News of the Weird - this just in!

[STEVE G]

(Reuters) - Maine lawmakers on Wednesday approved legalizing switchblades for people with one arm, moving close to becoming the first state to make such an exception to laws that ban use of the spring-action knives.
Backers of the measure say legalizing switchblades would eliminate a need for one-armed people to be forced to open folding knives with their teeth in emergencies.
The bill to allow amputees and other one-armed people to carry the quick-opening knives cleared Maine's Senate on Wednesday after passing the House on Tuesday, Senate officials said.
Until now, Maine banned the use of switchblades by anyone.
In most states, carrying switchblades is illegal in most circumstances, though owning the knives may be allowed in some states.
Federal law allows their use by a person with one arm only on federal property if the blade is shorter than three inches.
The Maine bill requires that the knives have a blade that is three inches or shorter.
Governor Paul LePage is expected to sign the measure into law in the next couple of days, said spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.

[migrant]

(Reuters) - Maine lawmakers on Wednesday approved legalizing switchblades for people with one arm, moving close to becoming the first state to make such an exception to laws that ban use of the spring-action knives.


The Maine bill requires that the knives have a blade that is three inches or shorter.
Governor Paul LePage is expected to sign the measure into law in the next couple of days, said spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.

I used to live in Maine and be in business with their new governor.

Loved the state, it is wild and wooly but the new Governor is going to self destruct. His temper caused him and I to have many errrr discussions...

[STEVE G]

(Reuters) - After printing 3 billion copies of a new postage stamp bearing an image of the Statue of Liberty, the United States Postal Service received a strange question from a stamp collector.

Did postal officials realise the photograph was not of the famed statue in New York Harbor, but of a less-feted fibreglass and Styrofoam replica outside a Las Vegas casino?

They did not.

"We certainly regret having made the error," Roy Betts, a USPS spokesman, said on Friday.

The first-class postage stamp, which shows a low-angled close-up of Lady Liberty's face and crown, was issued in December, according to an announcement about the "world-recognized" symbol of the United States.

The statement described the statue as a gift from the people of France, designed by sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, which stands 305 feet (93 meters) tall on Liberty Island off the tip of Manhattan, "a symbol of political freedom and democracy for millions of people around the world."

None of which is quite true of the half-sized replica outside the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The USPS became aware of what it is calling a "mischaracterization" about a month ago, Betts said.

MGM Resorts International, which owns the New York-New York Hotel, seemed pleased with the mix-up.

"We all thought that the Post Office was honouring just one great American institution, but in reality it was honouring two -- The Statue of Liberty and Las Vegas -- with just one stamp," said Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for the company. "Regardless of how it came about, New York-New York is honoured to be the first Las Vegas casino resort to be on a U.S. stamp."

The USPS said it will correct the catalogue information connected with the stamp and live with the error, and has no plans to issue a recall. "Our track record is excellent for this as far as we're concerned," Betts said. "We've been issuing stamps since 1847. Very few errors have occurred over the years."

[STEVE G]

(AFP)A 23-year-old German driver was caught speeding three times in 23 minutes Tuesday in what police said was certain to be a record.

The culprit in the northern town of Luebbecke was stopped at 12:24 pm racing at 87 kilometres (54 miles) per hour in a 50 kilometres per hour zone, police said in a statement.

After authorities took down his personal details and gave him a warning, he sped off at 12:32 at 67 kilometres per hour, according to the laser gun.

At 12:47, the boy racer zoomed past a speed trap at 70 kilometres per hour, as he waved at the officer manning it.

"Apparently he is not that attached to his driving licence as he already had to give it up in February for a month for speeding," said the statement entitled "Surely a record: speeding three times in 23 minutes".

Authorities said the driver could expect a fine of 180 euros ($257) and three points on his licence.

Last month, a 22-year-old Brazilian man was caught driving at an eye-watering 291 kilometres per hour on the German motorway, almost three times the speed limit.

Many stretches of Germany's extensive autobahn network have no speed limit but strict rules apply to residential areas.

[Nereus]

Six-year-old drops gun at Texas school

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... as-school/


Three children were hurt after a loaded gun fell out of a six-year-old kindergarten student's pocket and discharged in the cafeteria of a Texas school, reports say.

None of the children was seriously injured and it appears they were grazed by a single bullet and its shrapnel, officials told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday.

The boy who brought the gun was wounded in the foot, another six-year-old boy was wounded in the leg and a five-year-old girl was wounded in the foot, school spokesman Jason Spencer told the paper.

Jarneshia Broussard, five, was eating a hot dog and beans at the same table as the boy who brought the gun when she heard a loud noise.

"I knew it was a gun because a gun goes 'pow'," she told the paper. "I got really scared."

Broussard said she and other children started to cry as pandemonium broke out among the frightened students at Betsy Ross Elementary School.

Officials did not close the school but allowed parents to pick their children up early if they wanted.

"This is a problem," Broussard's grandmother, Moneek Burleson said with tears in her eyes as she clutched her granddaughter's hand.

"This is a serious problem and it needs to stop."

A spokesman for the school district did not immediately return a request for comment.

[PeteC]

Bloody idiot parents. Honest to goodness, some people should be prevented from breeding. Pete

[migrant]

Charles Manson Breaks 20-Year Silence, Warns Of Global Warming

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/1 ... lnk2|57135

Charles Manson, the notorious cult leader, has broken his 20-year silence, and is speaking out about global warming.

Manson, now 76 years old, was accused of brainwashing members of his commune known as “The Manson Family." He was jailed 40 years ago for orchestrating the murders of eight people -- carried out at his instruction -- including Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife, Sharon Tate.

The Telegraph reports that during a recent interview with Spain’s Vanity Fair magazine, Manson warned of a danger that he thinks is greater than himself -- global warming.

Manson said, "Everyone's God and if we don't wake up to that there's going to be no weather because our polar caps are melting because we're doing bad things to the atmosphere… The automobiles and fossil fuels are destroying the atmosphere and we won't have air to breathe.”

Before trailing off, Manson added, 'If we don’t change that as rapidly as I’m speaking to you now, if we don’t put the green back on the planet and put the trees back that we’ve butchered, if we don’t go to war against the problem...'

According to The Daily Mail, Manson is also a founder of ATWA (Air Trees Water Animals or All The Way Alive). The mission statement warns of the planet’s destruction from pollution.

Charles Manson is likely not the advocate that environmentalists would like on their team to fight climate change. Will Manson's comments bring further controversy and political ammunition to an already hotly debated issue, or are they to be disregarded as the ramblings of a madman?

[STEVE G]

NAPLES, Italy, April 19 (UPI) -- Police in Italy said a man who collected about $86,000 in disabilities benefits by claiming to be blind was arrested after he was caught driving.

Investigators said the 67-year-old man, whose name was not released, was stopped Monday near Naples at a spot check and signed a ticket for not having his license with him, ANSA reported Tuesday.

The man was arrested when police discovered he was on a database of people suspected of fraudulently collecting disability benefits. Police said he had collected about $86,000 since 2003 by claiming to be sightless.

[Nereus]

Man caught doing extreme motorway ironing

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... on-camera/

A man has been spotted doing his ironing on the closed side of the motorway.

Drivers were left stunned as they saw him walk onto the road, put up his board, and get going.

He didn't have to dodge cars as the southbound stretch has been deserted for days.

Part of the M1 between junctions 1 and 4 has been closed off since Friday after a fire broke out at a scrapyard in the Mill Hill area of north London.

According to the official website, extreme ironing is "the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt." (see video)

[Nereus]

Love tryst husband froze to death

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... -to-death/

A cheating husband involved in a love tryst to escape an unhappy forced marriage died of hypothermia as temperatures in Britain plunged to minus 10 degrees.

An inquest has been told that Syed Hussain had been secretly dating his girlfriend Shabana Akhtar for three years, according to a report in The Daily Mail newspaper.

The coroner was told that the couple had a secret meeting just before Christmas, during Britain's big freeze.

They spent the evening in Mr Hussain's car in the garage to avoid disapproving family, who had arranged his marriage to a woman in Pakistan.

The Mail reported that the couple fell asleep in his car while temperatures plummeted to below minus 10 degrees during the night of December 19.

Miss Akhtar told the inquest that she awoke at around 3am to find Mr Hussain, who she nicknamed Shak, slumped next to the car in an "ice cold" condition.

"The car was parked very close to the wall on the passenger side, so I shuffled across to the driver's seat and opened the door.

"I put my left foot out and immediately knew my foot was on something which was not the floor. I used my mobile phone light to look out of the car.

"He was lying on his stomach and it looked like he was asleep. I stooped over him and called his name.

"He was as cold as ice and had no pulse."

A post mortem examination found Mr Hussain had collapsed due to hypothermia.

[hhfarang]

Gator Uses Doggie Door, Scares Woman

PALMETTO, Fla. -- A woman found an unwelcome weekend guest in her bathroom -- a 7-foot alligator.

Alexis Dunbar says she screamed and the gator hissed when she found it inside the bathroom of her home Saturday afternoon. Her boyfriend propped a small table by the bathroom to keep the gator inside until an officer from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed up to take him away.

Dunbar believes the gator used a doggie door on the back porch to get inside the house. Dunbar lives in Palmetto, which is south of St. Petersburg.

Spring is mating season for alligators and wildlife officials urge people to be extremely cautious, especially around water.

(A wildlife blog I read about this said that it was believed the gator used the door while stalking the homeowner's two cats that enter and exit the home that way)

[bcrglobal]

Gator Uses Doggie Door, Scares Woman

PALMETTO, Fla. -- A woman found an unwelcome weekend guest in her bathroom -- a 7-foot alligator.

Alexis Dunbar says she screamed and the gator hissed when she found it inside the bathroom of her home Saturday afternoon. Her boyfriend propped a small table by the bathroom to keep the gator inside until an officer from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed up to take him away.

Dunbar believes the gator used a doggie door on the back porch to get inside the house. Dunbar lives in Palmetto, which is south of St. Petersburg.

Spring is mating season for alligators and wildlife officials urge people to be extremely cautious, especially around water.

(A wildlife blog I read about this said that it was believed the gator used the door while stalking the homeowner's two cats that enter and exit the home that way)

Gators are disgusting dirty foul swamp creatures that should be wiped off the face of the planet. The animals aren't bad, I'm talking about University of Florida sports teams and fans.

Seriously, grew up around these animals--they are SCARY. Have hit one while water-skiing, had a cousin (6 years old) treed by one, and had an uncle lose 3 dogs over a 15 year period (Their house backs onto a lake with a reed-patch at the shore--natural nesting turf. On the positive side, their tail does contain some really tasty meat.

[Nereus]

Sex and nose-blowing linked to aneurysm

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/lifest ... -aneurysm/

Having sex, blowing your nose and drinking coffee can temporarily raise the risk of rupturing a brain aneurysm and suffering a stroke, a new study has found.

Dutch researchers have identified eight main triggers that increase the risk of aneurysm - a weakness in the wall of a brain blood vessel that often causes it to balloon.

If it ruptures it can result in a stroke caused by bleeding at the base of the brain.

The triggers, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, also include vigorous exercise, straining to defecate, drinking cola, being startled and getting angry.

"All of the triggers induce a sudden and short increase in blood pressure which seems a possible cause for aneurysmal rupture," said lead author Monique Vlak, a neurologist from the University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

About 2 per cent of the population have aneurysm, but few rupture, they said.

[Nereus]

Chelsea Charms shocks British TV viewers

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... v-viewers/

Viewers of a British morning television were shocked when an exotic dancer dropped by to show off her massive 164XXX breasts.

35-year-old Chelsea Charms joined the cast of This Morning to discuss her massive mammaries, which she claims are the largest in the world. (And who could doubt her?)

She told the show she decided to surgically enhance her breasts in order to further her career as an exotic dancer.

Each breast reportedly weighs 12kg each, but Ms Charms claims she never intended to let them get that big.

"That just happened on its own, but I wanted to be big", she insists.

Experts are appalled that the Massachusetts native was allowed to have the procedure, which is now illegal, at all.

Ms Charms admits her breasts, which she calls Itsy and Bitsy, do have a negative impact on her life, affecting her ability to eat, sleep and fit in airplane bathrooms.
............................................................................
They won`t fit on my Laptop screen!

[PeteC]

The guy must have had a lot of luggage. No way they could have survived the trip unless there were air holes drilled in. Pete


Trafficker smuggling live leopards nabbed at Bangkok airport

Police arrested a suspected wildlife trafficker early Friday who attempted to smuggle live endangered animals, among them leopards and panthers, out of the country in his suitcases, an wildlife protection group said.
Noor Mahmoodr, 36, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport as he prepared to fly first class to Dubai.
Police found in his luggage two leopard cubs, two panther cubs, one Asiatic black bear cub and two macaque monkeys, all of which were still alive and put in the care of Thai veterinarians.
"The trafficker was stunned," said Steven Galster, director of the FREELAND Foundation. "It was a perfect undercover operation by the Thai Police Task Force."