Odd News... January 2011

[Bungleau]

Cow attacks St. Lucie man, wife hits animal with truck to get it off her husband By Will Greenlee ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A 70-year-old man was flown to a local trauma center with serious injuries over the weekend after a cow attacked him at a ranch, according to a recently released St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office report. Oscar Wilcox was flown to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce following the New Year’s Day incident at a ranch in the 10300 block of Carlton Road. Wilcox’s wife told a deputy that her husband was working on a fence in the pasture when she heard him scream. She drove into the pasture and saw a cow “attacking” her husband. “She was able to hit the cow several times with the truck to get it off of her husband,” the report states. Wilcox apparently had shot the cow, listed as a crossbred with 12- to 18-inch horns, with a .22 caliber pistol, but apparently dropped or lost the weapon during the attack. His wife picked up the pistol and shot the cow several times in the face, driving the animal away. The pistol was loaded with “ratshot,” or cartridges having a number of extremely small pellets instead of a single, solid projectile, “(Wilcox’s wife) stated that the cow has always been nasty and had attacked her about a week ago causing bruises,” the report states. The cow was contained in the pasture. Wilcox’s condition was not immediately available Tuesday morning

Texas may grow 'em big, but Kentucky grows 'em tough... although I think I'd upgrade the bullets in that gun.

[Bungleau]

iPhone alarm glitch leaves users fuming NEW YORK (AFP) – The bells weren't ringing for many iPhone users this New Year's weekend, when thanks to a glitch the alarms on Apple's iconic mobile phones failed to go off, causing many to oversleep. It was the second time in just a few months that the alarm function on the phone failed to activate correctly, prompting an avalanche of complaints on the social networking micro-blog Twitter. "Dear iPhone, why didn't your alarm go off this morning? I set six of them. I've now missed church. Thanks for nothing," said one user Sunday morning. "Some sort of digital iPhone pandemic is going on. Alarm clock failure reports are pouring in from all sources around the globe," said another Twitter user. Apple said in a message sent to Macworld magazine that the California-based company was aware of the problem. "We're aware of an issue related to non-repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2," spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said. "Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3." The problem seemed to be affecting Apple's most recent versions of iPhones and iPods launched in November, but website Engadget suggested that it may also have hit earlier versions. The problem first occurred when the clocks went back at the end of October and early November when Australian and British iPhone owners complained of being late for work because their alarms had not switched over to the new time. Apple did not immediately respond to a query from AFP on Sunday.

Since I mentioned this in Cloudy's, figured I'd post the story here.

Ermmm... sorry 'bout that. You didn't miss anything important, did you?

[Bungleau]

Butt-dialing mistake sends SWAT team to Winnetka school Megan Craig, Chicago Tribune In a spectacular misunderstanding sparked by an accidental cell phone call, a worried wife caused SWAT teams to swarm the Winnetka school where her husband works, officials said Tuesday. The wife received the disturbing, garbled call from her husband's phone Monday evening, Winnetka police said. "You know how when you sit on your phone when it's in your back pocket and it calls the last number that was dialed? His wife was the last number he'd dialed," said Winnetka police Chief Joseph De Lopez. "The conversation led her to believe there was someone holding him hostage." In the popular vernacular, it was a butt dial, the bane of many a chagrined cell phone user. This time, it led to a frantic 911 call from a wife. Soon, more than 30 gun-toting officers converged on Carleton Washburne School, which also houses the District 36 offices where the man works. "He was listening to music and he had, I don't know, hip-hop … or music like that, where there were lyrics that were gangster-like," explained Mark Friedman, interim co-superintendent of District 36. "So there were lyrics on the radio as he was driving home, and she listened to it and became concerned." Advertisement Armed with automatic weapons and wearing bulletproof vests, SWAT team members circled the school about 5 p.m. Monday, searching for a reported gunman who might be holding a hostage. The all-clear sounded nearly three hours later, after the man was found safe at home by police. The district employee did not want to comment, Friedman said. "He's embarrassed," the superintendent said. "Who wouldn't be? He's taking it hard that it created such a response." About 500 seventh- and eighth-graders attend the middle school, but they had left for the day when the call was placed. The incident caused quite a stir in the usually quiet Winnetka neighborhood. The massive police presence interrupted a closed-door school board meeting, where directors were debating whom to hire as the next superintendent. Outside the building, a crowd of worried residents started to gather. Police officers were stationed near each entrance to the school and at a nearby bus stop. Those inside the building carried shields and guns and wore helmets with face shields. At one point three news media choppers hovered overhead. As the hours passed, the onlookers outside could see the officers as they entered various rooms. People trying to drop off kids for after-school Park District activities were waved away. Once the sweep was over, officers began coming out of the building, some still partially wearing riot gear, others carrying guns back to their cars. About 8 p.m., the police chief held a news conference to report there never was never a gunman, or a hostage. Putting a price tag on the resources spent on the night's excitement would be too difficult to estimate, De Lopez said, adding that no one would be charged since there was no intent to deceive police. The bright side: The SWAT team got a little real-time training, he said. "It was good practice," he said. "It's not the way we want to practice. We want to know when a situation isn't real."

