'Silent' Xmas song climbs the NZ music charts
By New Zealand correspondent Peter Lewis
An unusual music CD has made it to the big time in New Zealand this Christmas.
It is two decades since Sir Bob Geldof and the Band Aid team first posed the question, "Do they know it's Christmas time at all?"
This year it got New Zealand's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals thinking.
So they recorded a CD single, 'A Very Silent Night', as a fundraiser and a timely reminder for people to share the Christmas spirit with their pets.
But if you happen to catch a snippet of it, do not try to adjust the volume - because you will not hear it.
The song was recorded at very high frequencies so only a dog can hear it, and it struck such a chord with animal lovers that they have pushed it to number three on the singles charts.
ABC 25-12-7
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/25/2127127.htm
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Puppy latches on to urinating man's member
By staff writers
December 14, 2007 07:44pm
A DRUNKEN man urinating through a fence got a nasty surprise when a playful puppy in the adjoining lot latched onto his member.
Kann Veasna took a break from drinking wine at a street stall to relieve himself through a hole in a fence, according to news agency DPA.
However a puppy spotted the Mr Veasna's appendage as it poked through and apparently thinking it was a toy latched on, newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported.
Suffering lacerations Mr Veasna fronted up to a hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment and was forced to tell the embarrassing story of injuries.
"It's undoubtedly sore now, but luckily it should still be useful to him in the future,'' a doctor was quoted as saying by DPA.
Daily Telegraph 14-12-7
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22925782-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss
. . . . . .
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Salzburg shoppers to put husbands in 'creche'
Posted Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:00pm AEDT
Women in the Austrian city of Salzburg will this year again be able to pursue their shopping with abandon over the Christmas period, free from sourpuss boyfriends and husbands.
For the second year in a row, a 'creche' will be set up in the town centre where women can leave their partners for a few hours so that they can hunt down all those last-minute presents, without a bored and whingeing spouse.
In a large white tent set up on Salzburg's central Herbert-von-Karajan square, the men will be able to play computer games, leaf through newspapers or magazines or simply have a drink at the bar with co-suffering "shopping widowers".
From December 13 to 23, women can "surrender" their partners at the tent's entrance free of charge between 4:00pm and 10:00pm (local time).
They are given a numbered ticket which they then have to present on their return to collect their spouse.
Salzburg toymaker Andreas Stadlbauer came up with the idea of a so-called "Maennerhort" or "men's creche" last year.
It proved such a success - with about 1,500 men found refuge there from the shopaholic tendencies of their 'better half' - that he decided to repeat the venture again this year.
Indeed, Mr Stadlbauer has even patented the name "Maennerhort".
And with big-name corporate sponsors, he is planning to set up similar creches in Vienna, Hamburg and Munich.
In Germany, where men have a reputation of being particularly averse to shopping, the creches might even operate all year around, the entrepreneur suggested.
- AFP
ABC 1-12-7
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/30/2106812.htm
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Woman sets fire to ex-husband's penis
Article from: Reuters
From correspondents in Moscow
August 22, 2007 07:01pm
A WOMAN set fire to her ex-husband's penis as he sat naked watching television and drinking vodka, Moscow police said today.
Asked if the man would make a full recovery, a police spokeswoman said it was "difficult to predict".
The attack climaxed three years of acrimonious enforced co-habitation.
The couple divorced three years ago but continued to share a small flat, something common in Russia where property costs are very high.
"It was monstrously painful," the wounded ex-husband told Tvoi Den newspaper.
"I was burning like a torch. I don't know what I did to deserve this."
Daily Telegraph 22-8-7
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22289561-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss
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'Too sexy for my bus', German woman told
July 16, 2007 - 8:54PM
A German bus driver threatened to throw a 20-year-old sales clerk off his bus in the southern town of Lindau because he said she was too sexy.
"Suddenly he stopped the bus," the woman named Debora C told Bild newspaper.
"He opened the door and shouted at me 'Your cleavage is distracting me every time I look into my mirror and I can't concentrate on the traffic. If you don't sit somewhere else, I'm going to have to throw you off the bus.'"
The woman, pictured in Bild wearing her snug-fitting summer outfit with the plunging neckline, said she moved to another seat but was humiliated by the bus driver.
A spokesman for the bus company defended the driver.
"The bus driver is allowed to do that and he did the right thing," the spokesman said.
"A bus driver cannot be distracted because it's a danger to the safety of all the passengers."
© 2007 Reuters
SMH 16-7-7
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Too-sexy-for-my-bus-German-woman-told/2007/07/16/1184559702793.html
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Dolphin voyeurs kill the mood for saucy submariners
Monday Jul 16 14:00 AEST
By ninemsn staff
Some of the world's richest people are reportedly using their private submarines to indulge in deep-sea sex in front of panoramic marine vistas.
But these aquatic trysts are sometimes interrupted by groups of voyeuristic dolphins, which excitedly tap on windows with their beaks.
