moonbuggy

links to things.

Archive for 2007

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Osama goes to APEC

‘Australian comedians from the tv show “The Chasers War on Everthing” make a mockery of APEC security when they are able to drive right through all the checkpoints and get Osama to George W Bush’s Hotel using a fake Canada motorcade.’

(10.6meg Flash video)

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Police ‘too busy’ for crack addicts

‘A public-spirited busman thought he was doing his duty when he discovered two junkies on board were smoking crack – and drove straight to a police station.

But passengers who raced in to alert police were stunned when officers claimed they were too busy – and suggested they dial 999 and get someone else.

Driver Paul Gibbs, 48, waited 10 minutes and then reluctantly drove off when he realised no one was coming.

Bizarrely, police later sent two officers on HORSEBACK, who had little chance of catching the bus in the crowded inner-city streets. Disbelieving Paul said: “We were at one of Europe’s biggest police stations but no one could be bothered to come out and solve a crime right on their doorstep.’


Hundreds scatter as van crashes into field goal post during game

‘It was a frightening scene Friday night as hundreds of people at a high school football game ran for their lives when a man crashed his van through the fence and into the field goal post. [..]

The tire tracks show the exact path and Stanley Police are trying to figure out why 82-year-old Palmer Kroeplin of Stanley crashed into the goal post. [..]

Weiland says Kroeplin claims to have blacked out and does not remember the incident, but one witness was thinking otherwise. [..]

Witness accounts given to police and home video show the Dodge minivan hit the fence the first time, went in reverse, hit the ambulance, quickly went into drive, squealed the tires and smashed through the chain linked fence before hitting the goal post.’


SBS is porn problem in NT

‘Aboriginal women have singled out SBS television as one of the main distributors of pornography in the Northern Territory, says Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough.

As of today, anyone caught in an Aboriginal community in the territory with pornographic DVDs or magazines faces fines of up to $11,000.

People in possession of five or more prohibited items will be automatically deemed traffickers and face up to two years imprisonment.

The bans form part of the second phase of the federal government’s intervention in the NT but critics claim they don’t target problem areas and will be easily undermined.

“Foxtel R rated channel is still by far the major source of porn going into communities and unfortunately the federal government hasn’t turned that stream off yet,” said Robbie Swan from the Eros Foundation, an adult entertainment industry lobby group.’


Weatherman Licks Nipple

‘A weatherman in Kentucky licks a graphic of a womans breast that is up there to promote breast milk donation.’

(531kB Flash video)

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Foiled burglar loses clothes in tussle

‘Wayne and Kathie Boniface returned home from dinner Thursday night at a neighbor’s to find the man in their house. Wayne Boniface said the man made the mistake of grabbing his wife.

“As soon as he grabbed my wife, I had him in the kitchen wrestling him to the ground in a headlock and arm-lock,” Boniface said.

First, Boniface said, he ripped the man’s shirt off. Then, “his head was down over the railing, and in today’s world, pants are worn fairly loose. I pulled his pants, and his pants and underpants and shoes came completely off. He was completely nude.”

When police asked Boniface if he could identify the suspect, he said: “Oh, yeah. I believe he’s the only guy running nude in Duluth.”‘


Sex assaults ‘more likely on cruise ships’

‘People are more likely to be sexually assaulted on a cruise ship than on land, an expert in ship safety will tell a conference in New Zealand this week.

Professor Ross Klein, a sociologist from Canada’s University of Newfoundland, said people wrongly assumed cruises were completely safe, and it was mostly crew members who were to blame for attacks.

Looking at figures provided to a US court by a cruise line, he found 111 people per 100,000 were sexually assaulted on ships.

He said his figures showed people were 50 per cent more likely to be sexually assaulted on a ship than on land.

“If you were to go to the Cruise Lines International Association they will say that a cruise is the most safe form of transportation. That is now getting a bit of scrutiny,” he said.’


Police Find Man’s Body, Guillotine In Wooded Area

‘The body of a 41-year-old man was found in a wooded area next to a guillotine he built and used to kill himself, police said.

The man, from the Detroit suburb of Melvindale, was discovered Monday by workers from a shopping center near his home. [..}

Allen Park Deputy Police Chief Dale Covert said the roughly six-foot tall guillotine was bolted to a tree and included a swing arm. Covert said police also found several store receipts detailing the materials used to assemble the device.

“I can’t even tell you how long it must have taken him to construct,” he said. “This man obviously was very determined to end his life.”‘


The abandoned monkey who has found love with a pigeon

‘They’re an odd couple in every sense but a monkey and a pigeon have become inseparable at an animal sanctuary in China.

The 12-week-old macaque – who was abandoned by his mother – was close to death when it was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province.

After being taken to an animal hospital his health began to improve but he seemed spiritless – until he developed a friendship with a white pigeon.

The blossoming relationship helped to revive the macaque who has developed a new lease of life, say staff at the sanctuary.’


Trust Can Only Get You So Far

‘This guy tries to demonstrate to his class that he trusts them and if he falls backward they will catch him. Apparently, physics isnt this guys field of expertise as the little kids didnt stand a chance.’

