Weird But True

[NJFFSA16]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Call it theater of the macabre: A jar
containing a small piece of tissue from the body of John Wilkes
Booth, President Abraham Lincoln's killer, will be on display when
the musical "Assassins" opens in Philadelphia.
In fact, it will be a twin bill: theatergoers will also be able
view a piece of the brain of the lesser-known presidential assassin
Charles Guiteau, the man who killed President James A. Garfield in
1881.
The specimens will be on loan to the Arden Theatre from
Philadelphia's Mutter Museum, which boasts a large collection of
medical oddities. They will be on display in the lobby for one
night, the opening of "Assassins" on Sept. 19.
"People know who they are, but to see them in the flesh - no
pun intended - to me is exciting, it's relevant, it's interesting
and it's educational," said Anna Dhody, a spokeswoman for the
Mutter Museum.
The museum is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Dhody said the samples were acquired long ago but she did not know
the circumstances.
Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre, and died
the next morning.
Booth was killed by pursuers 12 days after shooting Lincoln.
Guiteau was hanged - after an insanity defense failed - on June 30,
1882.
The tissue fragment from Booth is believed to have come from his
neck, Dhody said.
"Assassins," a Stephen Sondheim musical that explores the nine
people who have taken aim at U.S. presidents, won five Tony awards
in 2002.
"When you have the first two ... successful assassins in U.S.
history in a city, and you have this wonderful show going on, how
do you not combine the two?" said J Nathan Bazzel, a Mutter Museum
docent who came up with the idea.
The specimens are preserved in fluid in small, vintage glass
jars. If a few patrons find the display in poor taste, organizers
hope most will appreciate the chance to connect to history.
"We prefer to think of it as we're showing our tangible
evidence of very, very important parts of American history," Dhody
said. "So we're hoping people would approach it from more of a
historical than a macabre viewpoint."
---
On the Net:
Mutter Museum: www.muttermuseum.org
Arden Theatre: www.ardentheatre.org

[NJFFSA16]

SALLY FIELDS THINKS SHE LOOKS LIKE "DOG POOP"
NEW YORK (AP) - She doesn't like the way she looks. She really,
really doesn't like the way she looks. In fact, Sally Field tells
Health Magazine she thinks she looks like "dog poop." She says
she's not different from a lot of women who want to "put a piece
of black velvet over the mirror when they turn 50." And she's 60
now.

[NJFFSA16]

Truth stranger than fiction as author jailed
WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish crime writer has been jailed
for 25 years after authorities found he had committed a murder
that had been described in one of his thrillers, officials said
Wednesday.
In his 2003 book "Amok," Krystian Bala described in detail
the brutal murder of a Polish businessman.
Police found that the fictional crime had similarities with
a case in 2000 when a body was fished out of the river Oder in
the town of Wroclaw, near the German border.
Prosecutors said Bala had humiliated, tortured, starved and
later killed his victim, who had a love affair with the
writer's wife.
"The court has sentenced Krystian B. to 25 years in prison
for the murder of his ex-wife's lover," said a spokesman for
the court in Wroclaw.

[NJFFSA16]

Woman lived with dead aunt for year
VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian woman lived with the
mummified remains of her aunt for a year, Vienna police said
Wednesday.
Officers found the corpse of the 96-year-old aunt under a
blanket on a bed after ignoring the 51-year-old niece's claim
that her aunt was sleeping and should not be disturbed, a
police statement said.
A preliminary inquiry had determined that the niece, who
was taken to a psychiatric hospital for examination, may have
covered up the death for financial reasons, it added.
Austrian news agency APA quoted police investigator Gerald
Hoebart as saying possible theft was being looked into since
the younger woman appeared to have lived off her aunt's pension
since the death and used her cashpoint card to withdraw money.
An autopsy was planned to check whether any foul play was
involved in the death, believed to have happened in August
2006.

[NJFFSA16]

Adulterers beware - or pay the price
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Married Colombians engaged in passionate
extra-curricular activities may soon have to think twice about
their philandering ways if a senator's proposed legislation
punishing adultery gets the green light.
Sen. Edgar Espindola said he has proposed a law that would
impose fines and enforced community service as punishment for
adulterers in an effort to protect family values and shield
children from broken homes.
"I believe a lot of my companions are going to support this
initiative," Espindola said on Tuesday. "This project should
motivate Colombians to reflect on the importance of the
marriage, the home and the importance of family."
He said aggrieved parties could take complaints and
evidence such as photographs to local family judges, who would
decide to impose fines of up to 20 minimum monthly salaries --
around $4,000 -- and obligatory welfare service.
Spouses forgiven by partners would escape punishment.

