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© Stringer/Reuters
Police in Gross-Rohrheim got a 2 a.m. phone call on Thursday from a bystander who said he had just seen an alligator walking in front of a motorcycle shop in the center of town.
"At first they just broke out laughing..," said police spokesman Ferdinand Derigs. "But here in the state of Hesse we're ready for anything that comes our way."
Two officers dispatched to investigate were able to capture the 3.3-foot long alligator with equipment ordinarily used to capture dogs.
"The alligator was taken into custody," police said in a statement. Authorities soon found it had escaped from a small circus being staged at a nearby school.
Boulder, Colorado - Police responding to reports of a man leaping between cars in a Colorado supermarket parking lot didn't need a detailed description of the suspect. Boulder Police Sgt. Fred Gerhardt said witnesses on Wednesday reported a man was dressed as a leprechaun and pretending to shoot at people with his fingers.
Witnesses told police the man may have made obscene gestures.
Gerhardt said they likely called police because the man "was acting bizarre."
Officers did not find anyone matching the description of the leprechaun.
Witnesses told police the man may have made obscene gestures.
Gerhardt said they likely called police because the man "was acting bizarre."
Officers did not find anyone matching the description of the leprechaun.
© The OnionKyle Mortensen would gladly give his life to protect what he says is the Constitution's very clear stance against birth control.
"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."
According to Mortensen - an otherwise mild-mannered husband, father, and small-business owner - the most serious threat to his fanciful version of the 222-year-old Constitution is the attempt by far-left "traitors" to strip it of its religious foundation.
"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."
© Thost/Flickr
Germany is one of several countries that regulate the names parents are allowed to give children, a legislation move that protects the next generation from being saddled with monikers like "Sunshine" and "Chance".
I've always loved my odd name, and gave my kids weird ones (at least one of which would never have made it by Germany's censors). But I've met kids named "Electra" and "Princess". I'm sure a few of my hippie kid peers would have been glad for a little state control in the naming department.
Amanda Dorsey has spent dozens of hours categorizing search results on eBay, verifying search-engine links and doing other online jobs for CrowdFlower Inc., a San Francisco employment agency.
Dorsey doesn't get paid in legal tender. She takes her wages in the form of virtual money, which she's used to buy a gray winter coat and a sexy yellow doctor's uniform for her avatar, or virtual self, on TinierMe.com, a chat and game site.
There's nothing odd about it, says Dorsey, a 28-year-old unemployed writer and editor in Florida. "Doing work for virtual currency is pretty much like any other form of putting forth an effort for a reward," she said.
© Unknown
Dorsey doesn't get paid in legal tender. She takes her wages in the form of virtual money, which she's used to buy a gray winter coat and a sexy yellow doctor's uniform for her avatar, or virtual self, on TinierMe.com, a chat and game site.
There's nothing odd about it, says Dorsey, a 28-year-old unemployed writer and editor in Florida. "Doing work for virtual currency is pretty much like any other form of putting forth an effort for a reward," she said.
© The Telegraph
Shane Wilmott, 39, hand crafts miniature mouse-sized replicas of real surf boards and teaches his amazing troupe of pet mice how to master them - on tiny wavelets near to shore.
The creatures travel several feet on their little boards.
They are even able to turn on the boards while travelling by shifting their weight.
Mr Wilmott, who breeds mice in his Gold Coast home, said: "Contrary to popular belief mice are actually unbelievable swimmers so if they come off they are fine to paddle around until I collect them.
"A lot of people ask me if fish are sharks to them and worry they might get eaten. Gulls are actually a more realistic threat so I have to stay close by to make sure my guys are safe.
If we could put a big audio speaker on the brains of politicians then we strongly suspect that a lot of what came out would be pretty close to this:
Stressed-out city executives looking to get away from it all have the chance to buy their own rural village in New Zealand, complete with a pub and population of 40.
Otira, a hamlet on the rainy west coast of New Zealand's South Island, is on the market for $NZ1 million ($715,000).
Current owners Bill and Christine Hennah bought the rundown village in 1998 after passing through and "feeling sorry for it," Christchurch-based newspaper The Press reported on Friday.
They paid $NZ80,000 ($56,000) for the hotel or pub, school, railway station, town hall and 18 houses making up the village near the Arthur's Pass National Park that dates back to 1923.
The village developed when the Otira railway tunnel was opened, and during its heyday was home to about 600 workers and their families.
Otira, a hamlet on the rainy west coast of New Zealand's South Island, is on the market for $NZ1 million ($715,000).
Current owners Bill and Christine Hennah bought the rundown village in 1998 after passing through and "feeling sorry for it," Christchurch-based newspaper The Press reported on Friday.
They paid $NZ80,000 ($56,000) for the hotel or pub, school, railway station, town hall and 18 houses making up the village near the Arthur's Pass National Park that dates back to 1923.
The village developed when the Otira railway tunnel was opened, and during its heyday was home to about 600 workers and their families.
