Stupid News-Feisty puppy scares off 3 bears in NJ back yard

WYCKOFF, N.J. - If only Goldilocks had a cockapoo.

A 15-pound cocker spaniel-poodle mix named Pawlee scared off a mother bear and her two cubs Sunday morning after they strayed into his owners' back yard.

Whether his bark was worse than his bite, Pawlee's tactic worked just fine. These three bears got the hint and took off.

"We had just let him out for the morning and he ran into the yard and started barking his head off," owner Fran Osiason said.

Osiason said her 9-year-old son, Jacob, went outside to see what the commotion was about and came running back in to report there were bears in the yard.

She was worried that the mother would come after Pawlee to protect her cubs, but the pugnacious pup, just 8 months old, had other plans.

His barking drove the two cubs up a tree, and they eventually climbed down and hopped over a fence with their mother and retreated into the woods.

Osiason said she, her son, husband Andrew and daughter Eden, 6, have had Pawlee since he was about 8 weeks old. She marveled at his fearlessness.

"He's a little fur ball," she said.

Northern New Jersey seems to breed feisty pets: In 2006, a tabby cat named Jack chased a bear up a tree in his West Milford yard.

Bears are not uncommon in Wyckoff, but Osiason said her family has lived there for about 10 years and had not seen any until Sunday.

With Pawlee on guard, they might not see another one anytime soon.

Stupid News-Charge dismissed in case of dog registered to vote

Stupid News-Charge dismissed in case of dog registered to vote

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - A judge has decided that a suburban Seattle woman who registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote has spent enough time in the legal doghouse.

Jane Balogh (BAY'-loh) had been charged with making a false statement but entered into a plea agreement last year. A King County judge dismissed the charge Monday after Balogh showed that she had paid $240 in court costs and completed community service.

Balogh says she registered her dog Duncan to protest a loophole in the law that she says makes voter registration so easy a nonexistent person could be added to the voter rolls.

She says she made no secret of her action after the fact, telling a number of elected officials she had registered her dog.

And she says Duncan never voted.

Odd News-Monkey eludes dragnet at Tokyo train station

Odd News-Monkey eludes dragnet at Tokyo train station

TOKYO - Morning train commuters in Tokyo were joined on their way to work by an unusual companion Wednesday: a wild monkey.

A security guard spotted the monkey near ticket gates in Shibuya Station, said Norihiru Masui, a spokesman for train operator Tokyu Corp.

The monkey climbed to a perch high atop a departure board, and around 30 policemen surrounded the area and attempted to snare it with a variety of nets, as commuters crowded around and snapped pictures with their cell phones.

The standoff ended when the monkey climbed down and dashed out of the station, with several policeman and local TV crews in tow. News reports said the monkey was last seen heading in the direction of nearby Yoyogi Park.

The animal appeared to be a Japanese monkey, which are native to the country, and was about 27 inches (70 centimeters) long from head to the tip of the tail. No one was injured and no trains were delayed in the incident.

Japanese media have reported several monkey sightings in Tokyo recently, but it was unclear if they involved the same animal.

Monkeys have long made appearances in rural parts of Japan, where they have been known to damage crops, swipe food from grocery stalls and even bite humans. In recent years, growth in the monkey population has meant more frequent forays out of the forests and into farms and towns.

Stupid News-Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake

Stupid News-Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing — even in death.

A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.

Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."

The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish.

Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating.
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Odd News - Baby whale seems to think yacht is its mother

Odd News - Baby whale seems to think yacht is its mother

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian media say a lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother.

The 1- to 2-month-old calf was first sighted Sunday in waters off north Sydney, and on Monday tried to suckle from a yacht, which it would not leave.

Rescuers towed the yacht out to sea, and the calf finally detached from the boat but still swam nearby, Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Channel 10 television news reported.

The calf appears exhausted but rescuers hope it will continue out to sea and search for its mother or another pod of whales.

"The outlook is not good, but we are giving the calf its only option. It can't be fed, and in fact we wouldn't know what to feed it" because it is not weaned, National Parks and Wildlife regional manager Chris McIntosh told ABC radio.

Odd news - They call this koala bear "lucky"

SYDNEY, Australia - They call this koala bear "lucky." The 3-year-old male koala was struck by a car and carried for seven miles with his head and arm wedged through the vehicle's front grill, but was not badly hurt.

