Got Smile? - Today's funny news

Ohio Day Care Worker Accused Of Drugging Kids' Snacks

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:59 EEST

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A central Ohio day care worker sprinkled drugs on snacks to get children in her day care to sleep during the day, according to police charges filed Monday that the woman adamantly denies as a misunderstood joke. Tammy Eppley was charged in Franklin County Municipal Court with six counts of child endangering after police in suburban Westerville say they obtained text messages in which she admits giving children the allergy drug Benadryl and Melatonin, a hormone and sleep aid. "Tammy was bragging about how they were all perfectly still and being quiet or asleep," said a police report describing a video Eppley allegedly recorded on her cellphone and sent a friend. "Tammy jokes about one of the children almost discovering her actions by remarking that the sprinkles on some cupcakes tasted funny," according to the report obtained by The Associated Press through a records request. Eppley is also accused of mixing crushed Benadryl into pancake batter and juice for the children at her daycare, Caterpillar Clubhouse, Westerville police Det. Richard Tiburzio said in an interview Monday. Eppley, 37, denied the charges in a phone interview, saying Tiburzio was "obsessed" with pursing the charges against her. She said she did provide drugs to children but only after getting permission from their parents. She acknowledged making light of giving the drugs in text messages to a friend but said they were jokes. Eppley described the comments as "very tongue-in-cheek." "It was, `Good grief, I wish these kids would go to sleep, I wish I could drug them,'" she said. "I do regret making that comment, obviously," she said. "It was not, `I did it.'" Tiburzio said he stands by the investigation and there is other evidence in the case. Franklin County Children Services concluded an investigation in May and are not presently working with Eppley, said spokesman Bruce Cadwallader. "So to us it's unsubstantiated," he said. "But the police have a different role than we do." In 2010, two former Ohio church day care workers were each sentenced to six months in jail for slipping Melatonin into candy to get children in their care to sleep. ___ Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at . <a href='https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus'>https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus</a>

Police Hunt For Derpy Teens

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:59 EEST

Smile, kids: <a href="http://dhmh.maryland.gov/mha/Documents/offensetable.pdf" target="_hplink">It's only a misdemeanor</a>. This group of teens might have thought they were pretty smart when they <a href="http://origin.wtsp.com/news/watercooler/article/321106/58/Funny-faced-teen-thieves-still-at-large" target="_hplink">used a Maryland woman's credit card to pay for a photo booth session</a>, but pretty soon they might feel dumber than they look in these silly pictures. SCROLL FOR PHOTOS Police obtained the photos from a photo booth at a Crofton, Md., movie theater as part of a credit card fraud investigation. The victim, who reported her card missing June 6, told police that she had been shopping in the area and had <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/photo-booth-evidence?page=0" target="_hplink">misplaced her card</a>. According to Anne Arundel County Police, the teens used the woman's Visa to pay for the photo booth session and some movie tickets. They probably didn't realize that digital copies of their photo session were <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/suspects-mug-in-photo-booth-785643" target="_hplink">stored on the photo booth's hard drive</a>. The goofy pictures -- tongues and all -- are now being distributed by police in the hopes of tracking down the teens. A close look at two of the photos shows a boy in possession of the card that police believe belongs to the victim. In Marlyland, <a href="http://dhmh.maryland.gov/mha/Documents/offensetable.pdf" target="_hplink">credit card crimes under $500 are misdemeanors</a> and carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison, and/or a $500 fine. Anne Arundel County Police are asking anyone with information on the identity of the teens to <a href="http://www.aacounty.org/Police/westernDist.cfm" target="_hplink">contact Detective Golas here</a>. (via <a href="http://petapixel.com/2013/06/17/alleged-credit-card-thieves-incriminate-themselves-with-photo-booth-pics/" target="_hplink">PetaPixel</a>) <HH--236SLIDEEXPAND--303578--HH>

Well That's One Reason To Tip Your Cabbie...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:59 EEST

