Headless Bodies in Arizona Desert

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbj_bdPgBEDCnKsgEE-5MCRWC68gD9I0VUB80

Associated Press
4 September 2010

Ariz. governor says she was wrong about beheadings

By PAUL DAVENPORT and AMANDA LEE MYERS (AP)

PHOENIX — A claim by Arizona's governor that rising violence along the U.S.-Mexico border has led to headless bodies turning up in the desert came back to haunt her during a stammering debate performance in which she failed to back it up. [...]

Killer Phone Numbers (Africa)

http://www.cck.go.ke/news/2010/news_01sep2010.html

Communications Commission of Kenya
1 September 2010

CCK issues statement on alarming SMS message

The attention of the Commission has been drawn to SMS and email messages that are doing the rounds in the country warning mobile users against receiving calls from unknown or certain listed numbers. The messages further allege that receipt of calls from either the unknown or listed numbers would cause brain haemorrhage due to high frequency. [...]

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/CCK%20assures%20public%20over%20mobile%20phone%20hoax/-/1056/1001042/-/wtg5pi/-/
Daily Nation [Kenya]
1 September 2010
CCK assures public over mobile phone hoax
By JACOB NG'ETICH

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=66156
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
1 September 2010
Kenyan government dismisses "killer phone number" hoax

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000017383&cid=4&ttl=State%20dismisses%20'death%20call'%20SMS%20alerts%20as%20hoax
The Standard [Kenya]
1 September 2010
State dismisses 'death call' SMS alerts as hoax
By Mutinda Mwanzia and Daniel Nzia

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/Phone%20hoax%20shifts%20focus%20to%20regulators%20ability%20to%20curb%20crime/-/539550/1001488/-/ael2an/-/
Business Daily [Nairobi, Kenya]
1 September 2010
Phone hoax shifts focus to regulator’s ability to curb crime
By Okuttah Mark

http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/3978-fears-allayed-over-scaring-text-messages.html

The Citizen [Tanzania]
4 September 2010

Fears allayed over scaring text messages

By Al-amani Mutarubukwa

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has urged Tanzanians to ignore messages warning them against receiving calls from unknown or certain listed numbers. [...]

http://www.tcra.go.tz/headlines/RadiationPressEn.pdf

THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
TANZANIA COMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY AUTHORITY
PUBLIC NOTICE
MESSAGES WITH RESPECT TO HEALTH EFFECTS OF MOBILE PHONES

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has received complaints from the public that there are messages circulating around that mobile phones have hazardous effects. [...]

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article36215

Sudan Tribune
8 September 2010

Allegations of deaths resulting from mobile phone calls are not true – Minister

By James Gatdet Dak

September 7, 2010 (JUBA) – The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Service in the Government of Southern Sudan, Madut Biar Yel, has dismissed as “mere rumors” the alleged death of people resulting from some mobile phone calls in Southern Sudan.

For the last five days, rumors spread among the population that there were certain strange phone numbers, when calls were being received from, immediately exploded on the receivers’ phones and caused injuries or deaths. A number of people across the region were alleged to have already died because of the phone explosions. [...]

Seed Signs

http://www.capitalpress.com/results/jh-seedsigns-080610

Capital Press [Salem, OR]
5 August 2010

Survey: Seed signs baffle many urbanites
Perception of corporate ownership dims trust of many consumers

By JERRY HAGSTROM
For the Capital Press

VAIL, Colo. -- Signs that proclaim the source of seed for the crops growing in fields lead urban Americans to think the farm is owned by a seed corporation, an Illinois Farm Bureau survey of Chicagoans has found. [...]

http://www.capitalpress.com/opinion/jb-seed-sign-analysis-081310
Capital Press [Salem, OR]
12 August 2010
Seed sign story grows into legend
By JOE BEACH
Capital Press

NYC Sewergator (2010)

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/gator_crawls_out_of_queens_drain_weQXk9fnuE3vAbkAvxddJL?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

New York Post
23 August 2010

Gator crawls out of Queens drain

By PHIL HELSEL

At least one alligator really does live in New York City's sewers.

