HAPPY NEW YEAR

Shoot A Croc!

Florida's Shoot-To-Kill Order On Crocodile

A dangerous crocodile is on the loose near Miami - leading wildlife officials to issue a rare order to take down the reptile.

Florida wildlife officials have issued a rare shoot-to-kill order in the hunt for a young and potentially dangerous Nile crocodile on the loose near Miami.
The Nile crocodile, which hails from Africa, can jump higher, run faster and grow to nearly 20 feet in length, several feet larger than its American cousin, and has a "nastier" temperament.
And while the American crocodile stays near saltwater like mangroves and estuaries, the Nile crocodile prefers freshwater, making it more likely to come in contact with humans.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials said the Nile crocodile on the loose is thought to be around three feet long.
The commission is investigating where the crocodile came from, although experts said it most likely escaped "from a facility or a local breeder", probably as a hatchling.
Reptile expert and wrangler Joe Wasilewski said: "They get big. They're vicious. The animals are just more aggressive and they learn that humans are easy targets."
He described the American crocodile as a "gentle animal", adding: "They're more fish eaters. They don't consider humans a prey source."
Only FWC agents are authorised to kill the Nile crocodile at large. If it is caught alive, it will be put down.
A team of agents led by Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida professor of wildlife ecology, has spent more than 1,000 hours searching by boats and on foot in the canal where the reptile was last seen.
Mr Mazzotti said the crocodile had been captured by someone in March, but was let loose, making it now "wary" of humans.
With reality TV shows glorifying reptile hunting and wrestling, anyone with a taste for adventure could interpret the ruling as a "licence to kill" and perhaps mistake the animals, according to Mr Wasilewski.
"They're going to shoot any crocodile or alligator. It will be the Wild West," he said.
Experts say most people cannot distinguish between a crocodile and an alligator, let alone differentiate between a Nile and American crocodile. Alligators are black and have broad, rounded snouts. Crocodiles are greyish and have narrow, tapered snouts.
Niles are dark green or black on top with dark row of spots on the sides. Americans have a lighter olive colour with pale yellow sides.
Official records on Nile crocodile sightings in Florida are sketchy, but there have been a handful.
Houdini, a nine-foot long, 10-year-old Nile crocodile, escaped from Billie Swamp Safari on Seminole Tribe reservation lands, but was recaptured a few years ago as part of the US cable TV show Swamp Men and relocated to a facility on Florida's west coast.
Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said no other Nile crocodiles had been spotted on their reservation lands.
Mr Wasilewski said: "It's a couple of animals. I don't think it's a plague."

God Help Us??

Number of women drivers soar

Women motorists are set to outnumber their male counterparts on the road, it has emerged.

An analysis for the RAC Foundation has revealed a dramatic narrowing of the gender gap on the roads since the mid-1990s.
In the USA the number of women drivers has just outstripped men for the first time and on the latest projections it is only a matter of time before Britain follows suit.
Not only are more women driving, but they are driving further, with their mileage rising by more than a fifth between 1995 and 2010.
"Women are in the overtaking lane when it comes to licence holding. No longer are they sat in the passenger seat, simply along for the ride,” said Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation.
“Greater social and financial independence has increasingly put them in the driving seat and it is entirely plausible Britain will replicate the United States where female motorists are now dominant.
“They are increasingly leading independent lives with more and more of them going to work, getting married later, if at all, and delaying having children.
“Women are on the move like never before and it is the car that is getting them about.”
In 1995 there were 15.1 million male drivers and 9.2 million women motorists. By 2010 the gap had fallen dramatically with 16.3 million women holding driving licences, compared with 19 million men.
The proportion of women holding licences over this period has risen from 50 per cent to 64 per cent during this period.
A variety of factors underpin the shrinking of the gender gap. It is believed the sharp rise in the number of women motorists reflects a change in society which has seen them becoming economically more active as well as having their first child later, aged 28 rather than 25, as was the case in 1980.
With more women living longer and higher female life expectancy, it is now seen as inevitable that they will outnumber male motorists.
At the same time the percentage of men in their 20s holding licences has fallen by 14 per cent to 65 per cent.
The drop in young men driving is believed to reflect tougher economic times, with more living at home and finding it harder to earn the money to run a car.
“It means they will have to design, specify and make vehicles for the general market and not just the male one,” he said.
“Cars will have to have a gentler line and not be as heavy on the steering with a greater emphasis on safety.
“Women are not interested in the macho image and statistics show that they are more careful drivers.”

Sensible Woman!

Congresswomen Called for Improved Domain-Seizure Regulation

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) has been making attempts to improve the existing legislation over domain seizures, asking Reddit’s users to crowdsource a better law which would diminish the power of American authorities over the web.
The US government managed to seize over 750 domain names since 2010 within “Operation in Our Sites” project, which was started in order to fight Internet piracy. Normally, .com, .org, and .net domain names were targeted, which were allegedly guilty of copyright violation.

Nevertheless, the efficacy of the project is questionable, particularly with such examples as Dajaz1 – a hip-hop blog closed down at the demand of the Recording Industry Association of America. In a year, the website was returned without any explanation or apology from the authorities. This situation was harshly criticized by both Zoe Lofgren and the EFF. The latter also complained that the Operation was an obvious threat to the First Amendment.

Zoe Lofgren claimed that the initial goal was to develop targeted law to require the authorities to provide notice and an opportunity for portal administration to defend themselves before seizing or redirecting their domain names. Of course, her statement didn’t go unnoticed. People agree that they are meant to be innocent until proven guilty. As such, taking a site down or seizing its domain name should be a last resort opposed to a standard knee-jerk reaction. They even compare taking a site down to closing down a whole business franchise. Others claim that there should be severe penalties for false takedowns, like the ones that happened with Dajaz1. This is supposed to also apply to DMCA takedowns over copyright infringement, with the penalties being enforced vigorously in order to protect innocent people.

At the moment, the existing law allows the US to seize any .com, .net and .org domain name, because the companies handling them operate on the territory of the United States. The users can only hope that Lofgren’s suggestion will be heard by the authorities. Those who are especially interested are invited to check out her official site or join Reddit’s discussion group.

HAVE A GOOD ONE

Watch Out….Squirrels About!

Squirrel caused £5,500 motor insurance claim

A falling squirrel which dropped into an open-topped car triggered a £5,500 insurance claim, it has emerged.

The incident was one of the more spectacular encounters involving motorists and animals recorded by AA insurance.
In this case the woman motorist was so startled by the sudden and unannounced arrival of a bushy-tailed furry passenger that she lost control of the car and ploughed into a tree.
The AA alone dealt with 112 “animal strike” cases in October and November. This would be equivalent to 4,000 incidents in which the encounter was sufficient to trigger an insurance claim.
In November alone, there were 30 claims relating to incidents with deer, five involving foxes, three badger encounters and 11 dog-linked crashes.
“Deer are by far the biggest culprit and this time of the year is the rutting season.” said an AA spokesman.
“Also deer tend to move at dusk or very early in the morning and, during the winter, this puts their movements right in the time when people are commuting."
Only last week the Department for Transport disclosed that there had been a sharp rise in fatal accidents involving animals, with eight people being killed last year compared with only one in 2010.
It is also estimated that 450 people are injured in accidents involving deer a year, while more than 40,000 of the animals are killed after being hit by cars.
It has led to North Yorkshire County Council posting signs to warn motorists of the dangers of wandering sheep on the moors.
The danger posed by animals is acknowledged in the Highway Code, which advises shepherds and those herding cattle not to do so after dusk.

Big Spending Pirates?

UK Pirates Are Also Big Spenders

The recent Ofcom’s report revealed that one out of six British citizens is involved in downloading copyrighted goods. But on the other side, the report in question states that the UK pirates are also spending more than the average consumer.
The country’s communications regulator, Ofcom, launched a survey to find out about the citizens’ download habits. It has published the results on the 20th of November, which reflected the answers of 4.400 Internet users (12 and older).