Rule number one: always tip your cab driver. One unfortunate San Francisco passenger learned that the hard way after a fateful decision not to tip landed him in the hospital. The victim, a 37-year old man, hopped in a cab and headed to the 800 block of Buena Vista Avenue in the Ashbury Heights neighborhood. When the cab arrived at the destination, the passenger paid the driver, but asked for all of his change back--meaning there would be no tip. Unsurprisingly, according to San Francisco Police Department spokesman Sgt. Dennis Toomer, this led to an argument because zero dollars is well below the industry standard of 15 to 20 percent. The passenger got out of the cab and started walking away, however the driver gave chase on foot and allegedly began strangling the victim. After allegedly assaulting and robbing the passenger, the driver got back in his cab and drove off. The victim, who was taken UCSF hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries, told police that he didn't catch what cab company the taxi belonged to, but he believed the cab was white with red lettering and described the driver as white, balding man in his 30s wearing a polo shirt and jeans. A similar incident occurred early last month, when a 56-year old man was allegedly punched in the face and had his phone stolen after an unidentified cab driver, who dropped him off in San Francisco's Richmond District, thought he hadn't paid his full fare. "If you can avoid getting into an argument with a cab driver, it's best do that," advised Toomer. "If things do turn sour, you should just exit the cab, don't worry about getting your money back. Make sure you take down the cab's identification number, register a complaint [with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] and notify the police."

Woman Charged In 2nd Buttocks-enhancement Death

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:59 EEST

JACKSON, Miss. &mdash; A Mississippi woman has been charged in a second death related to giving buttocks-enhancing injections without being trained or licensed. The state attorney general's office says 53-year-old Tracey Lynn Garner of Jackson, formerly known as Morris Garner, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of depraved heart murder. Conviction carries a potential life sentence. The release says Garner injected "a silicone substance" into Marilyn Hale of Selma, Ala., on Jan. 13, 2010, and Hale later died. Records show Garner was in the Hinds County Detention Center on Monday. Her attorney, John Colette, was not immediately available. Garner had been on house arrest awaiting trial in a similar case in the 2012 death of an Atlanta woman.

Ad Under Fire For Dissing Vegetarians

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:59 EEST

A Red Robin ad that quickly angered a number of vegetarians won't be on the air much longer. The recent commercial promoting the restaurant chain's veggie burger received an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/red-robin-garden-burger-ad-2013-6" target="_hplink">onslaught of negative reactions</a> in response to its jab at herbivorous burger eaters. “We even have a garden burger just in case your teenage daughter is going through a phase,” says the actress in the commercial, which begins by promoting Red Robin’s 24 different burger options. The ad's days are numbered, Kevin Caulfield, Red Robin's senior director of communications, told The Huffington Post Monday afternoon. "We created a number of ads and we have a rotation schedule that is intended to keep the campaign fresh. This particular ad is planned to be out of rotation and no longer on the air very soon," Caulfield said. Here's a look at some of the negative comments that were posted to Red Robin's facebook page: <img alt="red robin vegetarian" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1196129/thumbs/o-RED-ROBIN-VEGETARIAN-570.jpg?6" /> <img alt="red robin vegetarian" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1196133/thumbs/o-RED-ROBIN-VEGETARIAN-570.jpg?5" /> <img alt="red robin vegetarian" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1196141/thumbs/o-RED-ROBIN-VEGETARIAN-570.jpg?6" /> Caulfield told HuffPost "the intent of the ad was to remind our guests again that Red Robin serves meatless options too." The Gardenburger and the BOCA Original Vegan Burger have been on Red Robin's menu for years, he added. It seems fast food establishments have a lot to learn when it comes to catering to vegetable eaters. Earlier this year a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/taco-bell-cancels-ad-mocking-vegetables_n_2568193.html" target="_hplink">Taco Bell commercial</a> was after it received complaints that the ad discouraged eating veggies.

