moonbuggy

This fellow was challenged to draw 200 bad comics. These are them.

‘School project, huh?’

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‘Peruvian authorities discovered more than 200 plants of marijuana growing in the grassy median of a residential street in Lima this week – just a few meters from a school and community center.

On Friday, according to the El Comercio newspaper, two city workers watering green areas in the La Victoria district of Lima, Peru found an explosive device in the median of the 800 block of San Eugene Avenue. They immediately contacted the Peruvian National police who located the military-style grenade and summoned a bomb squad to remove it.

As the workers moved further down the median they made a second discovery – several hundred marijuana plants thriving in the knee-high grass. The police then removed the plants. Officials with the Peruvian National Police say they are continuing to investigate both incidents.’

‘She sits on the lookout in a lawn chair on their front porch, her forehead glossy with sweat, Bible next to her left foot, wind chimes clinking at her back. Her husband of 24 years is by her side, German shepherd at his knee, handgun tucked beneath the belt on his jeans.

High in these humid hills, Ed and Elaine Brown have been holed up in their home for six months, refusing to serve a five-year prison sentence for tax evasion. They all but dared law officials to come and get them. This, they say, is a fight they’re ready to die for. [..]

“There’s no more America,” Ed says. “It’s already gone.”

“I’ll die fighting, rather than live in slavery,” Elaine says. “I’ll tell you that.” [..]

“There’s two freight trains going just like this toward each other,” Ed says. “So you better take a side, buddy, because when they hit, it’s going to be hellacious.

“And,” he says, “it all could start right here.”‘

‘Police are trying to trace the owner of 65,400 euros (£44,000) mistakenly sent to a 16-year-old boy who bought a Playstation Two for £95 on eBay.

The cash arrived in a box at the house in Aylsham, Norfolk, with the games console, but minus two games.

Police are holding the money under the Proceeds of Crime Act while the matter is investigated.

An eBay spokesman said the parcel’s contents were “somewhat unusual” and it would help police with their inquiries. [..]

But, if the money remains unclaimed the family could potentially apply for it to be returned to them under the Police Property Act.’

‘Checkers is solved. From the starting position, black to play can only draw against a perfect opponent. This is the largest non-trivial game of skill to be solved — it is more than one million times bigger than Connect Four and Awari (the previously biggest games that have been solved).

To achieve this results, we had to solve 19 of the 3-move openings. We will continue our computations to eventually solve all the 3-move openings.’

This is a bit of a followup to Random Acts Of Reality from the other day.

I’ve been reading blogs by emergency medical people all day, and they’re very interesting. Some of the stuff they do [and shit they put up with] is amazing.

Another story that I liked on a different site is called T’was the night before the night before Christmas.

I signed up for something that apparently turns the posts on the site into mp3s that are suitable for podcasting, for those who don’t like to read I s’pose. :)

Anyways, I’m not really sure how well it works, but you can allegedly get to it via this little button:

Alternatively, if you sign up you can view it on the web here.

‘Doctors thought the strange, bleeding bumps on Aaron Dallas’ head might be from gnat bites or shingles. Then the bumps started moving.

A doctor found five active bot fly larvae living beneath the skin atop Dallas’ head.

“I’d put my hand back there and feel them moving. I thought it was blood coursing through my head,” Dallas told the (Glenwood Springs) Post Independent.

“I could hear them. I actually thought I was going crazy.” [..]

Dallas’ wife, Midge Dallas, teased him about it.

“I told him, ‘I will love you through your maggots,'” she told the newspaper.

But Dallas saw little to laugh about.

“It’s much funnier to everyone else,” he said. “It makes my stomach turn over. It was cruel.”‘

‘Armed police went into action in the German city of Wuppertal after a woman reported seeing a masked criminal — but having rushed to the scene, they were surprised to find not a crook, but a large stuffed toy.

The woman was returning late at night to her car in an indoor car park when she saw the suspected brigand through the window of a parked van, police said Thursday.

Though she later admitted to only catching a glimpse in the darkness, she was sufficiently alarmed to alert the authorities.

Armed officers arrived in three cars and surrounded the van. What they found was a large toy beaver, strapped into the passenger seat.

A police spokesman said he struggled to see how the toy, which has two oversized front teeth, could have been mistaken for a person.’

‘The co-founder of semiconductor maker Broadcom Corp., under scrutiny in a federal stock options probe, was accused seven years ago of building an underground hideaway at his estate to indulge in drugs and sex with prostitutes, according to court documents.

In a draft complaint made against Henry T. Nicholas III, a construction crew claimed the billionaire failed to pay them millions of dollars for work performed between 1998 and 2002, and used “manipulation, lies, intimidation, and even death threats” when anyone threatened to quit.

The illegal network of tunnels and rooms underneath Nicholas’ Laguna Hills estate was kept secret from his wife and city officials, the documents said.

The purpose of one secret room was to allow Nicholas to “indulge his appetite for illegal drugs and sex with prostitutes,” the crew claimed.’

‘A Cincinnati couple was arrested Wednesday after their 3-year-old daughter was found alone with a rope around her neck, police said.

A social worker saw the girl on the side of a road in Sedamsville, Ohio, while on her way to another home and called police.

Police said they responded and waited more than an hour to see if the girl’s parents would come out of their home to check on her. When they didn’t, police went inside and arrested them.

Rose Seibert and Kermit Martin are facing charges of child endangering. It was not clear how the rope got around the girl’s neck.’

‘The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world’s oldest and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in Kazakhstan, about 200 km east of the Aral Sea, on the north bank of the Syr Darya, near the town of Tyuratam.’

‘Traffic police in Switzerland have been handing out sweet rewards during a 24-hour “thank you” to safe drivers.

Motorists in the western region of Fribourg can expect a traditional gift of Swiss chocolate – but only if they pass roadside checks.

The aim is to reward good drivers, many of whom may have been pulled over more than once during a six-month campaign in the wake of a number of accidents.

The 100g chocolate bars are embossed with the police force coat of arms.’

I once did a massive belly flop that bruised my stomach on one of these things.

Apparently, that was also hilarious to watch. :)

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‘A judge ruled that a teenager will be tried as an adult for the death of an 18-month old boy he is accused of repeatedly swinging against a wall because he was frustrated with the child’s toilet training.

Derris Smith, 18, the live-in boyfriend of the child’s mother, has been charged with murder. He was 17 on June 27, when authorities say he delivered the beating that led to Malakai Glenn’s death four days later.

The boy’s mother, 20-year-old Sasha Glenn, testified Wednesday that the impact of the child hitting the wall left drywall stuck to his head and cracked a wooden door.’

‘The Kansas City Zoo plans to press charges against two teenage boys who allegedly climbed into the hippo exhibit and threw rocks at the two-ton mammals, zoo officials said.

A 14-year-old witness spotted the boys Monday as the hippos were becoming angry and charging. The boys, whose identities were not released, survived the encounter without injuries.

Randy Wisthoff, the zoo director, said the boys, both 14, are from St. Louis and were apparently trying to impress a girl.

The massive hippos, which spend much of their days submerged in water, are often considered one of the most dangerous animals in the world.’

‘A man with a needle sticking out of his arm crashed Wednesday afternoon into a Clifton Heights drug treatment center, witnesses said.

The driver, whose name has not been released, was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.

Police said the man was unconscious and had overdosed on a drug, possibly heroin.’

‘For a country of about 50 million people, there are a lot of protests in South Korea. With a national average of 11,000 public protests a year, the average South Korean riot policeman is mobilized to contain 85 demonstrations a year.

While the majority of such protests are probably pretty standard affairs involving marching, shouting, and possibly some violent clashes between protesters and police, there are also some far more interesting protests going on. Here are a few particularly uniquely interesting/crazy South Korean protest photos we’ve stumbled upon [..]’

‘A woman accused of killing her daughter by microwaving the newborn in an oven told police she was drunk, but couldn’t recall doing anything that caused the child’s burns, according to testimony Thursday.

China Arnold, 26, is charged with aggravated murder in the Aug. 30, 2005, death of her month-old daughter, Paris Talley. She has pleaded not guilty.

At a pretrial hearing, detective Michael Galbraith testified that Arnold told him during questioning then: “If I hadn’t gotten so drunk, I guess my baby wouldn’t have died.”

But questioned by defense attorney Jon Paul Rion, Galbraith acknowledged that Arnold told him she didn’t know how the baby suffered the burns, and that she had nothing to do with it that she could recall.’

This model stacks it twice, and the anchor can’t stop laughing about it.

It’s an amusing kinda fall. :)

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‘A man stopped for drink driving was found to be wearing nothing behind the wheel except his shoes and socks. [..]

He stalled and his car lurched forward, bumping their vehicle. Officers then discovered he was almost naked. [..]

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “His trousers and top were stuffed into the footwell of the car.

