‘A 3-year-old quietly escaped his West View house through a newly installed doggy door at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The parents said they woke up to find their child and their pet boxer on the sidewalk of their Cornell Street home.
Authorities said the boxer decided to go for an early morning stroll, and the inquisitive child decided to tag along.
Police said the toddler followed the dog out of the doggie hole to the back yard and then around to the front of the home where a passerby noticed and called police.
Police said they awakened the child’s parents, who were sound asleep.’
‘Central Connecticut State University students and faculty said Thursday they are livid over a controversial comic strip featured in the school newspaper, The Recorder.
The comic strip, dubbed “Polydongs,” depicts explicit images surrounding the humiliation and degradation of a 14-year-old Latina girl. The paper printed a disclaimer saying it “does not support the kidnapping of (and subsequent urinating on) children of any age or ethnicity.”
Said CCSU professor Katharine Hermes of the strip: “It’s disturbing that it would appear as a cartoon, suggesting that there’s something funny about this, although I couldn’t find anything funny in it.”
The comic is not the The Recorder’s first brush with public outrage. Last February, an opinion piece was published detailing how less attractive and overweight women “may benefit” from being raped.’
‘A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.
Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realise something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.
“I woke up because the pain was unbearable,” Mr Camejo told newspaper El Universal.’
‘Apparently this guy has a tendency to drink a lot then pass out while taking a dump. His roommates decide to tape his latest endeavor.’
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‘A woman is admitted to the Sacramento mental hospital, after trying to drive off with a fire engine, half-naked.
Fire officials say the attempted theft happened when they were on a first aid call. The driver of the fire engine says he was at the back of the truck, when he heard the accelerator. He found Schilicia Griffin in the driver’s seat, and pulled her out.
Officials say Griffin was just released from the mental hospital shortly before she tried to steal the truck. She has been re-admitted for evaluation.’
Which half, I wonder..
‘An Oregon man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday after hiring another man to kill his wife.
Susan Kuhnhausen fought off the hit man and actually strangled the attacker with her bare hands killing him.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing held up a picture taken of her bruised face after the attack and said, “This is what I would have looked like if I die.” [..]
Susan called it a cowardly plan.
“If I ever believed you deserved to be dead, I would at least have had the balls to kill you myself,” declared Kuhnhausen.’
‘A man trying to call a news station to complain about not getting a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina accidentally dialed 911 and was charged with making methamphetamine after police arrived, authorities said.
Curtiss Randall Coleman was trying to get the number for Biloxi’s WLOX-TV on Wednesday just before the 6 p.m. newscast, investigators said. He misdialed when trying to reach directory information and called 911 instead of 411.
When he hung up on the emergency dispatcher, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department was sent to the home to see if anyone was in need of assistance.
Deputies said that when they arrived at Coleman’s house, no one answered the door. Officers broke in and allegedly found a methamphetamine lab.’
‘A Czech speedway driver knocked unconscious in a crash stunned ambulance drivers when he woke up speaking perfect English.
18-year-old Matej Kus was out cold for 45 minutes after the crash, but when he woke up he conversed fluidly in English with paramedics, even speaking in an English accent.
The teenager had just begun to study the language and his skills were described by friends and team-mates as “basic at best”.
Peter Waite, the promoter for Kus’s team, the Berwick Bandits, told the Daily Mail: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It was in a really clear English accent, no dialect or anything. Whatever happened in the crash must have rearranged things in his head. [..]’
‘A batch of laptops pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium was found to have been infected with a 13-year-old boot sector virus.
Those of you with a long memory will vividly recall the year 1994: Nirvana’s lead singer Kurt Cobain died, South Africa held its first multi-racial elections, and Tony Blair became leader of the Labour party. Oh, and Microsoft’s operating system was the quaint, pre-NT Windows for Workgroups.
But it was a year that also saw the arrival of a boot sector computer virus known as Stoned.Angelina which moved the original master boot record to cylinder 0, head 0, sector 9.
It would appear that this teenage virus has not yet been consigned to the history books.
According to Virus Bulletin, the consignment of infected Medion laptops – which could number anything up to 100,000 shipments – had been sold in Danish and German branches of retail giant Aldi.’
‘It sounds too good to be true – not to mention the fact that it violates almost every known law of physics.
