Zappa.com

WATCH OUT!

______________________


New bill for blind Texas hunters

Blind hunters would be able to use laser-sighted rifles to hunt animals in Texas, if a bill introduced in the state's legislature is successful.

Republican Edmund Kuempel proposed an amendment to existing law that would permit "legally blind" people to use a laser-sighting device when hunting.

Current Texas law prohibits the use of laser sights, spotlights and headlights for hunting purposes.

A sighted person would be legally required to accompany the blind hunter.

"This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that's great," said Mr Kuempel.

Sighted guide

Blind hunters are not a new phenomenon in Texas.

Under current procedures, a sighted guide can assist a visually-impaired hunter by peering over the hunter's shoulders and advising where to aim the gun and when to pull the trigger.

However, hunters say that without a laser pointer it is difficult to time the shot.

Laser sights, spotlights and headlights are banned in hunting in Texas, because they can make the animals freeze in their tracks.

If the bill is passed in when the state legislature reconvenes in January, it will probably not become law until 2008.

Mr Kuempel's bill would give the state until 1 January 2008, to come up with a definition of legally blind so the law could be enforced.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6173535.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Here's a strange story.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16210496/?GT1=8816

Here's another...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16203917/

_________________

Join the PackardGoose forum! Send me a PM!

In the mean time, a lady from Heusden is suing the Dutch lottery organization Nationale Postcodeloterij.

Last year, the prize of 13,8 million euros was won by a street in this picturesque village. Each contestant won just over a million per lot.
The lady in question wasn't participating, and now she's suing the lottery for causing emotional damage.

_________________

Join the PackardGoose forum! Send me a PM!

More cocaine decisions:
____________________

Cocaine traces 'on Spanish euros'

Traces of cocaine can be found on 94% of euro banknotes circulating in Spain, a study has suggested.

Analysis of notes from a selection of Spain's major cities showed that each one carried an average of 25.18 micrograms of cocaine.

Spain has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in the world, with about 475,000 regular users, El Mundo newspaper reports.

Euro banknotes have only been in circulation since January 2002.

Scientists could not carry out tests on old peseta banknotes before 2002 for fear that they would not withstand the chemicals used in the analysis.

Now, though, armed with resilient modern euro notes, experts collected 20 notes for analysis from each of five cities - Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Seville.

From each city they gathered five 10 euro notes, 10 of 20 euros and five of 50 euros.

Only three of notes gathered from each of Madrid and Barcelona were found to carry no trace of cocaine.

Wider issue

Users of the drug usually snort it by rolling up a banknote into the shape of a tube.

But experts said it was difficult to tell which notes had been used for snorting cocaine and which had become contaminated with the drug in other ways, such as in counting machines.

According to El Mundo Spain has just over one billion banknotes in circulation, with estimates suggesting that 142 million have been used directly to snort the drug.

Other countries have been found to have drug problems in the past: a BBC survey in 1999 found that 99% of £5 notes tested in London contained traces of cocaine.

Euro banknotes in Germany appear especially vulnerable: a 2003 survey gave similar results to the Spanish analysis about cocaine traces.

And this month officials in Germany suggested that methamphetamine, or crystal meth, could be causing euros to "corrode" when users snort it through a rolled-up note.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6208877.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

'Wacky warnings' rewarded in US


The warning appears on coin-operated washing machines

A washing machine complete with a warning not to put anybody inside has been given an award for the "wackiest warning" by a US lobby group.

The Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch says the tendency of Americans to sue companies has gone too far, encouraging absurd warning labels on products.

But others say warning labels can play a role in protecting the public.

An engine manufacturer which warned "Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level" won second prize.

Excessive litigation

Warnings not to dry wet mobile phones in microwave ovens and not to iron lottery tickets tied for third place.

Honourable mentions went to a phonebook which advised: "Please do not use this directory while operating a moving vehicle".

The Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (M-Law) is campaigning to cut down on what it considers the harmful effects of excessive litigation in the United States.

The winning labels were selected by listeners of a Detroit radio station from a list compiled by M-Law.

The group began the Wacky Warning Labels contest 10 years ago as part of its campaign to have "common sense warnings on products", M-Law says on its website.

But a spokesperson from the washing machine maker whose label bagged top prize, said its warning is valid.

"A front loader (washing machine) is just at the right height - speaking now as a mother and not a corporate spokeswoman - for a four-year-old," said Patti Andresen Shew of Alliance Laundry Systems.

