Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Shoe

Thousands Of Shoes Dumped On Miami Expressway


CBS4
Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:17 UTC
Thousands Of "Lost Soles" May Have Fallen From A Truck Driven On The Palmetto Expressway

Miami―Thousands of shoes were dumped accidentally from a truck on the southbound Palmetto Expressway after the Bird Road exit in Miami causing significant traffic delays Friday morning.

City workers with broom sticks and Road Rangers who come to the aid of stranded motorists were all taking part in clearing one lane of a quarter mile section of expressway where shoes fell from a truck earlier in the day.

Of the task clearing all the shoes that littered the road, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Pat Santangelo said "there's just so many."
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Pumpkin

Gold dust? That's commercial waste, says council


The Times
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:01 UTC
A jeweller has been ordered by his local council to hand over gold dust swept up from his workshop floor so that it can be taken to a tip.

John Doble, 50, who runs businesses in Torquay and Brixham, collects tiny gold particles from the floor and benches of his workshop and sells them to a specialist dealer for about £2,000 a year.
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Key

Former Royal Australian Navy submarine for sale on eBay

Cameron Stewart
The Australian
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:32 UTC
* Ultimate eBay sale for discerning sailors
* Royal Australian Navy sub up for grabs
* Yours for $4.9 million-plus
Australian Sub
© The AustralianSub for sale ... Max Bryant onboard the HMAS Otama which is being offered for sale on eBay.

IT is the ultimate Christmas gift for the discerning sailor. Just log on to eBay, lodge any bid more than $4.9 million, and the 2000-tonne former Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS Otama, could be yours, The Australian reports.

Comment: Are torpedoes included or must they be purchased separately?

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Top Secret

Anonymous donor pays Vermont man's $1,000 rent


Associated Press
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:35 UTC
St. Johnsbury - Yes, Nathan, there is such a thing as Christmas angels. Nathan Dubray had his monthly rent paid by an anonymous benefactor who sent $1,000 in cash to his landlord on Christmas Eve. The same day, Dubray got a note telling him the rent had been paid and wishing him a merry Christmas and happy holidays.

It was signed "Christmas Angels."
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Info

Sheriff holds 180,000-carat emerald


United Press International
Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:31 UTC
Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says it is holding an emerald estimated to be worth as much as $370 million while the stone's owner is determined.

A department spokesman said the 850-pound gem will be in safekeeping until a federal judge determines who rightfully owns it.

The "Bahia Emerald" was reported stolen in September from a secured vault in South El Monte, Calif.

CNN reported the emerald has been at the center of a dispute between a California man who claimed ownership, a company with which he contracted to sell it and a potential buyer.

It is alleged the gemstone's owner tried to go around the broker, who received a $19 million offer, and sell the emerald to the same buyer for $75 million.
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Smiley

Family finds $10,000 in box of crackers


Associated Press
Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:49 UTC
Irvine, California - The box of crackers Debra Rogoff bought from the grocery store had some crackerjack in it - an envelope stuffed with $10,000.

Yet the Irvine woman was more curious than ecstatic about her daughter's find. After all, who would leave money in such a place?

"We just thought, 'This is someone's money,'" she said. "We would never feel good about spending it."

Rather than go on a shopping spree, the family called police and was initially told the money could be part of a drug drop.

Police later heard from store managers at Whole Foods in Tustin that an elderly woman had come in a few days earlier, hysterical because she had mistakenly returned a box of crackers with her life savings inside. In a mix-up the store restocked the box rather than composting it.
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Mr. Potato

Doctor used 'human fat to power car'

Joanna Sugden
Times Online
Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:23 UTC
A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who claims to have turned fat, extricated in liposuction, into biofuel for his car has skipped town after US officials raided his surgery in an investigation into his procedures.

Dr Craig Alan Bittner, who runs the Liposculpture clinic on Rodeo Drive, said that he had created "lipodiesel" with his patients' excess subcutaneous fat.

The cosmetic surgeon told Forbes.com that he used the blubber to power two cars including his four-wheel-drive Ford.
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Bell

Mysterious Benefactor Leaves Gold Coin in Salvation Army Kettle


my FOX
Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:03 UTC
American Eagle
This American Gold Eagle coin was dropped in a Salvation Army kettle in Frederick, Maryland. 2008 marks the 5th year in a row a gold coin has been donated anonymously.
A mysterious tradition continued last week for the Salvation Army in Frederick, Maryland.

A modern-day Santa Claus dropped a massive donation into the Salvation Army's kettle, but this Santa is keeping his or her identity secret.

Isaiah Barnes was manning his post, kettle and bell in tow, outside a shopping center when a glint of gold among the donations caught his eye.
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Mr. Potato

Guiliani's kid gets it right


YouTube
Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:23 UTC
No one can mock like a child. Especially a bored child who's been too long on Daddy's campaign trail . . . .
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Snowman

Reborn "Snowzilla" safe through Christmas

Elizbeth Bluemink
Anchorage Daily News
Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:55 UTC
Image
© BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily NewsBilly Powers in front of his Columbine Avenue home with Snowzilla the giant snowman on Tuesday December 23, 2008, which was built Monday night.
Snowzilla the giant snowman rose from the dead Tuesday morning after some holiday pranksters thumbed their noses at city orders and rebuilt him overnight.

When news of the controversial and world-famous Anchorage snowman's demise exploded on the Internet this week, hundreds of Alaska and Lower 48 readers had two words for the city of Anchorage and anyone else who criticized the crowd-pleasing giant: "Bah humbug."

And before dawn Tuesday, in downtown Anchorage, someone erected a small, misshapen snowman at the entrance to Anchorage City Hall: A crude mini Snowzilla brandishing a protest sign that read "Snowmen of the world unite!"

Others created a snowzilla.org Web site and began soliciting a legal defense fund for Snowzilla's creators.
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