Too Bad Claus

Headline: No Luck For NYC Santa In Parking Ticket Fight
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 23.2.9
Caption: Too Bad Claus

A New York City man who fought a parking ticket he got while dressed as Santa Claus and giving out toys says the city's response is more ho-hum than ho-ho.

Chip Cafiero says he learned Friday he'd lost his attempt to contest the $115 ticket he got in Brooklyn on Nov. 28. The city Department of Finance, which handles such matters, didn't immediately return a phone call Sunday seeking comment.

The 60-year-old retired schoolteacher had a sport utility vehicle double-parked near him while he handed out holiday bounty from a horse-drawn carriage. The SUV was ticketed.

Headline:Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash'
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 23.2.9
Caption: To Jail Scam

... There was no need for an attorney, said Phillip's mother, Amy Swartley, who thought at most, the judge would slap her son with a fine or community service.

But she was shocked to find her eighth-grader handcuffed and shackled in the courtroom and sentenced to a youth detention center. Then, he was shipped to a boarding school for troubled teens for nine months.

"Yes, my son made a mistake, but I didn't think he was going to be taken away from me," said Swartley, a 41-year-old single mother raising two boys in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

CNN does not usually identify minors accused of crimes. But Swartley and others agreed to be named to bring public attention to the issue.

As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer...

Headline: Jackson Five star plans slavery theme park
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 23.2.9
Caption: An Odd Theme Park

MICHAEL Jackson's brother has been criticised for reportedly planning to build a slavery theme park in Nigeria.

Marlon Jackson is said to be prepared to invest in a $5.3 billion theme park where tourists can visit a replica slave ship and walk the route of shackled slaves, before playing a round of golf or relaxing by a pool, reports The Guardian

The former Jackson Five band member and the Badagry Historical Resort Development Project hope the park will attract African-American tourists keen to trace their roots back to Nigeria.

Headline: Woman Pleads Guilty in 'Unnecessary Surgeries' Case
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 22.2.9
Caption: Nip And Take

COSTA MESA, Calif. — A woman who helped recruit patients to undergo unnecessary surgeries as part of a $154 million medical insurance fraud has pleaded guilty to 22 charges.

Sue Nanda, 40, of Costa Mesa, entered her plea Friday in Orange County Superior Court. She is scheduled to be sentenced April 24 where she faces up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Nanda worked for the now-shuttered Unity Outpatient Surgery Center in Buena Park, targeting employees from businesses in 39 states who were covered by PPO insurance plans. She recruited more than 170 people from 16 states to undergo unnecessary surgical procedures in exchange for money or cheap cosmetic surgeries.

Headline: Artificially-induced snow closes roads
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 22.2.9
Caption:

CHINA has closed 12 highways around the capital Beijing today because of heavy snow brought on after seeding clouds with chemicals.

All outbound highways were closed in Hebei, the drought-hit northern province surrounding Beijing, after heavy snow fell last night, Xinhua news agency said.

In all, 12 highways, including one linking Beijing and Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning province, were closed.

Hebei got its first heavy snow of this year yesterday. The provincial weather bureau said that snow too was "enhanced" by artificial seeding.

Heradline: Police officer shoots himself with Taser
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 22.2.9
Caption: TASED

A POLICE officer has been treated for burns after shooting himself with a Taser stun gun.
Police were called to a nightclub brawl on Elizabeth Street, near Martin Place in Sydney, at about 3.40am last night.

They say a Taser stun gun was used in an attempt to subdue a 27-year-old man after he resisted arrest.

The officer Tasered himself in the struggle, injuring his arm.

Santa Sued

Headline: Woman Sues Santa, Claiming He Fell On Top Of Her
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 21.2.9
Caption: Santa Sued

Call it the case of the overserved Santa. Antoinette Basso filed a lawsuit Thursday against a man dressed in a Santa suit who she said stumbled and fell on top of her, knocking her face-first into the sidewalk outside a Chicago restaurant.

Basso claims in the Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit that she suffered "pain ... disability and disfigurement." She's asking for damages in excess of $50,000.

Headline:University Crowns Man as Homecoming Queen
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 20.2.9
Caption: This dude must be beautiful.

George Mason University students have elected a drag queen as homecoming queen. Student Ryan Allen beat out two women for the title at the small school in suburban Washington, D.C., famous for its run to the Final Four a few years back.

