 | PerspectiveVolume XLIX | 
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Sunday July 13, 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
Doctor performs brain surgery with store drill "We have no (neurosurgical) instruments at the hospital. ... He was dying, so I had no choice but to run to a hardware store to buy a drill and use the pliers that I fix my car with, of course after sterilizing them," Cesar Venero told Reuters in a telephone interview. The patient, Centeno Quispe, 47, had arrived at the hospital in Andahuaylas, 240 miles (400 kms) southeast of Lima, after being hit in the head with a metal object in a street fight, Venero said. "I drilled holes in his skull in a circle, leaving spaces of 5 millimeters, took out the bone with the pliers and removed the clots that were putting pressure on his brain," he said. Andahuaylas is one of the poorest regions of Peru, a country in which more than half its 27 million people live below the poverty line. Venero, who earns $430 a month, said he had used tools from a hardware store on five previous occasions but for less serious operations. Quispe was making a good recovery in a hospital in Peru's capital, Lima.
Evil Twin poses as sister to avoid arrest When a sheriff's deputy pulled over a car yesterday for expired plates, he routinely ran a check for warrants on the passenger. Twenty-year-old Joy Tanner did have a warrant for her arrest. But she allegedly gave the name of her identical twin. Unfortunately, it turned out her sister also had an outstanding warrant. The twin now also faces felony charges of impersonating another person.
Missing Python Slithers Out of Dutch Toilet Bowl
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A pet python missing over the last two months made its reappearance by scaring a Dutch woman when it slithered out of her toilet bowl.
The constrictor snake, which kills its prey by coiling around it and squeezing, had been on the loose for more than two months after breaking out of its terrarium in a town near the port city of Rotterdam, Dutch news agency ANP said on Thursday. As police and vets came to catch the two-meter long fugitive python, it slid under a bathtub that they had to demolish to capture it. The snake was returned to its owner, but local residents were unhappy to hear the owner admit that a second pet python, this one almost one-meter long, had also escaped and was still on the loose.
German Customs Auctioned Car with Cocaine A Chevrolet auto imported from Mexico in 1997 was confiscated by customs guards because of 54kg of cocaine discovered inside of the car. The press-secretary of the investigation bureau reports, examination of the car in 1997 missed 10kg of the drug stuff. So, the automobile was considered clean and put up for auction last month. New owner of the Chevrolet found the cocaine in the car and gave the automobile back to the customs service. The market price of the drug found in the Chevrolet makes up 500,000 euro ($563,000).
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) -- Criminal charges were dropped against a man whose defense lawyer claimed that drinking jasmine tea made him temporarily insane before he smashed his way into a neighbor's house and chased the woman with a dagger.
Police said they found a wild-eyed Gilbert Walker, 43, outside the house in nearby Callaway yelling "I'm crazy" after he had broken a glass door with a brass duck. The neighbor ran screaming down the street until a motorist stopped and gave her a ride to a store where she called police. The judge dismissed aggravated assault and burglary charges Wednesday after receiving reports from three court-appointed psychologists. They agreed that Walker suffered from psychosis but offered no opinion on what caused it, Alton Paulk of the state attorney's office said Friday. Jasmine is an herb commonly taken to calm the stomach but is also used as a love potion in satanic and cult rituals, defense lawyer Mike Hunter said. Prosecutor Mark Graham said the psychologists' findings made him willing to accept dismissal of the charges. One doctor wrote that the psychotic episode last December was isolated and Walker should have no lasting problems. Walker, a software designer and engineer for a government contractor, declined comment. Hunter said a forensic toxicologist told him that certain jasmines can be hallucinogenic. "It depends on what you use and what you mix it with," Hunter said. Walker's former girlfriend gave him the tea to settle his stomach, but didn't warn him to limit his intake and he consumed up to 10 cups daily, Hunter said. Prosecutors likened the tea theory to the "twinkie defense" used by former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, who was charged with killing the city's mayor and another supervisor in 1978. He avoided a first-degree murder charge and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after his lawyers convinced jurors that eating junk food had diminished White's mental capacity.
'I do,' she said; You're under arrest, police said Six New York City women who swore they had not been married before were issued 43 marriage licenses to wed illegal immigrants so the men could stay in the United States, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Wednesday. Morgenthau said each woman got up to $1,000 for each marriage. One of the women received 27 marriage licenses in Manhattan between 1984 and 2002 so she could marry men from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico and a few other countries, Morgenthau said. The woman also applied for marriage licenses in Florida, Morgenthau said, and he believes she may have gotten licenses elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area. "I figured she should go in the Guinness Book of Records," he said. She was among four women arrested and charged with second-degree perjury and falsifying business records, Morgenthau said. Two others were still being sought. Morgenthau said the women, all U.S. citizens, lied on a sworn affidavit that requires them to list prior marriages. Perjury is punishable by up to four years in prison. Morgenthau said he did not know how many green cards were issued as a result of the fake nuptials. If a client wanted a full package -- marriage license, green card and other documents -- he might pay up to $10,000, he said. The district attorney said the phony marriage cases were referred to his office after marriage license clerks, seeing the same names and faces, became suspicious. He said he is investigating 12 other "brides" for possible involvement in bogus marriages. Morgenthau said he was forwarding information on the cases to federal immigration authorities.