Did Spoonbending Psychic Worked For CIA?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:59 EEST

Uri Geller rose to fame in the 1970s by staring at spoons and apparently bending them with his psychic powers. But while he was wowing TV audiences, did he have an even more amazing career -- working as a spy for the CIA and Mossad? A new British documentary, "The Secret Life Of Uri Geller –- Psychic Spy?," contends that Geller was recruited to work with U.S. intelligence agencies to help in a “psychic arms race” with the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. “When Jimmy Carter was elected President, one of the first things he did was to have Uri Geller give him a four hour briefing on the Soviet psychic threat. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/uri-geller-psychic-spy-the-spoonbenders-secret-life-as-a-mossad-and-cia-agent-revealed-8659271.html" target="_hplink">America didn’t want a psychic gap</a> and Uri was the go-to guy about these things,” filmmaker Vikram Jayanti told the Independent. “Sometimes, you wonder whether Uri’s entire public career has actually been a front for his shadow world activities.” Geller's public career has been controversial, especially after <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9w7jHYriFo" target="_hplink">magicians like James Randi </a>have shown that his signature act of <a href="http://skepdic.com/geller.html" target="_hplink">bending spoons psychically can easily be replicated,</a> according to the Skeptics Dictionary. While Geller has his detractors, he apparently has some impressive supporters. Former CIA officer Kit Green, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and retired US army colonel John Alexander, re all interviewed in the film, according to the Independent. Mitchell's work in various military paranormal studies was detailed in "The Men Who Stare At Goats." Geller remains coy in the documentary about whether he was or wasn't a spy, but according to evidence uncovered by Jayanti, some of his assignments included attempting to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2342901/Was-Uri-Geller-secret-CIA-spy-Thats-claim-new-BBC-documentary-And-really-mind-boggling-It-just-true.html" target="_hplink">telepathically influence the mind of a Russian negotiator</a> during Cold War arms talks in Geneva by beaming peace messages at his head and psychically erasing floppy discs being carried on jets by KGB agents, the Daily Mail reported. There were some assignments apparently Geller wouldn't do. He was once asked to telepathically stop a pig's heart, but declined because he figured he'd then be asked to do the same thing to then-Russian premier Yuri Andropov, according to the paper. In the documentary, Geller makes a public apology to Scotland for <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4970512/Uri-Gellers-secret-Cold-War-spy-role.html" target="_hplink">telepathically making a soccer ball move</a> just before Gary McAllister fluffed a penalty kick against England at the Euro 96 tournament, the Sun reported.

Headmaster: I Wouldn't Rule Out Having Porn Star Teach Sex Ed

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:59 EEST

Who says that school and pornography are incompatible? One private British high school may be bringing porn into the classroom by having an adult film star teach <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/sex-education" target="_hplink">sex education</a>. The headmaster of the elite Leys School in Cambridge wants students learn more about the nature of online relationships and the dangers of pornography. And while it may be unconventional, he said <a href="http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Cambridge-headmaster-wont-rule-out-porn-star-visit-20130615060336.htm" target="_hplink">he would not be opposed to the idea of having a porn star doing the teaching</a>, according to the Cambridge News. “I wouldn’t rule it out, simply because of what they have done in their life, if I felt that person was going to put across good values and be a good influence,” Headmaster Mark Slater told the outlet. Slater said he is aware the Internet has given young people an unprecedented amount of access to pornography, and instead of pretending that it doesn’t exist, he would like to educate his students on the subject. <a href="https://www.theleys.net/" target="_hplink">The Leys School</a>, which costs up to £27,780 (about $44,000) a year, describes itself as offering "a blend of traditional values and a forward-looking approach to education," according to its website. Outlets around the world have immediately taken interest in Slater's suggestion. Although Samantha Escobar at The Gloss notes that she thinks it it is a good idea in theory, she takes issue with the fact that <a href="http://www.thegloss.com/2013/06/17/sex-and-dating/sex-ed-classes-taught-by-porn-star-the-leys-in-cambridge/" target="_hplink">Slater said the porn star must have "good values." </a> "It makes me nervous that he uses the word 'values,' and seems to be insinuating that a porn star’s 'perspective' could be fundamentally negative," Escobar writes. Slater’s suggestion comes just weeks after a University of Middlesex study reported that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22643072" target="_hplink">viewing pornography could warp a child’s expectations of sex</a>, according to the BBC. "Just a few clicks away on any mobile phone, on any tablet for example, children can find really graphic depictions of extreme and violent sexual acts," said U.K. Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz of the report, the BBC notes. As a result, the study recommends that sex education curriculum include pornography and teach more aggressively about relationships.

