WEIRD IS THE WORLD: Not quite enough to stimulate the dead

HEADLINE: Dead People Being Sent Stimulus Checks
SOURCE AND DATE OF CLIP: FOXNews.com 15.5.9
CAPTION: Not quite enough to stimulate the dead

Thousands of Americans are receiving federal stimulus checks in the mail, this week. Only problem: many of them are deceased. Recently, a Long Island, New York woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her. Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago.

HEADLINE: Sexy Mascot Can Stay At Eatery If Curves Covered
SOURCE AND DATE OF CLIP: CBSNews.com 15.5.9
CAPTION: Sexy Mannequin

A curvaceous, scantily clad mannequin can keep her spot outside a Cincinnati area barbecue joint, but local officials want her to cover up a bit.

The life-size figure stands as a busty beacon outside a restaurant in suburban Reading (REH'-ding) owned by Kenny Tessel. He told zoning officials at a hearing Wednesday night that the advertising gimmick has boosted business 40 percent.

HEADLINE: Residents given an overdose of fluoride
SOURCE AND DATE OF CLIP: news.com.au 14.5.9
CAPTION: Kill the people that will keep the cavities away

THOUSANDS of households had to wait almost a fortnight to be told they had drunk water containing 20 times the allowable limit of fluoride. The Bligh Government was in damage control last night, after admitting 300,000 litres of contaminated water were pumped into up to 4000 Brisbane homes for three hours on May 1. The blunder went undiscovered for 12 days after a shutdown at the North Pine Dam treatment plant meant a routine daily test on April 29 was not processed until this week, The Courier-Mail reports.

HEADLINE: Secret of the Curve Ball Picked World's Best Illusion
SOURCE AND DATE OF CLIP: FOXNews.com 14.5.9
CAPTION: STRIKE THREE YOU'RE OUT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The three best visual illusions in the world were chosen at a gathering last weekend of neuroscientists and psychologists at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Florida. The winning entry, from a Bucknell University professor, may help explain why curve balls in baseball are so tricky to hit. A properly thrown curve ball spins in a way that makes the air on one side move faster than on the other. This causes the ball to move along a gradual curve. From the point of view of a batter standing on home plate, though, curve balls seem to "break," or move suddenly in a new direction.

HEADLINE: Naughty nurses backfire on web company
SOURCE AND DATE OF CLIP: news.com.au 14.5.9
CAPTION: Naughty Nurses Naughty

A PLOY to attract attention with women dressed as nurses has backfired on an exhibitor at Australia's largest technology trade show. The task of luring customers to stands at trade shows will always get marketing departments working overtime. However the company behind one stand at CeBIT Australia struck the wrong chord with women in the technology industry this week. Web hosting company NetRegistry used women in nurse uniforms and men dressed as doctors to stand out from the crowd at the show. The stunt, which the company said was directed by "women and a gay guy", has been slammed by some women in the industry as demeaning. IT worker Kate Carruthers said NetRegistry's depiction of women at a trade show was unacceptable. "I was there and didn't like what I saw," Ms Carruthers, who is a member of Females in the Information Technology and Telecommunications, told news.com.au.