Yahoo! Odd News

[The Duke]

Been reading alot of these odd news stories lately; here's another one, my 4th in 2 days, for your reading pleasure:

Man punches 'rude' drive-thru clerk Fri Jun 29, 10:04 PM ET



PENN HILLS, Pa. - A man who thought the clerk at a fast-food drive-through was rude for not saying "please" and "thank you" punched her in the face, police said. Duane L. Williams, angered by what he felt was the clerk's rudeness, walked into the store to complain just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, Penn Hills police Chief Howard Burton said Friday.

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Before the manager could meet with Williams, he walked back outside, pushed open the drive-through window and punched the 19-year-old woman in the face. The clerk was bruised, but not badly hurt, Burton said.

"He didn't like the girl's attitude because she didn't say 'please' and 'thank you,'" Burton said.

The store manager ran outside to get Williams' license plate number and called police.

Williams, 46, told police he had "anger-management issues" when he turned himself in later that night, Burton said.

"He was unable to tell the officer why he did that. He said he remembered opening the drive-through window, but could not remember if he punched the victim or not," Burton said. "I guess he just had a bad day."

Nobody answered the phone listed at the address police supplied for Williams and it was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.

Police filed charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment Thursday, which were mailed to Williams with a summons to appear in court, Burton said.

[The Duke]

City suburb puts a bounty on flies 2 hours, 58 minutes ago



BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese city suburb has set a bounty on dead flies in a bid to promote public hygiene, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

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Xigong, a district of Luoyang in the central province of Henan, paid out more than 1,000 yuan (65 pounds) for about 2,000 dead flies on July 1, the day it launched the scheme with the aim of encouraging cleanliness in residential areas.

"I and colleagues believe it is the best way to push residents to do more for their living environment," Hu Guisheng, the office chief, was quoted as saying.

The payment scheme is the first of its kind in Luoyang, a city of 1.55 million people which is striving to earn the title of "state-level hygienic city".

But critics have questioned the benefits of paying 0.5 yuan per insect turned in, a scheme which has sparked an on-line debate.

An Internet user said that although the office had good intentions, the action itself had made the district a laughing stock.

"The key point is the government should encourage residents to clean up the environment so that no flies can live there, instead of spending money on dead flies," the Internet user wrote.

China has a history of using unorthodox means to eradicate pests. When Mao Zedong launched the "Four Pests" campaign during the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s, citizens were ordered to kill flies, mosquitoes, rats and sparrows.

Pest control efforts included banging pots and pans to scare sparrows into flight and have them eventually drop to earth dead from exhaustion.

[The Duke]

Remember your home phone number? Forget it! Fri Jul 13, 11:54 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters) - Can't remember life before mobiles? Chances are you'll also struggle to recall your home phone number and family birthdays.

According to a survey released Friday, the boom in mobiles and portable devices that store reams of personal information has created a generation incapable of memorizing simple things.

A quarter of those polled said they couldn't remember their landline number, while two-thirds couldn't recall the birthdays of more than three friends or family members.

The tech-savvy young fared worse than older people. The under-30s could remember fewer birthdays and numbers than the over-50s, according to the survey.

Two-thirds said they relied on their phone or electronic organizer to remember key dates.

"People have more to remember these days and they are relying on technology more for their memory," said Ian Robertson, professor of psychology at Trinity College, Dublin.

Researchers polled 3,000 people over the last two weeks in the survey for Puzzler Brain Trainer magazine.

[The Duke]

Larvae take up residence on man's head Tue Jul 17, 11:35 PM ET



CARBONDALE, Colo. - Doctors thought the strange, bleeding bumps on Aaron Dallas' head might be from gnat bites or shingles. Then the bumps started moving.

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A doctor found five active bot fly larvae living beneath the skin atop Dallas' head.

"I'd put my hand back there and feel them moving. I thought it was blood coursing through my head," Dallas told the (Glenwood Springs) Post Independent.

"I could hear them. I actually thought I was going crazy."

Dallas said he likely received the larval infestation while on a trip to Belize this summer. Bot fly infections are not uncommon in parts of Central and South America.

Adult bot flies are hairy and look like bees, without bristles. The larvae, which are about one-third the size of a penny, were living in a pit 2- to 3- millimeters wide. They were removed Thursday.