What Your Tattoo (and Where It Is) Says About You

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:59 EEST

Sixteen percent of the world's population is tatted up, with that number sure to rise in the very near future given societies gradual acceptance for body modification. Selecting where you're going to put a tattoo is the easy part, but selecting what you're going to make a permanent addition to your body takes a little time. Choose both wisely because where you put it and what you get speaks volumes about your personality.

This Guy Had ONE Job

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:59 EEST

This air freight employee was reportedly spotted at the Guangzhou Airport in China. Efficiency in loading cargo is not the top priority in this clip. Via <a href="http://www.viralviralvideos.com/2013/06/17/chinese-air-freight-employee-carelessly-throws-cargo-onto-conveyor-belt/" target="_hplink">Viral Viral Videos</a>

LOOK: China Invented The Weirdest Way Ever To Ward Off Pervs

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:59 EEST

This might be the strangest way of keeping aggressive men at bay, but we have to give it major points for being clever. <a href="http://www.chinasmack.com/2013/pictures/anti-pervert-hairy-stockings-for-girls-during-summer.html" target="_hplink">"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings</a>, essential for all young girls going out," @HappyZhangJiang describes the item on <a href="http://socialnewsdaily.com/15159/hairy-stockings-a-viral-craze-in-china/" target="_hplink">China's popular microblogging service</a>, Sina Weibo. They remind us somewhat of the less playful, more functional <a href="http://www.techpedia.in/award/upload/award_profile/she-society-harnessing-equipment-2013.pdf?PHPSESSID=5965a2a4ae04594dd13baeda7d6ad729" target="_hplink">"anti-rape" lingerie developed recently by three engineering students in India</a>. That garment is wired to deliver an electric shock to sexual attackers and can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/anti-rape-underwear-gps_n_3007862.html" target="_hplink">send an alert message, with GPS coordinates, to the attacked woman's friends and family</a>. The idea behind the hair stockings, we're guessing, is that lewd gropers wouldn't come anywhere near you. Tongue-in-cheek, but inventive nonetheless. LOOK: <img alt="china hair stockings" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1195810/thumbs/o-CHINA-HAIR-STOCKINGS-570.jpg?6" /> (Hat tip, <a href="http://www.chinasmack.com/2013/pictures/anti-pervert-hairy-stockings-for-girls-during-summer.html" target="_hplink">chinaSMACK</a> via <a href="http://hypervocal.com/culture/2013/china-hairy-stockings/" target="_hplink">Hypervocal</a>)

