What Would Make You Call 911? Two Life and Death Stories

This photo is a joke-if it were real-call the fuzz and follow the car.

How much do you see and ignore? How much do you mind your own business and when do you step in to prevent a violent act? What would you have to see before you called 911? What’s the difference between being a good Samaritan and being Nosy? Is it ok to ignore domestic violence if it happens in a car?

When I first read of the boy abducted in Quebec and found alive bound and gagged inside a sealed oil drum I didn’t want to post the story. It’s an amazing story with a great ending but it was almost too cinematic, dramatic and fulled of community co-operation. Then the other night I saw part of the special on ABC about the kidnapping and death of Denise Amber Lee and I was struck by their common thread of community involvement.

Denise Amber Lee and the 8 year old boy both tried like hell to live, escape and attract people’s attention. Mrs Lee was the daughter of a detective and knew what to do. The 8 year old Canadian boy lived, but not Denise. The 911 system in Quebec functioned MUCH better than the 911 system in Denise’s home state of Florida. One could argue the primary difference is the 911 systems’ response. But in the ABC special at least 2 witnesses came forward and were interviewed saying they saw Mrs Lee struggling in the back of the car and they wrote it off as a domestic violence situation. Rueful and doleful they wished they’d have called 911 after the fact.

I’d never ask anyone to step into a fight and risk personal harm. But pick up the flicking phone and call 911 if you see ANYTHING weird. Follow your gut-follow that car. Bad shit happens and apparently if we stopped minding our own business lives can be saved. An 8 year old boy, was found alive bound and gagged inside a sealed oil drum, but he was ALIVE. If 1 or 2 more people called 911, maybe 21 year old mother of two, Denise Amber Lee would be alive too.

Witnesses, police foil abduction of Quebec boy – Eight-year-old was bound, gagged stuffed into trunk of car
Jenny Wagler and Bradley Bouzane, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2008

An eight-year-old boy who police say was snatched from the street, stuffed into the trunk of a car and later bolted into an oil drum, was rescued on Tuesday after a witness trailed the alleged kidnapper’s vehicle.

Ryan Murphy, 24, was stopped at a traffic light when he saw what he believed was a boy trying to escape from the trunk, which was partially open. He trailed the car until it stopped in a driveway and then called police.

When officers arrived at the address they found the boy tied up in the building’s boiler room inside an oil drum.

Read more…

One Man Donates 50 tons of 78 rpm Records

Not every collector aspires to one day amass a collection valued far beyond dollars, but most of best think past the cash. Mr Savada was such a collector- more historian and host than salesman. 5o tons of records! The mind boggles. To transport it will take six 20-foot-long Federal Express trucks. Wow. Thanks Mr Savada.

University given huge collection of 78 rpm records
updated 9:57 a.m. EDT, Sat July 5, 2008 | cnn.com

SYRACUSE, New York (AP) — A vast collection of 78 rpm records is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner.

The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of “Records Revisited,” a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February of lung cancer at age 85.

The collection, valued at $1 million, weighs 50 tons and represents more than a half-century of American music history.

Read more…

6 Foot Penis Must Apologize For Interrupting Graduation

This is for sure one of the best Senior pranks EVER! This six foot tall inflatable penis looks great on the all black stage of the high school graduation. It woulda been better if he were still a student. Here’s a link to it on youtube. Oddly, on youtube, quite a few inflatable penises showed up at high school graduations this year. In Hillsborough NJ an inflatable penis was batted around like a beach ball by the cap and gown crowd and in Danville the same inflatable penis costume showed up at the outdoor event.

Great work guys! Keep up the good work-the world needs more pranks!

Calvin Morett, 19, dressed in a penis constume, disrupts the Saratoga Springs High School’s 135th commencement ceremony at SPAC Thursday, June 26. (John Carl D’Annibale / Times Union)

Judge: Man dressed as penis must apologize

timesunion.com | DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer | Wednesday, July 16, 2008

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 19-year-old man must make an apology to the city of Saratoga Springs for dressing as an inflatable 6-foot penis and then parading across SPAC’s stage at the high school’s graduation last month.