According to an overall look, 16% of the respondents had at least once downloaded unauthorized content, and 25% of them confirmed that they only download pirated material. However, the same survey also found out that 12% of the respondents turned out to be so-called “hybrid pirates”. In other words, they aren’t just downloading pirated material, but also spend up to 3 times on legitimate content than a regular consumer.

Apparently, hybrid pirates can be seen as the most dedicated spenders, with most of their expenditures going to the box-office, concerts, and DVDs. While a regular consumer spends £35.57 on movies, a hybrid pirate spends £56.11. As for music, the pirates are noticed spending £77.24, while the regular buyers pay only £43.31. TV content accounts for £8.28 from normal users, and hybrid pirates spend £25.69.

In addition, one more interesting fact was discovered by the report – the hybrid pirates are likely to pay more for content than regular customers. For instance, hybrid pirates are ready to pay 76p per song while a regular person is only willing to pay just 72p. Not a very significant difference, but still is a difference. When it comes to movies, the pirates can pay £4.92 against legitimate users’ £3.74.

The conclusion can be made that users who pirate and purchase goods via legal channels are also the most committed. The natural question arises: is piracy helping the industry or not? It might happen that this commitment, which is a substantial source of profits, may be possible only because people have access to pirated material. Indeed, although the music industry complains that the past 10 years were a disaster for the industry, the facts are telling the opposite.

Oh Bugger!

Reduced to scrap, the classic car that met a lamp post

A classic car restorer has seen the fruits of his labours reduced to scrap after a lamp post fell on his American Lincoln Town Car.

Chris Downes, 26, a father of one, spent £7000 on restoring the 1990 Lincoln to its original condition, after buying it without wheels for £500.
But it was reduced to scrap when a driver struck a concrete lamp post, which toppled and crushed the Sedan.
Mr Downes, 26, said: "I just can't believe it. I'm absolutely gutted.
"It is so unfortunate. I have spent over a year working on the car's suspension and put in a whole new gear box and hydraulics.
"I bought it from a friend who is also a lowrider enthusiast for £500. He had bought it off another enthusiast.
"When I got it, it had no wheels and needed a complete overhaul, so I did all that and I would say overall I have spent around £7,000.
"My partner was at home when the car crashed into the lamp post.
"She runs an embroidery business so didn't hear the bang over the whir of the machines, but she is just as shocked as me.
"For people that know about these cars, they are very special and it is a shame. It was my pride and joy."
Nottinghamshire Police are investigating the crash which happened at 11.30am on Monday.
The Lincoln Town Car was produced by Ford between 1981 and 2011.
It was often converted into a stretch limousine and frequently used as a chauffeured car. Some models came with bulletproofed glass and armoured bodies.

Pants To Go?

Suspects Steal 300 Pairs of Panties: Cops

Two men stole the undergarments from a Victoria's Secret store at Horton Plaza

Detectives are looking for two men who were caught on surveillance tape stealing about 300 pairs of panties from a Victoria’s Secret store in downtown San Diego.

According to the San Diego Police Department, the panty raid took place on Wednesday at around 4:45 p.m. at the Victoria’s Secret in the Horton Plaza shopping mall.

While one suspect walked around the store pretending to browse for merchandise, a second suspect carrying a shopping bag walked over to an underwear display.

The suspect carrying the shopping bag held it open while the first suspect scooped about 300 pairs of panties into the bag, police said.

The suspect with the bag full of underwear then walked out of the store while the other suspect lingered inside for another 15 seconds before walking out.

According to police, store employees were unaware of the theft until they noticed the display had been ransacked, and about half of its merchandise had been removed.

The display was located roughly 10 feet from the door of the lingerie store, police said.

Detectives described both suspects as Hispanic males between 18 and 25 years old. They’re both between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-9, with thin to medium builds.

One man was wearing a black sweater and jeans while the other wore a blue shirt and gray shorts.

The burglary was caught on surveillance video, so police are using those images to investigate, identify and locate the suspects

A Sign Of The Times?

School replaces Christmas nativity with jewellery robbery play

A primary school has caused controversy by replacing the school nativity with a play about a jewellery robbery.

Canvey Junior School in Essex took the decision to rewrite the traditional Christmas nativity as well as reworking the lyrics to 'Away in a Manger'.

Lyrics in the new version include: "Away with the manger, two robbers stole it, they were called Bob and Bill, and they were both big twits."

According to The Mirror, parents have argued that the new material is inappropriate for youngsters and some have even removed their children from any involvement with the production.

A concerned parent said: "I don't understand why the politically correct brigade has had to get rid of the traditional story anyway. I can't see that this gangster story is going to be better than something from the Bible."

The subject of the play was also criticised as being in poor taste, since the area has experienced a spate of armed raids in the last six weeks.

Headteacher Janet Vaughan defended the alterations, commenting; "It is very, very funny and nothing more than a light-hearted version of events. The outcome is the robbers are caught and banged to rights and the true meaning of Christmas comes across very strongly with a nativity at the end."

Honest….I Didn’t Inhale!

Kentucky Mayor Resigns After Pot Bust

A Kentucky mayor resigned on Thursday after he was allegedly caught selling marijuana to an undercover informant, just a block away from an elementary school, WLEX-TV reported.
Authorities said Olive Hill Ky. Mayor Danny Sparks sold less than eight ounces of marijuana to a man of college age while in his truck Wednesday evening.
The mayor of Olive Hill since 2002, the local city council must accept his resignation before it’s official.
"Due to a very bad mistake that I have made tonight, and have failed the trust of the good people of Olive Hill, my friends and most of all, my family, I have decided with deep regret to resign tonight as mayor," Sparks wrote in a resignation letter printed in the Grayson Journal-Times.
The news caught the local community by surprise.
"Out of all people, Danny? I'm just shocked," said Sparks' neighbor, Robert Davidson told WLEX-TV. "I was just dumb-founded."

A Model Policewoman??

Model jailed for wearing police uniform

A Chinese model who posed for sexy photos in a WPC's uniform on a photo-shoot has been jailed for nine months for impersonating a police officer.
The revealing pictures of Wang Xiaomen, 23, showed her getting dressed in an official-looking police woman's uniform.
As she sits on a bed wearing just a tight police shirt and a pair of panties, she is seen rolling on a pair of sheer black stockings.
In another snap she leans forward in her unbuttoned shirt to show off her lacy black bra.
But the pictures - taken to promote a new detective novel - created a furious row when Xiaomen tweeted three of the snaps on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter.
Playing along with the role, Xiaomen wrote: "As a new cop in my home town, I need to learn the basics.
"As one of the flowers of the force, I am under pressure. I have to eat and drink with government leaders every day. I am using my flower status to dine with the leaders and win contracts for projects and investments!" she added.
But the pictures were re-tweeted more than 500 times and local officials ordered real police officers to arrest her after some Weibo users complained.
Judges in Fengtai, Beijing, found her guilty of falsely impersonating a policewoman and sentenced her to nine months in prison, suspended for a year.
Xiaomen had told the court she'd been paid £300 for the modelling session and added: "The costume was just a prop, I was so ignorant."

Hot Head!!

Magician's Head Set On Fire In TV Prank

An American magician suffers severe burns after a television host sets him alight live on air.

