News of the Weird - this just in!

[sandman67]

Spider-Man thwarts robbery in comic shop caper
Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney

When Australian comic book store owner Michael Baulderstone dressed up as Spider-Man for a promotional event in his shop last weekend, he never imagined by the end of the day he would become a real-life crime-fighting superhero.

But luckily, Mr Baulderstone’s “Spider-sense” was tingling and he was able to thwart a robbery attempt at his shop in the South Australian capital of Adelaide - with the aid of The Flash and some trusted Jedi Knights wielding light sabres.

The comical crime caper began on Saturday morning in the Adelaide Comics Centre, tucked away in a mall in the heart of the city, which was full of fans dressed as their favourite superhero characters who had descended on the store for international ‘free comic book day’, aimed at encouraging children to read.

Mingling among the customers in fancy dress - including a Wolverine, a Catwoman and even someone dressed as Kick-Ass, the character from the recent British film about a hapless American teenager who creates his own superhero character to fight crime - Mr Baulderstone noticed someone acting suspiciously.

The customer, who was dressed as himself - a comic fan in an overcoat and jeans – allegedly picked up an X-Man Omnibus (worth $AU160, or £97) from the shop window display.

“My Spider-sense was tingling,“ Mr Baulderstone, 45, told The Times as he fielded congratulatory calls for his superhero behaviour. “I didn’t want to scare him off so I followed him around the store and eventually said: ‘Are you right there mate?’”

With no police – or Batman – on hand to help, Mr Baulderstone decided to take matters into his own red and blue lycra-clad hands.

“I’m 169cm tall and only 57kg, so I’m a tiny bloke, but I just grabbed his bag and looked in it and there was the book,” he said.

“I had 50 people in the store so I just shouted for someone to guard the front door and it just happened that the Jedi Knights were there and they had their lightsabres out so they held the door until the police arrived.

“My colleague, who was dressed as The Flash, kept running the shop and stayed calm, it really was a team effort.”

CCTV footage captured the whole scene on tape, which shows Spider-Man calmly confronting the unmasked offender and confiscating his backpack.

Mr Baulderstone, a life-long comic fan who has owned the shop with his colleague Peter Spandrio for the past three years, said they often have people trying to steal valuable comics and collectors' items.

However he said that never before has one been stopped by a real-life superhero: “When the police came in they managed to keep a straight face and just hauled him away”.

[STEVE G]

Village school banned from flying its own flag because it is 'advertising'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ising.html

[STEVE G]

A garage worker wrecked a client's £200,000 Ferrari after he took the supercar for a spin on the road to "put it through its paces" following an MOT.

The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, which has a top speed of 196mph, was being driven by a road tester from a local MOT centre when it smashed into a lamppost and flew over a two-foot wall into the middle of a roundabout.

The dark blue vehicle, one of only a handful of models in Britain, was seriously damaged after the crash in New Malden, Surrey, in which the driver, in his early 20s, was unhurt.

A source said the car was being given a "quick road test" before being returned to its owner, who is "obviously not happy that their pride and joy has been wrecked".

A Ferrari spokesman said the car was not being driven by a member of staff from Ferrari or an official Ferrari dealership, and added the company would help police with any inquiries.

Police said the incident was being treated as a "one car accident" and that an investigation was unnecessary.

The driver was treated for shock by paramedics at the scene.

Gary Adams, who witnessed the incident, said: "He was driving along one minute and the next the car was in the
middle of the roundabout.

"He looked pretty stressed out when he realised the car was wrecked and kept saying his bosses would kill him."

Another eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said: "He just lost control and smashed into a lamppost and
then the car mounted the roundabout and ended up in the middle of it.

"There were no other cars involved – he just lost it as he went round the roundabout."