Man Miraculously Survives 15-Floor Plunge

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:59 EEST

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- A man was recovering in a hospital Monday after surviving a plunge from the 15th floor of his New Zealand apartment building. Police said the 20-year-old man discovered he was locked out of his 14th floor unit in the Volt Apartment building in downtown Auckland at about 2 a.m. Sunday. He decided to try and scale down the outside of the building from an apartment directly above his. Police said he was trying to land on his balcony when he fell, landing on the roof of an adjacent building far below. He was at first listed in critical condition but had improved Monday to a satisfactory condition. The New Zealand Herald newspaper identified the man as Tom Stilwell, a Briton in the country on a working holiday. Friend Dave Thomas told the paper Stilwell had suffered neck and back fractures, a broken wrist, and suspected internal injuries. Volt Apartment resident Geraldine Bautista told the paper that Stilwell knocked on her door on the 15th floor at about 2 a.m. She said he appeared to have been drinking but she wasn't fearful of him. "He just requested `Can you please let me jump off from the balcony? I will not bother you, just let me use your balcony,'" Bautista said. She said she never thought he would follow through. "In my mind I thought `OK, I'll just let you see that it's really impossible. I didn't think he'd jump, because it's really scary," Bautista told the paper. She said after she opened the door, he quickly walked through the apartment and climbed over the railing on the balcony. Bautista said she grabbed at his hand but he fell. "It happened so fast. It happened within seconds. I couldn't even scream for help. He was like a paper falling from here," she said. St. John Medical Director Dr. Tony Smith told the paper that surviving falls from such heights was "extraordinarily unusual" but that the roof of the low-rise building far below likely broke Stilwell's fall enough to save his life.

United Airlines Passenger Claims To Have 'Poisoned Everyone On Board' Flight: FBI

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:59 EEST

A flight from Hong Kong on which a man claimed everyone was poisoned landed safely Monday at Newark Liberty Airport, and the man was taken off the plane under a heavy police presence, <a href="http://www.newser.com/article/da6vlos00/hong-kong-flight-with-passenger-who-claimed-everybody-poisoned-lands-in-nj-police-greet-plane.html" target="_hplink">reports the AP</a>.

WATCH: Wendy's Customer Goes Crazy On Employee Over Cheeseburger

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:59 EEST

An apparent Wendy’s customer is the latest to jump on the suddenly fashionable trend of berating an employee for a perfectly human mistake (in this case, accidentally adding cheese to a hamburger). In a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FbnfRMZb4AM" target="_hplink">YouTube video</a> of the incident, first uploaded Saturday, the customer yells: “You sons of bitches…I want my money back!” “I’m losing my shit because this happened the past three times I’ve come,” he continues. “Please be competent once in your life!” (This all comes complete with a fist shake at an unseen employee.) In an email to The Huffington Post, Wendy’s spokesperson Denny Lynch called the event "an unfortunate situation." "We stress quality food and order accuracy in every restaurant," he added. "When we make a mistake, we try to fix it as quickly as possible. It appears the crew person apologized for the mistake and refunded the customer’s money." Wendy's could not confirm from where the video originated. The video is at least the second to surface this month of a customer ripping into a food-chain employee. A similarly out-of-line individual verbally attacked a Dunkin' Donuts employee because she <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/dunkin-donuts-yelling-video_n_3416787.html?utm_hp_ref=business" target="_hplink">didn’t receive a receipt with her order</a>. The donut chain <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/dunkin-donuts-employee-to-be-honored-_n_3428439.html" target="_hplink">last week announced it plans to officially recognize </a>the employee. (By the way, half of fast-food workers make less than $18,000 a year, according to Census Bureau figures cited by <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52211051#52211051" target="_hplink">NBC News</a>. So let's maybe not be so hard on them?) (h/t <a href="http://gawker.com/wendys-customer-loses-his-shit-after-finding-cheese-on-513796577" target="_hplink">Gawker</a>)

Couple Finds Ancient Skeleton In Backyard, May Have To Foot $5,000 Excavation Bill

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

A Canadian couple who unearthed the ancient skeleton of an aboriginal woman may also have to foot the thousands of dollars it cost to excavate the historical remains. At first, Ontario resident Ken Campbell thought the bones he dug up while putting in a new fence earlier in June <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/06/15/400yearold_skeleton_of_aboriginal_woman_found_in_sarnia_backyard_costs_couple_5000.html" target="_hplink">might be from an old animal skeleton.</a> But Campbell's wife, Nicole Sauve, wasn't so sure, according to the Toronto Star. “I said, ‘They’re not animal bones, Ken. Let’s dig some more and see what we can find,'" Sauve told the outlet. And she was right. The remains belonged to what researchers now believe was an aboriginal woman who died in the late 1500s or early 1600s around the age of 24, according to the Star. Local law enforcement authorities cordoned off the scene while <a href="http://www.theobserver.ca/2013/06/05/discovery-made-tuesday-in-point-edward" target="_hplink">a forensic anthropologist and local coroner were brought in to investigate remains</a> that have now been identified as a skull, femur and ribcage, according to The Observer. Local Registrar of Cemeteries Mike D’Mello told the Blackburn News that the woman, <a href="http://blackburnnews.com/sarnia/sarnia-news/2013/06/12/pt-edward-remains-moved/" target="_hplink">who may be a distant relative of the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation</a>, had been interred in a shallow "pit" grave, which is characteristic of aboriginal burials. While thrilled with the discovery, Campbell and Sauve said they may now have to pay for the expensive excavation of the remains, nicknamed "Sephira" by Sauve. Ontario's 2002 Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act dictates that <a href="http://www.theobserver.ca/2013/06/12/point-edward-homeowners-still-left-with-tab-for-archeological-assessment-and-reinterment" target="_hplink">property owners are responsible for the costs of such an assessment</a>, according to a follow-up by The Observer. “I'm devastated by it,” Sauve told The Observer of the revelation. “I did the right thing. I could have covered her back up.” The couple has appealed to local officials in an effort to avoid paying a bill estimated between <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/06/15/400yearold_skeleton_of_aboriginal_woman_found_in_sarnia_backyard_costs_couple_5000.html" target="_hplink">$5,000 and $7,500</a>, according to the Star. In the meantime, the bones, which Sauve originally wanted to keep, have been re-interred at a special First Nation cemetery following a traditional ceremony performed by members of the First Nation.

LOOK: Inside Tattoolapalooza

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

BY JIPSY, <a href="http://NEFARIOUSGIRL.COM" target="_hplink">NEFARIOUSGIRL.COM</a> The three-day TattooLaPalooza Miami was held over the weekend at the Hyatt Regency downtown, where skin art enthusiast gathered together to either get or give ink. The ink literally flowed during our visit Saturday night as contests, seminars, and live art took place. The sound of the tattoo machine is similar to the sound of a the drill at the dentist's, only here, it’s a welcomed and soothing hum. But there is still pain, no matter what you hear, and there are several ways to manage a needle puncturing your skin during a session. One is to close your eyes and meditate your pain away, or text your friends and concentrate on the conversation while there’s a needle carving into your skin. Then there are those who smile as one guy did when he was getting both legs inked by two separate artists. Some just get inked because it’s Tuesday and others need to make a whole history of the design down to selecting the artist. A name that keeps popping up is Boris Bianchi, who was busy working at the convention, while Tesoro Carolina just begun her apprenticeship under the skills of Society Ink and is planning on her first skin later this year. A memorable moment was finding Jessica Rivero, 28, getting her first tattoo with artist Louie G. from Fame Tattoos. “I always wanted one and never knew what, and my sister in-law had printed this and I thought it was pretty cool,” said Rivero, who decided to get her first tattoo right there and then. “We were walking by and saw all the work they had done and they have pretty good work, so here I am.” And just when I thought Father’s Day was just hanging with your old man BBQing and watching sports, there was one dad who spent his pre-Father’s Day with his kid at the convention -- only this 8- or 9-year-old boy was shirtless with some pretty good marker tattoos on his torso, created by his dad. It warmed my heart. -- JIPSY <HH--236SLIDEEXPAND--303489--HH>

