Polite bandit apologizes while holding up store with gun

Watch this closed circuit video as a "polite" bandit apologizes to the clerk while he is holding up the Seattle convenience store at gunpoint. OK – it wasn't a real gun and the guy is very, very sorry. Watch the video.

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Monks angry at beer campaign

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Monks and nuns in Lithuania have forced a brewery to withdraw what they call an insulting poster ad that features a Franciscan brother holding up a glass of beer. Lithuania's conference of monks and nuns said they felt "insulted and trampled upon" by the advertisement. The brewery apologized and said it would stop the advertisement immediately. I guess they have forgotten all of the religious orders that produced some monumental drinks i.e. Dom Perignon.

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Man who fathered 7 children with daughter decapitated

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Sometimes there is a tiny bit of justice in the world. Jose Agostinho Pereira was decapitated by fellow inmates in a Brazilian prison after they broke into his cell. Pereira was charged with imprisoning his daughter for 12 year in his home and fathering her seven children. He had been convicted in December and was facing 30 year in the can.

Justice served up cold.

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Lawmaker says "brothers" don't work as hard as Mexicans

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U.S. (South Carolina) State Senator Robert Ford said "brothers" don't work as hard as Mexicans. He continued on saying his "blue-eyed brothers" don't [work as hard],  either during a Senate committee debate over immigration law. "We need these workers here. A lot of people aren't going to do certain type of work in this country," said Ford. "The brothers are going to find ways to take a break. Ever since this country was built, we've had somebody do the work for us." Did I mention that Ford is African-American?  Now read this blog entry about the BBC calling Mexicans lazy.

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Video: Backyard Ninja decapitates .... stuff

Hate touching public washroom door handles?

If you hate to touch a washroom door handle after washing your hands, you will love this invention: The Toepener. This is is a pedal designed to open a public washroom’s door with the foot instead of the door handle. Invented by University of Minnesota student Max Arndt, it was the result of a class project in the Entrepreneurship in Action class at the Carson School of Management. Why didn't I think of this!!!

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Google's new Pittsburgh office in old biscuit factory

Have a look at the new Google digs in Pittsburgh carved out of a 100-year-old biscuit factory.   See more pics and read about it here.

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Oregon bureaucrats shut down 82-year-old barber

oAn 82-year-old barber who has been cutting hair for 50 years has been told by the state that he must go back to barber school or lose his license to cut hair. He says the State of Oregon never warned him his license was about to expire. Watch the video:





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Tank rides in Berlin for tourists

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Soon cold war buffs with be able to do what they had once imagined: ride a tank through Berlin. A local businessman, Maik Fraustein, is building a mini-tank from East Germany's infamous car – the Trabant. The tank will be painted camouflage green and sport a fake cannon on the roof. Trabant's have long been the butt of jokes for there lack of speed and plastic body, but have developed a cult following in recent years. Tourists will be allowed one shot at the former Berlin Wall with the cannon with live ammunition. OK, I made the last part up.

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Man stabbed to death by bird with knife

Image by Ken_Mayer via Flickr 

A man attending an illegal cockfight in California died when he was stabbed in the leg by one of the birds. The cock had a knife strapped to its limb. Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was declared dead in hospital. "I have never seen this type of incident," Sgt Martin King, told the Bakersfield Californian on Sunday, when the incident happened.The moral: Never trust a cock with a knife.

 The Cockfight: A Casebook
Cockfight  
Cocking Science (History of Cockfighting Series)
Cockfight

Woman creates Last Supper out of laundry lint

A Michigan woman has recreated the last supper out of laundry lint. It's a 14 foot by 4 foot work of art that took Laura Bell 200 hours to make, not to mention the 800 hours of laundry it took to collect the lint.  It now in the Ripley's Believe it or Not! collection. Some people just have way,way, way too much free time on their hands!

