For Dummies

Ya know those "For Dummies" books? Like cooking for dummies, woodworking for dummies, etc? Well, I have for quite some time held the belief that they are putting just way too many books our there. Seriously, what is next - Quantum Physics of Lanyard Making For Dummies? Anyway, Imagine my suprise when upon reading the below article, I thought it just might be time to come out with a special edition of the Dummy books especially for these doctors - entitled (of course) Brain Surgery for Dummies.

The Rhode Island Department of Health fined Rhode Island Hospital $50,000 in November because three doctors so far this year have performed neurosurgery on the wrong side of the patients' brains. (Two patients survived.) [San Francisco Chronicle-AP, 11-27-07]

Grandpa Is Ready For The Home Part 2

In November, a 77-year-old man in Jacksonville, Fla., intending to help his daughter by riding his bicycle to Long Branch Elementary School to pick up her 4-year-old son (his grandson), arrived back home with a kid on the bike but did not realize that he had picked up the wrong boy. Said the picked-up kid's frantic mother, "(The two boys) don't even look alike." [WMTW-TV (Auburn, Me.), 11-8-07]

Contemplating

I am sitting here contemplating the art of complemplation. Interesting huh? Why does one contemplate? Why does one contemplate contemplation? Does contemplating make you more of a comtemplator? Now I am contemplating if there is such a word as "contemplator".

The True Pepsi Challenge

Two employees from the rival companies got into a tiff over shelf space in the aisle of a Wal-Mart in Indiana. The Pepsi worker allegedly assaulted the Coca-Cola employee, hitting him in the face, giving him a black eye and breaking his nose. Police say the two were also accused of trying to run each other over with pallets full of soda bottles.

How To Tell When Grandpa Is Ready For The Retirement Home

In October, Beckley, W.Va., police detained a 61-year-old man whom they found at the King Tut Drive-In on a Saturday afternoon, apparently sober, after he had "driven" his four grandchildren, all around age 4, "on a busy street in a 15-foot motorboat pulled by a lawnmower," according to an Associated Press report. The vehicle was of course unregistered and uninspected, and the children not properly seat-restrained, but the man seemed unaware that he had placed the kids in danger. [Newsday-AP, 10-15-07]

What The World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love

In October, Taiwan's minister of national defense, Lee Tien-yu, instituted a policy of requiring recruits and their squad leaders to hug each other, which he thought would build mutual respect. According to the ritual, each would place his right hand on the other's back and left hand on the other's waist, with the leader saying, "Brother, I will take care of you," and the recruit replying, "Squad leader, I respect you." Not surprisingly, Lee was forced to abandon the policy three weeks later, especially after critical officials kept challenging Lee to hug some of his military officers in the same way (which he declined to do). [Taiwan News, 10-23-07]

What Ever Happened To The Person In The Movie?

I am a fan of movies based on real life (especially crime). I got sick of wondering what ever happened to the people depicted in the movies. So, I decided to post what I could find. If you have a movie title, and you want to learn "what happened next", reply below and I will see what I can do.

The Accused - Jodie Foster - film is based on the real-life gang rape of Cheryl Araujo - Although her identity was shielded during the trial, Araujo subsequently went public and became an activist for women's and victims' rights. Araujo was essentially ostracized in New Bedford, however, and shortly after the trial moved to Miami along with her two daughters and their father -- Araujo's high school sweetheart -- to find anonymity. Araujo had entered school to become a secretary, was making a life for herself and had found some measure of happiness.
On Dec. 14, 1986, she lost control of her car while taking her daughters to a Christmas show and struck a utility pole. The girls were injured, but not seriously. Araujo, however, died in the crash. She was 25 years old.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Requium - both based loosely on Anneliese Michel - Anneliese experienced what is recognized by medical professionals as severe psychiatric disturbances from the age of 16 to her death, at age 23, as a direct or indirect result of an exorcism ritual. Both priests who performed the exorcism and Anneliese's parents were convicted of negligent homicide. The Catholic Church, which had authorized the exorcism, reversed its position and declared Anneliese Michel a case of mental illness. Many people believe she was genuinely possessed by demons, and her grave-site is a destination for pilgrims to this day.

Fire & Rain (used to be shown on USA a lot) - Based on the crash of Delta flight 191 - This accident is one of the few commercial air crashes in which the meteorological phenomenon known as microburst-induced wind shear was a direct contributing factor. - Don Estridge, known to the world as the father of the IBM PC, was killed aboard this flight along with much of the IBM executive team responsible for that project. The loss arguably put IBM at a competitive disadvantage against competitors such as Compaq. Since that accident, IBM's corporate travel policy has prohibited more than two company executives travelling on the same commercial airline flight

Girl Interrupted - Winony Ryder portrays Susanna Kaysen - Some years after leaving McLean, Susanna visits Georgina, who is now married and still quite unconventional. Susanna bumps into Lisa, who has a son and lives in Brookline, outside of a subway station. Georgina is now an emotionally healthy woman. Daisy commits suicide. Polly's whereabouts are unknown.

Goodfellas - Henry's marriage to Karen ended in separation with her getting custody of their children, and Cicero and Conway will practically spend the rest of their lives in prison. Cicero died in 1988. Conway's title card explains that he was eligible for parole in 2004, though in real life he died in prison in 1996.

Heavenly Creatures - Pauline Parker - Upon release, Pauline apparently spent some time in New Zealand under close surveillance before being allowed to leave for England. As of 1997, she was living in the small village of Hoo near Strood, Kent, under the name "Hilary Nathan," and running a children's riding school. She has become a devout Roman Catholic and extremely remorseful about having killed her mother. Juliet Hulme (aka Anne Perry) - After being released from prison, Juliet returned to England and became a flight attendant. For a period she lived in the United States, where she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She later settled in the Scottish village of Portmahomack where she lived with her mother. Her father went on to a distinguished scientific career, heading the British hydrogen bomb programme.
Juliet took the name "Anne Perry", the latter being her step-father's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. Her works generally fall into one of several categories of genre fiction, including historical murder mysteries and detective fiction. Many of them feature a number of recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt, who appeared in her first novel, and amnesiac private inspector William Monk, who first appeared in her 1990 novel The Face of a Stranger. As of 2003 she had published 47 novels, and several collections of short stories. Her story "Heroes", which first appeared the 1999 anthology Murder and Obsession, edited by Otto Penzler, won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Short Story.
Pauline (under another name) still lives in New Zealand. She and Anne are not believed to have had any contact since their trial, as required by the conditions of their release. (NZ Herald). Recently Perry was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.[2]

The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story - 1988 made-for-TV film based on the actual hijacking of TWA Flight 847 as seen through the eyes of Uli Derickson, the chief flight attendant. Derickson herself acted as a consultant for the movie. Derickson was still working as a flight attendant, for Delta Air Lines, when she received a diagnosis of cancer in August 2003. She died on February 18, 2005, at the age of 60.

The Three Faces of Eve - Based on the life of Chris Costner-Sizemore - Costner-Sizemore reports feeling exploited and objectified by the media blitz surrounding the book and film. Upon discovering in 1988 that her legal rights to her own life story had been signed away to 20th Century Fox by Thigpen, Costner-Sizemore went to Manhattan's Federal District Court to contest the contract, and won.

Do You Want Fries With That Ass Kicking?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A troublesome trio of transvestites allegedly laid siege to a Memphis McDonald's restaurant Sunday night, sparking a brawl with the restaurant's crew, according to reports.
Police said they were working on a more detailed description of three men dressed in drag who came into a McDonald's restaurant and started swinging.
Restaurant employee Martez Brisco was working the drive-through window when he reportedly got into an argument with the suspects. When Brisco ignored them tapping at the window, they came in.
"They come to the window, 'Tap, tap, tap.' I'm still ignoring them," Brisco told WMC-TV. "I guess that just pissed them off worser."
Click here to read the WMC-TV.com report.
The transvestites allegedly struck the manager with a tire iron, and when he swung back, the drag queens took off their stiletto boots, removed their earrings and prepared to attack. The manager, Albert Bolton, was covered with scratch marks after suspects clawed him with their fingernails.
Bolton grabbed a pot of scalding french-fry grease and hurled it at his attackers. One of the cross-dressers then smacked Bolton with a wet floor sign, sending him to the hospital in an ambulance, WMC-TV reported.
Before driving off, the three attackers smashed the drive-through window.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EWWW

The decription of these gross things reminds me of Dots candy (which I will now never eat again in my lifetime)

In September, wildlife experts tried to assure the public that the jellylike blobs ("millions of tiny organisms known as zooids," wrote The Dallas Morning News) attached to trees and dock pilings along Grapevine Lake between Dallas and Fort Worth were harmless. [Dallas Morning News, 9-12-07]

Scandal Effectiveness

It seems that every week, that there is a new headline about corporate corruption or child pornography. However, this highly efficient executive decided to cover both areas at once!

Hawaiian Airlines is suing Mesa Air Group on a business matter and believes Mesa's chief financial officer, Peter Murnane, has, or had, documents relevant to the lawsuit on his office computer but that, recently, conveniently, the documents had been deleted. Mesa acknowledged in a September court filing that Murnane had indeed recently erased a huge number of files from his office computer, but said he was merely deleting his massive collection of pornography. [Honolulu Advertiser, 9-26-07]

Talk About Lovers Leap!

Police in Bakersfield, Calif., came to the aid of a man and a woman at the bottom of the Panorama Bluffs near town and told reporters later that the man had attempted to toss his girlfriend over the cliff but that she grabbed him, and the pair tumbled down 300 feet together (and that he was hurt worse than she).

I Love Irony

I absolutely ADORE Irony. Those little "gotcha" moments really make your brain sit up and think about life, and it's interworkings. Sometimes the amount of ironic occurances in my life make me just sit back and wonder if life is a big cosmic practical joke. I found myself contemplating irony and it's wonderous depths inside our government after I saw this posting on News of the Werd. Read on:

In October, following 18 months' investigation, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission concluded that the state government requires too many reports (a total of more than 1,600). The commission issued its findings in a 668-page report. [Houston Chronicle-AP, 10-29-07]

Now Hiring Minions . . . . Apply Within

Have you ever been so fustrated with life in general that you just want to run around screaming at the top of your lungs to everybody that has pissed you off? Maybe I am truely certifiable, but when people piss me off I tend to put on a nice smile and just try to ignore the fact I am pissed. The down side of this is that if too many people piss you off in one chunk of time, your brain has no choice but to start leaking the pent up frustrations in the forms of dirtly looks, under the breath obsenities and general grumpiness.

However - I have come up with a solution to all of MY problems.

I hereby declare myself master of the universe. Anybody who pisses me off, frustrates me, or annoys me will be paid a visit by one of my trusty minions to have your lips either super glued shut or sewn closed.

If you object, you will just annoy me further.

I Can't Quite Decide . . . . Is This Good Luck Or Bad Luck?

Violet Constance Jessop (2 October 1887 – 5 May 1971) was an ocean liner stewardess. Working for the White Star Line, Violet Jessop was on board when the RMS Olympic collided with HMS Hawke; on board the RMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg and sank killing more than 1,500 people; and, during World War I, she was serving as a nurse on board HMHS Britannic when it was sunk by a naval mine, killing 30 people. The coincidence on being on all three Olympic-class vessels when each suffered a serious hull breach has made Violet Jessop's story a popular anecdote among Titanic enthusiasts.

Um. . . . This Is Just Confusing

Shoe designer Marc Jacobs recently crossed a frontier in fashion by introducing women's high-heeled shoes with the "heel" in the front. Wrote London's Daily Mail: "A chunky, 4-inch heel nestles horizontally just under the ball of the foot. Where you'd expect a heel, there is nothing but fresh air." Models of the shoe are priced in the $500 to $700 range. [Daily Mail (London), 9-7-07]

This Would Not Work In Wisconsin

In another victory for Hindu sensibility, the government cracked down on the rustling of "sacred" cattle in August by issuing ID cards with photos of individual cows, to help guards at the Bangladesh border halt the illegal trade. [BBC News, 8-30-07]

Matchmaking for Small Towns - Why Not Do This Here In The US

Spaniard Manuel Gozalo organizes bus trips of women from Madrid to isolated rural villages, which most of the native females have long since abandoned for cities, leaving lonely single men. His "caravanas de amor" (caravans of love) have made 32 day-trips since 1995, promising the ladies some fun and dancing (and possible romance) and the men perhaps a last chance at finding a companion (and Gozalo told London's Independent in July that his caravans have produced at least 40 marriages). [The Independent, 7-31-07]

Women Who Swear To Be Men

In the northern Albanian countryside, about 40 women still practice an ancient tradition as "sworn virgins," who are young females who renounce sex forever in exchange for being treated as men, according to an August Washington Post interview of Elvira Dones, an Albanian native who recently completed a documentary on the subject. The oath is usually taken in front of a town's elders, and the likeliest candidates come from homes in need of a male head of household (because of death or abandonment). Even in such a male-dominated society, according to Dones, men seem to accept the "sworn virgins" as equals. [Washington Post, 8-11-07

Stupid People Tick Me Off

Stupid people tick me off. Even worse are stupid people who think that they are smart. My tick off list currently stands at the below. I reserve the right to add to it as people continue to show their stupidity.
1. George W Bush
2. Jesse Ventura
3. Anybody with the last name of Bush.
4. Anybody who thinks people in Northern MN are open minded.
5. The guy in the gray Toyota who cut me off this morning.
6. Anybody who works at Comcast.
7. Anybody who works at Xcell.
8. My downstairs neighbors.
9. My ex's entire family.
10. Anybody who pisses me off.

Freaky Fetishes Part II

Fetishes on Parade: A 50-year-old man was detained by police in August after complaints at Disneyland near Paris. Witnesses said the man had sprinkled itching powder on young children so that he could video-record them scratching themselves. [Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)-AAP, 8-8-07]

And in September, Norman Hutchins, 56, was again jailed after incidents at England's Bradford Royal Infirmary, where he faked an illness to gain entrance so that he could steal equipment for his sexual gratification. Police records showed Hutchins as obsessed since 1970, with oxygen masks, gowns and syringes, among other items. [The Northern Echo (Darlington, England), 9-4-07]

A Teacher And A Student Love Story - Yeah Right!

Not Our Fault: Dennis and Betty Hager filed a lawsuit in Wilmington, N.C., in July against the school system for causing them emotional pain and suffering by not stopping the love affair between their 16-year-old daughter and the school's married, 40-year-old track coach. However, the Hagers have already signed a form (to satisfy state law) to allow the daughter to marry the coach. [WNYW-TV (New York City)-AP, 7-11-07]

How Do I Get In On This?

Helene de Gier filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the National Postcode Lottery of the Netherlands, claiming emotional distress from not winning, even though she never entered. That particular lottery picks a geographic postal code at random and awards prizes to all of its residents who have entered that lottery. Since so many of her neighbors were flaunting prizes, she felt particularly humiliated, she says. (Seven people on her street won the equivalent of about $18 million each, according to a June Associated Press dispatch.) [International Herald Tribune-AP, 6- 20-07]

I Hear The Theme From X Files

Stephen Peterson, 42, went back to court in Sydney, Australia, in August to challenge the "not guilty/insanity" decision against him nearly 10 years ago, claiming that he should have been allowed to call as defense witnesses certain "higher beings" who had ordered him to bash the victim. Those entities included the "sun god," Spacedust, and the "plasma being," Kadec. The court turned him down. [Fairfax Media (Auckland, New Zealand), 8-20-07]

British physician Stuart Brown, 37, was sentenced in August only to a small fine after a conviction for brutally beating his wife. Brown had explained the fight by saying that a "red mist" had descended on the room, causing him to lose control. [Daily Mail (London), 8-22-07]

Not Wondering Why He Is Single . . .

Ralph Whittington, 57, retired in 2000 as curator of the main reading room at the Library of Congress, but was better known as the "King of Porn" for his private collection that he recently sold (500 boxes' worth) to the Museum of Sex in New York City.
Whittington's home (which he shares with his mother, after his wife left him) was, before the sale, "packed to the rafters," said the Museum's buyer to The Washington Post in August. "Downstairs, you had to walk sideways to get through the rooms." Said Mom, "It's something he loves. You see men his age going to bars or on dope. But he [was] home day and night [indexing and cross-referencing]. That [gave] me peace of mind." [Washington Post, 8-24-07]

Tough Assed Minnesota Seniors

Too Puny for a Life of Crime: Keith Bellanger, 20, failed in his attempted burglary in Duluth, Minn., in September when homeowner Wayne Boniface, age 69, walked in and beat him up so thoroughly that Bellanger had all his clothes ripped off trying to get away. [Duluth News Tribune, 9-8-07]

We All Need Fiber

Just when Internet newspaper sites appear to be gaining ground as replacements for printed editions, a 70-year-old woman identified only as Maggie told the Edmonton (Alberta) Sun in September that her paper edition of the Sun is a crucial part of her daily diet, literally. She eats it, in strips, and has, she said, for the past seven years because it tastes good. "I can't explain it," she said, and it was only when she recently experienced a blockage of her esophagus, and doctors found a ball of paper, that she revealed her obsession. Doctors cited by the Sun said that except for the blockage danger, newspaper eating is not unhealthful. [Edmonton Sun, 9-5-07]

Calling Reverand Freako!

People Who Are Messes: Tommy Tester, 58, minister of Gospel Baptist Church in Bristol, Va., was arrested in July after he allegedly urinated at a car wash, in front of children and police officers, while wearing a skirt. (Police said alcohol was involved.) [Bristol Herald Courier, 7-31-07]

Trading 19 Cents for $999,798 - Only Our Government

Bookkeepers Wanted: Pentagon investigators discovered in August that a small South Carolina company fraudulently collected $20.5 million in shipping costs, including one invoice of $999,798 for sending two washers (cost: 19 cents each) to a base in Texas. According to Bloomberg News, the Defense Department was said to have a policy of automatically and unquestioningly paying shipping bills labeled "priority." [Bloomberg News, 8-16-07]

Jolly Greeen Mouse Head worth $100 Dollars

LEHI, Utah - An Arkansas company is offering $100 to a Utah woman who found a severed mouse head in a can of green beans if she pledges not to take legal action.
The letter from Allens Inc. of Siloam Springs, Ark., describes it as a "gesture of goodwill." Marianne Watson isn't interested.
"I won't sign it under any circumstances," she said. Watson, 49, said she never wanted to take legal action.
She said she wants to "put enough media attention on them that they either withdraw those cans or do something other than what they're trying to do, which is shut me up."
Watson was cooking lunch for two sons Sunday when she said she found a severed mouse head in a can of Allens Cut Green Beans, which had been purchased at a Wal-Mart store in American Fork.
Allens spokesman James Phillips said the mouse probably was picked up during the harvest and did not originate in the canning factory. He called it an isolated incident.
"We apologize as much as we can, but we also do everything known from a technology standpoint and personnel standpoint to prevent it from happening," he said. "But inevitably, occasionally, things like this occur."
Watson said she may have the mouse remnants and green beans tested. She has refused to return them to the company.
"I was thankful I had a little soup earlier because I couldn't eat after seeing that," she said.

Jolly Greet Giant Snake Head

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa family filed a lawsuit seeking damages over a snake head they claim to have found in a can of green beans.
Amy and Michael Schneider and their four children are suing Lakeside Foods of Manitowoc, Wis., and Supervalu Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn.
Supervalu is the parent company of the Cub Foods store where the can of green beans was bought in Iowa City.
Amy Schneider said she found the head when she opened the can of green beans on March 24, 2006. It was about the size of a golf ball, she said.
"It was ... yuck, it was really yuck," she said. "It was gross."
She said Lakeside Foods offered her some coupons when she complained.
"And of course it was for their brand, and I thought, `I'm never going to buy that product again,"' she said. "I won't ever eat a green bean again, probably."
The entire family experienced mental anguish, according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Johnson County District Court.
Lee Ann Jorgenson, a spokeswoman for Cub Foods, and Jim Ferguson, vice president for customer service for Lakeside Foods, both declined comment.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-09-21-07 1243EDT

What's Up With Wayne Part II

Compliments of News of the Weird:

Arrested recently for murder and awaiting trial: Earl Wayne Reynolds (Spotsylvania County, Va., August); Donald Wayne Booth (Austin, Texas, August); Dustin Wayne Nall (Arlington, Texas, August); Christopher Wayne Hudson (Melbourne, Australia, June); Earl Wayne Flowers (Taylorsville, N.C., April); Randall Wayne Mays (Payne Springs, Texas, May). Suspected by police of murder but still on the loose at press time: David Wayne French (Portland, Ore., May). Convicted of murder: Randy Wayne Seal (Florahome, Fla., May). Sentenced for murder: Patrick Wayne Schroeder (Pawnee City, Neb., August).

Let's Be Patriotic - And Procreate!

From the Star Tribune:

If the streets of Ulyanovsk are quiet today, it's because residents are busy doing their patriotic duty: helping stem Russia's plummeting birthrate. Couples in the Volga River city have been given time off from work to, well, procreate. Prizes await those who give birth in exactly nine months.

I saw this on TV too - apparently, they are giving away SUVs, Houses, Vacations, etc!

Excessive Mooing?

In Washington County, Minn., in June, the sheriff cited farmer Karyl Hylle for having a cow guilty of "excessive mooing.") [East Valley Tribune, 7-3-07] [CanWest News Service, 8-22-07] [KARE-TV (Minneapolis), 8-29-07]

A More Efficient Reincarnation Process!

The government of China, which claims control of Tibet despite the region's vigorous culture of independence, announced in August that it would henceforth require Tibet's "living Buddhas" (special clergy believed to be continuously reincarnated) to get permission from China's religious affairs officials before submitting their souls to be embodied in the future. The government acted, it said, because the reincarnation process needed to be managed better. [Agence France-Presse, 8-3-07]

The Old Ballgame . . . . With "Stricter Than The Pentagon" Rules

Army officer Bryan Hilferty, a volunteer Little League umpire in Alexandria, Va., complained to The Washington Post in July that when he requested a copy of the League rulebook (to help him be a better umpire), he was turned down. Hilferty, who has access to classified information in his job at the Pentagon, was told that the Little League restricts its rulebooks, on a "need to know" basis, so as not to invite litigation, and that Hilferty did not qualify. [Washington Post, 7-29-07]

Police: Mom Fed Daughter Applesauce Spiked With Prozac

Mom Tells Police Girl Couldn't Sleep

GREENWOOD, Ind. -- A Greenwood mother told police that she gave her 12-year-old daughter applesauce spiked with Prozac for about six months even though she knew the girl shouldn't take the drug without a prescription.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said Karen S. Walsh, 51, admitted giving the girl the drug when she was questioned on Wednesday.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Walsh told officers that the child had trouble sleeping and that she decided to administer the drug from her own prescription beginning in April 2007.
Police said the Department of Child Services notified them of the situation and that Walsh stopped giving her daughter Prozac earlier this month after DCS told her to stop.
Police said that Walsh was aware that Prozac can cause other medical conditions, such as an increase in suicidal thoughts, and should only be used with doctor's supervision.
Walsh told officers, "I knew the doctor would tell me to stop," when asked why she didn't seek medical care for the girl, according to the probable cause affidavit. "I was just trying to help her sleep and I guess I should not have done it."
Police said Walsh told them she gave her daughter about 5 mg of the drug every night and sometimes woke her up to make her eat the applesauce spiked with the drug.
Walsh was charged with neglect of a dependent, a Class D felony, after police contacted three physicians, each of whom told them that giving the child Prozac endangered her.

Oxymoron Or Just Plain Morons?

Some environmental groups continue to slight the environment when establishing exhibits to increase environmental awareness. The town council of Stoke-on-Trent, England, approved plans in July for a 21-foot-tall metal-sculpted tree to highlight the virtues of its public nature park, but first, 20 real trees would have to be cleared away, and then, to prevent injuries in the darkness, 38 powerful lights would illuminate the structure. [Daily Telegraph (London), 7-30-07]

What Is With These Fetish Freaks!?

I really do not understand the irresistable draw that some fetish sufferers have to the objects of their desire. I mean really . . . SERIOUSLY . . . . who DOES this??? In answer to that question, News of the Weird (gotta love them) published this handy dandy list for me. Read on fellow questioners of freakdom!

Prolific Fetishists:
Maeyasu Kawamura, 60, indicted in Osaka, Japan, in June (8,000 stolen pieces of women's clothing)
Shigeo Kodama, 54, arrested in Hiroshima in February (3,977 panties, 355 bras)
a 27-year-old man, accused by police in Waukesha, Wis., in May (1,500 pairs of teenage girls' shoes)
Chih Hsien Wu, 43, charged in Fort Collins, Colo., in May (1,300 undergarments belonging to Colorado State University women)
Garth Flaherty, 24, charged in Pullman, Wash., in March (1,500 women's undergarments, weighing 93 pounds)
Kevin Parrett, 51, sentenced in Faulkton, S.D., in May (800 women's undergarments)
Dan Trompke, 37, sentenced in Kearney, Neb., in August (more than 500 women's undergarments).

Kawamura: [Reuters, 6-1-07] Kodama: [Sydney Morning Herald-Reuters, 3-14-07] Waukesha: [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5-29-07] Wu: [Fox News-AP, 5-23-07] Flaherty: [KIMA-TV (Yakima, Wash.)-AP, 3-26-07] Parrett: [Rapid City Journal-AP, 5-31-07] Trompke: [Lincoln Journal Star-AP, 8-20-07]

Politics and Religion Don't Mix

In August, Buena Park, Calif., Baptist pastor Wiley Drake acknowledged asking his congregation to pray for the deaths of two leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State because they had been calling for an IRS investigation of Drake for endorsing a presidential candidate (former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee). Said Drake: "The Bible says that if anybody attacks God's people ... children will become orphans and wives will become widows." [Los Angeles Times, 8-16-07]

REALLY Big Meanies!

Inexplicable: Annual "crying sumo" events are held in several Japanese cities every year (the most recent in Tokyo in April), featuring sumo wrestlers holding specially dressed toddlers out in front of them and coaxing them to cry, with the first bawler declared the winner. [CNN, 4-29-07]

I Wonder If They Would Accept Cat Hair?

The 14 branches of the Tari Bunia Bank in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu act as traditional banks (checking accounts, loans, mortgages), but also accommodate local tribesmen by accepting tusks, woven mats, shells, giant rocks and other items for deposit into individual accounts at traditional bartered rates. An additional benefit of taking in the items, according to a July BBC News dispatch, is that bank robberies are rare, thanks to the "spirits and snakes" guarding the artifacts. [BBC News, 4-7-07]

Small Towns

This was shared by a friend of mine about her Grandparents very small town in Iowa. Makes you wonder about the generation gap here:

So last summer a family of Mexicans moved across from my grandparents. The whole town freaked out. They had meetings about it! They had to find a way to make them leave. So they started dumping garbage bags on their cars in the middle of the night. No one was to talk to them. They just messed with their stuff till they left town. I tryed to tell my Gramdma and pa that you cant run people out of town like that anymore. They told me they sure can.

Now, mind you this is the same friend of mine that when she visits this small town, her activities while there (like rollerblading) make the newspaper.

New Definition of a Two 'Fer

From the Star Tribune:

Two Wisconsin men driving same truck at same time cited for DWI

ABBOTSFORD, Wis. — Two Dorchester men driving one truck at the same time were cited for drunken driving in the Abbotsford area about 170 miles northwest of Madison.
Harvey J. Miller, 43, who has no legs, steered the 1985 Chevrolet truck while Edwin H. Marzinske, 55, operated the brake and gas pedals, according to a report from the Colby/Abbotsford police.
Miller, who was sitting in the driver's seat, admitted he'd had too much to drink but argued that he wasn't really operating the truck since he had no legs to push the pedals, the report said. He received a citation for a third drunken driving offense.
Marzinske was cited for a second drunken driving offense.
Both men also were cited for driving after their licenses had been revoked.
A third man in the truck, also drunk, walked himself home after the Aug. 18 traffic stop, police said.

Another World's Dumbest . . . .

Also from News of the Wierd:

Least Competent Criminals: In May, Damion Mosher, 18, of Lake Luzerne, N.Y., became the most recent person to injure himself by needing to find out if putting a bullet into a vise and hitting it with a screwdriver would cause it to fire. (It would; he was slightly wounded.) [Post Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.), 5-14-07]

Freak Alert!

From News of the Weird:

Kyle Krichbaum, 12, of Adrian, Mich., has had an obsession with vacuum cleaners since infancy, when he was mesmerized by the whirring, said his mother, and for years, he says, he has enjoyed vacuuming so much that he does the house up to five times a day, with one of the 165 new and used vacuum cleaners in his collection. Said a former teacher, "It's not that he didn't like recess. He just preferred to stay inside vacuuming." Older sister Michelle, interviewed for a July CBS News profile of Kyle, spoke for all of us: "He's constantly vacuuming. I'm just like 'why, why, why, why, why, why?' I don't understand." [WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), 7-27-07]

Big Mac Museum - I am SO there!

I laughed so hard when I saw this. In an earlier post, I pontificated on the weirdness of various monuments, stautes, etc. What I obviously overlooked was the weird-ass museums that are out there. Case in point - a museum dedicated to the Big Mac. Now my skinny ass loves big macs - and I make no apologies for it. However, the idea of a museum to the greassy coagulation of flavors intrigued me. Wonder if Travelocity offers a vacation package there?

Some history on the Big Mac:
The Big Mac was first introduced in 1967 by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchise owner in Uniontown, Pa. A year later, it became a staple of McDonald's menus nationwide.
To celebrate the burger's anniversary, Delligatti, 89, and his family opened a Big Mac Museum Restaurant this week in North Huntingdon, Pa., full of memorabilia, celebratory exhibits and "the world's largest Big Mac statue."

For those who wonder what is really in a Big Mac (you are losers) but here it is:
Indeed, the sandwich has become a veritable pop culture phenomenon, spawning everything from an impossible-to-forget jingle ("Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun," anyone?) to a currency-evaluation index created by The Economist.

Wait . . . this famous person is missing what body part?

I saw the following headline on CNN and did a double take:
Missing body parts of famous people

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3303374926991482348

Click on the above link and learn who is missing what.

Study of a politicians brain reveals . . . . not much there. Literally.

From News of the Weird:
Latest in Brain Science: French neurologists writing recently in the journal The Lancet described their surprise in finding, via brain scans, that a normally functioning 44-year-old man had a brain "more than 50 percent to 75 percent" smaller than average, consisting of little more than a thin sheet of brain material surrounding a large fluid buildup. (The man is employed as a French government bureaucrat.) [New Scientist, 7-20-07]

1970's era military on acid?

Project Jedi is an alleged project undertaken by the United States military in the late 1970s to create a super soldier that would possess superior strength, intelligence, cunning, and intuition by utilizing neuro-linguistic programming techniques. It is thought to have been conducted at Fort Bragg under the United States Army Special Operations Command. It is not specifically known when the program began and/or if it has ended.

Entering Heaven Alive?

I am a fan of wikipedia - I must admit to that right now. I love looking at random articles, and often find myself sucked into following links on pages. However, I ran across this and just stopped. I mean STOPPED. I have never heard of this religious concept, and thought it very thought provoking:

The concept of humans directly entering heaven without dying is a feature of multiple religions and mythic traditions, including the three main Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Since death is generally considered the normal end to an individual's life on earth, entering heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of God's special recognition of the individual's piety.

Ok - you enter heaven without dying. Then what? You come back, tell people about it and get locked in a loony bin for life? Or do you sit in silence knowing the answers to some of the great questions of life after death? Seriously - are there no better options?

Tourniquet anybody?

Also from News of the Weird - and I would imagine soon to be seen on world's dumbest criminals:

A burglar was killed trying to sneak into the Maranatha Used Clothing store in Miami on May 31; police said the man had crawled between the blades of a large, idle ventilation fan but that before getting all the way through, he accidentally tripped the "on" switch.

Leave it to a Monk not to get Pissed

From News of the Weird:

A toddler broke from his mother's supervision in May at the Rhime Buddhist Center in Kansas City, Mo., and accidentally trampled the meticulously created colored-sand picture that eight monks had to that point spent two days creating, but the monks impressively responded with patience. "No problem," said one, from India's Geshe Lobsang Sumdup monastery. We have three days more (before the show closes). So we will have to work harder."

Love Bug Or Just An Annoying Insect?

I am a victim of the "love bug". I am pleased to report that I am a willing sufferer of this malody currently - and would never want to get rid of my current assailant. Unfortunately, when I have been bitten before - raging "side effects" always seemed to follow. Which led me to wonder something very basic - how can you tell when somebody you love will turn out to be a utter asshole? When they become said asshole, can you write that relationship off as just love - not LOVE?

Unless you have been a victim of a horrendous marriage like I have I don't think one can understand quite accurately the plight this puts you in. You beloved (who you have sworn to love honor and trust) uses you as a punching bag, chokes you into unconsiousness, and otherwise makes your life a living hell. Then he cheats on you (with your best friend and number one sympathizer none the less), and leaves you pregnant and alone. So, I can understand how you can fall OUT of love with a person like that. However, I still can't figure out how men like this keep finding women to fall in love with them. My ex abuser/husband is happily married, and by all accounts a loving husband (like I believe that for a second).

The "love of my life" as I like to call him and I are living a happy existence "shacking up" and loving it. My daughter and him get along great, and I have never been happier in my life. Even so, I can't help but wonder - what makes certain men (present company DEFINATELY not included) abusers and what makes others (present company DEFINATELY included) wonderful, loving individuals?

Maybe it is too much riboflavin.

A monument to What!?

I love monuments - especially odd ones. My hometown has Smokey the Bear and a Giant Thermometer. Blackduck has (you guessed it) a big black duck. Bemidji has Paul Bunyun, and I won't even get started on the number of fish monuments that there are in this country. One would expect that war heroes, town celebrities, or politicians of yore get monuments. However, this one really stumped me. I mean what is the reasoning behind this anyway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Arnold-boot.jpg

That's right folks - if you clicked on the link, you are looking at a Monument to Benedict Arnold's injured foot at Saratoga National Historical Park.

Now, any war hereo's injured foot is one thing -- but come on - a traitor?!

Why am I hearing the theme song from Deliverence?

I understand that in ye olde times, people got married young. In other cultures, they sometimes still get married young - very young. However, here in the good ole' US of A one would think that unless you scrape your knuckles when walking - you won't marry your kids off before they are old enough to hit puberty. One can always hope - because apparently in Arkansas, people of ANY age can get married with a partent's approval.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293636,00.html

Pencils, Paper, Ruler, Cavlar . . . wait a minute!

I understand that school shootings are becoming more prevelant. If you listen to one of my media hating friends, he would say that they are not happening more, but the media is just reporting on them more. I don't think so! Just to prove that this country is fricking nuts, check out these companies that wants to provide cavlar vests to all students! Anything to make a buck off of people's fear I guess. . .

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/BacktoSchool/story?id=3488420&page=1

What's up with Wayne?

I saw this on news of the weird (want to give them proper credit here), and it struck me that the three name killer phenomonon is really strange (to say the least). Anyway, here is the link and a preview. There is a "Wayne" list at the end, with state's included.

http://www.newsoftheweird.com/wayne.html

It only occurred to me in the early 1990s that "Wayne" was a popular middle name among a few of the most heinous murderers of our time, e.g., the clown John Wayne Gacy (who killed almost three dozen boys and young men in the late 1970s and buried most of them beneath the floorboards of his Des Plaines, Ill., home) and Elmer Wayne Henley (sentenced to six consecutive life terms in 1974 in Houston for his role, with ringleader Dean Allen Corll, in the murders of 27 young men). I began to publish periodic lists in 1996, and soon readers made sure I never missed a one that made the news.

Life can be hard sometimes

You know life - in whatever form (work, home, family, social) can be hard sometimes. Rather than get down on life as I am prone to do, I have decided to start writing out some rants, raves, and opinions on it. I will also post interesting, funny or just plan ridiculous stuff on here. Hopefully, this will cut down on my number of forwards to people!

So, grab a Mike's hard berry and enjoy!