Around the weird:news of the bizarre
- Thread starter Desertwind
- Start date
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I said that the Cheeseburger egg rolls and Cheeseburger salad were the best, and Cheeseburger Cones and
Cheeseburger pizza are the worst.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Comcast Corp. has fired an employee for sleeping on a customer's couch during a house call after video of the incident became a minor Internet sensation.
Philadelphia-based Comcast also said in a statement that it had apologized to customer Brian Finkelstein of Washington, D.C., for the "unsatisfactory customer experience."
Finkelstein posted video of the sleeping technician and told this story on YouTube.com, a site that lets users share videos:
His Comcast Internet connection had worked only intermittently since he moved to a new apartment June 1. A Comcast employee who came to Finkelstein's home June 14 to replace the modem called the company for help. Put on hold for more than an hour, he caught some shut-eye while he waited.
Finkelstein, a Georgetown University law student, picked up his video camera, added an Eels song with the lyrics "I need some sleep," and sent it to YouTube.
The 58-second video has been viewed more than 227,000 times since it was posted Tuesday.
Finkelstein told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an e-mail message Friday that his service has been fixed.
This is not the first customer-service issue to embarrass Comcast. In August, the company said it had fired two employees in the Chicago area for changing a woman's name on her bill to a derogatory term after she repeatedly complained about poor service.
Comcast said that providing a positive customer experience was its top priority. It said that, each year, it interacted with customers more than 225 million times, taking more than 200 million phone calls and sending out trucks 25 million times.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A man made a mockery of the justice system when he tried to get removed from a jury pool in a death penalty case by claiming he is a heroin addict and a killer, a judge said.
Benjamin Ratliffe, 21, of Columbus, was charged with contempt of court and obstruction of justice and ordered to spend a night in jail.
Ratliffe filled out a questionnaire form for potential jurors and professed to having a "bad jonesin' for heroin." When asked if he had ever fired a weapon, he wrote, "Yes. I killed someone with it, of course. Right."
Ratliffe doesn't believe in the death penalty and wanted to be excused from the trial, said his attorney, Scott Weisman.
The potential jurors were being screened for the trial of Quarran S. Covington, who is charged with aggravated murder in the slayings of two Georgia men in May 2005.
In court, witnesses said, Ratliffe shrugged his shoulders when questioned by Covington's attorney and refused to answer any questions seriously.
On Thursday, Ratliffe apologized to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch, who had ordered him to jail the day before.
"He didn't try to defend his responses, and he lied under oath and he was insubordinate," said Lynch, who ultimately removed Ratliffe from the jury pool and dismissed the charges against him. "You do not make a mockery of the process."
Cheeseburger pizza are the worst.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Comcast Corp. has fired an employee for sleeping on a customer's couch during a house call after video of the incident became a minor Internet sensation.
Philadelphia-based Comcast also said in a statement that it had apologized to customer Brian Finkelstein of Washington, D.C., for the "unsatisfactory customer experience."
Finkelstein posted video of the sleeping technician and told this story on YouTube.com, a site that lets users share videos:
His Comcast Internet connection had worked only intermittently since he moved to a new apartment June 1. A Comcast employee who came to Finkelstein's home June 14 to replace the modem called the company for help. Put on hold for more than an hour, he caught some shut-eye while he waited.
Finkelstein, a Georgetown University law student, picked up his video camera, added an Eels song with the lyrics "I need some sleep," and sent it to YouTube.
The 58-second video has been viewed more than 227,000 times since it was posted Tuesday.
Finkelstein told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an e-mail message Friday that his service has been fixed.
This is not the first customer-service issue to embarrass Comcast. In August, the company said it had fired two employees in the Chicago area for changing a woman's name on her bill to a derogatory term after she repeatedly complained about poor service.
Comcast said that providing a positive customer experience was its top priority. It said that, each year, it interacted with customers more than 225 million times, taking more than 200 million phone calls and sending out trucks 25 million times.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A man made a mockery of the justice system when he tried to get removed from a jury pool in a death penalty case by claiming he is a heroin addict and a killer, a judge said.
Benjamin Ratliffe, 21, of Columbus, was charged with contempt of court and obstruction of justice and ordered to spend a night in jail.
Ratliffe filled out a questionnaire form for potential jurors and professed to having a "bad jonesin' for heroin." When asked if he had ever fired a weapon, he wrote, "Yes. I killed someone with it, of course. Right."
Ratliffe doesn't believe in the death penalty and wanted to be excused from the trial, said his attorney, Scott Weisman.
The potential jurors were being screened for the trial of Quarran S. Covington, who is charged with aggravated murder in the slayings of two Georgia men in May 2005.
In court, witnesses said, Ratliffe shrugged his shoulders when questioned by Covington's attorney and refused to answer any questions seriously.
On Thursday, Ratliffe apologized to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch, who had ordered him to jail the day before.
"He didn't try to defend his responses, and he lied under oath and he was insubordinate," said Lynch, who ultimately removed Ratliffe from the jury pool and dismissed the charges against him. "You do not make a mockery of the process."
Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
needmorecsi more friggin' weird stories- crazy loony tunes psople 
and Dyamno as usual on snake dandruff-
This is a cute story- and a bit sad- poor turtleold turtle
176-year-old tortoise dies of heart failure
Syndney, Australia--A 176-yr.-old tortoise believed to be one of the world'
s oldest living creatures has died in an Australian zoo The giant tortoise, known as Harriet, died at the Queensland-based Australia Zoo owned by "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and his wife Terri. senior veterinarian Jon Hanger told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Harriet died of heart failure. Harriet was long reputed to have been one of three tortoises taken from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin on his historic 1835 voyage abroad the HMS Beagle. Historical records don't prove the claim. Some scientists cast doubt on the story, with DNA tests (call Grissom) confirming Harriet's age but showing she came from an island Darwin never visited
Source- The Associated Press
and Dyamno as usual on snake dandruff-This is a cute story- and a bit sad- poor turtle
old turtle 176-year-old tortoise dies of heart failure
Syndney, Australia--A 176-yr.-old tortoise believed to be one of the world'
s oldest living creatures has died in an Australian zoo
The giant tortoise, known as Harriet, died at the Queensland-based Australia Zoo owned by "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and his wife Terri. senior veterinarian Jon Hanger told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Harriet died of heart failure. Harriet was long reputed to have been one of three tortoises taken from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin on his historic 1835 voyage abroad the HMS Beagle. Historical records don't prove the claim. Some scientists cast doubt on the story, with DNA tests (call Grissom) confirming Harriet's age but showing she came from an island Darwin never visitedSource- The Associated Press
Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
Posted edited by a moderator
Source- The Associated Press
Source- The Associated Press
As referring to this post that I totally edited out, this is official warning for you, desertwind. It's because your post crossed PG-13 line and it really wasn't your first time.
If you have complains about this warning, feel that it was unfair, you can contact me or TBonz via Private Message or take it to QSF forum.
ziggystarduzt
CSI Level Two
This is very, very strange.
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ST. JOHNSBURY VERMONT
A Morrisville teenager who broke into a tomb and used a hacksaw to cut the head off of a corpse was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to 1 to 7 years in prison.
Nickolas Buckalew, 18, pleaded guilty in Caledonia District Court to a felony charge of intentionally removing or injuring a tombstone and a felony charge of intentionally disinterring and carrying away the remains of a human body.
The Lamoille County case was transferred to the Caledonia courthouse in St. Johnsbury after a waterline failure left the Hyde Park courthouse without water.
On April 8, 2005, Buckalew went to a cemetery on the Washington highway in Morrisville and broke into an above-ground tomb, opened the lid of a casket and cut off the head of a corpse. He wrapped the head in plastic bags and took it home. He also stole eyeglasses and a bow tie from the corpse.
