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"It's too bad stupidity isn't painful."
Volume 15, Number10, March 7, 2010
Greetings, and thanks for joining me for another week. Starting us off are a few news stories you may have missed. First, just basic responsibility – doing the right thing (or at least not doing the wrong thing)! Where did it go? "Texting" While Driving Is Not always the problem: Briton Rachel Curtis, 23, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by Bristol Crown Court in October for leading police on a high-speed chase while injecting heroin. D-uh on two counts. [The Times (London)
Next, irony? Oops! Six Ormond Beach, Fla., motorcycle officers, detailed to accompany the body of prominent Harley-Davidson dealer Bruce Rossmeyer from the funeral home to the cemetery, accidentally collided with each other en route, sending all six riders and their bikes sprawling. (Miami Herald)
Finally, some good news. A premature baby born weighing less than nine ounces has survived in Germany - the lightest ever baby boy to live. The tiny tot, weighing in at just 8.8oz recorded the lowest weight for a living birth of a newborn boy, according to doctors at the University of Goettingen Hospital. He survived thanks to the latest developments in postnatal care. In most cases, doctors said, it was regarded as impossible for a child with a birth weight below 350 grams to survive. (Ananova)
Reuters carried a Bit about the real world of the make-believe world. Performers in London's West End have to cope with a different kind of stage fright in the form of mice, rat and flea infestations in theatres, according to a new survey by actors' union Equity. Three quarters of actors and stage managers reported regular infestations including mice, rats and fleas. Equity general secretary Christine Payne said the findings suggested that each night, more than 600 actors and stage managers would go to work knowing they were likely to see and smell vermin, "both living and decomposing," at work. "I accept that many West End theatres are old and difficult buildings to manage, but this is running out of control," she added. "These appalling conditions must come to an end." The survey was completed by nearly 350 performers and stage managers in 24 different theatres, many of them featuring world-famous shows. By the way, uh, I just found when James Cagney never said, "MMMmmm, you dirty rat!" he may have been on to something we never knew about. The closest he actually ever got to it in the film was: "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat or I'll give it to you through the door!"
Oops! From Yahoo News, the Israeli military called off a raid in Palestinian territory after a soldier posted details, including the time and place, on Facebook. The soldier -- since relieved of combat duty -- described in a status update how his unit planned a "clean-up" arrest raid in a West Bank area. Facebook friends then reported him to military authorities. The Israeli military spokesman's office had no immediate comment. Israel says raids in the West Bank are aimed at detaining militants suspected of planning attacks on Israelis.
A Bollywood filmmaker has issued a rewarding challenge to horror movie fans: a $10,000 reward for anyone who can watch his latest supernatural thriller, alone, in a theater until the closing credits. Ram Gopal Varma's "Phoonk 2," a sequel to his 2008 film of the same name, is about an evil spirit that traumatizes a family. "Anyone who says the movie cannot scare him is going to be put in a theater by himself," Varma told reporters in Mumbai at an event to promote the movie. Varma said the film fan who steps up to the challenge will be wired up to a heart monitoring machine as well as a camera that ensures they keep their eyes open during the whole movie. Readings from the machines will be shown live on a screen outside the cinema, Varma said, and if the contestant succeeds, they will win 500,000 rupees (approximately $10,850). Didn’t movies do stuff like that in the early ‘60s? (Reuters)
Sssss (that’s the sound of spray paint). A mayor in central Mexico says he has fired one of his town officials for spray-painting the, uh, butt cheeks, of a teenage boy as punishment for graffiti tagging. The mayor of San Juan del Rio in Queretaro state says police caught the 13-year-old tagging a wall last week and turned him over to the official. The official's job is to impose penalties for petty crime. Mayor Gustavo Nieto said that he fired the official because he should have notified the boy's parents so they could pay for the damage, and not punish the teen personally. He did not identify the employee. (AP)
I guess the law is the law! An 18-year-old Tampa man was recently jailed charged with wearing a clown mask on a public road (I get pulled over all the time for the same offense). Deputies say Matthew David Lopez was seen with two other people out walking but what caught a deputy's attention was Lopez's masked face with a bright red-and-orange wig. The deputy followed the group in an unmarked car as the group walked west through a slightly wooded path behind several business offices. A marked Temple Terrace police cruiser showed up soon after, and the group ran away before deputies could question them. The group was found and Lopez was taken to jail on charges of wearing a mask or hood on a public road after the age of 16 and resisting arrest without violence (oxymoron?). He was released on $750 bail. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said any disguise in public is illegal. Even on Halloween, adults aren't allowed to enter any businesses or stores with their faces covered. (www.tampabay.com)
Some of the best quotes ever: (1) “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon. (2) “When hungry, eat your rice; when tired, close your eyes. Fools may laugh at me, but wise men will know what I mean.” Lin-Chi. (I know what he means.) (3) More appropriate today than ever: “The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” A. A. Milne. (4) “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” Theodore Geisel. (6) "Once the game is over, the King and Pawn go back in the same box." Italian proverb. (7) "We could have bought a small yacht with what we spent on our dog and all the things he destroyed. Then again, how many yachts wait by the door all day for your return?" John Grogan. (8) “Who your baby daddy?” The Maury Show.
On a most serious note, from CNN: “The parents of a California girl who was allegedly raped and killed by a registered sex offender are calling for tougher standards against repeat offenders. "’How many times do our daughters need to be raped before we put these monsters behind bars forever?’ said Kelly King, mother of 17-year-old Chelsea King, in an interview with CNN's ‘Larry King Live’ ‘I just don't -- I don't get it. Change has to be made,’ she continued, ‘and I know that there are people out there that are trying to, you know, get this change in place.’” I don’t know why there is even a debate here! Some “people” simply should NOT be a part of society!
On the other hand, some people do belong! From www.CBSnews.com: “Deer Creek Middle School is just three miles from Columbine High, the site of the 1999 school shooting, the nation's most infamous. So, when a gunman opened fire in the Deer Creek school's parking lot last week, the sight of students running in terror seemed all too familiar. This time, though, two students were wounded. But no one was killed, thanks, in all likelihood, to the actions of seventh grade math teacher Dr. David Benke, who's widely being hailed as a hero. Benke wrestled the gunman to the ground.” Bravo, Dr. David!
Later.
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