Allen competed under his drag queen persona of Reann Ballslee.

Allen, who is gay and performs in drag at nightclubs, said he entered as a joke. But he considers the victory one of his happiest moments and proof the school celebrates.

Headline: Pa. Girl, 15, Faces Child Porn Charges After 'Sexting'
Clip from: FOXNEWSews.com
Date of clip: 20.2.9
Caption: 'Sexting'

A 15-year-old girl from central Pennsylvania faces child pornography charges after police say she sent nude pictures of herself over the Internet.

Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw says the girl has been charged as a juvenile with possessing, distributing and creating child pornography.

The girl is living with her mother. Authorities say the girl sent the pictures after communicating in June 2007 with a 27-year-old man over the MySpace networking Web site.

The practice has been called "sexting" for the prevalence of teens to transmit images via a cell phone.

Headline: Woman 'fakes dad's fire death'
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 20.2.9
Caption: Sorry Pops You're Dead

A VICTORIAN woman has been charged with fraudulently claiming her father was killed in the state's deadly bushfires in order to receive compensation payments.

Victoria Police allege the 31-year-old Sunshine woman made a $10,000 compassion and bereavement application to the Victoria Bushfire Appeal Fund which was denied after its checks found there was no relationship between her and the deceased.

She is also accused of claiming $5000 from Centrelink's funeral fund which was approved.

Detectives from the Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit charged her last night with attempting to obtain property by deception and obtaining property by deception.

Headline: Doc's mobile chat sends patient running
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 19.2.9
Caption: What's Not Up Doc

A PATIENT ran out of the operating theatre after the surgeon answered his mobile phone and started discussing what went wrong with a previous operation.

The patient, who was still conscious and awaiting eye surgery, did not like the sound of what he was hearing and told the surgeon he would rather go blind before he bolted out the building, The Northern Territory News reports.

Headline: Extremely Rare Bird Found, Photographed ... Eaten
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 19.2.9
Caption: Rare Bird Makes a Great Snack

A bird suspected to be extinct was reportedly photographed for the first time in the Philippines, and then sold to a poultry market as food.

Worcester's buttonquail was known only through illustrations based on decades-old museum specimens until a television crew documented the live bird in the market before it was sold in January, NationalGeographic.com reported.

Scientists had suspected the bird, found only on the island of Luzon, to be extinct, according to NationalGeographic.com.

Headline: Ex-media boss masturbated at tourists
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 19.2.9
Caption: High Profile Masturbator

A FORMER high-profile police and emergency services spokesman who received official honours for his work has admitted masturbating in front of two male backpackers.

Kevin John Loomes, 58, pleaded guilty the Brisbane Magistrates Court today to two counts of performing an indecent act.

Loomes entered a backpacker's hostel on Ann Street in Brisbane's CBD last December, carrying a towel, the court was told. The married man proceeded to a shower block on level one and began chatting to a 22-year-old backpacker before taking his towel off and masturbating in front of the traveller, police prosecutor Carrie Davidson said.

The backpacker quickly left the area and Loomes went to another shower block on a different floor where he started chatting to a second 22-year-old backpacker.

Standing in front of the traveller with one hand on his hip and the other on his penis, Loomes asked: "Has this ever happened to you before?"

Santa Killer

Headline: German Priest Aims to Knock Off Santa
From: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 22.12.8
Caption: Santa Killer

Santa's a cheap American knockoff?
Don't you believe it, Virginia!
But that's exactly what a German Catholic priest is preaching in his international campaign to do away with Father Christmas, claiming his legend promotes the commercialization of Christmas.
"The movement is intended to raise awareness of the fact that the consumption-oriented Santa launched by the Christmas gift industry has very little to do with the holy bishop Saint Nicholas," ...

Headline: Cocaine Suspect Describes Himself To Texas Police
From: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 22.12.8
Caption: I'm Your Dope Dealer

Galveston police knew who to look for _ exactly _ when they arrested an alleged delivery man in a call-for-cocaine investigation. A 29-year-old Galveston man was jailed Friday on a charge of manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance. Sgt. T. Barr, at the Galveston County Jail, told The Associated Press that John Patrick Lacour Jr. was held on $250,000 bond. Barr had no information on an attorney for Lacour.Officers, acting on a tip, called the number and pretended to want to buy cocaine. They requested a delivery to a certain address, plus asked the person to describe himself so they would know who to expect.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Headline: Are Santa's Reindeer Boys or Girls?
From: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 21.12.8
Caption: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is female.

