Shoppers got a Christmas Eve surprise on Monday when a pair of brothers handed out $100 (50 pound) bills at a mall on Long Island, New York.
Police responded to a call from security staff at the Sunrise Mall in the town of Massapequa, concerned that the give-away might create a scene or involve counterfeit bills.
Instead, officers found a simple case of Christmas charity where calm prevailed as the businessmen, aged 45 and 41, gave out the money at the entrance to the shopping centre, police said.
"These two brothers say they do this every year. They say they've been blessed and just want to give something back," Detective Sergeant Anthony Repalone said.
"They gave it to people who they thought needed it. The people were very appreciative."
Police declined to identify the brothers, respecting their wish to remain anonymous.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Revealed: The seven great "medical myths"
Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes, you don't need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won't make the hair grow back faster.
These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition. Two U.S. researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.
Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.
The complete lack of evidence has been recorded in a study published the American Journal of Psychology, they said.
The other six "myths" are:
* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.
* Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser
It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth, studies say. But stubble lacks the finer taper of unshaven hair, giving the impression of coarseness.
* Eating turkey makes you drowsy
It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef. Eating lots of food and drink at Christmas are probably the real cause of sleepiness.
* We use only 10 percent of our brains
This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.
* Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.
* Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals
Despite widespread concerns, studies have found minimal interference with medical equipment.
The research was conducted by Aaron Carroll, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, and Rachel Vreeman, fellow in children's health services research at Indiana University School of Medicine.
These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition. Two U.S. researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.
Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.
The complete lack of evidence has been recorded in a study published the American Journal of Psychology, they said.
The other six "myths" are:
* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.
* Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser
It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth, studies say. But stubble lacks the finer taper of unshaven hair, giving the impression of coarseness.
* Eating turkey makes you drowsy
It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef. Eating lots of food and drink at Christmas are probably the real cause of sleepiness.
* We use only 10 percent of our brains
This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.
* Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.
* Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals
Despite widespread concerns, studies have found minimal interference with medical equipment.
The research was conducted by Aaron Carroll, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, and Rachel Vreeman, fellow in children's health services research at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Irish judge rules speeding not ‘as bad’ in miles
DUBLIN, Ireland - When police caught driver David Clarke flying down a road at 180 kilometers per hour this month, he looked likely to lose his license.
But a country judge reduced the charge and let the 31-year-old information technology worker stay on the road after concluding the speed did not look as bad when converted into miles, or 112 mph.
“I am not excusing his driving. He should not have been traveling at that speed,” District Court Judge Denis McLoughlin said in his verdict, delivered Tuesday in County Donegal, northwest Ireland.
McLoughlin suggested it was relatively safe to have shattered the legal road limit at the time, citing good weather, light traffic and the road’s unusual straightness.
McLoughlin was quoted as saying the speed seemed “very excessive,” but did not look “as bad” when converted into miles. He lowered the charge from to driving carelessly, and fined him 1,000 euros ($1,450); if convicted of the tougher charge of driving dangerously, Clarke would have lost his license.
Slow metric conversion?
The episode underscored Ireland’s slow mental conversion to metric. Ireland switched its speed limits from miles to kilometers in January 2005, but most cars still display speeds principally in miles.
Clarke, a Dubliner, had been traveling to a Donegal wedding Oct. 13 when he was clocked by a police checkpoint going 180 kph (112 mph) in a 100 kph (62 mph) zone.
Law enforcement on Ireland’s roads is notoriously lax, and judges frequently acquit offending drivers because of loopholes and vagaries in the law.
Over the past week, the government has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its plan to close the biggest loophole of all — a law that allows people to fail a first driving test but still receive a license and drive unsupervised.
The government had made Tuesday a deadline for police to begin citing some 150,000 people for driving alone despite failing the test, but pushed the deadline back to mid-2008 after test-flunkers complained they would lose their jobs if barred from the roads.
One in six Irish drivers has never passed an on-the-road test, according to Transport Department statistics.
New York eatery offers $25,000 dessert
This is one rich cup of haute chocolate: A New York eatery is offering a $25,000 dessert bulging with top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle.