[Nereus]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp ... own-under/

Skinny-dipping tourist bitten down under:

A venomous katipo spider bite on his penis was the high price a tourist paid for a skinny-dip at a New Zealand beach.
The 22-year-old Canadian left his clothes in the sand dunes while he went for his nude swim at a Northland beach.
He slept on his return, according to a report on the case in today's online NZ Medical Journal.
"He woke to find his penis swollen and painful with a red mark on the shaft suggestive of a bite. He rapidly developed generalised muscle pains, fever, headache, photophobia [light sensitivity] and vomiting," wrote Dr Nigel Harrison and colleagues who treated him at Dargaville and Whangarei hospitals.

By the time the man reached Dargaville Hospital, his penis was severely swollen, his blood pressure was up and his heart beat racing.
Chest pain and other symptoms developed the next morning and it was presumed he had been bitten by a katipo. He was treated with anti-venom medicine and rapidly improved.
However, heart problems persisted and he was treated at Whangarei Hospital and Auckland Hospital before returning to Canada.

Katipo spiders are known to have a highly specialised habitat in New Zealand sand dunes and will bite only rarely, and in defence.
This was the first known case of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, caused by a bite, Dr Harrison said.
A prompt diagnosis and the use of anti-venom resulted in a good outcome for the tourist, he said.

[PeteC]

Further reports indicate that the horse has made a statement, but had this strange smile on her face. Pete

Horse tied up, sexually assaulted in Felton

By Cathy Kelly

ckelly@santacruzsentinel.com
Posted: 05/19/2010 08:16:53 PM PDT
Updated: 05/19/2010 08:17:06 PM PDT

A Felton woman says her horse was sexually assaulted Monday evening in a pasture near Graham Hill and Mount Hermon roads, according to Santa Cruz County Animal Services.

The horse's owner told Animal Services that she spotted a man on top of her horse. She said the man ran into the woods when he saw her coming, according to Lynn Miller, the agency's interim manager.

"It's very bizarre behavior and very alarming to have someone doing this and you wonder, where next and who next," Miller said.

The California Penal Code outlines a specific, misdemeanor crime for sexually assaulting an animal, Miller said.

It is very rare that the agency gets reports of such crime, he said.

In Monday's case, the horse's owner said she could not initially find her horse when she went to the pasture and began calling out to her, Miller said.

The horse whinnied back and the woman followed the sound and then saw her in another area of the pasture, tied to a redwood tree, he said.

She saw the man pulling up his pants and yelled out and he took off into the woods.

It was near dusk and the woman did not get a clear look at him, he said, but reported he had a light-colored beard and was wearing tattered clothes and may have been homeless.

The horse was uninjured, Miller said.

She told the officer she had heard a similar incident happened to another horse in the area, but Miller said they had not received any other

Normally, the Sheriff's Office would field the call, but Animal Services took it because deputies were busy and the perpetrator was gone, Miller said.

Animal Services encouraged the woman to file a report with the Sheriff's Office, he said.

The Sheriff's Office has not gotten a report of the incident, and deputies are unaware of any similar recent cases, Sgt. Dan Campos said.

In 2003, according to Sentinel archives, a Shetland pony named Rose was taken from Coast Road Stables north of Santa Cruz and reportedly sexually assaulted. A jogger in that case had reported seeing a man sleeping beside a horse in the bushes along Shaffer Road on the morning before the pony wandered back, uninjured. The hair on the tails of several horses there had been cut as well, deputies reported at the time.

[Nereus]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp ... ng-dinner/

Man 'killed wife for burning dinner'

A 48-year-old British man is in court for killing his wife because she over-cooked his birthday dinner, burning his beef.

TV location manager, Jonathan Wicks punched or slapped wife Sarah, 49, after she hurled plates at him when he complained about the burned roast beef, a court heard yesterday.

The blow ruptured an artery in her neck, killing her almost instantly. The incident occurred at their £500,000 home in Stourton, near Shipston, Warwickshire.

Wicks - who has worked on BBC1's Holby City, hit comedy Absolutely Fabulous and Waking The Dead - claims he acted in self-defence and he denies manslaughter.