But British scientists claim they have invented a revolutionary device that seems to ‘create’ energy from virtually nothing.
Their so-called thermal energy cell could soon be fitted into ordinary homes, halving domestic heating bills and making a major contribution towards cutting carbon emissions. [..]
Even the makers of the device are at a loss to explain exactly how it works – but sceptical independent scientists carried out their own tests and discovered that the 12in x 2in tube really does produce far more heat energy than the electrical energy put in.’
‘Japan’s space agency has successfully launched its first lunar probe on a mission to explore the Moon.
A rocket carrying the orbiter blasted off from the space centre on the remote southern island of Tanegashima.
Over the course of a year, the orbiter will gather data on the Moon’s origin and evolution.
Japanese scientists say it is the most complex lunar mission since Nasa’s Apollo programme in the 1960s and 70s, when astronauts walked on the Moon.’
‘Are you sick of pigeons crapping all over your pool or backyard? Are plastic owls not getting the job done? It might be time to try the motion activated sprinkler defense system.’
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‘Meet the world’s first sheep-hog — a pig with its own fleece.
Scientists are baffled by the strange swine — which they say is a pig “at heart” but with a woolly hide.
The one-year-old is being raised on a ranch near the town of Esquina, 400 miles north of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It was a gift to owner Felipe Olivetti from a neighbouring farm.
He admitted: “Experts have told us it is unique.
“It is a pig but has a thick fleece which needs shearing in summer with the other sheep because it suffers in the heat. Other pigs do not trust it.”‘
see it here »
‘Hundreds of athletes participating in a popular Orlando triathlon this weekend are being required to sign waivers notifying them of the dangers of swimming in hot lakes and can skip the water portion of the event in the wake of several recent amoeba-related deaths.
Warnings were issued to Central Florida swimmers this month after a 14-year-old boy died of amoebic meningitis and two others died of amoebic encephalitis after spending time in lakes.
A portion of the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon Saturday will involve swimming through Lake Underhill which is hotter than 80 degrees.
Officials with the Central Florida Sports Commission said they have been investigating the best way to handle the situation for months.’
Followup to Brain-Swelling Amoeba Blamed For 2nd Child’s Death.
‘Maharaj, 25, was all set to walk out of 1st District Court in Hempstead a free man, having already served the 10 days he was facing as his jail sentence.
But, according to Steven Schwartz, chief of the Nassau district attorney’s office District Court Bureau, Judge Norman St. George required Maharaj to surrender his conditional driver’s license as part of the plea deal.
Maharaj handed over the paper document to the judge’s clerk, who proceeded to open the folded-up record.
“She looked at it and was kind of stunned,” Schwartz said. In the creases of the paper was marijuana.”
The clerk then showed the loose buds to the judge, who had Maharaj rearrested for marijuana possession, Schwartz said.’
‘Whether women are said to be flat-chested or big-busted, ordinary bras fall short when it comes to supporting bouncing breasts, a new study claims.
And during exercise, women’s breasts bounce more than previously estimated, moving a vertical distance of up to around eight inches compared with a past maximum measurement of six inches.
The bouncing, in some cases with breasts weighing 20 pounds or more, can prove painful and damaging to the limited natural support system.’
‘A guy dressed up in a large sumo suit does a flying bodyslam on a moving mid-size car.’
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‘Sea ice in the Arctic has sunk to its lowest level since satellite record-keeping began, fully opening the most direct route through the Northwest Passage, the European Space Agency said Friday.
The much-coveted shortcut connecting Asia to Europe through the Canadian Arctic has been historically impassable.
The European Space Agency says sea ice continues to melt year after year, but a drastic drop this year has made the direct route “fully navigable” for the first time since satellite records began in 1978.
“We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around three million square kilometres,” said Leif Toudal Pederson from the Danish National Space Center.
Over the past decade, he says, a drop of about 100,000 square kilometres per year is the average.
“So a drop of one million square kilometres in just one year is extreme,” said Toudal.’
‘Stomping on garlic with your shoes on is apparently not the correct way to prepare food.
The Rockland County health department hit the Great China Buffet restaurant with two violations after someone took pictures of an employee stomping on a bowl of garlic with his boots in an alley. The man alerted health inspectors.