A US magician has been seriously injured after a TV host set his head on fire live on television.
Wayne Houchin was appearing on a show in the Dominican Republic when, in an apparently unscripted prank, its host dropped flammable liquid on his head, setting him alight.
Houchin's own crew, who were at the show, rushed to save him and put out the flames - but not before he had suffered burns to his head, face, neck and right hand.
The illusionist, who hosts Breaking Magic on the Discovery Channel, was rushed to hospital where he says he is "in pain" but recovering.
Houchin, who was in the country promoting his Curiosidades show, wrote on Facebook after the incident: "I was not aware he was going to do this. This was not a stunt or part of an act - this was a criminal attack.
"The fast actions of the rest of our Curiosidades team saved my life. The fire was put out and I was rushed to the emergency room.
"I have bad burns on my head, face, neck and right hand. I am in pain, but am recovering. I will update you on the situation when I can."
He has continued to report on his progress on Twitter and in one of his more recent posts wrote: "The doctors are cautiously optimistic that I will fully recover with no scars."
He has extended his stay in the Dominican Republic following the incident on Monday so he can remain in hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.
The host used a liquid called Aqua De Florida to set Houchin alight.
It is a flammable cologne popular in Latin countries, which is also used as a sacred cleaning spray by shamans and witch doctors in the Caribbean.
Houchin has received hundreds of comments from well-wishers, including from fellow magician David Copperfield who wrote on Twitter: "My thoughts are with you and your family. Best wishes on a swift and complete recovery."
Once described as "a cross between a con man and a street magician", Houchin first came to prominence in 1999 at the age of 16 when he escaped from a straitjacket hanging 50ft above a busy road.
In 2010 he "stopped time" for the Dominican Republic in a live televised illusion.

Unlucky??

Man Gets A Ticket After Being Hit By His Own Truck

No major injuries, but a citation from Massachusetts police

A Massachusetts man just couldn’t catch a break Monday when he got a ticket after being hit by a truck. What’s worse, the truck was his own.

Salem police responding to reports of a motor vehicle accident instead found Brian Reynolds, 40, lying facedown in the road, Boston.com reported. Reynolds told police that the brakes on his 1987 Chevy locked up, so he opened the driver’s door and tried to stop the truck with his left foot. Reynolds next tried turning the vehicle up a hill, but fell out the open door. The truck then ran over his left leg before crashing into a fire hydrant, police said.

Reynolds was taken to Salem Hospital for what police said was road rash and a minor leg injury, Boston.com reported. He was issued a $35 citation for driving with defective equipment.

What A Crazy Society??

Man arrested after rescuing dog

A man from Texas has been charged by police over a dog he found and tried to rescue.

Elvis Hernandez from Kerrville was on call as a locksmith when he saw a lost dachshund in the roadway and attempted to rescue it.

The dog had no collar or tags, and Hernandez left his information with the customer so he could be contacted if they managed to find the owner, reports KEN-TV.

Upon receiving no calls claiming the dog, he gave the dachshund away. It wasn't until afterwards that the original owner came forward.

"I just explained to her that I didn't have it," Hernandez said. "I didn't know where it was, and I apologised."

The owner then filed a police report, and Hernandez was arrested and charged with property theft.

The charges he faces also prohibit him from working as a locksmith.

Hernandez said: "Not only did they attack my name - they attacked my livelihood. And being a single dad with children it hurts a lot."

Show & Tell!!

Pupils bring lion to 'show and tell'

Youngsters in Russia had the mane attraction for their show and tell - when they found a lost lion cub on their way to school.

The male cub was spotted wandering the streets of Seyatel village, near Rostov in southern Russia, and taken to school by local children.
Police looked after the cub until owner Irina Kulikovskaya came forward saying it had escaped from the boot of her car.
"He's meant to be the real star of a new zoo I'm creating. I'm very grateful," she told local media.
"Nobody believed us when we said we had a lion when we got to school but you should have seen their faces when we brought it into class," said one of the pupils.

Blow The Phone Please?

Motorist mistook breathalyser for iPhone

A German man was arrested for drink driving - after he tried to use a breathalyser to make a phone call.

Bernhard Becker, 41, made the mistake after police stopped him for a random breath test in Coburg.
"We didn't really need the reading. There aren't many sober people who'd do that," said a police spokesman.
Becker was stopped during an early morning spot check and asked to blow into the device, but after seeing the officers in front of him - insisted on calling his lawyer to get advice.
The spokesman added: "He thought it was an iPhone, and was trying to bring up the icons on the display, and despite explaining to him that it was a breathalyser he was unable to provide a proper sample.
"He could barely stand so the result was not really in doubt, but nevertheless he was taken to a local hospital where a blood test was taken that we suspect will confirm he was well over the limit."

Longer Lasting?

American football players using Viagra?

The world of American football is abuzz after Brandon Marshall, a Chicago Bears player suggested that some players were using Viagra hoping it would give them an advantage during games.

Marshall started the speculation, and jokes, on Wednesday when asked about a growing number of suspensions tied to amphetamines, including the ADHD drug Adderall. He said he did not know much about Adderall, but suggested Viagra could be viewed by players as a way to boost their energy.
"I know guys, it's such a competitive league, and guys try anything just to get that edge," he said. "I've heard of guys using Viagra, seriously, because the blood, it's supposed to thin ... I don't know. Some crazy stuff. It's kind of scary with some of these chemicals that are in some of these things, so you have to be careful."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Viagra is not a banned substance and declined further comment.
Players cracked jokes about it on Thursday.
"What would that do? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Minnesota Vikings player Cullen Loeffler said.
Bears defensive back D.J. Moore wondered if Marshall was kidding and said: "I've never heard of that."
"I didn't even know people could do that," New York Giants tight end Martellus Bennett said. And his team-mate Justin Tuck added: "I can't imagine why people would take steroids, so I have no comment on Viagra. Besides, my wife would be very upset with me."
Dr Olivier Rabin, science director at the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal, said it is unlikely Viagra does anything to improve football performance in NFL players. He also said there is no evidence the drug might somehow mask the use of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.
Dr Rabin noted that research in high altitudes found the drug helped improve oxygen flow in climbers with impaired lung function. Viagra can dilate blood vessels, and vessels in the lung constrict in high altitudes.
Research involving cyclists at high altitudes found similar benefits, but Dr Rabin said studies have shown the drug has no effect on athletic performance at sea level.
University of Miami researcher Kevin Jacobs has studied Viagra in simulated high-altitude environments and "didn't find much benefit in young, healthy, active individuals."
"No one has really tested it in football players doing exercise. Whatever benefit they think they're getting is probably more psychological than anything," said Jacobs, an associate professor in the kinesiology and sport sciences department.

Whoops…..Caught Out!

Owner of Britain's last Temperance Bar admits drink driving

The owner of Britain’s last temperance bar has admitted drink driving.

Christopher Law, 52, who owns the 120-year-old Fitzpatrick’s bar in Rawtenstall, Lancs, pleaded guilty to the charge at Burnley magistrates’ court. He was banned from driving for 17 months.
Temperance bars, which originated in Lancashire in the late 19th century, advocated abstinence from alcohol, often asking patrons to sign a pledge and renounce the demon drink. They were also the first outlet for Vimto in the early 20th century.
Mr Law recently appeared on television with “The Hairy Bikers”, Dave Myers and Si King, extolling the virtues of the wide range of non-alcoholic drinks which he serves.
He showed almost twice the legal alcohol limit when stopped by police at 2.30am in Burnley last month. He was fined £110 and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge.
Contacted at his bar today, Mr Law said that he did not think he had been breaking the law despite drinking about “three-quarters of a bottle of wine”.
“I didn’t think I was over the limit,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
He also questioned the publicity surrounding the case, insisting: “It is just a drinking-driving offence”. He declined to comment further.
Mr Law, formerly a pipe fitter, bought Fitzpatrick’s bar 12 years ago. It has been selling remedies and non-alcoholic drinks such as sarsaparilla and dandelion and burdock since 1890 and attracts tourists from across the world.
Its shop sells Blackbeer and Raisin, Ginger Beer, Cream Soda, Lemon and Ginger and Blood Tonic. The temperance movement declined after a wave of imported, sugary drinks from the United States.
The Rawtenstall bar was the only one of the Fitzpatrick family’s 30 bars to survive. The family of herbalists were from Dublin, but moved to Lancashire.
In an earlier interview, Mr Law said: “I used to come in here as a kid.
“I was at a point in my life when I just knew that I had to take it on.