One of the world's top designers of luxury subs, US Submarines president Bruce Jones, told Bloomberg that dolphins were a problem for the amorous owners of his multi-million dollar vessels.
"Dolphins are easily excited when they sense people making love. They get jealous and bang their noses against the window," Mr Jones said.
The best solution was to block the dolphins out with a set of curtains, he said.
Another top designer, Herve Jaubert of Dubai-based Exomos, told Bloomberg his clients wrestled "with how to conduct a deep-sea love affair in front of an observation window without creating an underwater paparazzi".
Around 100 luxury submarines are believed to be submerged in the world's oceans, but it is not known who owns the majority of these undersea palaces.
Russian billionaire Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has a submarine, as does Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
NMSN 16-7-7
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=278856
. . . . . .
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Exploding a fair few wordy myths
July 9, 2007
AFTER recent comments from Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, debate is raging over whether America and Australia went to war in Iraq because of oil.
This is absurd. Nobody was more surprised to discover that Iraq had oil than the Allies. Goodness, with all that fuel around, it was just as well that those weapons of mass destruction were only prevented from exploding by the fact that they didn't exist. Otherwise, the whole country could have gone up in flames. Oh, wait a minute … Anyway, here are some ideas that should probably be blown up.
Carbon trading. If a tree falls in the forest and no one gets a tax credit, did it really fall? An important philosophical question.
Coles sale. As Coles senior executives and directors prepare to accept their payouts, we should all feel reassured that you don't necessarily have to be marvellously good at your job to become wealthy. A comfort to us all. Well, maybe not Coles staff.
Credit card brand. Something that must look good in bankruptcy court.
Foreign policy. Many say that Australian foreign policy is little more than empty posturing. They could not be more wrong. Most Australian foreign policy is full of it.
Leader. A person who, when faced with daunting challenges, knows exactly what to do. Blame his predecessor.
Minimum wage rises. Something that is appallingly inflationary because workers insist on spending it all. Unlike increases to executive salaries, which are not inflationary because, cleverly, they are so big nobody can spend it all.
Peak oil. The allegation that oil production has reached its peak, and will start to decline. Impossible to confirm, because we are only allowed a peek.
David James is Leadership editor of BRW magazine and author of The Business Devil's Dictionary.
The Age 9-7-7
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/exploding-a-fair-few-wordy-myths/2007/07/08/1183833344246.html
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Charges dropped against woman who pulled faces at police dog
June 8, 2007 - 9:12AM
A US prosecutor dropped charges against a woman who was arrested for staring at and making faces at a police dog.
Jayna Hutchinson was about to go on trial this week on charges of cruelty to a police animal and resisting arrest, but the case was dropped on Tuesday.
"I think it was going to be difficult to prove her conduct changed the dog's behavior," Orange County State's Attorney Will Porter said. "Most of the time (in harassment cases) people would come tell the court what it felt like. Dogs can't do that."
Hutchinson, 33, of Lebanon, New Hampshire, was charged in July when police were called to a market to investigate a report of a brawl.
They were approached by Hutchinson, who said she had been assaulted the day before by one of the men involved and wanted to make a statement. Vermont State Police Sgt Todd Protzman told her she seemed drunk and he would take a statement from her later.
After a heated exchange, she approached Protzman's cruiser, where his dog, Max, was waiting. She put her face within centimetres of the window and stared at Max "in a taunting/harassing manner", Protzman wrote in an affidavit.
Officers arrested Hutchinson, adding a resisting arrest charge because she pulled away from them.
"Prosecuting a woman for 'staring' at a police dog is absurd," said her lawyer, public defender Kelly Green. "People are allowed to make faces at police dogs and officers to express their disapproval. It's constitutional expression."
Without the cruelty charge, jurors would be unlikely to convict her on the resisting arrest count, Porter said.
AP
SMH 8-6-7
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/charges-dropped-against-woman-who-pulled-faces-at-police-dog/2007/06/08/1181089278109.html
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Patient sheds green blood in emergency operation
June 8, 2007 - 10:18AM
Canadian doctors say an emergency operation in Vancouver has turned into a scene from the X-files when the patient started shedding green blood.
But tests show the 42-year-old man isn't a visiting alien, but was suffering from a rare blood condition.
Reporting in The Lancet medical journal doctors say the patient was being operated on for restricted blood flow in his lower legs after falling asleep in a sitting position.
But surgeons were startled by his dark greenish-black blood.
It's apparently been caused by sulphur in the patient's migraine medication being absorbed into his red blood cells.
AAP
SMH 8-6-7
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/patient-sheds-green-blood-in-emergency-operation/2007/06/08/1181089281521.html
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Cop shoots colleague in safety demo
From correspondents in London
The 1st of June, 2007 12:00
Article from: Agence France-Presse
A POLICE marksman accidentally shot a colleague - during a firearms safety lecture, British media reported today.
The wounded man was in a serious but stable condition in a hospital in Oxford, southern England, The Times said.
New control room operators for Thames Valley Police were being given a training lecture on how the force's firearms team operates by one of its officers, the Daily Mail said.
