Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Air Crew Mistook Letter-Opener for Knife


TOKYO (Reuters) - An American Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Tokyo on Wednesday after crew mistook a letter-opener found on board for a knife, Japanese police said.

The captain of American Airlines flight 167, bound from New York's John F. Kennedy airport for Tokyo's Narita, requested an emergency landing at Narita after a crew member came across the object, a police official said.

The metal letter-opener, with a two-inch retractable blade, and a cigarette lighter built in at the other end, was found in a room for crew members near the cockpit.

"We are not treating this as a crime. No laws have been broken," another police official said.


When asked if the object could have been used as a weapon, he said: "The blade is rather short, so I don't know how effective it would be."


The object sparked concern after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned the airline industry last weekend that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States or abroad.



07/30/03 11:05

[Jolie Rouge]

Koalas Going on the Pill


CANBERRA (Reuters) - Female koalas are being given contraception in the Australian state of Victoria because the population is eating itself out of house and home.

Parks Victoria is planning to inject a small tube containing the same hormones as the contraceptive pill under the skin of around 3,000 wild female koalas in the Mount Eccles National Park, 300 km (186 miles) southwest of Melbourne.

Sally Troy, Parks Victoria's research manager, said on Wednesday that the koala population had to be brought under control because their staple food, the manna gum in the Mount Eccles National Park, was close to depletion.

"The forest is continuing to decline as the animals just keep eating and breeding," Troy told Reuters.


"We're concerned there is a really high risk that we will get a population crash in the next five years -- that is the trees die and thousands of koalas starve to death," Troy said.


"We have found that relocation and surgical sterilization hasn't worked that well, so now we're shifting to a more humane, large scale option which is basically putting them on the pill."


Troy said contraceptive implants, which can be inserted on-the-spot without the use of any anaesthetic and last for about five years, have previously been used in zoos on kangaroos and other marsupials, but never on wild animals.


Koalas can live for up to 18 years and may produce between eight and 11 offspring during their lifetime. They generally start breeding when they are around two-years-old.


The Australian Koala Foundation says there are around 100,000 of the creatures in the country.


"There's not a lot of predator pressure on these animals anymore...They are also protected species so the numbers in some areas have just grown steadily," Troy said.


She said the Parks Victoria operation to catch and inject the contraception tubes into the koalas would begin late next year and was likely to take two years.



07/30/03 11:04

[Jolie Rouge]

Dead Man Pens Hope Obituary for New York Times


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Funnyman Bob Hope died this week aged 100, and the New York Times informed its readers of the sad event by running out an obituary written by Vincent Canby -- a veteran Times critic who died himself in 2000.

Canby, who died aged 76 in October 2000, was a long time entertainment writer for the Times.

"The obituary was written by Mr. Canby several years ago and his byline was on it," Times spokesman Toby Usnik said on Tuesday, adding that Canby's own demise was noted when the Times posted the obituary on its Web site.

The peculiar incident of one dead man writing about another was cause for some titillation in New York's tabloids.


The New York Post, not known for holding back any punches, could barely restrain itself.


"If there are any mistakes, obviously don't call the writer," the tabloid guffawed in Tuesday's edition, adding, "At least he didn't bury the lead."



07/30/03 11:00

[the fugative]

Originally posted by Jolie Rouge
Air Crew Mistook Letter-Opener for Knife


The object sparked concern after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned the airline industry last weekend that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States or abroad.



07/30/03 11:05

Just a little concern?? Ya Think???

[Jolie Rouge]

Men Tried for Posing as Police to Rob Brothels


BERLIN (Reuters) - Six Germans are on trial accused of robbing brothels while posing as plainclothes police carrying out inspections, court officials said Tuesday.

The unemployed men, aged between 27 and 50, have been charged with stealing about $4,600 and several mobile phones at 10 Berlin brothels, a court spokesman said.



07/30/03 10:59

[Jolie Rouge]

Official Urges Ban on 'Bruce Almighty'


KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian government minister has called on Islamic authorities to ban Hollywood actor Jim Carrey's latest film "Bruce Almighty," newspapers reported on Tuesday.

