March 2, 2000
THAT'S ONE TOUGH CONTEST
A 14-year-old boy is suing
a Knoxville's WXVO-FM for $3 million dollars after being
"humiliated, ashamed and embarrassed" by a radio promotion offering
free tickets to see the Black Crowes. The suit alleges that DJ Sarah
McClune offered the boy a pair of tickets if he showed up at the
station dressed in a ladies' bra and panties. After doing so, the
boy was fitted with a dog collar and chained to a parking lot fence
for 30 minutes. Then he was taken to a bar and asked to do a table
dance before receiving the two tickets. The lawsuit contends that
the boy has suffered permanent psychological injury due to conduct
"so outrageous as to not be tolerated by civilized society."
(Knoxville News-Sentinel)
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
A circus act
gone horribly wrong in Northern Thailand saw Od the Dwarf bounce
sideways from a trampoline into the mouth of the yawning Hilda the
Hippo, whose gag reflex caused her to swallow the performer. A
witness said, "unfortunately, the 1,000-plus spectators continued
to applaud wildly until common-sense dictated that there had been a
tragic mistake. (Melbourne Herald Sun)
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME
A British woman claims she has cured her chronic fatigue by drilling
a hole in her skull. The ancient technique, known as trepanning, was
widely used in the Middle Ages to treat severe headaches and
madness, the belief being that a hole in the skull would release
evil spirits from a possessed person. After British doctors
refused to perform the procedure on her, 29-year-old Heather Perry
went to the U.S., received some medical advice, and then performed
the procedure herself. "I feel wonderful," she told reporters.
(Reuters)
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT TILL IT'S GONE
Charles "Little Nut" Miller, an alleged cocaine kingpin living in
luxurious exile on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, had been
wanted by U.S. authorities for smuggling coke from Latin America to
the States. Due to his positive effect on the local economy,
however, St. Kitts refused to extradite him. That changed last week
when Miller threatened government officials and stormed a local
newspaper with a gun, demanding that they stop reporting his illegal
activities. Fed up with his antics, St. Kitt's authorities arrested
him and sent him back to the U.S., who sent him directly to jail.
(Washington Post)
THAT'S 250 IN HUMAN YEARS
A goldfish named
Tish, who was last year recognized by the Guinness Book of World
Records as being the oldest goldfish in captivity, has died
peacefully in his tank at home at the age of 43. Goldfish usually
live 10 to 15 years. (London Daily Telegraph)
ADVENTURES IN
SPACE
French author Pierre Kohler's new book, The Final Mission,
includes references to NASA document No. 12 571-3570, which
describes how NASA had astronauts test ten sexual positions in zero
gravity aboard the space shuttle. Six of the ten positions needed
props such as elastic belts in order to keep the couple together,
Kohler claims, and the missionary position, apparently, had to be
ruled out, as it requires gravity to keep the partners together.
Kohler also said that the astronauts agreed to the filming of the
sessions for the benefit of science. NASA denies that the
experiments ever took place, but admits that sexual experiments have
taken place using African frogs and Japanese fish. (Reuters)
COLD COMFORT
By forcing high-pressure argon and helium gas through
the point of a superconductive knife inserted into the tumour of a
liver cancer patient, Chinese surgeons succeeded, they claim, in
lowering the temperature of the tumour to -140 degrees Celsius,
turning it into an iceball and killing all the cancer cells. The
operation, performed at Xijing Hospital in Xian, China, is being
hailed as a major breakthrough in the treatment of cancers. (Xinhua
News Agency)
PETTY COMPLAINT OF THE WEEK
The National Milk
Producers Federation of America, claiming that "milk" can only be
produced by cows, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to
force makers of soy milk to drop the word "milk" from their product.
American Soybean Association spokesperson Bob Callanan replied by
asking if they are planning to remove the word milk from goat's
milk, coconut milk, and milk of magnesia. (AP)
WORKING FOR
PEANUTS
Thai authorities are trying to enforce a ban on elephants
on Bangkok's streets, saying that they are a danger to motorized
traffic. The elephants and their owners, once used for logging
Thailand's forests, have had to come to the city to entertain
tourists, as there is no longer enough food for them in the wild.
(UPI)
GAS SIPPER
At this year's North American International
Auto Show, Ford unveiled its new gas-electric hybrid car that gets
almost 80 mpg and is about half the weight of a conventional car.
The "Prodigy" is expected to be on the street by 2003. (UPI)
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Copyright 2000 by Andreas Ohrt
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