■ Police in New Haven, Conn., frightened a pair of suspected car thieves into surrendering by barking at them like dogs. The two masked men had holed up in an abandoned house, where police surrounded them and threatened to unleash their canine units. But since there were no police dogs available, officers woofed like angry German shepherds. The suspects quickly […]
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The Dutch city of Utrecht will give unconditional monthly payments of about $1,000 to select citizens starting in January 2016 to see whether “basic income” can work as a means of welfare. Various other governments have resorted to unusual handouts to achieve certain ends: DUBAI City officials tried to boost public transport in November by raffling off prizes, including 8.8-lb. […]
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■ A cat that ran for the U.S. Senate in Virginia received about 7,000 write-in votes in last week’s election, according to his owners. That means Hank, who hails from Springfield, Va., can claim third place behind Democratic victor Tim Kaine and Republican also-ran George Allen.The human candidates were separated by 180,000 votes, which means that Hank did not affect […]
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■ A flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger’s service dog repeatedly pooped in the aisle. The dog,Truffles, lost control of his bowels an hour into the flight, and the stench caused passengers to vomit. “That is the worst blowout I have ever smelled,” said one traveler. When flight attendants ran […]
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■ A Polish man impaled his head on a screwdriver, but only realized it later, when he saw himself in his rear-view mirror. “I don’t remember what happened that day,” said the 25-year-old, who doesn’t want to be named. “At some point when I was working in my garden I slipped and fell down.” Only later, after feeling some pain, […]
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A Canadian spring break trip turned out to be pretty expensive for one Michigan family. As the parents drove over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, their 11 year old son was unknowingly racking up thousands of dollars in roaming data charges while watching videos on his iPad. “It was an innocent trip,” said Mike Domzalski. “We had never been to […]
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Patients are getting larger and perhaps even dangerous doses of radiation from the growing number of advanced medical-imaging tests being ordered by doctors, a new study says. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed data from millions of patients who received medical treatment between 1996 and 2010. They found that the number of patients who underwent CT scans […]
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A helium balloon launched by a British schoolboy was discovered in Australia after making an incredible 10,545-mile journey across the world. Joshua Blackaby, 6, from Alvaston, England, released a balloon tied to a letter in December as part of a school project. Three months later, his family received a note from a girl named Millie, informing them that she’d found […]
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EUGENE, Ore A man who was upset with his local state revenue office released a flock of chickens inside the agency’s office. Police responded to the scene to find that Louis J. Adler, 66, released seven chickens in the office lobby. The police officer, accompanied by an animal welfare officer rounded up the chickens and took them to a local […]
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“Man charged with throwing alligator into fast food restaurant”, read the headlines when this Florida fast food restaurant got a customer it wasn’t expecting who tossed a live alligator through a drive-thru window. Joshua James, 23, of Jupiter, Florida, had wanted to play a practical joke on a friend working at the Wendy’s restaurant in Royal Palm Beach when he […]
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