[NJFFSA16]

Math prodigy, 9, says university too easy
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A nine-year-old mathematics prodigy
has become Hong Kong's youngest undergraduate, waltzing through
his first day at university saying classes were too easy.
March Boedihardjo, an Indonesian-Chinese boy resident in
Hong Kong, was accepted by Hong Kong's Baptist University to
study for a master's degree after gaining straight As in
entrance A-level exams usually taken at 17 or 18.
"It was too easy," Boedihardjo told reporters after
attending a convocation ceremony in a pint-sized black-gown and
his first day of classes Tuesday, adding that he'd already
learnt the subject matter a year or two ago.
The university has designed a five-year program for the
child, but it has stirred controversy among some education
experts who say he might experience stunted personal and social
development as a result.

[NJFFSA16]

BOSTON (AP) - A pair of former Northeastern University freshmen
are facing charges after prosecutors said one leaned out his dorm
window Sunday and loudly told a woman in the dorm opposite his that
he and his roommate were selling pot.
Oops. Two police officers happened to be nearby.
"If you're looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for
sale," Michael Emery said out the window, according to the Suffolk
district attorney's office.
Two plainclothes Boston officers in the building overheard the
conversation and went to a second-floor room where they arrested
Emery, 18, and Matthew Ferrante, 18, after finding about four
ounces of marijuana; drug paraphernalia, including a scale; and
several bottles of alcohol, prosecutors said.
The students were arraigned Tuesday on charges including
possession of a class D substance with intent to distribute in a
school zone, a count that carries a maximum of two years in jail.
They pleaded not guilty, were released on personal recognizance
and are due back in court next month. Attorneys for the men did not
immediately return calls for comment.
They are no longer students at Northeastern, university
spokeswoman Laura Shea said.

[NJFFSA16]

Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal's state-run
airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the
Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its
Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.
Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to
suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.
The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome
aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in
Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official
said.
"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft
has resumed its flights," said Raju K.C., a senior airline
official, without explaining what the problem had been.
Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an
electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to
five cities in Asia.

[NJFFSA16]

Three bears, now lion, try to leave zoo
ALMATY (Reuters) - A lion escaped from its cage at a Kazakh
zoo over the weekend, the second such incident in a month, news
media reported Monday.
The six-year-old lion called Adam sneaked out of his cage
through a door that had been accidentally left open, Kazakhstan
Today news agency reported.
The lion roamed around freely for half an hour before zoo
workers lured it back to safety.
Just a month ago, three bears broke out of their enclosure
in the same zoo in southern Kazakhstan.

[NJFFSA16]

Fashion war on taxi slobs
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia is cracking down on
shabbily dressed taxi-drivers, fining them for not tucking in
their shirts or for wearing shoes of the wrong color.
Malaysia's lowly paid tax-drivers are supposed to wear
white shirts, dark trousers and black shoes, but in reality
passengers are happy if they can just persuade them to use the
meter.
But the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board is out to make a
fashion statement, the Star newspaper said Monday, quoting its
chairman as saying drivers had to present a professional image.
Taxi-drivers have been fined 100-300 ringgit ($29-$86) --
or up to three days' average wages -- for wearing an off-white
shirt or getting behind the wheel without socks, angering the
drivers and reducing one of them to tears, the paper added.
"I actually saw a taxi-driver crying over having to pay a
fine of 200 ringgit when I was at the (licensing board's)
office recently," Abdul Jalil Maarof, president of the Klang
Valley Taxi Owners Association, told the Star.

[MalahatTwo7]

Bulldozer Barrels Into Police Station
Police Arrest Man At Scene

POSTED: 10:12 am EDT August 31, 2007
UPDATED: 12:14 pm EDT August 31, 2007

TROY, N.H. -- A Troy man is accused of driving a bulldozer through the front doors of the town's Police Department early Friday morning, WMUR-TV in Manchester reported.

Officials arrested 34-year-old Stanley Burt at the scene.

