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Man blows flat up with insect spray

A German man used so much insect killer that he blew himself up when a spark from his computer ignited the aerosol spray.

Walter Mueller, 36, from Schleswig-Holstein, caused more than £100,000 of damage and debris flew up to 100 metres away.

But, amazingly, he was not badly hurt and was released from hospital after treatment for minor injuries.

Mueller had closed all the windows and emptied several cans of extra strong insect-spray before sitting at his computer to surf the internet.

A spark of electricity ignited the powerful fumes, causing an explosion that demolished the flat and blew out all the windows.

Several neighbouring apartments were also damaged but none of the other residents were injured. The street outside had to be closed for several hours.

Puppy wants some Prozac

May 17 2005 at 12:02PM

Sydney - An increasing number of dogs and cats in Australia are being fed anti-depressant drugs to counteract obsessive compulsive disorder, a report said on Tuesday.

An estimated three to six percent of the country's dogs and cats are diagnosed with the problem as owners act on telltale signs such as tail-biting, circling, pacing, shadow-chasing and excessive grooming, the Daily Telegraph said.

Vet Robert Stabler was quoted as saying a combination of genes and the environment were responsible, with homes close to schools and shops getting animals excited.

Stabler, who will speak about the problem at the Australian Veterinary Association annual conference this week, said owners can also pass on stress to pets after a hard day at work.

"The dog might smell the owner's adrenalin or see body language change and may try to get attention by running around in circles," he was quoted as saying.

"That makes it worse when the owner laughs and the animal gets attention that way." - Sapa-AFP

And for the Dutch speaking among us.

http://www.msn.be/gsm/Multimedia/Nieuws/

Lake disappears, baffling villagers
Thu May 19, 2005 01:15 PM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian village was left baffled Thursday after its lake disappeared overnight.
NTV television showed pictures of a giant muddy hole bathed in summer sun, while fishermen from the village of Bolotnikovo looked on disconsolately.

"It is very dangerous. If a person had been in this disaster, he would have had almost no chance of survival. The trees flew downwards, under the ground," said Dmitry Zaitsev, a local Emergencies Ministry official interviewed by the channel.

Officials in Nizhegorodskaya region, on the Volga river east of Moscow, said water in the lake might have been sucked down into an underground water-course or cave system, but some villagers had more sinister explanations.

"I am thinking, well, America has finally got to us," said one old woman, as she sat on the ground outside her house.

Dead on!

Übereil

Texas woman calls for immediate shut down of The Internet

Amarillo,TX --Gladis Haralski, founder of United Confederacy Against WWW (UCAWWW) announced last week of her ongoing campaign to shut down the internet.

In an interview Gladis proclaims the destructive way in which we use the internet degenerates society's standards. "The internet is nothing but filth to steal our children from God and truth", says Gladis...



Currently the UCAWWW holds 43 members, all of which reside in Texas. When Gladis was asked by reporters how she planned to reach out to others across the country she said, "We have many ongoing projects, and soon we'll be proud to announce the grand opening of our website."

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohh.gif" alt="" />

Übereil

No comments. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

Actually, having a website, while ironic, makes sense. They acknowledge in the poster that the Internet is used too widely, so by confronting them on their own ground is likely to be the best way to reach them. Like good advertising, if you stumble across something that looks interesting, it might just sway you. Also, they are against the evils of the Internet. Their site isn't evil (or else they would post such a thing!) and will help dilute the evil that exists there.

On a side note, fat chance!

Fight fire with fire, eh.
But if you do that, you often just increase the first fire and create one big inferno. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

No wonder a politician thought of this... they're used to being in deep s**t. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
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Lawmaker Wants to ID Dog [nocando] (May 2005,
By AP Staff)

VIENNA, Austria
A local Vienna politician wants to use DNA technology to chase down owners of dogs that leave their droppings on streets and sidewalks.

Manfred Juraczka, a councilor in a Vienna district, said Monday he wants the city to register all dogs' DNA so that droppings left where people walk can be tested and the owner of the guilty dog punished.

"This method offers a multitude of unbeatable advantages," Juraczka said in a statement, adding that all who fail to pick up after their dogs "must count on being caught."

Vienna's sidewalks are littered by dog droppings, and campaigns trying to persuade owners to pick up after their pets have made little difference. The city is home to almost 50,000 registered dogs, but the true number is believed to be much higher as many owners ignore the registration requirement.

Dog owners already can be fined if their dogs soil sidewalks or other pedestrian areas, but tickets are rarely issued because the pet has to be caught in the act.

Under Juraczka's program, owners of dogs found to have left droppings in the wrong places would have to pay for the costs of the DNA analysis in addition to fines of up to euro225 (US$284).

Dog owners in Vienna must pay dog taxes amounting to euro0.12 (US$0.15) a day. But removing just a single dog heap costs the city euro3 (US$3.80) to euro5 (US$6.30), Juraczka said, adding that amounted an "intolerable situation."