Calvin Morett of (they included his street address which I am removing) must also pay to have the letter published in the Saratogian newspaper as part of a City Court sentence that calls for him to pay $95 in court fees and perform 24 hours of community service. Morett had previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation.

The sentence draws the curtain on Morett’s case. His appearance at the June 26 graduation at Saratoga Performing Arts Center caused, a stir and a video of the incident later appeared on YouTube.

Morett purchased the full-body costume and sprayed some of the 5,000 people in the crowd with Silly String, police said.

Morett graduated from Saratoga Springs High School last year.

Tags: high school, penis, prank

Body of Balloon Flight Priest Recovered

Poor dude. For more information on this failed lawn chair pilot click here. For more information on successful lawn chair flights click here and here. For info on the lawn chair flight pioneer, click here.

Body of balloon-flight priest recovered
www.news.com.au | By staff writers | July 06, 2008 01:24am

THE body a Brazilian priest who floated off tied to 1000 giant party balloons has been recovered about 100km off the Brazilian coast, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports.

Father Adelir de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with theparty balloons tied to a chair.

The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, DPA reports.

Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest but DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.

Father de Carli, 42, was trying to promote religion, draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.

A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.

But bad weather time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil’s southern coast, and in his last contact with police he said he was encountering problems.

Oops, Real Rembrandt Sold Cheap as a Fake

One of the best parts of this story is the actual painting itself. Its no stuffy crucifixion or boring still life. In this self portrait, the deft Dutchman laughs at the stuffed shirt know-it-alls across the ages and shares good cheer with the smartie pants who bought him for a song. As a Dutch scholar pointed out to me in a pub in the shadow of the Tower of Ransdorp, it’s a shame how the Dutch are perceived to be thrifty and cheap, especially in the States. Apologies if this post re-enforces that negative stereotype.

In this handout photo released Thursday, June 12, 2008, by the Rembrandt House Museum, the 1628 self-portrait “Rembrandt Laughing” by Rembrandt is seen, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Whether it was a sharp guess or lucky optimism that lead him to bid, someone at a British auction last year picked up a Rembrandt for a bargain. The self-portrait wasn’t always thought to be worth much. Before the recent investigation, others assumed it to be by one of Rembrandt’s students or a Rembrandt imitator. It was valued at 1,500 pounds ($3,078) when it came up for auction last October at Moore, Allen and Innocent in Gloucestershire. It sold for 2.2 million pounds ($4.5 million). (AP Photo/ Rembrandt House Museum, ho)

‘Rembrandt Laughing’ is self-portrait
By ANRICA DEB – Jun 18, 2008 | AP

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The auction house thought the portrait was a 17th century Rembrandt knockoff, and valued it at just $3,100. But the British buyer who paid about 1,500 times more than that apparently knew what he was doing.

Experts have confirmed “Rembrandt Laughing” — bought for a bargain price of $4.5 million at an English auction house in October — is a self-portrait by the Dutch master himself, depicted with his head tilted back in easygoing laughter.

Read more…

Teen Arrested for Giving Cops LSD Cookies Vindicated

Damnnnnn holmes. What the hell is wrong with the field test for LSD that a chocolate chip cookie comes up tainted? 

When this story first broke I loved the idea of a enlightened young tripper sharing the gift of innner-vision with THE MAN. But nope, thats not the case, tests prove the cookies were just cookies. It’s very possible, heck even likely, that after spending 70+ hours hanging around Police the youth felt empathy, respect and penitence. I know a teen who made lots of friends washing cop cars and was just glad to get out of the house away from the parental units, even if it was to serve a community service sentence.

