From: Travis
From: Chuck Shepherd
Date: Sun, Oct 12, 2008
Subject: News of the Weird, October 12, 2008
WEIRDNUZ.M079 (News of the Weird, October 12, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* The world's most extensive array of animal "rights" took effect in
Switzerland in September. Dog owners must take, at their own
expense, classes in pet care (and anglers must take a class in
humane treatment of fish). Animals listed as "social" (including
goldfish, hamsters, sheep, goats, yaks) must be kept with or near
another of their species. Goldfish must have some "privacy," e.g.,
no completely-transparent tanks, and can only be killed humanely
(never flushed alive). Even mud-loving pigs are entitled to
showers. Yet, Swiss animal rights activists complained that the
country still permits trading in cat fur (supposedly a pain-reliever
for rheumatism), and that some new protections (for example, for
rhinoceroses) are still inadequate. [Agence France-Presse, 9-1-08;
The Times (London), 4-26-08]
Better Sex Lives Than Yours
* In August two British couples were given sanctions by local
councils because their loud, long sex sessions disturbed neighbors.
Steve and Caroline Cartwright were issued a noise abatement order
by the Sunderland City Council (Caroline: "I do admit I scream and
make lots of noise"), and Kerry Norris was fined by the Brighton
and Hove City Council for violating a previous sex-noise order
with her boyfriend Adam Hinton (A neighbor said their headboard
bangs against the wall until 6 a.m.). (Also in August, a neighbor of
a swingers' party house in Des Moines, Wash., told a Seattle Times
reporter than cries of ecstasy from the house sometimes sound "like
a raccoon dying.") [Evening Chronicle (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 8-
29-08] [Daily Telegraph, 8-8-08] [Seattle Times, 8-14-08]
* Also, Some Animals Have Good Sex Lives: Officers responding
to a neighbor's report of domestic violence in a subdivision near
Payson, Ariz., in September decided that the "fight" the neighbor
heard was the high-pitched mating scream of a male elk. And an
August police search near Linz, Germany, was called off after the
"bloodcurdling" screams reported as a woman in distress were
actually the mating cries of a badger. And officials at the Bristol
Zoo in England promised neighbors they would temporarily house
gibbons inside during the night because of their loud mating duets.
[Arizona Republic-AP, 9-16-08] [Daily Telegraph (London), 8-5-
08] [Daily Telegraph (London), 8-24-08]
Family Values
* Wealthy advertising executive Robert Schwartz died in 1997 and
left a sizable estate, including a special "Party Trust" for his
relatives but with one condition: They must all celebrate
Schwartz's birthday every August for at least 10 years at a posh
party in Naples, Fla., with all expenses paid, and people missing
two straight, or two in five years, would forfeit their inheritances.
The Naples Daily News reported in September that each adult
relative would receive up to $2,500 per party attended, and a final
Party Trust accounting is now in the hands of a judge. [Naples
Daily News, 8-30-08]
* David Norris never knew his father, who left home when Norris
was five months old. Now 22, Norris is serving a minimum-12-
year sentence for killing a man after an earlier rape conviction and
is housed in Peterhead prison, which is the primary lockup for
Scotland's sex criminals. Soon after arrival, according to a Scottish
Daily Record report, Norris ran into David Gilles, 39, serving life
for the kidnaping and sexual torture of a young woman, and
realized that Gilles is his dad. [Scottish Daily Record, 8-26-08]
* Michelle Cossey pleaded guilty to one count of child
endangerment in September in Norristown, Pa., admitting that she
had bought her son Dillon, 14, a rifle and gunpowder (which
prosecutors say Dillon was planning to use in a Columbine-style
attack on former classmates at Plymouth Whitemarsh High
School). Michelle said she had no idea of his plans but only
wanted to help boost Dillon's "self-esteem," since he is severely
overweight and had left school after the seventh-grade because of
bullying. [Charlotte Observer-AP, 9-23-08]
Bright Ideas
* Wendy Brown, 33, was charged with identity theft in Green Bay,
Wis., in September after she enrolled at Ashwaubenon High
School pretending to be her 15-year-old daughter (who actually
lives in Nevada). Though Brown has a "history" of identify-theft
issues (according to a school official who spoke with Brown's
mother), one motive in this case was to fulfill a long-time dream of
becoming a cheerleader, and she had been attending practices and
had made the squad, according to school officials, even though
some people had noticed that she looked a little older than the
other girls. [Wisconsin State Journal-AP, 9-12-08]
* Entrepreneurs: (1) Sarah Lavely opened Sarah's Smash Shack in
downtown San Diego, Calif., this summer, inviting people who are
angry at someone or something to slam ceramic plates, vases, and
glass pieces (such as framed photographs of an ex-) against walls
in special rooms (15 minutes, 15 plates, $45). (2) Australian Wool
Innovation recently introduced, for the Japanese executives'
market, a washable business suit that can be cleaned in an ordinary
shower and will dry overnight, virtually wrinkle-free (and, in a
pinch, can even be worn in the shower). [San Diego Union-
Tribune, 9-3-08] [news.com.au-Australian Associated Press, 9-22-
08]
The Classic Middle Name (all new!)
