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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No one expects a zombie apocalypse. But the University of Florida is making sure officials are ready for a night of the living dead, just in case. The school has a plan for responding to the undead on its Web site among outlines for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics. The exercise lays out how university officials would respond to attacks by "flesh-eating, apparently life impaired individuals." It notes that a zombie outbreak might include "documentation of lots of strange moaning." A University of Florida spokesman says the exercise was written by an employee to "add a little bit of levity" to disaster preparation discussions. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
CLACTON, England, Oct. 1 -- A British girl who put her grandmother up for auction on eBay said the 61-year-old fetched bids of $3,200 before the Web site pulled the listing. Zoe Pemberton, 10, of Clacton, England, said she listed her grandmother, Marion Goodall, for auction on the site because she was "annoying," the Daily Mail reported. Pemberton described Goodall in the listing as "rare and annoying and moaning a lot" as well as "very cuddly and loves word searches." The girl said her grandmother quickly became involved in writing her own listing. "She was moaning at me when I wrote down that her favorite food was curry -- she said could I change it to Chinese," she said. "Apart from that she didn't seem to mind." Jenny Thomas, an eBay spokeswoman, said the auction violated eBay policy. "While no doubt Mrs. Goodall would have fetched a princely sum, eBay does not allow the listing of any human being on the site," she said. "Mind you we were impressed to see a total of 27 bids for the lady in question!" Source
A community of dwarves has set up its own village to escape discrimination from normal sized people. Everyone in the mountain commune in Kunming, southern China, must be under 4ft 3 ins tall and they run their own police force and fire brigade from their 120 residents. Now the group has turned itself into a tourist attraction by building mushroom houses and living and dressing like fairy tale characters. "As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people. But here there aren't any big people and everything we do is for us," said spokesman Fu Tien. The idea of housing dwarves in special compounds would be anathema in the West, and the village has sparked fierce debates among expats living in China. "When I first heard this I pictured myself obscure freak shows from a hundred years back," wrote one commenter on the GoKunming website. "Pay the entrance fee and you can watch these people perform." But others said that it was the dwarves' best chance of employment given the surplus of labor in China. "We might feel aghast at treating humans this way but this is the best way the Chinese government can deal with the situation right now," wrote Tonyaod. "Go back a hundred years or so in our culture and we will see that we did the same thing à la the freakshows and the circus." Source
It could be one of the most embarrassing public break-ups of all time. A woman named Jennifer has become the talk of Sydney's northern beaches after she was unceremoniously dumped via telegraph pole on the area's busiest road yesterday. In the early hours her supposed lover erected five separate signs on what is known as the Bilgola bends on Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon, the main arterial access to the rest of Sydney for those living in Avalon and Palm Beach, The Daily Telegraph reports. His feelings started out as romantic, one of those tender public moments where the daring can touch hearts. "Jennifer, will you marry me?'' the fist sign said. But what happened next is bizarre and has had heads shaking throughout the northern beach suburbs. No sooner had the marriage proposal sign appeared, there was another sign, taking a very different tack - "Just joking, we're breaking up." And if things were getting confusing, then came another sign, rather blunt and to the point: "You have six days to get out.'' Locals were divided over whether the signs could be a joke or whether to feel sorry for Jennifer: how could any woman deserve such public humiliation and who was the love rat responsible? "When I first saw it I was just on my bike, I was laughing my head off,'' Newport retailer Jeff Kahler said. "There has been really good (signs) but I reckon it is one of the best, it took my mind off driving.'' Avalon resident Rhiannon Johnston said: "I think it is a prank. "If not, it is really mean or Jennifer really screwed up big time.'' By late yesterday, an unlikely group of men had come to the rescue of Jennifer. The local council rangers took down the signs not necessarily to preserve the dignity of a young lady but rules are rules - the signs' mastermind hadn't received permission to put them up. So the mystery remains - somewhere in Sydney there is a woman called Jennifer who is today very heartbroken or someone somewhere having a very loud laugh. Source
WORCESTER, Mass. — A Massachusetts man who stole a hot dog from another man sitting under a tree in a park has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Antonio Judd pleaded guilty Monday in Worcester Central District Court to charges including larceny from a person. Police said Judd grabbed the hot dog in August after flashing what appeared to be a gun in Elm Park in Worcester, New England's second-largest city. Police reports say Judd began to devour the hot dog, spilling mustard all over his shirt. They say when he was arrested later he was carrying a pellet gun and a pocket knife. Records show Judd has been sentenced to prison at least three times for offenses including assault and vandalism. Source
A postal worker from Peterborough who stole packages containing pornographic DVDs and women's underwear and stashed them in his loft has been warned he could face jail. Royal Mail investigators received a tip-off in May this year and raided Alec Clark's former home address in Peterborough to find 10 packets containing sex toys and 60 pieces of lingerie, along with receipts from adult companies, hidden in the attic. The haul, which he had accumulated over 10 years, also included a pile of 24 explicit DVDs. Clark would open "multiple order" boxes containing up to 20 DVDs, steal one from each, repackage the remaining items and deliver them, Peterborough Magistrates' Court was told yesterday. When he was confronted with the items, Alec Clark (35), who now lives at Chaucer Road, New England, admitted he had taken them, saying: "It seems I'm really into something that's overtaken my mind. I had no intention of doing anything with it." He had been employed as a delivery driver and collections manager by Parcelforce for 11 years, first in Peterborough and then in Cambridge, before he was suspended in May. Prosecuting for Royal Mail – which owns Parcelforce – Richard Brown said: "An investigation uncovered 10 postal packets and receipts from a variety of different companies, including Pabo, who sell sex toys and Figleaves, a women's lingerie firm. "They found sex toys, underwear, lingerie and books that had been sent through the post. "When he was shown the items, he admitted they had come from the post." He admitted that he started stealing five months after the start of his career. Clark pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, stretching from between January 2001 and April this year. Defending, Sara Young said: "This is a very serious matter. There was a large breach of trust involved. It does cross the custody threshold." The case was adjourned for reports and magistrates told Clark that all options, including custody, would be kept open. Speaking after the case, a spokesman for Royal Mail said: "The overwhelming majority of our people are honest and we have a zero tolerance policy to any dishonesty." Source
