News of the Weird - this just in!

[STEVE G]

A BRISBANE woman fleeced Nigerian scam artists by stealing more than $30,000 from their internet car sales racket, a court was told yesterday.

Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, 23, was employed by the Nigerians as an ''agent'' in March 2010 but was unaware they were scam artists, the Brisbane District Court heard.

Her job was to provide an Australian bank account through which they could funnel payments received through their dodgy account on a popular car sales website.

The group employed her as an 'agent' in March 2010 and asked her to open the account so they could siphon off the cash they received through their dodgy account on a popular car sales website, The Courier Mail said.

Brisbane District Court heard that under the deal, she was allowed to keep eight per cent of all the money paid into it and she was supposed to forward the rest to the Nigerians.
But, she pocketed the two payments she received which were worth $33,350 Australian dollars, spending the majority of it on herself.

The court heard the 23-year-old was not aware they were scamming customers when she stole the cash.

The scam eventually unravelled when people buying cars realised they were being ripped off and called the police.

Police discovered that the group ran their car sales 'business' using a New York web server but were based in Nigeria.
Officers then traced the account to Cochrane-Ramsay who the court heard had a history of stealing and property offences, the newspaper said.

She will be sentenced next month.

[lindosfan1]

When a man took his Volvo in for repairs last Saturday, it is safe to assume he did not expect a large naked woman stomping through his windscreen.
But that’s exactly what happened to 25-year-old John Knight.
While he was driving down the street in a San Francisco neighbourhood, a naked woman, estimated to be around 250 pounds - jumped on his car’s hood and smashed his windscreen with a sneakered foot.
Mr Knight told San Francisco Gate that he was driving through Noe Valley when he passed a woman wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by medical personnel.

A train was also stopped, and passengers were gawking at the scene.
That’s when Mr Knight said the woman threw off her blanket and came toward him.

He told the blog: ‘She walks up the hood of my car. And she begins stomping on my windshield, completely naked.’
The woman managed to crack the windscreen with the first stomp, and managed a few more strong kicks before plainclothes officers pulled her off Mr Knight’s navy blue Volvo.

Bizarre: The strange event occurred in San Francisco at the intersection of Church St and 24th St
After she was subdued, the woman was transported to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. She was not identified, and it is unclear if she was arrested.
Mr Knight says he won’t press charges against her, despite the $300 he had to spend for a new windscreen.
He told the blog he spent his Wednesday morning having a surreal conversation with his insurance provider.

He said: ‘They didn’t really know what to make of it.’

[hhfarang]

Mayan Light Beam Photo: Message from Gods, or iPhone Glitch?

When Hector Siliezar visited the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza with his wife and kids in 2009, he snapped three iPhone photos of El Castillo, a pyramid that once served as a sacred temple to the Mayan god Kukulkan. A thunderstorm was brewing near the temple, and Siliezar was trying to capture lightning crackling dramatically over the ruins.

In the first two images, dark clouds loom above the pyramid, but nothing is amiss. However, in the third photo, a powerful beam of light appears to shoot up from the pyramid toward the heavens, and a thunderbolt flashes in the background.

Siliezar, who recently shared his photographs with occult investigators, told Earthfiles.com that he and his family didn't see the light beam in person; it appeared only on camera. "It was amazing!" he said. He showed the iPhone photo to his fellow tourists. "No one, not even the tour guide, had ever seen anything like it before."

The photo has surfaced on several Mayan doomsday discussion forums. But was the light beam a sign from the gods — a warning about Dec. 21, 2012, the date that marks the end of the Mayan calendar cycle, and when some people fear the world will end? Or is it simply the result of an iPhone glitch?

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/218 ... photo.html

[STEVE G]

(Reuters) - Four Amish youths were charged with underage drinking after they crashed their horse-drawn buggy into a police cruiser in upstate New York, authorities said on Monday.

Police were dispatched to the town of Sherman on Sunday night in response to complaints about Amish youths drinking and drag racing their horse and carriages on the road, said Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace.

"These Amish kids in buggies were racing up and down the street," he said.

"When police came, there were two buggies on the road and each was taking a lane of traffic up. One of the buggies tried to shift out of the way when a patrol car came and ended up crashing into it," Gerace said.

The police report from the crash said the buggy flipped over and the horse broke free, running off to a nearby barn.

Four youths, aged 18 to 20, were charged with underage possession of alcohol.

Sherman is a town in western New York about 90 miles (145 km) south of Buffalo. The area is home to a large Amish community.