* Arrested recently, and awaiting trial for murder: Nathaniel
Wayne Lee, Attalla, Ala. (September); Michael Wayne Wood Sr.
(arrested in Michigan in August as a fugitive from a 2005
Oklahoma murder warrant); Jeffrey Wayne Riebe, Myrtle Beach,
S.C. (August); Barry Wayne Kaalund, Durham, N.C. (August);
Joseph Wayne Keeler, Largo, Fla. (August). Captured after
escaping while serving time for murder: Marlow Wayne Reynolds,
Rosharon, Tex. (September). Fugitive warrant issued: suspected
murderer Larry Wayne Brucke Jr., Lenoir, N.C. (September).
Lee: [WSB-TV (Atlanta)-AP, 9-9-08]
Wood: [Grand Junction Free Press (Grand Junction, Colo.), 8-15-
08]
Riebe: [The State (Columbia)-AP, 8-30-08]
Kaalund: [WTVD-TV (Durham), 8-31-08]
Keeler: [St. Petersburg Times, 8-8-08]
Reynolds: [Washington Post-AP, 9-30-08]
Brucke: [Charlotte Observer, 9-22-08]
Least Competent Criminals
* Not Ready for Thugdom: (1) Police in Wilmington, N.C.,
arrested Anthony Mallette, 30, and Capria Rouser, 28, in
September, driving a stolen car, after they had allegedly tried to
extort money from the owner for its return. They wanted $40. (2)
Two men attempted an armed robbery of the Brighton Mini Mart in
Chicago in August, and when it was over, the man with the gun
had accidentally shot himself in the foot and been stabbed in the
back by the 61-year-old store owner. The pair fled, but the
wounded man was arrested in a hospital waiting room.
[Wilmington Star News, 9-8-08] [Chicago Tribune, 8-26-08]
* Rookie Mistakes: (1) Kody Merrival, 21, was arrested in Iowa
City, Iowa, in September after he used an alleged stolen credit card
in three different establishments. At a coffee bar, he asked for
points on his personal account while using the card; at another
store, he absent-mindedly signed his own name; and in the third, he
offered his own ID to accompany the card (leading the merchant to
confiscate the card and notify police). (2) Tommy Patterson, 41,
vacationing in Ormond Beach, Fla., in July, decided to do some
impromptu shoplifting at a Wal-Mart, according to police, but was
caught after a chase that was brief because he was still wearing
flip-flops from the beach. [Iowa City Press-Citizen, 9-3-08]
[Daytona Beach News-Journal, 7-31-08]
Update
* The brain "fingerprinting" work mentioned here in 2000 and
2003, whose hypothesis is that different areas of the brain are
active when a person recalls an actual experience, as opposed to
recalling merely learned information, was used in June in Pune,
India, to secure a woman's murder conviction. A neuroscientist
convinced the judge that the suspect's responses to questions could
only have come had she actually made a purchase of the arsenic in
question and traveled the exact route taken by the alleged killer.
[New York Times, 9-15-08]
Hey, Want to Go Hang Out?
* Daytime burglar John Pearce, 32, was arrested in Dartford,
England, in August after getting his foot caught in a window and
hanging upside down for over an hour in full view of congregating
(and taunting) neighbors before police arrived. However, in
Chester Township, Pa., in July, scrap-metal burglar Charles
Ancrum, 50, beat that record, hanging from a window for an entire
weekend, dead, after he broke his neck attempting to climb into a
residential garage. (While sticking his head through a small
window, he fell off the sawhorse he was standing on.) [Daily Mail
(London), 8-22-08] [Philadelphia Daily News, 7-22-08]
Thanks This Week to Donna Furlani, Marlow Harris, Mark
Steiber, JoAnne Ryan, Christine Carsey, Cindy Espinoza, Scott
Crossley, Alan Magid, Roger Gulbransen, Neil Gimon, Sam
Gaines, Ron Williams, Erik Paul Leff, Charles Thompson, and
Bruce Strickland, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial
Advisors.
* * * * *
Visit Chuck Shepherd daily at
http://www.WeirdUniverse.net <http://www.weirduniverse.net/> (or
www.NewsoftheWeird.com <http://www.newsoftheweird.com/>) or
mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] / P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL
33629.
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