TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
Moderator: S2k Moderators
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Hi, Just to keep this thread going, I'll be taking over for TWW/AussieMark for now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man Downs 173 Chicken Wings to Win Contest
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (AP) - A 22-year-old from San Jose, Calif., won Wing Bowl on Friday by setting a new record at the annual chicken wing-eating contest. Joey Chestnut ate 173 wings to take the title and top prize, a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara.
As usual, the 14th annual Wing Bowl was replete with thousands of beer-crazed fans, piles of saucy wings, dozens of scantily clad "Wingettes" — many of them strippers — and several sickened contestants.
This year's version of the contest, sponsored by sports-talk station WIP-AM, included only competitors who had never before competed in Wing Bowl.
Chestnut qualified for the sold-out event by downing a gallon of milk in 41 seconds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man Downs 173 Chicken Wings to Win Contest
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. (AP) - A 22-year-old from San Jose, Calif., won Wing Bowl on Friday by setting a new record at the annual chicken wing-eating contest. Joey Chestnut ate 173 wings to take the title and top prize, a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara.
As usual, the 14th annual Wing Bowl was replete with thousands of beer-crazed fans, piles of saucy wings, dozens of scantily clad "Wingettes" — many of them strippers — and several sickened contestants.
This year's version of the contest, sponsored by sports-talk station WIP-AM, included only competitors who had never before competed in Wing Bowl.
Chestnut qualified for the sold-out event by downing a gallon of milk in 41 seconds.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Sailor Gets Angry Reply to Bottle Message
NAPEAGUE, N.Y. (AP) - A sailor who sent a message out to sea in a bottle says he received a reply from England — accusing him of littering. "I kind of felt like no good deed goes unpunished," Harvey Bennett, 55, told the East Hampton Star.
The plastic bottle was one of five that Bennett placed in the ocean off Long Island in August.
Last week, he excitedly opened a letter from England, and was stunned by the reply:
"I recently found your bottle while taking a scenic walk on the beach by Poole Harbour. While you may consider this some profound experiment on the path and speed" of "oceanic currents, I have another name for it, litter."
"You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking about somewhere," says the letter, signed by Henry Biggelsworth of Bournemouth, in Dorset County.
Bennett, who has a picture of the queen of England in his Amagansett tackle shop, says that Poole Harbor is just a short distance from Weymouth Harbor. That's where the Bennett family embarked for America in 1644.
The New York Post carried the report on Friday, giving attribution to the East Hampton Star.
Bennett did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.
NAPEAGUE, N.Y. (AP) - A sailor who sent a message out to sea in a bottle says he received a reply from England — accusing him of littering. "I kind of felt like no good deed goes unpunished," Harvey Bennett, 55, told the East Hampton Star.
The plastic bottle was one of five that Bennett placed in the ocean off Long Island in August.
Last week, he excitedly opened a letter from England, and was stunned by the reply:
"I recently found your bottle while taking a scenic walk on the beach by Poole Harbour. While you may consider this some profound experiment on the path and speed" of "oceanic currents, I have another name for it, litter."
"You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking about somewhere," says the letter, signed by Henry Biggelsworth of Bournemouth, in Dorset County.
Bennett, who has a picture of the queen of England in his Amagansett tackle shop, says that Poole Harbor is just a short distance from Weymouth Harbor. That's where the Bennett family embarked for America in 1644.
The New York Post carried the report on Friday, giving attribution to the East Hampton Star.
Bennett did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Leaping Crocodile Slams Into Car
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A 6.5-foot saltwater crocodile leapt out of a roadside culvert and slammed into the side of a passing car, authorities said Thursday.
The crocodile died in the collision and was given to local Aborigines, who ate it, said Garry Lindner, crocodile management officer at the Kakadu National Park in northern Australia.
"It was probably startled and it just leaped in the wrong direction once it heard the vehicle coming," Lindner said. "The driver barely had time to respond and the (crocodile) become a road fatality."
Lindner said that at this time of year when northern Australia is drenched by monsoon rains it is common for crocodiles to move about looking for food and a place to bask.
The reptile was able to leap with "all four feet off the ground" because it was still young and agile, Lindner said.
Saltwater crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet in length.
The incident is the latest in a series of reports of drivers being confronted by crocodiles in Kakadu and has prompted calls for Northern Territory residents to watch for the reptiles when driving near waterways, particularly during the wet season.
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A 6.5-foot saltwater crocodile leapt out of a roadside culvert and slammed into the side of a passing car, authorities said Thursday.
The crocodile died in the collision and was given to local Aborigines, who ate it, said Garry Lindner, crocodile management officer at the Kakadu National Park in northern Australia.
"It was probably startled and it just leaped in the wrong direction once it heard the vehicle coming," Lindner said. "The driver barely had time to respond and the (crocodile) become a road fatality."
Lindner said that at this time of year when northern Australia is drenched by monsoon rains it is common for crocodiles to move about looking for food and a place to bask.
The reptile was able to leap with "all four feet off the ground" because it was still young and agile, Lindner said.
Saltwater crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet in length.
The incident is the latest in a series of reports of drivers being confronted by crocodiles in Kakadu and has prompted calls for Northern Territory residents to watch for the reptiles when driving near waterways, particularly during the wet season.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Rails missing; it's hard to keep track...
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Thieves have dismantled and carted away some 5 kms (3 miles) of disused rail track close to the German town of Weimar, railway operator Deutsche Bahn said on Friday.
The railway operator said the thieves would probably sell the tracks as scrap metal with the damage amounting to at least 200,000 euros ($241,500).
Deutsche Bahn said it had noticed the missing track after the mayor of a town alongside the train line phoned in to check if the dismantling was planned.
"This was a major criminal operation, because you cannot simply take the tracks and carry them away," said a spokesman for the rail operator.
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Thieves have dismantled and carted away some 5 kms (3 miles) of disused rail track close to the German town of Weimar, railway operator Deutsche Bahn said on Friday.