Authorities said Burt stole the bulldozer and then drove it into the police department around 12:30 a.m.

No one was inside the building at the time of the incident, the television station reported.

State police said Troy Officer Kevin Stone happened to be driving by the station and saw the bulldozer repeatedly slamming the front of the station.

Stone and other officers managed to take Burt into custody without incident.

Burt is charged with criminal mischief and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon. He was due in court Friday morning.

Troy police said Burt has prior offenses in town. Investigators are still looking into a possible motive.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting.

I know of at least one Brit armoured tank driver who did a similar thing many years ago on a British base in Germany. The Regiment was returned home early from a training exercise. He found his wife in bed with another guy, so he quietly left the two of them to their passions. He returned to the tank park, climbed into his Cheiftan, and started to drive it home. Actually "Home" was through the front door of his Married Quarters. He apparently drove through the house several times, however taking as much care as as is possible with a 65 ton vehicle NOT to drive through the bedroom areas......

I guess that gives new meaning to:

HI HONEY. I'M HOME.

[kprsn1]

A fiery auto crash in July near Augusta, Ga., had killed the driver and would likely kill the passenger, too, if the fire were not immediately smothered. Firefighters were still minutes away, but passing by was a pump truck from a local plumbing company, whose quick-thinking driver extinguished the flames with 1,500 gallons of raw sewage from a septic tank-cleaning job he had just finished. [WJBF-TV (Augusta), 7-9-07]

I don't care what anyone says, I'm not changing from foam to sewage!

[MalahatTwo7]

A fiery auto crash in July near Augusta, Ga., had killed the driver and would likely kill the passenger, too, if the fire were not immediately smothered. Firefighters were still minutes away, but passing by was a pump truck from a local plumbing company, whose quick-thinking driver extinguished the flames with 1,500 gallons of raw sewage from a septic tank-cleaning job he had just finished. [WJBF-TV (Augusta), 7-9-07]

EEEWWWWWWW


However, good thinking and initiative on the part of the sewage driver.

=====

Ummm...errr.... aaahhh ya. Thats it....

Man Crosses Mountains By Foot For Love
Journey Through California Will Take Man 150 Miles To Anaheim

POSTED: 9:18 pm EDT September 6, 2007

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- One man decided to prove his love to a woman Thursday by attempting to cross the mountains between Bakersfield, Calif., and Los Angeles by foot, reported KERO-TV.

The 150-mile journey for Nathan Staker, 21, stemmed from a late-night phone conversation with his girlfriend, Nicole Faltermayer, which turned into a challenge of the heart.

Yet the journey didn't begin at the base of the mountains that are home to the Los Padres National Forest.

Staker began his journey Thursday in Bakersfield by jogging along Highway 119, and then along a frontage road that parallels Freeway 99.

Staker told KERO-TV in Bakersfield that he didn't plan out his journey, and didn't know if he would get arrested when he finally walked on the freeway south of Bakersfield.

He joked that he would probably have to call his girlfriend after a night in jail.

Staker's 150-mile trek on foot will take him from Bakersfield to the doorstep of Faltermayer's home in Anaheim. Calif.

"She thinks I'm crazy," he said about Faltermayer.

Staker met Faltermayer two years ago. Beginning as friends, their relationship evolved and now Staker is out to prove his undying devotion, despite Faltermayer's disbelief.

For Staker his love is no joke. He set out with a proposal in mind.

Jordan Barker, youth pastor and friend of Staker, said if Faltermayer accepts Staker's proposal, he'll marry them on the spot.

A passing motorist offered to drive Staker 35 miles. Staker declined. Nothing could detour him from his goal to walk every step of the way.

Staker's journey is about a love he'll be able to tell his future children about. "Every girl deserves a love story," he said.

Staker expects to arrive in Anaheim Sunday morning. Faltermayer said she'll be waiting for him.

But will they get married? That's a question that will be answered in roughly 150 miles.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting

[MalahatTwo7]

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========
Thats what I get when trying to make a new thread.

[MalahatTwo7]

SUV Driver Blames Backseat Sex For Crash
Driver Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor

POSTED: 12:06 pm EDT September 19, 2007
UPDATED: 1:09 pm EDT September 19, 2007

MOSCOW, Idaho -- A driver of a sport utility vehicle who hit a telephone pole blamed the crash on two friends having sex in the back seat.