The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was declared the most expensive dessert in the world on Wednesday by the Guinness World Records.
The dessert is a frozen, slushy mix of cocoas from 14 countries, milk and 5 grams of 24-carat gold topped with whipped cream and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle.It is served in a goblet with a band of gold decorated with 1 carat of diamonds and served with a golden spoon diners can take home.
The dessert was created by Serendipity 3, a restaurant popular with tourists and once featured in a John Cusack movie.
The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was declared the most expensive dessert in the world on Wednesday by the Guinness World Records.
The dessert is a frozen, slushy mix of cocoas from 14 countries, milk and 5 grams of 24-carat gold topped with whipped cream and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle.It is served in a goblet with a band of gold decorated with 1 carat of diamonds and served with a golden spoon diners can take home.
The dessert was created by Serendipity 3, a restaurant popular with tourists and once featured in a John Cusack movie.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Flasher strips off in court
A German flasher stunned lawyers during his appeal hearing on a flashing conviction by stripping off in court, authorities said Thursday.
"The court withdrew for deliberations and during the adjournment the man removed his clothes again," said a spokesman for the court in the western city of Duisburg. "It appears he sees it as art, and views himself as a living work of art."
The 60-year-old was in court to appeal against his conviction for running onto the pitch naked during a girl's soccer match and striking a range of "body builder poses," the spokesman said.
State prosecutors filed fresh charges of indecent behavior against the man after the court incident.
"The court withdrew for deliberations and during the adjournment the man removed his clothes again," said a spokesman for the court in the western city of Duisburg. "It appears he sees it as art, and views himself as a living work of art."
The 60-year-old was in court to appeal against his conviction for running onto the pitch naked during a girl's soccer match and striking a range of "body builder poses," the spokesman said.
State prosecutors filed fresh charges of indecent behavior against the man after the court incident.
Zany bid for surreal immortality
Share a bath with the most rattlesnakes. Join the longest bra chain. Marvel at the world's biggest underpants.
Zany record-breakers from around the world Thursday bid for immortality in the bible for the bizarre, seizing their chance to win an entry in Guinness World Records.
Last year, more than 100,000 people tried to set new records on Guinness World Records Day. "This year we expect twice as many," said Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday.
First up in London's Hyde Park was Ironman Manjit Singh who attempted the fastest time to pull a red doubledecker bus 10 meters with his ear lobes. He could only drag it 3.7 meters.
No record is too surreal to contemplate.
The Australian city of Sydney is making the world's largest underpants. South Africa is creating the longest bra chain.
In Dublin, 150 Irish dance school pupils are taking to one of the city's main squares to attempt a record Riverdance Line.
Maintaining the musical theme, James Devine is taking a rest from a world tour to attempt in New York to surpass his own record for the most dance taps in one minute.
The world's tallest dog, a 107 centimeter (3ft 6inch) Great Dane called Gibson, posed proudly in Sacramento, California with the world's smallest canine, a Chihuahua called Boo Boo who is just 10.16 centimeters high.
China bids for Guinness glory with the steepest tightrope walk and the fastest time trying to escape from a straitjacket underwater.
Canada offers the largest game of Twister. Turkey the largest money box.
Guinness World Records have also now ruled that a church steeple in Germany and not Italy's famous leaning tower of Pisa is the most tilted tower in the world.
The accolade went to a 15th century church in the northwest German village of Suurhusen.
This decision may strip Pisa of its symbolic status but the German tower is less than half the Italian tower's height and boasts none of its ornate beauty.
Zany record-breakers from around the world Thursday bid for immortality in the bible for the bizarre, seizing their chance to win an entry in Guinness World Records.
Last year, more than 100,000 people tried to set new records on Guinness World Records Day. "This year we expect twice as many," said Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday.
First up in London's Hyde Park was Ironman Manjit Singh who attempted the fastest time to pull a red doubledecker bus 10 meters with his ear lobes. He could only drag it 3.7 meters.
No record is too surreal to contemplate.
The Australian city of Sydney is making the world's largest underpants. South Africa is creating the longest bra chain.
