WhiteBoard News for Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Berlin, Germany (Reuters):

A pair of flying underpants caused a crash on a German highway when they landed on a driver's face and blocked his view, police said Tuesday. 

A police spokesman in the central town of Gotha said one of a group of naked men in a van threw the underwear into a Volkswagen Passat as they passed it on a busy stretch of one of Germany's notoriously speedy autobahns. 

"The underpants landed on the driver's face, causing him to ram the truck ahead from behind," said the spokesman, adding that he did not know why the men were driving along naked. 

No one was hurt in the crash, but police are hunting the owner of the underpants for failing to stop at the scene. 
=============

Madrid, Spain (Reuters):

The mayor of a southern Spanish town has declared Thursdays "ladies' night" and says he will fine any man found strolling about town in the evening, in an attempt to encourage them to stay at home and do the chores. 

A spokeswoman for recently elected Andalusian regional party mayor, Javier Checa, said on Thursdays from October, the streets would be the preserve of the town's women and a five euro fine (3.50 pounds) would be slapped on any man found out and about. 

The men of Torredonjimeno, a town of 14,000 people in the olive-growing province of Jaen in Spain's southernmost region, were not impressed by the attempt to tie them to the kitchen sink. 

"Who does the mayor think he is to fine me if I go to a bar?. I'll go to a bar on Thursday, and if they fine me I'll pay it...but we'll be seeing each other in court," resident Jose Damas told state television. 
=============

Betim, Brazil (Terra Noticias Populares):

A prison guard in Brazil went to a bar close to his jail and bumped into three inmates who had sneaked out for a drink.

The owner told him they were regulars who often popped in for a beer, reports Terra Noticias Populares.

Leornardo Tagliate Junior said: "I told them they were arrested again and they didn't react. They even told me they were not running away they were only having a beer."

The prisoners were returned to Ceresp prison in Betim where an investigation has been launched into security.
===============

Panama City, Florida (AP):

A man accused of aggravated battery concluded his insanity defense by loudly hooting "cuckoo-cuckoo," then dropping his pants and mooning the jury. 

Jurors took 30 minutes to find him guilty. 

Cornell Jackson, 29, was dragged from the courtroom by a pair of bailiffs and two Bay County sheriff's deputies after the incident during Wednesday's trial proceedings. 

Jackson has claimed insanity in two assault cases involving his ex-girlfriend. 

Defense lawyer Georgette Beller argued he had a personality disorder that caused him to attack the woman. 

Beller asked for a mistrial after Wednesday's mooning. Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet rejected her motion and ordered that Jackson watch the rest of the trial from a holding cell over closed-circuit television. 
===============

Mamaia, Romania (Ananova):

A Romanian couple are planning a divorce after they bumped into each other at a seaside resort while both were pretending to be elsewhere.

The two were talking to each other on their mobile phones when they collided on the beach of Mamaia on the Black Sea, reports the Ziarul daily.

Victor Dragomirescu was complaining how much work he had to do at his parents' house, miles away, and wife Lucica was saying how she was too ill to get out of bed.

Lucica was saying: "I feel worse than ever. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday and I don't think I can stand it any more.

"Thank God we have the mobile phones because I couldn't get out of bed even if for answering the other phone. What about you?"

Victor answered: "Oh, don't ask. If you could just see me I think you wouldn't recognise me. I am all full of dust as I've been to the mill with some corn.

"Now I have to gather the fruit in my mother's yard. I can't look at my hands how horrible they are."

But the discussion ended abruptly when they realised they were standing in front of each other.

The Dragomirescus, from Ploiesti, Prahova county, returned home to try to clear things up but say a divorce is the most likely solution.
=============

Chow
SuperChef
www.joeha.com