According to News Ltd, James Burbidge QC, prosecuting, said: 'The prosecution accept that when Mr Wicks killed his wife he did not intend to kill her, but we say he committed an unlawful act.

The act was a punch or a slap, but we say it was unlawful and it was violent, and he had no lawful reason to do it.'

The couple hosted Sunday lunch for three families at their home - a converted church called The Old Chapel - on May 3 last year in honour of Wicks' 47th birthday on April 25.

The guests allegedly drank six bottles of wine and champagne, but during dinner Wicks complained that his wife had burned the beef.

After the last guest left at 8.30pm, Wicks hit his wife before allegedly leaving the scene and returning 20 minutes later to dial 999.

When paramedics arrived, Mrs Wicks was on her back on the kitchen floor and Wicks was crouching next to her.

Wicks pleaded with them to help her, and said: 'I've killed her. She was throwing plates at me and I hit her.'

'Oh my God, what have I done? It should be me lying there. Just hit me with a blunt object.'

Wicks told paramedics Catherine Hardwick about his work as his wife lay surrounded by smashed plates.

[Nereus]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp ... ong-alley/

Ninjas to the rescue as thugs pick wrong alley

Three would-be thugs have learnt their lesson after setting upon a fellow train passenger in a dimly-lit alley in Sydney's west

The three men attacked the 27-year-old German medical student after getting off the train and following him down the alley at Kingswood on Tuesday.

What the muggers did not realise was that the alley ran behind the Ninja Senshi Ryu warrior school.

A ninja student coming out of class noticed the attack and alerted his teacher and three other students.

Ninja sensei, Kaylan Soto, says he and his students gave chase to the men.

"We looked around to see what was happening and there were three blokes on this guy just kicking him and punching him in the head," he said.

"We started running towards them and they took off. They would have seen five of us in ninja gear...all in black with our belts on, running toward them.

"I think they're probably still running if I'm not mistaken."

Police say they have charged a 16-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man with robbery in company over the assault.

They are looking for a third male described as being aged between 15 and 17, 165cm tall and caucasian.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

[STEVE G]

World land speed record for lawnmower broken on Welsh beach.

To most people a lawnmower conjures up the monotonous back-and-forth across a suburban garden. But for one man, a souped-up, custom-built gardening machine has landed him a place in the Guinness record book after racing it to speeds in excess of 87mph.

Don Wales broke the world land speed record for a lawnmower twice this weekend at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, hitting 86.069mph on Saturday then 87.833mph yesterday. The record had been 80.792mph, set in 2006 at Bonneville flats in America.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/2 ... cord-wales

[STEVE G]

German bank robbers blow it.

Robbers had to flee empty-handed after blowing up everything in a German bank except for the spot where the money was, police said today.

Photos in that country's media showed a scene of absolute devastation in the north-eastern village of Malliss, with the bank reduced to a pile of rubble. Amid the wreckage, only the cash machine was left intact.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ma ... -explosion

[Khundon1975]

Pigeon arrested for spying in Iran.

I would not be surprised if the penalty for spying in Iran, was being thrown off a high cliff.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -site.html

[PeteC]

Pigeon arrested for spying in Iran.
I would not be surprised if the penalty for spying in Iran, was being thrown off a high cliff.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -site.html

I'm going to hide this one here for now as the time is not right. Obama is showing some balls concerning North Korea, and today Pakistan. If missed the latter, unilateral strike planning if any AQ from Pakistan launch a successful strike on the USA. Sure, done to scare the be-Jesus out of Pakistan and rightfully so. That's the source and always has been, Iran is just the current wanna-be.

Anyway, please feel free to start a thread when the shit starts. The damn Republicans just may re-elect OB for a second term. Pete

[STEVE G]

Mother fined £60 after stopping for one minute to read parking sign.


Claire Hallam, 45, pulled into the parking bay in Lewisham, south London, so that she could look at a sign telling her when she was allowed to park in the area.

