TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

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#881 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:33 pm

Youth shot at DART station

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Dallas police said a group of juveniles were involved in a shooting incident at a South Oak Cliff DART transit center late Tuesday night.

One young person was wounded when gunfire broke out around 11 p.m. at the Illinois Ave. stop on the Blue Line light rail service. The shooting victim was hospitalized in good condition.

Police said two suspects were in custody and a third was being sought.

Image
WFAA ABC 8
Gunfire erupted at a DART transit center.
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I know what you're gonna ask me, "What's so odd about this story?" Well, coincidentally, the ad on this side of the bus involved in the crime scene said "GUN CRIME GETS YOU MORE TIME"...prison time that is. Talk about a sick irony.
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#882 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 1:58 pm

Well, it's easy to get them to hold still...

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - Japan's obsession with camera-equipped mobile phones has taken a bizarre twist, with mourners at funerals now using the devices to capture a final picture of the deceased.

"I get the sense that people no longer respect the dead. It's disturbing," a funeral director told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

At one ceremony several people gathered round the coffin and took out their phones to photograph the corpse as preparations were made to begin a cremation, she was quoted as saying.

"I'm sure the deceased would never want their faces photographed," she said.

But others called it a form of a memento in the modern age.

"Some can't grasp 'reality' unless they take a photo and share it with others ... It comes from a desire to keep a strong bond with the deceased," social commentator Toru Takeda told the paper.
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#883 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 1:59 pm

Singer's body exhumed 39 years after death

ROME, Italy (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors exhumed the body of a popular singer Wednesday and said they had laid to rest suspicions that he had been murdered.

Luigi Tenco, one of Italy's most famous modern singers, was found dead in his hotel room with a single gunshot wound to the head on January 27, 1967, hours after learning that his song had been eliminated from a national music competition.

A hand-written note found near Tenco said he had decided to kill himself as a protest against the jury and members of the public who had voted against him.

Yet doubts over his death have lingered for almost 40 years as no autopsy was carried out at the time and, although a pistol was found next to Tenco, the bullet that killed him was not.

But Mariano Gagliano, the Sanremo magistrate who ordered the exhumation, told reporters Wednesday that an examination of the body proved that Tenco had died of a gunshot wound.

"The Tenco case is definitively closed. Checks have confirmed that it was suicide," Gagliano was quoted as saying by the Italian media.

He did not give any further details, nor explain why he was so certain that the gunshot wound had been self-inflicted. State television said it would take four months to draw up a full report.

The doubts surrounding Tenco's death was a typical Italian controversy in a land where nothing is taken at face value and where mysteries shroud countless tragedies and crimes.

Tenco was only 29 when he died but had already made his name as a headstrong protest singer whose songs were often censored by state broadcaster RAI.

In 2003, an investigation by three journalists highlighted the inconsistencies in the case and called for prosecutors to reopen their probe and consider the possibility of murder.
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#884 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:00 pm

"Happy Hooker" Hollander says she won't fade away

By Carolyn Abate

SAUSALITO, California (Reuters) - As several naked couples watched a live demonstration of sexual technique, Xaviera Hollander, the former prostitute and author of "The Happy Hooker," stayed dressed but freely shared details of her past lovers, men and women alike.

Hollander, 62, was in the San Francisco area to attend the screening of a new documentary about her, to speak at a sex workshop and to reflect on her colorful past that made her a matriarch of the sexual revolution.

"I want to be remembered as a living legend. I don't want to disappear like Mae West or Greta Garbo," she said in an interview.

During a three-and-a-half hour seminar led by an outgoing couple, Hollander -- who insisted she was not an exhibitionist -- let the others do the heavy breathing. As the woman leading the workshop assisted by a male partner moaned with pleasure, another woman in the audience was so moved by the show that she too went into ecstasy.

Hollander watched the event sponsored by the Center for Sex and Culture passively from a few feet away. But as her memoir of more than 30 years ago tells, she has seen it all before.

Born Vera De Fries in Indonesia to Dutch parents, Hollander and her life are the stuff of movies, and four years ago, she approached director Robert Dunlap to document her story.

The filmmaker, who is married to Hollander's cousin, jumped at the chance. He spent the next few years following her around Europe, interviewing friends and past lovers and searching through thousands of family photos.