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Video: Horrifying bus crash caught by CCTV camera

It's hard not to be captivated by this horrifying footage captured by the closed circuit camera on a Turkish bus as it crashes. Fortunately, no one was killed.

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BBC calls Mexicans lazy and feckless – apologizes

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The BBC was left somewhat red faced when it apologized to Mexico's London ambassador after commentators on the auto show "Top Gear" described Mexicans as lazy and feckless. Still, the broadcaster defended the remarks, saying the stereotypes used were part of the humour of the show and Britain in general.

The ambassador was infuriated by "offensive and xenophobic" remarks made by the hosts during Sunday's edition of the show, which has been sold to television channels around the world.

Actually, the Mexicans got off easy. Given the almost daily drug violence and what seems like open season on Canadian tourists, it could have been much worse. Better to be stereotyped as lazy than killers.

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Music society collects money for fake artists, bathroom equipement and food

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You've probably heard about music societies that collect royalties for their members. Fair enough. Nothing wrong with paying to use copyrighted material. In Belgium, however, SABAM, the Belgian association of authors, composers and publishers, appears to have out stepped the boundaries of fairness by quite a bit. Investigative TV show Basta, pulled a sting on them, with some humourous and astounding results. SABAM charged them for virtually every name and situation they were asked about, including paying for imaginary performances by bathroom fixtures. This is a must read.  Read more here.

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Facebook moving into new castle

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When the big get bigger, they need a new place to call home. Facebook is taking over an almost nine acre building in Palo Alto at Stanford Research Park. The building formerly housed  Sun Microsystems. The new office is over seven times the size of its current office, making we wonder just how much hiring they are planning on doing in the future.  The downside: A longer commute for the boss. Zuckerberg will no longer be down the street from the office.

British swimming pool to be heated by crematorium

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Reuters reports that a swimming pool in Britian will use energy created by the next-door crematorium to heat its water. "The plan, the first of its kind in Britain, will see waste heat from the incinerator chimney used to warm up the neighboring leisure center and its new pool."

"The cremation process is a sensitive matter and we wanted to be sure our proposals had widespread support," said Councilor Carole Gandy, the leader of Redditch Borough Council in central England.

People are dying to swim there I guess.

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Spain 'orgasm' video criticized by politicians

It's meant to promote voting in Spain, but, well ... just watch the video!




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Turkmenistan president orders beauty contest for horses

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Turkmenistan's horses are being groomed for beauty contests by presidential decree. The country's horses, prized by Alexander the Great for their speed and stamina will be chosen "to promote the glory of the heavenly racehorse worldwide," the decree said.

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, enjoys sweeping powers in this desert nation and is known for his horsemanship.  Read more here on Reuters. 

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Pet food owners to eat dog food for a month

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You can call them savvy or nuts. The two owners of Evermore Pet Food, Hanna Mandelbaum, 30, and Alison Wiener, 38, say they eat their dog food for a month to prove it is the greatest dog food around. Starting March 1 they will eat it for at least one meal a day.  Here is how Evermore describes their food:

"Gently cooked, sold frozen
- Fresh, human-grade ingredients
- Made and sourced in the Northeast
- USDA-certified antibiotic and hormone-free meats
- NO by-products, fillers, corn, soy, wheat, potatoes, or salt
- Cooked in a USDA- and FDA-inspected, HACCP-compliant kitchen
- Food-based nutrition, most of our nutrients come from our ingredients
- Complete and balanced diet on its own, or great as a mixer with kibble"

Sounds yummy!

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Dangerous schizophrenic escapes and is hired as teacher

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According to Reuters, a mentally ill man from Northern Ireland escaped a psychiatric ward and was hired by a secondary school in France. Lewis Alexander Mawhinney, 26, taught German at the school for almost a month before authorities caught up with him. Previously, he had been labeled a dangerous schizophrenic after he attacked a fellow call center trainee with a knife. He was interned indefinitely in the psychiatric ward. Those who can, do.Those who are schizophrenic, teach.

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