School forced teenagers to test for STDs About 10 girls were told they couldn't return to Intermediate School 164 without a doctor's note after they attended the "hooky party," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "What (the school) did is completely unheard of," Lieberman said. "It violates their right to privacy. It violated their right to go to school. It violated their right not to be subjected to summary punishment." One male student also attended the party, but he was not required to be tested for diseases, Lieberman said. Asked about the federal lawsuit, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said, "As in any lawsuit there are two sides. Different people have different views of what happened and we will respond appropriately in court." A woman who answered the phone at I.S. 164 said she had no comment. Dr. David Bell, who saw two of the girls at New York Presbyterian Hospital's family planning clinic, said he was "outraged" that the school demanded confidential medical information from the students. "Having teens presented to me as a punishment jeopardizes their trust to future relationships with me and their future care providers," Bell said. According to the lawsuit, the two plaintiffs got notes stating only that they had been seen in the clinic, but those were rejected. They were forced to get a second note that included their test results, said Rebekah Diller, director of the NYCLU's reproductive rights project. "There seems to be an assumption here that if they had tested positive for pregnancy or for an STD that they would not have been allowed back in the school," Lieberman said. "That's clearly wrong under the law." In addition to unspecified monetary damages, the NYCLU is asking the court to order the Department of Education to apologize to the girls, to remove the matter from their academic records and to train its personnel to respect students' privacy.
Mary Had a Little Lamb -- and It Ate Nitrogen Shaboom the sheep's favorite meal consists of animal feed made from nitrogen-based chemicals and other dismantled gun propellants -- one of the more creative uses Albuquerque company TPL Inc. is finding for unwanted military munitions. Shaboom, named after the comic book phrase for an explosion, was the "guinea-sheep" for TPL's experiment with feed made from spent munitions, and found it delicious. "I referred to Shaboom as the world's second most famous sheep -- after Mary had a little lamb. Then after Dolly (the cloned sheep) came along she was downsized. Now she's only third most important," said H.M. "Hap" Stoller, the president and chief executive of TPL. TPL has kept the technology and the ingredients of its farm animal food made from munitions a secret, which is OK by other more conventional feed producers because Shaboom's explosive snack has proved to be a dud in the commercial market. TPL has been in the business of finding commercial uses for spent military munitions for over a decade and does a lot of business recycling spent U.S. Army munitions. It also makes such items as plastic explosives for commercial use and a flashless gunpowder for military use.
Police ordered to return seized pot Michael Celli, 42, who had a pound of medicinal marijuana seized by police, says he needs it to ease chronic migraine headaches. Celli had hoped to receive his stash on Monday after a judge ordered Chowchilla police to return it, citing a 1996 California referendum legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. But Police Chief John Robinson called the Drug Enforcement Agency instead. The freezer bag full of pot will remain in an evidence locker until federal agents pick it up. "It was suggested by the district attorney's office to confer with the DEA," Robinson said. "If I release it to [Celli], I can be arrested for a felony, which is trafficking and distributing." Celli was booked on suspicion of drug possession with intent to sell while being issued a citation for illegal parking April 25. He said an officer laughed when he showed a card to prove he had medical reasons for using marijuana. Robinson said Celli had "one of these cards you can buy on the street corner in San Francisco," not a doctor's prescription as mandated by state law. Robinson also said he's following a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared the state medical marijuana statute does not take precedence over federal drug laws.
Marine sentenced to seven months in prison for refusing anthrax vaccination 1st Lt. Erick Enz pleaded guilty during a court-martial to disobeying the order of a superior. He faced a maximum punishment of five years confinement, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and dismissal from service. Enz could serve as little as 30 days based on a pretrial agreement, The Daily News of Jacksonville reported. Enz, a father of five and Bible study group leader, said he prayed for guidance before researching the potential adverse affects of the vaccination and refusing inoculation. Military Judge Col. Steven Day ruled earlier that Enz's objection on religious grounds would not be allowed as evidence. Department of Defense officials contend that the vaccination is safe, as do military doctors. A September 2002 U.S. General Accounting Office survey of 1,253 soldiers who received the anthrax vaccination found that 84 percent suffered minor reactions. At least 24 percent had major multiple "systemic" reactions, the latter more than 100 times higher than the estimate of the manufacturer. "The people who refuse this are not the dummies or the troublemakers," said Lt. Col. John Richardson, a retired Air Force pilot who has criticized the vaccine. "I get two to three unsolicited calls or e-mails a week sometimes as many as five a day from kids who are sick. Someone has to stand up and do the right thing."