Cops apprehended an 18-inch gator that crawled out of an overflowing Astoria storm drain and hunkered down beneath a parked car this afternoon, delighting onlookers and giving fresh meat to the urban myth that the carnivorous critters are living below the Big Apple. [...]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/23/2010-08-23_reptile_dysfunction_as_croc_shocks_qns.html

New York Daily News
23 August 2010

Urban legend comes to life, maybe: Baby crocodile hiding under car shocks Queens

BY Barry Paddock and Bill Hutchinson

A crocodile caused a commotion in Queens Sunday when it was cornered under a car.

Yes, a crocodile.

"Before you ask, no cops could confirm it came out of the sewer," said police spokesman James Duffy, referring to an urban legend that such reptiles live in the city's sewer system. [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/nyregion/23reptile.html?ref=nyregion
New York Times
23 August 2010
Alligator Surfaces Beneath a Car in Queens
By TRYMAINE LEE and ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Al Capone in Fort Myers, Florida

http://www.news-press.com/article/20100822/NEWS0110/8220362/1085/NEWS01/Al-Capone-slept-in-Lee-County--or-did-he

The News-Press [Fort Myers, FL]
22 August 2010

Al Capone slept in Lee County; or did he?

By GLENN MILLER

Al Capone, the most famous gangster of the 20th century, hid out in Fort Myers, secluding himself in a house on the Caloosahatchee. Or he didn't.

He also stayed in a Dean Park house, a Fort Myers hotel and on Fort Myers Beach. Or he didn't. [...]

Construction Sacrifice Rumors (Bangladesh)

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=151900

The Daily Star [Bangladesh]
23 August 2010

Rumour of Child-Lifting in Ctg
Lynch mob kills one
30 injured as they clash with cops, attack police station

Staff Correspondent, Ctg

An elderly beggar woman was killed and three other people were injured in separate incidents of mob beating in the city on Saturday night and yesterday following a remour of child-lifting.

Chittagong SP ZA Morshed told The Daily Star that five suspected child-lifters have also been killed in such incidents in the district since August 01.

Sources said the rumour is that child-lifters are taking away children for collecting cut off heads for the newly built third Karnaphuli Bridge. [...]

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=171406&cid=2
bdnews24.com [Bangladesh]
22 August 2010
'Kidnap rumor to create anarchy in Ctg'

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=171353&cid=2
bdnews24.com [Bangladesh]
22 August 2010
Mob beats woman to death for 'child kidnapping'

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=110041&date=2010-08-25
The Financial Express [Bangladesh]
25 August 2010
Child kidnapping phobia grips Ctg

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=152360
The Daily Star [Bangladesh]
26 August 2010
Rumour of Child Abduction in Ctg
Mob kills mentally challenged woman

Deadly Phone Calls (Nagpur, India, 2010)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Dont-believe-in-rumours-of-deadly-phone-calls/articleshow/6302788.cms

Times of India
13 August 2010

Don't believe in rumours of 'deadly' phone calls

NAGPUR: The city has recently seen a slew of rumours doing the rounds on mobile phones, cautioning about calls coming from a few specific numbers, which would allegedly cause physical harm to the recipient.

On Thursday, the situation aggravated after rumours about deaths after answering such calls also started doing the rounds. Media houses got several calls enquiring about the 'danger' numbers and whether they had caused any deaths in the city or led to blasts of cellphones.

The police control room was also flooded with calls and enquiries. There was a call at the control room about a nine-year-old girl allegedly dying at Subhas Nagar and another of a teenager's death due to bleeding from ears after receiving the call at Siras Peth. [...]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Boy-claims-mobile-injury-docs-say-no/articleshow/6308904.cms

Times of India
14 August 2010

Boy claims mobile injury, docs say no

Alka Panse, TNN

NAGPUR: Nagpur police has rubbished claims that a 15-year-old boy sustained mysterious injuries on his left eye while fiddling with a cellphone.

The incident was one of the several rumours of strange rays from cellphones claiming the lives of users which have been doing the rounds in the city. [...]