“I go back there, and the guy’s stepping on garlic,” said Dan Barreto, who used to eat at the restaurant. “There he was just jumping up and down on it, smashing it up, having a good time.”‘
‘Two boys setting cockroaches on fire for fun burned down their grandparents’ Pompano Beach home.
City spokeswoman Sandra King says the boys, 8 and 10 years old, were sleeping over their grandparent’s home. The boys decided to use rubbing alcohol and a lighter to set cockroaches they saw in their room on fire.
A bed caught on fire and the blaze spread throughout the house.
The boys ran out and woke up their grandparents.’
‘The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun.
The technique employs Britain’s new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach.
Intense light beams will enable scientists to uncover the text in scrolls and books without having to open – and potentially damage – them. [..]
The team now plans to use the Diamond synchrotron’s powerful X-ray source to penetrate many layers of parchment.
The synchrotron, which covers the area of five football pitches, generates light beams that can probe matter down to the molecular and atomic scale.’
‘Alright, this dude decides to try the glass cutting trick underwater and it doesnt go so smooth. I guess part of the trick is the glass cant have air pockets which this wine glass did.’
Followup to How To Cut Glass With Scissors.
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‘A man hiding from intruders who broke into his flat in north-west London and killed his friend was put on hold when he called police, a court has heard.
Ahmad Gharbi, 49, hid in a cupboard in the flat in Kilburn when the gang attacked his friend Timothy Stilwell in June last year, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Stilwell was stabbed more than 20 times and beaten over the head. [..]
He went to the living room where he saw four men trying to push through the patio doors with a paving slab, before running to another room and hiding in a cupboard, said David Howker QC, prosecuting.
“He got his mobile out and called the police but was put on hold for some reason so had to try again,” said Mr Howker.’
‘A missing Bowie State University student was found alive on Saturday night, a week after he disappeared.
Julian McCormick, 18, was badly injured and trapped in his wrecked car after he drove off Powder Mill Road into a creek in Beltsville, officials said.
He was last seen Sept. 1 on his way to pick up his girlfriend, his family said.
According to officials, McCormick managed to free himself, telling family he crawled through a creek bed, under a bridge and up an embankment to a road where two women spotted him on Saturday.’
‘The Defence Department is urging war veterans and historical groups to write in and tell them why they deserve a free decommissioned Leopard Tank.
The German-built Leopards began service in 1977 but are being phased out to make way for 59 new Abrams tanks.
The 42-tonne armoured monsters are nearly 10 metres long and come with a 105mm main gun capable of firing armour-piercing shells.
The Australian Army’s Leopards have never been used in action.
To be eligible for consideration organisations need to show that the tank will have historical or cultural significance.’
‘Jon Stewart recaps the “hard-hitting” questions General Petraeus had to endure during Tuesday’s Senate testimony, and highlights the furthest-right Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee. Hint: He’s from Connecticut and his name is not Chris Dodd.’
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‘A confessed rapist has agreed to be castrated in a plea deal that could save him from a life prison sentence.
Bobby James Allen pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of armed sexual battery and various other charges involving attacks that happened in 1998 and 1999. Allen filed a motion requesting castration in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet agreed to sentence Allen to 25 years’ prison on Sept. 20 if has the procedure in the next eight days. If Allen does not go through with the operation, he faces up to life in prison.
“You understand that this procedure is the removal of your testicles?” Overstreet asked Allen.
Allen said he wanted to be castrated.’
‘A teenager has been sentenced to six years in a young offenders’ institute for attacking two teachers, one of whom was shot with a 950,000-volt stun gun.
Marvin Airey, 19, from Redcatch Road, Bristol, temporarily paralysed maths teacher Peter Kelly outside Ashton Park School in Bristol last October.
He also punched a female teacher, who fractured her skull in the attack.
Bristol Crown Court heard Airey, a drug user with many previous convictions, bought the stun gun over the internet.’
‘ A 17-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the leg while standing in line at a McDonald’s restaurant and now he faces an illegal weapons charge.
The boy was fiddling with the .25-caliber pistol tucked in his waistband when it fired, wounding him in the upper thigh shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday, city police Sgt. William Gorman said.
“Some days you deal with a victim, some days you deal with an actor,” Gorman said. “But it’s a strange day when the actor is the victim.”‘