Staff members at the Australian Wildlife Hospital in Queensland state dubbed him Ely "Lucky" Grills, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Tuesday.

"He was very flat and unresponsive for a couple of hours, but (after) a bit of TLC and some feed and some fluids — and a bit of pain relief because obviously he would have had a headache — he was up and eating and doing really well," hospital manager Gail Gipp told ABC.

Hospital officials could not immediately be reached by The Associated Press.

Odd News - 'Dead' Woman Comes Back to Life

Odd News - 'Dead' Woman Comes Back to Life

This is amazing!
What do doctors really know? A hundred years from now people will look back at us as if we were barbarians!

Plus'Dead' Woman Comes Back to Life'Dead' Woman Comes Back to LifeThe Associated PressA woman who suffered three heart attacks and had no brain waves was revived and is now very much alive, despite rigor mortis having started to set in. (May 22)Val Thomas' heart stopped early Saturday morning. (SOT: TIM THOMAS/VAL'S SON)THERE WAS NO LIFE IN MY MOTHER IN HER HOUSE. Paramedics revived her and rushed her to a hospital in Charleston, West Virginia.(SOT: DANIEL PENCE/VAL'S NEPHEW)SHE PROBABLY WENT CLOSE TO 20 MINUTES WITHOUT OXYGEN OR A PULSE.Doctors put Thomas on a machine that lowers the body's temperature. Her heart stopped two more times.(SOT: DR. KEVIN EGGLESTON/CAMC)SHE HAD NO NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTION. Doctors told family members that Thomas had a less than ten percent chance of survival. They made the agonizing decision to take her off life support. They said their goodbyes, and prayed.(SOT: DANIEL PENCE)I ASKED GOD JUST SHOW ME SOMEThING.. I KNOW THERE'S SOME THING HERE.. JUST SHOW ME.. AND I DIDN'T SEE IT.A delay due to questions over organ donation kept Thomas on a respirator a little longer. But she went 17 and a half hours without any brain waves. When nurses eventually starting taking tubes out of Thomas, she awoke.(SOT: DANIEL PENCE)THEN THEY TOOK OFF AN ELECTRICAL LEAD AND NEARLY JUMPED OUT OF THEIR OWN SKIN, SHE SAID.. I'M SO SORRY MRS THOMAS AND MOM SAID. THAT'S OK HONEY.. THAT ' OK.." (SOT: VAL THOMAS)BUT I FEEL VERY BLESSED AND I KNOW GOD HAS SOMETHING ELSE IN STORE FOR ME.Doctors say Thomas has no heart blockages. She was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for closer examination by specialists. ___ ___, The Associated Press.

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Odd NEws - Vets install pacemaker in search-and-rescue dog -AP

Odd NEws - Vets install pacemaker in search-and-rescue dog -AP

COLUMBIA, Mo. - After years of helping authorities look for murder victims and survivors of natural disasters, a search-and-rescue dog named Molly has been rescued herself.


Surgeons at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine on Thursday installed a pacemaker in the 5-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever's heart. She needed the surgery after being diagnosed with a complete electrical heart blockage.

Owners Allen and Alicia Brown of Saginaw were overwhelmed with offers to help pay the more than $2,500 in surgery, vet and travel costs after The Joplin Globe reported on Molly's need for the pacemaker.

Medical technology company Medtronic Inc. donated the device, and a Kansas businessman offered to anonymously pay up to $2,000 of the cost.

"It surprises me greatly," Allen Brown said. "There's just been such an outpouring of public support for her."

Molly was scheduled to return home Friday and be confined to her crate for two weeks. She will have limited activity for the next two months, but should be able to return to full-time rescue work after that, Allen Brown said.

The Browns are volunteers with the Newton County K-9 search-and-rescue unit, which doesn't have a budget. Allen, a paramedic, and Alicia, a nurse, put in hundreds of hours searching for bodies during emergencies. The unit has five certified dogs and three others in training.

The Browns noticed that the usually energetic Molly, whose full name is The Unsinkable Molly Brown, became lethargic and out of breath last month. Veterinarians believe she had a heart attack.

Allen Brown drove Molly to Columbia on Tuesday night after her heart rate fell to 38 from a normal 80.