The railway operator said the thieves would probably sell the tracks as scrap metal with the damage amounting to at least 200,000 euros ($241,500).
Deutsche Bahn said it had noticed the missing track after the mayor of a town alongside the train line phoned in to check if the dismantling was planned.
"This was a major criminal operation, because you cannot simply take the tracks and carry them away," said a spokesman for the rail operator.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Aged Irish beef gets the chop
SOFIA, Ireland (Reuters) - Twenty-year-old Irish beef which may have been making its way to the processed food industry has been impounded in Bulgaria, which is toughening up food safety standards under pressure from the European Union.
Three truckloads containing 75 tons of the discolored meat was blocked at Bulgaria's southwest border with Greece last month because its papers were suspect.
"The Irish veterinary service has confirmed the beef is around 20 years old," Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kozhuharova said Friday.
Bulgarian media have reported that meat producers import old meat to use in salami and other processed food.
However, the bluish-purple-tinged beef is unlikely to find its way to the dinner table, processed or otherwise. The Agriculture Ministry said it would probably burn it.
SOFIA, Ireland (Reuters) - Twenty-year-old Irish beef which may have been making its way to the processed food industry has been impounded in Bulgaria, which is toughening up food safety standards under pressure from the European Union.
Three truckloads containing 75 tons of the discolored meat was blocked at Bulgaria's southwest border with Greece last month because its papers were suspect.
"The Irish veterinary service has confirmed the beef is around 20 years old," Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kozhuharova said Friday.
Bulgarian media have reported that meat producers import old meat to use in salami and other processed food.
However, the bluish-purple-tinged beef is unlikely to find its way to the dinner table, processed or otherwise. The Agriculture Ministry said it would probably burn it.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Whale soul for sale -- one tragic owner
LONDON, England (Reuters) - It used to be a practice confined to pacts with the devil, but now an anonymous vendor in America is attempting to sell the soul of the London whale.
Internet auction site eBay, where the soul of the whale that died two weeks ago after swimming up the Thames is being offered, has said it can't sell things that people don't own and will take the item off its site.
But the vendor appears undeterred.
"I was accompanying the poor whale in his last journey, and he handed his soul to me. He asked me to sell it, so I could invest the money raised in other bottlenosed whales," said the seller from Minneapolis, giving the whale the wrong gender.
It is not the first item of whale-related memorabilia to go up for sale on eBay.
The watering can used to keep the female whale wet as rescuers vainly tried to ship her back out to sea on January 21 was sold on Wednesday for 2,050 pounds, and someone is even trying to sell water from the river on the grounds the whale swam through it.
The soul seller describes the proud possession as "100 percent soul" and promises to ship it anywhere in the world.
"This soul will only increase in value in the future," wrote the vendor.
Illustrated with a picture purporting to be of a whale's brain, a late spurt of interest boosted the bid price from $1 (57 pence) to $17.81 with just 19 hours to go before the offer ends.
"It is a listing that will be taken down," an eBay spokesman told Reuters. "Our policy states clearly that people can't offer for sale things they don't own."
LONDON, England (Reuters) - It used to be a practice confined to pacts with the devil, but now an anonymous vendor in America is attempting to sell the soul of the London whale.
Internet auction site eBay, where the soul of the whale that died two weeks ago after swimming up the Thames is being offered, has said it can't sell things that people don't own and will take the item off its site.
But the vendor appears undeterred.
"I was accompanying the poor whale in his last journey, and he handed his soul to me. He asked me to sell it, so I could invest the money raised in other bottlenosed whales," said the seller from Minneapolis, giving the whale the wrong gender.
It is not the first item of whale-related memorabilia to go up for sale on eBay.
The watering can used to keep the female whale wet as rescuers vainly tried to ship her back out to sea on January 21 was sold on Wednesday for 2,050 pounds, and someone is even trying to sell water from the river on the grounds the whale swam through it.
The soul seller describes the proud possession as "100 percent soul" and promises to ship it anywhere in the world.
"This soul will only increase in value in the future," wrote the vendor.
Illustrated with a picture purporting to be of a whale's brain, a late spurt of interest boosted the bid price from $1 (57 pence) to $17.81 with just 19 hours to go before the offer ends.
"It is a listing that will be taken down," an eBay spokesman told Reuters. "Our policy states clearly that people can't offer for sale things they don't own."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
159 mph? That's where we draw the line.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - A British traffic officer caught driving at 159 mph but cleared by a court of speeding and dangerous driving faces a legal move at the High Court in London Wednesday to convict him.
The Attorney General will appeal against the acquittal of constable Mark Milton and seek a High Court order that the advanced police driver should be convicted over his high speed blast in the early hours of December 5, 2003.
Milton, a qualified advanced driver, was recorded by an onboard camera in his upgraded unmarked Vauxhall Vectra police car traveling at 91 mph in a 30 mph zone and hitting 159 mph on the M54 motorway. The legal limit in Britain is 70 mph.
Milton's defense, accepted by the local judge in May 2005, was that he had taken the car on a test run around Telford, Shropshire, where he was based.
The judge said the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had driven dangerously and that the car was being "used for police purposes" when the incident occurred.
The ruling prompted outrage in the media and condemnation from motoring groups.
Wednesday, lawyers for the Attorney General will argue the district judge erred in law when he made his judgment.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - A British traffic officer caught driving at 159 mph but cleared by a court of speeding and dangerous driving faces a legal move at the High Court in London Wednesday to convict him.
The Attorney General will appeal against the acquittal of constable Mark Milton and seek a High Court order that the advanced police driver should be convicted over his high speed blast in the early hours of December 5, 2003.
Milton, a qualified advanced driver, was recorded by an onboard camera in his upgraded unmarked Vauxhall Vectra police car traveling at 91 mph in a 30 mph zone and hitting 159 mph on the M54 motorway. The legal limit in Britain is 70 mph.
