Dummies!!

Robbers caught after leaving footprints in snow

Thieves were caught after police tracked footprints they left behind in the snow.

Two men held up a convenience store in Whitnash, Warwickshire Saturday morning (March 23), before they left with money and scratchcards, according to Metro.

Cops showed up to investigate the crime, taking advantage of the cold, snowy conditions to follow their footprints to a block of flats.

They obtained a second address through questioning and promptly made their way there to apprehend four suspects.

Six suspects in total were arrested that day, four of whom were eventually handed robbery charges.

Spoilt??

Mother buys 2-year-old daughter £4m New York apartment

A lucky toddler has been handed more than a silver spoon after her mother splashed out £4.25million for her on a luxury New York apartment.
The fortunate two-year-old may still be in diapers but it appears her future is already mapped out with the purchase of the luxury condo in the 90-storey Manhattan building.
Sotheby’s real estate Kevin Brown was showing a Chinese client around the property when she mentioned it would be for her daughter.
‘She said her daughter was going to go to Columbia, or NYU, or maybe Harvard,’ he told Chinese broadcaster CCTV.
‘She needed to be in the centre of the city and that was why she was picking this one particular apartment.
‘So I said, “Oh, how old is your daughter?” And she said, “Well, she’s 2″. And I was just shocked.’
The apartment, which is not yet finished, is situated in a glass skyscraper on 57th street overlooking Central Park.
It boasts facilities including an aquarium, swimming pool and a private concert hall.

Make Mine A large One!

Sea lion found relaxing in luxury Californian hotel

A sea lion pup decided life in the ocean wasn’t for her after pitching up inside a luxury Californian hotel.
Guests at the Pantai Inn in La Jolla were surprised to find the finned mammal propped up on chair at the patio bar.
Hotel employees said the female sea lion waddled its way across a street before deciding on relaxing in the comfort of the cushioned seat.
‘I got an email saying that we had a sea lion pup lounging on our patio,’ manager Shane Pappas told AFP. ‘The poor little girl was lost and malnourished.’
The 27.5lb creature is now ‘on the mend’ after experts from SeaWorld in San Diego came to her aid at the hotel.
She will be monitored for the next six weeks and nursed back to health before being released back into the wild.
A number of severely malnourished and dehydrated pups have been coming to shore along the Orange County coastline in recent weeks.
More sick sea lion pups have stranded themselves on southern California beaches so far in 2013 than in the previous five years combined, but scientists are still unsure what is afflicting the animals.

Who’s Justin Bieber??

Justin Bieber split from monkey at Munich airport

JUSTIN Bieber had to leave his pet monkey in quarantine after arriving in Germany last week without the necessary papers for the animal, an official said today.

The 19-year-old Canadian arrived at Munich Airport last Thursday.
Customs spokesman Thomas Meister said today that when the singer went through customs he did not have the documentation necessary to bring the capuchin monkey into the country - so the animal had to stay with authorities.
Bieber performed in Munich on Thursday night on the latest leg of his European tour. He is playing several concerts in Germany and Austria over the next week.
Bieber had a trying stay in London recently, first being booed by fans when he arrived late at a concert, then struggling with his breathing and fainting backstage at a show, and becoming involved in a fracas with a photographer outside his hotel.

Young Afraid Of Cheese??

Stilton cheese under threat as young people 'afraid to eat the mould'

The future of Stilton cheese is under threat because young people are afraid to eat the mould, according to a new report.

Sales of Blue Stilton have plummeted among younger age groups with most people who buy the traditional delicacy approaching middle age, the latest research shows.
Industry experts say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone.
Consumption by those under 30 years of age has slumped by 23 per cent and few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.
But cheese experts are warning that if the trend continues it could mean that Blue Stilton, which has been in production in the UK for almost 300 years, would only be available overseas.
Now British supermarket The Co-op has decided to step in to lend British Stilton producers a helping hand and has issued an emergency SOS – Save Our Stilton – to the people of Britain to protect Blue Stilton's unique flavours and taste for the future.
Cooperative cheese buyer Mark Cloudy said: "This cheese is part of Britain's heritage. We can't stand by and let it fade away – yet the people who like it are getting old.
"Millions of young people have been taught not to eat food with mould on it, and that view is having a catastrophic effect upon Blue Stilton. They take one look at the blue veins running through the cheese and then turn away.
"Ironically, while Blue Stilton is declining in popularity in Britain, overseas buyers can't get enough of it. The cheese is regarded as a supreme delicacy in Europe and across America, with buyers prepared to pay up to £30 a kilo – over three times the UK price.
The Cooperative, which actively supports British producers, is calling upon leading TV chefs to join their campaign to save the traditional cheese, as well as producing new customer recipes which using Stilton, it believes that the likes of Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Nigel Slater have can play a vital role in making Stilton great again.
Mr Cloudy said: "Cookery programmes are watched by millions of people every week. Seeing British chefs using Blue Stilton would help a new generation of consumers to discover what a wonderful ingredient Blue Stilton is.
"We also want to make the cheese popular again to help British cheese producers. Local companies employing local people depend upon Stilton sales to make a living.
"We hope that our campaign will help Blue Stilton cheese makers of all sizes continue to thrive for decades to come" Industry expert say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone."
Consumption by those under 30 years of age has dropped by 23 per cent. And few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.
Blue Stilton was first produced in Britain in 1730 and is named after the village of Stilton where the cheese was first made.
Blue mould is encouraged to grow on the cheese deliberately to create a distinctive acidic tang which blends perfectly with the cheese's rich, creamy texture – and it is perfectly safe to eat.
So highly regarded is the cheese that it is the only British variety to have been granted protected trademark status. Only Stilton made from pasteurised cows milk in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire can legally use the name.
Just five dairies currently make the cheese.
Traditionally Blue Stilton is eaten with port at Christmas, but is often used in classic recipes such as Stilton and Pear salad, and cream of celery or broccoli soup.
To enjoy the full flavours of Blue Stilton, it should be removed from the refrigerator approximately one hour before serving, to let the cheese reach room temperature.

Flat–Packed Cakes….Not!!

Ikea recalls cakes in 23 countries after sewage bacteria found

Ikea has recalled thousands of cakes from its stores in 23 countries after Chinese authorities identified high levels of bacteria normally found in human and animal waste.

The furniture giant admitted on Tuesday that coliform bacteria had been found in two batches of almond cake from a supplier in Sweden.
It comes after Chinese customs officials announced that they had destroyed a batch of 1,800 cakes after finding it contained high levels of coliforms which failed to meet hygiene standards.
Coliforms, common bacteria which are found in faeces as well as soil and water, do not normally cause serious illness but are a sign of contamination which can indicate the presence of more harmful bacteria such as E.coli.
It comes after Ikea recalled meatballs and sausages from 24 countries due to fears they could have been contaminated with horse meat.
Ikea said batches of the cakes sold in all countries had been tested, but no evidence of contamination was found in those sold in the UK and Ireland.
The affected batches of almond cake with chocolate and butterscotch all came from the same Swedish supplier which exports to stores across the world, the retailer said.
A spokesman said: "There is no health risk associated with consuming this product. The production batches have, as per safety and quality routines, been tested for bacteria that can cause health issues, such as E.coli, and none of these pathogen bacteria have been found.
"However, since the product does not comply with our strict food quality standards we have decided to withdraw the concerned production batches from sale in the 23 affected countries. The UK and Ireland are not affected."
The 23 countries in which almond cake was withdrawn were: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

Veggies Be Warned!

Salad is more dangerous than beefburgers, leading food expert warns

Salad labelled as "ready-to-eat" is more dangerous than beefburgers, one of Britain`s top food experts has said, following a spate of Cryptosporidium infections linked to the product.

Certain types of bacteria found in the pre-cut salad bags can be almost impossible to kill, Professor Hugh Pennington said, unless the leaves are irradiated – a process the public would oppose.
His claim follows a Health Protection Agency investigation into an outbreak of salad-linked Cryptosporidium infections that affected around 300 people in England and Scotland in May.
In the analysis of the exposure to different salad vegetables a significant statistical association was found between infection and the consumption of pre-cut spinach.
When specific retailers were included in the analysis, the strongest association with infection was found to be with consumption of ready to eat pre-cut mixed salad leaves from a major supermarket chain.
"Together these findings suggest that one or more types of salad vegetables could have been contaminated," said the HPA.
Professor Pennington said the case also followed on from several in the USA where they are "very worried" about "washed and ready-to-eat" bagged salad.
Last year produce giant Dole issued a recall on its American Blend bagged salad in 10 states in those two regions, after the Tennessee Department of Health found listeria bacteria in one sample.
Demand for salad has boomed because of healthily eating campaigns. But salad is considered one of the products most likely to cause food-related illness – largely because greens are grown directly in the soil, and some pathogens can only be killed by heat or strong detergents, not just water.
Professor Pennington said: "It is generally safer to eat a burger than the salad that goes with it.
"Despite the recent horsemeat and other scandals, the meat can be traced and through a rigorous process that checks for its quality etc.
"That does not exist to the same rigour for salad. You can only make vegetables safe by cooking and you can`t obviously do that with salad.
"You could irradiate it – but that would be a `no, no` with the public. You just can`t be absolutely sure that the bagged salad you are buying – which has been put through a chemical wash to kill the bugs, is actually free of them.
"These bugs are very good at clinging on to salad and the risk from cryptosporidium, salmonella and listeria is very real.
"I would advise people to thoroughly wash salad even when it says it has been washed and is ready to eat."
Bagged salad on sale in supermarkets is often sourced from the same suppliers for most leaf types, often with common production lines packing product for several retailers at the same time.
Professor Pennington also pointed out that a bean sprout farm in northern Germany was identified as the most likely source of many of the infections in the E. coli outbreak that left 22 people dead in 2011.
The farm, located in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, was the epicentre of the outbreak that has also made more than 2,000 people ill.
Professor Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, said the biggest E.coli outbreak happened in Japan in 1996 and involved radish sprouts.
"My understanding is that this farm in Germany was an organic one and there are more risks with organic food. For example organic chicken has more bugs than non-organic because they spend longer in the field and have wild bird droppings on them etc.
"Vegetables are fine and safe if they are cooked in the traditional British way of boiling them to death. The only danger comes when you eat them raw.
"Sometimes the spouts are contaminated to start with and they can get contaminated when spouting in the steaming process.
"At the end of the day the responsibility falls on the people who produce food. But much of our vegetables are now grown in countries who do not necessarily have the same hygiene standards.
"At the end of the day there has to be trust who is in supplying you with your food. The consumer has no way of knowing how the food has been produced. The consumer is not in a position to know all that has gone on."
Professor Pennington headed the investigation into the E.coli outbreak in Wishaw which claimed the lives of 20 elderly people in 1996.