Glow In The Dark….Neigh??

Donkeys get glow-in-the-dark eartags

Hundreds of donkeys are to be fitted with glow-in-the-dark ear tags in Botswana to stop accidents on rural roads at night.

About 500 of the animals will be fitted with the reflective tags in the north of the country where one in ten crashes is donkey-related, reports The Mirror.
The UK-based Society For The Protection Of Animals Abroad is paying for the Maun Animal Welfare Society, in Botswana, to carry out the project.
Laura Higham, outreach veterinary advisor for SPANA, said: "The people that own working donkeys are some of the very poorest in Botswana's society and often have no choice other than to let their animals roam freely in search of food in the sparse desert environment.
"This practice is essential, but obviously makes the donkeys vulnerable to accidents and we hope that this simple solution will help reduce the number of collisions caused by the animals every year."
The charities hope the project will be adopted in other parts of the country, and will be the first step towards making reflective tags a legal requirement for freely roaming livestock.

Spoil Sports??

Germany to toughen laws on bestiality

Germany is set to tighten its laws against bestiality in a bid to improve animal welfare.

Bestiality was removed from Germany's penal code in 1969 and since then has only been against the law if "significant harm" is inflicted on the animal.
But Hans-Michael Goldmann, head of the parliamentary commission looking into the subject, told AFP he wanted to "ban bestiality in a draft law on animal protection".
According to left-leaning daily Tageszeitung (TAZ), the new legislation will make bestiality punishable by a fine of up to 25,000 euros (£20,000).
The act will no longer depend on whether harm is inflicted, but rather on whether the animal is forced to commit "actions alien to the species" according to the draft legislation.
A spokesman for the agriculture ministry told a regular government briefing that the new legislation aims to clarify the legal position.
"With this explicit ban, it will be easier to impose penalties and to improve animal protection," Goldmann told mass circulation Bild.
But the president of a group representing people who engage in the act of bestiality said he would take legal action.
"It is unthinkable that any sexual act with an animal is punished without proof that the animal has come to any harm," Michael Kiok said in an interview with the TAZ.

A Bit Of A Shock!!

Belgian discovers his wife used to be a man after 19 years

A Belgian is seeking to have his marriage annulled after discovering that his Indonesian wife of 19 years had been born a man.

The man, only named as Jan, married Monica, his family's former au pair in a previous marriage, in 1993 despite legal difficulties raised by the Belgian immigration authorities.
But it was only in recent weeks that he discovered that his wife had originally been a man and had undergone a sex change.
"I feel I've been assaulted," he told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.
"I brought her to Belgium. That was not easy. The Belgian courts had serious doubts about the authenticity of her birth and her identity papers, but eventually they accepted it anyway. I thought she was an attractive woman, all woman. She had no male traits."
Jan, 64, said that he and his wife had decided not to have children because he had two by his previous marriage and she fooled him by pretending to menstruate, using sanitary towels, "to conceal the truth".
"Even during sex, I never noticed anything," he said.
For many years the couple lived a normal family life and Monica, 48, was like a "big sister" to his children until their marriage started to come under strain when she got a new full-time job.
"Monica began to change very much," he said.
"My oldest son saw her sometimes at a nightclub. She began to wear very flashy clothes, those ultra-short skirts or tiny tops, so her abdomen was completely exposed."
Finally rumours began to surface and after Jan found "amorous messages" from other men on her computer, he confronted her in a violent row that led to the police being called.
"A friend told me that he had heard that Monica was actually a sex-changed man. I could not believe it. My son heard similar rumours," he said.
"I pushed her against the wall and said: Now I know the truth. Are you a man? She then announced that she was born as a boy and that she had been operated on. She was now a woman, and so she did not need to tell me about her past as a man. My world collapsed. That evening came to blows. The police came."
Jan, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment following the discovery, has started legal proceedings to have the marriage annulled but the Belgian courts have so far refused to allow him to turn her out of the familiy home.
"That person has deliberately deceived him for years, even scammed. Presumably she has also forged documents used here to get a residence permit. The children, who for years have lived with her, are devastated," said his Liliane Verjauw, his lawyer.

It’s A Steal!

Malware Stealing Passwords from File-Sharing Sites

TrendLabs’ threat response engineer is warning about the PASSTEAL malware, which is currently spreading on the Internet as key generators for paid applications, popular e-books, and other files people usually download from file-sharing sites.
The threat in question has been described as malware which employs some password recovery instruments in order to steal passwords that its victims store in their browsers.

The company found out that a number of PASSTEAL malware versions use social engineering lures like variants disguised as key generators for paid apps. TrendMicro team identified “WebBrowserPassView” and “PasswordFox” as two of the password recovery instruments within PASSTEAL. In the meantime, security experts warn about the possibility that people who have developed PASSTEAL could also be using other recovery instruments.

Most people use the same password across various websites, which can certainly help them to remember it, but this still increases the risk of data theft. Of course, for better security, Internet users are recommended to use various login credentials for their accounts and create strong and easy-to-remember passwords. The experts also recommend users to use features offered by the browsers that can help protect private information. For instance, Mozilla Firefox has a master password feature which enables encryption in order to prevent password recovery instruments to easily access account data stored in browsers.

People who are recommended to especially watch out for password stealing malware like PASSTEAL are those who share passwords across many Internet accounts, and those who forget that password sharing is a bad idea.

Trumped??

Trump did not silence Bohemian Rhapsody video

Hirsute billionaire Donald Trump has said that he he did not use his considerable financial muscle to suppress a YouTube video which depicts him as a bully who sings a version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

According to Herald Scotland, the YouTube clip was created last March to protest Trump's plan to create a £750 million golf resort in Aberdeenshire. The video was given the blessing of Queen guitarist Brian May so it could not be pulled on copyright.

The video has Donald Trump singing of his relentless determination and unparalleled ego in his battle for the 'The Great Dunes of Scotland.' It used a Spitting Image-like version of Trump.

YouTube has pulled the video and the word on the street was that Trump had made the order.

However, it is starting to look like the whole YouTube pulling might have been a publicity stunt by the group which is trying to stop the golf resort.

The group behind it has decided to bring it out as a single and it has been registered with iTunes.

Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Trump International Golf Links Scotland, said Trump hadn't complained about the video. She said that it had nothing to do with Trump who couldn't care less about the song.

A week ago she dismissed it as a tired, rehashed publicity stunt which further reinforces the lack of credibility of the small group of detractors behind it. She added that the song only serves to hurt the reputation of Scotland and its people.

So, where did the news come from that Trump had pulled the video? Hazel Cameron, an Edinburgh poet who had a hand in the video's creation, told Herald Scotland that a complaint had come from Trump or someone on his behalf.

She said that a complaint must have come from him as Trump must be unhappy about the video, and must have complained about it.

The protesters wanted to get the video back in the mainstream again and to bring more attention to what has happened, she said.

The video was originally removed in March after 29,000 views, but was uploaded again and reportedly had over 3,000 hits but last Thursday evening it was again removed, stating it was "in violation" of YouTube guidelines and "inappropriate".

YouTube told Spinner that the said the video was removed over a copyright infringement complaint but said users can "appeal the copyright takedown".

So, if Brian May gave his permission to use Bohemian Rhapsody then who has copyright over the video? Well, it could be the protesters.

The matter raises important questions. Is this real life? Is this just fantasy? If Trump was caught by the Obama landslide, did he try to escape from reality? Any way the wind blows...

Naked…Not If BBC!!

BBC hid the naked truth in pursuit of profit, claim naturists

Naturists have accused the BBC of "falsifying history" by putting clothes on the actors appearing in Andrew Marr's History of The World.

