land of odd
NAPLES, Fla. — When single mother Mary Ann Shaffer scratched a lottery ticket last week, she thought Christmas had come early.
The ticket indicated she was a $25,000 winner.
"I said, 'Oh my God, it's a miracle," Shaffer told the Naples Daily News.
She looked on the back to find a telephone number to claim her winnings.
Elation quickly turned to sadness as she realized the ticket, given to her by a customer at her concession stand, was fake.
"Claim forms supplied by Santa Claus. All winning tickets must be validated by the tooth fairy and conform to her game rules ... All winners are losers and must have an excellent sense of humor," the ticket read.
"How can anyone be so mean around Christmas time?" said Bear Terstegge, a Naples Beach Patrol officer who examined the ticket.
Word about the fake ticket spread quickly around the Naples pier where Shaffer sells hot dogs and water.
"It touched everybody's heart," Terstegge said.
In the past few days, Shaffer, who has two young children, has received cards, gift certificates and hefty tips. One regular brought presents for her kids.
And she's even received a few lottery tickets - real ones.
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Land of Odd: Viking Behind Bars
land of odd
SALT LAKE CITY — An inmate is suing the Utah Department of Corrections for denying him his right to practice an ancient Nordic religion while behind bars.
Michael Polk is serving time for aggravated assault and robbery. He filed a lawsuit against corrections officials in federal court, accusing them of denying him religious items that he says are necessary to practice the Asatru religion.
The religion worships ancient Nordic gods like Odin, Thor, Tyr and Heimdal.
In the lawsuit, Polk says he has been a member of the Asatru faith since 2005, and in order to properly practice it he needs items including: a Thor's Hammer, a prayer cloth, a Mead Horn used for drinking Wassail, a drum made of wood and boar skin, a rune staff and a sword.
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Land of Odd: Strangest Business Stories of 2007
land of odd
1. Leona Helmsley and her dog
Don't laugh - if she were your master, you'd need a lifetime supply of Prozac too
Upon her death, Leona Helmsley leaves $12 million to her white Maltese, Trouble. And the poor pooch now receives death threats.
2. High-tech toilet disaster
Japanese manufacturer Toto apologizes to customers and offers free repairs for 180,000 high-tech toilets - thrones that feature heated seats, air purifiers, blow dryers, and water sprayers - after at least three catch fire. "Fortunately nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out," says a company spokesman. "The fire would have been just under your buttocks."
3. Help the fat - give them food
Disneyland announces plans to close the "It's a Small World" attraction to deepen its water channel after the ride's boats start getting stuck under loads of heavy passengers. Employees ask larger passengers to disembark - and compensate them with guess what - coupons for free food.e
4. Microsoft's PR Firm Fiasco
While working on an article about Microsoft, Wired contributing editor (and former Fortune writer) Fred Vogelstein receives a 13-page dossier about himself, describing him as "tricky" and his stories as "sensational." The document, prepared by the company's public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, as background for Microsoft executives, was sent inadvertently to the writer.
5. Drink With The Dumb Name
After receiving a warning from the FDA, Redux Beverages agrees to stop calling its energy drink Cocaine. It changes the name first to Censored, then to NoName.
6. Cartoon Network Buzz-Marketing Flop
To build buzz for its animated show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network places electronic lightboards throughout Boston, triggering a bomb scare that shuts down two bridges, an expressway, a subway station, and a stretch of the Charles River. The devices depict a character from the show saluting passersby with an upraised middle finger.
7. Analize This
In March, shortly after No. 2 U.S. subprime lender New Century Financial announces a major earnings restatement as a result of failing loans, Bear Stearns analysts Scott Coren and Michael Nannizzi write a research note on New Century. They argue that despite New Century's stock having plunged 50%, to $15 per share, its downside risk is no worse than $10 in a "rescue-sale scenario." Within a month, New Century drops below $1 a share, is suspended by the NYSE, and files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
8. Oral B Vibrator
Lawyers representing Procter & Gamble send a 66-page cease-and-desist letter to British sex-toy company Love Honey, demanding that it stop using images of its Oral B electric toothbrushes to promote a product called the Brush Bunny - a rabbit-shaped piece of plastic that slips over the top of an Oral B to turn it into a vibrator.
9. Best Buy Kiosk Scam
The state of Connecticut sues Best Buy for setting up in-store kiosks set to a website that looks identical to bestbuy.com but lists higher prices than those they would actually find online.
10. The $54 Million Dollar Judge
District of Columbia judge Roy Pearson loses a $54 million lawsuit against the owners of a dry-cleaning establishment that he claims misplaced a pair of his pants. Pearson argued that the cleaner committed fraud by failing to live up to the SATISFACTION GUARANTEED sign displayed in the shop. Four months later a judicial review committee votes against reappointing him to his post, finding that he failed to demonstrate "appropriate judgment and judicial temperament."