WARTIME SUFFERING

The movie "Xaviera Hollander: The Happy Hooker" begins somberly with a little-known fact: For the first three years of Hollander's life she and her parents lived in a Japanese concentration camp during World War Two in Indonesia.

From there the film continues through her humble beginnings as a secretary, her first foray into prostitution and her rise to fame after the release of "The Happy Hooker." Throughout, Hollander provides detailed accounts of some of her more memorable sexual encounters.

The film, which has not yet found a distributor, also tackles rough spots, including her family's backlash when they discovered her profession. Hollander's mother was outraged; an aunt burned the book.

Her father -- with whom she was very close-- had died years earlier. She says had he lived, she probably would not have become a prostitute. "I wouldn't have wanted to disappoint him," she said.

That is quite a statement for a woman whose fame and fortune is rooted in her sexual exploits. She has written nearly a dozen books on the subject and speaks frequently at seminars and conventions for sex therapists and sex workers. For 30 years she has penned a column in Penthouse magazine title "Call Me Madam."

"I had so much fun," she said about her career. "I was pretty much a one-woman show."

Does she get tired of being referred to as the Happy Hooker? "It will always be the moniker on my back. I don't mind -- as long as they remember me," she said.

Since its release, "The Happy Hooker" has sold 15 million copies. Asked why the book has endured all these years, Hollander attributes it to honesty.

"It was a true book, not a phony book, based on reality," she said, dressed in a cream-colored house coat with bright stitching and flip-flop sandals. "It showed that sex can be fun."

Quick to laugh and pepper her conversation with salty language, her green eyes and pale lips show no signs of botox or plastic surgery. The once svelte body has given way to a heavier-set figure.

For Dunlap, his film is less about Hollander's sexual past than about a woman who overcame enormous obstacles.

"It's the story of an ultimate survivor," he said. "This is a film about a real person. She lived it, she loved it and she will die having done what she really wanted to do."

At her home base in Amsterdam, Hollander also runs a bed and breakfast. Two heart attacks nearly three years ago forced her to give up her other job producing cabaret theater. She was even celibate for two years, she said.

But health issues aside Hollander is not one to sit around. Her next project is another book, a collection of the best of her Penthouse column.
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#885 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:00 pm

Great Wall of China wards off ravers

BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Beijing has called up a team of dedicated Great Wall monitors to protect it from damage from tourists, adventurous hikers and party revelers, the China Daily said Thursday.

The Great Wall, which snakes its way across more than 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) of China, receives an estimated 10 million visitors a year, mostly to a few miles of wall opened to tourists at Badaling, the nearest stretch to Beijing.

All that traffic had taken a heavy toll on the structure, prompting the move to employ local villagers to keep watch, the report said.

Less than 20 percent of the original facade of the wall near the capital had been preserved well, Yu Ping, deputy director of Beijing's cultural heritage administration, was quoted as saying.

"Almost every brick at Badaling has been carved with people's names and graffiti," the newspaper said.

More adventurous visitors climbed wilder, crumblier sections that are not officially open to the public, making them potentially dangerous and more susceptible to damage.

Stretches of the wall near the capital have also become popular sites for summer raves.

Last July, "some participants were involved in such indecent and illegal activities as urinating and drug abuse on the wall," the China Daily said of a party that was widely reported and sparked a public uproar.

The Great Wall was begun in 221 BC during the Qin dynasty as an earthen structure to ward off invaders, though much of the existing structure was built much later.

The United Nations listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1987 and it is protected against development by Chinese law.

But it is not clear how effective the new wall-watching team will be -- the same villages that will provide the monitors have been exploiting the wall for their own gain for years.

Locals set up ladders at unopened stretches, allowing visitors to climb on to the wall for a price, and have used its heavy bricks to build their own homes.
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#886 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:01 pm

Rio police to occupy slums for Rolling Stones

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Police will occupy slums next to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach for this weekend's Rolling Stones concert to safeguard the trouble-prone area of the city, officials said Wednesday.

Rio de Janeiro State Public Security Secretary Marcelo Itagiba criticized the choice of the venue by municipal authorities, but said everything will be done to prevent clashes, robberies and theft during Saturday night's free mega-show, when 1.5 million people are expected.

"I don't think the venue is ideal either from the point of view of security or tranquillity for residents," Itagiba told reporters.