Milton's defense, accepted by the local judge in May 2005, was that he had taken the car on a test run around Telford, Shropshire, where he was based.
The judge said the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had driven dangerously and that the car was being "used for police purposes" when the incident occurred.
The ruling prompted outrage in the media and condemnation from motoring groups.
Wednesday, lawyers for the Attorney General will argue the district judge erred in law when he made his judgment.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Old spacesuit to get new life as satellite
By Irene Klotz / Reuters
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Thanks to an innovative Russian recycling program, amateur radio fans expect to be hearing from a new recruit in orbit when an old spacesuit gets a new life as a satellite this week.
Beginning on Friday, SuitSat should be on the air, broadcasting on FM 145.990 MHz.
Rather than being launched, this satellite will just get tossed into orbit by the International Space Station crew during a spacewalk slated to begin on Friday evening.
SuitSat will be hard to distinguish from its launch team, who will use identical Russian Orlan spacesuits for the planned 6 1/2-hour spacewalk.
The old suit was destined for the trash bin until it came to the notice of an international team of amateur radio buffs, said Orlando, Florida, resident Lou McFadin of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp., or AMSAT.
A Russian colleague attending an AMSAT meeting in 2004 came up with the idea of putting a radio inside a soon-to-be decommissioned spacesuit and having astronauts boot it out the hatch. The all-volunteer effort, aided by corporate donations of equipment and by Moscow, is largely educational.
Space station flight engineer Valery Tokarev will do the honours, with assistance from U.S. astronaut and current space station commander Bill McArthur.
SuitSat's release is the first task scheduled for the crew's spacewalk. They also plan to lock a cable cutter that inadvertently severed one of two sets of power, data and video lines in the station's mobile transporter.
The suit is expected to drift away from the station and begin its short life as a radio satellite.
It will not take calls, but only relay prerecorded messages and transmit an as-yet mysterious digital picture. Batteries will power SuitSat's radio and electronic gear for up to 90 hours, McFadin said.
Eventually, the suit will be pulled into Earth's atmosphere and be incinerated.
Project organisers already have their eyes on another Russian spacesuit expected to be decommissioned later this year or in 2007.
"We're hoping to be able to do it again," said McFadin. "We already decided some things we want to do on the next one if we get a chance."
SuitSat's signal can be picked up on a ham radio or a police scanner. Special computer software is needed to decode the picture. NASA has a Web site to let SuitSat followers know when it will be within range. The address is http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/JPass/25/JPass.asp
By Irene Klotz / Reuters
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Thanks to an innovative Russian recycling program, amateur radio fans expect to be hearing from a new recruit in orbit when an old spacesuit gets a new life as a satellite this week.
Beginning on Friday, SuitSat should be on the air, broadcasting on FM 145.990 MHz.
Rather than being launched, this satellite will just get tossed into orbit by the International Space Station crew during a spacewalk slated to begin on Friday evening.
SuitSat will be hard to distinguish from its launch team, who will use identical Russian Orlan spacesuits for the planned 6 1/2-hour spacewalk.
The old suit was destined for the trash bin until it came to the notice of an international team of amateur radio buffs, said Orlando, Florida, resident Lou McFadin of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp., or AMSAT.
A Russian colleague attending an AMSAT meeting in 2004 came up with the idea of putting a radio inside a soon-to-be decommissioned spacesuit and having astronauts boot it out the hatch. The all-volunteer effort, aided by corporate donations of equipment and by Moscow, is largely educational.
Space station flight engineer Valery Tokarev will do the honours, with assistance from U.S. astronaut and current space station commander Bill McArthur.
SuitSat's release is the first task scheduled for the crew's spacewalk. They also plan to lock a cable cutter that inadvertently severed one of two sets of power, data and video lines in the station's mobile transporter.
The suit is expected to drift away from the station and begin its short life as a radio satellite.
It will not take calls, but only relay prerecorded messages and transmit an as-yet mysterious digital picture. Batteries will power SuitSat's radio and electronic gear for up to 90 hours, McFadin said.
Eventually, the suit will be pulled into Earth's atmosphere and be incinerated.
Project organisers already have their eyes on another Russian spacesuit expected to be decommissioned later this year or in 2007.
"We're hoping to be able to do it again," said McFadin. "We already decided some things we want to do on the next one if we get a chance."
SuitSat's signal can be picked up on a ham radio or a police scanner. Special computer software is needed to decode the picture. NASA has a Web site to let SuitSat followers know when it will be within range. The address is http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/JPass/25/JPass.asp
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
U.S. paper grapples with credit card blunder
BOSTON, Mass. (Reuters) - The Boston Globe has been swamped by nearly 50,000 telephone calls from worried readers since it accidentally delivered hundreds of thousands of subscribers' credit card numbers with its newspapers, the paper said on Friday.
The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating if laws were broken and local legislators have seized on last Sunday's blunder to drum up support for initiatives aimed at better protecting consumers from identity theft.
Richard Gilman, the Globe's publisher, has apologised to subscribers after 215,000 credit card numbers were printed on the back of paper used to wrap newspaper bundles distributed to newspaper retailers in central Massachusetts.
By Friday afternoon, the newspaper said more than 48,800 subscribers had telephoned the newspaper, forcing its managers to pull employees from other departments to answer the phones, according to a report on its Web site.
A Boston Globe spokesman said the number of people cancelling subscriptions to the 134-year-old newspaper since Tuesday when the mistake was publicly announced has been small, though he declined to give a figure.
By Friday, unauthorised purchases had been made with only four credit cards using the private numbers released by the Globe and its regional publication Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Globe spokesman Al Larkin said.
But the mistake, coming at a time when confidence in the media industry has been shaken by several journalism scandals, could cost the paper some readers, said Robert Zelnick, chairman of Boston University's journalism department.
