 | PerspectiveVolume L | 
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Sunday July 20, 2003 |
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| Perspective is a weekly features of unorthodox news reports from around the globe. Some of the reports serve to prove the point that we as Nigerians are not as unique as we may think. To put any news report in Perspective please send a note to perpective@ekiti.com | ||
Headlines
Marine's valuables stolen while rescuing drowning teen Cpl. Quentin Gwynn jumped into the ocean near a popular Honolulu tourist spot to save a teenager from drowning. During the rescue someone swiped his valuables. Firefighters credit Gwynn, on vacation after serving in the war in Iraq, with saving the 16-year-old boy's life on Monday. After the commotion, Gwynn and his girlfriend realized that someone had stolen her backpack, which contained a camera, identification, money, credit cards and a key to their rented motorcycle. "It's really hitting home right now. It's disheartening," said Gwynn, 21. "They could have picked someone else to steal from." Gwynn arrived in Hawaii on Sunday aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. The ship had deployed Jan. 17 for Iraq. The couple were about to take a second leap from a diving rock Monday when there was a panicked cry for help from the boy's friend. Gwynn said the youth's body was limp and cold when he was pulled out of the water. He wasn't breathing and had no pulse. The Marine helped revive the boy by performing CPR. The teen was later taken to a hospital.
Man fined for Internet kidney sale A spokesman for the court in the western town of Kassel said the 48 year-old Austrian mechanic was accused of violating laws on illegal organ trading for offering his kidney as a "blood purification organ" online at a starting price of 66,500 euros. He was hoping to use the proceeds to ease his girlfriend's financial worries, said court spokesman Theodor Weber. "Apparently the firm she worked for was in trouble and he wanted to help them out," he said. A journalist later spotted the advert, and posed as a potential buyer before exposing the unusual money-spinning ruse. The man made a full confession in court and said he was pleased he still had both kidneys. "He said he was glad because he'd been having a problem with one of them for a while," Weber said.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court fined a man 1,350 euros ($1,500) for attempted blackmail after he gave himself away by giving the intended victim his bank account details for the cash transfer, authorities said on Friday.
"You see a lot of unusual things in court, but this is one of those occasions where you ask yourself, 'What was he thinking?'" said Daniel Radke, a spokesman for the court in the western city of Bonn. Radke said the 34-year-old man sent his former boss a letter, saying he would report him to the tax office if he did not transfer 30,000 euros ($33,730) to his account. The victim reported the threat to police and recognized his tormentor as an ex-employee of the electronic goods wholesaler when the account details revealed his identity. The man had earlier left the company by mutual consent, the court said. "The man told police it had not been meant that seriously," said Radke. "But he couldn't explain why he'd done it."
Zookeepers to learn Thai to communicate with Elephants "The elephants must be able to understand commands in the languages they've been raised with, so that we don't have to teach them Swedish," Magnus Nilsson, chief executive of Sweden's Kolmaarden safari park, told The Associated Press on Friday. In Thailand, the two zookeepers will also attend a special training camp for elephant keepers. Thailand's culture minister Chakrarot Chitrabong earlier this week visited the park, 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Stockholm, to make sure the elephants will get a good home when they arrive in Sweden in late October. "Here the elephants will live as good as we do. Kolmaarden is one of the best zoological parks I have visited," the minister was quoted as telling the local newspaper Folkbladet. For Kolmaarden, which does not have elephants any more, the gift is especially welcome. The park was forced to destroy all five of its elephants, from last year through this spring, after they were infected with tuberculosis. Swedish law requires that any animal infected with tuberculosis be destroyed because the disease is contagious between humans and animals. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej presented King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia with the two elephants during a five-day state visit to Thailand in February
ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Lovers of Swiss cheese can now lease their own cow on an Alpine pasture to provide the personal touch that store-bought products just can't offer.
"We have around 25 interested parties," primarily city slickers from the Zurich area, said Helga Wyler, who runs a 50-head farm with her husband Paul in the Brienz area of the Bernese Oberland. Attracted by an offer on the Internet (www.kuhleasing.ch), customers pay a fee of 380 Swiss francs ($275) per summer plus 40 Swiss cents for each liter of milk their beast produces. Farmhands do the rest, but customers still have to work at least one day in the meadow to earn their cheese in the autumn. Each cow supplies enough milk to make 155 to 265 pounds of cheese. Swiss farmers often rent cows to restaurants with a yen for customized cheese, but private leasing clients are rare.
Men With Shotgun Steal Bags of Garbage The male attendant was carrying the garbage through a shopping center parking lot in the city's western suburb of Deer Park just before midnight Thursday when a green van reversed toward him, police said. A man, who had covered his face with a piece of yellow cloth, slid the van's side door open, produced a sawed-off shotgun and demanded the attendant hand over the bags. "He told them it was only rubbish but they took it anyway," police spokeswoman Bronwen Kelly said. Police say they have no idea why the men grabbed the trash, but assumed they thought the bags contained money. Police believe the van was stolen and are treating the case as a normal armed robbery.
