FOXNews.com – Notorious NYC Strip Club Closing Its Doors
NEW YORK — The Manhattan strip club Scores is shutting down before the end of the year, company officials said, after surviving FBI raids and ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s crusade against smut. Scores co-owner Elliot Osher confirmed the closing and said another club with new owners would open in its place at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge. The closing was blamed on a weak economy and the possibility that the club could lose its liquor license. State authorities this year revoked the liquor license for a spinoff version of the club on Manhattan’s West Side after a police raid led to prostitution charges against several dancers. Scores first opened its doors on East 60th Street in 1991. A series of club spinoffs opened around the country, but many have since closed.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | ‘Fake photo’ revives Kim rumours
Fresh speculation was sparked about the health of North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il, amid suggestions that an image of Mr Kim was doctored. The image was one of several released on 5 November, appearing to show Mr Kim inspecting two military units. No proof of the date of the images was provided. An analysis by the UK’s Times newspaper highlighted possible incongruities around the leader’s legs in the photo. It gave new life to suggestions Mr Kim may be seriously unwell. “They go into ostrich mode so readily – because they have given no clue about what would happen without him,” North Korea expert Aidan Foster-Carter told the BBC. Unlike the previous handover of power from the Great Leader Kim Il-sung to his son – which was planned and made public decades in advance – there has been no public announcement about who will succeed Kim Jong-il, 66.
Does MRI show image of Virgin Mary? – UPI.com
FORT PIERCE, Fla., Dec. 7 (UPI) — A Florida woman who says an MRI scan of her brain shows what appears to be an image of the Virgin Mary plans to offer the scan for sale on eBay. Pamela Latrimore of Fort Pierce said she hopes to raise money for her medical bills, TCPalm.com reports. She suffers from cancer, arthritis and other illnesses that she blames on exposure to dioxin while growing up in Jacksonville, Ark. Latrimore said the MRI was done in 2002. It remained with her medical records until her sister-in-law looked at it recently and pointed to looked like an image of the Virgin. Other items — including food — with supposed Marian images have been sold on eBay for thousands of dollars, the report said.
Portland’s new solar-powered toilet open for business | Local News | kgw.com | News for Portland Oregon and SW Washington
PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Portland unveiled the first in a line of new solar-powered public toilets that will be popping up throughout the city Monday and it’s now open for public use. The first area to get a “loo,” as it’s called, was Old town, on 6th Avenue and adjacent to the Greyhound Bus Station. It was officially opened for business at 11 a.m., Monday and comes with a price tag of $140,000.
At the unveiling, mayor-elect Sam Adams gave the fancy new toilet its first ceremonial flush and Commissioner Randy Leonard was awarded with an honorary golden plunger. Leonard helped design the prototype. “We’re patenting the design and we intend to actually market them,” he said. The design includes several special components including heaters around the water lines to keep them from freezing in the winter, solar panels, and a skylight on the roof, among other features. The loo is also designed to discourage vandalism and illegal behavior inside, with a raised wall so the feet of the people using it are visible. Leonard said even though model number one of the Portland Loo cost $140,000, it could end up making the city money through mass production, selling at $25,000 apiece. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that a production model will be very reasonable. I’ve had a lot of inquiries in the United States and Canada about purchasing them,” he said.
Officials said Old Town was selected as the first location for the loo because the area has a large homeless population, along with many late-night bars and and clubs. The city has wanted to provide a restroom that can be open 24 hours a day in the area. Leonard said that eventually, the city hopes to install loos in other high-need areas like Old Town. The future installation and marketing of the loos will be coordinated by the Portland Water Bureau. If the Loo is profitable, it would also add to the Portland Water Bureau’s bottom line, thus, reducing the customer’s water bills, Leonard said.
Playboy’s nude Virgin Mary on the front cover of the December issue of the adult magazine kicks up a storm in Mexico | The Sun |News
PLAYBOY has got into the Christmas spirit – by putting the Virgin Mary NUDE on its cover. The controversial mag’s latest festive offering is sure to kick up a storm in Mexico where it was released yesterday. In its December issue model Maria Florencia Onori is featured posing as the Virgin wearing nothing but an angelic white cloth. The release was timed for the day before Mexico’s traditional Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a celebration of an apparition of the Virgin in the town. Its headline reads in Spanish: “We adore you, Mary.” And we adore you too, Our Lady Maria.
