ST. PAUL, Minn. (land of odd) ― Justin John Boudin may have done his anger management homework, but he apparently didn’t learn his lesson.
The 27-year-old Minnesota man pleaded guilty to fifth-degree assault charges for losing his temper on the way to class.
According to the criminal complaint, Boudin was waiting at a bus stop in August when he harassed a 59-year-old woman. Witnesses say he yelled “Why don’t you show me some respect?” at the woman. The complaint says when she took out her cell to call police, he punched her in the face. When a 63-year-old man tried to stop him, Boudin hit him with a blue folder. Then he ran, dropping the folder.
Police were able to track him down using the papers inside, which included his name and his anger management homework.
Prosecutors expect at a hearing in May he’ll be sentenced to time served, which will be at least 120 days, and probation.
[Via - CBS5]
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Land of Odd: Man Punches Woman On His Way To Anger Management Class
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Blind Irishman sees with the aid of son's tooth in his eye
DUBLIN land of odd (AFP) - An Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on Wednesday.
Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a re-cycling business in November 2005.
"I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio.
After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in England.
The technique, pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, involves creating a support for an artificial cornea from the patient's own tooth and the surrounding bone.
The procedure used on McNichol involved his son Robert, 23, donating a tooth, its root and part of the jaw.
McNichol's right eye socket was rebuilt, part of the tooth inserted and a lens inserted in a hole drilled in the tooth.
The first operation lasted ten hours and the second five hours.
"It is pretty heavy going," McNichol said. "There was a 65 percent chance of me getting any sight.
"Now I have enough sight for me to get around and I can watch television. I have come out from complete darkness to be able to do simple things," McNichol said.
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Land of Odd: Police called to 'pillow fight'
Police were called to a domestic in Franklin, south of Auckland, last night - a husband and wife's pillow fight.
Senior sergeant Shawn Rutene, of Manukau police, said a distressed woman called police at 9pm saying her husband was hitting her with a pillow.
When their daughter, 14, tried to intervene she was pushed aside, the caller said.
No physical injuries were sustained in the attack and investigations were continuing, Mr Rutene told an Auckland newspaper.
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Land of Odd: Woman In New York City Says Cabbie Hit Her For Not Having Cash
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There have been a number of reports of cab drivers balking at customers who try to pay with credit cards in New York City, but a woman is accusing a cabbie of actually punching her after she tried to charge a ride.
Tamara Perez tells CBS station WCBS-TV she still can't believe it happened.
The incident happened Tuesday after Perez ran to her East Village home to pick up some papers. Once in the cab, the 35-year-old realized she had no cash the pay the $10 fare. Instead, she pulled out a credit card, but the cabbie wasn't having it.
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"He wouldn't let me use the card, he wouldn't press the button," she tells WCBS. "I said, 'You have to press the button,' and he's like, 'No, no I don't know, I don't know how to use it.'"
Perez says the driver got out of the cab and told her to go get cash. She refused, said she wanted to use the machine and would tip well.
"I tried to walk past him and he pushed me back into the cab. I got up and told him I was calling my husband who is a professional boxer," she says. "I started dialing the phone and he said, 'I give you a punch in the mouth' and he turned around and he socked me in the mouth."
Perez tried to copy down the driver's license number, but mixed up the numbers as he took off. She's hoping police can track down the crooked cabbie.
"I want new york to find him and prosecute him," she says.
Perez called 311 and 911 after the incident and filed complaints.
"We haven't yet identified the driver, but when we do he will be suspended. It is an aberration," says Matthew Daus, commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York City.
On Thursday, the TLC announced it had launched an undercover operation in place to try and catch cabbies if they refuse to use the credit card machine. Now the NYPD will be getting involved, too.
"When she got out of the car there was some kind of pushing event that she described that we heard initially. Now the story is that she was punched which is an assault, and obviously we will investigate that as an assault," says Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
[Via CBS]
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Land of Odd: Man Sets Station On Fire Over Playlist
land of odd
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ― A volunteer at a community radio station set fire to the station because he was upset that his song selections for an overnight Internet broadcast were changed, police said.
Paul Webster Feinstein, 24, has been charged with second-degree felony arson for the Jan. 5 fire that caused $300,000 damage to the studios of 91.7 FM KOOP. He faces from two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.
Feinstein told investigators that he was "very unhappy" about the changes to his playlist, said Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Nye. The songs were intended for an Internet broadcast that occurs when the station is off the air.