If the cop smelled something rancid and strong in the cookies it could easily have been rancid butter or shortening, it’s summer time and those cooking fats go bad swiftly. Or perhaps the 18 year old boy wasn’t a great cook.

Dang, it’s hard to be a teenager. Sorry about your troubles bud, hope you get a nice fat legal settlement and go to college and do good. 

No drugs in cookies teen gave Lake Worth police, lab finds
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, July 11, 2008  |  By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News / Dan X. McGraw and Blanca Cantu contributed to this report.

LAKE WORTH – The case against a teenager accused of delivering drug-tainted cookies to police crumbled Thursday after scientific tests revealed no traces of narcotics.

Christian Phillips, 18, became a cookie monster and the butt of jokes around the globe following his arrest Tuesday after he left a basket of treats at Lake Worth police headquarters. Authorities said then that “field tests” they conducted on the cookies showed traces of marijuana and LSD.

But lab tests performed by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office were negative for drugs, and Mr. Phillips – who had been charged with tampering with a consumer product – was released from jail shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. The felony charge was dropped.

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Cute Chinese Baby Has Third Arm Removed

Modern medicine improves people’s quality of life. However, sometimes, I worry that medicine is helping to homogenize humans. Dwarfs given HGH as children to boost their stature, orthodontia and plastic surgery changing people faces towards a bland prettiness. 

Since this infant had 3 arms, and 2 were semi-functional, an educated guess was made as to which to remove. I do wonder what would have happened had he been left to grow up with 3 arms. Perhaps like inter-sexed children, he could have been given the choice of whether or not to remove the arm when he was older. Moot point now.

But just imagine him on the piano! Or just how plain handy it would be to have another, well hand. 

For my previous post on this cutie click here. Like limbs? Click here for the 8 limbed Indian baby girl, the 7 legged lamb with no butthole, the Chinese boy with an extra manhood, and the Indian girl with 2 faces.

Doctors remove third arm from Chinese infant
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 | 9:03 AM ET

A Chinese infant born with an extra limb underwent surgery Tuesday to amputate one of his two left arms.

The arm, which was fully formed, was removed in a three-hour operation.

Two-month-old Junjie is recovering in a Shanghai hospital.

“He is now a pretty good condition, although he still needs some time under observation,” said Dr. Chen Bochang, chief surgeon at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center.

Junjie was born on April 1 with two left arms, neither of which was completely functional.

One arm less developed

Doctors opted to remove the one that was growing closer to his chest after tests revealed it was less developed.

Although his medical team said the operation went better than expected, Junjie will still need extensive help to gain function in his remaining left hand.

“I’m very happy,” said the child’s mother, who asked that her name not be revealed to protect the family’s privacy.

However, she added that she fears for the boy’s future. “I worry about how he will grow, whether this will have a big impact on his growth,” she said.

Rare case

Chen said the boy’s case was a rare one. “We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” he said.

“We found the nerves and blood vessels for the arm were formed just as they would be for a normal arm.”

Junjie may need further medical attention, since he reportedly has only one kidney and also may have spinal problems.

Town in India Pays Residents to Use Proper Toilets

I strive for tolerance of other cultures but c’mon people, it’s not rocket science to figure out one does not poo where one eats or where ones children play. Lord I love indoor plumbing. The photo and caption are chilling. This story is so absurd in 2008, it almost belongs in THE ONION, but it’s real.

Indian city pays residents to use toilet
By Saeed Ahmed | CNN | Mon July 7, 2008

A slum resident in India uses a toilet that opens into the water below as children swim.

(CNN) — It pays to go in a small south Indian town.

The remote town of Musiri in the Tamil Nadu state has hit upon a unique idea to teach its residents proper hygiene: Pay them money each time they use the toilet.

Users can make up to $0.14 a month to relieve themselves in a specially constructed toilet. Not a princely sum, but it’s extra cash flow that low-income residents can make just for answering nature’s call.