Animal Shelter Killings (West Virginia)

http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=84201~

WTRF-TV [Wheeling, WV]

10 August 2010

Rumors Not True About Ohio County Animal Shelter
A rumor on Facebook is completely untrue, according to Dog Warden Doug McCroskey.

By Stacy Rich

TRIADELPHIA -- The Ohio County Animal Shelter is fighting rumors that could jeopardize the adoption of dozens of animals.

A rumor was started on Facebook online that stated that the shelter was moving and euthenizing the animals they couldn't place in homes right away. [...]

Animal Shelter Killings (Ohio)

http://www.ohio.com/news/99791114.html

Akron Beacon Journal [OH]

2 August 2010

Summit County denies animals will be killed

By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer

Authorities say Internet rumors that Summit County Animal Control is planning a mass kill of animals at the shelter are not true. [...]

Stuck Couple (Ghana)

http://dailyguideghana.com/newd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10358&Itemid=245

Daily Guide [Accra, Ghana]
10 August 2010

Sex-Lock Hoax At La

The La Police Station was last Saturday turned into a Mecca for residents, as they thronged the security post to catch a glimpse of an alleged sex-lock case involving a married woman and fun-seeking man.

A radio station, it was alleged, had started the rumour, having picked the wild but untrue story from a neighbourhood gossip. [...]

Stuck Couple (Dumaguete City, Philippines)

http://www.negroschronicle.com/?p=9876

The Negros Chronicle [Dumaguete City, Philippines]
2 August 2010

Sex radio rumor was a dud!
Anatomy of a rumor: that leads to nowhere

CRITICAL REPORTING
by: ELY P. DEJARESCO

What is a rumor? A rumor is an idea, or an event, heard or relayed by any means to anyone which has no basis in fact, but, which the human mind usually wants to believe as true.

Such was the much talked about another sex scandal in Dumaguete, they say, as part II sequel of the voyeurism controversy a year back. Medically, the scandal bordered around the sickness called Vaginismus. [...]

http://www.dumagueteinfo.com/board/dumaguete-city/dumaguete-scandal-6752.html

Dumaguete City Forum [blog]

Dumaguete Scandal

Better than a soap opera and for the most part true - at least as far as I can determine. The only written media reference to it was a brief item in the Visayan language press.

Our last 23 July transit to Bais is interrupted by a text from Den Den's father. He works, amongst other jobs, for a local radio station which has sent him to Holy Child Hospital to ascertain the particulars of an interesting local news item.

It seems that one of the local motorized tricycle taxi drivers was enjoying some pre-nooner delight with a woman in a local "by the hour" hotel. He became stuck! [...]

http://www.spud.edu.ph/News_View.aspx?Articleid=43

St. Paul University Dumaguete

Statement from St. Paul University Dumaguete
Monday, August 02, 2010

St. Paul University Dumaguete strongly denies accusations from some sectors which was based from a radio station’s news item insinuating that an SPUD Teacher was involved in an alleged scandal. [...]

Gaelic

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/column-8/column-8-20100802-113ai.html

Sydney Morning Herald
3 August 2010

Column 8

In a Rose Bay street, hairdresser Kerry Smith, of Paddington, received a call on his mobile phone from a cousin in his native Scotland, and the two conversed for a while in Gaelic. When the call ended, he was tapped on the shoulder by a woman - a regular customer - who asked: ''What language was that? It's so unusual.'' When he replied that the language was Gaelic, she gasped: ''I had no idea gay people had their own language!'' [...]

http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/08/02/closure-of-cape-breton%E2%80%99s-oldest-synagogue-marks-end-of-era/

National Post [Canada]
3 August 2010

Closure of Cape Breton’s oldest synagogue marks end of era

Joe O'Connor

[...] Ruthie Goldbloom lives in Halifax now, but grew up in New Waterford, a small town not unlike the other coal digging spots that once dappled Cape Breton’s shores.

Ms. Goldbloom is 86. She tells the story of her grandfather, Joseph Claener, a Russian Jew, setting up a tiny grocery store in New Waterford. To make extra money, Joseph would travel by horse and buggy to rural areas hawking his wares, door to door.

There is a family tale of Joseph getting stranded after a snowstorm in Cape Smokey. A kindly family took him in for several weeks. Joseph only spoke Russian and Yiddish. When he returned to New Waterford his proud wife told the neighbours that her husband had learned to speak English. She wanted him to thank them for their kindness. So they gathered around.

“What he spoke was perfect Gaelic,” Ms. Goldbloom says with a roaring laugh. “What he thought was English was Gaelic. And that’s a true story: he was the only man in Canada, as far as I know, that could speak Russian, Yiddish — and Gaelic.” [...]

Baby Boom: U.S. East Coast, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103339.html

Washington Post
2 August 2010

Nine months after winter storms, some area hospitals expect a spike in births

By Stephanie Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer

[...] So it was during the historic snowstorms in December and February that folks trapped indoors searched for ways to relieve the boredom. Nearly nine months later, the things some residents did seem to be breeding results. [...]

Woman Sickened by Drug-Laced Paper (Kansas City)

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/30/2119098/urban-legend-tells-tale-about.html

The Kansas City Star [MO]
30 July 2010

Urban legend tells tale about woman getting sick from drug-laced paper

By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star

A man’s effort to give his phone number to a woman he found “cute” was behind a widely disseminated e-mail about an incident in south Kansas City.

According to e-mail rumors, the incident involved a piece of paper laced with a drug that made the woman ill when she touched it — a scenario similar to previous “urban legends” in other jurisdictions.

Such a scenario was “highly, highly unlikely,” Kansas City Police Chief Jim Corwin reported on his online blog Friday. [...]

http://kcpdchief.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-really-happened-in-e-mail-thats.html

Chief Corwin's Blog
Kansas City Missouri Police Department

Friday, July 30, 2010

What really happened in e-mail that's going around

A scary e-mail about an incident in Kansas City has been making the rounds the last few days that bears a striking similarity to a popular urban legend. However, I did want to let you know that this incident really did happen, but we want to clarify some of the more scary parts. [...]

Cerne Abbas Giant 'Inspires' Fertility Boom

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7911292/Cerne-Abbas-Giant-inspires-fertility-boom.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]
26 July 2010

Cerne Abbas Giant 'inspires' fertility boom

By Richard Alleyne

A giant chalk man carved into a west country hillside is living up to its legendary status as a figure of fertility by producing a baby boom in the surrounding area. [...]

Bulldozer Left in Building's Basement (Moscow)

http://rt.com/prime-time/2010-07-22/ostankino-tv-center-history.html

RT [Russia]
22 July 2010

Ostankino TV tower: from fact to fiction

[...] According to an urban legend, workers even left a bulldozer somewhere in the basement [of a building in Moscow's Ostankino TV Center] – some say they simply forgot about it, others claim it was easier to dump it than to get it out of the foundations. [...]

Monkey Soldiers Trained by Taliban

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/63502-taliban-trains-monkey-terrorists-attack-u-s-troops.html

Pakistan Defence Forum
28 June 2010

Taliban trains 'monkey terrorists' to attack U.S. troops

Afghanistan's Taliban warlords have developed a bizarre way to deal with foreign forces: they have trained monkeys who love to eat bananas and peanuts to be killers.

Taliban forces have taught monkeys how to use the Kalashnikov, Bren light machine gun and trench mortars. They also teach them how to identify and attack soldiers wearing U.S. military uniforms. [...]

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7059578.html

People's Daily [China]
9 July 2010

Monkeys trained as battlefield killers in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops, according to a recent report by a British-based media agency. [...]

http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/are-taliban-training-monkeys-to-kill-u-s-troops-1.110933

Stars and Stripes 13 July 2010

THE RUMOR DOCTOR

Are Taliban training monkeys to kill U.S troops?

By Jeff Schogol

Could it possibly be true that the Taliban are training monkeys to fire heavy weapons at U.S. troops in Afghanistan? [...]

http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/is-photo-of-baboon-with-a-machine-gun-fake-1.111041

Stars and Stripes [US]
14 July 2010

THE RUMOR DOCTOR

Is Photo of Baboon with a Machine Gun Fake?

By Jeff Schogol

Babe Ruth's Piano

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x792538332/New-clues-restart-Sudbury-search-for-Babe-Ruths-piano

The MetroWest Daily News [Framingham, MA]
19 June 2010

New clues restart Sudbury search for Babe Ruth's piano

By Kathy Uek/Daily News staff

SUDBURY - For almost a decade, Sudbury resident Kevin Kennedy has searched for proof that Babe Ruth's upright piano sank to the bottom of Willis Pond. [...]

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x2071993846/Veneer-could-be-key-to-Babe-Ruth-piano-mystery

The MetroWest Daily News [Framingham, MA]
22 June 2010

Veneer could be key to Babe Ruth piano mystery

By Kathy Uek/Daily News staff

SUDBURY - There may be a splinter of truth to the legend of the Sultan of Swat's piano.

Yesterday, a piano restoration expert confirmed that a 4-foot-by-16-inch wood panel discovered by divers in Willis Pond on Sunday is part of a piano. [...]

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x104354946/Psychic-brought-in-to-find-Bambinos-piano
MetroWest Daily News [Framingham, MA]
9 July 2010
Psychic brought in to find Bambino's piano
By Hannah McGoldrick/Daily News correspondent

EU to Ban Selling Eggs by the Dozen

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1289882/EU-ban-selling-eggs-dozen-Shopkeepers-fury-told-food-weighed-sold-kilo.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The Mail on Sunday [UK]
27 June 2010

EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen: Shopkeepers' fury as they are told all food must be weighed and sold by the kilo

By Christopher Leake

British shoppers are to be banned from buying eggs by the dozen under new regulations approved by the European Parliament. [...]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/scrambled-ndash-the-eu-threat-to-british-eggs-2015264.html

The Independent [UK]
1 July 2010

Scrambled – the EU 'threat' to British eggs

The European Union will not outlaw the sale of groceries by quantity, despite scare stories to the contrary

By Martin Hickman

Look away Eurosceptics. Those meddling Brussels bureaucrats have let you down again and are not going to ban the sale of eggs by the dozen.

To the disappointment of red-top newspapers and irate contributors to talk radio, the European Union confirmed yesterday that MEPs had not voted to do away with a cherished feature of Great British life. [...]

Humans Turned Into Goats (Nigeria)

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/july/07/national-07-07-2010-021.htm

Daily Sun [Nigeria]
7 July 2010

Human beings-turned goats story, a hoax – Police

By VINCENT UKPONG KALU and MATTHEW DIKE

Yesterday morning, rumours spread like bush fire in the harmattan in Ojo, and other neighbouring towns in Lagos and Ogun States that seven human beings were turned to goats through esoteric means. The rumour also had it that the goats were detained in Ojo Police station. A motley crowd besieged the police station to witness the bizarre development. [...]

From one source to another, the story kept magnifying. It first started with a human being turning to a goat until it became seven goats turning to seven human beings. It was the subject of discussion at bus stops, inside commercial vehicles and markets with each source presenting different versions of the story. [...]

Child Abduction Rumor (Ireland)

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/39No-truth39-in-abduction-rumours.6403916.jp

Leinster Express [Ireland]
7 July 2010

'No truth' in abduction rumours

By Staff Reporter

GARDAÍ have said there is "no truth" in a rumour which was circulating about an attempted child abduction in a shopping centre in Portlaoise in the past fortnight.

Rumours had circulated that there was an attempted abduction which led to a shopping centre being "locked down" due to the attempted abduction. It was claimed that the missing a child aged four was found in a dressing room with her hair cut, wearing a cap and completely different clothes. [...]

http://www.laois-nationalist.ie/tabId/153/itemId/2809/Garda-deny-child-abduction-rumours.aspx
Laois Nationalist [Ireland]
8 July 2010
Gardaí deny child abduction rumours
By: Michael Tracey

Promoted Officer Owes Back Pay

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/column-8/column-8-20100705-zxi4.html

Sydney Morning Herald

6 July 2010

Column 8

[...] ''Your lovely story about the cakes and ale, especially the punchline, put me in mind of a delicious story I heard from the war,'' recalls Robert Gardiner, of Welshman's Reef, Victoria (Old Cambridge rules and cheeky students, Column 8, yesterday). ''It seems that a young officer was promoted to captain in 1941. During the celebrations his mates saw that this was gazetted in 1041. He applied for back pay and was credited £39,999. The sting was that as the only survivor of the Battle of Hastings, he was responsible for the loss of 20,000 horses at £2 each. Result - a debit of £1 pound.'' [...]