"He had a dream of a career in radio and was very disappointed about where it had led him," Nye said.
An attorney for Feinstein could not be reached for comment.
Station president Andrew Dickens said Feinstein had been in a dispute with another volunteer about what kind of music should be put into a digital library for the Internet program.
Feinstein was a jazz fan and his Internet program was called "Mellow Down Easy," Dickens said.
"We knew there was a disagreement, but I would characterize it as a little clash of personalities over types of music to be played and not a big blowout," Dickens said.
Feinstein, who had volunteered at the station for about a year, quit a week before the fire, saying he was going to do other things, Dickens said.
"He seemed like somebody who was young, enthusiastic, had a life, was a professional and was educated," Dickens said.
Nye said Feinstein acknowledged making a copy of the station key and then waiting for the station to clear out on the night of Jan. 5. Feinstein poured gasoline on the control panels in two studios to start the fire, Nye said.
The fire department's trained dog smelled gasoline at the scene, tipping investigators to the arson, Nye said.
Nye said Feinstein had no previous criminal record.
The fire was the third the station has dealt with in the past two years. The first was ruled accidental. The second was caused by a malfunction in a heating and air-conditioning unit of a nearby business and forced the station to move.
This month's fire knocked the station off the air for 19 days. It resumed broadcasting last week in donated space.
"We are kind of worried that people will look at us like a bunch of idiots," Dickens said. "This is really just one of those out-of-the-blue situations. Who the hell would have thought somebody would have snapped?"
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Land of Odd: Couple finds a way to get their message to the FAA
FOLSOM, Pa. — The skies won't seem especially friendly to anyone taking off from Philadelphia International Airport if they notice what a suburban couple wrote on the roof of their home.
"(Expletive) U FAA," the message reads, though one letter of the profane word is substituted with an underline. Below that it is a picture of a plane with a slash through it and the words "no fly zone."
Homeowner Michael Hall and his girlfriend, Michaelene Buddy, are angry that jets have been flying over their house since last month, when the Federal Aviation Administration altered departure headings out of Philadelphia. Hall says he has to sleep with earplugs.
He said he and Buddy also were frustrated after being unable to leave a message with the FAA's noise-complaint hot line because the voice mailbox was always full. So they issued their complaint in roof sealant and 7-foot-tall letters about two weeks ago.
"Just doing it made me feel better, but I'd still like to say what I wrote directly to the idiot head of the FAA," Hall told the Philadelphia Daily News for today's editions.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters had no comment.
The flight changes are part of a massive restructuring of the airspace over the congested corridor between New York and Philadelphia.
The couple's Ridley Township home is in Delaware County, southwest of Philadelphia. The county argues in a lawsuit that the FAA's environmental-impact study violated federal regulations and that the new flight paths will only marginally reduce airport delays.
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Land of Odd: Secrets Of The Dollar Bill
land of odd
What do the symbols and numbers on the dollar bill actually mean? We’ll take a look at the shadier and more intriguing threads of meaning and symbolism at play in the bill’s design. Extraordinary strands of numerology are interwoven into the bill’s structure, which, on analysis, suggest surprising hidden alignments. Why does it look the way it does and how has it changed through the ages?
We’ll analyze the significance of changes in the bill’s appearance over time and examine alternative designs. We’ll also look at the historical context of the bill’s conception–what the dollar bill set out to represent–the patriotism and idealism of a young republic; and go inside the Treasury’s Department of Printing and Engraving for exclusive access to the presses and the people who process the millions upon millions of dollars in circulation.
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Land of Odd: Boomerang Comes Back After 25 Years
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BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - Boomerangs really do come back - even after 25 years. Officials in an Australian Outback town were surprised when a boomerang arrived in the post. Along with it was a note from a guilt-ridden American who said he stole it years earlier from a museum in the mining town of Mount Isa, and now felt rotten about it.
"I removed this back in 1983 when I was younger and dumber," said the note, according to Mount Isa Mayor Ron McCullough. "It was the wrong thing to do, I'm sorry, and I'm going to send it back," said the note.
Type rest of the post here
McCullough on Thursday gave the contrite thief's first name as Peter but said it would be unfair to release his full identity.
McCullough said the parcel was sent to the location of the old museum, now a paper manufacturing plant and community center, and was then handed to the Mount Isa council. He declined to reveal the value of the donation.
McCullough said the boomerang would be returned to its rightful owner, if he could be found.
Boomerangs were traditionally used by Aborigines as a hunting weapon. A typical returning boomerang can travel up to 150 feet in the air before returning to the thrower.