She said other companies had been sued after small children had climbed into washing machines which had then been started.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6236585.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Man shoots friend in argument over James Brown's height

ATMORE, Alabama: A man shot a friend after an argument over the height of recently deceased soul singer James Brown, police said.

Dan Gulley Jr., 70, was charged with assault in connection with the shooting of David James Brooks Jr., 62, Monday, police said.
Gulley shot Brooks twice in the abdomen, and Brooks went to his car, got a gun and shot at Gulley but missed, officers told the Press-Register newspaper.

Information on Brooks' condition was not available. Officers did not believe alcohol was a factor.

_________________
''minimart - it's basically a scaled-down supermarket, fits inside a petrol station. sells pies, antifreeze..''

Are we amusing ourselves to death?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_ ... ion_nation

_________________
“The power of pop music to corrupt and putrify the minds of world youth are virtually limitless."

roger waters would be proud

Jungle girl alive after 19 years

It looks like a girl who disappeared 19 years ago has been found - after living wild in the jungle in Cambodia.

Rochom P'ngieng was just eight when she disappeared while she was looking after the family's buffalo.

Her dad recognised her because of a scar on her arm and tests are being carried out to make sure she is Rochom.

Police have said the woman was "half human and half animal" and could not talk properly. When she was found she was naked and walking like a monkey.

The woman was found when a villager noticed that some of his food had been taken and saw what he thought was a "jungle person", picking up grains of rice from the ground.

The BBC's reporter Guy De Launey said it may be possible that the woman is not Rochom P'ngieng because there are many people in the remote area who are seeking refuge in Cambodia from Vietnam and may want to keep their identity a secret.

Cambodia is a country in south east Asia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6270000/newsid_6278100/6278159.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Can't afford no socks?!

Holes found in Wolfowitz's style

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may be dedicated to freeing the world from poverty - but he seems unable to afford a new pair of socks.

Mr Wolfowitz's sartorial deficiencies were revealed when he took his shoes off while visiting a mosque in Edirne, western Turkey.

Both of the grey socks sported holes with his big toes peeking through.

The last World Bank annual report, for 2006, puts the president's salary as of 1 July, 2005, at $391,440 (£200,279).

Shelter

Mr Wolfowitz was in Turkey on a two-day visit that included a meeting with Prime Minister Reycep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Wolfowitz strongly backs Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

On his trip he also met homeless men at a shelter in Istanbul who are being helped by a World Bank-financed scheme.

In an earlier sartorial foray in the media, in the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11, Mr Wolfowitz was seen to spit on his comb before running it through his hair ahead of a television appearance.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6316765.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein

Heidi Klum and Seal 'hang around' naked in their LA home

Washington, Jan 24- Celebrity couple Heidi Klum and Seal have naked family portraits hung on the walls of their Los Angeles house.

The pictures - taken before the supermodel fell pregnant with the couple's two-month-old son Jonathan - feature Seal, Heidi's daughter Leni, two, and her and Seal's 16-month-old son Henry.

"There are big, naked portraits of them with the kids. They are tasteful, but, you know, confronting," Hollywoodrag.com quoted a friend of the couple, as saying.

The Victoria's Secret model has always taken pride in her toned physique. She lost an astonishing three stone in just two months after giving birth to Henry under the guidance of celebrity fitness guru David Kirsch.

"I ate well during pregnancy- anything I felt like, even cookies, ice cream and fries. But with David I had to watch everything I ate. When I need to get back in shape fast I know he is the man," said the 33-year-old.

_________________
...And it was useless anymore
Yes, it was (back up, back up!) anymore
(Hey, you're hurtin' Joey Psychotic!)
Yes, it was useless anymore
(Move back now!)

ones today bird flu and now the sheep

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/6317693.stm

_________________
Arf you out of your fucking mind.

New mother, 67, lied to fertility clinic about age
From Reuters
January 29, 2007

LONDON — The oldest woman ever to give birth deceived doctors to get the fertility treatment that enabled her to have twins at 67 last month, a British newspaper said Sunday.

Carmela Bousada, who gave birth to twins Christian and Pau on Dec. 29, apparently convinced a Los Angeles clinic that she was 55, the cut-off age for its in-vitro fertilization program, Britain's News of the World said.

"They didn't ask for my age or my passport. I may look tired now, but before the births I did look slim and a lot younger," the newspaper quoted Bousada as saying in an interview.

The clinic, the Pacific Fertility Center in Los Angeles, was not available for comment. The clinic has confirmed in media reports that it treated Bousada.