There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions.

The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends — the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time — is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A&M University.

Headline: Widow leaves £7m to dog rescuers
From: Scotsman.com
Date of clip: 20.12.8
Caption: Candy Man Lawyer Arrested

SO MUCH for a dog's life. Animal welfare groups are in the money after a rich widow left them a staggering £7 million in her will.

Grace Smith's two pampered former rescue dogs, Winnie the lurcher and Harry the collie, enjoyed the finest cuts of steak and are now set for life after Mrs Smith also left them a fortune.

Headline: Lawyer Arrested For Giving Client A Piece Of Candy
From: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 20.12.8
Caption: Candy Man Lawyer Arrested

A lawyer has been arrested after he reportedly ignored orders not to give his shackled client a piece of candy in court, a Yavapai County sheriff's official said. Damon Rossi, 38, was arrested at his home on Thursday, a day after he asked two detention officers if he could feed his client a piece of candy, sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said on Friday. Rossi went ahead and gave the inmate the food despite being warned against it, reportedly asking the officers "what are you going to do, arrest me?"

Headline: Aussie repays $11 loan - 40 years later
From: news.com.au
Date of clip: 20.12.8
Caption: Better Late Than Never

A BRITON who lent $11 to a cash-strapped Australian while travelling through Europe has had his loan repaid - nearly 40 years later, a report said.

Jim Webb, 72, was in the Belgian coastal town of Ostend in April 1969 with a friend when he met Gary Fenton who asked for a loan to pay for a ferry journey back to Britain.

Mr Fenton promised to repay Mr Webb and noted down his address when the trio landed in England.

Last Sunday Mr Webb returned to his home in Sheffield to find a hand-delivered package with $439 - $11 for each year the loan had not been paid - and a note that read: "To Jim Webb, a good man. From Gary Fenton, a tardy payer of debts."

"I was quite emotional when I read it," Mr Webb told the BBC. "In this day and age promises are made and promises are broken and you lose your faith in human nature.

Claus's Ho! Ho! Ho! Freaks Kids

Headline: Santas freak out screaming toddlers
Clip from: foxnews.com
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Claus's Ho! Ho! Ho! Freaks Kids

He's a huge, strangely dressed man who sneaks into people's homes at night, then yells, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" at the top of his lungs. Who wouldn't be afraid of Santa Claus?

"A 2-year-old knows what a regular person looks like, and Santa ain't it," author Nancy Watkins says.

Authors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins know at least 250 toddlers who are. The two recently published a book called "Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland" that shows photos of children on St. Nick's lap -- most of whom are desperate to leave.

The project started at the Chicago Tribune, where both Joyce and Watkins work. They asked readers to send in their photos and got an overwhelming response that's still going strong. Last week, the Tribune's "Scared of Santa" Web site had 2 million hits.

Headline: Mom Accused of Selling Twins for Cosmetic Surgery
Clip from: foxnews.com
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Crazy World

A mother in the Belgian tourist haven of Ghent has been accused by her estranged husband of selling her newborn twin boys for more than $13,000 to pay for cosmetic surgery.
Marc Poppe, 48, told an undercover reporter for Dutch television that Sonia Ringoir, 31, had sold the babies to a friend to fund liposuction, the fat removal procedure. He said the couple had searched the Internet to find a quick way to make money: "It was financially attractive to us. Of course we wouldn’t do it for nothing."

Since Belgium has no law banning the sale of children, Ringoir was charged with "degrading treatment" of the twins. She was also charged with fraud after a Dutch couple alleged she had conned them by falsely offering to be a surrogate mother.

Headline: Dieting mum dies after too much water
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Sad Story

A BRITISH mother of five died after drinking too much water three weeks after she had begun a water-based diet to lose weight, an inquest has heard.
Jacqueline Henson, 40, was determined to slim down from 89kg and was "over the moon" after losing nearly 5.4kg in one week after starting the LighterLife diet plan, Huddersfield Coroners' Court in England was told yesterday.
The LighterLife diet, which has been linked with water poisoning, hair loss and disrupting the menstrual cycle, suggests consuming only 2220 kilojoules a day - a quarter of a woman's recommended daily intake - for a period of 12 weeks, and drinking four litres of water a day.