In Dublin, 150 Irish dance school pupils are taking to one of the city's main squares to attempt a record Riverdance Line.
Maintaining the musical theme, James Devine is taking a rest from a world tour to attempt in New York to surpass his own record for the most dance taps in one minute.
The world's tallest dog, a 107 centimeter (3ft 6inch) Great Dane called Gibson, posed proudly in Sacramento, California with the world's smallest canine, a Chihuahua called Boo Boo who is just 10.16 centimeters high.
China bids for Guinness glory with the steepest tightrope walk and the fastest time trying to escape from a straitjacket underwater.
Canada offers the largest game of Twister. Turkey the largest money box.
Guinness World Records have also now ruled that a church steeple in Germany and not Italy's famous leaning tower of Pisa is the most tilted tower in the world.
The accolade went to a 15th century church in the northwest German village of Suurhusen.
This decision may strip Pisa of its symbolic status but the German tower is less than half the Italian tower's height and boasts none of its ornate beauty.
Bank manager gives woman loans for sex
A German bank manager gave loans to a woman for sex and then embezzled thousands of euros to buy the silence of her relatives, authorities said on Thursday.
When the man realized he could not offer the jobless woman a loan because of her poor credit history, he offered to lend her the money personally in return for sexual favors, said a spokesman for a court in the southern town of Tuebingen.
The 31-year-old then stole the money from the bank. The pair continued their arrangement for the next three years.
In total, the man diverted some 520,000 euros ($760,000) from clients' accounts, of which he gave about 70,000 euros to the woman, and kept 40,000 euros for himself.
The biggest chunk of the cash went to her relatives who were blackmailing the bank manager, a married man with children. The manager had himself told her cousin about the sex deal.
"As incredible as it sounds, that's what he told us," the Tuebingen court spokesman said. "The cousin was suspicious and she called him to ask how the woman had got a loan."
The court said bank officials uncovered the ruse after probing irregularities linked to the man's handling of other loans. The court gave the man, who confessed, a jail sentence of three years and nine months.
When the man realized he could not offer the jobless woman a loan because of her poor credit history, he offered to lend her the money personally in return for sexual favors, said a spokesman for a court in the southern town of Tuebingen.
The 31-year-old then stole the money from the bank. The pair continued their arrangement for the next three years.
In total, the man diverted some 520,000 euros ($760,000) from clients' accounts, of which he gave about 70,000 euros to the woman, and kept 40,000 euros for himself.
The biggest chunk of the cash went to her relatives who were blackmailing the bank manager, a married man with children. The manager had himself told her cousin about the sex deal.
"As incredible as it sounds, that's what he told us," the Tuebingen court spokesman said. "The cousin was suspicious and she called him to ask how the woman had got a loan."
The court said bank officials uncovered the ruse after probing irregularities linked to the man's handling of other loans. The court gave the man, who confessed, a jail sentence of three years and nine months.
New Yorkers rally to help online romeo
A tale of online love inspired usually cynical New Yorkers this week to help a young man find the girl of his dreams after he spotted her on a crowded subway train.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Web designer Patrick Moberg, 21, from Brooklyn, it was love at first sight when he locked eyes with a rosy-cheeked woman while riding in Manhattan on Sunday night. She was writing in her journal.
The train was so full that he lost her in the crowd when they both got off, so he set up a Web site dedicated to finding the mystery woman -- www.nygirlofmydreams.com.
He drew a picture of the girl, who was wearing blue shorts, blue tights, and a red flower in her hair, and posted his cell phone number, e-mail address and an appeal for help finding her.
It worked.
Within hours Moberg's inbox was overflowing with e-mails and his phone ringing non-stop. He told the New York Post that he even received e-mails offering him love. "Some people said I'm not the girl but you're so adorable, pick me instead."
Tuesday night a friend of the woman contacted him and sent him a picture so he could confirm her identity. "Found Her! Seriously!" a notice on his Web site said.
"We've been put in touch with one another and we'll see what happens."
The mysterious subway brunette was named Thursday as Camille Hayton, an intern at magazine BlackBook from Melbourne, Australia, who also lives in Brooklyn.
