WhiteBoard News for Monday, September 22, 2003

London, England (Reuters):

He wears a baby-blue spandex jumpsuit and shiny gold panties, gloves, cape, boots and goggles. He wields a giant, metal-cutting circular power saw. 

Who is Angle Grinder Man? 

He is Britain's self-styled "first wheel-clamp and speed camera vigilante cum subversive superhero philanthropist entertainer type person." That's who. 

For those not familiar with industrial machine tools, an angle grinder is the saw best suited to cutting through plates of steel, such as, say, the wheel clamps that authorities use to immobilize illegally parked cars in London. 

And Angle Grinder Man offers his "free clamp-removal service" to "all good, decent law-unabiding people" who would rather fight back than pay to have their cars released. 

All a clamped motorist has to do is call AGM's hotline and out comes the roadside rescue superhero to saw through the brace and release the car. 

British newspapers love him. Taxi drivers are talking about him. And apparently he is for real. 

His Web Site shows him, sparks a-flying, carrying out an act of apparent criminal damage on a clamp to "liberate" a red saloon car on a London street. 

He advertises his hotline at his Web Site, anglegrinderman.co.uk. Since the press latched on to him, his voicemail box has been full. 

His tips: "You will need a petrol-driven, 5,000 revolutions-per-minute angle grinder and a 300mm diameter metal cutting disc. It is dangerous to use a diamond-tipped or similar slotted cutting disc on metal. Always use a solid one." 

Also: better to saw off clamps attached by private contractors than those placed by actual police, who can arrest you. 

Angle Grinder Man says his actions are a political protest against "the arrogant contempt that politicians hold for the people who put them in power." 

But police say it is no joke. Even private clamp owners can press charges. 

"What might seem a light-hearted gesture to some would be considered criminal damage to others," a spokesman for Scotland Yard said. "Any act of deliberate vandalism would be acted on by the police." 
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Hua Hin, Thailand (Ananova):

Scotland have lost to Germany in the world cup final for elephant polo.

The Scottish Chivas Regal squad was defeated 5-3 by Germany's Mercedes Benz Thailand team in the final of the King's Cup Elephant Polo competition in Hua Hin, Thailand.

It was the second year in a row that Germany beat Scotland in the final and this year Scotland started with a two-goal handicap as the number one seed.

Scotland captain Peter Prentice said: "There was a massive tropical storm about 30 minutes before the game began. The sky went black and for half an hour it just rained cats and dogs. It was a quagmire and as a result the ball slowed right down. On occasions the elephants just stamped the ball into the ground.

"We were so unlucky. We missed a couple of goals and it was just not our day. We worked really hard. We had so many chances and 90% of the crowd was with us but it wasn't to be."

Mr Prentice said his team would play in the elephant polo clash in Nepal in December and promised to make a comeback next year.

Each team has three elephants and players use two-metre long mallets to strike a small white ball on a pitch about one-third the size of a horse polo field.

A total of 10 international teams took part in this year's competition, which was organised by the Anantara Resort and Spa and Thailand's Tourism Authority.

The tournament should raise more than £22,000 for the National Elephant Institute's elephant conservation
centre in Lampang.
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Miami, Florida (Ananova):

A man who bought a biscuit jar on eBay, found the seller was the brother he'd never met.

Bob Kunath, from Florida, was adopted when he was an infant, and was told by his adoptive parents that he had a brother and sister.

He knew his mother's name was June Shaw and his father was Harry Saylor from New Jersey. He said he'd never tried to contact them, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

When he bought the $150 (£90) jar, he found the seller's name was also Harry Saylor. Kunath said: "I've never believed much in God or fate. But this was just too weird."

Kunath and Saylor, who is from New Jersey, agreed to talk by phone and when Kunath discovered Saylor's mother's name was June Shaw, he knew he'd found his brother.

The pair have since swapped emails, but there have been no more phone calls. Kunath said finding his brother doesn't mean the two will become instant friends.

He said he just wants to get to know him better. "Right now it's an open road. If this whole thing has taught me anything, it's that you never know where the road will take you."
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Halle, Germany (Ananova):

A customer at a German petrol station has been caught drinking from one of the pumps.

Staff at the station in Halle had to call police who then took the 30-year-old Ethiopian man to hospital.

Police spokeswoman Ulrike Diener said: "He opted for unleaded and drank 0.14 litres.

"Officers at the scene noticed he was drunk, so they called an ambulance to take him to hospital.

"He paid for the petrol, so he isn't facing any charges," Diener said.

He was kept in hospital overnight for observation, but was discharged the next morning.
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Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake Tribune):

It may seem a hokey marketing strategy: Use scantily clad women to persuade men to get Fido snipped. 

But, whether it was the bargain-basement spay and neuter prices or the allure of busty waitresses, turnout for the first annual Hooters for Neuters event last week met the targeted goal.

No More Homeless Pets in Utah, a group dedicated to cutting down the number of unwanted pets, teamed with Hooters to persuade men to fix their furry friends. 

"As much as we don't want to stereotype, men tend to be more reluctant to get their pets neutered or spayed," Temma Martin, the group's spokeswoman, said. "Men seem to humanize their pets, and they think, 'I don't want it done to me, so I don't want it done to my dog.' We have cute girls and it's a way to bring the men out." 
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Chow
SuperChef
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