Juraczka represents the People's Party, which is in opposition in Vienna. The party ruling the capital, the Social Democrats, dismissed the proposal in a statement, saying it would in effect create a "police state."

A local politician in the German city of Dresden in March presented a similar proposal for that city. City officials there have not yet decided whether to implement the proposal.

WHAT A CHOKER... In Azerbaijan, an 11 year old girl called Matanet fell asleep in a field after picking tomatoes and woke up choking. She was rushed to a children's hospital in Baku and made to drink 3.5 pints of salt solution, after which she vomited up a two foot long Caucasian cat snake, which had crawled into her mouth while she slept. She left hospital an hour later feeling fine.

We have that frog too. It's called "Albert Motar" or something. Really gets on your nerves after awhile. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
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Woman, 86, Jailed for Calling 911 20 Times

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - An 86-year-old woman has been sent to jail after police said she called 911 dispatchers 20 times in a little more than a half-hour to complain about a pizza parlor. Dorothy Densmore remained in jail Tuesday charged with misusing the 911 system, a jail spokeswoman said.

She told dispatchers Sunday that a local pizza shop refused to deliver a pie to her south Charlotte apartment, said Officer Mandy Giannini, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spokeswoman. She also complained that someone at the shop called her a "crazy old coot," Giannini said.

Densmore wanted them arrested. Instead, police came to arrest her, and she resisted, Giannini said.

It's unusual for someone to face charges for nonemergency calls, Giannini said. But on Sunday, Densmore kept calling 911, even after she was told to stop, Giannini said.

When an officer arrived at her apartment, the 5-foot-tall, 98-pound woman attacked him, Giannini said. Densmore scratched him, kicked and bit his hand, she said.

Densmore is also charged with resisting a public officer and two counts of misusing the 911 system, jail records show.

It was the second time she'd been charged with misusing the emergency system, court records show.

In March 2004, police said she called 911 about 10 times after she was asked to stop, a police report says. She then threatened to hit the officer with a chair when he came to arrest her, the report states.

Probably that several of you heard of it, but I thought that singular story was worth posting anyway. This article is from a week ago, but there have not been significant progresses since.


Mystery 'Piano Man' Turns in A Classic Performance

A man found wandering and confused dressed in a dripping wet suit and tie stunned care workers by giving a virtuoso piano performance.
The mystery man has not uttered a word since police picked him up walking aimlessly on the streets of Sheerness in Kent.
All efforts to communicate with the shy and agitated man, aged in his 20s or early 30s, failed leaving experts baffled as to his identity and where he is from.

Staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital gave him a pen and paper in the hope he might write his name or even draw his country’s flag.
Instead, in an extraordinary development, the patient, dubbed the Piano Man, chose only to draw highly detailed pictures of a grand piano, showing not only the keys but also the intricate inner workings of the instrument.
His social worker, Michael Camp, decided to show him the hospital piano housed in the chapel and to his amazement the man delivered a stunning, two-hour performance of classical playing.
Since then, the man has even written music, which an independent music teacher has verified as genuine manuscript, yet he remains mute.
The case has drawn comparisons with the Oscar-winning 1996 movie Shine, which tells the moving story of acclaimed pianist David Helfgott who suffered a nervous breakdown while playing.

Mr Camp, who is based at the accident and emergency unit of the Medway Maritime Hospital, said: “When he came in, there was nothing obviously wrong with him but because of his presentation the police felt he had a mental health problem.
“He came to us in a smart black suit and tie, which was soaked. He appears to be very anxious but we have no idea why. He has, as far as we know, committed no crime but we feel he is very vulnerable.
“When we took him to the chapel piano it really was amazing. He has not spoken since the day we picked him up. He does not make any sounds but I think I can communicate with him through tiny nods.
“I cannot get within a yard of him without him becoming very anxious. Yet at the piano he comes alive. I can stand close to him and he is oblivious. It is extraordinary. The first time we took him down to the piano he played for several hours, non-stop.
“I am not knowledgeable about classical music but I could tell he was pretty good.”

Several theories as to who the man is, and where he is from, have been investigated by Mr Camp.
It was initially thought he may have been to a local funeral when spotted on the evening of April 7 in the port town of Sheerness, but inquiries proved he had not been to any services in the vicinity.
Then interpretors from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania were brought in to see if he was from Eastern Europe, and possibly an asylum seeker, but no one could get through to the man, who is tall and thin.
Mr Camp said: “We looked into the possibility he was an asylum seeker but what has he got to gain? He has had ample opportunity to walk out of our establishments and he has chosen not to.”

The man is now being held in a secure mental health unit in north Kent, which has no piano, until a full assessment has been carried out. It is possible he may be deemed fit to live in the community but Mr Camp is unsure.
“There is no doubt that this man is extremely distressed and depressed. He has started crying over the last week or so. It may be that some sort of trauma has made him like this.”