"This is crazy. I can't believe it's happening," Hayton, 22, told the New York Post.
But Moberg said he is now pulling the shutters on his love life, scribbling out the cell phone number on his Web site and leaving a message on his phone saying he will do no more interviews.
"In our best interest, there will be no more updates to this website," he wrote.
"Unlike all the romantic comedies and bad pop songs, you'll have to make up your own ending for this."
Some New Yorkers may already, wondering if Moberg had made it sound too easy to find a needle in a haystack in this city of eight million people.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Web designer Patrick Moberg, 21, from Brooklyn, it was love at first sight when he locked eyes with a rosy-cheeked woman while riding in Manhattan on Sunday night. She was writing in her journal.
The train was so full that he lost her in the crowd when they both got off, so he set up a Web site dedicated to finding the mystery woman -- www.nygirlofmydreams.com.
He drew a picture of the girl, who was wearing blue shorts, blue tights, and a red flower in her hair, and posted his cell phone number, e-mail address and an appeal for help finding her.
It worked.
Within hours Moberg's inbox was overflowing with e-mails and his phone ringing non-stop. He told the New York Post that he even received e-mails offering him love. "Some people said I'm not the girl but you're so adorable, pick me instead."
Tuesday night a friend of the woman contacted him and sent him a picture so he could confirm her identity. "Found Her! Seriously!" a notice on his Web site said.
"We've been put in touch with one another and we'll see what happens."
The mysterious subway brunette was named Thursday as Camille Hayton, an intern at magazine BlackBook from Melbourne, Australia, who also lives in Brooklyn.
"This is crazy. I can't believe it's happening," Hayton, 22, told the New York Post.
But Moberg said he is now pulling the shutters on his love life, scribbling out the cell phone number on his Web site and leaving a message on his phone saying he will do no more interviews.
"In our best interest, there will be no more updates to this website," he wrote.
"Unlike all the romantic comedies and bad pop songs, you'll have to make up your own ending for this."
Some New Yorkers may already, wondering if Moberg had made it sound too easy to find a needle in a haystack in this city of eight million people.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
From Communist Party to rich-only matchmaking party
Twenty Chinese men, including several on the country's richest list, paid $8,000 a head to attend a matchmaking party with 30 "single young beauties," state media said Monday.
Saturday's controversial party was held at a luxury European-style villa in Shanghai, the birthplace of China's Communist Party in 1921, with guests arriving in stretch limousines and getting the full red-carpet treatment.
"To disguise their identities from photographers' cameras, all guests scurried into the venue wearing a face mask, some even using a paper bag," the China Daily said.
Market reforms in the past three decades have lifted China out of dire poverty, but they have also fostered a culture of quick wealth and money worship and as the income gap widens, resentment of the rich grows.
Each male guest paid a 58,800 yuan ($8,000) entrance fee, while the women, chosen for their "looks, kindness, thought and taste," were selected from tens of thousands of candidates, according to the social network Web site (www.915915.com.cn) which organized the event.
The site, which boasts a membership of 100,000, held a similar party on a boat in Shanghai last year, drawing criticism from many observers for treating women as objects.
Tan Chao, the site's marketing director, said the company provided different services, including dating arrangements.
"For those who pay most, we will try different means, not within our own club, until we find them the right one," he was quoted as saying.
Saturday's controversial party was held at a luxury European-style villa in Shanghai, the birthplace of China's Communist Party in 1921, with guests arriving in stretch limousines and getting the full red-carpet treatment.
"To disguise their identities from photographers' cameras, all guests scurried into the venue wearing a face mask, some even using a paper bag," the China Daily said.
Market reforms in the past three decades have lifted China out of dire poverty, but they have also fostered a culture of quick wealth and money worship and as the income gap widens, resentment of the rich grows.
Each male guest paid a 58,800 yuan ($8,000) entrance fee, while the women, chosen for their "looks, kindness, thought and taste," were selected from tens of thousands of candidates, according to the social network Web site (www.915915.com.cn) which organized the event.