Sex toys and stuffed animals were among the most unusual objects targeted by light-fingered hotel guests this year, according to research by Telegraph Travel. Light fittings, televisions and bed linen have also been stolen from British establishments in 2009, proving that toiletries and towels are not the only items coveted by some hotel guests. Staff at Birmingham’s Hotel du Vin revealed how one inebriated would-be thief was caught attempting to remove the stuffed head of a wild boar, which had previously been mounted in the billiard room. “He was rather embarrassed and worse-for-wear,” said Adam Thompson, a manager at the hotel. “A few weeks later some of his friends came back and bought the object from us as a wedding present for him – we donated the money to charity.” The Residence in Bath, formerly a boutique hotel and now self-catering apartments, reported another unusual item that often went missing. “Beyond the usual things, such as shampoos and bath towels, the most frequently stolen items were our sex toys,” said a member of staff at the Residence, which once offered kinky accessories - at a price - to adventurous travellers. “I would call them up to explain that they had been caught taking them without paying,” she added. “A pregnant pause would inevitably follow.” Staff at another hotel in Bath recalled that a guest had stolen one of the light fittings in the floor, while one former Forte Posthouse hotel reported that a couple had stolen all the almost the entire contents of their room, including the carpet, curtains, kettle, bedding and even the toilet seat. They had allegedly parked their car underneath the room’s ground floor window and passed the items through. Even the glamour-free world of Travelodge is not immune to passing kleptomaniacs. A survey by the budget hotel chain revealed that their towels, drinking glasses, bathrobes and ornaments are their most frequently stolen objects. In a poll carried out by Telegraph Travel, 37 per cent of respondents admitted having taken something from their hotel room. Source
Japanese gangsters are facing an obstacle that can’t be beaten with a nunchaku – a pen and paper exam. Spotted within the Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate, this Q&A session involved a 12 question paper that tested faction members’ knowledge of gangster lore. One such question asked for a comprehensive list of taboo activities. The correct answer, as specified on the sample paper, included con jobs involving phones, stealing costly motor vehicles and disposal of industrial waste. Furthermore, the paper stressed that all gang-related activities had to be approved by the big bosses. This exam paraphernalia was uncovered by police when they were investigating a crime-related instance involving the Yamaguchi-gumi gang in Shiga Prefecture . This particular group has a strong presence in Japan with its 40 000 members and thus, has adopted this unconventional method in order to save money. Recent changes to the anti-organized crime law ensured that crime bosses could be fined over the illegal actions of their respective minions. Such minion actions could be anything from a shoot-out in a street to a bloody bar fight. In addition to legal moves, civil action by concerned citizens against crime syndicates were becoming increasingly common and have might have contributed to the creation of this exam paper. One such example was the efforts of Akasaka residents where they won a court appeal to exclude the Inagawa-kai gang from their neighborhood. Source
Dave Mackie is running an online Sudoku competition where his luxury home in Lancashire will be given away as a prize. He has already received thousands of entries around the world, but will let his 'koi' pick the winner from the correct entries. The insurance broker and puzzle fan plans to install a touch sensitive pad in the pond and when the fish touch it one of the 14,000 entries will be selected. He hopes this will mean the fish select someone who will look after them when he moves out- though given it is random they are just as likely to end up with a cat lover. Dave said: "As well as being beautiful and majestic creatures, koi have an aura about them and are very perceptive and sensitive to what is going on around them. "They are the ideal symbols of love and friendship and I have no doubt they will pick the right winner someone who will get on with the neighbours and someone who will look after the fish themselves." Once they've paid a GBP50 entry fee, entrants complete an online Sudoku puzzle to receive a place in the prize competition to win the stylish detached home, complete with sauna and steam room, on Lancashire's picturesque Fylde coast. Puzzle fanatic Dave, a director of an insurance broker, has proved that what he is doing complies with UK law as it is a prize competition relying on people's skill to crack the Sudoku and not gambling. Dave, 49, explained: "I think a 14,000-1 chance of winning this house is a great opportunity for someone." The contest will run up to Feb 1, 2010 or until Dave has 14,000 entrants. Source
A cult leader in Papua New Guinea fled naked into the jungle after being confronted by police over allegations that he'd forced followers to have sex in public, with the promise that it would boost the banana harvest. The man, identified as Thomas Peli, told his followers that the banana harvest would increase every time they had sex in public, according to the Parpua New Guinea Post-Courier - and he reinforced his demands for public fornication with threats of violence. Police only heard about Peli's activities in the remote village of Yamina when a villager trekked for 12 hours to reach the nearest town and alert authorities. The enforced public sex has been going on for three or four months, according to witnesses. Several times, naked people have been seen trying to enter a nearby mining area, but have been stopped because of a policy against allowing naked people to walk round the mine. When three police officers contacted Peli at his house, the cult leader emerged naked, and fled into the bush with seven of his followers - using two of his wives as human shields when the police fired warning shots. Police retreated in order to avoid a confrontation, but will return with reinforcements to comb the nearby hills for the cult leader and his followers. Source