"It was weird and traumatic," said Dallas, of Carbondale. "I would get this pain that would drop me to my knees."

After a specialist told him he might have shingles, Dallas tried different creams and salves. But the pain only got worse.

"When I saw him again, it was pretty obvious something else was going on," said Dr. Kimball Spence, who could see the spots moving on Dallas' head. "There's an open pit. You see a little activity, not necessarily the larvae, but a fluctuation of the fluid in the pit."

Dallas' wife, Midge Dallas, teased him about it.

"I told him, 'I will love you through your maggots,'" she told the newspaper.

But Dallas saw little to laugh about.

"It's much funnier to everyone else," he said. "It makes my stomach turn over. It was cruel."

[The Duke]

I've heard it all:

Family searches feces of cash-eating dog Thu Jul 19, 10:11 PM ET



MENOMONIE, Wis. - Debbie Hulleman's dog Pepper has been known to gnaw on lipstick, munch on shampoo bottles and chew on toothpaste. But Pepper got Hulleman into a real mess after gobbling nearly $750.

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"This is probably the worst," Hulleman said Thursday, recalling how she poked through vomit and dog piles left in the yard to recover the cash.

Hulleman had asked her mother in Oakdale, Minn., to take care of Pepper and Zach, the family's other dog last month while she and husband went on vacation.

Pepper, an 8-year-old black Labrador-German shorthair, got into a purse belonging to her mother's friend and chewed the cash from an envelope.

Hulleman's mother recovered some of the money that Pepper spit out, thinking she had it all. But when Hulleman returned from the trip and went to clean up her dogs' mess outside, she noticed a $50 bill hanging from one pile.

The chore of sorting through dog feces netted about $400, the 50-year-old dog lover said. Between that and other bills that Pepper had either vomited or simply chewed on, the family recovered $647.

"We have a $100 bill that can't be recovered because you need three-fourths of a bill and it is only half of a bill," Hulleman said.

The family swapped the soiled money for fresh currency at a bank.

"It wasn't that bad. I soaked it and strained it and rinsed it. I just kept rinsing it and rinsing it. I had rubber gloves on of course," Hulleman said.

"Everyone said, 'I can't believe you did that.' Well, for $400, yeah, I would do that," she said.

[The Duke]

Burglars done in by doughnuts 39 minutes ago



ROSEBURG, Ore. - When two guys in cowboy garb offered the sheriff's deputies doughnuts, and then the deputies investigated a burglary involving doughnuts and the prints of cowboy boots, it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to crack the case.

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"The officers kind of put two and two together," Deputy District Attorney Dave Hopkins said Tuesday at the sentencing of Adam Hancock, 21, of Baker City on theft and burglary charges.

Sheriff's deputies reported they found Hancock and his cousin, Vincent Whitely, 19, in Roseburg on Jan. 11, and the pair offered the officers doughnuts, which they declined.

Shortly afterward, the officers investigated a burglary at a store from which cigarettes, candy, chewing gum and the telltale doughnuts were missing. And there were boot prints.

His attorney said Hancock had mental disabilities and was "easily led." Hancock told the judge he'd been drinking whiskey before the burglary and vowed to make restitution of $895. He got two 10-day jail terms with credit for time served.

Whitley pleaded guilty to the same charges last month and got the same sentence.

[The Duke]

From the "what the fuck" file:

Group seeks volunteers to get malaria 23 minutes ago



SEATTLE - The Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will pay volunteers as much as $4,000 to be bitten by mosquitoes infected with malaria. Scientists say no lives are in danger because the volunteers can be cured. The institute is testing which vaccines work fastest.

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The head of the program, Dr. Patrick Duffy, says volunteers will spend several nights under medical supervision in a hotel.

All of the human trials will be reviewed for safety by the Food and Drug Administration.

___

[muthagoose]

"Dr. Patrick Duffy"...

Hhahahahahaaaaaaa...

I go to Dr. Frank Stallone, M.D.

[The Duke]

I prefer Dr. Steve Guttenberg and Dr. Larry Wilcox.