Police Jail Drummer and His one-month-old kitten "Gizmo," a black and white kitten, and its owner, Angel Melendez, were placed in a city lockup early on Tuesday after an officer cited the 35-year-old subway musician for having an uncaged animal inside the subway system. The incident was the latest example of what critics say is a ticketing blitz designed to help the cash-strapped city. Recently, officials fined a man for sitting on a milk crate and ticketed a woman for talking loudly to her neighbor. Officials deny increased ticketing and statistics show the number of summonses has not risen. Melendez was playing plastic drums in Manhattan's 14th Street station when police issued him a summons for having the kitten on a bucket next to him, lawyer David Kapner said. The kitten was sound asleep. According to the criminal complaint, the arresting officer wrote he "observed the defendant in close proximity to a cat, which was on top of an upside down bucket, not enclosed in a container ... the defendant knew he was not allowed to possess a cat not enclosed in a container inside a subway facility." Melendez and Gizmo spent 40 hours in separate city lockups before a loving reunion on Wednesday afternoon. "She's like my baby. I didn't want to leave her alone at home," Melendez said. A Manhattan criminal court judge on Wednesday sentenced Melendez to time served.
California jury instructions now in 'plain English' The Judicial Council of California unanimously approved the changes Wednesday following a task force's six-year review. Plain language versions of criminal jury instructions also are being examined for approval in 2005. "Jurors make important and sometimes life-altering decisions," said Judge Carol A. Corrigan, chair of the Jury Instructions Task Force. "It is critical that the instructions be clear so that Californians performing this important service reach informed conclusions, grounded in an understanding of the law." The instructions would be available for use by civil jurors on Sept. 1. Judge Corrigan said the task force tried to retain the legal accuracy of the instructions while making them more understandable for jurors. "We never wanted these to be reduced to the art of Beavis and Butthead," Corrigan said. "They were filled with Latinisms and references to Norman French." The 29-member task force of judges, lawyers and experts began work in 1997 to produce new plain language versions of more than 800 civil juror instructions. The current instructions were initially drafted in the 1930s. For example, jurors have long been given the instruction: "Failure of recollection is common. Innocent misrecollection is not uncommon." That will soon read: "People often forget things or make mistakes in what they remember." Other linguistic changes planned for the instructions include omitting unnecessary words, avoiding double negatives and using the active voice in phrasing. Misunderstandings of jury instructions are common, said state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George. He pointed to a Washington, D.C. study that showed more than half the city's jurors asked could not define the word "speculate" or misunderstood the phrase "preponderance of evidence," thinking it meant a slow, careful pondering of the evidence. The plain English movement in courts has gained support nationwide in the past several years. Some state court systems, such as in Ohio, have pilot programs aimed at making courtrooms more jury-friendly and eliminating legal jargon.
U.S. 666, Devil's Highway, Signs Stolen Not a single sign remains labeling it as the infamous U.S. 666. "Since the reports that we were changing the name, we virtually had everything stolen. It was a feeding frenzy," said S.U. Mahesh, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. All that remains of the signs are sheared metal stubs. The two-lane highway runs 194 miles from Gallup north through southwestern Colorado and then west to Monticello, Utah. Colorado and Utah transportation officials also reported a rash of sign thefts since the American Association of State Highway and Transportation changed the number from U.S. 666 to U.S. 491 in June. Officials of all three states applied for the number change because of what some saw as the old number's satanic connotation. In the Bible, the Book of Revelation says 666 is the "number of the beast," usually interpreted as Satan or the Antichrist. Missing signs have been a problem since the highway was built decades ago, but Colorado transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks said more of the black-and-white signs started disappearing after the news of the number change. "We don't have a single 666 sign left," she said. Colorado officials have already installed fresh U.S. 491 signs. New Mexico and Utah are waiting for a ribbon-cutting event July 30 in Shiprock, N.M. One seller on the Internet auction site eBay purported to have a number of the U.S. 666 signs. "This is not a cheap mock up or knock off. It is the real deal guaranteed without the hassles of chancing a federal offense for stealing government property," the listing said. The seller did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Mahesh said the state Office of Inspector General plans to contact eBay about the signs. "We have to investigate it," he said.
Bride to Wear $300,000 Diamond Gown The gown has diamonds totaling 300 carats individually hand stitched onto the silk material made for the 23-year-old woman, who immigrated to New York three years ago. The mystery bride did not want her name or the wedding date publicized, said designer Anthony La Bate's assistant, John D'Agostino of Francesca Custom Apparel shop in Brooklyn. The woman's father paid for the dress. D'Agostino said La Bate's wedding gowns usually run between $1,000 and $10,000. "This is well above and beyond the usual," he said. Mindy Woon, buyer and assistant manager of the bridal salon at the upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman, said the most expensive gown it sells is for about $40,000. "I've never heard of a gown that high," Woon said. "That's probably three times what most people spend on their entire wedding." The dress is in two pieces. The bottom part, a ballgown, can be removed for a more form-fitting, sleek look. La Bate designs between 300 and 400 wedding gowns a year, D'Agostino said. He has also designed ornate Rabbinical robes and dresses for Miss America contestants.
