Tons of Flying Tomatoes Paint Town Red
BUNOL, Spain (Reuters) - Tons of flying tomatoes streaked the streets of Bunol red and left 20,000 visitors wallowing in a pond of pulped fruit as the tiny Spanish town celebrated the world's largest food fight Wednesday.
Locals boarded up windows and locked their doors as drunk and determined revelers donned goggles to prepare for the arrival of six trucks carrying 130 tons of the edible missiles that give the annual "Tomatina" festival its name.
The red frenzy began in 1944, when Dr. Paco Garces Sanchez and some friends tried to throw tomatoes into the trumpet of a passing musician. The next year they pelted balloons launched for the town fiesta.
"The year after that we decided not to wait for balloons or anything, we all set out with our tomatoes... but the mayor got very angry and called the Civil Guard," Garces told Reuters.
The hour-long pelting session Wednesday turned the town square into a mass of slimy bodies, with some paddling in a waist-high pool of frothy tomatoes.
"It's fantastic, the most fun I have ever had. I've been waiting for this day since January," pulp-smeared Irish tourist Clarissa Hills shouted as tomatoes whizzed past her head.
TOMATO FUNERAL
The festival was banned in 1948 after an unlucky government official arrived in the town 25 miles west of Valencia on Tomatina day and was greeted by a hail of tomatoes. Grieving residents held a symbolic funeral for their festival by burying a giant tomato.
"All Bunol came along, dressed in black. There was a procession with a band at the front playing funeral marches and a band at the back playing paso dobles (a style of dance music)," Garces said.
The mayor eventually relented and agreed to reinstate the festival.
But not all Bunol is happy with a fiesta that costs the town nearly $60,450 and attracts a flood of heavy-drinking outsiders.
Garces said its growing popularity has ruined some of the fun. "Now you can't even throw a tomato, there is no room to aim because people are right on top of each other," he said.
Younger locals also worry about foreigners' techniques.
"People from outside don't know how to throw them; you have to squash them first so they don't hurt when they hit," said Irene Recueroaquila, 18, a student from Bunol.
And some tourists were overwhelmed by the mess.
"This is absolutely disgusting, I wish I had never come. I hate tomatoes," said 23-year-old Australian Joel Gorth.
"I'm never eating a tomato again," said 26-year-old London lawyer Laura Janes, pulling seeds from her hair.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
Moderator: S2k Moderators
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
State Sells Unwanted Jewelry, Scissors
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding a rummage sale to dispose of unwanted state property from aircraft engines to jewelry.
The "California Garage Sale" will take place on Friday and Saturday in the state capital Sacramento and some of the items will also be offered by online auctioneer eBay .
The items include office furniture -- most of the state's furniture is made by prisoners -- 30 pounds of scissors, forklifts, knives, expired color film, computers, jewelry, a red 1995 Ford Mustang and even baseball cards.
"Some of the stuff may have been confiscated in drug confiscations, by the Department of Justice, or local jurisdictions," said Fred Aguiar, who is overseeing the sale as State and Consumer Services Agency secretary. "Like the red Mustang, that was part of an asset seizure, forfeiture thing."
Some items at the sale, said to be the first of its kind for the state, were confiscated at airports. Yet much of what is on offer was purchased by government agencies and eventually fell into misuse or was forgotten about.
Although state officials are hoping to bring in millions of dollars in a larger program to dispose of unused assets including property, they would not estimate how much the garage sale would generate.
Aguiar says desks would sell for as low as $2, laptop computers for as little as $20 and bargaining would be allowed. As of Wednesday, the Ford Mustang has attracted an eBay bid of $5,600.
"Eliminating surplus property is just one way we can work together to clean out the cobwebs of government," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "I am calling on Californians to participate in this historic opportunity to help us eliminate the excess."
The actor-turned governor is seeking to maximize revenues in the cash-strapped state to keep his pledge of no new taxes.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding a rummage sale to dispose of unwanted state property from aircraft engines to jewelry.
The "California Garage Sale" will take place on Friday and Saturday in the state capital Sacramento and some of the items will also be offered by online auctioneer eBay .
The items include office furniture -- most of the state's furniture is made by prisoners -- 30 pounds of scissors, forklifts, knives, expired color film, computers, jewelry, a red 1995 Ford Mustang and even baseball cards.
"Some of the stuff may have been confiscated in drug confiscations, by the Department of Justice, or local jurisdictions," said Fred Aguiar, who is overseeing the sale as State and Consumer Services Agency secretary. "Like the red Mustang, that was part of an asset seizure, forfeiture thing."
Some items at the sale, said to be the first of its kind for the state, were confiscated at airports. Yet much of what is on offer was purchased by government agencies and eventually fell into misuse or was forgotten about.
Although state officials are hoping to bring in millions of dollars in a larger program to dispose of unused assets including property, they would not estimate how much the garage sale would generate.
Aguiar says desks would sell for as low as $2, laptop computers for as little as $20 and bargaining would be allowed. As of Wednesday, the Ford Mustang has attracted an eBay bid of $5,600.
"Eliminating surplus property is just one way we can work together to clean out the cobwebs of government," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "I am calling on Californians to participate in this historic opportunity to help us eliminate the excess."
The actor-turned governor is seeking to maximize revenues in the cash-strapped state to keep his pledge of no new taxes.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Outspoken Canadian Legislator Calls U.S. 'Idiots'
OTTAWA (Reuters) - It was damned bastards last year, "idiots" this year.
Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war. She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.
"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators.
Parrish, who had to apologize for her "bastards" remarks last year, at first denied using the word idiots, and when reporters pointed out they had her remarks on tape, she said: "I don't mean Americans are idiots."
Parrish then begged reporters not to use the remarks: "Please guys don't put that on tape," she said. "I already got into trouble once.... Really, please, I've had enough trouble."
Four hours later, however, she hardened her line.
"The last one was a really stupid thing to say," she told Reuters. "Bastards is an inappropriate word. Idiots is a term people use in everyday conversation," she told Reuters.
"They tortured people in Iraq, they (the Iraqis) have no weapons of mass destruction. Could somebody explain to me whether you think they're idiots or geniuses?"
The top spokeswoman for former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Francoise Ducros, had to resign in 2002 for calling President Bush a moron.
Chretien's successor, Prime Minister Paul Martin, has pledged to put relations with Canada's largest trading partner on a warmer footing.
Martin said after Parrish's latest remarks that the debate about missile defense, intended to guard against attacks from what the United States calls rogue states, was "very, very important."