In the comedy, Carrey plays the role of a television reporter who is given the power of God for a week.

"It's not appropriate to show the film in this country," Abdul Hamid Zainal, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was quoted as saying.

The minister said censors should refer the film to the Islamic Affairs Department to decide whether it should be screened. Just over half of Malaysia's 24 million people are Muslim.


"We cannot equate ourselves with God -- even as a joke," Abdul Hamid said.



07/29/03 10:48

[Jolie Rouge]

Recording industry legend Sam Phillips dead at 80


MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Reuters) - Recording industry legend Sam Phillips, the Sun Records founder who discovered Elvis Presley and also launched the careers of such stars as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and B.B. King, has died at age 80, in Memphis.

His death was confirmed Wednesday by Rachel Zurka, spokesperson at the Memorial Park Funeral home. Zurka said that Phillips died at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis.

Widely regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th century popular music, Phillips played a major role in bringing the electric blues to a wide audience and in pioneering the development of rock 'n' roll.

With performers such as Presley and Perkins, Phillips fused the best of rhythm and blues with country and western in his Memphis, Tennessee-based studio, giving birth to a musical genre that transformed America's recording scene in the 1950s.


Reuters/VNU



07/31/03 00:25

[Jolie Rouge]

Baby Names Parents Should Never Use

The first gift you bestow on your hapless baby is his or her name.
Be considerate. If you're not, you could expose your kid to years of teasing from other children. That's the word from Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, authors of "Cool Names For Babies," who have helpfully created a short list of names you should never, ever use because they insist "no one is cool enough for them."

Those names you should never use are:

Norbert
Bertha
Delbert
Hortense
Hyman

Not all "cool" names are equally cool.
There are different levels of cool. To wit:

*Hot Cool: Ivy

*Cool Cool: These would be famous names, including movie characters, artists, athletes, musicians, and writers.

*Too Cool: Kool, Tiger, Armani, Congo

You might want to consider "new cool" names, such as these:

Spiritual names: Pax or Eden

Color names: Indigo or Lavender

Music names: Jazz, Cadence, Madrigal

Foreign word names: Luna (Spanish for "moon") or Vero (Italian for "truth")

[Jolie Rouge]

Missing girl claim a 'cruel hoax'
Father: 'I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here'
Wednesday, July 30, 2003 Posted: 6:47 PM EDT


THORNTOWN, Indiana (CNN) -- Authorities say the woman who called the parents of a 6-year-old girl missing since 1986 was "the perpetrator of a cruel hoax."

The woman who claimed to be the now-grown girl has been identified as Donna L. Walker, 35, according to Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten.

He said an arrest warrant has been issued charging Walker with felony identity deception and misdemeanor false reporting.

"We are seeking help from the public across the land to look for this woman," said Bursten, noting that her last known address was Topeka, Kansas.

"This has been a very cruel hoax for the family," Bursten told reporters, adding it has been "emotional, physically, mentally exhausted the immediate and extended family of Shannon Sherrill."

The girl's father, Mike Sherrill, said he took the news of the alleged hoax "real hard," breaking down in sobs while talking to reporters.

"I wasn't expecting this at all. When they called me with the information that we were going to have a news conference, I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here. I thought this was something," he said before covering his face and breaking into tears.


Mike Sherrill breaks down during a news conference Wednesday.
The father had learned just moments earlier that authorities had identified the claim as a hoax.

His ex-wife, Dorothy Sherrill, also attended the news conference, but did not speak.

Their daughter, Shannon, vanished from Thorntown on October 5, 1986, after last being seen playing with friends outside her home.

"It's been a very big roller coaster," said the girl's aunt, Jody Ames. "We've been up, we've been down, we've hoped for the best -- we're still hoping for the best. We just hope somebody will come forward and help us."

Authorities: Walker pulled similar hoaxes

Authorities said Walker not only called the parents, but telephoned members of the news media so the story would generate more publicity.
"The only good that may come out of this is to stir someone's conscience that knows true, valid information about the disappearance of Shannon," Bursten said. "Hopefully they will be stirred to the point that they will contact the police department or the Indiana state police with information."

Authorities said the motive behind the alleged hoax was unclear, because Walker did not make any demands to police or family members.
They also said without elaboration that Walker has a history of carrying out similar hoaxes in the Virginia Beach, Virginia, area.

Authorities said Walker first contacted Dorothy Sherrill on July 26, claiming to be her daughter. Walker then called Mike Sherrill on Saturday, authorities said, adding they also had been in phone contact with her, most recently on Tuesday.

Authorities said Walker used three different names and three different voices in various phone calls to help corroborate her story. The phone calls were all made from the Midwest to western United States, authorities said.

"All of the names used by Walker have been determined to be fictitious or the names of other people who have no connection to this case," Bursten said.

Police in Topeka searched Walker's residence there but found no sign she had been there in recent days, authorities said.

Boone County prosecutor Todd Meyer vowed to prosecute the case "with the full extent of the law."

"I'm very sorry for what's happened to this family," Meyer said. "I want everybody to know that I will do my best to make sure that this woman is brought to justice here so that this is never done anywhere else in this country."

[Jolie Rouge]

Liz Taylor Charged In Bizarre Lawsuit

Actress Elizabeth Taylor has been charged in a sex discrimination lawsuit that Reuters describes as "bizarre" in which her former gardener alleges Taylor fired him because he was not gay.

Taylor employed Willem Van Muyden on her Bel Air estate. During his tenure with the actress, he created a jungle-style garden that has been described as "Disneyland-like." Reuters reports that he is suing Taylor for sexual harassment, sexual orientation discrimination, wrongful dismissal, and breach of oral contract for unspecified damages for emotional distress when he was fired in September 2002 without being paid $294,000 he claims he was owed for 10 years of work. Van Muyden says the reason he was fired is that he rejected the sexual advances of Taylor's French butler, Jean-Luc Lacquement. "Van Muyden... believes and alleges that Taylor, at the request and/or suggestion of Jean-Luc, intentionally fired plaintiff in retaliation because of his rejection of the sexual assault," the lawsuit says. The legal papers also contain this tidbit: Van Muyden alleges that a secretary who worked for Taylor told him that he was not being paid "because he was not gay like the other employees that worked for Taylor."

Meanwhile, Taylor's attorney, Thomas Hoberman, told Reuters the lawsuit is nothing more than "a work of complete fiction" and the actress will be counter-suing on the grounds of malicious prosecution.

[Jolie Rouge]

Buy Cold Meds Here and Cops Are Told

If you're in Nemaha County, Nebraska and you purchase over-the-counter cold or allergy medications, the store clerk will take your name and hand it over to the local sheriff. Why does he care? Sheriff Brent Lottman is trying to fight the production of methamphetamine, an illegal and highly addictive drug that is made from pseudoephedrine, a substance found in common, over-the-counter medications, reports The Associated Press.

The voluntary effort has outraged civil liberty advocates, who insist that buying medicine for sneezes and sniffles doesn't warrant having your name entered into a government database. But the sheriff thinks tracking such purchases could be one of the few ways he has to fight meth production. Tim Butz, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Nebraska chapter, told AP, "In the end, what this does is set a bad precedent...That just goes to show the idiocy of the war on drugs." Nebraska U.S. Attorney Mike Heavican said Lottman's program is not illegal.

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Patriot Act, anti-terrorism law passed after the attacks of September 11, 2001, claiming it is unconstitutional for searches of business, library, and bookstore records.

Lottman plans to continue taking names despite complaints by customers. "We're not publishing any of this information or anything," Lottman explained to AP. "I buy Claritin usually every 20 days. I guess if somebody wanted me to write that down, I really wouldn't care." Methamphetamine, which produces a euphoric high that lasts six to eight hours, can be easily produced just about anywhere with the right ingredients.