"There will be an effect for the Globe," said Zelnick. "Many readers will not distinguish between administrative personnel mistakes and mistakes by journalists, and that means in the short run they will lose some readership."
It also comes at difficult time for the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper that is struggling to hold on to advertisers and readers amid growing Web-based competition.
The mistake at the city's most respected paper, first published in 1872, follows errors with customer data reported at a major U.S. bank and an online brokerage that also stirred concerns of identity theft.
BOSTON, Mass. (Reuters) - The Boston Globe has been swamped by nearly 50,000 telephone calls from worried readers since it accidentally delivered hundreds of thousands of subscribers' credit card numbers with its newspapers, the paper said on Friday.
The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating if laws were broken and local legislators have seized on last Sunday's blunder to drum up support for initiatives aimed at better protecting consumers from identity theft.
Richard Gilman, the Globe's publisher, has apologised to subscribers after 215,000 credit card numbers were printed on the back of paper used to wrap newspaper bundles distributed to newspaper retailers in central Massachusetts.
By Friday afternoon, the newspaper said more than 48,800 subscribers had telephoned the newspaper, forcing its managers to pull employees from other departments to answer the phones, according to a report on its Web site.
A Boston Globe spokesman said the number of people cancelling subscriptions to the 134-year-old newspaper since Tuesday when the mistake was publicly announced has been small, though he declined to give a figure.
By Friday, unauthorised purchases had been made with only four credit cards using the private numbers released by the Globe and its regional publication Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Globe spokesman Al Larkin said.
But the mistake, coming at a time when confidence in the media industry has been shaken by several journalism scandals, could cost the paper some readers, said Robert Zelnick, chairman of Boston University's journalism department.
"There will be an effect for the Globe," said Zelnick. "Many readers will not distinguish between administrative personnel mistakes and mistakes by journalists, and that means in the short run they will lose some readership."
It also comes at difficult time for the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper that is struggling to hold on to advertisers and readers amid growing Web-based competition.
The mistake at the city's most respected paper, first published in 1872, follows errors with customer data reported at a major U.S. bank and an online brokerage that also stirred concerns of identity theft.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Bed-bug epidemic bites at Australian tourism
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Australia is suffering a bed-bug epidemic with the tourism industry losing an estimated A$100 million (42 million pounds) a year because of the blood-sucking insects, according to a new entomology study.
Some pest controllers have reported more than a 1,000 percent rise in bed-bug outbreaks, said the Institute for Clinical Pathology & Medical Research at Sydney's Westmead Hospital.
The Australian outbreaks are part of a global epidemic, with the number of bed bugs worldwide doubling each year, Institute medical entomologist Stephen Doggett said on Friday.
"Britain, Europe and a lot of America have reported a resurgence in bed bugs," said Doggett.
Hotel and pest control operators in the United States reported a 20 percent rise in bed bugs in 2004 and bed bug infestations in the United States have caused lawsuits, with a number of companies sued by guests after being bitten.
Doggett said the worldwide rise in the insects was a result of changing pest control measures and a rise in travellers visiting exotic locations.
Pest control in the past usually involved insect sprays, which also killed bed bugs, but new environmentally friendly practices such as insect baits, had no effect on bed bugs.
"Bed bugs haven't been a serious public health problem in Australia for about 50 years prior to their current resurgence," Doggett said.
"Motels use to be sprayed for cockroaches, but now they use cockroach baits and bed bugs are blood suckers so the baits have little impact," he said.
Bed bugs are wingless, brown insects, oval in shape and measuring around four millimetres in length when fully grown.
The two main species that bite humans are the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) and the tropical bed bug (Cimex hemipterus).
Some people suffer blood poisoning as a result of bites.
Bed bugs prefer dark locations close to where people sleep so they can feed on human blood at night. They usually nest in mattresses, particularly in the seams, under floorboards and carpets, inside bed frames and slats and behind skirting boards.
The chairman of Backpacking Queensland, Dean Cooper, said accommodation operators in the tropical northern state were losing money by closing rooms to treat bed-bug outbreaks.
"It can sometimes be a minimum two or three days that you'll have a room out of action -- a couple of hundred dollars just for that particular room, and then you have possible reinfestation problems down the track," Copper told Australian radio.
Queensland's Tourism Industry Council will hold a bed-bug summit next Tuesday to discuss combating the biting problem.
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Australia is suffering a bed-bug epidemic with the tourism industry losing an estimated A$100 million (42 million pounds) a year because of the blood-sucking insects, according to a new entomology study.
Some pest controllers have reported more than a 1,000 percent rise in bed-bug outbreaks, said the Institute for Clinical Pathology & Medical Research at Sydney's Westmead Hospital.
The Australian outbreaks are part of a global epidemic, with the number of bed bugs worldwide doubling each year, Institute medical entomologist Stephen Doggett said on Friday.
"Britain, Europe and a lot of America have reported a resurgence in bed bugs," said Doggett.
Hotel and pest control operators in the United States reported a 20 percent rise in bed bugs in 2004 and bed bug infestations in the United States have caused lawsuits, with a number of companies sued by guests after being bitten.
Doggett said the worldwide rise in the insects was a result of changing pest control measures and a rise in travellers visiting exotic locations.
Pest control in the past usually involved insect sprays, which also killed bed bugs, but new environmentally friendly practices such as insect baits, had no effect on bed bugs.
"Bed bugs haven't been a serious public health problem in Australia for about 50 years prior to their current resurgence," Doggett said.
"Motels use to be sprayed for cockroaches, but now they use cockroach baits and bed bugs are blood suckers so the baits have little impact," he said.
Bed bugs are wingless, brown insects, oval in shape and measuring around four millimetres in length when fully grown.
The two main species that bite humans are the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) and the tropical bed bug (Cimex hemipterus).
Some people suffer blood poisoning as a result of bites.
Bed bugs prefer dark locations close to where people sleep so they can feed on human blood at night. They usually nest in mattresses, particularly in the seams, under floorboards and carpets, inside bed frames and slats and behind skirting boards.
The chairman of Backpacking Queensland, Dean Cooper, said accommodation operators in the tropical northern state were losing money by closing rooms to treat bed-bug outbreaks.
"It can sometimes be a minimum two or three days that you'll have a room out of action -- a couple of hundred dollars just for that particular room, and then you have possible reinfestation problems down the track," Copper told Australian radio.
Queensland's Tourism Industry Council will hold a bed-bug summit next Tuesday to discuss combating the biting problem.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
200-Pound Univ. of Vermont Mascot Stolen
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The University of Vermont is offering a reward for the return of its missing cat. The catamount that is, the 200-pound, nine-foot by seven foot aluminum snarling mascot that is jumping through an oversized V.
The sign had been taken to a South Burlington business for updating when it disappeared between Jan. 27 and Thursday.
"It's probably a college student prank," said Sign-A-Rama owner Bob Diaco. "It's either that or somebody who wanted it for the value of the metal. Hopefully, it will show up in the next few days."
UVM officials hope to give the cat a makeover and display it on Patrick Gymnasium.
The reward will be in the form of sporting event tickets.
"I think we would certainly like to show our appreciation for anyone who's able to help us get it back," said Chris McCabe, UVM assistant vice president. "We have so many exciting things going on in the athletic department with our events. We would certainly make sure we put somebody rink-side, court-side."
The cat sign is valued at $10,000.
Anyone with information on its whereabouts or the individuals involved in the theft should call South Burlington police.
___
Information from: The Burlington Free Press
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The University of Vermont is offering a reward for the return of its missing cat. The catamount that is, the 200-pound, nine-foot by seven foot aluminum snarling mascot that is jumping through an oversized V.
The sign had been taken to a South Burlington business for updating when it disappeared between Jan. 27 and Thursday.
"It's probably a college student prank," said Sign-A-Rama owner Bob Diaco. "It's either that or somebody who wanted it for the value of the metal. Hopefully, it will show up in the next few days."
UVM officials hope to give the cat a makeover and display it on Patrick Gymnasium.
The reward will be in the form of sporting event tickets.
"I think we would certainly like to show our appreciation for anyone who's able to help us get it back," said Chris McCabe, UVM assistant vice president. "We have so many exciting things going on in the athletic department with our events. We would certainly make sure we put somebody rink-side, court-side."
The cat sign is valued at $10,000.
Anyone with information on its whereabouts or the individuals involved in the theft should call South Burlington police.
___
Information from: The Burlington Free Press
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
I'm here for my prescription, and 6,000 cookies
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch city of Groningen looks set to open the Netherlands' first pharmacy totally dedicated to providing high quality cannabis for pain relief at affordable prices, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Although cannabis is readily available in Dutch coffee shops, the foundation for Medicinal Cannabis Netherlands, a support group for patients, intends launching a pharmacy in the northern Dutch city so people can have access to high-grade cannabis for medical use, the daily NRC Handelsblad said.
Groningen city council member Fleur Woudstra, who supports the cannabis pharmacy, told the paper that while pot may be cheaper in coffee shops -- usually around 10 euros ($12) for the equivalent of 3 or 4 joints -- quality often suffers.
The Office of Medicinal Cannabis, a Dutch government agency, and the community of Groningen as well as the local police back the idea and a site has been chosen. It was not immediately clear just when the pharmacy would open for business.
Two more cannabis pharmacies are planned in the towns of Hoogezand and Assen, the paper said.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch city of Groningen looks set to open the Netherlands' first pharmacy totally dedicated to providing high quality cannabis for pain relief at affordable prices, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Although cannabis is readily available in Dutch coffee shops, the foundation for Medicinal Cannabis Netherlands, a support group for patients, intends launching a pharmacy in the northern Dutch city so people can have access to high-grade cannabis for medical use, the daily NRC Handelsblad said.
Groningen city council member Fleur Woudstra, who supports the cannabis pharmacy, told the paper that while pot may be cheaper in coffee shops -- usually around 10 euros ($12) for the equivalent of 3 or 4 joints -- quality often suffers.
The Office of Medicinal Cannabis, a Dutch government agency, and the community of Groningen as well as the local police back the idea and a site has been chosen. It was not immediately clear just when the pharmacy would open for business.
Two more cannabis pharmacies are planned in the towns of Hoogezand and Assen, the paper said.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Bulging Bradford branded Britain's fattest city
LONDON, England (AFP) - Bradford was branded Britain's flabbiest city, with lazy residents slammed for pigging out on junk food and swigging booze while slobbing about watching television.
Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow also ranked as heavyweights in Men's Fitness magazine's annual survey for its obesity hall of shame.
Southampton on the south coast was named Britain's fittest city, snatching the title which London has held for four years.
Bradford, in northern England, was named and shamed based on data including the incidence of heart disease, the amount of junk food and alcohol consumed and the level of gym membership.
The multicultural university city, with a high South Asian population and a sterling reputation for curry, inherits the chubbiness crown from Manchester on the other side of the Pennine hills -- not that many Bradfordians appear to be in good enough shape to walk over and collect it.
British adults have got fatter in the last 10 years with almost one in four now officially obese, according to official statistics released in December.
Heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles has recently weighed in on the debate, saying Britons are catching up Americans in the "super-sizing epidemic".
Men's Fitness deputy editor Michael Donlevy said: "Bradford has leapt up the standings and earned its title by consuming too much alcohol and take-away food, watching too much television and not doing enough exercise.
"The report shows that, despite a lot of noise from the government and our country's apparent obsession with complicated fad diets, obesity is a growing threat to our health.
"Even Prince Charles has recently told us we are all lazy and overweight -- and when Prince Charles starts on you, you know you're in trouble.
"The truth is, as a nation we are not burning off enough of the calories we consume. You can ban smoking in pubs and arrest drunks but who is to stop people gorging on junk food in their own front rooms?"