(367kB Flash video)

see it here »


Woman killed by helicopter rotor

‘An Italian woman died when she was struck in the head by a helicopter’s rotor blades following a joyride in outback Northern Territory, a report has found. [..]

A preliminary report released today said the pilot was asked by the station owner to take four adults and two children, all relatives of his from Italy, for a scenic tour of the station.

Afterwards the pilot – a station manager who had worked there for 12 years – lost control as he took off because of a gust of wind.

“The pilot reported that, just as he regained control of the aircraft, he heard and felt the main rotor blade strike something, and saw the woman fall forward,” the report said.’


Mugger in Germany foiled by blind judo expert

‘A blind judo expert astounded a mugger by pinning him to the ground after he tried to steal his cigarettes, police said on Monday.

The assailant, a 17-year-old man of Asian origin, spotted the 33-year-old, who police identified only as Emil E., at a train station in the southwestern town of Giessen and thought he would be easy prey, police spokesman Rolf Wellershausen said.

But what the attacker did not know, the spokesman said, was that his victim was a world-class blind judo wrestler.

The 17-year-old threatened the blind man, then punched him in the face, at which point the martial artist flipped him and held him down until police arrived.’


7 amazing holes

‘if you’re expecting filth you’ll be disappointed’


Official prototype of kilogram mysteriously losing weight

‘A kilogram just isn’t what it used to be.

A 118-year-old cylinder that has been the international prototype for the metric mass, and kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing its weight – if ever so slightly.

Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies.

“The mystery is that they were all made of the same material, and many were made at the same time and kept under the same conditions, and yet the masses among them are slowly drifting apart,” he said.

“We don’t really have a good hypothesis for it,” Davis said in a phone interview Wednesday.’


The Yankee Marriage Proposal Prank

It’s kinda cruel I think, but amusing none the less.

(22.1meg Flash video)

see it here »


Coach Sent Boy Home In Underwear, Mom Says

‘Vickie Hatter is furious and wants someone to explain why her son was humiliated last week during football practice.

The Cincinnati mother said her 10-year-old son’s coach sent the boy home from practice Friday in his underwear.

“He walks in with his T-shirt and his underwear and his cleats,” Hatter said. “He said, ‘Mom, you’ll never believe what Coach Curt made me do.'” [..]

“‘You’re too slow for the team, you’re no good for the team,'” Aucherae said the coach told him. “He told me to take off my stuff and give it back to him, and he said, ‘While you’re at it, take off my pants.'” [..]

“He wanted a pair of pants,” said neighbor Yvonne Workman. “He was upset, and he seemed like he was nervous and he didn’t know what to do.”‘


Anti-war protester kills civilian with axe

‘A U.S. citizen has confessed to using an axe to kill a Dutch student after failing to find a soldier to attack, his lawyer said Tuesday.

The suspect, Carlos Hartmann, 41, of Tecumseh, Mich., has confessed to the Sept. 8 killing on a train platform in the southern city of Roosendaal, defence lawyer Peter Gremmen said.

Gremmen said Hartmann wanted to punish the Netherlands for its support of the war in Iraq. [..]

“He hates soldiers, and says that the army kills people, so it would be legitimate if he were also to kill someone . . . from the American military – or from its NATO allies,” Gremmen said in a telephone interview.

When he failed to find a soldier at the Roosendaal train station, “he got such a crazy, disturbed idea that he killed a civilian,” Gremmen said.

Hartmann did not attempt to escape and was arrested shortly after the killing.’


Madonna and Britney Spears face beheading threat

‘Madonna and Britney Spears have been targeted as the spreaders of “Satanic culture”.

The aggressive comments were launched by spokesman and senior leader of Palestinian terror group The Popular Resistance Committees, a group based in the Gaza Strip and responsible for the increase in shootings and bombings in the region.

Muhammad Abdel-Al is quoted in new book ‘Schmoozing With Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!’ attacks the two pop stars, labelling them “prostitutes”.

Abdel-Al rants, “If I meet these whores I will have the honour – I repeat, I will have the honour – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam.”‘


Google sponsors $30 million Moon landing prize

‘Web search leader Google Inc. will sponsor a $30 million competition for an unmanned lunar landing, following up on the $10 million Ansari X Prize that spurred a private sector race to space.

Like the Ansari X Prize, which was claimed in 2004 by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and financier Paul Allen for a pair of flights by SpaceShipOne, the Google Lunar X Prize is open to private industry and non-government entities worldwide, organizers said on Thursday.

First prize is $20 million for the group that can land a lunar rover – an unmanned robotic probe – on the Moon, take it on a 500-metre trek and broadcast video back to Earth by 31 December 2012.’


Kanye West Says He’ll ‘Never Return To MTV’

‘According to several sources backstage at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards — and a report published late Sunday night by The Associated Press — West lost it again, this time because his performance of “Stronger” took place in the Palms’ Hugh Hefner Sky Villa and not on the main stage [..]

