Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Old fruitcake brings $525 for charity http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/12/2 5/Old-fruitcake-brings-525-for-charity/U PI-68361324792638/ How much is a 70-year-old fruitcake worth? For a winning auction bidder the answer is $525, which will go to help the homeless in Ohio, the cake's owner said. The fruitcake was baked and sold by a Cincinnati-area Kroger store in 1941 and wound up back at the store in 1971. A note left with the returned fruit cake said it was one of six bought by a man named E.F. Helbing, WHIO-TV, Dayton, reported. The note said the owner had been carting it around for decades and was finally unloading it on its maker, the Kroger store. Store manager Frank Bates, now 86, took possession of it and kept it until recently when he gave it to Elite Estate Group owner Larry Chaney, whose firm decided to auction it off for charity. While even higher offers -- some over $1,000 -- came in later, the winning bid of $525 came Thursday...

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .N.J. cop arrested for DWI after DWI class http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/12/1 9/NJ-cop-arrested-for-DWI-after-DWI-clas s/UPI-67721324274320/#ixzz1gzZvZncp A Midland Park, N.J., police officer was arrested for drunken driving after consuming alcohol during a state police class on DWI arrests, authorities say. During the Thursday class taught by the New Jersey State Police, Midland Park police officer Joseph B. Gaeta was given measured amounts of alcohol to test its effect on his physical abilities, the Midland Park Suburban News reported After the class, Gaeta was driven home by another officer, Wyckoff police Chief Benjamin Fox said. Once home, Gaeta, 31, got on his four-wheel all-terrain vehicle and began driving on a residential street, which authorities said is illegal. Gaeta was attempting to make a turn when he lost control of the ATV and flipped it. Fox said Gaeta sustained serious facial injures for which he was hospitalized. He had s...

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Man sends funny greeting card posthumously http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/12/1 1/Man-sends-funny-greeting-card-posthumo usly/UPI-74861323654957/ Friends of a deceased advertising executive from Pittsburgh say they got an unexpected holiday greeting from him. "Hello, please don't call. I recently moved to a quiet neighborhood and ...," read the front of the card from Bob McCully, who died in August at age 88. Inside the card was a photo of the gates of Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville, where McCully was buried alongside his wife, with the message "My new place doesn't have a phone and our gates close after dark." "It was the strangest feeling getting that card. It was almost eerie. But when I opened it, I laughed out loud. It was the ultimate Christmas card," David Newell, a longtime friend of McCully's, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. McCully, Ketchum Inc.'s former director of communicatio...

I couldn't make this up if I tried...Shoplifted candlelight steak dinner foiled http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/12/0 4/Shoplifted-candlelight-steak-dinner-fo iled/UPI-22441323020979/ A Florida man faces theft charges after allegedly trying to walk out of a store with the makings for a candlelight dinner stuffed down his pants, police said. Collier County sheriff's deputies said Dannial Ashley, 31, of East Naples was charged with retail theft after employees of a supermarket saw him trying to make off with four steaks and some candles. Ashley tried to run off sans his loot, but was chased down by the grocers, deputies told the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Ashley was later released on bail pending further proceedings. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS TO USE AND PASS ALONG! (DISCLAIMER: The following news items ...

I couldn't make this up if I tried...Low quality spares pot grower jail http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/11/2 5/Low-quality-spares-pot-grower-jail/UPI-1 0691322248745/ Prosecutors in Sweden said a man on trial for growing marijuana was spared jail due to the low quality of his plants. The Varmland court heard the 35-year-old man had grown the plants at his home for his personal use before they were discovered by police and he was arrested, The Local reported Friday. However, tests conducted on the plants found very low levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, so the man was spared a prison sentence, prosecutors said. "That's an evaluation that the court will make. If (the drugs) don't work, it could lead to a milder sentence," said Sara Malmhester of the Swedish Prosecution Authority. "The level (of THC) in the drugs affects the sentence, since a better plant produces more of the drug to be abused." Prosecutor Ludm...

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Boring Conference attracts 400 http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/11/1 9/Boring-Conference-attracts-400/UPI-548 11321729189/ The second annual Boring Conference in London attracted 400 people Saturday ready for talks on topics like the view from parking garage roofs. James Ward, the organizer, told The Independent he is afraid the success of last year's conference -- which originated as a joke on Twitter -- means this one may be too interesting. The attendees include a documentary film crew from Canada to record the proceedings. The speakers this year include an expert on the hot-air hand-dryer who has installed one in his home. Ward is scheduled to spend 10 minutes on the first decade of "Which," a pioneering consumer magazine that guided Britons in the 1950s and 1960s through subjects like how to use a refrigerator. Another speaker will discuss how parking garages, ugly inside, often reward drivers with gorgeous views from the to...

If you have a Kindle, here's the link to some of my books and short stories there (I'm in the process of adding Iwo Jima - A Retrospective right now) - http://goo.gl/cjsl6

You can now get some of my books and several short stories for the Nook at Barnes & Noble Online

This is my project - please vote for it. If I win, I get to go to schools who can't afford to pay me. You can vote every day online and by texting 109782 to 73774 (Pepsi) thru November 30 - please repost and share. Visit public schools and talk to students about stayer safer online - Pepsi Refresh Project

5 Reasons We All Need to Take Online Security Seriously --Philip J Reed, on behalf of Westwood College (philiplocation3@yahoo.com) More and more aspects of our lives move online every day. Our professional lives, our personal lives, our financial lives, and sometimes even our love lives become entangled in the world of the internet. As a result, online security is more important than ever…yet many people remain unaware of the very real risks that they face. We all know the importance of locking our doors and of not leaving our keys in the car, but cyber security is equally important. Here are five reasons why. 1. Your money can be stolen. As we do more shopping and banking online, we potentially expose things like our credit card, bank account numbers and investment holdings to the online ether. This leaves a number of opportunities for your financial data to become compromised. Your credit card could be intercepted over an insecure connection, or a cybercriminal could simply break...

I couldn't make this up if I tried...Tell-tale footprints snag alleged robber http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/11/1 3/Tell-tale-footprints-snag-alleged-robb er/UPI-50041321225564/ Police said they captured an alleged bank robber by following his footprints in the snow to an Ogden, Utah, apartment where he was hiding with the money. Lt. Troy Burnett said a 27-year-old man came into the Alliance Credit Union about 12:55 p.m. Saturday, handed a teller a note demanding money and left on foot after the bank employee complied, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. A witness followed the alleged robber to an apartment complex, later leading police officers there. Burnett said they picked up the man's trail, following his footprints left in the snow to the apartment where he lived and where they found all the stolen money. The unnamed perpetrator, who allegedly made a full confession, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree felony robbery. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

If I get enough votes, I'll be able to go to middle and high schools to speak to students about staying safer online. You can vote every day twice - once on the web site and texting 109782 to 73774 (Pepsi). The project info is at http://www.refresheverything.com/onlinesafety

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .I can just see some drunk coming out of a bar and thinking it was real-life "Planet of the Apes" Runners suit up as gorillas for charity http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/10/3 0/Runners-suit-up-as-gorillas-for-charit y/UPI-48291320012115/ More than a thousand runners dressed in ape suits took part in an annual 5K Gorilla Run for charity in Denver, event organizers said. The eighth annual run in to raise money for the Denver-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund attracted more than 1,200 runners dressed in gorilla suits to the starting point at the Wynkoop Brewery Saturday, The Denver Post reported. "It's strictly built on fun and raising awareness," said Frank Keesling, 46, who runs the event each year. "We have to be the largest importer of gorilla suits in the country," Keesling joked. Keesling said his mother Ruth, 83, is the real force behind the event. Ruth Keesling became interested in gorilla conserva...

is all woohoo! Smithsonian Air & Space quoted me from my book, The Ghosts of Okinawa and posted a link to Amazon to buy it! Please repost/share:

I couldn't make this up if I tried...Jewelry thief leaves name behind http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/10/2 4/Jewelry-thief-leaves-name-behind/UPI-6 7491319435371/ Police say a woman who stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from a shop in Obernburg, Germany, erred big time -- she left her name and address behind. The 38-year-old woman allegedly grabbed a tray filled with about 10,000 euros ($13,900) worth of gold and silver jewelry and watches from a glass case Thursday, The Local reported. Police had little trouble tracking her down. They said she had given her name and address to the store clerk shortly before the theft when she asked to have a bracelet cleaned. She was arrested, eventually confessed and the stolen jewelry was recovered, The Local said. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit WHOA on the web at http://www.haltabuse.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS TO USE AND PASS ...