“The passengers in the rear of the car were not apparently aware that he was naked.

“It seems they saw him get out to relieve himself and were unaware that when he got back in the car it was without his clothes on.” [..]

It is understood he never explained why he was driving almost naked.’

‘A young mother, carrying her 3-month-old infant in her arms, visited a construction site Wednesday only to have a nail fired from a pneumatic nailing gun ricochet off a board into the infant’s head.

The infant was rushed to Delta Memorial Hospital, then flown Wednesday night to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The infant’s condition is unknown.

Delta police chief Rich Bacher said that the initial investigation shows “this appears to be a very tragic accident.” He said the investigation is continuing “until we know all the facts.”‘

‘The story is about a boy who lives in a cupboard (i.e. “in the closet”). His Aunt and Uncle are ashamed of him because his parents were quite eccentric (i.e. “flaming”) and they are deeply concerned and afraid that he will turn out just like them. On his 11th birthday (i.e. roughly at the onset of puberty), the boy discovers that he is actually a “wizard”, different in both style and substance from normal people, or “muggles” (i.e. “breeders”). The boy is groomed into his new existence by a large, hairy bear of a man who shows Harry a hidden underground community of “wizards” living right under the noses of the general population (i.e. the gay subculture). Harry’s first trip to this subculture involves traveling through “Diagon Alley”, a play on the word diagonally (i.e. not straight).’

‘Modesto police have arrested a man and a woman on felony charges of child endangerment after discovering that a “mini-horse” lived in their home’s kitchen and dining room, which were covered with trash and feces.

An animal control officer visited the one-story house at 1233 College Court on Monday after neighbors told police about the horse and seven dogs kept in the back yard. Joe Curtis Silva, 30, denied having a horse in the house, but the officer saw Silva trying to load the animal into a vehicle and called for more officers to investigate, police said.

“The conditions were horrendous,” said John Bear, animal control supervisor for the Modesto police. “This miniature horse had been housed indoors for I’m guessing a good length of time by the amount of animal waste that was built up inside the house.”‘

..and zinc and salt and ammonium nitrate.

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‘A 22-year-old man whose truck broke down Tuesday afternoon along Route 309 in West Rockhill Township grabbed a pistol from the vehicle, apologized to his brother, who was with him, and shot himself in the head, police said. [..]

Philippi and his brother were returning home from work when their truck broke down, police said. The shooting happened about 3 p.m.

Chief David Mettin of Pennridge Regional police, which patrols that area, said the man had been dealing with ”mental health issues” stemming from the recent death of a loved one.

”It seems to me, that was like the final straw for this gentleman,” Mettin said.’

‘Shoppers often choose meat out of the grocery case based on how fresh it looks, but meatpackers have started packaging fresh meat in a “modified atmosphere” that masks telltale discoloration and decomposition of days-old meat. The process involves pumping oxygen out of and carbon monoxide into an airtight container. The deception has occasioned numerous protests from consumer groups.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation specifically bans using carbon monoxide for packaging fresh meat. But meatpacking companies won exemptions from the rule when they petitioned the FDA in 2001, 2004, and 2005 to declare the gas itself “generally recognized as safe,” and the practice continues to spread. Democratic members of Congress pressed FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach last year to establish whether masking “the degradation of meat” is a “danger to public health,” but the agency stonewalled. [..]’

‘A mayor in eastern Germany has filed charges against workers at his local zoo for shooting animals and selling them as meat.

A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said deer were among the animals killed and sold by workers at Erfurt Zoo without permission over a number of years. [..]

“We are worried this is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Wolfgang Apel, president of the League, who also said the case raised serious questions about the zoo’s management.

Die Zeit newspaper quoted an anonymous zoo employee as saying the number of animals had been declining and: “It is high time something is done about it.”‘

‘Emergency workers labored through the night to rescue an ailing 500-pound man who was stranded on a stretch of the St. Croix River so shallow that rescue vehicles – including a hovercraft – were unable to approach. [..]

Rike and three friends were floating down the river Monday afternoon when Rike’s tube hit a rock and deflated, said Chief Deputy Steve Ovick of the Pine County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota. [..]

Rike’s group called 911 shortly after 8 p.m. to report that he was ill. A paramedic who arrived by helicopter stabilized Rike, but the pilot couldn’t take him to a hospital.

“The aircraft that found him said they could not lift that amount of weight,” Ovick said.

As many as 50 rescuers on the ground eventually responded, with the first reaching Rike about 9 p.m.’