Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Coffee

Wolf-beast pacified!


The Dominion Post
Fri, 25 May 2007 14:02 UTC
Like most three-week-old babies, Hugo has a dummy to suckle - the only difference is his is a solution to a dog of a problem.

Staff at Wellington SPCA gave the little labrador-cross pooch and his sister, Lottie, baby pacifiers because they were becoming ill from sucking on each other.

©ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post
Hugo the three-week-old Labrador Cross puppy gets his teeth into a baby pacifier at Wellington SPCA.
Read More...
Arrow Down

Bush In Line of Fire


Political Radar ABC
Fri, 25 May 2007 13:55 UTC
ABC's Ann Compton reports: An outdoor news conference in perfect spring weather, with birds chirping loudly in the magnolia trees, is not without its hazards.

As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General, he remarked, "I've got confidence in Al Gonzales doin' the job."

Simultaneously, a sparrow flew overhead and left a splash on the President's sleeve, which Bush tried several times to wipe off.
Read More...
X

Burger bosses want ban 'McJob' from UK dictionary


Kent News
Fri, 25 May 2007 13:48 UTC
Bosses at fast food giant McDonald's chose Canterbury to launch a nationwide bid to get rid of the term 'McJob', which they say insults thousands of honest workers across Britain.

The company has organised a national petition calling for UK dictionaries to drop the existing definition of the word "an unstimulating low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector".

The term "McJob" was invented by Canadian author Douglas Copeland in his 1991 novel "Generation X: Tales Of An Accelerated Culture".
Read More...
Coffee

Cairo customs prevents snakes on a plane


AP
Thu, 24 May 2007 12:37 UTC
Customs officers at Cairo's airport on Thursday detained a man bound for Saudi Arabia who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane, airport authorities said.
Read More...
Magic Wand

Man claims new sleepless record


BBC
Fri, 25 May 2007 11:15 UTC
A Cornish man says he has broken the world record for sleep deprivation by staying awake for 11 days and nights.

Tony Wright, 42, from Penzance, was trying to beat the Guinness world record of 264 sleepless hours set by Randy Gardner in the US in 1964.

He fought off tiredness by drinking tea, playing pool and keeping a diary.

The Guinness Book of Records has since withdrawn its backing of a sleep deprivation class because of the associated health risks.
Read More...
Mail

Where do your shoes live?

AP Writer
Newsday - Associated Press
Thu, 24 May 2007 22:13 UTC
Stylish shoes receive zip code. Handbags demand equal recognition.

©Stonyfield Farms
Shoes stop to chat before touring their new home.

Comment: A representative for the Handbag's commented on the lack of respect given to purses around the world. "Who do those shoes think they are? We're the ones who hold the money. Those shoes are nothing without a matching bag to hold the credit cards for shopping."

The shoes declined to comment. However, a pair of open toed, gold lame, two inch spiked sandals were reported to have whispered, "We're doomed".

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Naked U.S. tourist shocks German city


Reuters
Thu, 24 May 2007 10:07 UTC
A naked American tourist raised eyebrows when he went for a walk through a German city and told police he thought this was acceptable behavior in Germany.

"We have been having unusually hot weather here lately but, all the same, we can't have this," a spokesman for police in the southern city of Nuremberg said Tuesday. "The man said he thought walking around naked was tolerated in Germany."

Many Germans enjoy nude sunbathing which is allowed in public parks. The 41-year-old was carrying his clothes in a bag when police stopped him Monday evening after complaints from pedestrians.
Read More...
Wine

Do you want to improve your cows' milk quality? Play them Mozart


eitb24
Wed, 23 May 2007 10:02 UTC
In an orderly fashion the 700 cows on the farm queue up for milking, with no fuss, no stress and very little mooing. The sharps and flats, bass and alto of Mozart's music have been found to be the perfect mix of tonality: enough to get the cows to relax but not too soothing that they fall asleep.
Read More...
Heart

Mozart to put sharks in the mood


AFP
Thu, 24 May 2007 07:45 UTC
Scientists desperate for reluctant sharks to mate plan to pipe the romantic music of Mozart, Beethoven and Puccini into their north-west England aquarium tank.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

N.H. town fires 4 for gossip about boss

Beverley Wang
Associated Press
Thu, 24 May 2007 07:25 UTC
Can you be fired for gossiping about your boss? Four town employees here say they were, raising questions about fairness, free speech and a staple of life in the American workplace.

The employees were fired in April after speaking to a lawyer the town hired as a fact-finder to rout out chatterboxes.

They say questions about a close relationship between Town Administrator David Jodoin and a female employee, identified only as "A" in the lawyer's report, drifted into Town Hall sometime in March. They say they weren't the only ones who discussed the rumor, and dismissed it as untrue after briefly talking about it.

"We didn't start the rumor, nor did we say there was an affair going on," Joanne Drewniak said Tuesday. "We didn't have time like they think ... to sit around and just gossip. That is so untrue."
Read More...