British Naturism said that the people of Africa, Ancient Egypt, Australia and other areas of the world would have been naked during many of the periods of history depicted in the reconstructions.
But in what is claimed to be BBC censorship, they are shown wearing costumes of animal skin and cloth often dreamt up by the corporation, says the organisation.
The group is now complaining to parliament after the BBC admitted it had been “obliged” to compromise accuracy to take into account “sensitivities” of audiences.
It described the move as another example of the “once proud bastion of journalistic integrity, sacrificing its reputation for commercial reasons”.
Malcolm Boura, BN's Research and Liaison Officer, said "It is astonishing that the BBC, that once proud bastion of journalistic integrity, should be sacrificing its reputation for commercial reasons.
"The 'world audience' referred to is overseas broadcasters paying the BBC to use programmes.
“We do not pay the BBC licence fee for the systematic falsification of history in the pursuit of profit.
"We do not pay the licence fee to be fed falsehoods intended to appease a misguided minority.
"The BBC is encouraging attitudes known to result in widespread and often serious harm, mainly to children and young people.
"The objective evidence on that is crystal clear. It is inexcusable.”
British Naturism (BN), with 10,500 members, is the UK's officially recognised naturist organisation.
The group said that in the Exodus from Africa, Ancient Egypt, the Minoans, the Caribs, the Australian aborigines, and members of a contemporary South American tribe, the costumes were the product of the BBC censors, not history.
Mr Boura said: "This series is not an isolated case, BBC programmes and the website often self censor to the point of dishonesty.
“Most of the censorship is hidden so without specialist knowledge few people realise what is being done.
"Whatever happened to the BBC's high ideals of education, journalistic integrity, and honesty?
"The BBC considers this conduct acceptable so we have written to the Culture Media and Sport Committee and we are pursuing this lack of honesty through to the BBC Trust as rapidly as possible.”
In a response to the compliant, Paul Kettle from BBC Audience Services, said he was sorry about the “compromises in accuracy” that the corporation felt “obliged” to make in the production of dramatic reconstructions.
"You are of course correct in pointing out that, in reality, natives in various scenes in the early part of the series would have been naked,” he said.
"But in making a series like this we have to take into account the sensitivities of the widest possible world audience."
But a spokesman said it was no excuse.
"The BBC has admitted to the systematic falsification of history for profit and for fear of upsetting anyone,” a spokesman said.
"There are at least six falsifications in the few episodes of Andrew Marr's History of the World that we have reviewed.
"The facts are actually very clear, as the BBC concedes. The costumes in many of the re-enactments are either dubious or quite undeniably false."

Burnt Offerings??

UK Police Arrested Man for Virtually Burning a Poppy

Free speech advocates have recently been infuriated by Kent coppers who arrested an individual for a Facebook post showing a photo of a burning poppy on Remembrance Sunday.

The police have issued a statement saying that an individual from Aylesham had been arrested on suspicion of malicious telecommunications. They confirmed that the man was arrested because of a posting on a social network website of a burning poppy. At the moment, the defendant is in police custody awaiting interview.

Apparently, the industry experts are a bit confused, since this is the sort of thing they expected to hear from the US authorities rather than the civilized parts of Kent. Twitter users have even pointed out that there’s no point of winning either World War if nowadays a person can be arrested for burning a poppy. They also admit that burning a poppy might be obnoxious, but still isn’t considered a criminal offence.

However, the UK police claimed that the arrest was made under section 127 of the Communications Act, under which an individual can be guilty of an offence in case he or she “send by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character”. Still, it remains unclear what exactly is “grossly offensive”, rather than just offensive. Apparently, this word is purely subjective.

A Just Reward?

Baronet's son awarded £5.60 in £2.5m family castle sale row

The son of a baronet embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with his father over the sale of the family's £2 million estate was yesterday awarded just £5.60 a year by the High Court.

Philip Howard, 51, had sued his father Sir John Howard-Lawson, 78, four times in eight years over the sale of the 13th century Corby Castle estate in north Cumbria 18 years ago.
The business consultant launched his latest legal fight against his elderly father earlier this year over claims he had been duped out of his rightful “inheritance”.
The estate had been in the family for 400 years before it was sold owing to financial difficulties.
The Grade I listed mansion, set in park and farmland on the bank of the River Eden near Carlisle, was bought in 1611 by William Howard.
He was the third son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded for treason under Elizabeth I in 1572 after scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots.

When It’s Not Your Day?

French Basketball?

What A Shame!

EU officials: We were hacked at Web conference

A European official says her staff members were hacked when they joined her for a conference on Internet security in Azerbaijan.

European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said in a blog post Saturday that her advisers' computers were compromised as they attended a meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Baku, the Azeri capital.

Her spokesman, Ryan Heath, said the attack occurred while they were in their hotel.

Heath said he and a colleague got messages from Apple Inc. warning them that their computers had been accessed by an unauthorized party, something he said he believed was an attempt to spy on him.

"I'm presuming it was some kind of surveillance," he said in a telephone interview. "What we're going to do is to get the computers forensically analyzed to see what if anything was taken out of them."

He declined to say who he thought might be responsible.

Kroes was critical of her hosts when speaking before the forum on Wednesday, attacking the Azeri government for allegedly spying on activists through the Internet and "violating the privacy of journalists and their sources."

In her blog post Saturday, Kroes cited the hacking as one of several violations which she said highlighted the "harsh" reality of political life in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich nation on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Kroes said that Azeri authorities reneged on a deal to allow her to see political prisoners, and she claimed that activists at the Internet conference were harassed.

"So much for openness," she wrote.

Get A Life!!

Lord of the Rings fan builds life-size Hobbit hole out of 2,600 balloons

Lord of the Rings fan and dad-of-three Jeremy Telford has built a spectacular Hobbit hole out of 2,600 balloons, a feat that's taken him 40 hours over three days.

Mr Telford, 34, inflated the balloons using a hand-pump to bring JRR Tolkien's world to life in his living room.
The Utah father-of-three's children can be seen helping the professional balloon artist, who is part of the group Balloon Guy Entertainment, in a YouTube video as he creates his own version of Bag End.
After carefully planning with his wife, they set up a camera to take pictures every 18 seconds for a time-lapse video.
The detail of the creation can be seen right down to a fireplace with balloon lamps, a pantry with working doors and a fruit bowl filled with balloon apples.
Mr Telford, from Pleasant Grove, Utah, said: ‘I've been wanting to build something from The Hobbit for a while now.
'My wife and I sat down and picked out a few days to set aside for the build.
‘We figured out how to get most of the furniture out of our living room and planned out how to build around the rest.’
He said all three children - aged seven, five, and two - helped him along the way.
Mr Telford says he has been a Tolkien fan since he first read The Hobbit in Junior High School.
He spent hours Googling 18th-century English furniture to find the right style, then he designed the layout and estimated how many balloons he would need.

Once finished, it stayed up for three days.
'After three days we let the kids demolish it for another two,' said Mr Telford.
'They were sad when it was finally time to reclaim the living room for living.'
Mr Telford has also created life-size replicas of a stegosaurus, a complete T-rex skeleton, and a motorcycle.
He also performed his balloon act during the 2002 Winter Olympics and wrote a book about his skill, called Balloonology.

Idiot??

Teen Used 'Old Man' Disguise In Armed Robbery

Sixteen-year-old Miles Alura used Hollywood-style facial prosthetics, make-up and a hair piece to commit an armed raid in Kent.

Brandishing two handguns and dressed up as an old man, 16-year-old Miles Alura and his two teenaged accomplices were caught following a raid on a Kent jewellers.
The trio used handcuffs and a dog lead to tie up terrified staff, before making off with £50,000 worth of jewellery. But an onlooker called the police and all three boys were arrested.
Alura was found in a nearby garden having dumped the gang's haul and removed his facial prosthetics, make-up and hairpiece.
Following their capture, detectives from the Met's Flying Squad linked the July 3 robbery to an earlier raid on June 7 at a jewellers in Mayfair, central London.
Alura had committed that robbery along with one of the two boys - who cannot be named - and while wearing false waist-length dreadlocks.
They jumped over the counter and threatened the staff, intimating they had a gun. Workers were tied up and they escaped with jewellery worth £100,000.
Fingerprints belonging to both boys was found on paperwork - including school history coursework and a drawing of the plan of the store - left at the scene.
Alura was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to a total of five years in prison. His accomplice in the Mayfair robbery, 'Boy A', also 16, of Stoke Newington, was jailed for three years.
Fifteen-year-old 'Boy B', of Holloway, received a 12-month detention and training order. Reporting restrictions were lifted for Alura, but not for the other two boys.
Detective Constable Vicky Bailey, from the Met's Flying Squad, said: "These were violent armed robberies during which innocent members of staff were terrorised and genuinely feared for their lives.
"It is even more shocking to know that this level of violence was inflicted by three schoolboys who went to extraordinary lengths to research, plan and get away with these offences, demonstrated by Alura's sophisticated disguise."
All three defendants had earlier pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court to conspiracy to rob relating to the Kent robbery.
Alura and 'Boy B' had pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm regarding that raid. Alura and 'Boy A' had also pleaded guilty to the Mayfair robbery.

A Real “Dead Drop” Perhaps??

Denver mailman mistakes corpse for Halloween decoration

The United States Postal Service acknowledged on Friday that one of its mail carriers did not report a corpse at a Denver home because he mistook the body for a Halloween display.
"We do know the carrier delivered mail to the house that day, and he remembered seeing something he thought was related to Halloween," the postal service said in a statement. "When the carrier learned that was not the case, he was shocked and extremely upset."
The local ABC News affiliate reported that the dead man, Dale Porch, 46, collapsed and died November 2 on his porch steps after returning home from his night shift job.
Relatives of Porch could not be reached for comment by Reuters.
The postal service called the incident "an unfortunate situation" that probably would not have happened any other time of year.
"Our carriers have a long history of assisting customers in neighborhoods across the country each and every day, and that holds true for our letter carriers here in Denver," the statement said.
The unidentified carrier is a "conscientious and dedicated employee" who remains on the job, the post office said, and any action that may be taken against him will be handled internally.

Dotcom Never Defeated?

Kim Dotcom to Support Pacific Fibre Cable

Apparently, Kim Dotcom’s defeat hasn’t forced him to stop his business. Actually, the shut-down of MegaUpload file-hosting service only drove Dotcom to fight back and defeat a corrupted system which can only undermine innovation and free speech. Thus far, Kim has already announced his plans to restart the cyberlocker under a new name Me.ga, and went further to encourage the relaunch of a failed project named The Pacific Fibre Cable.
The latter was under management of Chairman Sam Morgan and Director Rod Drury. Dotcom has offered them to restart the project of a fiber link cable, which would connect Australia, New Zealand and the US. Moreover, it seems that Dotcom is going to chip in with an impressive amount of money. This past summer, Sam Morgan had to admit that the project in question would be dropped because of the insufficient funds. They needed $400 million to set up 13.000 km of cable, which would be able to provide an impressive speed of 12.8 TB/sec and connect Sydney, Auckland, and Los Angeles. However, Dotcom isn’t all happy with the result, particularly taking into account that he is going to open an entirely new service.

The project’s chairman might b? hyped about the idea, but it is next to impossible to imagine that the US would approve this plan, particularly if Dotcom’s name appears on the papers. In fact, American authorities are still trying to deport Dotcom.

But it seems that Dotcom’s will can’t be easily broken – the speculations are that he is going to finance the subsea cable project, saying that since ISPs control the last mile and provide routers, they would still charge a small fee, but it might be 5 times less than the current price, with 5 times faster speeds.

If Dotcom pulls this off, it would prove that nothing can stop him from going back into the business. Still, his biggest problem remains the US, which would never agree with the project’s restart, despite the fact that the country would really benefit out of this move. Taking into account the stance of the RIAA or the MPAA, it is impossible that the United States would somehow give the thumb up.

The industry experts agree that the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens. Some of them believe that Dotcom is planning on a rightful vendetta, but the others claim that this project would change a whole lot of things online.

Twitter Tows The Line!!

Twitter Started Filtering for Content Industry

One of the most popular social networking websites in the world – Twitter – has recently started taking down tweets that are in breach of copyright legislation.

It seems that the content industry has been leaning on the social service to pull messages that violated copyright. It is still unclear how it can be technically possible, as a 140-character message would be well within what any court would regard as “fair use”.

Apparently, the tweets are targeted where people provide links to content which the entertainment industry says is pirated. Twitter has published a new policy, saying that it isn’t actually censoring the publications – it is just “withdrawing” them and revealing why they go missing. In fact, this puts some handy spin on the microblog’s actions – instead of standing up to the content industry’s insane censorship campaign, the website can argue that it’s just bringing in new transparency to the DMCA process. The matter is that earlier the complaints caused posts to disappear without a trace, and now users can see where the tweet used to be.

However, thus far Twitter hasn’t provided any explanations to the users, so they are still wondering how the tweets could actually be taken down under the DMCA legislation. The matter is that the DMCA grants online entities like Twitter or Google immunity for copyrighted content posted by their users. Nevertheless, the companies have to remove their members’ content if they receive a notice from a rights holder. In response, the target of the notice can send a counter-notice and demand to reinstate their tweet. Microblog is supposed to withhold the post until it gets a valid counter-response from its author. Previously, Twitter just removed the tweet without any explanation, and then manually reposted it in case of receiving a valid counter response.

There’re At It Again

Anonymous Launched Attack

Hacking group Anonymous has recently started the attack it pledged for the 5th November. The group promised to target Australian government portals and big hitters like PayPal.
The hacktivists have embarked on a hacking spree which has threatened Facebook, NBC, PayPal and others. Local media reported that this spree was launched against systemic, global surveillance systems like TrapWire. The latter was the focus of a recent Wikileaks file drop earlier in 2012.

The experts point out that the vigilante-style nature of the hackers’ attack could be regarded by technologically un-savvy world governments as the event supposed to justify boosting surveillance and reducing civil liberties on the Internet, though that’s exactly what the hackers are fighting against.

The list of the companies allegedly victim to the attack includes ImageShack, PayPal, and Arcelor Mittal Steel. In addition, the Greek City website and the Ghana Consulate sites were also targeted, and VMware's ESX Server Kernel source code leaked. In the meantime, an attack against antivirus software developer Symantec is believed to be unrelated.

PayPal has made an announcement, saying that the company is currently investigating the issue, but thus far there’s no evidence that account details of any user have been compromised. However, the @AnonymousPress Twitter account claimed the opposite and linked to a post on PrivatePaste (which has since been taken down). In the event that the hack did happen, PayPal will face around 28,000 details being compromised.

The allegations are part of the hacktivists’ day of action on the 5th of November to coincide with Guy Fawkes Night. The suspicions were that the hacking collective will manage to take down the largest social network in the world in response to the social-games spammer Zynga’s plans to lay off its workforce. Hackers were also outraged by company’s actions against numerous developers which they see as devastating to the gaming industry. Anonymous urged Zynga to change its mind or face the consequences.

Anonymous has endured despite multiple attempts from the United States to shut the collective down. They also plan to coincide a march on Parliament with the Internet activism. By the way, “V for Vendetta” author Alan Moore supports the movement and has even released a single in support of the Occupy and Anonymous actions.

Bill’s TV dream??

Microsoft to Launch Cloud TV?

Well-known software giant seems to be drawing up the plans to launch its own cloud-based television service. According to job listings spotted by the media, Microsoft is looking for a development lead, senior software engineer, and software development engineer. The personnel is being hired to work on a “new Cloud-based TV platform”.

