Archive for June 11th, 2012
Yep, Segway Polo is a sport, and they just had the world championship | Off the Bench
As if I had to tell you, the Balver Malmmuts beat the Blade Pirates 2-0 to win the gold medal at the Official World Cup of Segway in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday. We’re talking about Segway polo — a sport invented in 2004 by none other than Apple’s Steve Wozniak, and from 2006 until this year known as the Woz Challenge Cup.
Although invented in the San Francisco Bay Area, Segway Polo is popular in several countries: among them Germany, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Austria, Barbados and yes, Lebanon. Fun fact: New Zealand’s team is called the Pole Blacks.
via Yep, Segway Polo is a sport, and they just had the world championship | Off the Bench.
Dog lover dies after wearing pet’s lead round his neck after it gets stuck in car wheel – Telegraph
Rob Emslie, 47, had been wearing his dead dog Sheevah’s lead in a noose around his neck when he got into his 4×4 after a night out.
He did not notice that, having slammed his car door shut, the tail end of the trailing lead remained outside the vehicle.
The plumber reversed. As he did so the nylon rope lead became entangled in one of the car’s front wheel axes.
The force snapped Mr Emslie’s neck, killing him instantly.
The accident took place in the early hours of Monday morning at the Butterfield Road restaurant near the Kragga Kamma nature reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region.
via Dog lover dies after wearing pet’s lead round his neck after it gets stuck in car wheel – Telegraph.
Lungs found on L.A. sidewalk – Weird News – Canoe.ca
Los Angeles police are investigating after a woman found what appeared to be a pair of lungs on a sidewalk.
Officials are unsure if the lungs are human or belonged to an animal, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
A woman made the discovery Sunday around 8:30 p.m. Police said the lungs were not attached to a body.
Further tests will determine the origin of the possible organs.
“We don’t know what they are,” Sgt. Robert Dean of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the newspaper. “It’s really weird.”
Drunk Man Busted for Sleeping in Wrong House | NBC San Diego
Authorities in western New York say a 20-year-old man thought he was sleeping on his friend’s couch when state troopers woke him up over the weekend.
It turns out he was off by about 20 miles.
State police say a homeowner in rural Erie County town of Newstead woke up around 4:30 a.m. Saturday and found a stranger sleeping on his couch. He was unable to wake up the stranger, so his wife called 911. When troopers arrived, they found the very intoxicated man still sleeping on the couch.
via Drunk Man Busted for Sleeping in Wrong House | NBC San Diego.
Alta. woman hoarded 1,100 rabbits – Weird News – Canoe.ca
An woman who hoarded more than 1,100 rabbits in her southwest Edmonton home was fined $8,500 and banned for life from owning more than one pet Monday.
Shelley Zenner, 44, was also ordered to take psychological counselling after earlier pleading guilty in court to a charge under the Animal Protection Act of causing distress to an animal.
“It’s a horrific story, but also very sad,” said Crown attorney Christian Lim after the sentencing.
Court has heard animal protection officers raided Zenner’s two-storey home on March 12, 2011, and removed 589 rabbits – the largest single seizure of rabbits Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) officials have ever witnessed.
via Alta. woman hoarded 1,100 rabbits – Weird News – Canoe.ca.
* Should point out the woman in the picture is a protection officer and not the accused. The rabbit is called Lionel.
Hitchhiker writing ‘Kindness of America’ book shot in drive-by – Telegraph
Ray Dolin was sitting by US Highway 2 in Montana waiting for a ride on Saturday evening when a man drove up, rolled down his window, shot him in the arm and drove off, Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier said.
Mr Dolin had approached the truck thinking the driver was offering him a ride, the sheriff said.
Mr Dolin flagged down a passer-by and was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A nurse said Monday he was not taking calls or accepting messages.
The suspected shooter, 52-year-old Charles Lloyd Danielson III, was arrested about four hours later. Authorities said he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
via Hitchhiker writing ‘Kindness of America’ book shot in drive-by – Telegraph.
Woman stops home intruder with paintball gun | Off the Bench
Didn’t I already see this in Home Alone? Bumbling crook Elvis Alexander will have quite a story to tell down at the lockup after a woman repelled the home burglar with a paintball gun. At least he was easy to identify. My favorite police report paragraph of the day:
via Woman stops home intruder with paintball gun | Off the Bench.
Supreme Court declines fresh review of Guantanamo detainee issue | National News – KCRA Home
Appeals from seven detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, contesting their open-ended custody, were turned aside by the Supreme Court on Monday.
Without comment, the justices refused to take a fresh look at the “habeas” petitions by the suspected foreign enemy fighters and what rights they have to make their claims in federal court.
In the so-called Boumediene ruling in 2008, the high court said “enemy combatants” held overseas in U.S. military custody have a right to a “meaningful review” of their detention in the civilian legal justice system. It would force the government to present evidence and justify keeping the prisoners indefinitely, without charges.
But a federal appeals court in Washington has since refused to order the release of any detainee filing a habeas corpus writ, in some cases rejecting such orders from lower-court judges.
According to Pentagon figures, 169 foreign men are still at the Guantanamo facility, including five “high-value” suspected terrorists from the 9/11 attacks set to go on military trial.
via Supreme Court declines fresh review of Guantanamo detainee issue | National News – KCRA Home.
The Himalayan Times : Meet on effect of malnutrition – Detail News : Nepal News Portal
KATHMANDU: Journalists from South Asian counties have gathered for a two-day journalism workshop on nutrition to examine the impact of malnutrition on societies and the way these countries are trying to tackle the problem.
In a statement, the World Bank said the workshop that began today will explore different policy options at national and regional levels, discussing ways to hold policymakers accountable towards the needs of citizens. “South Asia has the largest number of undernourished children in the world. It is a silent killer that rarely hits the headlines,” said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank Country Manager for Nepal. She said 82 million children under the age of five are malnourished in South Asia. The statement noted that poor nutrition leads to a third of deaths in the developing countries.
via The Himalayan Times : Meet on effect of malnutrition – Detail News : Nepal News Portal.
A Martian Joined Ray Bradbury and Me for Dinner in Paris – NYTimes.com
Ray Bradbury, who died last week at 91, was a masterly writer of science fiction and fantasy, and an extremely prolific one. He wrote at least a thousand words a day and implored others to do the same.
Only slightly less well known is that he was also a prolific signer of autographs. And not just in his books, as I learned one evening two decades ago.
I was working in Paris, and one day a colleague asked if I’d like to go to dinner with a longtime friend of his: Ray Bradbury, who happened to be in France on a consulting arrangement related to the new Disney theme park east of Paris.
John told me where and when to show up, and said I should bring a friend. And oh, he added, bring your Bradbury books: Ray loves to sign them, in fact carries around some felt-tip markers just for that purpose.
via A Martian Joined Ray Bradbury and Me for Dinner in Paris – NYTimes.com.