He Saves The Day!

Cold caller saves pensioner's life

A cold caller saved a pensioner's life when he rang her while she was having a stroke.

They are one of the biggest sources of irritation for people who find themselves at home during the day.
But for 84-year-old Jessica Robbins a cold caller attempting to sell her solar panels became an unlikely hero when he rang her while she was having a stroke.
Simon Shepherd, 25, who was in the second day of his job at an energy firm in Tamworth, Staffs., called an ambulance for Jessica Robbins when it became clear she was struggling to breathe.
When he rang the pensioner on March 12 Mr Shepherd initially asked how she was “doing today”.
To his shock, Mrs Robbins, who lives on her own, said she believed she had just had a stroke.
“She told me she was lying face down on her living room floor, unable to move,” Mr Shepherd, from Tamworth, said.
“She said she couldn’t breathe properly and I just felt sick. It sounds strange to say but it sounded like she was dying. A lot of people make bizarre things up to get us off the phone but I knew that this was something different.
“She couldn’t breathe properly and sounded panicked – terrified. She told me she couldn’t move and thought she’d had a stroke.
“An elderly woman living on her own is all alone and it’s terrifying circumstances to find yourself in. She’s someone’s mum, someone’s grandma, a neighbour and there was no one to help her.”
Mr Shepherd stayed on the phone to reassure Mrs Robbins before ending the call. He immediately told his manager, Craig Siviter, who dialled 999. He asked for an ambulance to be sent to Mrs Robbins’ house in Walsall, in the West Midlands – around 15 miles from the company’s offices.
Mr Shepherd then called Mrs Robbins again to tell her an ambulance was on its way.
Paramedics entered her flat with the help of a neighbour and found Mrs Robbins lying on the floor. She was taken to hospital - where she made a full recovery.
She said: "I am very grateful to the young man, he was very good with me on the phone, he went above and beyond for me.
"My father had a couple of strokes like this but I've got the feeling back and I've got the young lad to thank for that, and the ambulance service."

Whoops!!

Jailed Hacker Cracked Prison Network

Nicholas Webber, jailed for 5 years for creating a hacker’s forum website, was accidentally invited into an IT class in prison. As you might guess, the consequences of this move appeared difficult.

Now the prison authorities are arguing about who let it happen, but it actually doesn’t matter any more. For some reason, Nicholas Webber was allowed into an IT class in his prison, despite the fact that he was serving 5 years for launching a website called GhostMarket. The latter allowed people interested in writing computer viruses to partake of stolen IDs and enjoy private credit card data to congregate.

The hacker was caught using hacked personal data to purchase everything from smart devices to hotel stays. Although one might have thought that an IT class would have been dull for such expert, in fact inviting him to an IT class encouraged him to enjoy a little mischief. In result, the computer network at Her Majesty’s Prison Isis, South London, was hacked.

The mistake which led to the hacking back in 2011 has only come to light after the teacher at the IT class in jail, Michael Fox, launched a lawsuit against the college which employed him for unfair dismissal. The teacher claims he wasn’t aware that Webber had been a hacker. However, Prison Isis banned him and sent notes to other prisons that his talents were allegedly imperfect. As a result, Kensington and Chelsea College also laid him off.

According to the representatives of the prison, at the time of this incident the educational computer system at Isis was a closed network, without access to personal data or wider access to the worldwide web or other prison systems. However, the press reports announced that a “major panic” ensued. Michael Fox told an employment tribunal that the perceived problem was there was a tutor who had consequently been excluded by the jail and charged with allowing a hacker to crack the jail’s network.

Of course, someone must have known that Nicholas Webber was charged for hacking before he went to the IT class – the individual was sometimes referred to as a “notorious cyber-criminal”. It is unclear who might it have been if not Fox.

Her Majesty’s Prison Isis specializes in criminals under 25 and is located next to Her Majesty’s Prison, Belmarsh. It is also considered to be a maximum security facility. In the meantime, after the accident the BBC reported that the prison had been “bedeviled” with faulty technology.