South African Law Would Ban Meteorologists - Would you send your local weatherman to jail for 10 years?

South African Law Would Ban Meteorologists
Weather forecasters are often unreliable but would you send your local weatherman to jail for 10 years? A newly proposed law in South Africa would punish unauthorized weather forecasters with jail time and fines, according to Mother Nature Network. The law would require state-sanctioning for any weather forecasts issues outside of the governments South African Weather Service (SAWS). First offenses would be punished with a fine or up to 5 million rand (About $630,000) or five years in jail. The fines and jail time would be doubled for subsequent offenses.

Dragon Babies - Will you try to get lucky?

Dragon Babies
Taiwan has one of the world’s lowest birth rates. But suddenly, doctors are seeing a lot of pregnant women. It’s a dragon baby boom. Today marks the start of the Year of the Dragon. The Chinese believe that babies born during the year will be gifted with a lot of luck and strength. Officials expect a baby boom not only in China and Taiwan, but also in other Asian countries that observe the New Year festival, including Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. One office worker in Taiwan says she hadn’t been planning a second child – but now that the Year of the Dragon is here, she’s “happy to have another one.”

Mom Arrested For Letting 10-Year-Old Son Get Tattoo - Do you think a parent has the right to let their child get a Tattoo at any age?

Mom Arrested For Letting 10-Year-Old Son Get Tattoo
An Acworth, Georgia, mom is in hot water for allowing her 10-year-old son to get a tattoo in memory of his deceased brother. Chuntera Napier said her 12-year-old son, Malik, was struck and killed by a motorist in Macon about two years ago, and her other son, Gaquan, wanted a tattoo like hers to remember his older brother. In Georgia, it is illegal for a child under the age of 18 to receive a tattoo. Napier, who says she was unaware of the law, was charged with misdemeanor child cruelty after someone at Gaquan’s school saw the tattoo and reported her to the authorities. Napier was arrested on Tuesday and wasn’t released until Wednesday morning. “I always thought if a parent gives consent, then it’s fine,” Napier said. “How can somebody else say it’s not OK? He’s my child, and I have a right to say what I want for my child.” 

 

Driver Too Drunk To Know Tire Gone - Which was farther gone?

Driver Too Drunk To Know Tire Gone
A Florida man charged with drunken driving was so out of it he didn’t realize the left front tire of his Lexus was missing, police said. Kevin Blazer, 34, was arrested Wednesday morning in New Port Richey. A Pasco County sheriff’s deputy pulled the Blazer over after noticing smoke and sparks coming from the right front of the car, where the tire should have been. Blazer’s blood alcohol level tested at .131, well over the Florida limit of .08. He was released from jail later Wednesday.

School Passes On ‘Cougars’ As Mascot - Is there something wrong with "Cougars" in H.S.?

A Utah school district has decided against using “Cougars” as a mascot for a new high school in part because of the negative connotation of the word in popular culture. Canyons School District Superintendent David S. Doty said the school needed to choose a mascot and 23% of students voted they wanted it to be the Corner Canyon Cougars. Falcons, Raptors and Diamondbacks were the other choices on the ballot. But that didn’t sit well with parents who called in and complained that “Cougar” was a derogatory word because of how it’s made its way into our vocabulary for older women who like to date younger men. At least three Utah schools, including Brigham Young University, use cougar as a mascot.

Skateboarding Bank Robber - Think it might be safe to try the X games?

Skateboarding Bank Robber
Mexico City police have arrested a would-be bandit who rode his skateboard to bank robbery attempts. Police say Sergio Ledesma and his skateboard have been turned over to prosecutors after he allegedly attempted to rob two banks by whispering threats to tellers. Police say the teller at the first bank simply acted as if he hadn’t heard Ledesma, who then skated off to a second bank. The second teller told police Ledesma appeared to whisper a threat. So the teller set off a silent alarm, and counted out the money while the would-be robber waited patiently. Police said Friday Ledesma was still waiting when they arrived and arrested him.

Urinating Cat Causes Smoke - Cats...Inside or Outside pets?

Urinating Cat Causes Smoke
One western Pennsylvania fire department learned that there’s not necessarily fire wherever there’s smoke. New Castle’s assistant fire chief Jim Donston said firefighters were called when an electrical outlet on a floor was smoking, only to find the family’s cat urinated into the outlet. Donston says a Columbia Gas worker was at the house checking for a possible leak when he noticed the smoking outlet and called the fire department last Wednesday. Donston says firefighters “found the receptacle wet from cat urine” and shut off the electrical supply to that circuit.