Britain's fattest cities (last year's results in brackets):
1 Bradford (4)
2 Liverpool (3)
3 Manchester (1)
4 Newcastle (2)
5 Glasgow (5)
6 Birmingham (14)
7 Wolverhampton (8)
8 Sheffield (9)
9 Stoke-on-Trent (6)
10 Leeds (12)
LONDON, England (AFP) - Bradford was branded Britain's flabbiest city, with lazy residents slammed for pigging out on junk food and swigging booze while slobbing about watching television.
Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow also ranked as heavyweights in Men's Fitness magazine's annual survey for its obesity hall of shame.
Southampton on the south coast was named Britain's fittest city, snatching the title which London has held for four years.
Bradford, in northern England, was named and shamed based on data including the incidence of heart disease, the amount of junk food and alcohol consumed and the level of gym membership.
The multicultural university city, with a high South Asian population and a sterling reputation for curry, inherits the chubbiness crown from Manchester on the other side of the Pennine hills -- not that many Bradfordians appear to be in good enough shape to walk over and collect it.
British adults have got fatter in the last 10 years with almost one in four now officially obese, according to official statistics released in December.
Heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles has recently weighed in on the debate, saying Britons are catching up Americans in the "super-sizing epidemic".
Men's Fitness deputy editor Michael Donlevy said: "Bradford has leapt up the standings and earned its title by consuming too much alcohol and take-away food, watching too much television and not doing enough exercise.
"The report shows that, despite a lot of noise from the government and our country's apparent obsession with complicated fad diets, obesity is a growing threat to our health.
"Even Prince Charles has recently told us we are all lazy and overweight -- and when Prince Charles starts on you, you know you're in trouble.
"The truth is, as a nation we are not burning off enough of the calories we consume. You can ban smoking in pubs and arrest drunks but who is to stop people gorging on junk food in their own front rooms?"
Britain's fattest cities (last year's results in brackets):
1 Bradford (4)
2 Liverpool (3)
3 Manchester (1)
4 Newcastle (2)
5 Glasgow (5)
6 Birmingham (14)
7 Wolverhampton (8)
8 Sheffield (9)
9 Stoke-on-Trent (6)
10 Leeds (12)
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Kuwait holds Gulf-wide camel race with robot jockeys
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait on Sunday held the first regional camel race using robots as riders after child jockeys were banned from the lucrative sport following criticism by human rights groups.
Teams from the six Gulf Arab states participated in the race held on the dusty tracks of a racing club outside the capital Kuwait City.
"We hope this sport, which is part of our cultural heritage, will be spared from suspicion," said Kuwait's Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah who opened the five-day championship.
The remote-operated robots are shaped like small boys.
Rights groups said thousands of boys, some as young as four, worked as jockeys in the wealthy Gulf Arab region where camel racing is a lucrative and popular sport. Last year, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates banned child jockeys.
Kuwait held an experimental race with robot jockeys last October, along with similar trials by other Gulf states.
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait on Sunday held the first regional camel race using robots as riders after child jockeys were banned from the lucrative sport following criticism by human rights groups.
Teams from the six Gulf Arab states participated in the race held on the dusty tracks of a racing club outside the capital Kuwait City.
"We hope this sport, which is part of our cultural heritage, will be spared from suspicion," said Kuwait's Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah who opened the five-day championship.
The remote-operated robots are shaped like small boys.
Rights groups said thousands of boys, some as young as four, worked as jockeys in the wealthy Gulf Arab region where camel racing is a lucrative and popular sport. Last year, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates banned child jockeys.
Kuwait held an experimental race with robot jockeys last October, along with similar trials by other Gulf states.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Oldest Winter Olympian to set record By Karolos Grohmann
TURIN, Minnesota (Reuters) - When Scott Baird steps on the curling rink next week he will become the oldest Winter Olympian in the history of the Games.
Aged 54 and 282 days, the white-haired curler from Minnesota will beat the previous record set by Briton James Coates who at the 1948 Winter Games at the age of 53 and 328 days competed in the skeleton, finishing seventh.
"I am the oldest member of the U.S. men's curling team and that is exactly one of the reasons I love curling," a smiling Baird told Reuters on Sunday ahead of the start of the Turin Olympics, his first.
"Curling is like golf, it's a lifetime sport."
Baird is from Bemidji, Minnesota, which prides itself as the curling capital of the U.S. and has another four of its citizens on the men's and women's Olympic teams.
He said while he taught the younger players a thing or two about the sport, he was also picking up a lot from them.
"The game is always evolving and I am still learning from watching them play," Baird said. "The strategy is constantly evolving."
As for the team's chances of a medal, Baird said if they played well they could surprise everyone.
"We are hopeful if we play to the top of our game. If we can be consistent we will have good results," he said.
The team, including Baird, finished sixth at the 2005 world championships which were won by Canada. Scotland, competing in the Turin Olympics for Britain, were second and Germany third.
Despite his veteran status, Baird is not considering putting an end to his curling career.
"I want to keep going. At least for another decade or two," he said with a smile. "At least at club level."
TURIN, Minnesota (Reuters) - When Scott Baird steps on the curling rink next week he will become the oldest Winter Olympian in the history of the Games.
Aged 54 and 282 days, the white-haired curler from Minnesota will beat the previous record set by Briton James Coates who at the 1948 Winter Games at the age of 53 and 328 days competed in the skeleton, finishing seventh.
"I am the oldest member of the U.S. men's curling team and that is exactly one of the reasons I love curling," a smiling Baird told Reuters on Sunday ahead of the start of the Turin Olympics, his first.
"Curling is like golf, it's a lifetime sport."
Baird is from Bemidji, Minnesota, which prides itself as the curling capital of the U.S. and has another four of its citizens on the men's and women's Olympic teams.
He said while he taught the younger players a thing or two about the sport, he was also picking up a lot from them.
"The game is always evolving and I am still learning from watching them play," Baird said. "The strategy is constantly evolving."
As for the team's chances of a medal, Baird said if they played well they could surprise everyone.
"We are hopeful if we play to the top of our game. If we can be consistent we will have good results," he said.
The team, including Baird, finished sixth at the 2005 world championships which were won by Canada. Scotland, competing in the Turin Olympics for Britain, were second and Germany third.
Despite his veteran status, Baird is not considering putting an end to his curling career.
"I want to keep going. At least for another decade or two," he said with a smile. "At least at club level."
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Plastic Traffic Cop Slows Cars in Russia
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) - This is one Russian traffic cop who will never issue a ticket or take a bribe: he's made of plastic.
A life-size mock-up of a traffic police officer is prompting more drivers to obey the speed limit on a highway in western Russia, the plastic policeman's flesh-and-blood colleagues said in a report on state-run Channel One television Sunday.
"Our monitoring has shown that drivers here ... are more disciplined: they slow down," said Ivan Zybin, the deputy commander of a traffic police detachment in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.
A bit like the kind of flat cardboard cutout that enables tourists to snap photos with world leaders, this fake human figure comes complete with a nearly two-dimensional patrol car, a speed gun and a black-and-white baton — held up to signal travelers to be cautious.
But Alexei Zakharov, the officer who served as the model for the mock-up, said that the sight of his plastic double prompts some drivers to do more than slow down.
"Some drivers stop and come up to him to show their documents, others sit in their cars and wait for the inspector to approach them. They sit there for five minutes and they drive away," he said.
The stretch of highway is busy, in part because of drivers traveling to Ukraine, and officer Sergei Kurdyumov said the mock-up boosts manpower.
"He helps us in that we can't be in two places at once — here and there," he said.
Regional authorities plan to use more of the mock-ups if the experiment proves successful, Channel One reported.
Traffic police sometimes place mock-ups of patrol cars by Russian roadsides for similar purposes.
Non-plastic Russian traffic police are widely known for accepting bribes, which are sometimes offered by drivers who want to avoid losing their license or facing inconvenient paperwork or a court appearance.
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) - This is one Russian traffic cop who will never issue a ticket or take a bribe: he's made of plastic.
A life-size mock-up of a traffic police officer is prompting more drivers to obey the speed limit on a highway in western Russia, the plastic policeman's flesh-and-blood colleagues said in a report on state-run Channel One television Sunday.
"Our monitoring has shown that drivers here ... are more disciplined: they slow down," said Ivan Zybin, the deputy commander of a traffic police detachment in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.
A bit like the kind of flat cardboard cutout that enables tourists to snap photos with world leaders, this fake human figure comes complete with a nearly two-dimensional patrol car, a speed gun and a black-and-white baton — held up to signal travelers to be cautious.
But Alexei Zakharov, the officer who served as the model for the mock-up, said that the sight of his plastic double prompts some drivers to do more than slow down.
"Some drivers stop and come up to him to show their documents, others sit in their cars and wait for the inspector to approach them. They sit there for five minutes and they drive away," he said.
The stretch of highway is busy, in part because of drivers traveling to Ukraine, and officer Sergei Kurdyumov said the mock-up boosts manpower.
"He helps us in that we can't be in two places at once — here and there," he said.
Regional authorities plan to use more of the mock-ups if the experiment proves successful, Channel One reported.
Traffic police sometimes place mock-ups of patrol cars by Russian roadsides for similar purposes.
Non-plastic Russian traffic police are widely known for accepting bribes, which are sometimes offered by drivers who want to avoid losing their license or facing inconvenient paperwork or a court appearance.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
German fans taunt rivals with inflatable penises
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Hundreds of fans of German club Borussia Dortmund waved huge inflatable penises at local rivals Schalke 04 on Saturday above an abusive message for their hosts.
The pink blow-ups and a huge banner in Dortmund's yellow and black suggesting Schalke fans should procreate with themselves added a splash of colour to the dour 0-0 draw between the two Bundesliga sides.
Schalke's stadium in the Ruhr Valley city of Gelsenkirchen will host four group matches and a quarter-final at the World Cup in Germany in June and July.
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Hundreds of fans of German club Borussia Dortmund waved huge inflatable penises at local rivals Schalke 04 on Saturday above an abusive message for their hosts.
The pink blow-ups and a huge banner in Dortmund's yellow and black suggesting Schalke fans should procreate with themselves added a splash of colour to the dour 0-0 draw between the two Bundesliga sides.
Schalke's stadium in the Ruhr Valley city of Gelsenkirchen will host four group matches and a quarter-final at the World Cup in Germany in June and July.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Squirrel, wasp and potato blamed for motor claims
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Frozen squirrels, angry wasps and obstructive potatoes were among some of the reasons given by motorists to support their insurance claims, Norwich Union said on Monday.
Freak incidents involving animals top the list when it comes to bizarre claims, closely followed by those involving food.
The squirrel motorist said the frozen animal had fallen out of a tree and crashed through the windscreen while another driver blamed a wasp sting on the leg for a sudden surge in acceleration and a shunt with the car in front.
One driver even blamed a potato stuck behind the brake pedal for the inability to stop.
"We see a lot of strange things but we were surprised at how many involved animals and food of all things," said a Norwich Union spokeswoman.
One claim in particular stood out.
"As I was driving around a bend, one of the doors opened and a frozen kebab flew out, hitting and damaging a passing car," it read.
All the cited claims were legitimate and had been paid out, the spokeswoman said
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Frozen squirrels, angry wasps and obstructive potatoes were among some of the reasons given by motorists to support their insurance claims, Norwich Union said on Monday.
Freak incidents involving animals top the list when it comes to bizarre claims, closely followed by those involving food.