Buckalew told witnesses he intended to leave the severed head out and would then bleach it, according to the affidavit of Senior Patrolman Ryan Bjerke of the Morristown Police Department. He told witnesses he intended to turn the skull into a bong, which is a type of pipe used to smoke marijuana or other drugs.
After removing the head from the corpse, Buckalew went to an apartment house where he told residents of an apartment what he had done and that he had done the crimes because he was bored, according to police, who did not identify the witnesses because they are juveniles.
Buckalew was described by witnesses as "Gothic," wearing all black clothing with spiked hair.
Witnesses went to the tomb to see if Buckalew did as he claimed and they looked through holes in the tomb and saw that the lid had been removed from a casket and there was a headless body in the casket.
On April 9 at 2:45 p.m., Morristown police executed a search warrant at Buckalew's residence located at 1591 Elmore St. in Morrisville. They found a human head wrapped in bags, a necktie, a hacksaw, crowbar, garden trowel and two small parts of the damaged casket.
During Wednesday afternoon's sentencing hearing, Judge Dennis Pearson upheld the plea agreement between the state and the defendant and sentenced Buckalew to a total of 1 to 7 years to serve in prison. Buckalew was given credit for the 14 months he's served in prison awaiting trial. He will be sent to Spring Lake Ranch in Cuttingsville, Vt., a therapeutic community residential treatment program, where he will obtain intensive counseling for mental health issues. He will remain there for an indeterminate period under a conditional community reentry program. He will be in the custody of the Department of Corrections for up to seven years under the conditional reentry program.
Dr. Philip Kinsler, a clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., testified that Buckalew suffered from a bipolar disorder that was described as "biologically based mental illness." He testified learning from Buckalew that "he has always felt extraordinarily out of place" and that Buckalew told him that in the fourth grade he attempted to hang himself.
The witness told the court Buckalew also engaged in self-mutilation behavior.
Dr. Kinsler told the court "the defendant can be rehabilitated" and that he supported the plan to place Buckalew at the Spring Lake Ranch for treatment.
Buckalew, with a short haircut and wearing black framed glasses, was dressed in a light brown suit. He was quiet and expressionless throughout the hearing. At the end of the hearing, he addressed the court saying, "It was a horrendous thing that I did -- what I did was appalling." He told the court, "I didn't think of the victim." Buckalew told the court: "I want to get help for my mental problems."
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ST. JOHNSBURY VERMONT
A Morrisville teenager who broke into a tomb and used a hacksaw to cut the head off of a corpse was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to 1 to 7 years in prison.
Nickolas Buckalew, 18, pleaded guilty in Caledonia District Court to a felony charge of intentionally removing or injuring a tombstone and a felony charge of intentionally disinterring and carrying away the remains of a human body.
The Lamoille County case was transferred to the Caledonia courthouse in St. Johnsbury after a waterline failure left the Hyde Park courthouse without water.
On April 8, 2005, Buckalew went to a cemetery on the Washington highway in Morrisville and broke into an above-ground tomb, opened the lid of a casket and cut off the head of a corpse. He wrapped the head in plastic bags and took it home. He also stole eyeglasses and a bow tie from the corpse.
Buckalew told witnesses he intended to leave the severed head out and would then bleach it, according to the affidavit of Senior Patrolman Ryan Bjerke of the Morristown Police Department. He told witnesses he intended to turn the skull into a bong, which is a type of pipe used to smoke marijuana or other drugs.
After removing the head from the corpse, Buckalew went to an apartment house where he told residents of an apartment what he had done and that he had done the crimes because he was bored, according to police, who did not identify the witnesses because they are juveniles.
Buckalew was described by witnesses as "Gothic," wearing all black clothing with spiked hair.
Witnesses went to the tomb to see if Buckalew did as he claimed and they looked through holes in the tomb and saw that the lid had been removed from a casket and there was a headless body in the casket.
On April 9 at 2:45 p.m., Morristown police executed a search warrant at Buckalew's residence located at 1591 Elmore St. in Morrisville. They found a human head wrapped in bags, a necktie, a hacksaw, crowbar, garden trowel and two small parts of the damaged casket.
During Wednesday afternoon's sentencing hearing, Judge Dennis Pearson upheld the plea agreement between the state and the defendant and sentenced Buckalew to a total of 1 to 7 years to serve in prison. Buckalew was given credit for the 14 months he's served in prison awaiting trial. He will be sent to Spring Lake Ranch in Cuttingsville, Vt., a therapeutic community residential treatment program, where he will obtain intensive counseling for mental health issues. He will remain there for an indeterminate period under a conditional community reentry program. He will be in the custody of the Department of Corrections for up to seven years under the conditional reentry program.
Dr. Philip Kinsler, a clinical psychologist and adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., testified that Buckalew suffered from a bipolar disorder that was described as "biologically based mental illness." He testified learning from Buckalew that "he has always felt extraordinarily out of place" and that Buckalew told him that in the fourth grade he attempted to hang himself.
The witness told the court Buckalew also engaged in self-mutilation behavior.
Dr. Kinsler told the court "the defendant can be rehabilitated" and that he supported the plan to place Buckalew at the Spring Lake Ranch for treatment.
Buckalew, with a short haircut and wearing black framed glasses, was dressed in a light brown suit. He was quiet and expressionless throughout the hearing. At the end of the hearing, he addressed the court saying, "It was a horrendous thing that I did -- what I did was appalling." He told the court, "I didn't think of the victim." Buckalew told the court: "I want to get help for my mental problems."
Driver who moved road sign jailed
Hopwood was caught speeding twice in two days
A driver who moved a 40mph road sign to a 30mph zone to try to dodge a speeding ticket has been ordered to spend his weekends behind bars.
John Hopwood, 44, of Bean Leach Road in Hazel Grove, Stockport, had admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice at Manchester Crown Court.
Hopwood moved the sign 10 miles to a road in Rochdale after he was caught by a speed camera twice in two days.
He was given an intermittent custodial sentence of 56 days.
He was also told to pay £2,763 in legal costs.
Facial mapping experts were called in to check the photo
This means he will report to a custody centre on Fridays and stay there until 1700 BST on Sundays.
On 4 April, Hopwood was caught travelling at 48mph in a 40mph zone on Princess Road, Manchester.
The next day he was caught driving at 41mph in a 30mph zone on Albert Royd Street, Rochdale.
He had moved the sign from Manchester and fixed it to a lamppost near where he was caught in Rochdale.
'Serious offence'
He had then taken a photograph of it, in an attempt to show prosecutors he was barely over the speed limit.
But he was caught out when lawyers drafted in a facial mapping expert to study marks on the signs.
Judge Anthony Ensor told him he had committed a "serious offence".
He said: "This was a stupid act bound to fail.
"You refused to accept your crime when questioned by police, even when expert evidence was put to you at two interviews."
He added: "Motorists using the road in Rochdale, which I believe has been the scene of serious accidents in the past, would have been misled into believing it was a 40mph area when, for obvious reasons of road safety, it is 30mph."
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CLEVELAND (AP) - Officers who went to a home to serve a search warrant found a skeleton in the bed where an 80-year-old woman said her mother was sleeping.
Police believe the decomposed body is that of the woman's 98-year-old mother, who hadn't been seen in at least three years.
The resident told officers who went to the home Wednesday to serve a search warrant for building, housing and health code violations that they couldn't enter because her mother was sleeping. After persuading the woman to let them in the house, the officials pulled back the blanket on the bed and found the skeleton.
The resident, whose name was withheld until her family was notified, was taken to St. Vincent Charity Hospital.
Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth K. Balraj said Thursday she would need more information to identify the body, which showed no signs of injury.
Police Lt. Thomas Stacho said no charges were likely in the case.
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BERLIN (AP) - A German letter carrier hoarded nearly 2,000 letters at her apartment, refusing to deliver them because she felt physically overwhelmed by her job, police said Friday.