Joshua D. Frank, 22, pleaded guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge of failing to notify a police officer of a traffic accident.

He was fined nearly $190 after his Chevy Blazer hit a telephone pole in the Moscow, Idaho, area.

According to court documents, Frank told police that his SUV is top heavy and the backseat action made it become "tippy," causing him to lose control.

According to the affidavit, Frank suffered a minor head injury in the crash and his friends were treated for unspecified injuries.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.

Are we sure he wasn't trying to "get a look-see" too????

[REVANANT]

Lawyer Shot With BB Guns Helps Nab Teens

(AP) BURTON, Mich. - Two teens learned the folly of shooting a BB gun at an attorney, especially when the lawyer is a longtime rugby player who goes by the nickname "Dr. Death."

Michael J. Breczinski was walking to his car Tuesday night outside a Burton, Mich., mall when he heard a loud pop and felt a sting on his neck.

The 54-year-old turned to see the smirking teens, ages 14 and 15, hiding their hands.

The teens ran when he asked if they shot him with a BB gun, Breczinski told The Flint Journal.

As he gave chase, one of the teens pulled a BB gun and shot at him again. Pellets pinged him in the arms and torso, but Breczinski tackled the teen in a parking lot.

The youth got away from the lawyer’s grasp, but both teens were later arrested by police in a nearby restaurant. They are expected to face felonious assault charges.

A pair of BB guns were found in the woods near the mall, about 50 miles northwest of Detroit. Police also found the teens had CO2 cartridges used in BB guns and $30 in candy that police believe may have been stolen.

Breczinski had to get a tetanus shot for the pellet wounds, but said it was the teens who got off lucky. He had taken target practice earlier Tuesday and decided not to carry his .45-caliber Ruger to the mall, he told the newspaper.

He said there was no guarantee he would have known the teen had pulled only a BB gun.

"I think God was looking out for them and me," Breczinski said.


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[REVANANT]

Mooning Links Activist to Older Crime

(AP) TORRANCE, Calif. - Mooning a police officer was community activist Steven Lee Myrick’s undoing. Myrick, 41, was convicted by a jury Tuesday of raping a Hawthorne woman during a burglary seven years ago.

The crime was unsolved until he exposed his bare buttocks years later and a DNA sample collected by officers linked him to the rape.

Jurors deliberated less than a day before finding Myrick guilty of residential burglary and two counts of rape.

He faces multiple life terms when sentenced Nov. 5 because jurors found true special allegations that a gun was used, the burglary was gang-related and the rape occurred during a burglary while the victim was tied up, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link said.

"Thank goodness for DNA," Link said.

Defense attorney James Cooper wouldn’t comment on the verdict.

After Myrick was convicted of mooning officers outside his Watts housing project during a demonstration, he was required to submit a DNA sample for a law enforcement database.

___

Information from: Daily Breeze, http://www.dailybreeze.com


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[REVANANT]

Charges Dropped in Sherry Enema Death

(AP) ANGLETON, Texas - Negligent homicide charges have been dropped against a former Lake Jackson woman who had been accused of killing her husband with a sherry enema that led to alcohol poisoning.

Court records show the charge against Tammy Jean Warner, 45, of Texas City, was dismissed Aug. 31 because of insufficient evidence, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition Wednesday.

Michael Warner, 58, died May 21, 2004. An autopsy showed he had been given an enema with enough sherry to have a blood alcohol level of 0.47 percent, almost six times the legal limit of .08 percent in Texas.

Tammy Warner has told the newspaper that her husband was addicted to enemas and often used alcohol in them to get drunk.


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[ffscm72]

As I say,

Stupid people equals job security.

Thats why I do this. Their is never a lack of stupid people!... lol

[firecat1]

"AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- As drug mules, bugs don't carry much. And they didn't get by customs in the Netherlands. A customs officer who took a close look at a consignment of more than 100 large, dead bugs sent from Peru to the Netherlands discovered cocaine had been stashed in their backs.

"We see a lot of things, but this was a first for us," customs spokesman Kees Nanninga said Thursday.

"It looked like they were cut open, the drugs hidden in their backs and then they were glued back together again," he said.

The insects held only about 10 ounces of cocaine, worth about $11,000, Nanninga said."


Ingenuity or insanity?