He complained that private security hired by organizers will be paid, while police will do the hard work without any extra compensation.

The concert is being financed by the Rio municipality and two telecommunications companies.

Itagiba said the show was potentially more dangerous than the annual New Year celebrations on Copacabana, as approximately the same number of people will be concentrated on just one-third of the famous beach.

"It's a huge mass of people in one spot, and it is not exactly a quiet show with classical music," Itagiba said.

A massive stage is being constructed on the sand opposite the elegant Copacabana Palace Hotel where the veteran British rockers will stay. Hotels are booked solid by fans and apartments overlooking the beach have been rented out.

More than 2,600 police officers will patrol Copacabana and oversee the crowd from 23 purpose-built towers.

In all of the city, 6,000 police will be deployed as part of the security scheme for the concert.

Police will occupy three shanty-towns in and around the Copacabana area and will also reinforce patrols around more than 20 other slums. Many Rio slums are controlled by powerful drug gangs and are not patrolled by police. Violent crime often spills over from the slums into city streets.

Some 6,600 people were killed last year in Rio, which has a population of 6 million. Copacabana is a haunt for prostitutes and drug dealers at night, and robberies occur there often during daytime.
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#887 Postby TexasStooge » Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:28 pm

Greek hiker finds 6,500-year-old pendant

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - A Greek hiker found a 6,500-year-old gold pendant in a field and handed it over to authorities, an archaeologist said Thursday.

The flat, roughly ring-shaped prehistoric pendant probably had religious significance and would have been worn on a necklace by a prominent member of society.

Only three such gold artifacts have been discovered during organized digs, archaeologist Georgia Karamitrou-Mendesidi, head of the Greek archaeological service in the northern region where the discovery was made, told The Associated Press.

"It belongs to the Neolithic period, about which we know very little regarding the use of metals, particularly gold," she said. "The fact that it is made of gold indicates that these people were highly advanced, producing significant works of art."

She said the pendant, measuring rough 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches, was picked up last year near the town of Ptolemaida, about 90 miles southwest of the northern city of Thessaloniki. Karamitrou-Mendesidi is to present the artifact at a three-day archaeological conference that opened Thursday in Thessaloniki.

Greek police confiscated a hoard of 33 similar pieces of hammered gold jewelry from smugglers in 1997.

The woman who found the pendant did not want a reward and wished to remain anonymous, Karamitrou-Mendesidi said.

Similar finds have been excavated in modern Turkey and the Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria.

Around 4500 B.C., when the pendant was made, Greece's early Neolithic farming settlements were consolidating into structured trading centers with a developed knowledge of metalworking.

In November, archaeologists announced the discovery of two prehistoric farming settlements dating back as early as 6000 B.C. in the Ptolemaida region.

The settlement digs uncovered burial sites, clay and stone figurines of humans and animals, pottery and stone tools.

Another 25 prehistoric settlements have been found in the area.
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#888 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:09 am

Unwanted kiss sends man to prison for life

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - It may have been a borderline call, but it was still a third strike. The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a ruling that sent Nicholas Meyrovich to life in prison under a 2001 three-strikes law. Meyrovich got his third strike, a felony sex offense, for delivering an unwanted kiss.

Meyrovich, in his appeal, claimed that a life sentence for the kiss violated the Oregon Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Meyrovich, 60, an exterminator, was inspecting the home of a Salem woman in October 2003 when he suddenly grabbed her and kissed her. The woman pushed Meyrovich away, but he took hold of her again and sucked her on the neck, stopping when a neighbor walked in.

Meyrovich was later convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, which under Oregon law requires the forcible touching of the "sexual or other intimate parts" of another person.

Meyrovich argued that the neck is not an intimate part of the body; the court disagreed.

"In ordinary social intercourse, one adult does not touch the neck of another adult outside of intimate relationships, at least not without some unusual but reasonable justification," Judge David Schuman wrote for the panel that decided the case.

The court also disagreed that the sentence was cruel and unusual, noting that the three-strikes law was not aimed at the gravity of a particular crime but at habitual offenders. Schuman wrote that Meyrovich had been convicted of nine prior sex offenses before the kiss.