The software giant wants applicants to be experienced in different web technologies like HTML5, Javascript, C#, as well as frameworks, including .NET framework and jQuery. In addition, it’s clear that any cloud telly should be geared for mobile applications outside Windows 8, with listings demanding experience in mobile application development for iOS and Android aside from development with Windows 8, Windows RT and IE.

In the meantime, the press reports say that it isn’t the first time Microsoft is talking about television. Last time, the company’s ambitions have been postponed due doubts about such things as “core competency”. However, now, with Microsoft’s decision to copy Apple business model, a cloud-based TV operation pushing content to personal computers and mobile devices makes a lot more sense. This move would provide much needed content from behind a walled garden that the software giant would control.

In addition, it’s obvious that the Xbox system is proving to be its test bed. As the experts remind, for the last year Xbox has been offering expanded on-demand material and entertainment applications. Microsoft has even introduced the Xbox Music streaming service. However, no details about what the TV service will entail exactly are provided by the company thus far.

We Don’t Like You!

FBI against Private Sector ?

Federal agents are currently frustrated because a number of private companies keep getting in their way when the FBI is snooping – and are noticed to be holding back introduction of more sweeping surveillance of the Internet.

According to media reports, the FBI is seeking Homeland Security’s help to discover cases which they claim were “negatively impacted” by private sector. Some of the private companies are said to delay investigations inadvertently or fail to immediately bend over to surveillance requests by the Feds. For instance, Cricket Communications has irritated federal authorities because the company allegedly hindered an investigation due to technical problems on its network. They got in the way of a wiretap and location tracking.

In response, Cricket claimed that if requested disclosure was lawfully permitted, it would hand over data to the police, but otherwise it denies the request. In the meantime, the anxiety of the police about the efficiency of its information collection refers to its wider plan to appeal for major Internet companies to set back doors solely for the government surveillance.

As for the Homeland Security, they acknowledged that other private companies had also caused some problems for information gathering. The list of the mentioned companies includes T-Mobile, Comcast and MetroPCS. For instance, in Honolulu, Homeland Security complained that there are delays of up to 4 months from Cricket and T-mobile. The only company the Feds aren’t worrying about is Microsoft. The latter has been getting on the FBI’s good side by going as far as to finance “fusion centres”, i.e. hubs for the US surveillance.

Now….That’s A Pub-Crawl!

Herd of elephants go on drunken rampage after mammoth booze up

Fifty wild elephants went on a drunken rampage after downing 18 containers of mahua, a powerful alcoholic brew, in India.

The trunk and disorderly mammals ransacked a shop, three houses and ruined crops in the eastern village of Dumurkota, India.
Police say the gang of over-the-limit tuskers downed more than 500litres of  moonshine alcohol, managing to drink the place dry in a matter of minutes.
The unruly mob demolished dozens of houses in their desperate hunt for more booze after hoovering up the hard stuff in record time.
Local police officer Asish Samanat said the drunken elephants were more 'aggressive' than usual after their mammoth drinking session.
'Unfortunately these animals live in close proximity to man and they recognised the smell of the drink,' he explained.
'They were like any other drunk - aggressive and unreasonable but much, much bigger.'
Police and villagers eventually restored order by herding the elephants over a local river back to their normal migration route.
Officer Samanat added: 'They'll have one heck of a hangover.'

Booted?

Car stolen in Edinburgh with owner in boot

A 62-year-old man thwarted a car theft by jumping into the boot as it was being stolen.

The Vauxhall Astra was targeted by two teenage thieves while the man unloaded the boot in Lochend Road, Edinburgh.

BBC News reports that the owner quickly jumped inside before the pair drove off at high speed. The vehicle was then involved in a number of collisions with other cars.

The man managed to call the police from the boot of his car before the thieves abandoned it near a school and ran off.

The pair were described as being white and in their mid-teens. One was wearing a black, long-sleeved T-shirt, while the other was wearing a white T-shirt.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "The youths responsible for this vehicle theft put not only their own lives in danger, but the lives of other motorists and pedestrians and we are keen to trace them as soon as possible."

Bad Luck???

Man has heart attack, confesses murder, survives

A man who confessed to a murder on his deathbed has survived and will now serve a life prison sentence.

James Washington from Nashville, thinking he was going to die as he was suffering a heart attack, was clearing his conscience.

He confessed to killing Joyce Goodener in July 1995, reports WSMV.

However, Washington - who was already in prison for a different crime - survived the scare and has since been found guilty of the murder.

Prison guard James Tomlinson recalled to the jury: "He kind of got as best as he could, motioned and said, 'I have something to tell you. I have to get something off my conscience and you need to hear this'.

"He said, 'I killed somebody. I beat her to death'."

Washington had tried to retract his statement in court before the verdict was delivered.

You Can’t Eat That….Neigh!!

Facing court, man who fed a sausage roll to police horse

A man who fed a sausage roll to a police horse has been accused of behaving in a “threatening or abusive manner”.

In a rare case, Francis Kelly was charged with causing a breach of the peace in Glasgow earlier this year.
Authorities say the 41-year-old broke the law when he ignored police warnings and gave the pastry to the animal.
But friends of Mr Kelly said tonight that he had done nothing wrong. He gave it a sausage roll because he thought the animal “looked hungry”.
Critics said the case was a waste of money and questioned why it was being brought before the courts next year.
Prosecutors will allege that Mr Kelly behaved in a “threatening or abusive manner” by attempting to feed meat to the horse.
The court will also be told that he “adopted an aggressive stance” towards officers when told to put the food away.
Court papers say the incident occurred in the city’s south on Sept 26.
It was, however, unclear tonight why the police horses were in the area or when he initially came into contact with the animals.
Mr Kelly, from the Govanhall district of Glasgow, was unavailable for comment tonight.
He is said to deny the charge. A source close to the case insisted that he would be fighting the accusation.
“His view is simply that he thought the horses looked hungry — daft as that sounds,” the source said.
Critics tonight took to social networking internet sites to express their anger at the case.
Many said the case was a “waste of money” and showed the world had “gone mad”.
“Seriously, is a man to stand trial for feeling a police horse a sausage roll … the world has gone mad,” Michelle McLaughlin said on the Twitter microblogging website.
Another user called “Lorraine M”, said: “Meanwhile in Glasgow.. Man stands trial for trying to feed sausage roll to a Police Horse. Yes you read right.”
Jack Harvey added: “Apparently the officer who charged the man said he heard the horse clearly say 'neigh' when offered the sausage roll. #SausageRollGate.”

Unemployed…Get A Tan!!

Free spray tans for the unemployed

Jobless people in the worst unemployment blackspot in Wales are being offered free spray tans to help boost their confidence.

Under the scheme in Aberdare, Job Centre staff are sending candidates for tans and makeovers at the town's Well-being and Training Academy.
The town suffers from an unemployment rate of 9.6% - but critics have questioned whether a free fake tan is the best way of helping.
Sarah Sweeden, director of the Academy, said they were happy to give the makeover and free spray tans to genuine jobseekers.
She said: "We want to give people that extra confidence - or that Gok Wan makeover - to give people the incentive to find work.
"It will recognise those who are doing their utmost to find unemployment by giving them a beauty treatment."
Job Centre staff will only send candidates for the treatment if they are seen to be serious about finding work. It is not paid for by the Job Centre or council.
The Academy is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company which aims to help people get back to work by improving their fitness, appearance, nutrition and confidence.
But Plaid Cymru councillor Pauline Jarman complained: "I don't know any employer that would be impressed if you turned up tanned.
"They'd be more inclined to be impressed if you had the skills and experience to undertake the job that's been advertised."

Piss…….Take?

Pizza delivery man urinates on woman's door after no tip

A pizza delivery man has been fired after urinating on a woman's door when he wasn't tipped.

The man was delivering a Pizza Hut order to Chloe Teply in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night (November 1) when the customer claimed she couldn't afford to tip.

Teply told KCCI: "It's just one of those things where unfortunately I don't have the money."

After the delivery, the man was then caught on security cameras unzipping his trousers and peeing on her door.

Teply continued: "I was like, 'Hmm, who was at my door that might be upset with me?' and it kind of hit me that it was the pizza delivery guy."

The delivery man, having been let go by his manager, later called Teply to apologise, and then on Saturday morning (November 3) cleaned her door.

Stripper Fight??

Flying shoe injures man during 17-stripper brawl

A strip club patron almost lost his eye during a brawl involving 17 strippers
It happened in Austin, Texas, as most stripper riots do. The woman who hurled the shoe may be charged with wielding a deadly weapon, according to police.
According to KXAN-TV, the fight between the strippers began in the dressing room at Hot Bodies in Austin on Oct. 26. That’s when authorities say 21-year-old Victoria Perez threw her high-heel shoe, hitting a man in the eye.
She is being held on $50,000 bail.

Unbox A Surfice??

Oh!....Bugger...

Ringing The Changes!!

Almighty ding-dong at bell-ringer's tangle

A church bell-ringer was rescued by fire crews after becoming entangled in ropes in a belfry, it emerged tonight.

Helen Springthorpe was knocked unconscious in the tower of St Nicholas Church, Bathampton, near Bath, Somerset on Monday night.
Authorities said the campanologist, who had only been in the job for three months, was "thrown around the belfry" after tripping and becoming "entangled in a bell ringing rope".
The 58 year-old, who had hit her head on the belfry wall, was on her first "pull" of the night with six other campanologists, during regular bell-ringing rehearsals.
At least 20 firemen and paramedics spent more than an hour on a delicate rescue operation that involved raising part of the bell-ringing gallery floor.
Mrs Springthorpe was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath with a suspected pelvic injury, but only suffered heavy bruising and was released.
As she recovered at home in Bath tonight, she described herself as “just a bit unlucky” and could recall very little of the incident.
"I don't really remember very much about it," said the mother-of-one.
"The other bell ringers all had a go because I am new. I have only been doing it for three months and I am learning.
"I was having a go with one other person showing me how it is done."
Mrs Springthorpe, an administrative worker and typist for an architect, added: "I then tripped and hit my head on the wall
"I don't recall much more, and next thing I know I open my eyes and there are paramedics looking at me. I'm still trying to get myself together now. I remember lots of people around.
"The bell tower was full of firefighters and paramedics. It was an amazing sight."
She continued: "I remember being strapped to a stretcher and lowered through the trap door, seeing all the plaques on the wall in the church as I was lowered down."
Her 30 year-old daughter found out after it was reported in the local press, and "laughed very hard when I told her about it".
She had only recently taken up bell ringing because one of her near neighbours was a member of the tower bell ringing group.
Fire crews were called to the tower at 9.45pm after the six campanologist, two of whom were nurses, raised the alarm.
Authorities then spent more than an hour in a delicate operation to lower her more than 20 feet, which included forcing to up part of the bell-ringing gallery floor located at the top of the towers’ tiny spiral staircase.
Fire crews had to access the tower through a trap-door, which had not been opened for 60 years.
Asked if she would continue with her hobby, she replied: "I will see. Not immediately. Maybe in a week or two."
Initially nine firefighters from Bath responded to the emergency call, and they were joined by 11 more from Temple, in Bristol.
The tower captain, Peter Powell, 79, said: "Helen was just taking her first pull of the evening and she changed hands, and pulled the rope off the stay and it went all right for the first stroke, then all of a sudden she just lost the rope and it went all round her and she collapsed on the floor.
"It all happened so quickly. Whether she fell off the box at the same time or what, we can't say.
"Everybody was just sitting around very worried, not quite knowing what to do, but left the two that did know what they were doing to carry on."
Choking back tears, Mr Powell, who lives in the village, said: "I do care. She was learning to ring, had just started, and then this happened."
The church's Rev Paul Burden said: "It's not nice when it happens and it's a reminder that bell-ringing is a very skilled hobby and there needs to be careful training on it."
A spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue Service said Mrs Springthorpe was lucky to escape serious injury after being ''thrown around the belfry for a bit before landing awkwardly''.
He added: ''Fire crews were alerted by the ambulance service, who had administered morphine and made her comfortable while awaiting rescue.
''Special rope rescue lines and equipment, including a stretcher, were used.
''A section of the bell-ringing gallery floor was lifted up and the woman was then safely lowered about 20ft to the ground, where she was taken into the care of ambulance staff who took her to hospital with a suspected pelvic injury.''
A church spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Ja…We’re Watching You!!

Germany Spying on Its Citizens

Everyone knows that Germans are a bit sensitive about digital privacy, but now it appears the German government has no problems with spying on its citizens. Many Germans were very surprised to know that they are being constantly monitored.

Recently the German authorities admitted that the police monitor such communication services as Skype and Facebook chat, along with major mail services, including Yahoo Mail, Google Mail, and MSN Hotmail. According to the government, the services are monitored “as and when necessary”, but still very precisely.

The information about such activity of the police force was released in frames of a move towards financial transparency of the government. The matter is that the authorities had to release figures of expenses incurred by the Federal Ministry of the Interior under a parliamentary inquiry.

The expenses for spying were hiding in pile of the facts and figures provided by the government. The annalist blog found them, which decided that investigating a shedloads of financial data was better than everything else on German TV. They were digging through the financial reports, when they ran into the page where cost for decoding software for the mail services, including Google Mail, MSN Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail, was listed. The purpose of the expenses on software said “for prevention and investigation”.

It was later that a mention of monitoring system for Skype was found. It turned out that the Ministry of the Interior has spent a lot of money on Trojan viruses and IMSI catchers. This kind of software is being used for “man-in-the-middle” attacks on cell phones widely employed by German police. In other words, the belief that the police are constantly monitoring people is quite real.

Pirate Bay On The Move!!

The Pirate Bay Moved to the Cloud

The largest BitTorrent tracker has been operating for almost a decade now. Within these years, The Pirate Bay faced endless line of problems and copyright owners were doing their best to make it disappear. However, the tracker managed to not just surpass them, but also to thrive. Now The Pirate Bay has moved from physical servers to the cloud.
Earlier in October, Swedish authorities have raided PRQ – a company that used to host the servers of The Pirate Bay – and seized a few of them. Although it is still unclear who exactly had suffered after this move, it is known that the TPB wasn’t amongst them. However, the portal wasn’t so lucky 6 years ago, when Swedish authorities seized some of its servers and kept the site offline for 3 days. From now on, it won’t happen any more. This move came as no surprise, taking into account that earlier this year the portal started a project based on flying drones. Industry observers made a conclusion that the file-sharing service was planning to go into the air soon.

The representatives of the tracker explain that their information now flows around in many clouds, encrypted and ready to be used any time. So, any efforts to attack the tracker will now be “an attack on everything and nothing”. From now on, The Pirate Bay’s new infrastructure will be hosted by a few cloud-based providers that don’t even know who their client is. So, if one of the providers cuts the website off, the TPB can just use new virtual servers from another one. All they will have to do is upload the VM-images and reconfigure the load-balancer in order to resurrect the portal.

The tracker also ensured that the location of its cloud providers is secure and all traffic is encrypted. The operators of The Pirate Bay are completely confident with their decision. In the meantime, the news about the tracker moving to the cloud led to various debates, both optimistic and less positive. The positive ones approve of the decision, because using several cloud hosting firms is very beneficial. But some believe that taking the tracker offline is still possible, since the load balancer will be hosted with a major Internet service provider, who can usually be easily dealt with for the government. Anyway, all experts agree that moving to the cloud makes The Pirate Bay more reliable than ever.

Thanks to TorrentFreak for the source of the article