The couple have five dogs, but only two are trained as rescue dogs. It can take about two years to train a search-and-rescue dog for both live body and cadaver retrieval, and buying a fully trained one can cost up to $20,000.

Patrice Graham, another member of the K-9 search-and-rescue team, spearheaded efforts to help the Browns pay for the surgery.

"I know that everyone is tight, but these people do a lot of volunteer work," Graham said. "If she could save one more life or recover one more body for a family, it would be worth it."Add the story to myspace,facebook,blogger,digg the story or email to a friend!

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Stupid News-Boars help German cops capture auto theft suspect

Stupid News-Boars help German cops capture auto theft suspect
BERLIN - A herd of wild boars has thwarted a suspected car thief's getaway in northern Germany.

Police in Schwerin say the 18-year-old abandoned a stolen SUV he was driving Thursday after failing to shake off a chasing patrol car by driving into a field.

Police nabbed his passenger immediately. But they say the driver initially got away by running into nearby woods.

Officers then heard the fugitive shouting for help — he had run into a herd of angry wild boars that were keen to protect their young.

Police freed the man from the boars and took him into custody.

Wild boars are a common sight in forested areas of northern Germany. They often make themselves at home in residential neighborhoods, too, uprooting gardens and annoying homeowners.
Reported by the AP

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Odd News - Photographer speared by javelin at Utah meet

Odd News - Photographer speared by javelin at Utah meet

Ouch! This smarts!
PROVO, Utah - A newspaper photographer got a little too close to the action at the state high school track championships — and was speared through the leg by a javelin.

Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury in Saturday's mishap, and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others worked to help him.

"If I didn't, it would probably be my editor's first question when I got back," McGeeney said later.

The 33-year-old McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was taking pictures of the discus event and apparently wandered into off-limits area set aside for the javelin throw.

Striking just below the knee, the javelin tip went through the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg.

"It wasn't real painful. ... I was very lucky in that it didn't hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons," McGeeney said.

Much of the javelin was cut off at the scene. The piece in McGeeney's leg was removed at a hospital, and he received 13 stitches.

The javelin was thrown by Anthony Miles, a Provo High School student who said when he saw what had happened, "my heart just stopped."

"One of the first things that came to my mind was, 'Good thing we brought a second javelin,'" Miles' coach, Richard Vance, said Monday. He said Miles was "in a little bit of shock," but he assured the athlete that it was not his fault.

With a subsequent throw, Miles went on to win the state title in javelin for teams in Provo High's size classification, 4-A.


Medical personnel stabilize Ogden Standard-Examiner photographer Ryan McGeeney's leg after he was pierced by a javelin directly below his right knee while covering the Utah state high school track championships at Brigham Young University's Clarence Robison track stadium in Provo, Utah. McGeeney was transported by ambulence to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where the javelin was removed. He received 13 stitches, but suffered no serious damage to any ligaments or tendons. McGeeney took the photo himself.
(AP Photo/Ryan McGeeney)

Stupid News - Man Claims to have a religious right to use pot

Stupid News - Man Claims to have a religious right to use pot

Well besides it being illegal, he has a point!

A man who was arrested for allegedly distributing marijuana says he and his wife are members of a cannabis ministry and have a religious right to use pot. But, police aren't buying it.

Stupid News - Police: Texas man trying to cash $360 billion check arrested

Police: Texas man trying to cash $360 billion check arrested "DUUUHHH"


FORT WORTH, Texas - Charles Ray Fuller must have been planning one big record company.

The 21-year-old North Texas man was arrested last week for trying to cash a $360 billion check, saying he wanted to start a record business, authorities said. Tellers at the Fort Worth bank were immediately suspicious — perhaps the 10 zeros on a personal check tipped them off, according to investigators.

Fuller, of suburban Crowley, was arrested on a forgery charge, police said. He was released after posting $3,750 bail.

Fuller said his girlfriend's mother gave him the check to start a record business, but bank employees who contacted the account's owner said the woman told them she did not give him permission to take or cash the check, according to police.

In addition to forgery, Fuller was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and possessing marijuana, Fort Worth police Lt. Paul Henderson said.

Officers reported finding less than 2 ounces of marijuana and a .25-caliber handgun and magazine in his pockets, police said.

Fuller couldn't be located for comment by The Associated Press on Friday because there were no phone listings for him in the Fort Worth area.

Can you say dumb????