Suspect Surrenders After Deputy Barks Ritter and Richard Gough, both deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, stopped a car July 12 because of a broken taillight. The driver, 21-year-old John Nicholas Hood, jumped from the car and ran into the woods, according to the arrest report. The officers' calls to Hood went unanswered so Gough said they were sending a dog after him. Ritter started barking. "He stood up and said, 'I'm here. Call off the dog,'" Ritter said. Hood, of Decatur, appeared in court this week and was charged with driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, evading arrest and a taillight violation. Judge Bob Moon bound his case over to the grand jury. "I suppose as long as the officers have had their shots and don't bite, I'll allow them to continue that technique," Moon said. Ritter said it wasn't the first time he and Gough have barked at a suspect. "We've played that card, and it's worked," he said
Grave mistake for Uganda's tallest man The longest coffin ever seen in the area could not fit in the normal sized grave, which had been dug by the villagers as John Apollo Ofwono's last resting place. The 43-year-old and undisputed tallest man in Uganda, measuring 2.68m (8 ft 9 inches) died last Friday of diabetes at Mulago Hospital in Kampala City. Thousands of mourners on Monday, streamed into Yokolo Village to the West of Tororo to pay their last respects to the man who narrowly missed entering the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest man. Both the funeral service and the speeches by various politicians and village traditional leaders went on smoothly. But the problems started when the Catholic priest leading the funeral service told some of the friends and relatives of the dead man to carry the body to the special grave completed with white wall tiles. First, there was a stampede around the grave as everybody rushed forward to get a good position from where they could drop some earth into the grave in accordance with the burial tradition. Then the mourners were surprised when the master of ceremonies announced that, due to some technical problems, the coffin could not be lowered. It transpired that the villagers who were hired to dig the grave had seriously underestimated the length of the coffin. Tororo Resident District Commissioner John Kizza and local MP Ogola Akisoferi praised the mourners for their patience as the grave diggers took 45 minutes to elongate the grave by three more feet before John Apollo Ofonwo could finally be lain to rest.
Family Sues Over Hell Prediction at Funeral Lawyers for the family of Ben Martinez said on Tuesday they had filed a lawsuit in June against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe and one of its priests. Court papers filed last month say that Rev. Scott Mansfield said at Martinez's funeral last year that the deceased was "living in sin," "lukewarm in his faith" and that "the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell." Martinez, 80, died June 17, 2002. Roughly 200 people attended the funeral at St. Patrick's Parish in Chama, New Mexico, a small town north of Santa Fe. Family members say he was a practicing Catholic all his life, but was too ill to attend church in the last year of his life. Nine members of the Martinez family are seeking punitive and compensatory damages for severe emotional and physical suffering. Lawyers did not say how much the family was seeking in damages. One of the plaintiffs said the townspeople "are staring at her, thinking her father is in hell," their lawyers said. The complaint also said that as Mansfield walked to the grave, he laced his comments about Martinez -- a former town councilman -- with profanities. "These people are profoundly hurt," said attorney Kathleen Kentish-Lucero, representing the Martinez family. "If you are Catholic and a representative of your church says your father is going to hell, that's perhaps the most devastating thing someone can say to you." But church officials deny the family's claims. "We deny the allegations and Father Mansfield denies the plaintiff's allegations," said Celine Baca Radigan, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Radigan said that Mansfield has been moved to a parish outside of Albuquerque on a routine transfer.
Prisoner Wants Sex Change at Taxpayers' Expense Mark Brooks, 34, who calls himself Jessica Lewis, and claims to be "a girl inside," sued New York almost three years ago for treatment for his Gender Identity Disorder but has not received medical treatment. In a 19-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn said Brooks should be allowed to talk to doctors about requests for hormone therapy, breast implants, and "genital reassignment." Kahn said "deliberate indifference to serious medical attention" may be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. He questioned the "puzzling distinction" officials make between hormone treatment before and after imprisonment. Department of Correctional Services policies limit hormone therapy to prisoners who are already receiving it before they enter the penal system. "Surely inmates with diabetes, schizophrenia or any other serious medical need are not denied treatment simply because their conditions were not diagnosed before incarceration," the judge wrote. Brooks, who wants to be transferred to a woman's prison, is serving 50 years to life in the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York for the 1989 murder of Hofstra University student Dean Lockshiss. The state Attorney General's office is reviewing the case before an appeal is filed. DOCS officials said they have not seen the judge's ruling yet and have no comment. Putnam County District Attorney Kevin Wright, who prosecuted the case against Brooks, told the New York Post that it was "appalling" that the victim's mother, a taxpayer, may be paying for the sex change of her son's killer.
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