The government-backed program serves two purposes: It encourages people to discard age-old practices of urinating and defecating in the open, leading to diseases. And the waste products go into research to test their effectiveness as fertilizers.

Read more…

Fake Priest Nabbed at Vatican

Wow it’s not every day you see “a case of usurping an ecclesiastical title.” If you’re going to flirt with danger, go big. Don’t shoplift at 7-11, go to Barneys. If you’re gonna be a fake priest, don’t go to Applebees, go to the Vatican!

Fake priest caught at Vatican
The Press Association | July 6, 2008

A fake priest was caught trying to hear confessions in St Peter’s Basilica, a Vatican judge has said.

Judge Gianluigi Marrone, who is a member of the court system of the independent Vatican city-state, said the man was wearing clerical garb and carried documents alleging that he was a priest.

“Some time ago I had to deal with an unusual case – a fake priest,” Mr Marrone told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

Read more…

Couch Flies Again! New Lawn Chair Flight Record

Yippeee! Couch flies again, and lands, safely! I can only imagine the magic of seeing him waft down thru a blue sky in an Idaho farm field on a clear summer day, popping balloons, spilling kool-aid and smiling. He handed out some of his balloons to those who came to see him land. Wow, thinking of that sight has great potential to be one’s “happy place.” Great job Kent! Nice timing on the Fourth of July weekend too. Yeahhh!!

Kent also has a website which includes tons of info about his aerial  endeavors. Check it out here. 

Larry Walters, lawn chair aviation pioneer, would be proud of this flight. For more on Kent’s previous try click here. Click here for a link to video which is actually very good. Pardon the Brit speak in the article below.

Kent Couch flies to Idaho with some balloons, a garden chair and a ‘big dream’
By Tom Leonard in New York | www.telegraph.co.uk | Telegraph – Print Version | 07/07/2008

Man’s indomitable dream of flight turned over a new chapter this weekend as a man, a garden chair and a large bunch of giant party balloons sailed into the records book.

In a craft that could have been plucked straight from a Heath Robinson cartoon and deposited into the skies of the northwest United States, Kent Couch covered about 235 miles over Oregon and Idaho in about nine hours.

Taking off from his hometown of Bend, Oregon, in a green garden chair suspended from more than 150 helium-filled balloons, he sailed across the state’s high desert and into Idaho where he landed in a field in Cambridge, a very surprised farming community.

Read more…

Mayor Nutter Marries Betsey Ross and Ben Franklin in Philly

click for larger photos

click for larger photos

For years Ralph Archbold, living as Ben Franklin, has been making a splash around Philly. Wearing his costume to the grocery store, providing amply ample quotes to the press when pressed, and generally being a real character and not just a character. Well, he met his match, another re-enactor, natch and proposed to Linda Wilde who dresses as Betsey Ross and planned a humdinger of a Fourth of July Wedding (perhaps with the help of local tourism officials.)

The almost past-the-age-of-blushing couple was married in a ceremony performed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, the truly honorable Michael Nutter. Traditional music was provided by the Philly Pops. The ceremony took place on Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall and directly across the street from the Liberty Bell. Mayor Michael Nutter added gravitas and dignity to, well, a sorta wacky coupe for one of the two competing Ben Franklins in the City of Brotherly Love.

The wedding party, was colorful and attractive. Many wore Colonial attire. A favorite color of all including the bride was a delightfully appropriate indigo based colonial blue and dusty blue gray, solid or in calico or in brocade prints for the ladies.  The wedding party which followed the bride and groom down Chestnut Street afterwards included a guide dog and several small girls in colonial aprons and caps and a QUEEN! Philadelphia Jeweler to the stars, Henri David, owner of  Halloween, host of Philadelphia’s longest running Halloween party, was in the wedding party! Henri, a pal of John Waters, and another shaven-hunk-of-a-certain-age were flanking a silver coiffed dame with good bones. Her broad padded skirts in a conservative blue floral print set off her contrasting bodice and stays nicely. She looked like old money and those three were the best looking trio in the bunch.