The 26-year-old, who worked for a private mailing company, squirreled away 1,900 letters over six months at her home in the southern town of Erlangen.
An acquaintance discovered the missing mail, collected in big containers, when he went to the apartment to feed the woman's rabbit. He alerted police.
Some of the letters were delivered to their addressees, but most had to be returned to their senders.
The woman could face charges of embezzlement.
Hopwood was caught speeding twice in two days
A driver who moved a 40mph road sign to a 30mph zone to try to dodge a speeding ticket has been ordered to spend his weekends behind bars.
John Hopwood, 44, of Bean Leach Road in Hazel Grove, Stockport, had admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice at Manchester Crown Court.
Hopwood moved the sign 10 miles to a road in Rochdale after he was caught by a speed camera twice in two days.
He was given an intermittent custodial sentence of 56 days.
He was also told to pay £2,763 in legal costs.
Facial mapping experts were called in to check the photo
This means he will report to a custody centre on Fridays and stay there until 1700 BST on Sundays.
On 4 April, Hopwood was caught travelling at 48mph in a 40mph zone on Princess Road, Manchester.
The next day he was caught driving at 41mph in a 30mph zone on Albert Royd Street, Rochdale.
He had moved the sign from Manchester and fixed it to a lamppost near where he was caught in Rochdale.
'Serious offence'
He had then taken a photograph of it, in an attempt to show prosecutors he was barely over the speed limit.
But he was caught out when lawyers drafted in a facial mapping expert to study marks on the signs.
Judge Anthony Ensor told him he had committed a "serious offence".
He said: "This was a stupid act bound to fail.
"You refused to accept your crime when questioned by police, even when expert evidence was put to you at two interviews."
He added: "Motorists using the road in Rochdale, which I believe has been the scene of serious accidents in the past, would have been misled into believing it was a 40mph area when, for obvious reasons of road safety, it is 30mph."
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CLEVELAND (AP) - Officers who went to a home to serve a search warrant found a skeleton in the bed where an 80-year-old woman said her mother was sleeping.
Police believe the decomposed body is that of the woman's 98-year-old mother, who hadn't been seen in at least three years.
The resident told officers who went to the home Wednesday to serve a search warrant for building, housing and health code violations that they couldn't enter because her mother was sleeping. After persuading the woman to let them in the house, the officials pulled back the blanket on the bed and found the skeleton.
The resident, whose name was withheld until her family was notified, was taken to St. Vincent Charity Hospital.
Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth K. Balraj said Thursday she would need more information to identify the body, which showed no signs of injury.
Police Lt. Thomas Stacho said no charges were likely in the case.
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BERLIN (AP) - A German letter carrier hoarded nearly 2,000 letters at her apartment, refusing to deliver them because she felt physically overwhelmed by her job, police said Friday.
The 26-year-old, who worked for a private mailing company, squirreled away 1,900 letters over six months at her home in the southern town of Erlangen.
An acquaintance discovered the missing mail, collected in big containers, when he went to the apartment to feed the woman's rabbit. He alerted police.
Some of the letters were delivered to their addressees, but most had to be returned to their senders.
The woman could face charges of embezzlement.
ANGIER, N.C. (AP) - This ice cream comes with an unusual stipulation - customers must sign a waiver before tasting it because it's so hot.
Cold Sweat, a flavor sold at ice cream shop Sunni Sky's, is made with three kinds of pepper and two kinds of hot sauce.
"It tastes like fire - with a side of fire," said Scott McCallum, a regular customer, who was eating the more sedate butter pecan flavor.
"I thought it was a cool idea, but I didn't think he'd make it that hot," McCallum said of proprietor Scott Wilson.
Wilson started out experimenting with jalapenos in vanilla ice cream to appeal to Hispanic customers - which was unsuccessful - and worked his way up to Cold Sweat.
The waiver for the fiery mixture has dozens of signatures. Pregnant women and people with health problems are not supposed to eat it. Anyone younger than 18 needs the consent of a guardian.
Among the first to try Cold Sweat was Justin Smith, 22, an Angier woodworker. He went to the restroom and vomited after a spoonful.
He's had about five samples since, and wants to go for the record of 14 ounces in a sitting.
"It's got a good flavor," Smith said. "As someone who really likes hot stuff and doesn't mind being scorched, I can taste the difference, and it really does taste good."
If he doesn't get the record soon, he might not get a chance. Wilson isn't sure he'll make another batch after the current supply runs out.
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MIAMI (AP) - It's a slow time of year for avid gamblers. The basketball and hockey playoffs are over and football is weeks away.
But gambling on what this hurricane season will produce is proving almost as irresistible as guessing the day Britney Spears will give birth.
U.S. casinos do not offer hurricane bets, and the Justice Department says online gambling is illegal, but that doesn't stop devotees, a few thousand of whom have placed hurricane wagers with online casinos based in other countries.
"Betting on baseball gets boring. You're looking for a little action every now and then," said Ken Moore, who plunked down $75 in hurricane bets. "Betting on the hurricanes, I couldn't resist it."
Moore, a graphic designer from Quincy, Mass., will make a profit of about $72.50 if exactly two hurricanes of Category 3 or higher strike the United States this season. He will make $5 if one hits. If none hit or three or more hit, he loses. Category 3 storms have sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Some victims of Hurricane Katrina and the seven other storms that walloped the U.S. over the past two seasons think the betting is tacky if not downright cruel.
Virginia Saussy Bairnsfather said her fellow New Orleans residents have developed a pretty good sense of humor since Katrina devastated their city, killing 1,577 Louisiana residents. It's a sort of "if you don't laugh, then you'll cry mentality," she said.
She isn't appalled by hurricane wagering, but would like to see the money better spent.
"I wished that everyone who placed a bet on where a hurricane is going to land, would take at least 10 percent of that money and do something to help victims," said Bairnsfather, who lost the first floor of her home to 8 feet of water poured in by Katrina.
Moore could go along with that. "If I got a little windfall, I'd probably give some to the Red Cross," he said.
Hurricane gamblers have several options for placing bets. One is how many hurricanes will hit the United States. Another is how many will hit Florida and what category they will be.
The safest bets offer 2.25 to 1 odds that at least two Category 3 storms will hit the U.S, according to odds posted by BetCRIS.com. Gamblers think the chances of six or more storms hitting the U.S. (5 to 1 odds) are more likely than no hurricanes hitting at all (6 to 1 odds).
"Hurricanes are a hot subject right now," said Calvin Ayre, founder and CEO of online casino Bodog.com. "Anything they have an interest in generally, they also like to bet on, if they're gamblers."
Mickey Richardson, CEO of BetCRIS.com, said he did wonder if he should continue offering hurricane bets after Katrina.
"But our clients who were used to seeing us offer these events pretty much requested it again," Richardson said. "We tailored it in a way where we to tried to make it in good taste. We stayed as far away as we could from hurricane alley in the gulf in Louisiana and Mississippi. The last thing I want to do is profit off of a disaster that happened last year."
The National Weather Service doesn't think much of the trend.
"I think it's pretty sad that people are betting on an issue that involves peoples' lives and property," said spokesman Greg Romano in Miami. "Hurricanes are dangerous and for people to bet on them is really, really sad."
Still, people have wagered on much worse.
In the 1790s, people in Philadelphia and New York bet on which city would have more deaths during a bad yellow fever outbreak. In 18th century London, people would take bets as patients were being wheeled into surgery on whether they would survive, said David Schwartz, director of center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
"People used to bet on things that involved death a lot more because people weren't so sensitive about it," Schwartz said. "I'm sure people who were personally affected by a hurricane who either lost a home or lost loved ones probably wouldn't think it's such an amusing thing to bet on."
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ALTON, N.S. (CP) — It's a robbery that puts a whole new slant on the concept of taking a swim.
Rebecca Arthur is at a loss to explain how someone managed to steal her family's above-ground pool earlier this week.
"It wasn't something small and it wasn't something easy for them to accomplish," said Arthur.
"I cannot for the life of me imagine how these people took this pool out of here."
The thieves collapsed the pool on Monday and got away with everything but the ground sheet.
The pool had been set up for just a few days and Arthur's two children were still waiting for the 13,250 litres of water to warm up before this summer's inaugural swim.
"It literally looked like it was beamed up," Arthur said.
"The pump was unplugged from the extension cord, the ladder was gone and the only thing left there was the ground cover tarp."
Arthur said while the probability of having the pool returned is slim, she's hoping for a happy ending.
"We joked ... about painting a big sign saying we promise not to come after you if you put the pool back where you found it," she said.
Arthur reported the theft to the RCMP.
"They'll keep their eyes open and their ears because it is such a bizarre story they're sure that someone will brag about it eventually."
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KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of people are thronging a hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata to see a patient holding a piece of his own skull that fell off.
Doctors say a large, dead section of 25-year-old electrician Sambhu Roy's skull came away Sunday after severe burns starved it of blood.
"When he came to us late last year, his scalp was completely burned and within months it came off exposing the skull," Ratan Lal Bandyopadhyay, the surgeon who treated Roy told Reuters Wednesday.
"Later, we noticed that the part of his skull was loosening due to lack of blood supply to the affected area, which can happen in such extensive burn cases."
The piece came off Sunday and hundreds of people and dozens of doctors now crowd around his bed, where he lies holding the bone.
Bandyopadhyay said the skull's inner covering and the membrane which helps produce bone was miraculously unaffected, allowing fresh bone to grow.
"When the skull came off, I thought he will die, but we noticed a new covering on his head forming and that might have pushed the 'dead skull' out," he said.
While possible, such cases are extremely rare.
Roy was injured and almost killed when he was electrocuted while repairing a high voltage wire last October.
"Doctors say a new skull covering has replaced the old one, but I am not letting go of this one," he told Reuters.
He intends to keep his prized possession for life and not hand it over to the hospital when he leaves: "My skull has made me famous," he says.
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Police in Berlin said on Wednesday they had arrested two men on suspicion of placing cement-filled soccer balls around the city and inviting people to kick them. At least two people injured themselves by kicking the balls, which were chained to lampposts and trees alongside the spray-painted message: "Can you kick it?"
Police said they had identified a 26-year-old and a 29-year-old and had found a workshop in their apartment where they made the balls. The two are accused of causing serious physical injury, dangerous obstruction of traffic and causing injury through negligence, police said.
Berlin hosts the World Cup final Sunday.
Cold Sweat, a flavor sold at ice cream shop Sunni Sky's, is made with three kinds of pepper and two kinds of hot sauce.
"It tastes like fire - with a side of fire," said Scott McCallum, a regular customer, who was eating the more sedate butter pecan flavor.
"I thought it was a cool idea, but I didn't think he'd make it that hot," McCallum said of proprietor Scott Wilson.
Wilson started out experimenting with jalapenos in vanilla ice cream to appeal to Hispanic customers - which was unsuccessful - and worked his way up to Cold Sweat.
The waiver for the fiery mixture has dozens of signatures. Pregnant women and people with health problems are not supposed to eat it. Anyone younger than 18 needs the consent of a guardian.
Among the first to try Cold Sweat was Justin Smith, 22, an Angier woodworker. He went to the restroom and vomited after a spoonful.
He's had about five samples since, and wants to go for the record of 14 ounces in a sitting.
"It's got a good flavor," Smith said. "As someone who really likes hot stuff and doesn't mind being scorched, I can taste the difference, and it really does taste good."
If he doesn't get the record soon, he might not get a chance. Wilson isn't sure he'll make another batch after the current supply runs out.
------------------------------------------------------------
MIAMI (AP) - It's a slow time of year for avid gamblers. The basketball and hockey playoffs are over and football is weeks away.
But gambling on what this hurricane season will produce is proving almost as irresistible as guessing the day Britney Spears will give birth.
U.S. casinos do not offer hurricane bets, and the Justice Department says online gambling is illegal, but that doesn't stop devotees, a few thousand of whom have placed hurricane wagers with online casinos based in other countries.
"Betting on baseball gets boring. You're looking for a little action every now and then," said Ken Moore, who plunked down $75 in hurricane bets. "Betting on the hurricanes, I couldn't resist it."
Moore, a graphic designer from Quincy, Mass., will make a profit of about $72.50 if exactly two hurricanes of Category 3 or higher strike the United States this season. He will make $5 if one hits. If none hit or three or more hit, he loses. Category 3 storms have sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Some victims of Hurricane Katrina and the seven other storms that walloped the U.S. over the past two seasons think the betting is tacky if not downright cruel.
Virginia Saussy Bairnsfather said her fellow New Orleans residents have developed a pretty good sense of humor since Katrina devastated their city, killing 1,577 Louisiana residents. It's a sort of "if you don't laugh, then you'll cry mentality," she said.
She isn't appalled by hurricane wagering, but would like to see the money better spent.
"I wished that everyone who placed a bet on where a hurricane is going to land, would take at least 10 percent of that money and do something to help victims," said Bairnsfather, who lost the first floor of her home to 8 feet of water poured in by Katrina.
Moore could go along with that. "If I got a little windfall, I'd probably give some to the Red Cross," he said.
Hurricane gamblers have several options for placing bets. One is how many hurricanes will hit the United States. Another is how many will hit Florida and what category they will be.
The safest bets offer 2.25 to 1 odds that at least two Category 3 storms will hit the U.S, according to odds posted by BetCRIS.com. Gamblers think the chances of six or more storms hitting the U.S. (5 to 1 odds) are more likely than no hurricanes hitting at all (6 to 1 odds).
"Hurricanes are a hot subject right now," said Calvin Ayre, founder and CEO of online casino Bodog.com. "Anything they have an interest in generally, they also like to bet on, if they're gamblers."
Mickey Richardson, CEO of BetCRIS.com, said he did wonder if he should continue offering hurricane bets after Katrina.
"But our clients who were used to seeing us offer these events pretty much requested it again," Richardson said. "We tailored it in a way where we to tried to make it in good taste. We stayed as far away as we could from hurricane alley in the gulf in Louisiana and Mississippi. The last thing I want to do is profit off of a disaster that happened last year."
The National Weather Service doesn't think much of the trend.
"I think it's pretty sad that people are betting on an issue that involves peoples' lives and property," said spokesman Greg Romano in Miami. "Hurricanes are dangerous and for people to bet on them is really, really sad."
Still, people have wagered on much worse.
In the 1790s, people in Philadelphia and New York bet on which city would have more deaths during a bad yellow fever outbreak. In 18th century London, people would take bets as patients were being wheeled into surgery on whether they would survive, said David Schwartz, director of center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
"People used to bet on things that involved death a lot more because people weren't so sensitive about it," Schwartz said. "I'm sure people who were personally affected by a hurricane who either lost a home or lost loved ones probably wouldn't think it's such an amusing thing to bet on."
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ALTON, N.S. (CP) — It's a robbery that puts a whole new slant on the concept of taking a swim.
Rebecca Arthur is at a loss to explain how someone managed to steal her family's above-ground pool earlier this week.
"It wasn't something small and it wasn't something easy for them to accomplish," said Arthur.
"I cannot for the life of me imagine how these people took this pool out of here."
The thieves collapsed the pool on Monday and got away with everything but the ground sheet.
The pool had been set up for just a few days and Arthur's two children were still waiting for the 13,250 litres of water to warm up before this summer's inaugural swim.
"It literally looked like it was beamed up," Arthur said.
"The pump was unplugged from the extension cord, the ladder was gone and the only thing left there was the ground cover tarp."
Arthur said while the probability of having the pool returned is slim, she's hoping for a happy ending.
"We joked ... about painting a big sign saying we promise not to come after you if you put the pool back where you found it," she said.
Arthur reported the theft to the RCMP.
"They'll keep their eyes open and their ears because it is such a bizarre story they're sure that someone will brag about it eventually."
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KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of people are thronging a hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata to see a patient holding a piece of his own skull that fell off.
Doctors say a large, dead section of 25-year-old electrician Sambhu Roy's skull came away Sunday after severe burns starved it of blood.
"When he came to us late last year, his scalp was completely burned and within months it came off exposing the skull," Ratan Lal Bandyopadhyay, the surgeon who treated Roy told Reuters Wednesday.
"Later, we noticed that the part of his skull was loosening due to lack of blood supply to the affected area, which can happen in such extensive burn cases."
The piece came off Sunday and hundreds of people and dozens of doctors now crowd around his bed, where he lies holding the bone.
Bandyopadhyay said the skull's inner covering and the membrane which helps produce bone was miraculously unaffected, allowing fresh bone to grow.
"When the skull came off, I thought he will die, but we noticed a new covering on his head forming and that might have pushed the 'dead skull' out," he said.
While possible, such cases are extremely rare.
Roy was injured and almost killed when he was electrocuted while repairing a high voltage wire last October.
"Doctors say a new skull covering has replaced the old one, but I am not letting go of this one," he told Reuters.
He intends to keep his prized possession for life and not hand it over to the hospital when he leaves: "My skull has made me famous," he says.
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Police in Berlin said on Wednesday they had arrested two men on suspicion of placing cement-filled soccer balls around the city and inviting people to kick them. At least two people injured themselves by kicking the balls, which were chained to lampposts and trees alongside the spray-painted message: "Can you kick it?"
Police said they had identified a 26-year-old and a 29-year-old and had found a workshop in their apartment where they made the balls. The two are accused of causing serious physical injury, dangerous obstruction of traffic and causing injury through negligence, police said.
Berlin hosts the World Cup final Sunday.
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
Pepsi Helps Coke
Associated Press
Suspects in Coke Case to Appear in Court
By HARRY R. WEBER , 07.06.2006, 01:38 PM
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are usually bitter enemies, but when PepsiCo Inc. got a letter offering Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival.
Six weeks later, three people were scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co., and trying to sell it to PepsiCo.
"Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal," Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said. "We're pleased the authorities and the FBI have identified the people responsible for this."
The suspects arrested Wednesday - the day a $1.5 million transaction was to occur - include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag.
Williams, 41, of Norcross, Ga., Ibrahim Dimson, 30, of New York and Edmund Duhaney, 43, of Decatur, Ga., were charged with wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets, federal prosecutors said.
Atlanta-based Coke thanked Pepsi for its assistance.
Chief executive Neville Isdell said in a memo to employees Wednesday that the company is cooperating with federal authorities.
"Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," Isdell wrote. "While this breach of trust is difficult for all of us to accept, it underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our trade secrets. Information is the lifeblood of the company."
He said Coke will review its information protection policies, procedures and practices to make sure it safeguards intellectual property. Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said the formula for trademark Coca-Cola was not stolen in the theft.
According to prosecutors, on May 19, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official Coca-Cola business envelope. The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." "Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says.
Coca-Cola immediately contacted the FBI and an undercover FBI investigation began.
Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered to provide to Pepsi. They say that "Dirk" provided an FBI undercover agent 14 pages of Coca-Cola documents marked classified and confidential. The company confirmed that the documents were valid and highly confidential and were considered trade secrets. Williams works for a senior Coke manager, Javier Sanchez Lamelas, who is a global brand director for the beverage giant, the company said. A spokesman would not say if Williams has been fired.
Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents.
Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola and highly confidential. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said.
An undercover agent later paid "Dirk" part of that money, placing the cash inside a yellow Girl Scout cookie box. "Dirk" handed the agent some documents in an Armani bag and the Coke product sample, an FBI affidavit says.
Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk." The same day a bank account was opened under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account was that of Duhaney's residence, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags. She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing it into her personal bag, prosecutors say, adding that Coca-Cola later verified the sample was genuine and is a product the company is developing.
Associated Press
Suspects in Coke Case to Appear in Court
By HARRY R. WEBER , 07.06.2006, 01:38 PM
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are usually bitter enemies, but when PepsiCo Inc. got a letter offering Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival.
Six weeks later, three people were scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co., and trying to sell it to PepsiCo.
"Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal," Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco said. "We're pleased the authorities and the FBI have identified the people responsible for this."
The suspects arrested Wednesday - the day a $1.5 million transaction was to occur - include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag.
Williams, 41, of Norcross, Ga., Ibrahim Dimson, 30, of New York and Edmund Duhaney, 43, of Decatur, Ga., were charged with wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets, federal prosecutors said.
Atlanta-based Coke thanked Pepsi for its assistance.
Chief executive Neville Isdell said in a memo to employees Wednesday that the company is cooperating with federal authorities.
"Sadly, today's arrests include an individual within our company," Isdell wrote. "While this breach of trust is difficult for all of us to accept, it underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our trade secrets. Information is the lifeblood of the company."
He said Coke will review its information protection policies, procedures and practices to make sure it safeguards intellectual property. Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said the formula for trademark Coca-Cola was not stolen in the theft.
According to prosecutors, on May 19, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official Coca-Cola business envelope. The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." "Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says.
Coca-Cola immediately contacted the FBI and an undercover FBI investigation began.
Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered to provide to Pepsi. They say that "Dirk" provided an FBI undercover agent 14 pages of Coca-Cola documents marked classified and confidential. The company confirmed that the documents were valid and highly confidential and were considered trade secrets. Williams works for a senior Coke manager, Javier Sanchez Lamelas, who is a global brand director for the beverage giant, the company said. A spokesman would not say if Williams has been fired.
Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents.
Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola and highly confidential. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said.
An undercover agent later paid "Dirk" part of that money, placing the cash inside a yellow Girl Scout cookie box. "Dirk" handed the agent some documents in an Armani bag and the Coke product sample, an FBI affidavit says.
Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk." The same day a bank account was opened under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account was that of Duhaney's residence, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags. She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing it into her personal bag, prosecutors say, adding that Coca-Cola later verified the sample was genuine and is a product the company is developing.
MISSOULA, Mont. - A man who lied to his probation officer about having served in the military was ordered to stand outside the courthouse wearing a sandwich board that says: "I am a liar. I am not a Marine."
William C. Horvath, 35, of Whitefish, pleaded guilty to making false statements, a felony.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced him to four months of house arrest and four years of probation. He also ordered him to stand outside the courthouse for 50 hours wearing the sandwich board with the message.
On the back, it must read: "I have never served my country. I have dishonored veterans of all wars."
Molloy, a veteran himself, also ordered Horvath to write letters of apology to newspapers, the U.S. Marine Corps, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion in Kalispell. The judge said Horvath must admit in the letters that he lied repeatedly about serving and being wounded.
According to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office, Horvath claimed during an interview with a probation officer on Aug. 9, 2001, that he had served in the Marine Corps. The officer was gathering information on Horvath on a prior charge of being a fugitive in possession of firearms or ammunition.
The probation officer then attempted to verify Horvath's military service, but was told by the Marine Corps that there was no record of Horvath ever having served.
Horvath then presented the probation officer with evidence of his time in the military, including photographs and decorations. However, Marine Corps representatives told the probation officer that the evidence contained a variety of inconsistencies.
One of the problems: He was wearing his uniform improperly.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Chaos broke out at a shoe sale in Turkey on Friday, and one person got shot in the foot, a news agency reported.
The incident occurred in Karabuk, a city about 125 miles north of Ankara, after masses of people swarmed and overloaded a two-story retailer that was selling pairs of shoes for as little as $6, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported.
When customers rebelled against orders to close the store because of overcrowding and started to fight with one another and with salespeople, a store employee shot his gun into the air, Anatolia said.
Shooting guns into the air is a not-uncommon method for dealing with emotional situations in Turkey, including weddings, soccer games, demonstrations and deals on shoes that are almost too good to be true.
But the bullet struck a customer's right foot, Anatolia said, and the injured person was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment while the shooter was taken into police custody.
Fahrettin Arabaci, a store official, said that the sale would be going on until the end of the month, Anatolia reported.
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Study Shows Why Diplomats Won't Pay Up
By DAVID B. CARUSO
NEW YORK (AP) - Researchers who examined tens of thousands of parking tickets issued to United Nations diplomats found those least likely to pay up were from countries where people hold a dim view of the United States.
The study was conducted by economists from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, who were hoping to uncover why officials from some countries frequently abused their diplomatic immunity by parking illegally, while others played by the rules.
Their main finding was that diplomats were more likely to run up unpaid parking fines if they hailed from countries with a history of unchecked corruption, such as Nigeria.
But a second factor - poor U.S. image - emerged when the researchers matched the list of offenders against a 2002 world public opinion survey performed by the Pew Research Center.
"It's much easier to flout the law if you tell yourself that the government that is making these laws or enforcing these laws lacks legitimacy," said Raymond Fisman of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
Between November 1997 and the end of 2002, diplomats accumulated more than 150,000 unpaid parking tickets in New York, racking up $18 million in unpaid fines.
Based on statistics supplied by the city, the report said the worst offenders during that period were Kuwait, which averaged 246.2 unpaid tickets per diplomat per year, followed by Egypt, with 139.6; Chad, with 124.3; and Sudan, with 119.1.
Twenty-two countries averaged zero unpaid tickets per year, according to the study, including Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Mansoor Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan's mission to the United Nations, said he did not agree that people in his country were displeased with America. Pakistan ranked 10th in unpaid tickets in the study, and near the top in unfavorable views of the United States.
A great many, he said, consider the U.S. to be "an ally and a friend."
As for the parking tickets, he said things have changed since the late 1990s. Pakistan's diplomats, he said, are now more vigilant about parking legally.
"In the pre-9/11 era, there was a different understanding of diplomatic privileges," he said.
Diplomatic immunity meant that, until recently, there was little or no enforcement of diplomatic parking violations in New York - a factor the professors said allowed them to examine the role of "cultural norms alone" in determining who felt free to flout parking rules.
The parking problems around the United Nations got dramatically better in 2002 when U.S. officials threatened to revoke the plates of scofflaws and impound their cars. According to New York's finance department, diplomats have received 90 percent fewer tickets since then, with more than 85 percent paid on time.
The researchers said they also linked their list of tickets to an index intended to measure the prevalence of corruption in each country. Diplomats hailing from countries with low levels of corruption, such as Norway, "behave remarkably well even in situations where they can get away with violations," the researchers said.
"This finding suggests that cultural or social norms related to corruption are quite persistent," the professors wrote. "Even when stationed thousands of miles away, diplomats behave in a manner highly reminiscent of officials in the home country."
The professors looked at per-capita income in each nation and the average salaries of government bureaucrats. While they couldn't conclusively rule out income as a factor in paying the tickets, they said the weight of the evidence was against it.
Fisman and Edward Miguel, of Berkeley's economics department, released their findings in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in June.
William C. Horvath, 35, of Whitefish, pleaded guilty to making false statements, a felony.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced him to four months of house arrest and four years of probation. He also ordered him to stand outside the courthouse for 50 hours wearing the sandwich board with the message.
On the back, it must read: "I have never served my country. I have dishonored veterans of all wars."
Molloy, a veteran himself, also ordered Horvath to write letters of apology to newspapers, the U.S. Marine Corps, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion in Kalispell. The judge said Horvath must admit in the letters that he lied repeatedly about serving and being wounded.
According to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office, Horvath claimed during an interview with a probation officer on Aug. 9, 2001, that he had served in the Marine Corps. The officer was gathering information on Horvath on a prior charge of being a fugitive in possession of firearms or ammunition.
The probation officer then attempted to verify Horvath's military service, but was told by the Marine Corps that there was no record of Horvath ever having served.
Horvath then presented the probation officer with evidence of his time in the military, including photographs and decorations. However, Marine Corps representatives told the probation officer that the evidence contained a variety of inconsistencies.
One of the problems: He was wearing his uniform improperly.
------------------------------------------------------------
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Chaos broke out at a shoe sale in Turkey on Friday, and one person got shot in the foot, a news agency reported.
The incident occurred in Karabuk, a city about 125 miles north of Ankara, after masses of people swarmed and overloaded a two-story retailer that was selling pairs of shoes for as little as $6, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported.
When customers rebelled against orders to close the store because of overcrowding and started to fight with one another and with salespeople, a store employee shot his gun into the air, Anatolia said.
Shooting guns into the air is a not-uncommon method for dealing with emotional situations in Turkey, including weddings, soccer games, demonstrations and deals on shoes that are almost too good to be true.
But the bullet struck a customer's right foot, Anatolia said, and the injured person was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment while the shooter was taken into police custody.
Fahrettin Arabaci, a store official, said that the sale would be going on until the end of the month, Anatolia reported.
------------------------------------------------------------
Study Shows Why Diplomats Won't Pay Up
By DAVID B. CARUSO
NEW YORK (AP) - Researchers who examined tens of thousands of parking tickets issued to United Nations diplomats found those least likely to pay up were from countries where people hold a dim view of the United States.
The study was conducted by economists from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, who were hoping to uncover why officials from some countries frequently abused their diplomatic immunity by parking illegally, while others played by the rules.
Their main finding was that diplomats were more likely to run up unpaid parking fines if they hailed from countries with a history of unchecked corruption, such as Nigeria.
But a second factor - poor U.S. image - emerged when the researchers matched the list of offenders against a 2002 world public opinion survey performed by the Pew Research Center.
"It's much easier to flout the law if you tell yourself that the government that is making these laws or enforcing these laws lacks legitimacy," said Raymond Fisman of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
Between November 1997 and the end of 2002, diplomats accumulated more than 150,000 unpaid parking tickets in New York, racking up $18 million in unpaid fines.
Based on statistics supplied by the city, the report said the worst offenders during that period were Kuwait, which averaged 246.2 unpaid tickets per diplomat per year, followed by Egypt, with 139.6; Chad, with 124.3; and Sudan, with 119.1.
Twenty-two countries averaged zero unpaid tickets per year, according to the study, including Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Mansoor Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan's mission to the United Nations, said he did not agree that people in his country were displeased with America. Pakistan ranked 10th in unpaid tickets in the study, and near the top in unfavorable views of the United States.
A great many, he said, consider the U.S. to be "an ally and a friend."
As for the parking tickets, he said things have changed since the late 1990s. Pakistan's diplomats, he said, are now more vigilant about parking legally.
"In the pre-9/11 era, there was a different understanding of diplomatic privileges," he said.
Diplomatic immunity meant that, until recently, there was little or no enforcement of diplomatic parking violations in New York - a factor the professors said allowed them to examine the role of "cultural norms alone" in determining who felt free to flout parking rules.
The parking problems around the United Nations got dramatically better in 2002 when U.S. officials threatened to revoke the plates of scofflaws and impound their cars. According to New York's finance department, diplomats have received 90 percent fewer tickets since then, with more than 85 percent paid on time.
The researchers said they also linked their list of tickets to an index intended to measure the prevalence of corruption in each country. Diplomats hailing from countries with low levels of corruption, such as Norway, "behave remarkably well even in situations where they can get away with violations," the researchers said.
"This finding suggests that cultural or social norms related to corruption are quite persistent," the professors wrote. "Even when stationed thousands of miles away, diplomats behave in a manner highly reminiscent of officials in the home country."
The professors looked at per-capita income in each nation and the average salaries of government bureaucrats. While they couldn't conclusively rule out income as a factor in paying the tickets, they said the weight of the evidence was against it.
Fisman and Edward Miguel, of Berkeley's economics department, released their findings in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in June.
Daquien
Coroner
Dynamo1
Head of the Swing Shift
La. Garden Yields Yard-Long ... Cuculoupe?
Jul 9, 5:50 AM (ET)
HOUMA, La. (AP) - They're a yard long and a good few inches across. The skin is waxy, sort of like a cucumber, but yellow and ridged like a canteloupe. A half dozen of them grew between the cucumbers and cantaloupes in a Houma home garden.
"We call it a cuculoupe," Karen Dusenbery said.
As good a name as any.
"Science is strange sometimes," LSU AgCenter agent Barton Joffrion said after examining the whatsits.
"You see crosses like that. What happens is they planted them close in proximity, and they are in the same family," said Joffrion. "But it's not that common."
Both are members of the Cucurbit family, which includes pumpkins and gourds as well as melons and cucumbers.
Cucumbers and cantaloupes are closely related enough to swap genes, Joffrion said. He'd never seen anything like the Dusenberys' whatever.
"In the first generation, they'll cross and you'll get an unusual fruit," Joffrion said.
The firm flesh inside is yellow and somewhat sweet but has a flavor more like cucumber than cantaloupe, Tim Dusenbery said.
The Dusenberys said they are saving the seeds and hope to get more next year.
However, Joffrion said a crossbred plant usually reverts back to one of its original forms in subsequent generations.
"It'll be interesting to see what it does revert to," Joffrion said.
Jul 9, 5:50 AM (ET)
HOUMA, La. (AP) - They're a yard long and a good few inches across. The skin is waxy, sort of like a cucumber, but yellow and ridged like a canteloupe. A half dozen of them grew between the cucumbers and cantaloupes in a Houma home garden.
"We call it a cuculoupe," Karen Dusenbery said.
As good a name as any.
"Science is strange sometimes," LSU AgCenter agent Barton Joffrion said after examining the whatsits.
"You see crosses like that. What happens is they planted them close in proximity, and they are in the same family," said Joffrion. "But it's not that common."
Both are members of the Cucurbit family, which includes pumpkins and gourds as well as melons and cucumbers.
Cucumbers and cantaloupes are closely related enough to swap genes, Joffrion said. He'd never seen anything like the Dusenberys' whatever.
"In the first generation, they'll cross and you'll get an unusual fruit," Joffrion said.
The firm flesh inside is yellow and somewhat sweet but has a flavor more like cucumber than cantaloupe, Tim Dusenbery said.
The Dusenberys said they are saving the seeds and hope to get more next year.
However, Joffrion said a crossbred plant usually reverts back to one of its original forms in subsequent generations.
"It'll be interesting to see what it does revert to," Joffrion said.
LONDON (AP) - A 62-year-old child psychologist has given birth to a boy, becoming the oldest British woman to have a baby.
Patti Farrant - known professionally as Patricia Rashbrook - delivered her son, J.J., by Caesarean section on Wednesday, according to The Daily Mail newspaper. The baby was conceived after fertility treatments.
Farrant has three grown children from a previous marriage. It is the first child for her husband, John, 60, an education management consultant.
"He is adorable, and seeing him for the first time was beyond words," she told the newspaper. "Having been through so much to have him, we are overjoyed. His birth was absolutely wonderful and deeply moving for both of us."
Other older British mothers include Liz Buttle, from Wales, who was 60 when she gave birth to a son in 1997.
The oldest woman in the world to give birth is believed to be Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who was 66 when she had a daughter in Bucharest in January 2005.
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NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who found out that the man who proposed to her was married can keep the $40,000 engagement ring he gave her, even though she was the one who broke off the relationship, a judge has ruled.
Judge Rolando T. Acosta said that because Brian Callahan was still married when he gave Dana Clyburn Parker a 3.41-carat diamond engagement ring, the agreement to marry was void.
Acosta noted that Callahan was in the process of getting a divorce in Massachusetts when he proposed. In June 2002, Callahan, of Manhattan, received a judgment of divorce nisi, meaning the divorce from his wife had been approved but would not be official and absolute for another 90 days.
That July, Callahan, 36, and Parker, of Charleston, S.C., got engaged in South Carolina and she moved to New York to live with him, the judge wrote. They had met on the Internet in September 2001.
Parker, a mortgage broker, dumped Callahan after finding evidence on his computer that he had been trolling for women on the Internet and after learning he was married, her lawyer, Kevin Conway, said Friday.
Callahan, who works in the financial services industry, sued in July 2003 to get back the ring - or alternatively $40,000 - and his personal property. While the judge allowed Parker to keep the ring, he ordered her to return Callahan's personal property.
Callahan's lawyer said his client had not decided whether to appeal.
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ATLANTA (AP) - A father accused of poisoning his children's soup in a scheme to sue the Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) was indicted on tampering and fraud charges, authorities said. The children, a 3-year-old boy and his 18-month-old sister, were taken to hospital emergency rooms three times in January.
According to investigators, their father fed them tainted soup each time. On the third occasion, authorities said, he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline - both used to treat depression - making his young daughter so ill she was flow by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital.
William Allen Cunningham, 40, was charged with tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. He also was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.
U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Cunningham wanted to get money from the manufacturer by claiming its soup caused his children's illnesses. Cunningham contacted Camden, N.J.-based Campbell by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased, Nahmias said.
The children are now in the custody of their mother, who has not been charged, he said. He declined to comment on their health.
Cunningham, in custody, was expected to appear before a federal judge next week. If convicted, he could face up to 75 years in prison. It wasn't immediately clear Friday if he had an attorney who could comment.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An organization that operates a crime tip line received a $31,000 donation from a man in a prison.
Michael Spillan, 39, is serving a four-year sentence at the Noble Correctional Institution for planting a bomb on his front porch and trying to frame his son-in-law, as well as for unrelated convictions for theft and forgery.
He and his wife, Melissa, donated $31,000 to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers on Thursday after two tipsters complained they had not received their reward in the case of an Ohio State University student whose body was found near a reservoir weeks after she disappeared in August.
The suburban Gahanna couple made the donation because they "feel strongly about the importance of Crime Stoppers and people who commit crimes being punished," Melissa Spillan said.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - An 82-year-old woman who was given a jaywalking ticket for taking too long to cross a busy street had her $114 fine waived by a court commissioner.
Mayvis Coyle became a media sensation after the case drew publicity. Camera crews showed up at her trailer unannounced and senior citizen advocates were outraged.
Last week, Coyle received by mail the June 20 ruling from Superior Court Commissioner Jeffrey Harkavy who found her guilty of jaywalking but suspended the fine.
"It sounds like a compromise, like they're trying to save face," Coyle's son, Jim Coyle, told the Los Angeles Daily News, which first reported the incident. "We're grateful for everyone's support."
Coyle was vacationing in Colorado and was unavailable for comment.
Police officials said Coyle entered a busy San Fernando Valley intersection on Feb. 15 after the red "Don't Walk" sign began blinking. Coyle maintained she walked across the intersection with her cane in one hand and groceries in the other on a white "Walk" signal.
Coyle said a motorcycle officer who stopped her said, "You're obstructing the flow of traffic," before issuing her the ticket.
Police officials maintained throughout the case that the officer acted appropriately and was looking out for Coyle's welfare. The department subsequently launched a series of pedestrian-safety workshops at local senior centers.
"How could she have gone any faster?" said Bill Daniel, chief executive officer of ONEgeneration, a senior-services agency. "It just seems like we have to be more patient."