 

Teacher Resigns After Giving Class Math Homework Involving Slavery

Teacher Resigns After Giving Class Math Homework Involving Slavery
A suburban Atlanta teacher has resigned following an investigation into third-grade students being assigned math homework with word problems about slavery. One of the problems was: “Each tree has 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?” Another: “If Frederick got two beatings each day, how many beatings did he get in one week?” A spokeswoman for Gwinnett County says four teachers gave out the assignment at Beaver Ridge Elementary and one of them has resigned. She declined to elaborate on what happened to the rest of them. The NAACP had called on the teachers to be fired.

Fans Make Last Vigil For ‘Poe Toaster’

Fans Make Last Vigil For ‘Poe Toaster’
For the third year, the “Poe Toaster” – who once faithfully marked the birth of Edgar Allan Poe with a tribute of three roses and cognac – failed to make the nocturnal trip to the writer’s original grave in Baltimore, apparently ending a tradition that lasted more than half a century. Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1809 birth of Poe, who died in Baltimore in 1849 at age 40. In an annual observance of Poe’s birth, a mysterious person dressed in black, flaunting a white scarf and wearing a wide-brimmed hat would visit the graveside monument at Baltimore’s Westminster Hall, a former church, and leave three roses and half a bottle of cognac. The sightings of the “Poe Toaster” were first reported as early as 1950. Jeff Jerome, curator of the city’s Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, said yesterday the visits were likely nevermore. While there is a dispute over what killed Poe, alcoholism was likely a contributing factor, along with a host of other conditions including tuberculosis and a broken heart. After the “Poe Toaster” failed to show in 2010, last year’s vigil attracted imposters, including a man who arrived in a limo as well as a few women.

Teacher In Hot Water Over Potty Break Policy - Do you think there should be some form of policy?

Teacher In Hot Water Over Potty Break Policy
Parents at a Brooklyn elementary school are furious over a fifth-grade teacher’s bathroom policy that prohibits students from using the restroom more than three times a week. The teacher apparently had too many students taking bathroom breaks too often. Parents of kids at P.S. 90 in Coney Island are furious at teacher Stephanie Warner as well as the principal, who reportedly signed off on the policy. Students said the teacher posted the rules on a sign in the classroom. Under Warner’s potty policy, students are given three vouchers a week that entitle them to bathroom visits. Students who do not use all three of the vouchers may hand in leftover ones at the end of the week in exchange for tickets they can redeem for small prizes. A Department of Education spokeswoman saidt the principal has since instructed Warner to drop the policy.

Drunk Drives SUV Into Subway - Do you pay the toll or order a 6 inch?

Drunk Drives SUV Into Subway
A man who drove his sport utility vehicle into a downtown San Francisco subway tunnel yesterday was drunk, authorities said. Muni Metro spokesman Paul Rose said Scott Mitchell, 40, of Sebastopol, entered the tunnel just before 6 a.m. and nearly made it to the Van Ness Station before getting stuck on the tracks. Service was interrupted for more than 2 hours as police worked to remove the SUV from the tracks. Trains were moving below normal speeds by 8:30 a.m., as repairs were needed to restore full service, Rose said. Mitchell was arrested and charged with DUI, failure to obey a stop sign and driving on train tracks.

Man Shoots Change Machine

Man Shoots Change Machine
Authorities in Winter Haven, Florida, are searching for a man who was videotaped firing a handgun at a Laundromat’s change machine. Deputies said the man was partially covering his face with the hood of a gray sweatshirt when he entered the Busy Bubbles Laundromat on January 4th. The man shot the machine several times with a handgun and quickly left when money failed to come out.

Law Enforcement Employees Paid To Get Drunk - Would you get paid to get drunk?

Law Enforcement Employees Paid To Get Drunk
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed it paid 15 employees to get drunk to test the accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test. The FDLE revealed to a panel of judges in Sarasota County in December that it spent $330 on alcohol, mixers and Doritos for 15 employees to drink on company time and blow into the Intoxilyzer 8000s to test their accuracy. However, the judges expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the study because the blood work from the employees was not ready in time for the hearing. The judges are considering the future of the use of the machines in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The $8,000 study was performed after investigators found many flawed machines had stayed in service in the state and breath test results from about 100 cases in the two counties were thrown out as a result of the probe. The judges are expected to issue a ruling in the coming days.

Sega’s Potty Games - Think this will help the sprinkle on the seat?

