WhiteBoard News for Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Dallas, Texas (Reuters):

A pair of would-be burglars picked the wrong home to visit over the weekend when they allegedly broke into the residence of one of Dallas's best-known police officers. 

One suspect was shot in the leg trying to flee the scene and both men were arrested after they allegedly tried to rob the home of Senior Cpl. Chris Gilliam, a spokesman for the Dallas police, who was home at the time, police said on Monday. 

Gilliam, who is often seen in the local media delivering news on crime in Dallas, made the news by giving chase to the suspects, shooting one in the thigh, police said. 

The suspect who was shot was arrested by Gilliam and is recovering at a local hospital while police captured the other suspect later. 

Gilliam, who is usually quick to respond to media inquiries, said he was not able to comment on the matter until the standard investigation into an officer firing his weapon had been completed. 
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Oslo, Norway6 (AP):

An eagle that spotted an easy meal got the shock of its life this month when it swooped down on a nice plump duck floating in a lake. 

The duck was plastic. It was also anchored by rope to an iron plate, furthering the eagle's bewilderment. 

"It was fascinating to watch," said Ole H. Hjartoey by telephone from the Arctic town of Bodoe on Tuesday, when his experience made national news. 

The duck decoy was one of two Hjartoey, 47, had placed in the water in front of his lakeside cabin. 

"I had my back turned when I heard a big splash behind me. I turned and saw the eagle trying to sink its claws into the plastic duck," said the management consultant. 

He said the eagle clung to the decoy and took off, only to have the prize wrenched from its claws when the rope ran out. 

"The eagle landed in a tree, and stood on an angled branch looking down at the duck," said Hjartoey. "It seemed to be thinking, "what in the world just happened here?'" 

Hjartoey said the eagle took off, leaving the decoy with "claw marks that looked like razor cuts." 

The misguided attack took place on Sept. 7, but only made news after someone tipped the local newspaper in Bodoe, about 55 miles north of the Arctic Circle. 
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Lyons, Colorado (Ananova):

A man and woman in the US have each broken an arm while taking part in an arm-wrestling event.

Jim Anderson and Suzanne Carlson each suffered a broken humerus while competing in the event in Lyons, Colorado.

Carlson said she had no previous arm-wrestling experience except for a few matches with her brother as a child.

Organisers said the two broken arms came as a surprise as the injury is a rarity in the sport.

Jim Anderson said he has given up arm-wrestling after the accident, reports the Boulder News website .

"I'm done. Since I started in my middle age, I don't see myself doing anything on a national scale, so why hurt myself again?," he said.
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Howick Village, New Zealand (The Stuff):

A New Zealand town has produced its own postage stamp, but put the sticky bit on the wrong side.

Thousands of the stamps, bearing the Howick Village logo, have been sold to businesses and residents.

However, an error by the manufacturers means more than 20,000 have been printed with the sticky side on the front instead of the back.

The Stuff says most of the faulty stamps were recalled and destroyed, but some have made it into circulation.

Howick Village manager Louise van Campfort says the few that got away may turn out to be collector's items.

She said: "Just like the famous stamp with the plane printed upside down. Who knows how much they will be worth one day?"

The Howick Village Association came up with the idea earlier this year, and the manufacturer handled negotiations with New Zealand Post.

The town has now received a new batch of stamps.
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Reuters):

Hundreds of stiff-jointed Cambodians are flocking to see a large brown cow whose lick is believed to cure rheumatism and other ailments, officials said Wednesday. 

"Over the last four weeks, as many as 20 people per day have been coming to see this cow," Puth Chandarith, governor of Kompot province in southern Cambodia, told Reuters. "Even I went to see it yesterday." 

Ailing peasants in the impoverished southeast Asian nation offer incense, candles, flowers and water to the beast, which consumes the latter and then performs its licking duties on the prostrate patient. 

The cow's owner, Thun Nao, 59, a local teacher, said it all started after the animal escaped from its pen and started massaging his leg with its horns. 

"I was having problems with my legs and could not walk to school, but one day the cow ... came up to me and rubbed its horn against my leg. Afterwards I could walk fine," he told a local newspaper. 

Authorities are keeping a watchful eye on the cow and its owner to make sure gullible patients, who buy their offerings for the cow from its owner, are not taken advantage of -- and that nobody ends up regretting their bovine faith. "Some people believe that it works, but if they are seriously ill, I would urge them to go to hospital instead of magic cows," Puth Chandarith said. 

Belief in the magical powers of animals is a relatively common phenomenon in Cambodia, where over a third of the population lives on under $1 per day and cannot afford modern medicines. Snakes and turtles are often associated with supernatural healing powers. 
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Munich, Germany (Ananova):

A new perfume has been created in Germany which smells of rancid beer and cigarette butts.

The scent is intended to evoke memories of the famous Oktoberfest, Munich's annual homage to beer.

Inventor and pub landlord Peter Inselkammer presented the scent this week during the 169th festival.

He said he has called the new perfume 'Armbrustschuetzenzelt' Crossbow Tent - after the various drinking tents.

Inselkammer said the scent, which costs around £95 a bottle, comes in the shape of a pen that can be easily carried around the fields of the Oktoberfest.

Over a million people stormed the tents of the beer festival in its first week and organisers expect at least 6 million visitors to have come and gone by Sunday 6 October.
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Brno, Czech Republic (Mlada fronta Dnes):

A Czech prisoner could end up serving a longer sentence after guards heard voices coming from his backside.

Prison wardens in Brno say they discovered the 48-year-old had hidden a tiny walky-talky in his bottom.

He was allegedly using it to communicate with his wife to arrange bribes for investigators and lawyers involved in the case against him.

The daily Mlada fronta Dnes reports that the prisoner, who was remanded in custody on charges of car theft, talked to his wife, who would park her car a few hundred metres from the prison, every day.

"I have worked here since 1996 but I can't recollect ever finding anything stuck in such parts," said Sona Haluzova, spokeswoman for the Brno prison.

Police say the pair have been charged with perverting the course of justice and could face six months in jail.
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West Sussex, England (Daily Express):

Police in West Sussex are offering a burglar his finger in return for items he stole from a clock shop.

Officers found it when they were sweeping up broken glass at the shop in Arundel.

The finger is being kept in ice as evidence, but police say they'll give it back if the thief returns two £150 bronze hen clocks.

Police say the burglar will be scarred for life as a result of his injury.

The Daily Express says he's described as blond, in his 20s and was wearing a black T-shirt.

It's the second time in recent months Sussex police have found a severed finger. The first was next to a broken window after a house raid in Lewes in July.

A police spokesman said: "Thieves traditionally win themselves the nickname of Fingers. In these cases Finger-less seems more appropriate."
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