A "shot" of dishwashing liquid lands drinkers in hospital After knocking back the shots in a bar in the southern town of Klagenfurt, the four drinkers were seized by coughing fits and their eyes turned watery and red, the police said in a press release on Friday. They complained to the waiter, who then downed a glass himself and also began coughing. The five were rushed to hospital where they were treated for burns to the mouth and gullet. Police said a bartender had refilled the schnapps bottle with washing detergent.
Geniuses, criminals do best work in their 30s When Satoshi Kanazawa, of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, studied biographies of prominent, mostly male scientists he discovered that they made their key discovery before their mid 30s, around the same age that criminal behavior peaks. He believes the male competitive urge to attract females is a driving force for the scientific and criminal achievements, according to New Scientist magazine. "They do whatever they do" in order to win the sexual attention of women, Kanazawa said. He added that the competitive drive decreases with age and as men's priority shifts from competing for women to taking care of their offspring. "Kanazawa also found that marriage dampens the drive in both arenas," the magazine added.
Charles Taylor Only Escapee from a US Jail never caught But he was once just a young man with an unremarkable name who pumped gas, worked in a plastics factory, and studied at a Massachusetts college. He also earned a share of notoriety by becoming the only escapee from the Plymouth County jail who wasn't caught. The Liberian-born Taylor, now 55, spent the 1970s in Boston, earning an economics degree from Bentley College in Waltham in 1977 and working as an activist on Liberian issues. Delores Adighibe, of Boston, said she lived in the same apartment building as Taylor for about five years in the early 1970s, when both were students at Bentley. She described Taylor as "political and generous." "He was very big-hearted, very giving, but extremely political and concerned about Liberia," she said. "We were all very active." Adighibe, who is co-chairman of the Liberian Community Association of Massachusetts, said she has been disappointed with Taylor, though, since he was elected the country's president in 1997. "I think greed took him ... overpowered him," she said. She spoke as President Bush, embarking on a five-day tour of Africa, is demanding that Taylor relinquish power. Mohammed Kromah, 53, of Baltimore, said he remembered Taylor from when the two worked together as activists in the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas during the 1970s, trying to inform the world of what was happening in Liberia. Kromah, now president of the organization, said he and many of Taylor's friends are disappointed with Taylor's tenure as president. He was articulate and idealistic during his six years in power, but achieved little, Kromah said. "There's not a single thing in the country that you can proudly say that 'Mr. Taylor did this,"' he said. "It's a waste, a vacuum, an emptiness in Liberian history." Taylor, who was raised in a suburb of the Liberian capital of Monrovia, went back to Liberia in 1979 after a regime change. He won a top job in the new government of Samuel Doe, but was charged with embezzling $1 million as head of Liberia's General Services Administration. Taylor fled to the United States, but he was arrested and incarcerated in the Plymouth County jail. On September 15, 1985, Taylor cut through bars with a hacksaw and climbed down a knotted sheet to gain his freedom, avoiding extradition and trial in his home country. Back in Liberia, Taylor led rebels against Doe in a bloody conflict that killed hundreds of thousands in the late 1980s. He was elected president of the country in 1997. But rebels have been fighting for three years to oust him. Taylor has been indicted by a U.N.-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone for allegedly supporting rebels in a bloody conflict in that country.
Ekiti commissioners ride Okada to office Ado Ekiti, the state capital, had been paralysed since fuel shortage resurfaced last Friday when most filling stations ran out of fuel while the few that had had to cope with long queues. This had forced the drivers of the commissioners and permanent secretaries to search endlessly for the commodity on Monday. When it, however, became apparent that the product was not available anywhere in the state capital, the senior state officials opted to go to their offices on Okada. One of the commissioners, who was seen on Okada jocularly told the Nigerian Tribune that what was important for him was to get to his office notwithstanding the means through which he achieved that. “ You know the type of person the governor is. He is not the type that will listen to any excuse for you not to be in your office at the appropriate time. But besides, what does being on Okada portend? Anybody can ride Okada if the need arises. So there is no big deal seeing me on Okada”, the commissioner said. Meanwhile, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has called for an immediate solution to the acute fuel shortage in the state. APGA, in a statement issued in Ikere- Ekiti on Monday, lamented the untold hardship the fuel shortage had caused the ordinary citizens in the state.
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