Is this the tackiest tourist souvenir ever?

December 23, 2011 at 1:20 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

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THE NEWS

Odd news from around the world

Mexico disbands entire police force in top port of Veracruz: “The entire police force in the major Gulf coast port city of Veracruz was dissolved on Wednesday and Mexican officials sent the Navy in to patrol. The Veracruz state government said the decision is part of an effort to root out police corruption and start from zero in the state’s largest city.”

A cat that regularly catches buses: “A pet cat named Dodger is living up to his name – by catching free bus trips from his home town. The ginger moggy, who was named after the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist, has taken to hopping on and off the public transport at the bus station near his home. The 15-year-old Tom even sits on bemused passengers’ laps as the bus makes up to 10 mile round trips from Bridport to Charmouth in Dorset. Dodger is such a regular customer that some of the drivers take tins of cat food to work with them to give to him. They even know what stop to let him off at. At the end of his journies the roving moggy returns to his home and owner Fee Jeanes. Mrs Jeanes, 44, believes Dodger first took a liking to the buses as they are warm like greenhouses when the sun is on them. A spokesman for bus firm First said they didn’t mind Dodger on their buses but didn’t actively encourage him.”

British woman ‘healed by church leader’s miracle touch’ after spending 10 years in a wheelchair: “A disabled dwarf who spent ten years in a wheelchair claims she has been miraculously ‘healed’ by a church leader’s touch. Maya Joseph, 35, was ‘instantly cured’ of the pain in her legs that had left her unable to walk for a decade after Reverend George Booty placed his hands on her while she prayed to God. She was wheeled into St George’s, an independent Anglican church in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, before walking out unassisted just minutes later. She said: ‘I got up and walked and I’ve continued to walk ever since. I feel fantastic. I was healed.’ Ms Joseph, who has dwarfism and is registered blind, has been unable to walk since she was 25 due to curvature of the spine. But despite doctors saying she would probably never walk again, she can now stroll to the local shops and hop on a bus to get around her hometown of Luton. Ms Joseph, who is 4ft 7in tall, said her leg was twisted but has now started to straighten since the ‘healing service’ in early October.”

Looks are as important as brains to career success, says new study: “Good-looking people worried about higher education shouldn’t worry. Beauty is every bit as good as a BA when it comes to getting on, a new study says. Researchers at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in northern Germany have found wages, promotions and perks at work are linked to a person’s attractiveness. While looks have long been thought essential for women to climb the corporate ladder, they say, they are even more important for men. The team, headed by Professor Christian Pfeifer, questioned more than 3,000 people about their careers and compared them with rankings of how attractive they were. Researchers themselves gauged their subjects’ looks on a scale of one to 11. Professor Pfeifer said: ‘The results showed that just one point above average on the attractiveness scale and the chance of getting employed rises by three percent. ‘Five points more – that is about the difference between an ordinary face and downright beauty – helps in getting a job as much as a university degree.'”

FedEx delivery man hurls fragile computer package over fence: “FEDEX has vowed to track down the deliveryman who was caught on video carelessly chucking a computer monitor over a fence during a delivery. Leordeanu said company executives were ‘shocked’ when they saw the video and called the handling of the package ‘unacceptable.’ The 21-second clip, uploaded to YouTube by user goobie55 on December 19, shows the delivery man taking the package from the back of a FedEx-branded van parked outside of the home’s front lawn. Taking the package out, he walks alongside an iron gate enclosing the residence and past what appears to be a security keypad that might buzz him in. Without missing a beat, its fragile contents are tossed onto a driveway on the other side of the gate. Goobie55 says on the clip: “The sad part is that I was home at the time with the front door wide open. All he would have had to do was ring the bell on the gate. Now I have to return my monitor since it is broken.” [Update: FeDEx have replaced the monitor but the deliveryman has NOT been fired! Unimpressive! Video at link]

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