Things that make you go What the F**k?

[MayoMan]

[Hardy]

Westmeath team transport refuels as another league campaign begins. 

[Croí na hÉireann]

Meanwhile in preseason over in Mordor Pairc Tailteann...

[Hardy]

And that's only the tea-women.

[ziggysego]

Bedroom furniture for young girls with the brand name Lolita has been withdrawn by Woolworths following complaints from parents.

A parenting website said it was in "unbelievably bad taste" to give the bed the same name as a novel about a sexually precocious young girl.

Woolworths said the £395 Lolita Midsleeper Combi was withdrawn when the matter was brought to its attention.

Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel became famous for its controversial subject.

The story of a stepfather's sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl has been adapted for film twice: first by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 and later in 1997 when Jeremy Irons played the lead part of Humbert Humbert.

Catherine Hanly, editor of parenting website raisingkids.co.uk, was among the parents to complain about the furniture advertised on the Woolworths website.

She said a Woolworths press officer had told her staff running the website "had no idea" of the word's connotations.

"I expect a company like Woolworths to actually know what it means and the connotations and stuff," she told BBC Radio Five Live Breakfast.

"It has become a name that is synonymous with sexual precocity and the fact that it is tied to a girl's bed - it literally couldn't be worse taste."

A Woolworths spokeswoman said: "Now this has been brought to our attention, the product has been removed from sale with immediate effect.

She said the suppliers, who advertise the product on the Woolworths' website, would be asked how the branding came about.

Playboy bunny

It is not the first time retailers have been criticised for using branding with sexual connotations on goods marketed for children.

In 2005, WH Smiths came under fire for selling youngsters stationery bearing the Playboy bunny - a symbol of the pornography empire.

Prior to that Bhs decided to withdraw its Little Miss Naughty range of padded bras and knickers for pre-teen girls.

Argos, however, defended its range of underwear for girls as young as nine including G-strings and padded bras as products in demand among children.

Sourced BBCi: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7222008.stm

[ziggysego]

The mayor of a small town in Texas has resigned after secretly keeping her neighbour's Shih Tzu while pretending it had died.

Neighbours had asked Alice Mayor Grace Saenz-Lopez to look after the dog, Puddles, during a holiday. She called them to say it was dead.

But the dog, which Ms Saenz-Lopez had renamed Panchito, was later seen at a dog groomer's and at her sister's home.

A custody hearing on Monday is expected to decide who keeps the pet.

Ms Saenz-Lopez had filed a police report to say that Puddles was missing.

She was indicted on 18 January on two counts of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence.

In a resignation letter published by the Alice Echo-News Journal Ms Saenz Lopez apologised for the incident.

"I can tell you that I did at the time what I thought was best for Panchito and what I felt was right in my heart," she wrote.

"I am sorry for the division that the events of these last few weeks have caused.

"It was never my intent to bring any negative exposure to our city."

Sourced BBCi: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7224647.stm

[gerry]

Students in Belfast are working to get a degree in terrorism, it was revealed today.

Queen's University, some of whose students were founding leaders of the North's civil right movements 40 years ago, is offering a Masters in violence, terrorism and security.


www.irishnews.com/break.asp?tbrk=brk&par=brk&catid=5834&subcatid=642&storyid=5745

[wdusln]

Mum accused of killing baby in microwave

A woman accused of killing her baby daughter in a microwave oven told her boyfriend the child would still be alive if he'd not been out cheating, the boyfriend told a US court.

Terrell Talley said his girlfriend China Arnold had admitted to killing the one-month-old girl, named Paris.

The girl was pronounced dead in August 2005, after the couple took her to hospital.

Some months later, in a phone conversation, Talley said Arnold told him of a possible motive for her actions.

"She told me if I wouldn't be out cheating, my baby would still be alive," Talley told the court.

Arnold has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Under questioning by defence lawyer Jon Paul Rion, Talley acknowledged telling people he did not have any idea what happened to the baby.

The defence has said that people other than Arnold had access to the baby and that she was intoxicated when the baby died.

Talley said Arnold was drunk, but not so drunk that she would not know what happened.

He said the baby was fine when he went to sleep.

But the next morning, Talley said he saw a red mark on the baby's face and noticed she was stiff and cold.

The trial continues.

http://news.theage.com.au/mum-accused-of-killing-baby-in-microwave/20080205-1qa8.html

[maddog]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1304651,00.html

[gerrykeegan]

Watch out Tony!