Meyrovich is one of only four inmates serving life sentences under Oregon's sex offender three-strikes law.
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#889 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:11 am

Exclusive: Candidate worked as prostitute

Democrat for House cites religious conversion, has no regrets

By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. and BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News

The Web page touts the "hot uninhibited" services of a male escort identified as Todd Sharpe, displaying a blurry beefcake photo and listing a Dallas phone number.

But the number belongs to a salesman and former actor named Tom Malin, a Dallas Democrat who is seeking election to the Texas House.

Mr. Malin acknowledged Thursday that he once worked as a prostitute.

"I've made mistakes in my life, and I've stood before my Creator and I've accepted responsibility for my behavior," Mr. Malin said. "I've also accepted his grace and his redemption and his love and his forgiveness, and that's what important."

Web pages that have been used to advertise the sexual services of "Todd Sharpe" say he previously worked in the New York City and Los Angeles areas. His rates ranged from $200 to $600, according to graphically detailed reviews from men whom the pages described as satisfied customers.

Mr. Malin said he no longer works as a prostitute.

"I knew that if I continued on with that, I would die," Mr. Malin said. "God spoke to me, and I knew I had to make a different choice in life."

Mr. Malin, who was once a member of the Dallas Citizens Police Review Board, said he hoped his mistakes would not cost him a chance to serve in the Texas House. And he said he would remain in the race.

"I don't regret my past, nor do I wish to shut the door on my past," he said. "I think anyone who has made mistakes in their lives can be a viable member of community and society."

But he acknowledged that his previous life could cost him the Democratic nomination in the March 7 primary.

"I know that there are people that can benefit from my experience," he said. "This is not about winning an election; this is about empowerment. There is a higher calling and a higher message involved in this."

All the "Todd Sharpe" Web sites are now defunct. The Dallas Morning News found archived versions online after receiving a tip this week that Mr. Malin might have worked in the sex industry.

The tipster, a fellow gay Democrat who knew the candidate, said he had heard rumors about Mr. Malin's past but had no direct knowledge. He said he feared that if Mr. Malin won a primary race next month and the rumors turned out to be true, their political party would be embarrassed. The tipster asked not to be identified because he didn't want to be dragged into a political fight.

Mr. Malin is running for House District 108, which covers much of central Dallas and the Park Cities.

On Thursday, he received a key endorsement from the Dallas Tejano Democrats, a Hispanic political group.

"We were not aware of this, and he never mentioned it to us during the screening," said Domingo Garcia, chairman of the local Tejano Democrats. "Obviously we will have to reconsider our decision based on the new information."

The Dallas Morning News editorial board also recommended Mr. Malin, but in light of this new information, said it was reconsidering that recommendation.

His opponent in next month's Democratic primary is retired salesman Jack Borden, who said he was disappointed to learn of the revelation.

"I'm wondering who put him up to run in the first place," Mr. Borden said. "I don't approve of anybody selling their body."

Mr. Malin said the decision to run was his own.

The winner will face incumbent Republican Dan Branch in November. Mr. Branch had no comment on Mr. Malin's past, saying he looked forward to standing before voters in the general election.

Former Dallas County Democratic chairwoman Susan Hays, a Malin supporter, said the candidate told her about his past in the buffet line of a local restaurant.

"He kind of amazed me," she said. "He's been a mess, but righted himself. He's got more honesty and energy than his Democratic opponent and Dan Branch."

On his candidate Web page, Mr. Malin said he is "committed to giving our families a voice in Austin, with a focus on education, the economy, and restoring a 'spirit of ethics' to our State House."

His online biography says he "was recognized as one of the top recruiters and sellers with Mary Kay," which the cosmetics company confirmed. He is one of a "very exclusive number" of men ever to win use of a prestigious pink Cadillac, said company spokeswoman Kathrina McAfee.

Mr. Malin's biography identified a few Dallas-area theater productions in which he has appeared, including the well-reviewed When Pigs Fly , presented by the Uptown Players. Co-producer Jeff Rane said Wednesday that Mr. Malin subsequently went on their "do not cast" list.

"He had anger management problems," Mr. Rane said, declining to elaborate.

Mr. Malin said that he was addicted to alcohol after growing up in an abusive household. He said he's been sober for 13 years.

"My mom was drunk when I was born," he said. "I grew up in a family where I saw my mother beaten by my father." He said he was abused physically, emotionally and sexually as a child.