The squirrel motorist said the frozen animal had fallen out of a tree and crashed through the windscreen while another driver blamed a wasp sting on the leg for a sudden surge in acceleration and a shunt with the car in front.
One driver even blamed a potato stuck behind the brake pedal for the inability to stop.
"We see a lot of strange things but we were surprised at how many involved animals and food of all things," said a Norwich Union spokeswoman.
One claim in particular stood out.
"As I was driving around a bend, one of the doors opened and a frozen kebab flew out, hitting and damaging a passing car," it read.
All the cited claims were legitimate and had been paid out, the spokeswoman said
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Asians sleep in cars to avoid high Dubai rents
DUBAI, Asia (Reuters) - Rocketing rents in the United Arab Emirates are forcing some of the Gulf state's millions of Asian workers to sleep in their cars, a local newspaper reported on Monday.
The Gulf News said unmarried Asian men in Dubai were living in their cars after finding more conventional habitats beyond their financial reach.
"At first I found it a bit weird to spend the night in my car but now I am used to it. I have been living like this for five weeks now," said Subhash Dholakia, who works in sales.
An oil-driven real estate boom is pushing rents higher in the UAE by up to 50 percent each year, with an average one bedroom apartment in Dubai costing around 56,000 (8,700 pounds) dirhams annually. Other living costs such as schooling, food, utilities and leisure are also climbing sharply, while salaries rose just 6.5 percent on average in the year to August 2005.
The men pay 50 to 70 dirhams to tenants who let them use their bathrooms and ironing boards and provide luggage space.
"I get up as early as 5 a.m. and make use of all the house facilities," said Dilip Sen, an Indian secretary. "I then head for breakfast in a nearby cafeteria.
The men said they never parked in the same area twice, for fear of being rounded up by police.
Foreign labourers, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, make up around 85 percent of the United Arab Emirates' 4 million population.
DUBAI, Asia (Reuters) - Rocketing rents in the United Arab Emirates are forcing some of the Gulf state's millions of Asian workers to sleep in their cars, a local newspaper reported on Monday.
The Gulf News said unmarried Asian men in Dubai were living in their cars after finding more conventional habitats beyond their financial reach.
"At first I found it a bit weird to spend the night in my car but now I am used to it. I have been living like this for five weeks now," said Subhash Dholakia, who works in sales.
An oil-driven real estate boom is pushing rents higher in the UAE by up to 50 percent each year, with an average one bedroom apartment in Dubai costing around 56,000 (8,700 pounds) dirhams annually. Other living costs such as schooling, food, utilities and leisure are also climbing sharply, while salaries rose just 6.5 percent on average in the year to August 2005.
The men pay 50 to 70 dirhams to tenants who let them use their bathrooms and ironing boards and provide luggage space.
"I get up as early as 5 a.m. and make use of all the house facilities," said Dilip Sen, an Indian secretary. "I then head for breakfast in a nearby cafeteria.
The men said they never parked in the same area twice, for fear of being rounded up by police.
Foreign labourers, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, make up around 85 percent of the United Arab Emirates' 4 million population.
0 likes
- TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Calling in sick.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - More British workers will call in "sick" Monday than on any other day in 2006, many opting to make their excuses by text message or by phoning in with an artistic cough or splutter, research revealed Monday.
Widespread dissatisfaction with holiday allowances combined with a post-Christmas comedown will contribute to thousands of Britons, who work some of the longest hours in Europe, staying at home to recharge their batteries.
"Early February is a very popular time for taking a 'sickie', the first bank holiday still seems a long way off, the days are gloomy and many people are still feeling the post-Christmas blues," said Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University, who headed the study.
Over 4,000 workers took part in a poll by digital channel Sky Travel which showed 78 percent of respondents were reluctant to use their holiday allowances so early in the year, preferring to wait until spring before taking official leave.
The average official holiday entitlement was 22 days a year.
The findings threw up a couple of gender-related anomalies. While men and women will take an average of nine "sickies" a year, female workers believe they could get away with taking twice as many days off than their male colleagues.
The survey also found that while a cowardly 17 percent of workers would get someone else to call in sick on their behalf, 28 percent opted for the tried and tested cough and splutter phone call.
As for regional variations workers in the northern city of Liverpool admitted to taking on average an extra 13 days a year off compared with a mere three days for Londoners.
The study offered some consolation to long-suffering bosses with five percent of those polled saying they had been caught out -- including being spotted having lunch with friends.
One respondent even admitted being forced to hobble around the office on crutches for two weeks after claiming to have been knocked down by a car.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - More British workers will call in "sick" Monday than on any other day in 2006, many opting to make their excuses by text message or by phoning in with an artistic cough or splutter, research revealed Monday.
Widespread dissatisfaction with holiday allowances combined with a post-Christmas comedown will contribute to thousands of Britons, who work some of the longest hours in Europe, staying at home to recharge their batteries.
"Early February is a very popular time for taking a 'sickie', the first bank holiday still seems a long way off, the days are gloomy and many people are still feeling the post-Christmas blues," said Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University, who headed the study.
Over 4,000 workers took part in a poll by digital channel Sky Travel which showed 78 percent of respondents were reluctant to use their holiday allowances so early in the year, preferring to wait until spring before taking official leave.
The average official holiday entitlement was 22 days a year.
The findings threw up a couple of gender-related anomalies. While men and women will take an average of nine "sickies" a year, female workers believe they could get away with taking twice as many days off than their male colleagues.
The survey also found that while a cowardly 17 percent of workers would get someone else to call in sick on their behalf, 28 percent opted for the tried and tested cough and splutter phone call.
As for regional variations workers in the northern city of Liverpool admitted to taking on average an extra 13 days a year off compared with a mere three days for Londoners.
The study offered some consolation to long-suffering bosses with five percent of those polled saying they had been caught out -- including being spotted having lunch with friends.
One respondent even admitted being forced to hobble around the office on crutches for two weeks after claiming to have been knocked down by a car.
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests