 | PerspectiveVolume LI | 
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Sunday July 27, 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
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A bank robber made the ultimate bad career move when he wrote a holdup note — on the back of his resume.
Police used the job-search information to identify the man, who was arrested and charged with robbing a Wells Fargo bank branch on Fort Worth's east side. The man had tried to hide the personal information by taping black construction paper over it. But then he forgot to retrieve the note and take it with him after giving it to the teller. Police then just peeled the tape from the note. A tip led police to a Fort Worth motel, where the man was arrested Saturday. He remained in federal custody on a bank robbery charge in the July 15 holdup.
Man chooses Dogs over Daughters Joseph Leek, who died at 90, left 1.1 million pounds ($1.77 million) to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, but nothing to his two daughters who had no idea of their late father's wealth. "We couldn't believe he had such a fortune. He wouldn't do any repairs on the house and he wouldn't spend on anything that he considered unnecessary," daughter Patricia Pilgrim told The Times. Pilgrim, who looked after Leek for his final 10 years, said her father would visit his neighbor's terraced house because he "would much prefer to use her electricity than his own." Pilgrim said she and her sister Josephine were disappointed to have missed out on their father's legacy, but respected his decision to give the money to charity. "What he has given them is marvelous and I'm very proud of him." Leek secretly amassed his fortune in the stock market.
Guest Drops Trousers at Queen's Party "He was a young man, an invited guest. He was about 10 yards from the Queen when he suddenly took off his trousers -- nothing more -- and sort of sprinted away from her as it were," said another guest, who asked not to be named. "He was caught by one of the Yeomen of the Guard," she said, noting that the incident was in the Queen's line of sight. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 17-year-old guest at the party, one of three the Queen hosts each year, was speaking to police about the incident but had not been arrested. "It was inappropriate behavior, nothing more," he said, stressing that the Queen's security had not been compromised. The incident comes just weeks after self-styled comedy terrorist Aaron Barschak -- dressed to resemble Osama bin Laden -- gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle.
Woodpeckers run up £200,000 "electricity" bill Scottish Hydro-Electric said the damage had forced the company to replace 10 times as many poles as normal. "The damage to the wooden poles by woodpeckers is a rather unusual feature," said refurbishment team manager Stephen Orr. "We are used to experiencing what mother nature can do to lines, but more by the weather than by the animal kingdom. "Typically an average line refurbishment will require one pole change per kilometre - but this project has required 10 per kilometre. "Several of the damaged poles have holes drilled right through them." The company had to replace 80 poles in the Highlands, at a cost of more than £200,000, because the woodpeckers' drilling had left them dangerously unsafe. Fifty had to be erected around Oban in Argyll, with 30 being replaced in Glenelg, Letterfearn and Arnisdale in the west Highlands. A spokeswoman for the power company said it could not use different materials to thwart the birds. "We just do not know what to do. It is a problem we will have to live with and replace the poles when they are drilled too much," she said. "We have thought about bringing in bird experts but that probably will not make any difference. "It is incredible the rate the woodpeckers are drilling."
Nuns face 30 years for defacing a missile silo Dominican Sisters Ardeth Platte, 66, Jackie Hudson, 68, and Carol Gilbert, 55, were to be sentenced Friday for swinging a hammer at a Minuteman III missile silo and smearing their blood on it in the form of a cross. The three nuns were convicted April 7 of interfering with the nation's defense and damaging government property. The maximum term is 30 years, but prosecutors have recommended the minimum, which ranges from six to eight. "No judge in the country is going to give them the maximum," Denver legal analyst Andrew Cohen said. But he said U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn can't ignore sentencing guidelines. Prosecutor Robert Brown declined to comment Thursday. Prosecutors said the nuns, all closely aligned with the late peace activist Philip Berrigan, showed a blatant disregard for the law and that previous arrests had not deterred them. The nuns claim the Minuteman is a first-strike weapon prohibited by international law. All three women are prepared to go to prison for their beliefs, said Bill Sulzman, their spokesman. "They have a strong spirituality that does sustain them and I think will sustain them if they get a long prison sentence," he said. After their arrest in October at the silo on Colorado's northeastern plains, the women chose to stay in jail, refusing the government's offer to be released on their own recognizance. They were released following their convictions and set their affairs in order. A demonstration was planned Saturday at missile sites in Colorado, said Cynda Collins-Arsenault, a community organizer and member of Code Pink, a national women's organization that is active in the peace movement. President "Bush has said weapons of mass destruction are horrible and I agree," she said. "We haven't found any in Iraq, but we sure have lot of them here."
Traditional healers propose Sending killer bees against Uganda's rebels The government has appeared powerless in recent months to halt intensified rebel attacks. But now a group of traditional healers, whose own alleged spiritual powers afford them both fear and respect among many poor and rural communities, have offered to step in. The secretary general of the national council for traditional healers and herbalists association (Nacotha), Karim Msasizi, told BBC News Online they had already sent their proposal to the government. He said it was in response to an appeal by junior Defence Minister Ruth Nankabirwa for spiritual support in the fight against the LRA rebels. "The entire operation will be under the control of around five highly qualified traditional healers," said Mr Msasizi. But Ms Nankabirwa has denied the claim by Nacotha. In a press statement, she said that what she originally said was that fear of the LRA leader Joseph Kony's alleged spiritual powers was so deep that people were scared to volunteer information to the government security forces lest Kony spiritually identifies and kill them. She, however, admitted saying that the government would welcome any contributions to the war against the LRA
The administration of the Russian town of Gorno-Altaysk declared war on cows that walked around the town. From now on, careless cow owners will have to pay big fines to redeem their animals from the town-s administration, because ownerless cows will be taken to a special area.
Cows have turned out to be a very serious problem for the town's administration. Fifty percent of the townsfolk live in private houses and have domestic cows, the number of which totals almost 3,000 (the town has the 55,000-strong population). Cows often run away from shepherds, walk around the town, eat grass and bushes in parks. They can also lie down on warm asphalt roads, creating traffic jams. The town's administration has already formed a group of cow-catchers.
Thais drink urine as alternative medicine Now she says she has eliminated her cancer through diet, prayer - and daily urine therapy. "I started drinking my own urine after hearing from a monk that if you have any kind of disease, urine drinking will help," she said. Her doctor, Dr Banchob, started recommending urine therapy a few months ago, instructing patients to collect their own urine in the morning and drink it untreated, starting with small amounts and progressing to a glassful a day. He now says he has seen some remarkable cures - from cancer to back pain. It is a controversial claim and when Dr Banchob recently started organising public seminars on the topic, it caused strong media interest. "In the ancient times or early days in the rural area, I think Thai people practising this. But very personal. They don't open up their secret to anybody. But after we discuss in the public, there's a reaction from the public, pro and con," Dr Banchob said. But in a modern private hospital in the capital Bangkok - where conventional Western medicine and commercialism are practised - kidney specialist Dr Siribha will not be advising her patients to drink their own urine. "If somebody asked my opinion, I will warn them not to do that," she said. Urine is the body's way of getting rid of things it doesn't want, she says, and can contain harmful toxins.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — It might take all the king's horses and all the king's men to solve this crime.
Somebody took a 200-pound, 3-foot-tall statue of Humpty Dumpty from his perch on a downtown street. The statue, valued at $20,000, was reported missing early Saturday. "The world knows it's hot," said Dave Kosley, spokesman for the Downtown Partnership, which served as curator for an outdoor art program. "I don't see that anyone who has it would feel comfortable displaying it in their front room or backyard. It's probably in a frathouse bar." The sculpture, by Minneapolis-based artist Kimber Feibiger, was among 19 works or art decorating downtown streets. Kosley said Humpty, with his green-and-white-striped trousers, should have been bolted to a steel plate with three bolts, but the artist used only two.
Man Faces Polygamy Trial After 15 Brides Registry records show Miguel Gutierrez, 38, married 14 times between 1998 and 2000, registrar Ernesto Castillo said Wednesday. Gutierrez, a former civil servant who now works as a trucker, is under house arrest facing trial in a week's time on charges of "illegally contracting marriage." He told local newspapers "It's normal to be a womanizer" but said he only married once after divorcing his first wife. Authorities discovered the alleged multiple marriages in March when Gutierrez supposedly tried to register his latest bride. Castillo said the previous marriages had gone unnoticed at first because the registry was only computerized in 2001. Gutierrez's lawyer Genaro Torres blamed errors in the registry for the allegations against his client. In Nicaragua, polygamy is punishable with up to five years in jail, according to legal officials.
Woman Banned for Criticizing Bush's Legs Julia Rose, who is also a fitness advocate, told the audience, "George Bush has chicken legs. He needs to pump some iron." Rose said she has made the same comment at other Borders stores. "In fact, the audience in Fredericksburg laughed when I said this," she told The Free Lance-Star newspaper. "The reaction was nothing different than typical crowds I've had." Amy Korsun, area marketing manager for the Michigan-based bookstore chain, confirmed Wednesday that Rose has been banned from performing at the Fredericksburg store. She said Rose will be allowed to continue playing at other Borders stores in Virginia. She declined to say why Rose was banned from the Fredericksburg store. Rose said she's mystified by the reaction. "I never said anything about Bush being a bad president or anything," she said. "I was just poking fun at his scrawny frame."
Thief Hires Limo to Drive Him to Holdup Beal hired the limousine Thursday and asked the driver to wait for him at a Bank of America branch around 11:00 a.m., according to police spokeswoman Maria Oropeza. Inside, Beal allegedly held up two tellers by "simulating a gun," and then used the limousine for his get away, Oropeza said. The driver, oblivious to what had happened, headed for San Francisco International Airport. A witness followed the limo and called police, who stopped the car. The unidentified driver was released. Police recovered all the money, but would not say how much. They did not know Beal's flight plans. Beal was being held in the San Francisco jail Thursday evening on two counts of bank robbery, Oropeza said
Man Charged with Robbing Own Parents at Gunpoint Ramiro Persson is accused of breaking into his parents' house in Eskilstuna, west of Stockholm, with six accomplices. They stole money and valuables worth about $125,000, according to the prosecution filing to the court. It said Persson, who has a history of drug abuse, first told police he had been taken hostage by the gang and tied up after they entered the house, but evidence from taped telephone conversations disproved his claims.
Thief breaks into locksmith store A thief broke into the Charles Town Lock & Key store over the weekend and stole keymaking equipment, master keys and a set of key codes with about 50 corresponding business names, Charles Town Police said. Master key systems are used by businesses to create keys that give personnel access to restricted areas, locksmith Aaron Greenburg said. He said residential locks were not affected. The burglar has "got to be somebody who knows about locksmithing, because they knew exactly what to take," said owner Marylou Hill. Store employees are warning affected businesses of heightened security risks. "They're all going to have to be rekeyed," Greenburg said
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