Mr Camp made an urgent appeal for anyone who knows the man to contact the National Missing Persons Helpline, which has launched its own appeal, on 0500 700 700.
“If he is British then someone, somewhere must be missing him,” Mr Camp said. “At the moment we only have six weeks’ of history of this man to work on, which makes it very hard.
“By the way he plays the piano he is clearly educated and intelligent. If someone comes forward with information then we can take this emotional case forward.”


There have been hundreds of info submitted from all around the world to try to determinate the ID of this man, but none has been successful so far.

Addicted to E-Mail? You're Not Alone

May 26, 2005

E-mail has become a pervasive, mission-critical aspect of business and personal life for many. It turns out, though, that Americans actually have an obsessive-compulsive need to check it morning, noon and night.

America Online and Opinion Research Corporation surveyed 4,012 respondents in 20 U.S. cities to gauge the degree to which Americans obsess over e-mail. According to the results of the E-Mail Addiction survey, released today, e-mail users depend on e-mail as much as the phone for communication.

Sixty-one percent reported that they checked their personal e-mail accounts while at work an average of three times a day. Most users (47 percent) will check their personal e-mail accounts sporadically throughout the day. Upon arriving to work (25 percent), at lunchtime (18 percent), during an afternoon break (8 percent) and just before heading home (2 percent) trail in frequency.

Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) indicated that they checked their personal e-mail to take care of personal errands while 20 percent checked it to correspond with family and friends.

The vast majority of respondents have never been ''busted'' for checking their personal e-mails while on the company dime, and only 9 percent reported that they've ever been caught by the boss.

E-mail also follows Americans on vacations, with 60 percent checking it while away on holiday: 13 percent of the time for business and 47 percent for pleasure.

For some, e-mail has been at the core of a restless night with 40 percent indicating that they have checked their e-mail in the middle of the night. First thing in the morning is the time noted by 40 percent of respondents for checking, while 14 percent check as soon as they get home from work. Eighteen percent check after dinner and 14 percent check before going to bed.

E-mail has become such an important component of life that 26 percent reported that they haven't gone more than two to three days without checking in.

Interview about the „Crazy Frog Song“

Appeared in the German NEwspaper „Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger“ (originating in Cologne) on Saturday, May 28th, 2005

The „Frog-Song“ was made in the German Rurgebiet area by Reinhard Reith and the „Bass Bumpers“. Reporter Thorsten Moeck talked with Reinhard Reith.

Newspaper : Mr. Reith, does it annoy you when critics say that your song has the niveau of an alarm device ?

Reith : Even an alarm device fulfills its designation. (laughing) I don’t say that we made a great wonderous thing of technique. It began as a joke, then we took the whole thing more seriously. Critique is good, but the song works - however.

Newspaper : Your explanation for the success ?

Reith : The song is successful because people like it. One thing we want to made sure : We definitively don’t produce bell rings. We don’t have anything from the profits of bell rings.

We just took the figure of the Crazy Frog. This frog was was taken by the bell ring seller „Jamba“ about half a year ago and made it through penetrating [obtrusive] advertisement to a star. We found the small fellow quite funny and tried to build an imaginary artist out of him. His sound that was going on the nerves was taken apart by us and worked [reassembled] into something new.

Newspaper : So the jump into numer one of the charts took you by surprise ?

Reith : Yes, exactly. We couldn’t imagine such a success. To explain this, I must say that the frog was already known here in Germany, but not in England. There the marketing campaigns were coordinated totally new. But I don’t think that this is going to happen a second time.

Newspaper : On number 2 there is the group Coldplay, who spent months for their new album. The frog song was probably ready after a few minutes.

Reith : Well, actually we needed three days for it. That doesn’t speak for English persons,does it ? (loud laughing)

Newspaper : How would you describe the musical orientation of the song ?

Reith : As Trash. I see it as fun. It’s a mixture of goodmarketing and a good tune of Axel F. The consumers of the csong are the technical interested, fraction, which is obsessive into cellular phones [German „handy“ = English „cellular phone“]. The bell ring thing will clear up itself in the next two - three years and then disappear.

Translation made by Alrik Fassbauer.

Original of that interview here : http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1116435041680.shtml

And now something different :

For 60 years in the juggle, still fighting World War II ... :
http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1116435041114.shtml

Every year there seems to be at least one of those creations. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
You also had that "little croco" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> in Germany.

And I remember one about a fly in Belgium.
They constantly went: "the fly is dead, the fly is dead"
No more lyrics. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Can't temember the name of "band".

O, and I seen it's not just the frog anymore. They also have chickens now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> And another creature.

Bird Thief

Scissors found in Iranian woman -- six years after caesarean

Tue May 24, 8:28 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - A pair of scissors and four needles have been recovered from inside the belly of an Iranian woman six years after she gave birth by caesarean section, the Iran newspaper reported.

The report said the unnamed woman from the western town of Marivan in Kurdistan province had complained of chronic abdominal pains -- prompting the discovery of leftover tools in her tummy.

The doctor who performed the caesarean is now facing legal action, the paper said Tuesday.