[The Duke]

Deer urine prank makes students ill 28 minutes ago



CHURCH HILL, Tenn. - Investigators are searching for whomever poured deer urine into an air conditioning unit at a school in eastern Tennessee. About a dozen students became ill after the prank at Volunteer High School in Church Hill.

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Firefighters were sent to the school Monday after the odor became overpowering in one classroom, and paramedics treated students who complained of headache and nausea.

Church Hill Police Chief Mark Johnson says the stunt could result in a vandalism charge.

Deer urine is sold by the bottle to be used to attract the animals for hunting.

[The Duke]

Sample the beer before you buy it Tue Mar 11, 7:33 AM ET



OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington lawmakers have approved a pilot program that will allow beer and wine tasting in 30 grocery stores statewide in an effort to market local products.

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The measure now heads to the governor, after passing the Senate 29-17 on Monday. It earlier passed the House.

The one-year program, strongly supported by the state's microbrewery and wine industries, allows shoppers to sample as much as 4 ounces of beer or wine. Supporters say it allows small wineries or breweries with no marketing budget to get their products out to the public.

But opponents contend the program sets a bad example by exposing children to alcohol consumption.

[MASON]

Getting back to the deer urine...this only begs the question, How do you get the deer urine into a bottle to sell? There's only one REAL way to get that...

[Chick-O-Stick]

mason said:

Getting back to the deer urine...this only begs the question, How do you get the deer urine into a bottle to sell? There's only one REAL way to get that...

I think they use a synthetic urine Mase.

[muthagoose]

Mason likes his urine straight from the source.

This post sponsored by:

[MASON]

If it ain't "Au Natural" then go home!

[muthagoose]

[The Duke]

Now this is disturbing:

Pregnant man says bearing child a "human" desire 35 minutes ago



CHICAGO (Reuters) - A transgender man who kept his female reproductive organs despite his transformation is now five months pregnant and will appear on Oprah Winfrey's television show, the talk show said on Tuesday.

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"I'm a person and I have the right to have my own biological child," Thomas Beatie, of Bend, Oregon, said in excerpts from the show, which airs on Thursday.

Sceptics questioned whether the story was an April Fool's hoax, but the Chicago-based talk show said Winfrey interviewed Beatie, his wife Nancy and their obstetrician along with friends of the couple. Beatie also did an interview with People magazine.

Beatie and his wife Nancy recount how she was unable to conceive because of a prior hysterectomy, according to the excerpts.

"If Nancy could get pregnant, I wouldn't be doing this," Beatie said.

The Hawaii-born Beatie, 34, related his struggles with various doctors along with family and friends in a letter published last week by The Advocate, a magazine for gays.

He had chest reconstruction surgery and began taking testosterone, wrote Beatie, who was formerly Tracy Lagondino.

Upon deciding to have a child, he halted bimonthly hormone injections and resumed menstruating, then artificially inseminated himself with anonymous donor sperm from a sperm bank. A first attempt failed.

"When my brother found out about my loss, he said, 'It's a good thing that happened. Who knows what kind of monster it would have been,'" Beatie recalled.

A second attempt was successful, and he expects to deliver a girl around July 3.

"Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire," Beatie wrote.

[The Duke]

Here's a helluva job:

Wanted: drinker to join Dad in pub Thu Apr 3, 6:40 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters) - "Wanted: Person to accompany elderly gentleman to the pub" -- and the lucky winner will even get paid for sharing a friendly pint of beer.

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Mike Hammond put the advertisement in his village post office so his widowed 88-year-old father Jack could have someone to chat to on twice-weekly visits to a southern England pub from a local nursing home.

"It's got to be the best job in the world," Mike Hammond said as he sifted through a list of likely candidates who will be paid 7 pounds an hour plus expenses.

The successful applicant must not be a woman, a teenager or "somebody who is just going to get wrecked. Dad is not a heavy drinker," Mike Hammond told the Times.

His father likes women, he said, but it would be a little bit awkward going out to the pub with a lady he didn't know.

(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Jon Boyle)

[The Duke]

The ignorance of some people never ceases to amaze me. Read this story about a medical office that subpoenaed a 1 year old baby:

Baby subpoenaed for unpaid chiropractor bill Thu May 15, 6:53 PM ET



HARRISONBURG, Va. - A Harrisonburg court has dismissed a case against a baby boy summoned to appear in court for an unpaid bill. Richard White said he was shocked when he got a subpoena in the mail requiring his 1-year-old son, Jacy, to appear in Rockingham County General District Court next Tuesday over a $391 chiropractor bill.