Sega’s Potty Games
Tokyo video game company Sega said bars in Japan are installing urination-based video game consoles in their bathrooms. Sega said the Toylet consoles are installed on urinals and players can choose from a number of games controlled by the strength and direction of their urine stream. A company spokesman said the consoles, which each cost $1,958, include screens to display the animations for the games, which include a game that measures the strength of a player’s urine screen to make a female character’s skirt blow up to reveal her underwear. Sega said players proud of their scores can download their results onto memory sticks.
 

Centenarian Finally Gets Ears Pierced - At 101 what would you be willing to do?

Centenarian Finally Gets Ears Pierced
A woman in Windsor, Ontario, has ushered in her coming 101st birthday by having her ears pierced, saying she gave in to peer pressure. A week ago, a staff member at the senior center where Viola Arnold lives suggested she celebrate her upcoming birthday Sunday by having her ears pierced for the first time. Arnold said she consulted with her son, who approved, and then fellow residents began pressuring her to go ahead, telling her, “Oh, everybody has their ears pierced,” she said. There were other suggestions as well. “Somebody said to get a tattoo and I said no way,” she said. Arnold made an appointment Wednesday and wheeled herself in for the piercing. Staff at the Caryl Baker Visage Cosmetics Salon performed the procedure, inserted 14-karat, diamond-look earrings, handed Arnold a bouquet of flowers and then told her there was no charge. Her first comment after the piercings was “Ow.”

Elevator Baby - Weirdest place a friend or relative has given birth?

Elevator Baby
Katie Thacker made it to the hospital but not to the delivery room. She had a baby boy while stuck in an elevator at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Little Blake entered the world just short of the 14th floor. Nurses were moving the mom-to-be to the birthing center when the elevator got stuck. Thacker doesn’t remember much about the circumstances of her unusual delivery. But she kept asking did she “just really have a baby in an elevator?”
 

Opossum Takes Subway Ride - Ever shared a ride with a wild animal?

Opossum Takes Subway Ride
A suspicious passenger led to the evacuation of a New York City subway car. Startled riders aboard a Manhattan-bound train spotted an opossum curled up underneath a seat near the train’s heating duct around 4:30 a.m. on Friday. The animal apparently boarded the train at Coney Island in Brooklyn, where the platform is above ground. The subway car was evacuated several stops later in Manhattan as officers wearing heavy gloves tried to remove it. When the marsupial bared its teeth at them, animal control experts were called in. Rats and pigeons are often seen in the city’s subways, but a NYC Transit spokesman said it’s the first time anybody could remember a wild animal in the system.

Billions Appear In Teacher’s Account - What is the first thing you buy, when you get an extra $Billion?

Billions Appear In Teacher’s Account
A teacher in India said he was shocked to check his bank account, which he expected to contain $200, and saw a balance of $9.8 billion. Parijat Saha of Balurghat, who makes about $700 a month teaching in West Bengal, said he checked his account online and was baffled to see he had somehow become a billionaire. Saha said he double-checked the account using an ATM and called the State Bank of India when the balance was confirmed. He said bank officials did not say how the error happened, but they told him the funds were marked as “uncleared” and would not be available for withdrawal. Bank officials declined to comment.

Man Rams Bar With Car - Can't we all just get a Long-Neck?

Man Rams Bar With Car
Authorities in Florida arrested a man who crashed his vehicle into a bar and attempted to run over the owner. Deputies responded to reports of shots fired at Stragglers Bar in Sarasota Monday evening and they arrived to find Sean Kilduff, 39, had crashed his car into the building. Deputies said the incident began when Kilduff was involved in a disturbance with the owner of the bar, James Wilbert. Kilduff allegedly went outside during the argument and rammed the building with his car. Wilbert responded by firing a gun at the vehicle and Kilduff allegedly tried to run over Wilbert and another person. Kilduff was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and criminal mischief. No injuries were reported.

Cold Surfer Arrested - Do police have the right to protect you from your own stupidity?

Cold Surfer Arrested
Chicago police arrested and ticketed a man for surfing in the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. Rex Flodstrom, 40, was ticketed Tuesday for surfing more than 50 yards from shore, unlawful presence on a closed beach and jeopardizing the safety of others on the beach. Police also confiscated his surfboard. Police said they received a call about 5 p.m. about a man in the lake near the Oak Street Beach and found Flodstrom on his surfboard. The temperature in Chicago at the time of the incident was in the upper 20s. The Chicago Park District website says “lifeguards are no longer on duty and swimming is discouraged at all beaches.” The 2012 beach season is scheduled to begin May 25th.