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Land of Odd: Riders Take Off Pants For 'No Pants Day'
SALT LAKE CITY - Dozens of people riding on TRAX on Saturday were caught with their pants down -- despite the January chill -- as part of a national stunt.
Riders were encouraged to ride light rail without pants in conjunction with a comedy organization based in New York City. 'Improv Everywhere' organized Saturday's event, which was part of a 10-city stunt designed to create unusual scenes and fun for riders of public transportation.
Improv Everywhere says nearly 1,000 people took part in Saturday's events around the world. Besides Salt Lake City, the "No Pants 2k8" train rides also took place in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Portland, OR, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Adelaide, Australia and Baltimore, MD.
In New York City, pants-less riders navigated the city's vast subway system while amused commuters looked on. In Salt Lake City, riders boarded near the EnergySolutions Arena and traveled around the so-called "Free fare zone."
Utah Transit Authority did not sponsor or sanction the event in any way, but says the riders taking part in the public stunt were breaking no laws.
Pants-less riders were required to follow guidelines of dress to stay within the laws of public standards. Riders were asked to ride in their underwear, however no revealing attire -- like thongs or lingerie -- was allowed.
Formed in 2001, Improv Everywhere says its purpose is to cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places. This is the 7th straight year of the organization's "No Pants" train stunt.
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Land of Odd: Why US Economy Is A Lot Like Pizza Domino
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High commodity prices. Weak consumer spending. And heavy borrowing.
If the recent problems of Domino’s Pizza sound a lot like the issues hanging over the broader American economy, it’s no coincidence. With its dependence on consumers, its sensitivity to the run-up in dairy and wheat prices and a risky decision last year to double its debt in order to pay a huge one-time dividend, the pizza chain’s recent troubles speak volumes about the challenges facing both companies and consumers in the year ahead.
But Domino’s trajectory isn’t just another tale of economic gloom and doom. It’s also a story of how large investors — including none other than Michael S. Dell — have kept the faith in the sliding shares of Domino’s, much as they have stuck with the overall stock market despite earnings worries and other fears.
The battle over Domino’s encapsulates the uncertainty facing Wall Street in 2008, with money managers remaining bullish even as veteran strategists like Byron Wien of Pequot Capital Management forecast a recession and a 10 percent drop for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index.
So far, at least in the case of Domino’s, the pessimists have the upper hand. Domino’s shares closed Friday at $11.72, down from $20 last summer. And on the first trading day of 2008, Joe Buckley, a Bear Stearns analyst, cut his rating on the entire restaurant group, warning that the combination of higher food and labor costs and slow growth equals a “perfect storm” for the sector.
Mr. Buckley was prescient in getting the Domino’s story right, warning in April that sales could be weaker than Wall Street expected. Since then, he adds, its archrival Pizza Hut has outmaneuvered Domino’s, in part by doing a better job of hedging against soaring prices for cheese, which jumped 42 percent last year.
But there are signs Domino’s is learning how to handle those high commodity prices, Mr. Buckley says. A new contract with cheese suppliers and the ability to more quickly pass on high wheat costs to franchisees might help earnings improve later this year, he says.
With oil hitting $100 a barrel for the first time last week, the ability to manage high commodity prices is a skill other companies will have to master this year.
The parallels with the broader United States economy do not end there. Like more traditional giants, including General Electric and Boeing, one of the few bright spots for Domino’s lately has been international growth. The chain sells distinctly local offerings like the Peppy Paneer in India and the Savoyarde in France, which features potatoes, bacon and crème fraîche.
And, like the broader market — which trades at 14 times 2008 earnings — Domino’s stock is reasonably priced, selling for about 11 times earnings. That is a crucial reason institutional investors do not seem dissuaded by negative news.
In November, the firm that manages the fortune of Mr. Dell and his family, MSD Capital, disclosed that it had acquired a 5.1 percent stake in Domino’s. Mr. Dell’s firm has been an investor for some time, said Lynn M. Liddle, a spokeswoman for Domino’s, but this was the first time its stake rose above 5 percent.
Mr. Dell’s role is hands-off, Ms. Liddle says. “Does Michael Dell come and make pizza? No. I don’t think he speaks to us. His folks do.”
MSD CAPITAL declined to comment on its stake in Domino’s, as did Mr. Dell. But another major holder, Andy Brown of Cedar Rock Capital, remains bullish on Domino’s despite obvious problems like higher commodity prices.