"There is no room in this debate for that kind of language," he told reporters, waving his hand dismissively. "You're going to get very strongly held views but let me tell you those strongly held views have got to be expressed in language that is acceptable."
But Parrish refused to back down.
"That's Mr. Martin's opinion," she told Reuters. "No, I'm not going to apologize.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - It was damned bastards last year, "idiots" this year.
Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war. She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.
"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators.
Parrish, who had to apologize for her "bastards" remarks last year, at first denied using the word idiots, and when reporters pointed out they had her remarks on tape, she said: "I don't mean Americans are idiots."
Parrish then begged reporters not to use the remarks: "Please guys don't put that on tape," she said. "I already got into trouble once.... Really, please, I've had enough trouble."
Four hours later, however, she hardened her line.
"The last one was a really stupid thing to say," she told Reuters. "Bastards is an inappropriate word. Idiots is a term people use in everyday conversation," she told Reuters.
"They tortured people in Iraq, they (the Iraqis) have no weapons of mass destruction. Could somebody explain to me whether you think they're idiots or geniuses?"
The top spokeswoman for former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Francoise Ducros, had to resign in 2002 for calling President Bush a moron.
Chretien's successor, Prime Minister Paul Martin, has pledged to put relations with Canada's largest trading partner on a warmer footing.
Martin said after Parrish's latest remarks that the debate about missile defense, intended to guard against attacks from what the United States calls rogue states, was "very, very important."
"There is no room in this debate for that kind of language," he told reporters, waving his hand dismissively. "You're going to get very strongly held views but let me tell you those strongly held views have got to be expressed in language that is acceptable."
But Parrish refused to back down.
"That's Mr. Martin's opinion," she told Reuters. "No, I'm not going to apologize.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
German Government to Auction Off Nazi Holiday Camp
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government will try next month to auction off part of a 10,000 room hotel complex built by the Nazis as a holiday resort for soldiers and workers.
Adolf Hitler commissioned the holiday camp at Prora on the Baltic island of Ruegen in the 1930s as part of the Nazis' "Kraft durch Freude" ("Strength Through Joy") program to create a healthy, strong nation capable of conquering the world.
The outbreak of World War II meant the building was never opened as a hotel. The eight austere concrete blocks, resembling a government ministry, were used as a shelter for bombed-out refugees during the war, and as a barracks afterwards.
"The government is selling Prora off as part of a large-scale national campaign to release capital," said Martin Kehr of auction house Norddeutsche Grundstuecksauktionen AG.
The starting price at the auction of a 2.5-km (1.5-mile) stretch of land including the island's finest sandy beaches, five hotel blocks and forest land, is just 125,000 euros ($151,000).
Berlin has tried unsuccessfully to sell it for over a decade. Keen to plug budget holes, it has relaunched the sale, presenting the site as suitable for a leisure complex.
But the people of Ruegen, who have painstakingly restored the island's elegant 19th century resorts since communist rule ended in 1990, worry the sale could hurt their livelihoods.
"Locals fear outside investors could turn the Nazi holiday camp into a massive hotel with up to 5,000 beds," said Uwe Schwartz, who works at a local museum about Prora.
"That could put Ruegen's smaller hotel businesses out of business and overburden the island's infrastructure."
The 8 km stretch of uniform blocks, devoid of balconies and with rows of small windows, is not an obvious choice for tourists in search of a relaxing beach holiday.
But Kehr said he was optimistic he would find a buyer for the 76 hectares (187.8 acres) coming under the hammer on September 23. "Our auction house has a 92 percent success rate and we're confident we will find a buyer for Prora," Kehr said.
Hitler's concept behind the Prora project was to provide affordable holidays for up to 20,000 people at a time in what would have been one of the world's first mass tourist resorts.
Each room was supposed to be identical offering a sea view. The huge buildings, designed along utilitarian principles, evoke the Nazis' love of the bombastic and hatred of individuality.
But museum spokesman Schwartz said the area's Nazi past need not be an obstacle to future projects.
"It was the Nazi regime that was evil, not the building itself," said Schwartz. "When visitors look at Prora, they are first impressed by its size, not haunted by Hitler's specter."
"We must learn to get over the past. This huge expanse of land is there and available, so why not use it?," Schwartz said.
Whatever the outcome of the sale, Prora's six-story complex will continue to loom menacingly on the horizon.
"Prora has been declared an official monument and is now protected from demolition," said Kehr. "It's like any other historically significant building -- no one can knock it down so it will stand here for centuries to come."
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government will try next month to auction off part of a 10,000 room hotel complex built by the Nazis as a holiday resort for soldiers and workers.
Adolf Hitler commissioned the holiday camp at Prora on the Baltic island of Ruegen in the 1930s as part of the Nazis' "Kraft durch Freude" ("Strength Through Joy") program to create a healthy, strong nation capable of conquering the world.
The outbreak of World War II meant the building was never opened as a hotel. The eight austere concrete blocks, resembling a government ministry, were used as a shelter for bombed-out refugees during the war, and as a barracks afterwards.
"The government is selling Prora off as part of a large-scale national campaign to release capital," said Martin Kehr of auction house Norddeutsche Grundstuecksauktionen AG.
The starting price at the auction of a 2.5-km (1.5-mile) stretch of land including the island's finest sandy beaches, five hotel blocks and forest land, is just 125,000 euros ($151,000).
Berlin has tried unsuccessfully to sell it for over a decade. Keen to plug budget holes, it has relaunched the sale, presenting the site as suitable for a leisure complex.
But the people of Ruegen, who have painstakingly restored the island's elegant 19th century resorts since communist rule ended in 1990, worry the sale could hurt their livelihoods.
"Locals fear outside investors could turn the Nazi holiday camp into a massive hotel with up to 5,000 beds," said Uwe Schwartz, who works at a local museum about Prora.
"That could put Ruegen's smaller hotel businesses out of business and overburden the island's infrastructure."
The 8 km stretch of uniform blocks, devoid of balconies and with rows of small windows, is not an obvious choice for tourists in search of a relaxing beach holiday.
But Kehr said he was optimistic he would find a buyer for the 76 hectares (187.8 acres) coming under the hammer on September 23. "Our auction house has a 92 percent success rate and we're confident we will find a buyer for Prora," Kehr said.
Hitler's concept behind the Prora project was to provide affordable holidays for up to 20,000 people at a time in what would have been one of the world's first mass tourist resorts.
Each room was supposed to be identical offering a sea view. The huge buildings, designed along utilitarian principles, evoke the Nazis' love of the bombastic and hatred of individuality.
But museum spokesman Schwartz said the area's Nazi past need not be an obstacle to future projects.
"It was the Nazi regime that was evil, not the building itself," said Schwartz. "When visitors look at Prora, they are first impressed by its size, not haunted by Hitler's specter."
"We must learn to get over the past. This huge expanse of land is there and available, so why not use it?," Schwartz said.
Whatever the outcome of the sale, Prora's six-story complex will continue to loom menacingly on the horizon.
"Prora has been declared an official monument and is now protected from demolition," said Kehr. "It's like any other historically significant building -- no one can knock it down so it will stand here for centuries to come."
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
'Sorcerer' Kills 10, Sells Bodies for Cremation
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained a "sorcerer" who killed 10 people and sold their bodies to bereaved families to cremate in the place of loved ones who were secretly buried, police and a state-run newspaper reported Thursday.
The 34-year-old man, surnamed Lin, strangled or poisoned the 10 villagers at his home, next to a temple, in the southern province of Guangdong, the Beijing Morning Post said.
Chinese tradition, especially in rural villages, holds that burial brings peace to the dead and tombs are placed according to the laws of geomancy. But in a country of 1.3 billion people, the seemingly haphazard siting of graves wastes scarce farmland.
Since 1978, when China launched its reform drive, all levels of government have recommended cremation to save land.
"This region cremates its dead, but local people prefer to be buried in the ground. People bought the bodies to be cremated in place of their relatives," a police official told Reuters Thursday.
Lin, whom the newspaper called a sorcerer locals consulted to communicate with spirits, sold the bodies for 1,000 to 8,000 yuan ($120 to $966) each, the newspaper quoted local police as saying.
Police caught Lin plying his trade in corpses in mid-August in the city of Shantou, it said.
Chinese newspapers, unrestrained by the contempt of court laws of the West, often quote police confirming guilt or a confession before a defendant has been charged or the case has gone to court.
Communist China considers itself free of mass violence. Its sensationalist but still self-censoring media tend to play down cases of serial murderers.
A Beijing taxi driver was executed in June for killing seven people, including four prostitutes.
Last year, China executed one of its worst serial killers in history, a man who murdered 67 people and raped two dozen women in a four-year spree.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained a "sorcerer" who killed 10 people and sold their bodies to bereaved families to cremate in the place of loved ones who were secretly buried, police and a state-run newspaper reported Thursday.
The 34-year-old man, surnamed Lin, strangled or poisoned the 10 villagers at his home, next to a temple, in the southern province of Guangdong, the Beijing Morning Post said.
Chinese tradition, especially in rural villages, holds that burial brings peace to the dead and tombs are placed according to the laws of geomancy. But in a country of 1.3 billion people, the seemingly haphazard siting of graves wastes scarce farmland.
Since 1978, when China launched its reform drive, all levels of government have recommended cremation to save land.
"This region cremates its dead, but local people prefer to be buried in the ground. People bought the bodies to be cremated in place of their relatives," a police official told Reuters Thursday.
Lin, whom the newspaper called a sorcerer locals consulted to communicate with spirits, sold the bodies for 1,000 to 8,000 yuan ($120 to $966) each, the newspaper quoted local police as saying.
Police caught Lin plying his trade in corpses in mid-August in the city of Shantou, it said.
Chinese newspapers, unrestrained by the contempt of court laws of the West, often quote police confirming guilt or a confession before a defendant has been charged or the case has gone to court.
Communist China considers itself free of mass violence. Its sensationalist but still self-censoring media tend to play down cases of serial murderers.
A Beijing taxi driver was executed in June for killing seven people, including four prostitutes.
Last year, China executed one of its worst serial killers in history, a man who murdered 67 people and raped two dozen women in a four-year spree.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Tons of Flying Tomatoes Paint Town Red
BUNOL, Spain (Reuters) - Tons of flying tomatoes streaked the streets of Bunol red and left 20,000 visitors wallowing in a pond of pulped fruit as the tiny Spanish town celebrated the world's largest food fight Wednesday.
Locals boarded up windows and locked their doors as drunk and determined revelers donned goggles to prepare for the arrival of six trucks carrying 130 tons of the edible missiles that give the annual "Tomatina" festival its name.
The red frenzy began in 1944, when Dr. Paco Garces Sanchez and some friends tried to throw tomatoes into the trumpet of a passing musician. The next year they pelted balloons launched for the town fiesta.
"The year after that we decided not to wait for balloons or anything, we all set out with our tomatoes... but the mayor got very angry and called the Civil Guard," Garces told Reuters.
The hour-long pelting session Wednesday turned the town square into a mass of slimy bodies, with some paddling in a waist-high pool of frothy tomatoes.
"It's fantastic, the most fun I have ever had. I've been waiting for this day since January," pulp-smeared Irish tourist Clarissa Hills shouted as tomatoes whizzed past her head.
TOMATO FUNERAL
The festival was banned in 1948 after an unlucky government official arrived in the town 25 miles west of Valencia on Tomatina day and was greeted by a hail of tomatoes. Grieving residents held a symbolic funeral for their festival by burying a giant tomato.
"All Bunol came along, dressed in black. There was a procession with a band at the front playing funeral marches and a band at the back playing paso dobles (a style of dance music)," Garces said.
The mayor eventually relented and agreed to reinstate the festival.
But not all Bunol is happy with a fiesta that costs the town nearly $60,450 and attracts a flood of heavy-drinking outsiders.
Garces said its growing popularity has ruined some of the fun. "Now you can't even throw a tomato, there is no room to aim because people are right on top of each other," he said.
Younger locals also worry about foreigners' techniques.
"People from outside don't know how to throw them; you have to squash them first so they don't hurt when they hit," said Irene Recueroaquila, 18, a student from Bunol.
And some tourists were overwhelmed by the mess.
"This is absolutely disgusting, I wish I had never come. I hate tomatoes," said 23-year-old Australian Joel Gorth.
"I'm never eating a tomato again," said 26-year-old London lawyer Laura Janes, pulling seeds from her hair.
FOOD FIGHT!!
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Martha Stewart Misses Property Tax Payment on Home
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Trendsetter guru Martha Stewart, serving a five-month prison sentence for lying about a suspicious stock sale, is in trouble with tax authorities in Connecticut for missing a property tax payment.
George Underhill, tax collector in Westport, Connecticut, said on Wednesday Stewart had failed to make the quarterly payments on her two properties in the town that were due on Oct. 1, a week before she went to prison.
With interest she now owes almost $10,000.
"I hope someone gets word to her to pay her taxes and get her off the headlines," Underhill said.
Underhill said Stewart, who has made millions from her business empire, would continue to be charged interest at 18 percent annually and if her taxes were not paid by June 2005 then the matter would go to the town foreclosure committee.
Stewart, who turned her mastery of homemaking into a media empire, is due to remain at Alderson prison in West Virginia until March after her conviction for obstructing justice in an investigation of a stock sale in December, 2001.
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Trendsetter guru Martha Stewart, serving a five-month prison sentence for lying about a suspicious stock sale, is in trouble with tax authorities in Connecticut for missing a property tax payment.
George Underhill, tax collector in Westport, Connecticut, said on Wednesday Stewart had failed to make the quarterly payments on her two properties in the town that were due on Oct. 1, a week before she went to prison.
With interest she now owes almost $10,000.
"I hope someone gets word to her to pay her taxes and get her off the headlines," Underhill said.
Underhill said Stewart, who has made millions from her business empire, would continue to be charged interest at 18 percent annually and if her taxes were not paid by June 2005 then the matter would go to the town foreclosure committee.
Stewart, who turned her mastery of homemaking into a media empire, is due to remain at Alderson prison in West Virginia until March after her conviction for obstructing justice in an investigation of a stock sale in December, 2001.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Removal of Manhattan Hawk Nest Angers Bird Lovers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - He was a movie star who resided on Manhattan's tony Upper East Side, drawing a devoted crowd of followers who gathered daily to catch a glimpse of him.
But on Tuesday, that star -- a famous red-tailed hawk known as Pale Male who built his nest above a cornice of an apartment building overlooking Central Park and was the subject of a documentary movie -- was evicted.
The nest where Pale Male and his companions had resided since 1993 was removed along with the metal spikes that provided support for the nest and protected it from the wind.
The action outraged bird lovers, including actress Mary Tyler Moore, who lives in the same building as the hawk.
"I am just amazed at the insensitivity ... of people who have torn away a nest that had been used for 10 years by an extraordinary red-tail hawk," Moore said.
Moore attributed the decision to complaints over "the occasional bird droppings" that the hawks produced.
The building's management company said of the nest removal, "It was a researched and thought-out decision on the part of the building."
Pale Male's unusual decision to take up residence in Manhattan and raise his young 12 stories above the park captivated bird watchers and inspired a book and a documentary film.
On Wednesday, Pale Male and Lola, his female companion, could be seen circling the building and bringing back twigs to try to rebuild the nest, which bird watchers said would be futile without the metal spikes to support it.
E.J. McAdams, executive director of the local Audubon Society, said he contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if there was any violation in removing the nest.
A spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service said it had been contacted by the building about removing the nest.
"Our response to them was that removing a nest, if unoccupied by chicks or eggs, does not require a permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," she said.
Pale Male supporters were organizing a sunset vigil outside the apartment to urge the building to restore the nest.
"Our goal is to get the nest back up," McAdams said.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - He was a movie star who resided on Manhattan's tony Upper East Side, drawing a devoted crowd of followers who gathered daily to catch a glimpse of him.
But on Tuesday, that star -- a famous red-tailed hawk known as Pale Male who built his nest above a cornice of an apartment building overlooking Central Park and was the subject of a documentary movie -- was evicted.
The nest where Pale Male and his companions had resided since 1993 was removed along with the metal spikes that provided support for the nest and protected it from the wind.
The action outraged bird lovers, including actress Mary Tyler Moore, who lives in the same building as the hawk.
"I am just amazed at the insensitivity ... of people who have torn away a nest that had been used for 10 years by an extraordinary red-tail hawk," Moore said.
Moore attributed the decision to complaints over "the occasional bird droppings" that the hawks produced.
The building's management company said of the nest removal, "It was a researched and thought-out decision on the part of the building."
Pale Male's unusual decision to take up residence in Manhattan and raise his young 12 stories above the park captivated bird watchers and inspired a book and a documentary film.
On Wednesday, Pale Male and Lola, his female companion, could be seen circling the building and bringing back twigs to try to rebuild the nest, which bird watchers said would be futile without the metal spikes to support it.
E.J. McAdams, executive director of the local Audubon Society, said he contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if there was any violation in removing the nest.
A spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service said it had been contacted by the building about removing the nest.
"Our response to them was that removing a nest, if unoccupied by chicks or eggs, does not require a permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," she said.
Pale Male supporters were organizing a sunset vigil outside the apartment to urge the building to restore the nest.
"Our goal is to get the nest back up," McAdams said.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Hair Wars, Ham Heist Test Police
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police are investigating two bizarre crime capers: a hair care magnate's alleged plot to rub out his opposition, and the great Christmas ham heist.
Bouffant baron Gabriel Zakhem appeared in court on Thursday to face conspiracy charges over what was described as a ruthless and elaborate series of arson attacks on rival suppliers of hair and beauty products.
Police alleged that the attacks on dozens of warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne stretching back six years had caused damage totaling A$80 million ($61 million).
Prosecutors said Zakhem, 46, had masterminded a campaign of firebombings that caused millions of dollars of damage to hair and beauty products suppliers in the two eastern cities.
Among other charges, police accused Zakhem and a 25-year-old accomplice of paying three men to burn down a Sydney factory and assault its owner last week.
"It's alleged that Zakhem ... organized a number of arson attacks on competitors' businesses," police said in a statement to the court.
Zakhem was denied bail and remanded to appear in court again next week. Police were also called in on Thursday after a brazen butchery break-in in a small town north of Sydney overnight.
They said thieves had stolen 190 hams with an estimated value of A$12,000 and boxes of prime beef cuts worth about A$5,000. "Thieving turkeys steal Christmas hams," a police statement said.
The thieves drove their ill-gotten gammon away in a refrigerated van they also stole from the warehouse.
Police said they suspected the thieves would attempt to sell their purloined pork products at local pubs, where "meat raffles" are popular fund-raisers.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police are investigating two bizarre crime capers: a hair care magnate's alleged plot to rub out his opposition, and the great Christmas ham heist.
Bouffant baron Gabriel Zakhem appeared in court on Thursday to face conspiracy charges over what was described as a ruthless and elaborate series of arson attacks on rival suppliers of hair and beauty products.
Police alleged that the attacks on dozens of warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne stretching back six years had caused damage totaling A$80 million ($61 million).
Prosecutors said Zakhem, 46, had masterminded a campaign of firebombings that caused millions of dollars of damage to hair and beauty products suppliers in the two eastern cities.
Among other charges, police accused Zakhem and a 25-year-old accomplice of paying three men to burn down a Sydney factory and assault its owner last week.
"It's alleged that Zakhem ... organized a number of arson attacks on competitors' businesses," police said in a statement to the court.
Zakhem was denied bail and remanded to appear in court again next week. Police were also called in on Thursday after a brazen butchery break-in in a small town north of Sydney overnight.
They said thieves had stolen 190 hams with an estimated value of A$12,000 and boxes of prime beef cuts worth about A$5,000. "Thieving turkeys steal Christmas hams," a police statement said.
The thieves drove their ill-gotten gammon away in a refrigerated van they also stole from the warehouse.
Police said they suspected the thieves would attempt to sell their purloined pork products at local pubs, where "meat raffles" are popular fund-raisers.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Verona Wants Juliet Fans to Send Digital Love Notes
MILAN (Reuters) - Scribbled love notes cover the walls around the tiny marble balcony where the mythical Juliet is said to have pined for Romeo, but Verona wants amorous visitors to go digital in the interest of preservation.
Authorities in Verona, the northern Italian city home to literature's most famous star-crossed lovers, say thousands of notes, often little more than scrawled notes on candy wrappers stuck with gum, are destroying the 13th century house.
"It is time to clean the building, because people aren't just writing on the walls of entrance arch, they are sticking notes on the walls with gum," said Francesca Tamellini, responsible for tourism at the Verona city council.
"It has become really ugly."
Verona plans instead to ask visitors to use their mobile phones, sending text messages to a giant screen.
"It seemed the best solution to us, and it will appeal to young people, who are the first to want to send their messages," Tamellini said, adding the screen could be ready by next summer.
Juliet's house, in reality a former inn, is traditionally held to have been the home of the Capulets, her powerful family. Acquired by the council a century ago, it was officially designated "the house of Juliet" in 1935.
William Shakespeare, whose 16th century play celebrated the two young lovers, probably never visited Verona, but starry-eyed visitors are not discouraged.
Tourists flock by the thousands to see the courtyard, the balcony under which Romeo allegedly proclaimed his love and a languid statue of Juliet, said to bring luck to the lovelorn.
Many of them, keen to leave their mark, scrawl something on scraps of paper or on the wall itself, for posterity.
"I would like to teach you, not to love me, my love, but to tell me you do," writes Chiara Cabassi, whose letter was one of those awarded a prize by the Giulietta Club, a local association which collects the missives. The club says the tradition dates from 1937, when the first letter addressed to "Juliet, Verona" was found by the custodian of her tomb.
"Certainly there is a problem -- it was okay when people were just writing on the walls, but then it was chewing gum, papers stuck on and you can't even seen the walls," said Giulio Tamassia, who heads the Giulietta Club.
"But text messages seem a little strange. It doesn't seem appropriate to have them flashing up on a screen -- most importantly, how can you reply to them all?"
MILAN (Reuters) - Scribbled love notes cover the walls around the tiny marble balcony where the mythical Juliet is said to have pined for Romeo, but Verona wants amorous visitors to go digital in the interest of preservation.
Authorities in Verona, the northern Italian city home to literature's most famous star-crossed lovers, say thousands of notes, often little more than scrawled notes on candy wrappers stuck with gum, are destroying the 13th century house.
"It is time to clean the building, because people aren't just writing on the walls of entrance arch, they are sticking notes on the walls with gum," said Francesca Tamellini, responsible for tourism at the Verona city council.
"It has become really ugly."
Verona plans instead to ask visitors to use their mobile phones, sending text messages to a giant screen.
"It seemed the best solution to us, and it will appeal to young people, who are the first to want to send their messages," Tamellini said, adding the screen could be ready by next summer.
Juliet's house, in reality a former inn, is traditionally held to have been the home of the Capulets, her powerful family. Acquired by the council a century ago, it was officially designated "the house of Juliet" in 1935.
William Shakespeare, whose 16th century play celebrated the two young lovers, probably never visited Verona, but starry-eyed visitors are not discouraged.
Tourists flock by the thousands to see the courtyard, the balcony under which Romeo allegedly proclaimed his love and a languid statue of Juliet, said to bring luck to the lovelorn.
Many of them, keen to leave their mark, scrawl something on scraps of paper or on the wall itself, for posterity.
"I would like to teach you, not to love me, my love, but to tell me you do," writes Chiara Cabassi, whose letter was one of those awarded a prize by the Giulietta Club, a local association which collects the missives. The club says the tradition dates from 1937, when the first letter addressed to "Juliet, Verona" was found by the custodian of her tomb.
"Certainly there is a problem -- it was okay when people were just writing on the walls, but then it was chewing gum, papers stuck on and you can't even seen the walls," said Giulio Tamassia, who heads the Giulietta Club.
"But text messages seem a little strange. It doesn't seem appropriate to have them flashing up on a screen -- most importantly, how can you reply to them all?"
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Concussions Kept Tintin Forever Young -- Study
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Comic book hero Tintin never aged during his 50-year career because the repeated blows he took to the head triggered a growth hormone deficiency, according to an analysis in the Christmas edition of a Canadian medical journal.
Claude Cyr, a professor of medicine at Quebec's Sherbrooke University, said a study of the 23 hugely popular Tintin books showed the intrepid Belgian reporter suffered 50 significant losses of consciousness during his many adventures.
"We hypothesize that Tintin has growth hormone deficiency and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (a disorder of the pituitary gland) from repeated trauma. This could explain his delayed statural growth, delayed onset of puberty and lack of libido," Cyr wrote.
His article was in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which has a tradition of publishing studies into the ailments of fictional characters in its Christmas edition.
Tintin was created by Belgium's Georges Remi under the pen name Herge. The teenage character first appeared in 1929 and despite the passing of almost five decades was as fresh-faced as ever in the pages of the last book to feature him, which appeared in 1976.
Cyr, who wrote the study with the help of his two young sons, noted that Tintin had been knocked out 43 times by serious blows to the head.
"We identified the cause of the trauma, the length of loss of consciousness (calculated by the number of cartoon frames before Tintin returns to normal activity) and the apparent severity of the trauma (indicated by the number of objects e.g., stars, candles revolving above Tintin's head)," he said.
Among the main reasons for Tintin's injuries were blows from a club, bullet wounds, explosions, car accidents, chloroform poisoning and falls.
"Unfortunately, no brain imaging was performed," Cyr lamented.
Tintin traveled all over the world with his white terrier Snowy as he battled foes as varied as drug dealers, Incan priests, slave traders and the Abominable Snowman. The books have been translated into 60 languages and have sold 200 million copies.
In 2000 the Canadian Medical Association Journal caused something of an uproar by revealing that Winnie the Pooh's continuous search for honey was caused by obsessive compulsive disorder, Piglet needed anti-panic medication, while Eeyore was massively depressed.
Another study surmised that Beatrix Potter's ever energetic Squirrel Nutkin character was in fact autistic.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Comic book hero Tintin never aged during his 50-year career because the repeated blows he took to the head triggered a growth hormone deficiency, according to an analysis in the Christmas edition of a Canadian medical journal.
Claude Cyr, a professor of medicine at Quebec's Sherbrooke University, said a study of the 23 hugely popular Tintin books showed the intrepid Belgian reporter suffered 50 significant losses of consciousness during his many adventures.
"We hypothesize that Tintin has growth hormone deficiency and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (a disorder of the pituitary gland) from repeated trauma. This could explain his delayed statural growth, delayed onset of puberty and lack of libido," Cyr wrote.
His article was in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which has a tradition of publishing studies into the ailments of fictional characters in its Christmas edition.
Tintin was created by Belgium's Georges Remi under the pen name Herge. The teenage character first appeared in 1929 and despite the passing of almost five decades was as fresh-faced as ever in the pages of the last book to feature him, which appeared in 1976.
Cyr, who wrote the study with the help of his two young sons, noted that Tintin had been knocked out 43 times by serious blows to the head.
"We identified the cause of the trauma, the length of loss of consciousness (calculated by the number of cartoon frames before Tintin returns to normal activity) and the apparent severity of the trauma (indicated by the number of objects e.g., stars, candles revolving above Tintin's head)," he said.
Among the main reasons for Tintin's injuries were blows from a club, bullet wounds, explosions, car accidents, chloroform poisoning and falls.
"Unfortunately, no brain imaging was performed," Cyr lamented.
Tintin traveled all over the world with his white terrier Snowy as he battled foes as varied as drug dealers, Incan priests, slave traders and the Abominable Snowman. The books have been translated into 60 languages and have sold 200 million copies.
In 2000 the Canadian Medical Association Journal caused something of an uproar by revealing that Winnie the Pooh's continuous search for honey was caused by obsessive compulsive disorder, Piglet needed anti-panic medication, while Eeyore was massively depressed.
Another study surmised that Beatrix Potter's ever energetic Squirrel Nutkin character was in fact autistic.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Nike Apologizes for Kung Fu Footwear Ad
BEIJING (Reuters) - Nike has apologized for a footwear ad featuring an attack on a kung fu master which was banned by China, saying it only intended to emulate the Hong Kong martial arts movie heroes of the 1970s.
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Monday ordered stations nationwide to stop broadcasts of Nike's "LeBron James in Chamber of Fear" ads that it said had sparked anger and claims of offending "national feelings."
In the advertisement, James, 19, a forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, makes easy work of animated enemies including a white-haired kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese garb and the pair of dragons as he ascends the video game-like levels of the "Chamber."
"Nike expresses a deep apology to Chinese consumers for their concerns about LeBron James in the 'Chamber of Fear' advertisements," Nike said in a statement received by Reuters Thursday.
"The idea of the advertisement came from Hong Kong's Kung fu movies of the 1970s. Nike hoped it could encourage Asia youth to face their fears in basketball."
The television administration had said the advertisement aroused "strong public indignation" by violating rules that stipulated "all ads broadcast on television should protect national dignity and interests and respect the motherland's traditional culture."
Nike ads featuring James and resembling graffiti last month provoked controversy and protests in ultra-tidy Singapore.
About 50 people wrote to complain that the city's usually immaculate bus stops had suffered acts of vandalism after 700 of the posters went up, media said.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Nike has apologized for a footwear ad featuring an attack on a kung fu master which was banned by China, saying it only intended to emulate the Hong Kong martial arts movie heroes of the 1970s.
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Monday ordered stations nationwide to stop broadcasts of Nike's "LeBron James in Chamber of Fear" ads that it said had sparked anger and claims of offending "national feelings."
In the advertisement, James, 19, a forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, makes easy work of animated enemies including a white-haired kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese garb and the pair of dragons as he ascends the video game-like levels of the "Chamber."
"Nike expresses a deep apology to Chinese consumers for their concerns about LeBron James in the 'Chamber of Fear' advertisements," Nike said in a statement received by Reuters Thursday.
"The idea of the advertisement came from Hong Kong's Kung fu movies of the 1970s. Nike hoped it could encourage Asia youth to face their fears in basketball."
The television administration had said the advertisement aroused "strong public indignation" by violating rules that stipulated "all ads broadcast on television should protect national dignity and interests and respect the motherland's traditional culture."
Nike ads featuring James and resembling graffiti last month provoked controversy and protests in ultra-tidy Singapore.
About 50 people wrote to complain that the city's usually immaculate bus stops had suffered acts of vandalism after 700 of the posters went up, media said.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Santa Brings Christmas Pot to Schoolkids
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Santa Claus brought an unusual gift for some Rio schoolchildren this holiday season -- a bag of marijuana.
Police in the Brazilian capital said two teenagers were spotted selling Santa dolls at the entrance of a municipal school next to a slum not far from the city center.
The dolls opened up like Easter eggs, each containing sweets and a small plastic bag of marijuana.
The suspects abandoned 24 dolls and ran away into the slum when police came to arrest them.
Rio's teeming slums are notorious for the drugs trade. Drug gangs often use young children as foot soldiers and pushers.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Santa Claus brought an unusual gift for some Rio schoolchildren this holiday season -- a bag of marijuana.
Police in the Brazilian capital said two teenagers were spotted selling Santa dolls at the entrance of a municipal school next to a slum not far from the city center.
The dolls opened up like Easter eggs, each containing sweets and a small plastic bag of marijuana.
The suspects abandoned 24 dolls and ran away into the slum when police came to arrest them.
Rio's teeming slums are notorious for the drugs trade. Drug gangs often use young children as foot soldiers and pushers.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Kitten Survives 275-Mile Ride Next to Car Engine
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German couple was shocked after a 275-mile car journey to discover a surprise stowaway cowering next to the engine of their car -- a 6-week-old kitten.
The meows of the tiny animal only became audible after Elisabeth and Dieter Gesehl had parked their car.
"First of all we called the police as we feared for a moment that we must have run over and seriously injured a cat," the 64-year-old woman from Eggenfelden told Bonn express newspaper.
After checking under the hood, however, they discovered the unharmed kitten. The animal, which the couple have since adopted and named "Pussy," was soon back to normal after a few minutes of petting.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German couple was shocked after a 275-mile car journey to discover a surprise stowaway cowering next to the engine of their car -- a 6-week-old kitten.
The meows of the tiny animal only became audible after Elisabeth and Dieter Gesehl had parked their car.
"First of all we called the police as we feared for a moment that we must have run over and seriously injured a cat," the 64-year-old woman from Eggenfelden told Bonn express newspaper.
After checking under the hood, however, they discovered the unharmed kitten. The animal, which the couple have since adopted and named "Pussy," was soon back to normal after a few minutes of petting.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Furor Over Scrapping of Christmas Play
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian school's substitution of a Nativity play with Little Red Riding Hood so as not to offend Muslim children has raised the Vatican's ire and sparked debate on how much traditions should change to accommodate immigrants.
The episode was the latest in a series in recent weeks which made headlines as overwhelmingly Catholic Italy comes to grips with an ever-growing Muslim population which some see as a blessing for the economy and others as a threat.
Pope John Paul, in a message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Migrants, weighed in indirectly, saying Christians had to respect cultural differences but had to proclaim the gospel and defend traditions.
Last week, a public elementary school in the northern city of Treviso decided that Little Red Riding Hood would be this year's Christmas play instead of the Christmas story.
The teachers said the famous tale was a fitting representation of the struggle between good and evil and would not offend Muslim children. The school's traditional nativity scene was scrapped for the same reason.
In another school near Milan, the word "Jesus" was removed from a Christmas hymn and substituted with the word "virtue." In Vicenza province an annual contest for the best Nativity scene in schools was canceled.
Conservative politicians and Churchmen blasted the moves.
"Are we losing our minds?," said Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli, an outspoken member of the populist Northern League. "Do we want to erase our identity for the love of Allah?"
The Vatican, still smarting from its failure to win a reference to Europe's Christian roots in the continent's new constitution, said Christians should hold their ground.
"It is a perfect example of how not to respect the presence of different people, in this case our Muslim brothers, by annihilating our own identity," said Bishop Agostino Marchetto, head of the Vatican's department for migrants.
"We have to accept others but others have to accept our identity," he told reporters.
The Vatican has been waging a battle to keep Christ in Christmas. Wednesday it harshly criticized a Nativity scene in London which portrayed soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria as Joseph and Mary.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini of Rome went on national television event Wednesday to issued a battle cry over respect for traditional Nativity creches.
"These things can seem small but the spirit behind them is radically wrong and can have very heavy consequences on our young people," he said.
Italy, with a population of 57 million, is home to an estimated one million officially registered Muslims, making Islam the country's second largest religion. But social services groups say the number is much higher and growing.
The controversies have divided Italian Muslims, who are trying to integrate themselves in a Catholic country where they have found jobs.
"Those Christmas plays are like forced indoctrination," said Abdel Smith, one of Italy's most outspoken Muslim leaders, who has launched legal battles to take crucifixes from school walls.
But Hamed Shaari, head of a major Islamic cultural institute in Milan, said it was "senseless" to change the words of a Christmas song that has 2,000 years of tradition behind it.
"It's great that people are aware of our feelings but traditions should be respected. This way, we can respect ours as well," he said.
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian school's substitution of a Nativity play with Little Red Riding Hood so as not to offend Muslim children has raised the Vatican's ire and sparked debate on how much traditions should change to accommodate immigrants.
The episode was the latest in a series in recent weeks which made headlines as overwhelmingly Catholic Italy comes to grips with an ever-growing Muslim population which some see as a blessing for the economy and others as a threat.
Pope John Paul, in a message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Migrants, weighed in indirectly, saying Christians had to respect cultural differences but had to proclaim the gospel and defend traditions.
Last week, a public elementary school in the northern city of Treviso decided that Little Red Riding Hood would be this year's Christmas play instead of the Christmas story.
The teachers said the famous tale was a fitting representation of the struggle between good and evil and would not offend Muslim children. The school's traditional nativity scene was scrapped for the same reason.
In another school near Milan, the word "Jesus" was removed from a Christmas hymn and substituted with the word "virtue." In Vicenza province an annual contest for the best Nativity scene in schools was canceled.
Conservative politicians and Churchmen blasted the moves.
"Are we losing our minds?," said Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli, an outspoken member of the populist Northern League. "Do we want to erase our identity for the love of Allah?"
The Vatican, still smarting from its failure to win a reference to Europe's Christian roots in the continent's new constitution, said Christians should hold their ground.
"It is a perfect example of how not to respect the presence of different people, in this case our Muslim brothers, by annihilating our own identity," said Bishop Agostino Marchetto, head of the Vatican's department for migrants.
"We have to accept others but others have to accept our identity," he told reporters.
The Vatican has been waging a battle to keep Christ in Christmas. Wednesday it harshly criticized a Nativity scene in London which portrayed soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria as Joseph and Mary.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini of Rome went on national television event Wednesday to issued a battle cry over respect for traditional Nativity creches.
"These things can seem small but the spirit behind them is radically wrong and can have very heavy consequences on our young people," he said.
Italy, with a population of 57 million, is home to an estimated one million officially registered Muslims, making Islam the country's second largest religion. But social services groups say the number is much higher and growing.
The controversies have divided Italian Muslims, who are trying to integrate themselves in a Catholic country where they have found jobs.
"Those Christmas plays are like forced indoctrination," said Abdel Smith, one of Italy's most outspoken Muslim leaders, who has launched legal battles to take crucifixes from school walls.
But Hamed Shaari, head of a major Islamic cultural institute in Milan, said it was "senseless" to change the words of a Christmas song that has 2,000 years of tradition behind it.
"It's great that people are aware of our feelings but traditions should be respected. This way, we can respect ours as well," he said.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Man Acquitted of Rape; Says He Was Asleep
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian court has acquitted a man accused of raping a sleeping woman after he said he was also asleep at the time.
The 18-year old woman, who had gone to sleep dressed in trousers and a sweater on a sofa after a party with friends, awoke to find the 34-year-old man having sex with her. The man said he was woken by her screams for help.
"He said that he was asleep and the majority of the judges found that they could not rule out the possibility," defense lawyer Christian Riig told NRK public radio on Thursday.
The three-judge panel in the court in Inderoy, west Norway, acquitted him by a 2-1 margin because of doubts about whether he had been conscious.
Riig declined to speculate about how the man, who had been drinking, could have had sex in his sleep, apparently after undressing the woman. But he said an ex-partner of the man had testified by telephone that similar things had happened to her.
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian court has acquitted a man accused of raping a sleeping woman after he said he was also asleep at the time.
The 18-year old woman, who had gone to sleep dressed in trousers and a sweater on a sofa after a party with friends, awoke to find the 34-year-old man having sex with her. The man said he was woken by her screams for help.
"He said that he was asleep and the majority of the judges found that they could not rule out the possibility," defense lawyer Christian Riig told NRK public radio on Thursday.
The three-judge panel in the court in Inderoy, west Norway, acquitted him by a 2-1 margin because of doubts about whether he had been conscious.
Riig declined to speculate about how the man, who had been drinking, could have had sex in his sleep, apparently after undressing the woman. But he said an ex-partner of the man had testified by telephone that similar things had happened to her.
0 likes
-
rainstorm
tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Man Acquitted of Rape; Says He Was Asleep
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian court has acquitted a man accused of raping a sleeping woman after he said he was also asleep at the time.
The 18-year old woman, who had gone to sleep dressed in trousers and a sweater on a sofa after a party with friends, awoke to find the 34-year-old man having sex with her. The man said he was woken by her screams for help.
"He said that he was asleep and the majority of the judges found that they could not rule out the possibility," defense lawyer Christian Riig told NRK public radio on Thursday.
The three-judge panel in the court in Inderoy, west Norway, acquitted him by a 2-1 margin because of doubts about whether he had been conscious.
Riig declined to speculate about how the man, who had been drinking, could have had sex in his sleep, apparently after undressing the woman. But he said an ex-partner of the man had testified by telephone that similar things had happened to her.
that is ridiculous!! put him in prison
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Martha Stewart Misses Property Tax Payment on Home
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Trendsetter guru Martha Stewart, serving a five-month prison sentence for lying about a suspicious stock sale, is in trouble with tax authorities in Connecticut for missing a property tax payment.
George Underhill, tax collector in Westport, Connecticut, said on Wednesday Stewart had failed to make the quarterly payments on her two properties in the town that were due on Oct. 1, a week before she went to prison.
With interest she now owes almost $10,000.
"I hope someone gets word to her to pay her taxes and get her off the headlines," Underhill said.
BTW TWW, It's great to have you back on these stories.
Underhill said Stewart, who has made millions from her business empire, would continue to be charged interest at 18 percent annually and if her taxes were not paid by June 2005 then the matter would go to the town foreclosure committee.
Stewart, who turned her mastery of homemaking into a media empire, is due to remain at Alderson prison in West Virginia until March after her conviction for obstructing justice in an investigation of a stock sale in December, 2001.
Seems like Martha's having a rough life.
I still can't get over the fact that she smuggled spices owned by the Prison Dept. into her cell to liven up the food that tastes like garbage.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Stray Cat's Gravestone Sells for a Fortune
LONDON (Reuters) - A medieval limestone slab which for years was used as a gravestone for a dead cat called Winkle fetched more than 200,000 pounds ($383,200) at auction on Friday.
The stone has a carved image of St Peter on it and dates from the early 10th century.
It was found in a salvage yard by a British man who took it to his home in Somerset, southwest England, and put it at the bottom of his garden to mark the spot where Winkle was buried.
It was only when the stone was spotted by local potter and historian Chris Brewchorne that its value became apparent.
"I was walking past the house one day and saw it in the front garden and knew immediately I was looking at something special," Brewchorne told Reuters.
"I knocked on the front door, spoke to the owners and told them 'I think you've just won the lottery.'
"At first I thought it was Roman but I noticed the chap's head on the carving was tonsured, which suggested it was Saxon.
"I don't think it's an exaggeration to describe it as the finest mid-Saxon carving in the country."
The carving went under the hammer at auctioneers Sothebys on Friday. They had expected it to fetch between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds but a private collector bought it for 201,600 pounds ($386,300).
The man who found it died last year before it could be sold but the money will go to his widow, a former farmer, who has asked not to be named.
As for Winkle, an adopted stray who, according to Brewchorne "spent most of her life hanging around the local cider mills," she will be getting a new headstone.
"I'll be making one for her," he said.
LONDON (Reuters) - A medieval limestone slab which for years was used as a gravestone for a dead cat called Winkle fetched more than 200,000 pounds ($383,200) at auction on Friday.
The stone has a carved image of St Peter on it and dates from the early 10th century.
It was found in a salvage yard by a British man who took it to his home in Somerset, southwest England, and put it at the bottom of his garden to mark the spot where Winkle was buried.
It was only when the stone was spotted by local potter and historian Chris Brewchorne that its value became apparent.
"I was walking past the house one day and saw it in the front garden and knew immediately I was looking at something special," Brewchorne told Reuters.
"I knocked on the front door, spoke to the owners and told them 'I think you've just won the lottery.'
"At first I thought it was Roman but I noticed the chap's head on the carving was tonsured, which suggested it was Saxon.
"I don't think it's an exaggeration to describe it as the finest mid-Saxon carving in the country."
The carving went under the hammer at auctioneers Sothebys on Friday. They had expected it to fetch between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds but a private collector bought it for 201,600 pounds ($386,300).
The man who found it died last year before it could be sold but the money will go to his widow, a former farmer, who has asked not to be named.
As for Winkle, an adopted stray who, according to Brewchorne "spent most of her life hanging around the local cider mills," she will be getting a new headstone.
"I'll be making one for her," he said.
0 likes
-
AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Lithuania Unearths Liquor Pipeline from Belarus
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanian border guards have unearthed a three-kilometer (2-mile) pipeline for smuggling in moonshine liquor from neighboring Belarus, the guards said on Friday.
The thin plastic pipeline, buried a few centimeters underground, ran under several roads, along a riverbed and ended next to the home of a Lithuanian citizen.
There was no news of any arrests.
It was the fourth such pipeline discovered in the last two years but by far the longest. Moonshine vodka from Belarus is sold on the black market in Lithuania, undercutting prices of legitimate alcohol that have risen sharply since the Baltic nation joined the European Union in May.
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanian border guards have unearthed a three-kilometer (2-mile) pipeline for smuggling in moonshine liquor from neighboring Belarus, the guards said on Friday.
The thin plastic pipeline, buried a few centimeters underground, ran under several roads, along a riverbed and ended next to the home of a Lithuanian citizen.
There was no news of any arrests.
It was the fourth such pipeline discovered in the last two years but by far the longest. Moonshine vodka from Belarus is sold on the black market in Lithuania, undercutting prices of legitimate alcohol that have risen sharply since the Baltic nation joined the European Union in May.
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests