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Really Bad Date: Detroit Man Steals Woman's Car on 1st Date

2009-08-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 28, 2009
FERNDALE, Mich. — Police in Michigan say a first date went from bad to worse when a Detroit man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date's car. Police say 23-year-old Terrance Dejuan McCoy had dinner with a woman April 24 at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. The woman says the two met a week earlier at a Detroit casino and she knew McCoy only as "Chris."The woman told police that McCoy said he left his wallet in her car and asked for keys. He then sped away in the 2000 Chevrolet Impala. The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak reports that police identified McCoy by a photo he'd sent to the woman's cell phone, and his phone number.McCoy is charged with unlawfully taking the car, a five-year felony. He waived a preliminary exam and was bound over for trial Thursday.

$50G-a-Year Workaholic's Job Description: Homeless Beggar

2009-08-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
For one homeless Australian man who considers begging for money a full-time job, the long hours on the street have landed him a middle-class salary, The Daily Telegraph reported. Ken Johnson, 52, spends up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, sitting at a Sydney intersection that can net him $400 a day from generous pedestrians, and has brought him a steady income since the late 90s. Even on slow days the drifter pockets $75 to $100. "I'd be really disappointed if I did a long Friday and I only had $250,'' Johnson told The Telegraph. "I knock off when I feel like it, or if I've done brilliantly. But on those good days, you might be on such a high that you go for a few more hours and get a bit more money.'' Johnson says his earnings go towards helping a friend in need of a liver transplant, or directly into his bank account. The hours are long and monotonous but Johnson's time on the street sitting with his sign has earned him up to $50,000 a year. Johnson's sign reads, "Needing support for major family exp(enses) including just heaps for medicine. Paying up is a big grind. Please leave me alone, if you are the abusive nasty sort." As to why he is still homeless, Johnson says it is a choice. "Inner-city accommodation was, and still is, just off the face of the earth — it's just too expensive. I was unemployed at the time," he told The Telegraph of the year he moved to the city. "So decided to sleep on some concrete steps while I was in Sydney and I just got used to it.'' An Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) spokeswoman told The Telegraph "rough sleepers" represent about 16 percent of the homeless. "Of those who do sleep on the street, only a tiny minority choose to do so, as a lifestyle choice," she said. "For most people who are homeless, there is no choice."

Beer-Drinking Muslim Model's Caning Delayed

2009-08-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

KARAI, Malaysia, August 23,2009 — Officials say the caning of a Muslim model who was apprehended for drinking beer has been postponed until after the Islamic fasting month. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno originally had been scheduled to enter a women's prison Monday before being lashed six times with a rattan cane some time this week. However, Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator in charge of religious affairs, says the caning will be carried out after the current Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It began Saturday and will end in mid-September. He says the decision was made at the last minute for compassionate reasons on the advice of the Attorney General's office.

European Groups Ban 'Racist' Everyday Phrases

2009-08-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 23, 2009 It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector in Europe.Dozens of quasi non-governmental organization and taxpayer-funded organizations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offense.Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are "whiter than white," "gentleman’s agreement," "black mark" and "right-hand man." The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the phrase "black day" with "miserable day," according to documents released under freedom of information rules.It points out that certain words carry with them a "hierarchical valuation of skin color." The commission even urges employees to be mindful of the term "ethnic minority" because it can imply "something smaller and less important." The National Gallery in London believes that the phrase "gentleman’s agreement" is potentially offensive to women and suggests that staff should replace it with "unwritten agreement" or "an agreement based on trust" instead. The term "right-hand man" is also considered taboo by the gallery, with "second in command" being deemed more suitable.

Helicopter crashes into river in South Carolina... Amazingly there were no casualties!

2009-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Rush hour commuters in South Carolina got quite the scare Wednesday afternoon, when a smoke-spewing helicopter was seen over the Interstate 526 bridge plunging towards the Wando River. One motorist called 911, causing police patrols and three fire trucks to be dispatched to the scene. Only one Charleston police officer was able to see that the helicopter, only two feet long, was a toy. Officers were later able to locate the operators of the remote control aircraft, who had been hidden under the bridge. Well, at least someone managed to keep their head in the (fake) crisis.

Boy Dies After Dragged by Own Cow at Alaska Fair

2009-08-23T06:54:00.001-07:00

Sunday, August 23, 2009
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 9-year-old Alaska boy has died after he was dragged several hundred feet by his own cow at the Kenai Peninsula State Fair in Ninilchik.
The boy's father, Blair Martin, says his son Mathias died at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Friday night, hours after he was dragged by the cow at the fairgrounds. He says his son died from head injuries.
Martin says the boy put around his waist the rope attached to the cow's harness, and that something spooked the cow while Mathias was out of his family's view.
He says bystanders' cries for help alerted him to the cow "dragging what I just thought was a jacket, and it turned out to be his ragdoll body bouncing in the background."