Football club holds minute’s silence for ‘dead’ ex-player… only to discover he’s still very much alive | Mail Online
A football club has scored an own goal after holding a minute’s silence for a former player who turned out to be alive and well hundreds of miles away. Former amateur footballer Tommy Farrer, 86, was shocked after his wife Gladys received condolence messages from a club he played with more than 50 years ago. Mr Farrer, who played for Bishop Auckland Football Club in the north east during the 1940s and 1950s, was shocked after learning club members held a minute’s silence in his honour. Bishops bosses only realised their mistake when club chairman Terry Jackson called Mr Farrer’s wife to express his sympathy over her husband’s death.
Mr Jackson was left red-faced after she told him her husband was alive and had just ducked out to buy a newspaper. He apologised for the mix up and said the tribute was made with the best intentions. ‘It is the first and, hopefully, the last time something like this has happened,’ he said. ‘When any person involved with the club passes away, we always try to make sure there is some kind of remembrance for them. ‘The news came via Bishop Auckland Social Club, and we took it very seriously. We thought it was very clear. ‘But it’s quite evident now that we had not been told the right information’. Fortunately the couple saw the lighter side of things and said they were even touched by the gesture. Mr Farrer said: ‘Whoever it was who told people I had died obviously contacted the football club and they decided to go the whole hog by arranging the silence. ‘I’m very moved that they went to such trouble for me, I played for them a very long time ago.’ The grandfather said he was surprised to hear the crowd at last Wednesday’s home match against Benfield had held a minute’s silence as a mark of remembrance.
A tribute was also published in the match day programme which said: ‘Some bad news - we have just learnt of the death of two blues legend Tommy Farrer who, although born in the south, lived in Bishop Auckland for some years. ‘Our thoughts go to his family and friends.’ The grandfather skippered the Bishop Auckland team which took on a barefoot Nigerian X1 at the town’s Kingsway ground in 1949. He played for the Bishops from 1945 to 1953 and was hailed as one of the club’s greatest players. During his time with his former club, Mr Farrer won eight amateur international caps. But Mr Farrer moved away to Maidstone, Kent, in the 1950s and lost contact with his old club members. Mr Jackson said: ‘We’re glad to hear that Tommy is still with us and hope he remains in good health for many years to come.’
The News-Courier in Athens, Alabama – Man awakes wih crochet needle stuck into urethra
A Limestone County Sheriff’s deputy was called late Wednesday night to Huntsville Hospital to take an unusual report from a man who told officers he’d awakened with a crochet needle stuck into his urethra. The man, who is not being named pending investigation, said he went to sleep with an ex-girlfriend and when he awakened, the needle was completely embedded, said Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely. “He stated to our officer he didn’t know how it got there,” the sheriff said. “He and the girlfriend had been drinking and it was there when he woke up. It was inserted all the way in.” Doctors at the hospital X-rayed the man and then removed the object, Blakely said. The call came in at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night. Investigators are looking into the incident.
Walter Hoover Of Missouri, 70, Shoots TV Because Of Analog TV Switch… Arrested
I’ve heard of grumpy old men throwing slippers all sorts of objects at the TV like slippers, the remote, maybe even the family cat… but this one takes the cake. A man in Missouri took his gun and shot the TV because he was angry over the analog TV switch. Police responded to after there were reports of shots being fired inside. The gunman couldn’t get his digital converter box to work. After police arrived, there was a brief standoff and he was charged with unlawful use of a firearm. Walter Hoover was taken into custody as a result. Hoover’s wife said that he was drinking before the incident took place. [via Gizmodo]
Playboy ‘faked death in plane crash’
A wretched playboy pilot who posted videos of his aerial stunts on YouTube faked his own death in a plane crash to escape mounting financial troubles, US authorities say. The curious case of Marcus Schrenker, 38, has been likened to a Hollywood plot after police said the troubled investment banker escaped on a red motorbike he had stashed before his plane crashed in Florida on Sunday. Schrenker, an experienced pilot, had earlier taken off from his home state of Indiana but registered a distress call over Alabama saying his windshield had imploded and he was covered in blood. After failing to respond to air traffic controllers, military jets tried to intercept the plane but found the cockpit blacked out and the plane’s door open. Investigators now believe Schrenker put the plane on autopilot and bailed out, recklessly leaving the aircraft to crash on its own accord. It eventually plunged into a wooded area in north Florida, narrowly avoiding nearby houses.
Authorities believe Schrenker devised the desperate ruse in a bid to escape money troubles after a Maryland judge ruled a US$533,500 (A$810,500) lawsuit against him two days before the crash. His wife also recently filed for divorce and his stepfather had just died, they said. “He could be anywhere at all — within 10 hours he could be in New Orleans, halfway to Houston, in Atlanta, anywhere,” police spokesman David Latimer was quoted as saying in the New York Post. “He jumped out an airplane and left it to crash who knows where. He’s shown a total disregard for human life. I think he’d do anything to get away.” Police believe Schrenker escaped on a red motorbike he had stashed inside a storage unit one day before the crash. The Yamaha bike with packed saddlebags was gone when authorities turned up on Monday and found Schrenker’s still-wet clothes in a nearby rubbish bin.
In a further twist, an Indiana neighbour of Schrenker’s claimed to have received an e-mail from the missing man in which he said he was bewildered by all the media coverage surrounding the crash. In the message, a man purporting to be Schrenker writes “I embarrassed my family for the last time” and “by the time you get this, I’ll be gone.” The neighbour, Tom Britt, is convinced the e-mail is genuine and handed it over to authorities fearing it was a suicide note. The note also contained an apparent explanation: “Hypoxia can cause people to make terrible decisions and I simply put on my parachute and survival gear and bailed out.” Schrenker lived an affluent life as a successful investment banker with a number of luxury cars, two planes and a large home in a plush suburb, but had recently become mired in debt.
YouTube – NBA mascot hits halfcourt shot off another mascot
Before the celebrity game during 2009 NBA All Star Week, Rufus, the Charlotte Bobcats’ mascot, tossed a basketball backwards, over his head, and off the groin of Bango, the Milwaukee Bucks’ mascot. The ball went through the hoop, as did Bango. No mascots were harmed in the making of this film (we hope). UPDATE: Bango did suffer a knee injury, but will recover and continue to entertain fans before and after surgery:
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Ryanair: You may soon have to ‘pay to pee’ – Flights: Airfare, flight tracker, delays, miles tracker & airport news – Today in the Sky – USATODAY.com
Ryanair could begin charging passengers to use the toilet. That’s direct from the mouth of Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, who made the comments this morning to BBC television. “One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound (about $1.43) to spend a penny in future,” O’Leary told the BBC while being asked about the carrier’s recent plan to do away with passenger check-in counters. (See the video here.) The Belfast Telegraph writes O’Leary “is touting the idea of putting a coin slot on the toilet door as a means of raising ‘discretionary revenue.’ ”
“We are always looking at ways of making air travel cheaper,” O’Leary adds, according to Britain’s Sky News. A BBC anchor wondered what the airline would do if a passenger boarded a flight without cash and then needed to use the bathroom? O’Leary didn’t seem concerned, saying: “I don’t think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound.” Still, O’Leary’s pay-toilet statement stands out even by the standards at Ryanair -– a carrier that’s already notorious for stripping away all but the most basic of passenger services.
The comments already are stirring up controversy. The Times of London writes Ryanair pilots are “aghast” at the idea, which they think is seriously being considered. One pilot even wondered how many toilet tokens the pilots would get from their employer on flights they work, according to the Times. But, would it even be legal to charge fliers to use the bathroom? Apparently so, says the Times, which talked to an official at Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority. A spokesman tells the Times: “The situation is that there is no legal requirement for an aircraft to have a toilet onboard, so if an airline does have a toilet they can charge to use it.”
Still, at least one travel industry observer wonders if the move might backfire. “Once again, Ryanair is putting profit before the comfort of its customers,” Rochelle Turner, head of research at Which? Holiday, tells Sky News. “Charging people to go to the toilet might result in fewer people buying overpriced drinks on board, though — that would serve Ryanair right,” she adds. Stay tuned …
Staged teen ‘fight’ gives shoppers fright – Telegraph
Shoppers in a quiet market town were so convinced by a staged open-air fight put on to promote a youth production of Romeo and Juliet that they called the police. The 18 youngsters from St Ives Youth Theatre (SIYT) in Cambridgeshire were all dressed in modern clothing, giving onlookers the impression that the fight was for real. But their Shakespearean insults should perhaps have given the game away. The boys and girls, aged 11 to 17, were not actually tearing each others’ hair out – but attempting to garner some extra publicity for a forthcoming production of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy.
Even though other members of the group handed out fliers advertising the performance, their rendition of the vicious fight between the Montague and Capulet families was so convincing that two worried shoppers dialled 999. The ‘fight’ started when two groups of youths advanced from opposite sides of the town’s market square, hurled eloquent insults at each other and launched into the carefully choreographed battle. No weapons were used or actors thrown to the floor during the seven-minute brawl.
Artistic director Jonathan Salt had also obtained permission from the police before staging the performance. He said: “A lot of people realised that it was staged very quickly, but some, especially older people may not have done and obviously got upset. It was not our intention to offend anyone and we have put an apology on our website. We did not imagine that people would mistake the fight for a real one. There were girls of 11 and 12 involved. It would be unusual for young girls of that age to be fighting on a Saturday night, let alone on a sunny Saturday morning in a sleepy place like St Ives.”
Flat Stanley Survives Miracle on the Hudson | Firstcoastnews.com | Strange
CINCINNATI, OH — Flat Stanley goes on a lot of adventures. Kids all over the world send the cut-out cartoon character on voyages with friends or strangers and then look forward to hearing about Stanley’s travels. Gina Kemp, a third grader at St. Henry Elementary in Erlanger, Ky, joined the fun in December and sent her Flat Stanley on a trip with a family friend to New York City. She finally heard back from her Stanley and he had quite the story to tell. Turns out Stanley was aboard Flight 1549, which ditched into the Hudson River minutes after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.
Kemp gave her Flat Stanley to a close friend of her family, Eric Stevenson, last December. Stevenson used to live in Cincinnati but now calls Paris home. When Stevenson made a trip to New York City, he decided to take some pictures of Flat Stanley in Times Square and send them to Gina when he returned to Paris. But Times Square wasn’t the most exciting thing that happened to Stevenson, or Flat Stanley, that trip. Stevenson was one of the 153 people who survived the US Airways emergency landing into the Hudson River. While many people left their belongings on the plane, Stevenson was able to grab his briefcase with Flat Stanley inside. Both made it out in one piece. Stevenson returned to Paris safely, with Flat Stanley in tow, and wrote an e-mail to Gina with the tale of his harrowing experience, as always, from Flat Stanley’s perspective:
Hello Gina,It’s taken me a long time to write … sorry I’ve been out of touch for so long.I’ve been really busy travelling. After several days in Paris, I went to New York!Here are a couple photos when I visited Times Square. It’s full of lights and big billboards. Then I saw the Empire State Building. Amazing! After that, I was on a plane that landed in the river near New York. At the time I was in Eric’s briefcase. Luckily he carried me off the plane! Here’s a photo he took after we were safely on a rescue boat.What an adventure! I’m safe and dry now … and no need for you to worry.What have you been up to lately?I’m back in Paris and hoping it will get warm soon. Spring is on itss way.all the best from Paris,your friend, Flat Stanley
Stevenson said he had planned to return Flat Stanley to Gina soon so he could have adventures with someone else.
AdelaideNow… Car thief locks himself in vehicle at Port Noarlunga
A BUMBLING car thief was caught after locking himself inside the car he was trying to steal at Port Noarlunga last night. Just after 1am, a man called police after hearing noises near his car on Old Honeypot Rd. Police then found a 53-year-old man locked inside a car in a driveway. Have the latest breaking news sent straight to your inbox. Another man, 28, was found hiding in nearby bushes. Both men are from the southern suburbs. They were refused bail and will appear in court later.
Birmingham police arrest 3 Michigan teens after failed attempt to cash stolen antique $1,000 bill – Breaking News from The Birmingham News – al.com
Three teens stole a safe full of antique bills and coins in Michigan and then tried to unload the loot in Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said today. An 18-year-old and two 15-year-olds were taken into custody Thursday night and are awaiting for the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office to seek extradition, said Birmingham police Capt. Henry Irby. North Precinct officers were called to Service First Bank on Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard at 5 p.m. Thursday on a report of a man trying to obtain change for a $1,000 antique bill. By the time police arrived, the man had gone but bank workers were able to give officers a good description, Irby said. About 10 p.m., officers saw a van matching the description in the 200 block of Second Avenue North. When the officers tried to stop van, the three teens got out and ran. They were quickly caught, Irby said. Inside the van, police found a safe filled with the antique currency and coins. Police said the van and the safe were stolen from Kalamazoo. The 18-year-old is being held in the Birmingham City Jail on a charge of first-degree receiving stolen property. The two 15-year-olds are being held in juvenile detention, also on charges of first-degree receiving stolen property.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Magnets disrupt crocodile radar
Crocodiles use the influence of the earth’s magnetic field to help them navigate, according to researchers. Attaching magnets to a crocodile’s head seems to disrupt its “homing” ability. The technique is now being tried as part of an attempt to make streets safer in places near crocodile habitats such as the Everglades. Crocodiles are extremely territorial. Simply moving them away from urban areas doesn’t lessen the risk to humans. Some of the giant reptiles have been found to travel “home” at the rate of 10 miles per week. But in an experiment now taking place in Florida, conservation officials have moved crocodiles deeper into the swamps and then released them after taping magnets to their heads. “We put the magnets on when they’re captured,” said Lindsey Hord, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, “and since they don’t know where we take them, they’re lost.”
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