An Indiana University student was under investigation for animal cruelty
for tossing a guinea pig tied to a makeshift parachute out of an 8th-floor
dormitory window.  The pet landed in a tree and  was  reported  doing
well at the Bloomington Animal Shelter.

                                               [courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal]

A Greenup County girl, Jacqueline Duty, sued her school district for
barring her from her senior prom wearing a Confederate flag gown.

                                          [courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal]

Christmas trees were selling for $200 apiece in Hawaii.  .  .  .  A bank
robber on parole held up a Milwaukee bank with a demand note writ-
ten on the back of a slip from his parole office – with his name and ad-
dress on it (he was soon arrested).  .  .  . Russian border guards found
an underground vodka pipeline used to smuggle alcohol to Estonia. . . .
Two cows escaped from a trailer in Idaho; one went to a shopping cen-
ter, and the other went to Taco Bell. . . . A Texas woman paid $50,000
for a clone of her recently departed cat of 17 years. . . . Cambodia ban-
ned the song "Wrongly Quitting Monkhood for Love."

                                         [courtesy Courier-Journal, Harper's Weekly]

FGDean@aol.com wrote Tue 14 Dec 2004 @11:14:14 EST:


Johann Giambi jg@slso.org wrote Weds 15 Dec 2004 @18:50:01 CST:

THE EDITOR REPLIES:  Well, yes, sir, we were aware of that.  But this
didn't happen  overnight.  It was Mr. Slatkin who brought the orchestra to
international prominence.  We think he has some explaining to do.

The Floyd County school district received a $30,000 federal grant
to eliminate bullying. The local schools had to match the grant.

                                        [courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal]

A man accused of animal cruelty in Vermont for having more goats
than he could  care  for  (some of the 300 were living in his house)
copped a plea that returned the herd to him on condition he move
it to eastern Kentucky.
                                                        [courtesy Courier-Journal]

A 10-year-old Philadelphia girl was handcuffed and taken  to  the
police station for bringing a pair of scissors to school. . . . A New
York judge denied that he was for sale on e-Bay. . . . Imprisoned
associates of Saddam Hussein who had threatened a hunger strike
were reported to be snacking.  .  .  . Strippers in San Antonio will
not be allowed to remove  their  licenses. .  .  .  A  homeless  man
sleeping in a trash bin in Ann Arbor was dumped  into  a  garbage
truck and compacted,  but avoided serious injury. .  .  .  Scientists
warned men not to put laptop computers  on  their  laps  because
overheating the scrotum can reduce fertility.

                            [courtesy Courier-Journal, Harper's Weekly]

A Hobart woman sold her father's ghost (and walking cane) on e-
Bay for $65,000.  The auction was suggested by the woman's 6-
year-old son, who was worried that his grandfather's ghost might
come back to haunt him.  In his final days Grandpa had raised his
voice to the boy and rapped him on the rear with his cane.     The
winning  bidder,  the  internet  gambling  firm  Golden  Palace,  al-
ready had spent $28,000 on e-Bay  for a grilled cheese sandwich
with the Virgin Mary's image impressed in it.   The sandwich is on
tour, and a spokesman said Grandpa's cane will join it.

                                                       [courtesy Indianapolis Star]

American Family Association members bombarded the University
of Louisville with 1,600 e-mails  when they heard that a sociology
instructor had suggested that conservative voters should be shot.

                                                       [ courtesy Courier-Journal]

President Bush ate Canadian beef in Canada. . . . A British artist ate
a fox and said, "Everyone gets really worked up about a furry animal,
but no one cares about each other." .  .  . The Pennsylvania Attorney
General sued an internet university that gave an MBA degree to a cat.
. . . A woman ran over two boys who had bounced a golf ball off her
SUV in a Florida parking lot. . . . A Florida couple getting no respect
from their adolescent children went on strike and moved into a tent in
the front yard. . . .  A convenience store customer in New Hampshire
slapped a clerk in the face with a hot hamburger when the clerk acted
as though she did not want his money.  .  .  .   A fast food customer in
Houston threw his cold Philly steak at the manager  and threatened to
kill her. . . . Thoroughbred  Zippy  Chippy  retired after losing all 100
races he entered in his 14 years  (he placed 8 times, showed 12,  and
won $30,572). . . .  Police in France lost track of explosives they had
stashed in an airline passenger's bag to train bomb-sniffing dogs. .  .  .
NASA had a fatal automobile accident in California.

                                  [courtesy Harper's Weekly, Courier-Journal]

A Swiss railway conductor missed her train and hailed a taxi to
catch up six miles down the track. .  .  . The Quakertown, Pa.,
Optimists Club disbanded amid declining membership  and ac-
tivity.  "I feel sad,"  said club president Bernard Kensky.  .  .  .
IBM put its PC business up for sale.  .  .  . Sony PlayStation 2
games simulating murders, carjackings and killings of policemen
were pulled  from the Missouri state prison's maximum security
recreation center. . . . CBS and NBC rejected a United Church
of Christ commercial showing other churches rejecting gays and
saying, "Jesus didn't turn people away.  Neither do we." . . . The
Jesuslike man accused of abducting Elizabeth Smart  broke  into
hymn  at a court hearing. . . . A Red Cross worker was charged
with stealing the identities of 40 blood donors in Philadelphia. . . .
A Florida couple were arrested after they reported to police that
a quarter-pound of marijuana had been taken from their home in
a burglary. . . . Mayor Daley's son joined the Army.

                                      [courtesy Louisville Courier-Journal]