It says its success rate for women older than 43 is just 2%, compared with 56% for women younger than 34.

Bousada, a Spaniard, sold her home to pay for the treatment.

_________________
...And it was useless anymore
Yes, it was (back up, back up!) anymore
(Hey, you're hurtin' Joey Psychotic!)
Yes, it was useless anymore
(Move back now!)

Will they ever let go???



Eternal embrace? Couple still hugging 5,000 years on

Archaeologists in Italy have discovered a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, hugging each other.

"It's an extraordinary case," said Elena Menotti, who led the team on their dig near the northern city of Mantova.

"There has not been a double burial found in the Neolithic period, much less two people hugging -- and they really are hugging."

Menotti said she believed the two, almost certainly a man and a woman although that needs to be confirmed, died young because their teeth were mostly intact and not worn down.

_________________
“The power of pop music to corrupt and putrify the minds of world youth are virtually limitless."

DUSONGYO, Thailand (AFP) - A Thai mother who was lost for 25 years after catching the wrong bus home has spoken of her ordeal after being reunited with her family thanks to simple song.

The last time Jaeyaena Beuraheng saw her seven children was in 1982 when she left south Thailand on one of her regular shopping trips across the border to nearby Malaysia.

She never returned, and police later told her family that she had apparently been killed in a traffic accident.

In fact, Jaeyaena had simply taken the wrong bus home -- an error that would have been easy to fix except that she only speaks the local dialect of Malay known as Yawi, according to officials at the homeless shelter where the 76-year-old has lived for two decades.

"I didn't tell anybody where I was going on that day, because I went there quite often," she told AFP, crying as she spoke.

She was heading home from her shopping trip when she mistakenly hopped on a bus to Bangkok, some 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) north of her home in Narathiwat province.

In Bangkok, unable to read Thai and speaking a language few Thais can understand, she again took a wrong bus, this time to Chiang Mai, another 700 kilometers (430 miles) further north.

There she ended up as a beggar for five years, until she was sent to a homeless shelter in the central Thai province of Phitsanulok in 1987.

"I thought I would die in Phitsanulok. I thought about running away many times, but then I worried I would not be able to make it home. I really missed my children," Jaeyaena said.

Officials at the shelter told AFP that she was known as "Auntie Mon," because her speech sounded similar to the language of ethnic Mon living along the border with Myanmar.

But still no one could understand her, until last week when three health students from Narathiwat arrived on an exchange program to research the problem of homelessness at the shelter.

She sang a song for the visitors, one that the staff at the shelter had often heard but did not understand.

"She sang her same old song, one that nobody could understand until those three students from Narathiwat told us that she was sing in Yawi, a Malay dialect," the official said.

"So we asked them to talk to her and find out if she had relatives," official said.

Jaeyaena told the students that she had a Malaysian husband and seven children, recounting her entire story of the bus and how she had become lost in northern Thailand.

Her shocked family sent her youngest son and her eldest daughter to meet her and bring her home on Tuesday, the official said.

_________________
“The power of pop music to corrupt and putrify the minds of world youth are virtually limitless."

From Dutch teletext:

Visitors of a peepshow are watching a "play", and therefore the show counts as cultural performance. Thus is the verdict of the Amsterdam court of justice. This causes a company to receive thousands of euros from the treasury.

The owner of the sex company appealed successfully to an earlier verdict. The treasury was found to be right, and gave the company an additional income tax assessment of a few thousand euros.

According to the court, peep shows are in the lower, 6% VAT category. Up to now, owners of peep shows pay the high category of 19%.

Maybe this means I can put Playboy on my literature list.

_________________

Join the PackardGoose forum! Send me a PM!

Couple charged with having sex in front of child
By Associated Press
Saturday, February 10, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A Woonsocket mother and her boyfriend are headed to trial on charges they had intercourse in front of the woman’s 9-year-old daughter as a way to teach the girl about sex.
Rebecca Arnold, of Woonsocket, and her boyfriend, David Prata, have pleaded not guilty to felony child-neglect charges. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for next month.

When questioned by an investigator from the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, Prata, 33, said he and Arnold, 36, had sex ”all the time” in front of the child and that ”we don’t believe in hiding anything.”

He said the girl would often be on the bed watching as the couple had sex. Though they did not ask her to leave, they also did not force her to remain on the bed, Prata said.

Asked why he thought a child that age should know about sexual acts, Prata replied, ”We wanted to prepare her so she would know how,” according to a report from the investigator, Vanessa E. Cisela.
The girl, who is now 11, went to live with her biological father in North Adams, Mass., after spending the summer with her mother in Woonsocket.