How Dubai Holiday Could Land You In Jail

By Julia Reid
Updated:15:22, Friday February 08, 2008

A simple poppy seed in your sandwich or one or two over-the-counter painkillers can land you in a foreign jail for up to four years, it has been warned.

Dubai is becoming more popularLegal charity Fair Trials International says travellers are at risk if even the smallest trace of a banned substance is found on them when entering the United Arab Emirates.

With more Britons than ever taking sunshine holidays in Dubai, there has been a recent spate of arrests and imprisonment.

Earlier this week youth development officer Keith Brown from Birmingham was jailed for four years after 0.003g of cannabis was found in the tread of his shoes by customs officials in Dubai.

The amount of the drug found on his shoe was less than a grain of sugar.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

MAN LIVER WITH CORPSE FOR YEARS

The body of a man believed to have been dead for more than five years has been found in a Bristol flat where a tenant continued to live.
The remains of Denis Pring were discovered on a sofa in the lounge after neighbours reported a foul smell.

Mr Pring, who would have been 73, was a lodger at the flat in Bedminster.

It is thought the flat's tenant failed to report the death because he suffers from mental health problems.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned.

The tenant, named locally as Alan Derrick, and also in his 70s, was initially arrested in connection with the discovery, but was later bailed.

Police are no longer treating the death as suspicious.

Bristol City Council has launched an internal inquiry to establish how the corpse went unnoticed for so long.

A spokesman said: "We were alerted to the body after we received reports of a smell.

"We are shocked and concerned by this discovery and are carrying out an urgent internal review of the circumstances of the tenant.

"A police investigation is ongoing, and it would be inappropriate to comment further while this is taking place."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7234810.stm

[Square Ball]

Only Americia

Assault rap for rough handshake 

The lawyer could face up to a year in jail for her vigorous handshake
A Florida lawyer has been charged with assault for over-vigorously shaking the hand of a fellow attorney.
Kathy Brewer Rentas, 49, shook the hand of Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Keene so hard her arm was nearly ripped out of its socket, a court official said.

Moments before, Ms Keene successfully prosecuted Ms Brewer Rentas' husband.

Anthony Rentas was accused of violating the terms of a probation order for supplying cocaine, and sentenced to 90 days of house arrest.

After the hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mrs Brewer Rentas insisted on shaking the prosecuting lawyer's hand.

In shaking it, she nearly floored Ms Keene with the vigour of her hand-action.

The strong arm of the lawyer

"With Keene in hand, Brewer made an upward, then a quick downward motion and pulled Keene toward the ground moving her forward, almost causing Keene to fall to the ground," said a court security officer.

Alicia Valle, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office, said assaulting a federal officer was a serious matter and that Mrs Brewer Rentas would be prosecuted "vigorously".

"As a member of the bar, she should know better," she said.

Mrs Brewer Rentas was freed on Friday on $100,000 (£50,000) bail, after spending a night in solitary confinement, and ordered to undergo psychological examination.

She was also ordered to stay away from Mrs Keene, and faces up to a year in prison if convicted of assault.

Mrs Brewer Rentas says she did not intend to cause any harm.

[ExiledGael]

Brothers jailed over van robbery

Two brothers who were part of a four-man armed-gang have been jailed for a total of 11 years.
Belfast Crown Court heard that last year, Damien Gibbons, 32, grabbed a cash box from a van guard outside the Northern Bank in Finaghy.
The guard was an undercover policeman who chased Gibbons to a waiting van driven by his brother, Stephen, 34.
After a scuffle both men were arrested. The brothers, with no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery.
Damien Gibbons also admitted a further charge of attempting to inflict grievious bodily harm with intent.

A prosecuting lawyer told the court that Damien Gibbons had 165 previous convictions while his brother had 295.

Two other men who were arrested nearby - David Crone, 25 of no fixed address and Declan Stilges, 33, from Norglen Parade in Belfast.
They have also pleaded guilty to the robbery and are due to be sentenced next month.



500 odd convictions between them, What the f**k? Don't ever let the pricks out again.

[Minder]

A perfect example of why the justice system is in the state it is here, say what you want about the good old U.S.A. but those waster bastards would be looking at a life sentence over there.

[ExiledGael]

How much do you reckon it costs to make a conviction? Right through from police time to court time and holding the pricks?
Can you just imagine the money these wasters have cost us all. 500 convictions.
And that's not even going into the damage they have done to people and property in their 'careers'.
Should maybe be in the grinds my gears thread too, f**king scumbags.