Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Smiley

Philadelphia Groundhog Sees Shadow, More Winter

The legendary, weather-forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil says the United States is in for six more weeks of winter.

Making his annual Groundhog's Day appearance Monday in Punxsutawney, Pa., Phil gazed out at a cheering crowd and "saw his shadow," the event's announcer said, signaling more winter to come, CNN reported.

Smiley

Indiana, US: Road Sign Warns of Dinosaurs Ahead

Signs
© WRTVThis sign greeted motorists Monday morning on Keystone Avenue in Carmel.
Indiana road sign urges dinosaur awareness.

Someone apparently hacked into an electronic road sign in Hamilton County Monday morning, prompting stares and giggles from motorists because of the message the sign displayed.

The sign, which read "Raptors Ahead Caution," amused motorists in a construction zone on Keystone Avenue, just north of 116th Street.

Comment: See another incident regarding odd road signs:

Texas Road Signs Warn Of Zombie Attack


Toys

Yarn bombers cozy up to the urban landscape

Stealthy knitters are leaving their mark on the Great Wall of China, the Golden Gate Bridge and a street near you

Vancouver - Beware the friend who suddenly takes up crochet. She (or he) may be a yarn bomber.

Working under code names such as Incogknito and the Microfiber Militia, a global network of "craftivists" is stitching makeshift sweaters, oversized tea cozies and giant pompoms around public property. Street poles, trees, bike racks, bridges - nothing is safe in target cities such as London, Paris, Chicago and Stockholm.

The craftivists' manifesto, according to Vancouver knitters Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain, is "world yarn domination."

Paris was hit in 2007 when hundreds of knitted socks were slid onto street posts in the Marais district.

Camcorder

Handcuffed escapees collared by lamp post


You might have thought that having evaded the courthouse guards and made it out of the building, the hard part would be over. However, two New Zealand prisoners - who made an escape attempt while handcuffed to each other - had not reckoned on a lone lamp post.

Smiley

German Mayor Wants to DNA-tag Dogs to Identity Poop

A German mayor hopes to test the DNA of every dog in his small town so poop in public places can be traced back to its origin.

Volkach Mayor Peter Kornell told The Daily Telegraph the program is voluntary because DNA data collection cannot be enforced. But he hopes the owners of the 420 dogs registered in Volkach will step up and allow hair or saliva samples to be taken, the British newspaper reported Saturday.

Mr. Potato

Thousands Attend Global Warming Protest

Angry crowds growing by the minute. Demanding an end to the maddness.

Snowman protest
© coku.com

Black Cat

UK: Cat Home After Two-Year 'Holiday'

Reunited
© BBC NewsOzzie was reunited with his owners through his microchip identification.
A cat has been reunited with its owners in East Dunbartonshire after being found on a Scottish island - two years after it vanished.

Karen Ratcliffe bought Bengal tabby, Ozzie, and his sister, Ellie, for her children.

They put up laminated posters after Ozzie went missing from the family home in Bearsden in 2007.

Bulb

Sewage yields more gold than top mines

Tokyo - Resource-poor Japan just discovered a new source of mineral wealth -- sewage.

A sewage treatment facility in central Japan has recorded a higher gold yield from sludge than can be found at some of the world's best mines. An official in Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, said the high percentage of gold found at the Suwa facility was probably due to the large number of precision equipment manufacturers in the vicinity that use the yellow metal. The facility recently recorded finding 1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash from incinerated sludge.

That is a far higher gold content than Japan's Hishikari Mine, one of the world's top gold mines, owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, which contains 20-40 grammes of the precious metal per tonne of ore.

Magic Wand

Canada: Good manners shut down would-be robber

A store clerk thwarted a would-be robber with a rather uncommon weapon - good manners.

"That's the first time I've ever come across something like that," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Taplin said.

A masked man walked into the Needs convenience store on Cobequid Road in Lower Sackville at about 7:25 p.m. Tuesday.

He demanded money and cigarettes, but the male clerk refused and asked the culprit to "please leave the store," RCMP said.

Shoe

Giant bronze sculpture honours Iraqi journalist shoe-thrower!

bronze shoe thrower
© ReutersStatue built for Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at former U.S. president George Bush, is seen in Tikrit

A huge bronze shoe sculpture has been erected in tribute to the Iraqi journalist who grabbed instant fame when threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush last year.

The shoe, in which a tree has been planted, stands 10 feet high and sits atop a white pedestal in Tikrit, the hometown of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

A rose bush is growing next to the monument which was erected in the gardens of an Iraqi foundation that cares for children whose parents have died in the violence that engulfed Iraq after the March 2003 US-led invasion.

A poem praising Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi has also been written on a board and stands at the foot of the monument, the work of Iraqi artist Laith al-Ameri.