The real question... will butt-dials be admissible in court?

"I know you've got that call taped, your honor, but it was a butt-dial"

Or lead to things in the other direction?

I'm going to call him, rub it in, and pretend it was a butt-dial

[Bungleau]

Credit Protection: Bouncer's cards stop knife blows BERLIN (Reuters) – A wallet stuffed with 20 plastic cards and a stroke of luck saved a pub doorman in western Germany from serious injury during a knife attack. A customer ejected from the pub in the city of Witten on Sunday stabbed its 31-year-old doorman four times in the chest with a knife, police said. But a fat wallet in the bouncer's breast pocket stopped the blade from piercing his body. "The wallet and cards acted as a protective vest and prevented a more serious incident," chief inspector Volker Schuette told Reuters without naming the bouncer or attacker. "Everyone at the police station checked their wallets and no one had 20 plastic cards," he said, adding that the doorman's wallet had a plethora of cards for video rental stores along with credit and bank cards. Schuette said that a wallet with fewer cards in it would not have been enough protection against the attack and that lady luck had also been smiling on the doorman that day. "He said that he usually doesn't carry his wallet with him when he works." (Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Paul Casciato)

Wow... guess I'll stop saying bad things about all those frequent-whateverish cards...

[Bungleau]

Fox shoots man MOSCOW (Reuters) – A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said Thursday. The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region. "The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying. Fox-hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region of northwestern Belarus which borders Poland. (Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Matthew Jones)

And here, I thought it was "man bites dog" that was supposed to be news...

[Bungleau]

Burglars snort man's ashes, thought it was cocaine MIAMI (Reuters) – Burglars snorted the cremated remains of a man and two dogs in the mistaken belief that they had stolen illegal drugs, Florida sheriff's deputies said on Wednesday. The ashes were taken from a woman's home in the central Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15. The thieves took an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, along with electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said. Investigators learned what happened to the ashes after they arrested five teens in connection with another burglary attempt at a nearby home last week. "The suspects mistook the ashes for either cocaine or heroin. It was soon discovered that the suspects snorted some of the ashes believing they were snorting cocaine," the sheriff's report said. Once they realized their error, the suspects discussed returning the remaining ashes but threw them in a lake instead because they thought their fingerprints were on the containers, sheriff's spokesman Judge Cochran said. Police divers were trying to recover the ashes. The suspects were jailed on numerous burglary and other charges. (Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Sandra Maler)

I can just picture the post-heist scene...

Lenny: Let me have some, man!

Squiggy: All right... don't hog it...

*later*

Lenny: This doing anything for you?

Squiggy: What's an urn, man?

[Hindsight]

Hey, you know; high on live; ..high on death...