“We cherish a business like this as long-term investors,” says Mr. Brown, whose firm manages about $5 billion and holds a roughly 8 percent stake in Domino’s. He says he still supports Domino’s decision to borrow nearly $1 billion to pay out a special dividend of $13.50 a share last spring, despite the decline that followed.
“I’m not happy about commodity prices, but we’re happy with how Domino’s returned capital to their shareholders,” he said.
Via NYTimes.Com
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Land of Odd: Chicago Cop Plans to Swim Lake Michigan Shoreline
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A Chicago police officer hopes to swim the perimeter of Lake Michigan this summer, traveling a total distance of more than 1,000 miles.
Nial Funchion says he expects to swim about ten miles a day -- departing from Chicago's North Avenue Beach in early June. At that pace, it'll take him more than three months to complete the trip.
Funchion says he wants the swim to inspire others to follow their own dreams.
The 41-year-old endurance athlete previously swam the English Channel and crossed Lake Michigan.
Funchion will be accompanied by a support team and hopes to finish in September.
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Land of Odd: Single Mom Duped by Fake Lottery Ticket
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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
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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
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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
land of odd
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
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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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Land Of Odd: Monkeys beat students in memory game
land of odd
Chimpanzees have an extraordinary photographic memory that is far superior to ours, research suggests.
Young chimps outperformed university students in memory tests devised by Japanese scientists.
The tasks involved remembering the location of numbers on a screen, and correctly recalling the sequence.
The findings, published in Current Biology, suggest we may have under-estimated the intelligence of our closest living relatives.
Until now, it had always been assumed that chimps could not match humans in memory and other mental skills.
"There are still many people, including many biologists, who believe that humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said lead researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.
"No one can imagine that chimpanzees - young chimpanzees at the age of five - have a better performance in a memory task than humans.
"Here we show for the first time that young chimpanzees have an extraordinary working memory capability for numerical recollection - better than that of human adults tested in the same apparatus, following the same procedure."
Memory tests
Dr Matsuzawa and colleagues tested three pairs of mother and baby chimpanzees against university students in a memory task involving numbers.
The mothers and their five-year-old offspring had already been taught to "count" from one to nine.
During the experiment, each subject was presented with various numerals from one to nine on a touch screen monitor.
The numbers were then replaced with blank squares and the test subject had to remember which number appeared in which location, then touch the appropriate square.
They found that, in general, the young chimps performed better than their mothers and the adult humans.
The university students were slower than all of the three young chimpanzees in their response.
The researchers then varied the amount of time that the numbers appeared on-screen to compare the working memory of humans and chimps.land of odd
Chimps performed much better than university students in speed and accuracy when the numbers appeared only briefly on screen.
The shortest time duration, 210 milliseconds, did not leave enough time for the subjects to explore the screen by eye movement - something we do all the time when we read.
This is evidence, the researchers believe, that young chimps have a photographic memory which allows them to memorise a complex scene or pattern at a glance. This is sometimes present in human children but declines with age, they say.
"Young chimpanzees have a better memory than human adults," Dr Matsuzawa told BBC News.
"We are still underestimating the intellectual capability of chimpanzees, our evolutionary neighbours."
'Ground-breaking'
Dr Lisa Parr, who works with chimps at the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta, US, described the research as "ground-breaking".
She said the importance of these primates for understanding the skills necessary for the evolution of modern humans was unparalleled.
"They are our closest living relatives and thus are in a unique position to inform us about our evolutionary heritage," said Dr Parr.
"These studies tell us that elaborate short-term memory skills may have had a much more salient function in early humans than is present in modern humans, perhaps due to our increasing reliance on language-based memory skills."
The research is published in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
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Land of Odd: Voters Bribed With Viagra
BANGKOK, Thailand - Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics.
But one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic - handing out Viagra instead of cash.
The allegation, made today by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favours to voters have become stricter than ever.
Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men was being distributed to elderly male voters.
Viagra is supposed to be used only on a doctor's advice, but is generally available over the counter in Thailand.
He would not identify the candidate who allegedly handed out the pills.
Under a tough new law, both the supplier and recipient of vote-buying can face criminal charges. Candidates can be disqualified and their party disbanded, as was the case with the old law, while voters who accept money or gifts can now face from one to 10 years in prison.
More than 4,200 candidates from 41 parties are competing for 480 seats in the lower house of parliament in the Dec. 23 polls - the first to be held after a bloodless military coup ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September last year.
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