"For some reason, the gun he was using to demonstrate the weapons they use was loaded and as the group was listening intently, a shot rang out and one of them was shot in the stomach from fairly close range,'' a police source told the tabloid.
"There was a lot of blood as a result of the shooting and pandemonium broke out.''
The officer, who said he did not know the gun was loaded, has been suspended from the firearms unit, The Sun said.
"The question uppermost in everyone's mind is why on earth the gun was loaded when it was being used during a demonstration in a classroom,'' a police source told The Times.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate the incident.
Daily Telegraph 1-6-7
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21831378-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss
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Wednesday, the 30th of May 2007. 4:43pm (AEST)
Indian motorists complain about 'elephant toll'
An elephant in eastern India has sparked complaints from motorists who accuse it of blocking traffic and refusing to allow vehicles to pass unless drivers give it food.
The Hindustan Times says the elephant was scouting for food on a highway in the eastern state of Orissa, forcing motorists to roll down their windows and get out of the car.
Local resident Prabodh Mohanty has come across the elephant twice.
"The tusker [an elephant with tusks] then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food," he said.
"If you are carrying vegetables and bananas inside your vehicle, then it will gulp them and allow you to go."
If a commuter does not wind down his or her window, or resists opening the vehicle door, the elephant stands in front of the car until the driver allows the animal to carry out his routine inspection.
- Reuters
ABC 30-5-7
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1938091.htm
. . . . . .
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Pit bull dog owner bites policeman
From correspondents in Lisbon
The 3rd of April 2007 12:00
Article from: Agence France-Presse
THE owner of a pit bull bit a policeman after his dog ran away during a confrontation with officers, daily Diario de Noticias reported today.
Two policemen stopped the dog owner for walking the animal without a leash and a muzzle on Sunday in Cova da Moura – a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Lisbon.
The man threatened the officers with his dog, but the animal bolted leaving the 35-year-old to to grapple with both policemen.
The owner bit one of the policemen on the wrist while the other suffered a broken finger in the scuffles, the newspaper reported.
The owner is under house arrest while police are still looking for the pit bull, according to the daily.
Portuguese authorities are cracking down on what they call "dangerous" dogs after four rottweilers mauled a 60-year-old woman to death last month.
While not necessarily dangerous, pit bulls are sometimes used by gang members to intimidate and in dog fights.
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German man chainsaws house in two in divorce split
Saturday, The 10th of March 2007. 8:29am (AEDT)
A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chainsawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.
Police in the eastern town of Sonneberg say the trained mason measured the single-storey summer house, which was some eight metres long and six metres wide, before chainsawing through the wooden roof and walls.
"The man said he was just taking his due," said a police spokesman.
"But I don't think his wife was too pleased."
After finishing the job, the man picked up his half with the forklift truck and drove to his brother's house where he has since been staying.
- Reuters
ABC 10-3-7
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1868327.htm
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Snorkeler mistaken for rodent gets shot in face
February 12, 2007 - 10:03AM
A snorkeler in the US who was shot in the face after he was apparently mistaken for a swimming rodent is in good condition after surgery, a hospital says.
John William Cheesman, 44, from Oregon, underwent eight hours of surgery on Thursday to remove bullet and bone fragments from his face, said his wife, Shelley Cheesman.
"He's doing really well," Shelley Cheesman said.
"The bullet hit in front of his right ear, where the bone is the most dense. It just fragmented and didn't go into his brain."
William Roderick, 60, has been charged with assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. He was being held in the county jail.
Roderick told deputies he thought Cheesman was a nutria swimming in the Smith River near Reedsport, about 90 miles southwest of Eugene, and shot him with a .22-calibre rifle, police said.
A nutria is a water-dwelling South American rodent species that is larger than a muskrat but smaller than a beaver.
It was introduced to US waters in the 1940s, according the National Wildlife Federation.
Cheesman, an avid diver, was in the river looking at different species of fish, his wife said.
He swam to the river bank and yelled for help.
Roderick and another man came to Cheesman's aid in a boat, called 911 and drove him to an ambulance.
"I do give him credit for helping him," Shelley Cheesman said of Roderick.
AP
SMH 12-2-7
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/man-mistaken-for-rodent/2007/02/12/1171128848431.html?s_cid=rss_smh
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Wash clothes, not body, wacky warning advises
Saturday, the 6th of January 2007. 4:20pm (AEDT)
Wacky warning ... DO NOT put any person in this washer. (Image: M-LAW)
A warning label advising against climbing into a washing machine has won the 10th annual Wacky Warning Label contest.
The contest, run by American lobby group the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, aims to "reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products".
The winning label, on a laundromat washing machine, advises: "Do not put any person in this washer".
Second place went to a motor manufacturer who warned "Never use a lit match to check fuel level."
Other winners included a lotto ticket advising "do not iron", an instruction on a mobile phone saying "Don't try to dry your phone in a microwave oven" and this warning on a Yellow Pages: "Please do not use this directory while operating a moving vehicle".
ABC 6-1-7
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1822437.htm
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