[hhfarang]

Boys will be boys... even Amish boys!

[STEVE G]

German celebrity bunny crushed to death by cameraman

An earless baby rabbit that became a rising star on Germany's celebrity animal scene had its 15 minutes of fame brought to an abrupt end when it was accidentally stepped on and killed by a television cameraman.

The fate of 17-day-old Til, a male bunny with a genetic defect, was plastered across German newspapers on Thursday, the same day a small zoo in Saxony was to have presented it to the world at a press conference.

The cameraman told Bild newspaper he hadn't seen Til, who had buried himself in hay, when he took the fateful step back on Wednesday.

Zoo director Uwe Dempewolf told Spiegel magazine Til didn't suffer: "It was a direct hit."

Germany has been home to several global animal celebrities in recent years, including polar bear Knut and Paul the prognosticating octopus.

[hhfarang]

An estimated 20,000 New Age believers who say the "upside down" mountain is home to aliens who will rescue them from an impending apocalypse have saturated a small French commune near the foot of the picturesque Pic de Bugarach.

The Independent reports the growing flock, who locals refer to as "esoterics," believe the world will come to an end on December 21st, 2012. They also reportedly believe that the unique mountain is in fact home to a race of alien beings that will emerge to rescue the gathered humans and transport them to a new civilization.

Pic de Bugarach has long been famous because rock samples taken from its peak are actually older than points measured at lower elevation. Scientists say that is because when the 1,230 meter mountain erupted its peak flipped upside down before crashing back down upon the mountain's base. The mountain is said to have played a role in inspiring everything from Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth," to Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

The BBC reports that the French government is concerned about mass suicides taking place near Pic de Bugarach in advance of the December 21 date and that there have been reports of "strange rituals" taking place there as well.

Last year, CNN filed a report on the apocalyptic rumors surrounding Pic de Bugarach:

The Independent notes some other rumors surrounding Pic de Bugarach, which included speculation that both Israel's Mossad and Nazis have both performed "mysterious" excavation digs there.

"The apocalypse we believe in is the end of a certain world and the beginning of another," one of the New Age pilgrims going only by the name "Jean," tells the paper. "A new spiritual world. The year 2012 is the end of a cycle of suffering. Bugarach is one of the major chakras of the earth, a place devoted to welcoming the energies of tomorrow."

Up to 100,000 visitors are expected to flock to the scene before December 21.

[STEVE G]

A BUNGLING UK couple reportedly rang police to report a burglary at their home - without revealing that the stolen goods were cannabis plants worth £10,000 ($15,000).

Colin Roberts and Mandy Coghlan, who both pleaded guilty, have been handed suspended prison sentences for producing cannabis, The Sentinel reported.

Last April, cops were called to the pair's home in Tunstall, central England, regarding a burglary. Upon arrival at the property, police quickly established that the stolen items were dozens of cannabis plants.

A search of the residence allegedly uncovered a makeshift gazebo in an upstairs bedroom with just stubs left as the rest of the cannabis plants had been harvested. There was also 46.33 grams of dry skunk cannabis.

When officers tried to arrest Roberts, a drunk Coghlan threatened police with a loaded air pistol.

"She said something about a gun, reached in a cupboard and pulled out something that had the appearance of a small handgun," prosecutor David Bennett told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Bennett added that cops managed to wrestle the weapon from Coghlan and arrest the pair.

On top of the cannabis production charge, Coghlan also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm.

Both received 12-month prison sentences, suspended for two years.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6313727420

[hhfarang]

"Bacon coffin can be yours for $2,999.99

By Mike Krumboltz

Maybe you can take it with you. With the new bacon coffin, you'll spend eternity with your favorite cured meat. What could be better?

Though not literally made from bacon, the bacon coffin is painted to look as if it is covered in savory strips. An article from Seattle's King5.com reports that local company J&D's Foods created the casket. This isn't the first time the company has found inspiration in bacon. J&D is also responsible for unleashing Bacon Salt and Baconnaise on the world.

A bacon coffin doesn't come cheap -- $2,999.99 plus shipping. But the interior does come with a bacon memorial tube and a bacon-themed air freshener. So you'll have that going for you ... which is nice."

[dtaai-maai]

I can't think of a rasher choice to make than a bacon coffin...

[Dannie Boy]

I presume it would be "smoked" bacon!!

[dtaai-maai]

Only for cremations, apparently.