But as soon as she got out to read the sign - which has a big blue 'P' on it, indicating parking is allowed at some point in the day - she was told by a shop owner she should "move quickly" to avoid a fine.

She dashed back into her car and left 60 seconds after she had parked.
However, a CCTV camera caught her on tape and she was promptly issued with a £60 fine - £1 for every second she was parked in the space.

She has since returned to the spot and found that the sign allows parking for 20 minutes between 10am and 4pm for loading, but otherwise there is no stopping between 7am-7pm.

Mrs Hallam, a part time school co-ordinator, said she was "disgusted" that she could be issued with such a large fine for such a short stop simply to read the terms and conditions of parking.

She said: "There was a big blue 'P' on the sign, so I pulled over to get a closer look and see how long I would be allowed to stop for.

"But then a girl came out of a bike shop and told me loads of customers got caught out and told me to move it quickly. I jumped back in the car and drove off - I was literally there for 60 seconds."

She appealed against the February 1 fine, which took place after 4pm, and was sent a video of her "contravention".

She said she watched the film and it confirmed she was there for only one minute but said that parking bosses had refused her appeal and were now charging her £120 - equivalent to £2 for each second she was parked.

Mrs Hallam, of Deptford, said: "When you are driving with two young children in the car you can't read detailed signs so easily, so I pulled over to get a closer look just to check.

"As soon as I was warned I was off in a jiffy - I can't believe they are penalising careful motorists like me while others get away with hundreds of parking fines and dumping their cars wherever they like."

The Transport for London website states that fines are normally issued after a five minute 'observation period' in a loading bay and state that it "will do all it can to avoid unnecessary enforcement".

A spokesman for Transport for London - which issued the fine - said the fine was correctly issued, adding: "Red Route restricted hours are in place to ensure that traffic flows freely during bust periods."

[pharvey]

'Grim eater' banned from funerals

A fake mourner dubbed "the Grim Eater", who gatecrashed funerals just to eat the food on offer, has been warned off by undertakers in New Zealand.

The man attended up to four funerals a week, even taking home leftovers in a "doggy bag" container.

Danny Langstraat, a director of Harbour City Funeral Home in Wellington, said his company finally became so irritated with the intruder's behaviour that it took a photograph of him, which it distributed to its branch offices.

The firm also alerted grieving families to his presence.

"He was showing up to funeral after funeral and, without a doubt, he didn't know the deceased," Mr Langstraat said.

"We saw him three or four times a week.

"Certainly, he had a backpack with some Tupperware containers so, when people weren't looking, he was stocking up," he told the Dominion-Post newspaper.

Mr Langstraat said the man, in his 40s, was respectably dressed and did not look like someone who lived on the streets.

"He was always very quiet and polite, and did as the rest of the mourners did in paying his respects."

The man has stopped turning up since a staff member took him aside and had a stern word in his ear, telling him he could not take food home.

Tony Garing, president of the Funeral Directors Association, said it was difficult to stop people attending funerals.

"If it's in a church, or even in a funeral home, if a notice has been published in the paper it's essentially a public event."

[STEVE G]

Hard times -- mortal enemy of the "sickie?"

(Reuters) - British workers took the fewest days off work sick during the height of the recession last year than at any time since the late 1980s, according to employers grouped in the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The CBI said workers took a total of 180 million sick days last year, at an average of 6.4 days each -- the lowest since the survey began in 1987. However, those absences cost business 16.8 billion pounds.

Some 15 percent of those sick days probably weren't genuine and bigger companies had the highest absence rates, the CBI said.

"Unfortunately, bogus sick days remain a problem, and are unfair on hard-working colleagues and employers alike," said Katja Hall, CBI Director of Employment Policy.

"If absence levels across the board could be reduced by 10 percent, the economy would see annual savings of just under 1.7 billion pounds."

Workers in the public sector took an average of 8.3 days off sick last year, compared to an average of 5.8 days in the private sector.

[Khundon1975]

Is this the end of the sick note and the start of the fit note?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8599354.stm