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Land Of Odd: School District To Pay $95,000 In Legal Fees To Families That Pooh-Poohed Dress Code
land of odd
Officials in a Northern California school district might not think Tiggers are such wonderful things after agreeing to pay $95,000 in lawyers' fees to five families who sued the school over its dress code.
The parents went to court after a student was disciplined for wearing socks with the "Winnie the Pooh" cartoon character Tigger on the first day of school last year.
The district's superintendent said Thursday that the settlement money is for the plaintiffs' lawyers; the district is also on the hook to pay the lawyers it hired.
The settlement also says Redwood Middle School may no longer require students to wear only solid-color clothing.
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Land Of Odd: Man Shoots Himself In The Ass
land of odd
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Scottsdale man inadvertently shot himself in the buttocks Thursday morning. Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Daniel Leatherman, 26, heard a disturbance outside his apartment and saw a man he knew fighting with a cab driver.
Leatherman told police that the man, Cody Nunn, 25, had assaulted him in the past, so he grabbed his gun and went outside.
Leatherman told police that he accidentally dropped the gun while hiding it behind his back and shot himself in the derriere.
Nunn and Leatherman’s friends took him to a local hospital. When police arrived, Clark said Nunn was drunk and disruptive. He was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct.
Leatherman was released from the hospital later Thursday. There were no phone listings for Leatherman or Nunn.
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Land Of Odd: Walmart pulls 'Superbad' DVD in Hawaii for featuring fake Hawaii license
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Bonus packages of "Superbad" DVD movies carrying copies of a phony Hawaii driver's license featured in the hit comedy have been pulled from all Wal-Mart stores in the islands, a recall that could spread nationally, officials said yesterday.
The move came after Mayor Mufi Hannemann on Wednesday called the promotional plastic card "inappropriate" advertising, fearing minors could use it to pass as adults or buy alcohol. The city notified local authorities and even the Department of Homeland Security about the cards.
In the movie, produced by Sony Pictures, actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who plays high school teenager Fogell, tries to buy more than $100 worth of liquor for a senior party using a fake Hawaii I.D.
"We're very pleased that Wal-Mart has taken prompt, corrective measures to comply with the city's request to protect the integrity of our driver's license," Hannemann said yesterday in a news release. "It was foolish of the movie studio to include this prop in the DVD, particularly because it could be used by unscrupulous people to deceive others who are unfamiliar with our driver's license."
It's unclear if Wal-Mart's sales ban, for now limited to its seven Hawaii stores, would affect mainland shops also offering the "Superbad" DVD package. Wal-Mart is the only retailer marketing the movies with the card, according to Sony Pictures, though countless copies of the special package are up for sale on eBay and other Internet Web sites.
Brian Halsey, market manager over operations for Wal-Mart in Hawaii, said company officials "were considering" expanding the recall to all stores, but he wasn't aware of a decision yesterday.
Sony Pictures, declining to comment on how many special "Superbad" packages had been made, said yesterday there are no plans for additional production. In an e-mail, it said the card "has a shifting, dual photograph and other features to make clear it's not a real I.D."
"We regret that it has caused concerns in Hawaii or elsewhere," the company said. "This was a one-time promotion and no further shipments are planned."
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Land Of Odd: Spiked Meatballs
land of odd
A US counter-terrorism police officer who says he failed a drugs test because his wife spiked his meatballs with marijuana is suing to get his job back.
Anthony Chiofalo, of New York Police Department (NYPD), has asked Manhattan Supreme Court to challenge his firing.
He was suspended in 2005 after 22 years of service, for failing a random test.
His wife told investigators she had secretly drugged his meatballs hoping a failed test would force him to retire. NYPD said the story was "not credible".
Both Mr Chiofalo and his wife Catherine have passed lie detector tests about how the marijuana entered the police officer's system.
Back pain
Mrs Chiofalo told investigators she had put enough marijuana for six cigarettes in her meatball recipe in July 2005, according to court papers.
She testified at a hearing that she just wanted her husband "not to die of a heart attack or get killed" while still in service, the Associated Press news agency quotes the court papers as saying.
"I wanted him to be around to help raise my son," she said. She had reportedly expected him to retire in 2004 after 20 years in the force.
Mr Chiofalo said his wife had marijuana in the house because she used it to alleviate suffering caused by chronic back pain.
An administrative judge recommended that Mr Chiofalo be reinstated to the Joint Terrorism Task Force but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly rejected that opinion and fired him.
Mr Chiofalo hopes the court will rule his dismissal unconstitutional and force the NYPD to re-hire him.
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