Monday, June 25, 2007
You can Dance if you Want to (Like a Robot)
Pay attention when there is 1 minute left, that is when it gets interesting.
Pay attention when there is 1 minute left, that is when it gets interesting.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Judge Blocks Couple From Naming Their Baby “4Real”
(June 23) - Actress Gwyneth Paltrow named her baby after a fruit, Apple. Comedian Penn Jillette chose Moxie Crimefighter for his spunky daughter. And while unusual names may be a Hollywood staple, some believe it may cross the line in the real world.
One New Zealand judge even blocked one family from using the name it chose. The judge said the name was unfair to the child.
"Initially, the reaction is, 'Are you for real?'" said Pat Wheaton, the New Zealand father who was blocked from naming his son 4Real.
Wheaton said the idea for the name came when the couple saw the first scan of the child.
"We started thinking 'Jeez, he is for real?'" Wheaton said.
But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.
Registrar-General Brian Clarke said the rules are designed to prevent names that are "likely to cause offense to a reasonable person."
Source
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Man’s 1956 Ford Thunderbird Stolen in 1976 - Finally Returned
(June 23) - Imagine Ronald Leung’s surprise. The 59-year-old Northern California car enthusiast and former sheriff’s deputy learned Thursday that a prized 1956 Ford Thunderbird stolen from his mechanic’s shop in 1976 had been recovered by the California Highway Patrol.
“I said, ‘You’re not kidding me,’” Leung, still giddy from the news, told ABC News. “The car’s been gone longer than my son is old. My son’s 30, the car’s been gone for 31 years.”
In fact, Palo Alto police called him on the same exact day—June 21—that the car was swiped in 1976.
Leung has a sharp-thinking California Highway Patrol officer named Christopher Throgmorton to thank for the classic car’s discovery.
A Ventura County woman bought the Thunderbird, now restored and painted blue, on eBay from an Ohio seller.
When trying to register the car, the buyer contacted authorities because the vehicle identification number listed on the car’s title didn’t exist in the California Department of Motor Vehicles registry. Throgmorton, reportedly an ace on these type of recoveries, picked up the detective work from there.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Six Flags Closes Rides After Teens Feet Chopped Off
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 22) - Six Flags and another company shut down eight more thrill rides Friday around the country after a teenage girl had her feet chopped off at the ankle on a Superman Tower of Power.
State inspectors, meanwhile, returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom where the accident happened to examine the ride, which lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph.
It was unclear at what point during the ride the 13-year-old was injured Thursday, said Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman. The girl was taken to a hospital. She was not identified and details of her condition were not immediately available Friday.
Six Flags has shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis, Gurnee, Ill., and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride, Goldberg said.
Source
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Ponytail Robberies
The FBI is searching for a woman in her 20s who they say is responsible for a string of at least three bank robberies that began May 8 in Austin, Texas, and picked up later that month with nearly identical hits in Roseville, California, and Lynnwood, Washington.
"In each of the robberies, this unknown female has worn a baseball cap with her shoulder-length blond hair in a ponytail pulled through the opening in the back of the cap," according to an FBI press release.
The FBI has also characterized the female suspect as having a distinctive, arms-folded stance and a slouch -- both of which can be seen in surveillance footage captured at all three bank locations.
"In each of the robberies, a woman entered the bank, verbally demanded money, and then left the bank on foot," according to the FBI release.
In each instance, a note was handed to the teller demanding money. The female suspect has also donned a cap and a zipup sweatshirt in each robbery.
After the first robbery in Austin, a police spokesman, who said bank robberies were rare in the college town, suspected the woman -- who wore a University of Texas Longhorns hat -- might be responsible.
"In Austin, we're fortunate we don't see a whole lot of bank robberies," said Austin police spokesman Kevin Buchman. "And it does make it even more rare to have a female involved."
But now, FBI officials believe the same woman has moved 2,300 miles into the Pacific Northwest.
While her demands from tellers for cash have all been verbal, the Ponytail Bandit, as the FBI calls her, should be considered armed and dangerous.
Source
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Snakes Smuggled Using Garden Ghomes
SYDNEY, Australia - What's in a gnome? For surprised Australian customs officials, the answer was snakes and lizards.
During a routine check of international mail on June 10, an officer discovered two snakes and three lizards stuffed inside three of the diminutive garden figurines in a shipment from Britain.
"When the package was opened, the officer spotted several snakes moving about. The package was immediately resealed," Australian customs said Tuesday in a statement.
A day later, officials at the same facility X-rayed another package from Britain and found five snakes and five lizards stuffed inside pottery figures and other ornaments.
Both packages had been had been declared as gifts.
Source