The Bride and Groom rode in a horse drawn white wrought iron faux pumpkin to the reception at City Tavern. City Tavern, is a bicentennial era historically accurate (except for the addition of ample indoor plumbing) resurrection of a colonial era tavern named City Tavern. Like the life of Mr Archbold, the best of both eras. The honeymoon night was said to be spent at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.

The huge crowd, most of which had limited site lines, and many of whom were tailgating for the Philly Pops, joked they’d see photos in the next days papers. The weather was quite warm, but the humidity was low and it was breezy. It was perfect weather to stand outside at twilight, wave a flag and go hit a city tavern in celebration.

If you read the article below from the AP, it’s unclear if the new Mrs Franklin ever really worked Old City wearing a thimble and mob cap, or just hired Ralph for an event and fell for him…. hmmmm. Who cares, good luck you crazy kids!

Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross actors wed in Philly
By RON TODT | AP | July, 3, 2008

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross celebrated the eve of the Fourth of July not with fireworks but with wedding vows.

Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, who portray the historical figures, tied the knot Thursday evening in a public ceremony in front of Independence Hall, where the real Franklin helped draft the nation’s founding documents.

The bride and groom, as well as the entire wedding party, were in costume for the event.

“Ralph and Linda, the entire city could not be happier for you,” said Mayor Michael Nutter, who performed the brief ceremony.

After exchanging vows, Archbold and Wilde were given a standing ovation by the crowd of several thousand as the Philly Pops played the wedding march.

The couple boarded a horse-drawn coach for the trip to a private reception at the historic City Tavern, where Franklin dined along with such notables as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

The 66-year-old Archbold, who has portrayed Franklin since 1973, and Wilde, 50, met Sept. 1 after she hired him for a friend’s wedding toast. The couple discovered a mutual love of history and education, and they announced their engagement this spring.

Patty Duffy, 37, said she came to watch the ceremony because she remembers seeing Archbold playing Franklin when she was a little girl.

“My grandmother used to bring me down here all the time. I had to come and see him get married,” said Duffy, who was accompanied by her boyfriend, Marty, and four children.

Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, is credited in many history books with stitching the first American flag. But historians cite a lack of proof, and some believe that the flag may actually have been designed by Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey.

A real wedding between the historical figures would have been quite a May-December affair, given the 45-year age difference (Franklin was born on Jan. 17, 1706 — coincidentally, also Archbold’s birthday — while Ross was born on New Year’s Day 1752). Both lived to the age of 84.

Guy in wheelchair gets DUI

There’s some great drinking stories that come from Australia, below is one of them.  I’ve heard in some parts of the States that scooters, moped, and riding mowers are all used by the drunk to avoid getting a DUI.

This wheelchair costing less than $50 is available for free to the needy-click here for more info.  It has nothing to do with the DUI story.

Australian in wheelchair gets drunk driving charge
June 24, 2008 | AP

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A man found asleep in a motorized wheelchair on a highway in northern Australia was charged with drunk driving, police said Monday.

Officers in a patrol car noticed the man slumped in the stationary chair about 10 a.m. Friday on an exit lane near the tourist city of Cairns, regional traffic Inspector Bob Waters said. Cars were swerving to get around him, Waters said.

The officers breath-tested the 64-year-old man, who registered a blood alcohol reading of 0.301 — more than six times the legal driving limit. He was charged with operating a vehicle while drunk and ordered to report to court on July 7, where he faces a stiff fine if convicted.

“The vehicles that we normally hear about with drink driving are the family car, the truck, the motorbike,” Waters said. “But there are also other classes of vehicles that are subject to drink-driving laws,” including horses, bicycles, and motorized wheelchairs.

The man, whose name was not released, told police he was making a nine-mile trip from his home to a friend’s place, Waters said.

“He placed himself in a very dangerous situation,” he said.