The site, which boasts a membership of 100,000, held a similar party on a boat in Shanghai last year, drawing criticism from many observers for treating women as objects.
Tan Chao, the site's marketing director, said the company provided different services, including dating arrangements.
"For those who pay most, we will try different means, not within our own club, until we find them the right one," he was quoted as saying.
Court orders goat thief to say sorry
An Australian woman who stole a pet goat and was involved in slaughtering it in a mock Satanic ritual in a church, was ordered by a court on Monday to apologize to the church and the dead goat's owners.
Tracey Arnold, 26, was drinking with friends at a Friday the 13th party in 2006 when she decided to steal the pet goat named "Maddie" from the front garden of a house in the northern city of Brisbane, local media reported from the court.
The partygoers then broke into a local church, dragging the goat onto a raised platform and killed it in a mock Satanic ritual, reported Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper.
The goat's head was later found by police in the freezer of Arnold's home, along with a camera containing photos of members of the group with the head.
Arnold's lawyer told the Brisbane Magistrates Court that his client did not have a "macabre disposition" but that when she drank alcohol she made poor decisions.
Magistrate John Costello ordered Arnold to apologize in person to the goat's owners and the Bellbowrie Community Church and undergo psychiatric treatment.
Arnold was also ordered to pay A$70 (US$64) in compensation to the goat's owners and $1,535 for damage caused to the church.
Tracey Arnold, 26, was drinking with friends at a Friday the 13th party in 2006 when she decided to steal the pet goat named "Maddie" from the front garden of a house in the northern city of Brisbane, local media reported from the court.
The partygoers then broke into a local church, dragging the goat onto a raised platform and killed it in a mock Satanic ritual, reported Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper.
The goat's head was later found by police in the freezer of Arnold's home, along with a camera containing photos of members of the group with the head.
Arnold's lawyer told the Brisbane Magistrates Court that his client did not have a "macabre disposition" but that when she drank alcohol she made poor decisions.
Magistrate John Costello ordered Arnold to apologize in person to the goat's owners and the Bellbowrie Community Church and undergo psychiatric treatment.
Arnold was also ordered to pay A$70 (US$64) in compensation to the goat's owners and $1,535 for damage caused to the church.
Cow plunges off cliff onto moving minivan
SPOKANE, Washington (Reuters) - A cow plunged from a 200-foot (61-metre) cliff onto the hood of a minivan on a highway in central Washington state, according to police.
The car's occupants, Charles and Linda Everson, were not hurt in Sunday's accident, but the cow was euthanized at the scene.
"If the cow had fallen a split second later, the animal would have landed right in their laps," said Jeff Middleton, criminal deputy of the Chelan County Sheriff's Department.
Middleton estimated the animal weighed 600 lbs (272 kilograms), or the average size of a mature cow. It had been missing for two days and wandered 5 miles from home near the popular Lake Chelan tourist area.
The car's occupants, Charles and Linda Everson, were not hurt in Sunday's accident, but the cow was euthanized at the scene.
"If the cow had fallen a split second later, the animal would have landed right in their laps," said Jeff Middleton, criminal deputy of the Chelan County Sheriff's Department.
Middleton estimated the animal weighed 600 lbs (272 kilograms), or the average size of a mature cow. It had been missing for two days and wandered 5 miles from home near the popular Lake Chelan tourist area.
"Cremated son" turns up alive
A mother cremated a body she thought was that of her dead son, only for him to turn up alive later, police said on Friday.
Gina Partington's 37-year-old son Thomas Dennison was reported missing last month and a body was found in Rusholme, Manchester, three days later.
The 58-year-old mother, from Urmston, Greater Manchester, formally identified the body as that of her son and, following an inquest, the body was cremated on October 30.
But police had actually found Dennison, living rough in Nottingham, four days earlier.
The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to discover why Partington was not told of her son's discovery in the days before she attended the cremation.
Inquiries are continuing to formally establish the identity of the body, but Greater Manchester police said they believe they know who he is.
Next of kin have been informed.
Police said in a statement: "This set of circumstances is clearly distressing and urgent inquiries are ongoing to establish how this happened."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)