Her teacher called the Child Abuse Hotline in December 2004 to report that the girl said her mother and her boyfriend had sex in front of her. The child told a Massachusetts social services investigator that her mother and Prata never touched her or tried to include her in the sex.

Woonsocket police arrested Prata and Arnold in February 2005. The couple is accused of ”providing an environment that is lewd and depraved in a manner that makes their home unfit for the child to live in,” according to court records.

Prata and Arnold are free on bail pending a March 19 pretrial conference in Family Court. They each face one to three years in prison or a maximum $1,000 fine, or both.

_________________
...And it was useless anymore
Yes, it was (back up, back up!) anymore
(Hey, you're hurtin' Joey Psychotic!)
Yes, it was useless anymore
(Move back now!)

Mummified body found in front of blaring TV
Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:19am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Police called to a Long Island man's house discovered the mummified remains of the resident, dead for more than a year, sitting in front of a blaring television set.
The 70-year-old Hampton Bays, New York, resident, identified as Vincenzo Ricardo, appeared to have died of natural causes. Police said Saturday his body was discovered Thursday when they were called to the house over a burst water pipe.
"You could see his face. He still had hair on his head," Newsday quoted morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus as saying. The home's low humidity had preserved the body.
Officials could not explain why the electricity had not been turned off, considering Ricardo had not been heard from since December 2005.

_________________
...And it was useless anymore
Yes, it was (back up, back up!) anymore
(Hey, you're hurtin' Joey Psychotic!)
Yes, it was useless anymore
(Move back now!)

Duck born with extra pair of legs

A rather ugly duckling is attracting a lot of attention, after it was born with four legs.
Stumpy, who's just 10 days old, has already been photographed by lots of people from the press, along with his owner Nicky Janaway.

She spoke about the first time she saw him: "It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting '1,2,3,4."

Stumpy is apparently doing well, and using his extra legs as stabilisers.

mr green sent a photo of that duck on random photos.never noticed extra legs..bit like the old chicken joke when the farmar breeds three legged chicken,s but dont now what they taste like because he never caught one

_________________
Arf you out of your fucking mind.

Or my favourite joke which is so bad:

-It lives in a field, has a comb, colourful feathers, a beak, claws, it crows, and it has 4 legs. What is it?
-I don't know. What?
-A rooster.
-With 4 legs?
-I added two just to make it more difficult.

_________________

Join the PackardGoose forum! Send me a PM!

nice one bbp.whats black and white and dangerous a magpie with a machine gun.

_________________
Arf you out of your fucking mind.

Hey, I hate clowns too but c'mon!

Two clowns shot dead at circus
Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:19am ET
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Two clowns were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during their performance at a traveling circus in the eastern Colombian town of Cucuta, police said Wednesday.
The gunman burst into the Circo del Sol de Cali Monday night and shot the clowns in front of an audience of 20 to 50 people, local police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Reuters. One of the clowns was killed instantly and the second died the next day in hospital.
"The killings had nothing to do with the show the victims were performing at the time of the incident," Henao said in a telephone interview. "We are investigating the motive."
With an entrance fee of under 50 U.S. cents, Circo del Sol de Cali attracts mostly poor Colombians. It pitched it tents in Cucuta, near the border with Venezuela, earlier this month.
"The clowns came out to give their show and then this guy came out shooting them," one audience member told local television. "It was terrible."

_________________
...And it was useless anymore
Yes, it was (back up, back up!) anymore
(Hey, you're hurtin' Joey Psychotic!)
Yes, it was useless anymore
(Move back now!)

Israel minister forgets to uncap binoculars as he inspects troops

OR

Israeli minister in vision gaffe

Israeli newspapers have printed photos of Defence Minister Amir Peretz trying to watch military manoeuvres through binoculars with the lens caps still on.



Mr Peretz was inspecting troops in the Golan Heights with the Israeli army's new chief of staff, Gen Gabi Ashkenazi.

According to the photographer, Mr Peretz looked through the capped binoculars three times, nodding as Gen Ashkenazi explained what was in view.

Analysts say it is a new blow for the embattled defence minister.

Mr Peretz's popularity has fallen in the wake of last year's war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

But one Israeli paper pointed out that he is not the first prominent official to make this mistake.

According to daily Yediot Ahronot, US President George W Bush and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have both done the same thing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6388651.stm

_________________
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true Art and Science. - Albert Einstein