[See also Pass the Port: The Best After-dinner Stories of the Famous (Cirencester: Christian Brann, 1976), p. 62.]

Necrophile Infects Woman (Malta)

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=108116

The Malta Independent
26 June 2010

Macabre mortuary rumour denied

The Health Ministry yesterday flatly denied a morbid rumour of necrophilia having taken place at the Mater Dei mortuary, which according to the grapevine had resulted in the death of a woman. [...]

It was on Tuesday that this newspaper first heard the horrific rumour. In essence it involved an employee having allegedly passed on a parasitic infection to a woman after having had sexual contact with cadavers. [...]

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=108188
The Malta Independent
27 June 2010
Necrophilia story may have been nothing more than an imported urban legend

Bologna Placed on Car to Damage It

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2010/jun/23/vandals-weapon-bologna/news/

Hickory Daily Record [NC]
23 June 2010

Vandals' weapon: bologna

By Richard Gould

When a 19-year-old Hickory woman returned to her car after working her shift at the Valley Hills Mall, she was greeted by a rude surprise. Ten pieces of bologna had been left on her Nissan Sentra, Monday night. [...]

The Internet is awash with speculation as to the efficacy of bologna as a car paint remover. [...]

Two Suns in the Sky (Indian Rumor)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/Now-Internet-hoax-on-two-suns-in-sky/articleshow/6076945.cms

Times of India
22 June 2010

Now, Internet hoax on 'two suns in sky'

Vijay Singh, TNN

MUMBAI: If you have been craning you neck skywards to catch a rare glimpse of “two suns in the sky’’ on Monday, then you’ve been made an ‘Internet Bakra’. Scientists and astronomers in the city have confirmed that certain hoax emails and social networking e-groups have been spreading rumours about two suns being visible on Monday and Tuesday, and also that another star has come close to Earth.

“Don’t believe in such emails that say that another bright star called ‘Aderoid’ will come as close as 34 million miles from Earth,’’ said senior scientist and astronomer from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Professor Pankaj Joshi. [...]

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/kochi/mail-on-two-suns-dismissed-as-sheer-prank/183528.html
Express Buzz [India]
22 June 2010
Mail on two suns dismissed as sheer prank

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/jun/200610-hoax-email-two-suns-mumbai-news.htm
Mid-Day [India]
20 June 2010
No need to double the sunscreen

Prediction of Earthquakes & Tsunamis in Fiji

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/world/3838515/Quake-prophecy-fears-in-Fiji

The Timaru Herald [NZ]
22 June 2010

Fiji rugby chief held over 'prophecy' rumours

By MICHAEL FIELD - Stuff

Fiji's rugby union head remains in custody and police on the islands are threatening to seize more people, amidst rumours the nation will be hit by a disaster tomorrow.

The chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union, Bill Gavoka, who also heads the Fiji Visitors Bureau, was seized by the regime yesterday after he sent emails to tourist operators warning of a pending disaster. [...]

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=54331
Radio New Zealand International
23 June 2010
Fiji pastor says Suva workers headed home at noon because of ’disaster warning’

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/3844203/Doomsday-prophecy-causes-Fiji-disruption
Stuff [New Zealand]
23 June 2010
Fiji quake prophesiers seized
By MICHAEL FIELD - Stuff

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=150671
Fiji Times
23 June 2010
Earthquake will not trigger tsunami

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=150672
Fiji Times
23 June 2010
False prophet

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=150717
Fiji Times
25 June 2010
Police charge tsunami prophet

Emperor Used an Electric Chair as a Throne

http://blogs.forteana.org/node/123

16 June 2010

The Emperor's electric chair

Mike Dash

[Did Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II use an electric chair as a throne? Dash discusses this legend which was popularized by its appearance in The Book of Lists (1977).]

Police Uniforms Stolen from Dry Cleaners

http://www.680news.com/news/local/article/66800--several-toronto-police-uniforms-missing-after-being-sent-to-cleaners

680News [Toronto]
15 June 2010

Several Toronto Police uniforms missing after being sent to cleaners

680News staff

Toronto Police sources have told 680News that over a dozen uniforms are missing after being sent out to be cleaned over the past few days.

Police fear the uniforms could be used be people to misrepresent themselves as officers. [...]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/news/toronto-police-cant-confirm-report-that-uniforms-were-stolen-from-cleaners/article1605515/

The Globe and Mail [Toronto]
15 June 2010

Toronto police can’t confirm report that uniforms were stolen from cleaners

Adrian Morrow

Police say they have no information to back up a report that more than a dozen uniforms have been stolen from drycleaners less than two weeks before the G20 summit in Toronto.

Radio station 680 News, quoting unnamed police sources, reported that the uniforms were lifted from drycleaners across Toronto over the last few days. [...]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/15/police-deny-reports-of-stolen-uniforms/

National Post [Canada]
15 June 2010

Police deny reports of stolen uniforms

Toronto Police could not confirm a report earlier today that 13 or more of their uniforms had been stolen from dry cleaning shops around the city in the past few days. [...]

"What's the Biggest Fish?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/15/world-cup-2010-brazil-north-korea-live

The Guardian [UK]
14 June 2010

North Korea set their World Cup target: happiness for the Dear Leader

Marina Hyde in Johannesburg

There is something about a North Korean World Cup press conference that recalls a possibly apocryphal story featuring the creepy Guinness Book of Records editor Norris McWhirter. According to this tale, Norris was visiting a school in his capacity as leader and co-founder of the Freedom Association, the charmless libertarian pressure group whose policies included mounting legal challenges against peace campaigners and allowing 1980s cricketers "freedom to trade" in apartheid South Africa. After delivering a fairly eye-wateringly right-wing lecture to his young audience, Norris broke the silence that greeted its conclusion by asking if anyone had any questions. "Yeah," drawled one kid. "What's the biggest fish?" [...]

http://www.bsad.org/0304/reports/sunderland/aptext.html

Blind, Stupid and Desperate [Blog]

Norris on the spot

By Simon Devon

You must remember Record Breakers. I remember once they had a show where they broke the world record for a bloke balancing milk crates on his head. It was stirring stuff. There was also a bit called "Norris on the Spot" where the kids would get to fire questions at Norris McWhirter and try to catch the old duffer out. A typical exchange would be:

CASTLE: "Have you got a question for Norris?"
KID: "What's the biggest fish?"
NOZZA: "Well, there are two opinions..."

http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?tag=norris-mcwhirter

TV Cream [UK]

The Record Breakers
1972 to 2002 on BBC1

LONG-RUNNING PROMOTIONAL campaign for the Guinness family and, for most of its existence, the only place you’d see 80-year-olds on children’s telly. ROY “OOPS! ANOTHER SOFT CENTRE!” CASTLE was your tapping, trumpetty host, with NORRIS (and, originally, IRA murder victim twin brother ROSS) McWHIRTER as the Book-compiling know-it-all foil. Never-changing menu: sketches, reports, McWhirter-retention testing ‘Norris on the Spot’ round (which always went: ROY: “Have you got a question for Norris?” KID: “What’s the biggest fish?” NOZZA: “Well, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that there’s a leopard in Africa that can run faster than a motorcycle”) [....]

Labiumstick

Gail Hershatter, Dangerous Pleasures: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), p. 109.

A 1929 article in Crystal described American prostitutes, apparently in the United States, as [...] strong and healthy enough to sleep with a dozen men per day, "like a wheel in motion." They were further said to routinely smear lipstick on their genitalia, which were darkened from overuse. [36]

36. Jingbao [Crystal], 24 April 1929, p. 3.