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COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A man suspected of a dozen bank robberies called a northern Kentucky police detective to make sure he watched an episode of "America's Most Wanted."
The episode of the crime-fighting show featured a profile of the fugitive, Warren Lee Back.
"It was kind of an odd thing. I've never had a fugitive call me before," said Detective Mike McGuffey with the Covington Police Department.
Back was caught by FBI agents in Indianapolis last week, less than two weeks after the call to McGuffey.
He met Back when Back lived in Covington - well before he was linked to a series of bank robberies in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas.
McGuffey was working as an off-duty security guard at a bingo parlor where Back was accused of stealing pull-tab bingo cards.
Patti Farrant - known professionally as Patricia Rashbrook - delivered her son, J.J., by Caesarean section on Wednesday, according to The Daily Mail newspaper. The baby was conceived after fertility treatments.
Farrant has three grown children from a previous marriage. It is the first child for her husband, John, 60, an education management consultant.
"He is adorable, and seeing him for the first time was beyond words," she told the newspaper. "Having been through so much to have him, we are overjoyed. His birth was absolutely wonderful and deeply moving for both of us."
Other older British mothers include Liz Buttle, from Wales, who was 60 when she gave birth to a son in 1997.
The oldest woman in the world to give birth is believed to be Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who was 66 when she had a daughter in Bucharest in January 2005.
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NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who found out that the man who proposed to her was married can keep the $40,000 engagement ring he gave her, even though she was the one who broke off the relationship, a judge has ruled.
Judge Rolando T. Acosta said that because Brian Callahan was still married when he gave Dana Clyburn Parker a 3.41-carat diamond engagement ring, the agreement to marry was void.
Acosta noted that Callahan was in the process of getting a divorce in Massachusetts when he proposed. In June 2002, Callahan, of Manhattan, received a judgment of divorce nisi, meaning the divorce from his wife had been approved but would not be official and absolute for another 90 days.
That July, Callahan, 36, and Parker, of Charleston, S.C., got engaged in South Carolina and she moved to New York to live with him, the judge wrote. They had met on the Internet in September 2001.
Parker, a mortgage broker, dumped Callahan after finding evidence on his computer that he had been trolling for women on the Internet and after learning he was married, her lawyer, Kevin Conway, said Friday.
Callahan, who works in the financial services industry, sued in July 2003 to get back the ring - or alternatively $40,000 - and his personal property. While the judge allowed Parker to keep the ring, he ordered her to return Callahan's personal property.
Callahan's lawyer said his client had not decided whether to appeal.
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ATLANTA (AP) - A father accused of poisoning his children's soup in a scheme to sue the Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) was indicted on tampering and fraud charges, authorities said. The children, a 3-year-old boy and his 18-month-old sister, were taken to hospital emergency rooms three times in January.
According to investigators, their father fed them tainted soup each time. On the third occasion, authorities said, he used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline - both used to treat depression - making his young daughter so ill she was flow by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital.
William Allen Cunningham, 40, was charged with tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. He also was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.
U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Cunningham wanted to get money from the manufacturer by claiming its soup caused his children's illnesses. Cunningham contacted Camden, N.J.-based Campbell by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was purchased, Nahmias said.
The children are now in the custody of their mother, who has not been charged, he said. He declined to comment on their health.
Cunningham, in custody, was expected to appear before a federal judge next week. If convicted, he could face up to 75 years in prison. It wasn't immediately clear Friday if he had an attorney who could comment.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An organization that operates a crime tip line received a $31,000 donation from a man in a prison.
Michael Spillan, 39, is serving a four-year sentence at the Noble Correctional Institution for planting a bomb on his front porch and trying to frame his son-in-law, as well as for unrelated convictions for theft and forgery.
He and his wife, Melissa, donated $31,000 to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers on Thursday after two tipsters complained they had not received their reward in the case of an Ohio State University student whose body was found near a reservoir weeks after she disappeared in August.
The suburban Gahanna couple made the donation because they "feel strongly about the importance of Crime Stoppers and people who commit crimes being punished," Melissa Spillan said.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - An 82-year-old woman who was given a jaywalking ticket for taking too long to cross a busy street had her $114 fine waived by a court commissioner.
Mayvis Coyle became a media sensation after the case drew publicity. Camera crews showed up at her trailer unannounced and senior citizen advocates were outraged.
Last week, Coyle received by mail the June 20 ruling from Superior Court Commissioner Jeffrey Harkavy who found her guilty of jaywalking but suspended the fine.
"It sounds like a compromise, like they're trying to save face," Coyle's son, Jim Coyle, told the Los Angeles Daily News, which first reported the incident. "We're grateful for everyone's support."
Coyle was vacationing in Colorado and was unavailable for comment.
Police officials said Coyle entered a busy San Fernando Valley intersection on Feb. 15 after the red "Don't Walk" sign began blinking. Coyle maintained she walked across the intersection with her cane in one hand and groceries in the other on a white "Walk" signal.
Coyle said a motorcycle officer who stopped her said, "You're obstructing the flow of traffic," before issuing her the ticket.
Police officials maintained throughout the case that the officer acted appropriately and was looking out for Coyle's welfare. The department subsequently launched a series of pedestrian-safety workshops at local senior centers.
"How could she have gone any faster?" said Bill Daniel, chief executive officer of ONEgeneration, a senior-services agency. "It just seems like we have to be more patient."
------------------------------------------------------------
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A man suspected of a dozen bank robberies called a northern Kentucky police detective to make sure he watched an episode of "America's Most Wanted."
The episode of the crime-fighting show featured a profile of the fugitive, Warren Lee Back.
"It was kind of an odd thing. I've never had a fugitive call me before," said Detective Mike McGuffey with the Covington Police Department.
Back was caught by FBI agents in Indianapolis last week, less than two weeks after the call to McGuffey.
He met Back when Back lived in Covington - well before he was linked to a series of bank robberies in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas.
McGuffey was working as an off-duty security guard at a bingo parlor where Back was accused of stealing pull-tab bingo cards.
This source always has bizarre stories...
NY's Upper East Side explosion doctor "nutters"
As it turns out, Dr. Nicholas Bartha -- the Upper East Side doctor suspected of blowing up his 62nd Street townhouse in a suicide attempt yesterday -- is more nutters than just your average Bush supporter. He was going through a divorce from his wife of 29 years, Cordula Hahn, ending a marriage in which he taunted his wife, a Jew born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by placing "swastika-adorned articles and notes around the house" (and you best believe that he was pissed when the bitch tried to remove his artwork). After the court awarded Hahn $4 million in judgments, Bartha was ordered to sell his 75% interest in his beloved townhouse. But the good doctor wasn't having any of that, and yesterday morning he sent a 14-page email to Hahn shortly before the building exploded. A sample from the suicide novel:
"When you read these lines your life will change forever. You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and RUBBISH digger."
http://www.gawker.com/news/top/ues-explosion-swastika-scribbler-sure-did-show-his-exwife-186410.php
NY's Upper East Side explosion doctor "nutters"
As it turns out, Dr. Nicholas Bartha -- the Upper East Side doctor suspected of blowing up his 62nd Street townhouse in a suicide attempt yesterday -- is more nutters than just your average Bush supporter. He was going through a divorce from his wife of 29 years, Cordula Hahn, ending a marriage in which he taunted his wife, a Jew born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by placing "swastika-adorned articles and notes around the house" (and you best believe that he was pissed when the bitch tried to remove his artwork). After the court awarded Hahn $4 million in judgments, Bartha was ordered to sell his 75% interest in his beloved townhouse. But the good doctor wasn't having any of that, and yesterday morning he sent a 14-page email to Hahn shortly before the building exploded. A sample from the suicide novel:
"When you read these lines your life will change forever. You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and RUBBISH digger."
http://www.gawker.com/news/top/ues-explosion-swastika-scribbler-sure-did-show-his-exwife-186410.php
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