Mr. Malin's candidate biography also said he had appeared on TV shows including Guiding Light, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Spin City, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live and Frasier. The News could not confirm any of those appearances this week, either through IMDb.com, considered the leading online database of film and TV credits, or with TV executives.

Mr. Malin said all his roles were small and wouldn't necessarily show up in those records. IMDb and TV officials acknowledged that point.

"I worked as an actor, and I was very happy about that," he said. "Very small roles."

Mr. Malin's candidate page described him as a managing director of Ignite Energy, "a direct sales organization and the marketing arm of Stream Energy." Stream is a new Dallas-based electricity provider that relies on multilevel marketing, in which sales agents like Mr. Malin earn money by enlisting other agents.

Mr. Malin said he would continue to campaign for the state House.

"People don't care where you have been," he said. "They just want to know where you are going. All I know it that the ultimate authority is God. That's what's most important."

Staff writer Tanya Eiserer contributed to this story.
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#890 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:20 am

Lawmaker Swamped With Complaint Calls

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's works minister was swamped with 2,600 text messages and hundreds of calls on his mobile phone after he asked the public to direct their complaints to him, reports said Friday.

S. Samy Vellu was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying that his mobile phone has not stopped ringing since he gave out his number during a television show on Sunday after viewers complained about inefficiency at his ministry.

"I received so many calls and messages, that I think my phone may quit on me soon," he said.

But he said only 200 text messages were complaints about problems such as poor road drainage or traffic lights that were not working. More than 1,000 were congratulatory messages and the rest were suggestions for improving service, he said.

Samy Vellu ordered his ministry to set up a 24-hour bureau to look into the complaints, the newspaper said.

The minister and his aides weren't immediately reachable for comment.

Late last year, Samy Vellu weathered calls from fellow lawmakers to resign and take responsibility for a string of infrastructure debacles such as breakdowns in road and highway projects which they said could cause human deaths and mar the government's image.

His ministry has come under fire for landslides on a major highway, cracks in beams supporting a busy overpass and delays in building construction.

But Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi retained him as works minister during a minor Cabinet reshuffle earlier this week.
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#891 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:21 am

North Korean Cheerleaders Sent to Prison

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Twenty-one members of North Korean cheering squads who traveled to South Korea for international sports events are being held in a prison camp for talking about what they saw in the South, a news report said Friday.

Citing a North Korean man who recently fled to China, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the 21 young women had been detained about last November in the same prison camp where the man had been held.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service didn't immediately confirm or deny the report.

In 2002, communist North Korea sent hundreds of female cheerleaders to the Asian Games in South Korea's Busan, where their tightly synchronized routines drew worldwide attention. The North sent similar cheering squads to South Korea in 2003 and 2005.

The defector, whose real name wasn't given, said the female cheering squad apparently violated a pledge not to speak about what they saw in South Korea, the Chosun Ilbo reported.

Citing another unnamed defector, the newspaper said the cheerleaders had pledged before going to South Korea that they would treat the country as "enemy territory" and never speak about what they saw there, accepting punishment if they broke the promise.

North Korea's government insists it doesn't abuse human rights, but it has long been accused of holding political prisoners in camps under life-threatening conditions. Between 150,000 and 200,000 political prisoners are believed to be held in the North, according to the U.S. State Department.
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#892 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:22 am

Wash.'s No. 8 Agricultural Commodity: Pot

By JOHN K. WILEY, Associated Press Writer

SPOKANE, Wash. - Law enforcement officers harvested a dubious record last year — enough marijuana plants to rank the illegal weed as Washington state's No. 8 agricultural commodity, edging out sweet cherries in value.

The 135,323 marijuana plants seized in 2005 were estimated to be worth $270 million — a record amount that places the crop among the state's top 10 agricultural commodities, based on the most recent statistics available.

"We're struck by the amount of work they put into it," said Rich Wiley, who heads the Washington State Patrol narcotics program. "It's very labor intensive. They often run individual drip lines to each plant, and are out there fertilizing them."

The net results have a tremendous payoff to illegal growers, said Wiley, who coordinates pot busts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement agencies. A single plant can produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana, worth an estimated $2,000, he said.

The estimated $270 million value of the plants seized in 2005 ranked just above sweet cherries, which were valued at $242 million in 2004, and just below the $329 million the state's nurseries and greenhouses produced. Apples are the state's No. 1 agricultural commodity, bringing $962.5 million in 2004.

This is the seventh year in a row that record numbers of marijuana plants have been seized and destroyed statewide, the State Patrol said. The state's known pot harvest, based on seizures, went from 66,521 plants in 2003 to 132,941 in 2004, then to 135,323 last year.

Most of the growing operations were in eastern Washington, principally outdoors on federal or state land in remote locations near a source of water, the State Patrol said.

In recent years, marijuana crops have been larger and more sophisticated than in the past, law enforcement spokesmen said.

Douglas County sheriff's Chief Criminal Deputy Robbin Wagg said while some "mom and pop" crops of 500 or fewer plants are still being found, most are larger and more sophisticated, with as many as 10,000 plants being irrigated and tended.

Marijuana eradication efforts have been hampered by cutbacks in Air National Guard budgets and personnel have been assigned to tasks related to the Iraq war, Wagg said. National Guard helicopters are the most productive way to spot marijuana patches in the county's remote fields and draws, he said.

"We used to get three or four days of flying time. Now, it's one to 1 1/2 days," he said. "They do a great job for us."

Wiley said last year, three National Guard helicopters and three provided by the DEA flew for a month during the marijuana harvest season in late summer, before they were assigned to Hurricane Katrina duties. About 80 percent of the finds are made from the air, he said.

Facing their own budget restrictions, law enforcement agencies in north-central Washington estimate they find perhaps half of the pot being grown illegally.

"We get half if we're lucky and good," Wagg said.
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#893 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:22 pm

Those goats are back, honey -- get the tiger poop

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - A tiger's roar might be scary, but Australian researchers have found that the predator's poo is just as potent.

Researchers at the University of Queensland said Friday they had successfully tested a tiger poo repellant, warding off wild goats for at least three days.

"Goats wouldn't have seen a tiger from an evolutionary point of view for at least 15 generations but they recognize the smell of the predator," repellent creator Peter Murray said in a statement.

"If we can show this lasts weeks ... we've just tapped into probably a billion-dollar market. It's enormous," he said.

Murray said the repellant, made of fatty acids and sulphurous compounds extracted from tiger excrement, also worked on feral pigs, kangaroos and rabbits and might deter deer, horses and cattle too.

In an average year pest animals cause about A$420 million (US$311 million) worth of agricultural damage in Australia the government has said. Others put the cost in the billions, mostly from European imports such as rabbits, foxes and crop-choking weeds.
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#894 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:23 pm

"Psychic" admits bilking elderly clients

MIAMI, Fla. (Reuters) - A self-proclaimed psychic and fortuneteller pleaded guilty Thursday to bilking elderly clients in south Florida out of more than $2 million over an eight-year period, federal officials said.

Linda Marks, 57, of Delray Beach, was accused of preying on the elderly and people suffering from incurable diseases, telling them she could cure them by praying over their money.

Marks pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to fraud and corruption charges and admitted cheating her elderly victims out of more than $2 million between 1994 and 2002, U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta said in a statement.

A Delray Police detective, Jack Makler, 64, pleaded guilty to corruption charges for using his position on the police force to help keep Marks out of jail and avoid violating probation, Acosta said.

Makler admitted taking money and other property from Marks at a time when he was investigating her and acknowledged lying to local and federal authorities about his handling of her cases, Acosta said.

Marks faces up to 15 years in prison while Makler faces up to five years. Sentencing is scheduled for May 10.

"The illegal conduct in this case was particularly egregious because the defendant's actions resulted in the continued victimization of elderly and vulnerable people, many of whom lost their life savings through fraud," Acosta said in the statement.

"We will not tolerate the conduct of those law enforcement officers who, through their illegal actions, bring disrespect to their colleagues, sell their position and betray the public trust," he added.
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#895 Postby TexasStooge » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:24 pm

Macho star gets jail term for killing deer

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Bollywood film star, Salman Khan, has been sentenced to a year in jail for killing two rare deer, his lawyer said Friday.

A court in the western desert state of Rajasthan, where Khan shot the black buck, a protected species, in 1998 also slapped a fine of 5,000 rupees ($112.5) on the star, known for his wild tantrums.

Khan's lawyer, Hastimal Saraswat, said his client had indicated he would appeal the ruling to a higher court and he was freed on a one-month bond.

The black buck is revered as a sacred animal by the people of Rajasthan. It was once common in northern and central India.

Witnesses said Khan appeared somber as he left the court to chants from his fans of "Long live, Salman Khan!"

Hugely popular, Khan usually plays the role of a macho romeo in Bollywood's trademark song-and-dance films.

($1=44.45 rupees)
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rainstorm

#896 Postby rainstorm » Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:41 pm

TexasStooge wrote:Those goats are back, honey -- get the tiger poop

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - A tiger's roar might be scary, but Australian researchers have found that the predator's poo is just as potent.

Researchers at the University of Queensland said Friday they had successfully tested a tiger poo repellant, warding off wild goats for at least three days.

"Goats wouldn't have seen a tiger from an evolutionary point of view for at least 15 generations but they recognize the smell of the predator," repellent creator Peter Murray said in a statement.

"If we can show this lasts weeks ... we've just tapped into probably a billion-dollar market. It's enormous," he said.

Murray said the repellant, made of fatty acids and sulphurous compounds extracted from tiger excrement, also worked on feral pigs, kangaroos and rabbits and might deter deer, horses and cattle too.

In an average year pest animals cause about A$420 million (US$311 million) worth of agricultural damage in Australia the government has said. Others put the cost in the billions, mostly from European imports such as rabbits, foxes and crop-choking weeds.


sounds like a great idea
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#897 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:35 pm

Stripping away the mystery

By Alexandra Hudson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Amsterdam's famed red light district held its first ever "open day" Saturday as its peep-shows and brothels gave crowds of wide-eyed visitors free entry to help shed the area's increasingly negative reputation.

Armed with a list of 25 establishments opening their doors and flinging back their red curtains, hundreds of tourists and locals seized the opportunity to see a prostitute's bedroom, watch a brief live peep-show or chat to a lap dancer.

Harrowing reports of forced prostitution and human trafficking have caused a public outcry in recent months and even prompted calls from councillors for the 800-year-old red light district to be shut down, to the fury of many sex workers.

Stories of petty crime and gang violence also dominate.

"The open day is partly to promote the red light district but also to help change the image of the area because we think it is too negative," said organizer Mariska Majoor, a former prostitute who now runs an information center on the district.

"There are not just problems here," she added.

Prostitution has been fully legal in the Netherlands since 2000, and sex workers are self-employed and subject to tax.

However one rights group estimates that around 3,500 women are trafficked to the Netherlands each year from eastern Europe and Asia to work in secret brothels or illegal escort agencies, where they are often held captive and abused.

Tourist authorities admit the district -- a clutch of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, brothels and neon signs -- is as big an attraction as Amsterdam's museums and coffee shops, where marijuana is freely smoked and sold.

Every night visitors throng the streets, agog at the scantily clad women sitting behind huge red-lit windows, but only a fraction venture inside.

"GOOD IDEA"

"This is a very good idea," said 28-year-old Dutchman Maarten Ritsema, grinning after experiencing his first ever lap-dance at the Bar La Vie en Proost.

"I've never been inside anywhere like this before ... it's pretty casual, not as tense or hostile as I imagined," he said.

Many of the area's sex workers also took the chance to explain more about their work and dispel myths.

Candy, a 39-year-old dancer from France, sat in her usual position behind the counter of the Banana Bar, joking with visitors and posing for photographs.

"People out today see it's fun, that this is entertainment."

There may have been less flesh on display than usual for the non-paying public, but visitors, mostly drawn by curiosity, didn't seem to mind. "It was still sexy and you can use your imagination," said 31-year-old Rob Jansen, on leaving the Casa Rosso theater.

Amsterdam resident Ina van Leyan, 49, said she hoped the area would never be closed down: "It belongs to Amsterdam. Its for the tourists, it's for the men without wives, it's a key part of the city."
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#898 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:36 pm

Calif. Woman, 62, Gives Birth to Baby Boy

REDDING, Calif. (AP) - A 62-year-old woman gave birth Friday to a healthy 6-pound, 9-ounce baby boy, becoming one of the oldest women in the world to successfully bear a child.

Janise Wulf gave birth to her 12th child. She is also a grandmother of 20 and a great-grandmother of three.

Family members said the delivery went smoothly, despite earlier concerns about the mother's health. Wulf, a diabetic, experienced swelling and higher blood pressure earlier this week, prompting doctors to perform the Caesarean section a week early.

Wulf and her third husband, Scott, 48, named the red-haired boy Adam Charles Wulf. He follows just 3 1/2 years behind his older brother, Ian.

"I hate to raise one alone, without a sibling," said Wulf, who was impregnated both times through in vitro fertilization.

The oldest woman on record to give birth is a 66-year-old Adriana Iliescu of Romania, who had a Caesarean section Jan. 15, 2005.

The Guinness Book of World Records also lists two 63-year-old women who have given birth: Rosanna Della Corte of Italy in 1994 and Acheli Keh of California in 1996. News reports, however, list Della Corte's age at 62 when she gave birth.
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#899 Postby TexasStooge » Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:37 pm

Red Light District Opens Its Doors

By BRUCE MUTSVAIRO, Associated Press Writer

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch prostitutes gave the public a peek behind the curtains of Amsterdam's famed Red Light District on Saturday, hoping to stave off an attempt by city politicians to stop lingerie-clad women from advertising themselves in neon-lit windows.

Thousands of tourists and Dutch visitors took up the offer by the district's sex clubs and topless bars to step in for a free drink and a look around to counteract the establishments' seedy reputation.

Women allowed visitors into the cubicles where they conduct their business to explain hygiene regulations and the alarm system used when a prostitute encounters a difficult customer.

"The Red Light district has received a lot of negative publicity recently," said organizer Mariska Majoor, an ex-prostitute who runs the district's Prostitution Information Center. "We want to show the world that it is safe out here."

The open house came in response to proposals by the head of Amsterdam's Labor Party, the city's largest party, to discourage women from marketing themselves in windows.

The intimately lit rooms were sparse, with just a bed, a bedside table and a shower.

A young woman showing a room to a group of five men said customers are immediately offered condoms and asked if they want to shower before their 15-minute session, which normally costs $60.

"You would not expect to find something like this in conservative Cambridge," British tourist Leigh Shaw-Taylor said after wandering past sex clubs and shops selling sex toys.

In a book released a few months ago, Labor party leader Lodewijk Asscher urged the authorities to crack down on window prostitution, saying it fostered crime and attracted pimps, drug addicts and human traffickers.

A recent study found that despite health rules, about 7 percent of Dutch prostitutes have HIV/AIDS.

"You must draw a line between tolerance and disinterest," Asscher wrote on his Web log. "Tolerance means legalizing prostitution, but then you must also be ready to combat the problems associated with it."

Local authorities already have closed down the red-light district in the eastern town of Arnhem.

The open house idea was supported by the information center, Amsterdam's Sex Museum, and the Salvation Army, which is active in the area.

Majoor said not all the sex workers were happy about opening their business premises to gawking, photograph-taking tourists.

"I completely understand their anger, she said. She said she hoped the women would see the intention was not to "humiliate, but promote their work."

Prostitution in Amsterdam boomed during the city's 17th century Golden Age, when women catered to sailors from merchant ships in what was then the world's richest port city.

The area in the city center became a major tourist draw in the 20th century. The Dutch government legalized prostitution in 2000 with an eye to making it easier to tax and regulate.
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#900 Postby TexasStooge » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:42 am

(Imitating Keanu Reeves) OK, Pop quiz, hot shot. You're at home with a roommate and you're fixing to use the restroom, but later found out there's no toilet paper left. What do you do? WHAT...DO YOU...DO?!
_____________________________________________________________

Fla. Man Kills Roommate Over Toilet Paper

MOSS BLUFF, Fla. (AP) - A man accused of fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet paper in their home has been arrested.

Franklin Paul Crow, 56, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of Kenneth Matthews, 58, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Capt. Thomas Bibb said Crow initially denied his involvement, but confessed during questioning.

Crow told investigators that the men were fighting about the toilet paper over the weekend when Matthews pulled out a rifle. Crow said he then began beating Matthews with the sledgehammer and claw hammer, according to an affidavit.

Matthews was beaten so badly he had to be identified through his fingerprints, detectives said.

Crow was being held at the Marion County jail without bond. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.
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