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Neither of Jacy's parents was named in the lawsuit, which has been dismissed at the request of the plaintiff.

Shortly after his son's birth in April 2007, White says he took Jacy to the chiropractor. He suspects that when the family moved, the office updated records for everyone but Jacy.

White says his insurance didn't cover the $391 and only recently billed him — about the same time the residents of his former home forwarded the subpoena.

[The Duke]

There is a first time for everything:

Woman sues Victoria's Secret claiming thong injury Fri Jun 20, 8:26 AM ET



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A woman who says she was hurt by her thong panties when a metal clip flew off and hit her in the eye has sued Victoria's Secret, saying in a TV interview on Thursday that the injury caused her "excruciating pain."

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Macrida Patterson, a 52-year-old Los Angeles traffic officer, told NBC's "Today" show that she suffered cuts to her cornea from the small piece of metal that had been used to secure a rhinestone heart onto the blue thong.

"I was putting on my underwear from Victoria's Secret and the metal popped in my eye. It happened really quickly. I was in excruciating pain. I screamed. That's what happened," Patterson told NBC.

Patterson's lawyer Jason Buccat, who also appeared on the "Today" show, said the metal staple causes "severe damage" to her cornea that required a topical steroid.

The product liability lawsuit, which was filed on June 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court and first reported on the Smoking Gun Web site, seeks unspecified damages.

A spokeswoman for Victoria's Secret, which is operated by Limited Brands Inc, could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb)

[muthagoose]

Now that is quite a story!

[The Duke]

Man out-spits father, claims pit-spitting title Sun Jul 6, 2:44 PM ET



EAU CLAIRE, Mich. - Brian "Young Gun" Krause has out-spit his father to claim his seventh championship at the International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship.

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Krause's winning spit on Saturday was 56 feet, 7 1/2 inches.

That's 6 1/2 inches better than his father, the second-place finisher and defending champion, 54-year-old Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause of Tuba City, Ariz., who spit 56 feet, 1 inch.

Thirty-year-old Brian Krause, of Dimondale, currently holds the Guinness World Record after spitting a pit 93 feet, 6 1/2 inches in 2003.

Amanda Jennings of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the first woman to place in the top three, did not qualify for championship competition but retained her title as women's champion with a spit of 43 feet, 11 inches.

___

On the Net:

Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm: www.treemendus-fruit.com/

[The Duke]

It pays to go in a public toilet Mon Jul 7, 1:31 PM ET



NEW DELHI (Reuters) - It pays to use a toilet in southern India, as residents are earning close to a dollar a month by using public urinals, a scheme launched by authorities to promote hygiene and research in rural areas.



Dozens of people are queuing up to use toilets in Musiri, a remote town in Tamil Nadu state, where authorities have succeeded in keeping street corners clean with the new scheme, The Times of India newspaper said on Sunday.

"In fact, many of us started using toilets for urination only after the ecosan (ecological sanitation) toilets were constructed in the area," said S. Rajasekaran, a truck cleaner.

The urine was also being collected and tested for its efficacy as a crop fertilizer, an official of the state's agricultural university added.

People relieving themselves in the open is a common sight in India's rural towns and villages, as basic sanitation still eludes millions.

(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Jerry Norton)

[The Duke]

Naked man arrested after hijacking Las Vegas bus Wed Jul 9, 10:48 AM ET



LAS VEGAS - Maybe he lost his shirt at a casino. Police in Las Vegas say they arrested a naked man who stole a beer and then hijacked a bus several miles northeast of the Strip.



A police spokesman says the man fled from a convenience store when an officer arrived to investigate a report of a shoplifter Tuesday.

The man allegedly punched in a back window of a Citizens Area Transit bus, climbed aboard, forced the driver off, drove the bus about 200 yards and then jumped off the moving vehicle.

A police officer climbed aboard the bus and stopped the vehicle.

Police say the man was arrested on felony charges and given clothes and a mental evaluation.

[muthagoose]

This man is know on the street as...

THE NAKED JACKER!