Strange & Stupid: Amusing News

there is an extra second in 2008.
relish it.
do some paco.

ROME (Reuters) - A rare Christmas treat this year for hobos in Milan: choice beluga caviar confiscated from traffickers.

Italian police seized over 40 kg (88 lb) of the delicacy, worth some 400,000 euros ($558,300), from two men who last month smuggled it into the country from Poland for sale in the shops of Milan and the rest of the wealthy Lombardy region.

The head of the local forest police who carried out the raid kept the bounty in barrack fridges for several weeks, but realized it would soon go bad.

“Tests showed us the food was still perfectly OK to eat but it couldn’t be stored much longer, so we decided to give it to the poor,” Juri Mantegazza told Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

“Everything that comes our way is very welcome, even though most of our guests don’t even know what those little black balls are,” said Virginio Colmega, a priest who helps run the House of Charity in Milan.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — New Bedford fire officials say a homeowner using a blowtorch to melt ice on his back porch set the home on fire causing up to $30,000 in damage.
No one was injured, though the man’s ego did suffer second-degree burns.

Kruger says the man was using a torch hooked up to a 20-pound propane cylinder. He got too close to the building’s wood frame and ignited the vinyl siding. The fire quickly spread into the building’s uninsulated exterior wall and then into the second and third-floor apartments.

It took 25 firefighters to subdue the blaze that damaged bedrooms in the second- and third-floor units, and caused damage to the structure and wiring.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A 60-year-old man who was thrown into the air in celebration at his retirement party died after his colleagues failed to catch him and he fell to the floor, a Japanese newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The case came to light after the man’s wife filed a police complaint against colleagues who threw the man up into the air, accusing them of gross negligence, the Mainichi paper reported on its website.

The fall damaged his neck and backbone, leaving him paralyzed, and he eventually died of blood poisoning, the paper said.

“He worked until the retirement age. We had been looking forward to going to various places as a couple and were excited that we would be able to spend a relaxing time together,” the paper quoted the man’s wife as saying.
“No matter what I say he won’t come back, but I want to find out why this happened.”

CANBERRA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court in Australia’s capital Canberra has ruled that Facebook is a sufficient way of serving legal documents to defendants who cannot be found.

The case surrounded a couple who defaulted on a loan.

“We couldn’t find the defendants personally after many attempts so we thought we would try and find them on Facebook,” lawyer Mark McCormack said.

“We did a public search based on the email address we had and the defendants Facebook page appeared.”

He said that was enough to convince the court, which found Facebook was a sufficient way of communicating legal papers when it is the plaintiff’s responsibility to personally deliver documents.

LONDON (Reuters) - Because Cancer and AIDS have been cured, doctors have been doing research on novels.
The most recent discovery is nothing short of shocking. Truly life changing.
Scientists have found that the amount of gruel Oliver Twist recieved was sufficient for the health and growth of a 9-year-old boy. Asking for “more” of the slop was simply bad taste.

They further found that contemporary recipes suggest each pint containing 1.25 ounces of best oatmeal, and servings were of course supplemented by wholesome coarse bread.

Historical data also shows large quantities of beef and mutton were delivered to workhouses, pediatric dietician Sue Thornton of Northampton General Hospital in central England and colleagues wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Such a diet, comprising three pints of gruel a day, would sustain growth in a nine-year-old child like Oliver, unless he was exceptionally active.

“Given the limited number of food staples used, the workhouse diet was certainly dreary, but it was adequate,” they concluded.
Well thank God, truly.

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man offered his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi this Wednesday. al-Zaidi is famous for THROWING HIS SHOES at Bush in Baghdad on Sunday.

The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. “This is something that would honor me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero,” she told Reuters by telephone.

Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi’s brother, to tell him of the offer. “I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage,” he added.

Zaidi’s gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.

Zaidi’s response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

just as a reminder:

DONT WORRY ABOUT IT?!?!?! I love this man.

ZURICH (Reuters) - SKIING! Swiss slopes have so far been completely unaffected by the credit crunch, as tourism is not down 1 point.

“The conditions are just so perfect at the moment and people are really keen to get to the mountains,” said Daniela Baer, spokeswoman for the Swiss Tourism Board.

Last year they had a record number of visitors. It looks now like Swiss tourism, at least, will not be affected until Springtime.