[PeteC]

If only I could be so lucky. Pete

Police rescue man from sex-mad date

Published: 13/04/2012 at 01:26 AM
Online news:

A desperate man in Munich fled onto a balcony and called police for protection after his insatiable companion for a one-night stand refused to let him leave her flat, police said Thursday.

The 43-year-old man had met a woman four years his senior in a bar in the southern German city on Monday and she took him back to her apartment for sex, a police spokesman said in a statement.

``There they had sexual intercourse several times,'' the spokesman said.

``When the 47-year-old wanted even more, her partner said no.''

The man then attempted to leave the apartment but the woman prevented him from escaping and demanded he sleep with her again.

``Because the 43-year-old saw no other alternative, he complied with the woman's wishes another few times so he could finally leave the apartment,'' the spokesman said.

``But when she continued to refuse and demanded even more sex from him, he fled to the balcony and alerted the police.''

The woman ``then tried to talk the dispatched officers into similar activity but was unsuccessful''.

She is now facing possible charges of sexual assault and illegal restraint.

[Nereus]

Worker entitled to compo for sex injuries

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/na ... -injuries/

A public servant was "in the course of her employment" when she was injured while having sex in a motel room while on a work trip, a judge has ruled.

He set aside a decision refusing her workers' compensation for facial and psychological injuries suffered when a glass light fitting came away from the wall above the bed as she was having sex with a male friend in November 2007.

The woman, who cannot be named, was in her late thirties and employed in the human relations section of a commonwealth government agency.

Her employer sent her to spend the night at a NSW country motel ahead of a departmental meeting the next day.

That evening, she met her friend for dinner before they had sex, during which the light fitting was pulled from its mount and fell on her.

In his statement, the man said they were "going hard" and he did not know if they bumped the light or if it "just fell off".

"I think she was on her back when it happened, but I was not paying attention because we were rolling around."

In the Federal Court on Thursday, Justice John Nicholas set aside an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision rejecting her compensation claim.

The tribunal had found: "The activity was not an ordinary incident of an overnight stay like showering, sleeping, eating, or returning to the place of residence from a social occasion elsewhere in the vicinity.

"Rather she was involved in a recreational activity which her employer had not induced, encouraged or countenanced."

But Justice Nicholas said the fact that the employer did not encourage her to engage in sexual activity did not mean that it disapproved of her doing so.

"If the applicant had been injured while playing a game of cards in her motel room she would have been entitled to compensation, even though it could not be said that her employer induced or encouraged her to engaged in such an activity," he said.

"In the absence of any misconduct or an intentionally self-inflicted injury, the fact that the applicant was engaged in sexual activity rather than some other lawful recreational activity does not lead to any different result."

The tribunal said the woman was engaged in a private activity.

But Justice Nicholas referred to another case where an employee who slipped while showering in her hotel room was found to have been injured in the course of her employment.

"Many of the activities which an employee might be expected to engage in during such a stay are engaged in private," he said.

[STEVE G]

Two British men have been charged with the theft of a penguin from a theme park on Australia's Gold Coast.

A third man - an Australian - has also been charged with trespassing, stealing and unlawfully keeping a protected animal.

But the trio, aged 18, 20 and 21, released a video of their drunken antics to try to prove they did not mean any harm to the animal.

The men have explained that they woke up with hangovers and were shocked to find a penguin in the living room of their rented flat last weekend.

The night before they allegedly broke into Sea World, bypassing the theme park's security and took the small fairy penguin, called Dirk, from its enclosure.

They filmed their drunken misadventures, which also involved them stripping down to their underpants and swimming with the centre's dolphins.

Having sobered up, they have now spoken to Australia's Channel Seven to express their regret.

Police have not confirmed the details of the three arrested men, but one - who gave his name as Rhys Jones - has given an apology.

'We are all... sorry to Sea World and the time they lost, you know, searching for Dirk We are just glad he's alright,' he said.

The men are believed to have panicked and released Dirk into a nearby canal but only after posting photos of their prank on Facebook.

A friend saw the pictures, thought something fishy was going on, and reported them to authorities in Australia.

Meanwhile, Dirk was spotted in the canal by a couple walking.

Sea World's director of marine sciences Trevor Long said: 'They thought it was very, very unusual, so they got on to their iPhone and googled 'lost penguin'.

'That came up with the story, and from there they were able to contact us.

'Had we not got him it wouldn't have been a good situation at all in the long term for Dirk.'

Sea World says it was the first incident of its kind in around 40 years of operation and they are now reviewing all security.

The three men will appear in court next month.
http://www.skynews.com.au/offbeat/artic ... 42049&vId=