Archive for March, 2008
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
UK enlisted astrologer to fight Hitler
Desperate for a glimpse into Adolf Hitler’s unpredictable mind, British spies hired an astrologer during World War II to write horoscopes for him and other Nazi leaders, documents declassified Tuesday show. They soon regretted it.
The file released to Britain’s National Archives catalogs the frustrations of MI5 handlers as they tried to prevent the astrologer, Louis de Wohl, from publicly embarrassing high-ranking intelligence and military officers.
“I have never liked Louis de Wohl — he strikes me as a charlatan and an imposter,” reads the first line in the astrologer’s file. The letter is typical and appeared to be signed by Dick White, who went on to become the head of Britain’s domestic spy agency, MI5, in the 1950s.
That view didn’t keep de Wohl from winning a temporary rank as a British army captain. He was sent by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who did not believe in astrology, to the U.S. to persuade Americans that the Nazis would lose within months if they entered the war.
Posted in Idiot Authorities, Most Mysterious, War | Comments Off
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
BLOGS OF DEATH
No one seems to know why Paul Tilley, the 40-year-old creative chief of ad agency DDB Chicago, jumped to his death from the window of the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago on Friday.
But that hasn’t stopped a barrage of finger pointing on several advertising blogs at the center of a controversy about what role, if any, they played in Tilley’s suicide.
Most of the anger appears to be directed at two sites – Agency Spy and Adscam – that subjected Tilley to scrutiny leading up to his death. Both bloggers defended their coverage yesterday.
“I see in the comments of this post that many will point fingers at this blog for Mr. Tilley’s death. That is unacceptable,” Agency Spy wrote in a posting.
The defense was in response to readers who blamed the public scrutiny and “snarky” comments for driving Tilley over the edge or – at least – contributing to the pressure-cooker atmosphere in the ad industry.
Posted in Concentrated Stupidity, Crazy is as Crazy Does, Suicidal Tendencies | Comments Off
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
“Scary find” made in Gaston Co.
A trooper in Gaston County said he stopped a man for speeding on Interstate 85, but discovered a lot more once looking inside the vehicle.
The trooper said Milan Krivsky had identification from several states and a West Virginia registration.
When the trooper looked inside the SUV, he says he found a radar gun, video monitor, digital video and audio equipment, laptops, cell phones and blue lights. Other items found inside, such as various kinds of tape and cutting devices, could also be a cause for concern.
“There’s a lot of disturbing things we found inside of the vehicle,” said Trooper J.J. Letcavage. “I would definitely fear the worst, anywhere from a possible abduction to physical harm. I have no doubt in my mind that that would be a capability of this guy.”
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Most Mysterious | Comments Off
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
BBC: Hells Angels sought to kill Jagger
Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger escaped an assassination plot hatched in 1969 by the Hells Angels, a new British Broadcasting Corp. documentary has claimed.
A program to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Monday says the rock star was the target of the plot following a purported dispute with the motorcycle gang over concert security.
Jagger had vowed not to use Hells Angel members as bouncers following the death in December 1969 of an 18-year-old fan at a notorious free performance at Altamont Speedway in Northern California.
In return, gang members hatched a plan to kill Jagger at his holiday home in Long Island, N.Y., the BBC claimed.
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality, Conspiracies | Comments Off
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Man Butchers 15-Month-Old Nephew in Jeddah Supermarket
Early morning shoppers at a supermarket in Jeddah were left reeling yesterday, with some falling unconscious, after a well-built Syrian man clinched a knife and decapitated his 15-month-old nephew in front of his mother in the store’s fruit and vegetable section.
In a brutal murder that has shocked the city, the 25-year-old man beheaded the boy, who was out shopping with his mother — in full glare of shoppers and staff at Al-Marhaba supermarket on Sari Street around 9.30 a.m. The man, who is the boy’s maternal uncle, apparently killed the boy following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law.
Eyewitnesses said that the man picked up a knife from inside the store and severed the boy’s head. The mother and a shopper standing close by fainted, while several other stood in shock and disbelief over what had happened.
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality, Yuck! | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Chef sacked for pubic hair steak
A restaurant chef has lost his job and could face police action after allegedly adding an unwanted ingredient to a rib-eye steak – his pubic hair.
Ryan Kropp hid hairs in the meal for a customer who had complained about his steak being undercooked.
He was sacked when they were discovered, and now a complaint has been made to police.
Posted in Yuck! | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
MISS-LEADING
Deceit, thy name is woman.
Most females lie “more cleverly and successfully than men” about everything from infidelity and facelifts to barhopping and shopping binges, according to a new book.
“Women lie as a survival technique, but also to get what they want,” said Susan Shapiro Barash, author of “Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets: The Truth About Why Women Lie,” published by St. Martin’s Press this week.
Barish said a Rockland County woman stripped of her secrets on Fox TV’s reality show “Moment of Truth” last week proves her research true.
Posted in Doh!, Politically Incorrect | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Attrition: Why Are U.S. Troops So Hard To Kill?
While every combat death is a tragedy, the war in Afghanistan has been notable for how few of them there have been. We’ll use a standard measure of combat losses, the number of troops in a combat division (12-20,000 troops) who are killed each day the division is in combat. Since late 2001, there have been .12 American combat deaths per division day in Afghanistan. During the Vietnam war, the average division lost 3.2 troops a day, which was similar to the losses suffered in Korea (1950-53). In Iraq, the losses have been .44 deaths per division per day. By comparison, during World War II the daily losses per American averaged (over 400-500 combat days) about twenty soldiers per day. On the Russian front, German and Russian divisions lost several times that, and often over a hundred a day for weeks on end.
Posted in War | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Alleged robber leaves W-2 form
The robber of a convenience store left behind an unusual clue — a W-2 form. The man robbed a Git-N-Go store in Des Moines early Friday after telling a clerk he had a gun. He left the store with about $115 but at some point took off his hat and jacket.
When police responded, they found the tax form in the coat pocket.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Idiot Criminals | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Pool hall patrons scratch holdup try
The pool cue can be mightier than the gun.
That seemed to be the message sent by patrons of a San Francisco pool hall Friday night when they disarmed an alleged would-be robber.
San Francisco police said Mario K. Woods, 18, entered the crowded Billiard Palacade in the Outer Mission shortly after 10 p.m. and allegedly attempted to rob a patron at gunpoint in the bathroom.
But the patron – a carambolero, or player of a three-ball form of billiards called carambole – wrestled with his assailant, according to pool hall owner Mirna Batres. The patron’s brother and cousin came to his aid.
“They brought him out, and somebody else grabbed the gun,” said Batres, who wasn’t present during the robbery attempt but watched it afterward on a security videotape. “Then my patrons got involved and said, ‘Not in our pool room.’ “
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality, Doh!, Idiot Criminals | Comments Off
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
“Lizard Man” returns?
After a nasty surprise Thursday morning for one Bishopville resident, she’s wondering if the “Lizard Man” is back.
Dixie Rawson of Bishopville sent WIS News 10 an e-mail about a big surprise she got at her home Thursday morning. “The whole front half of our van is chewed up. There are bite marks right through the front grill. Both sides of the van above the wheel wells were bitten and the metal is bent like a piece of paper.”
It reminded Dixie of the local legend of the “Lizard Man” that stretches back for decades. Now some are wondering if the Lizard Man is back.
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update, Human Oddities, Most Mysterious, Mutants | Comments Off
Saturday, March 1st, 2008
Report: Kenyan Elders May Demand Clinton Pay Cattle Fine for Photo Smear
Just when Hillary Clinton started swimming in campaign donations, she could be facing down a hefty fine. This time in the currency of cattle.
Reuters reports that Kenyan elders are considering imposing a fine — traditionally payable in goats, cattle or camels — on the New York senator over the photo that surfaced earlier this week showing rival Barack Obama in traditional robes during his 2006 visit to Kenya. The Web site Drudge Report posted the photo Monday and said it was provided by Clinton staffers.
Though Clinton denied she had anything to do with the photo’s circulation, the Reuters article said Wajir elders would file a complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi and pursue an investigation.
Posted in Concentrated Stupidity, Cultural Oddities, Politico Follies | Comments Off
Saturday, March 1st, 2008
NASA Baffled by Unexplained Force Acting on Space Probes
Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions.
These newfound enigmas join the so-called “Pioneer anomaly” as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft.
A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun.
A host of explanations have been bandied about for the Pioneer anomaly. At times these are rooted in conventional science — perhaps leaks from the spacecraft have affected their trajectories. At times these are rooted in more speculative physics — maybe the law of gravity itself needs to be modified.
Now Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer John Anderson and his colleagues — who originally helped uncover the Pioneer anomaly — have discovered that five spacecraft each raced either a tiny bit faster or slower than expected when they flew past the Earth en route to other parts of the solar system.
Posted in Most Mysterious, Space, Weird Science | Comments Off
Saturday, March 1st, 2008
Toxin mystery at Las Vegas motel deepens
As police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital.
Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an “anarchist type textbook” were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later.
Capt. Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference late Friday that the book was tabbed at a spot with information about ricin. Police found the firearms and books on Tuesday after a manager at the Extended Stay America motel called police upon discovering weapons, he said, without elaborating.
Posted in Anarchy, Concentrated Criminality, Concentrated Stupidity, Most Mysterious | Comments Off
