards take exception to man photographing top-secret crisp research facility

2012-01-22T06:00:00.010Z

Filmed outside the Golden Wonder factory in Scunthorpe last week. Apparently the two security guards have now resigned.

YouTube link.

Full story here.

Retired Beefeater 'ejected from pub for speaking German'

2012-01-22T06:00:00.003Z

A former Beefeater at the Tower of London has reportedly been thrown out of his local pub for talking German to his daughter. Tom Sharp, 71, said he was talking to his half-German daughter in the Packhorse pub in the Peterborough village of Northborough when their conversation slipped into German. Mr Sharp, who also served with the Royal Signals for 26 years during which he met his wife Anni in Germany, said the pub's landlady flew into a rage when she heard the language being used on Wednesday evening.

He claims she told him: "We are white, you are English so you speak English in my pub otherwise get out." Other drinkers who witnessed the row and spoke up for Mr Sharp and his 49-year-old daughter Nichole Falconer were also ejected, he said. "I honestly couldn't believe she was telling us we couldn't speak German. Now and again the odd German phrase slips up – it is my daughter's mother tongue. It is natural," he said.

"It's not as if we were always speaking German and being rude. I could understand if it was all the time and looking at her as if we were plotting, but we weren't. I think it is a sad reflection of her attitude to life that she can be upset about speaking a language she can't understand. It's outrageous. She was just like a mad woman completely possessed." The incident has been reported to police as a hate crime.

A witness said: "It's disgraceful. Everyone in the pub was horrified. We all left and I don't think many people will be going back." Mr Sharp, who was widowed two years ago, said it was the worst racism his daughter, an employment lawyer, had faced. "I would hate to think what my wife's family would think of this. But it's even more mind boggling to suggest that I am not patriotic if that what her problem was," he added.

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2012-01-21T06:13:00.000Z

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Kaylee blows out a candle

2012-01-21T06:12:00.002Z

YouTube link.

She's an expert.