“Kanye was watching the closing performance [a medley featuring Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Nelly Furtado] on a closed-circuit monitor, and he started getting upset,” a source who was backstage told MTV News. “He started asking anyone who’d listen why he wasn’t allowed to perform on the main stage. ‘Why did I perform in just a suite?’ he was saying. ‘Justin’s my boy, but even he gets to perform in both a suite and on the main stage? Something’s wrong here.’ “‘

(1.5meg Flash video)

see it here »


Afghan poppy industry eludes U.S. control

‘In a small district in southern Afghanistan, U.S.-backed Afghan drug forces opened fire on farmers who were blocking roads and throwing rocks to protest the destruction of their poppy fields earlier this year. Scores were injured in the firefight.
Poppy farmer

Undeterred by the violence, a group of angry farmers gathered around Masood Azizi, the Afghan official supervising the eradication. They maintained that cultivating poppy for opium is the only way they can survive. “We are hungry, thirsty, and we don’t have any money. We are in debt,” one said.

It’s a message that reverberates throughout this impoverished, war-torn country. [..]

Eradicating opium poppies has been a key pillar of U.S. policy in Afghanistan since 2004, said Doug Wankel, director of the U.S. Counter-Narcotics Task Force in Afghanistan.

Yet today, Afghanistan produces roughly 93 percent of the world’s illicit opium, according to the UNODC report, and the Taliban are making inroads in remote areas of the country thanks, in part, to proceeds from the drug trade.’


Israeli ‘neo-Nazi gang’ arrested

‘Israeli police say they have broken up a gang of neo-Nazis who are accused of carrying out attacks on foreigners, gay people and religious Jews.

The eight suspects, aged 16-21, are all Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union. They were arrested a month ago, but the news only emerged on Saturday.

Police say searches of their homes yielded Nazi uniforms, portraits of Adolf Hitler, knives, guns and TNT.’


Italy urged to go on pasta strike

‘Consumers’ associations in Italy have asked people to refrain from buying or eating pasta for the day, in protest against recent price increases.

The groups are requesting the government intervene to reduce pasta prices.

An increase in the price of wheat in recent months has forced pasta manufacturers to pass on the cost.

Pasta is a national dish in Italy, with each Italian eating on average 28 kg (62 lb) of pasta every year.’


Comcast Installs Cable With Extreme Incompetence

‘Our story begins with the sales call. It was a door-to-door salesman, and after going through everything I was satisfied with what was being offered. I made sure that everything (except one thing, and that would come back to haunt me) was written down. All the fees being waived? In writing, each listed separately. Cost? In writing. I filed away the paperwork and waited for the installation. Having read about installation horror stories (on the Consumerist), I decided to stay home and supervise the installation that Comcast was going to be doing. It’s a good thing I did.’


Thursday, September 13, 2007

Very Painful Soccer Injury

(894kB Flash video)

see it here »


How to Make a Full Auto Book Scanner

‘Behold! The work is now complete.

Once started, the machine opens the each page of the book and scans the content. The whole process is automatic.

The lesson of this story is that LEGO is great.’


McDonald’s Worker Arrested for Serving Cop Salty Hamburger

‘A McDonald’s worker in Union City, Ga., was arrested and jailed Thursday night for putting too much salt and pepper on a police officer’s hamburger, MyFoxAtlanta reported Friday.

Kendra Bull was mixing hamburger meat when, she said, too much salt and pepper accidentally spilled into the bowl. Bull said her manager was working with her, and continued to make patties out of the meat. Bull grilled and ate one of the over-seasoned burgers for her dinner break and grilled the remaining burgers from the batch. [..]

Bull, who spent Thursday night in jail until she was released on a $1,000 signature bond Friday morning, admitted the burgers were too salty, but said she ate one from the batch and did not get sick. She also said that security cameras trained on the work area and grill will prove that the salt was spilled accidentally.

Bull’s attorney, a public defender, asked the judge to dismiss the charges, but the judge refused.’


Appeals court says requirement to attend AA unconstitutional

‘Alcoholics Anonymous, the renowned 12-step program that directs problem drinkers to seek help from a higher power, says it’s not a religion and is open to nonbelievers. But it has enough religious overtones that a parolee can’t be ordered to attend its meetings as a condition of staying out of prison, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In fact, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the constitutional dividing line between church and state in such cases is so clear that a parole officer can be sued for damages for ordering a parolee to go through rehabilitation at Alcoholics Anonymous or an affiliated program for drug addicts.’


Man injects love interest with blood

‘A Cambodian man was arrested after injecting a woman with his own blood in a bizarre scheme to win her affections, police said Wednesday. [..]

The man allegedly injected a syringe of his blood into the woman’s rib cage and waist as she walked home from school, Tan Sophal said.

The assailant fell in love with the woman when the two were classmates in 2004, Tan Sophal said. After the woman refused his advances, he came up with the scheme to inject her with his blood, he said.

“He thought that if he could not marry her, at least his blood can stay inside her body,” Tan Sophal said. “That’s why he injected her with his blood.”‘


Guy Drops Girlfriend On Staircase

(987kB Flash video)

see it here »