October 30, 2003
Someone really did steal my car!
Next time you phone the insurance company, make sure you don't sound too stressed.
One of the Insurance companys in the UK is introducing voice "lie-detectors" to check for fraud claims. Supposedly once they were introduced the number of people making claims dropped by 25% (but oh yes they say that may be because people actually got their cars back)
The system works by checking your normal voice stress levels, and then checking when they ask you probing questions.. "Did you really sleep with my best friend.. oops, i mean did you really crash your car"
Hmm, well anyone who knows about the standard lie detectors knows that they don't work properly at all, thats why they can't be used as evidence in a court case. Can't see the voice ones being any better.. of course the idea sounds good though... Scare off people so they don't even think of making a claim even if their car has been stolen.. aren't insurance companies lovely.
Next thing they will want your DNA (or do they have it already?) to check for your possiblities of getting all kinds of nasty things.
Hmm..
Be nice to the Judge
An entire Brazilian football team (that includes a policeman, a doctor and a lawyer), were arrested by police for disturbing the peace.
The complaint was lodged by a Judge, who just happens to live in the house which apparently was hit with their football just one time too many..
A spokesman for the team said ".. we have not disturbed anyone, it was a normal football game"
Remember, be nice to any Judges you happen to know. :)
October 23, 2003
Bigfoot's on the loose
A 12 year old boy and a 13 year girl recently told their mum that they saw Bigfoot in the back yard. Seriously.
Mum saw the "gorilla" like creature as well, and later on they went out and took photographs of the footprints.
They just happen to live in Del Norte County (in Washington State), which apparently has more reported Bigfoot sightings per square mile than any other place in the world.
Of course I don't know what the concentration of alcoholic establishments per square mile is there... but then again, if Bigfoot does exist somewhere I'm sure he (or she?) is not going to hop on a plane to fly somewhere else in the country just to scare a few more people. Maybe Del Norte County has nice trees.. ;)
Do you think you've seen Bigfoot too ? - Make a report at www.bfro.net
Source : Triplicate.com
October 10, 2003
USA makes you sane so they can kill you
The US Supreme Court has ruled that a prisoner on death row can be given drugs that will make him "sane" (hmm is that a red pill or a blue pill they give him). So that once he's sane they can then take him to the execution chamber and give him a lethal injection.
The logic in this one seems a bit weird to me.
Ok if he's going to get executed then (hopefully) he's done something really bad.. but to give him drugs so that he knows that it's bad, so he can then be killed. Bet this case will be used in a number of Ethics lectures.
Source : The Guardian
Big Brother used for Job Applicants
Well talk about taking Job Survillance to the next level. Graduates that apply for a job (though there might not be any available, or there could be one for all 25 applicants) with Grey's advertising, that get "selected" for (one assumes) the last round of interviews. Will enter the Big Brother house, where they will be "studied" as they perform numerous tasks.
Hmm, interesting idea.
Reason One : Instant free publicity over the stunt for the Advertising company
Reason Two : See what how all the applicants relate to each other at a very detailed level, chuck out the ones that are going to cause trouble.
Reason Three : Once they become CEO you have some nice blackmail footage :)
Source : BBC
October 08, 2003
Robber pays his Taxes
The NZ Tax Department (The IRD), had an "unoffical" arrangement with a known armed robber, to collect taxes from him, for over 40 YEARS !
Basically, they let him rob each year, then would ask him at the end of the year how much did he make, and oh yes give us some of that as tax.
Oh sure thing.. apparently the "relationship" broke down when he went to jail. So they (The IRD) tried to take him to court to get the Tax Money back..
Gotta love the NZ IRD, even the police don't have access to their records so they can do all kinds of deals.. as long as you pay your tax we don't care seems to be the motto.
Source : NZOOM
October 01, 2003
LA Bans Lap Dancing ?
Well in Los Angeles they have recently introduced laws meaning that lap dancers are no longer allowed to be lap dancers. They have to stay away at least 2 metres from customers.. No touching allowed any longer..
Apparently they even have to have guards there to check that this happens..
What is going on in LA ??
The reason given for this is that the clubs are to blame for prostitution, drug use, excessive noise..
Umm, does this mean that next on the list will be nightclubs ? Imagine going to a club where everyone had to be 2 metres apart !?
After that maybe it will be just drinking establishments that play music..
Interesting to see what happens to this "law"..
;)
Source : BBC