WATCH: Australian Woman Develops French Accent After Car Crash

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

For the past eight years Leanne Rowe has spoken with a French accent. However, aside from studying French in school, the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national-news/woman-wakes-from-car-crash-with-french-accent/story-fncynjr2-1226665005509" target="_hplink">Australian woman does not speak French</a>. Rowe developed the <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/17/car-crash-leaves-australian-woman-speaking-with-french-accent/" target="_hplink">French accent after a car crash</a>, during which she suffered a broken back and jaw, the Agence France-Presse reports. Rowe's doctor believes it's a <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national-news/woman-wakes-from-car-crash-with-french-accent/story-fncynjr2-1226665005509" target="_hplink">symptom of a rare condition</a> called Foreign Accent Syndrome. Though her accident took place nearly a decade ago, Rowe is only now speaking out about the struggle of living with the condition. "It makes me so angry because I am Australian," she <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-16/tasmanian-woman-wakes-after-car-crash-speaks-with-a-french-accen/4757146" target="_hplink">told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation</a>. "I am not French, [though] I do not have anything against the French people." After her accident, Rowe woke up in the hospital. Doctors initially told her she was slurring her words because of medicine she had been given, but the slurs turned into an accent that sounded distinctively French. Foreign Accent Syndrome is rather uncommon -- there have <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/06/01/136824428/a-curious-case-of-foreign-accent-syndrome" target="_hplink">only been about 100 cases</a> since the <a href="http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2006/060815/f060815c/" target="_hplink">speech disorder was first reported in the 1940s</a> -- but it does crop up from time to time in cases of severe brain damage. In 2012, a 40-year-old British woman also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/debie-royston-french-accent-british-woman_n_1265687.html" target="_hplink">developed a French accent</a> after she suffered a seizure as a result of the flu. The syndrome has also spurred people to speak in accents characteristic of other languages. Another British woman, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/21/sarah-colwill-british-wom_n_545040.html" target="_hplink">Sarah Colwill, developed a Chinese accent</a> after she experienced extreme migraines. However, those with the syndrome, who <a href="http://news.discovery.com/human/woman-awakes-from-surgery-with-foreign-accent-syndrome-110603.htm" target="_hplink">mimic a particular accent</a>, may actually sound less like native speakers and more "like non-natives producing another culture’s take on a given language," according to Discovery News.

Ducks Cause Traffic Chaos

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

SHAWNIGAN LAKE, B.C. - Five of six drivers on a Vancouver Island highway did their best to avoid a family of ducklings — but the sixth motorist failed to dodge the clan trying to cross the road.Shawnigan Lake RCMP say the incident followed a multi-vehicle collision on Sunday afternoon as one car slammed into three others that had stopped to let the birds cross the Trans-Canada Highway safely, about 45 kilometres northwest of Victoria.A fifth car then swerved and hit the median, while the sixth vehicle, a grey Honda Accord, veered around the crumpled cars but struck the ducks and continued on.Officers eventually tracked the Honda after reports it was hitting pylons through a construction zone along the Malahat Highway, and the 47-year-old Saanich woman at the wheel is now being investigated for impaired driving.Police say it was the second incident in two days in which charges of drunk driving have been recommended after a car swerved to avoid an animal.On June 15, a 21-year-old woman skidded her car into a ditch while trying to avoid a dog, missing the animal but smashing her vehicle and slightly injuring two passengers.

The Sweetest Prank Ever

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

Pranks aren't usually described as sweet or romantic, but thanks to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MediocreFilms?feature=watch" target="_hplink">MediocreFilms</a>, we now know they totally can be. Check out the video above to see what happens when strangers are given a gift from a "secret admirer." <a href="http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2013/06/secret-admirer-prank.html" target="_hplink">Via Tastefully Offensive</a>

Fairfax 'Butt Slasher' Pleads Guilty To Cutting Women's Backsides

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

FAIRFAX, Va. -- A former day laborer has pleaded guilty to sneaking up on multiple women in northern Virginia and cutting their backsides with a razor blade or box cutter. Johnny Guillen Pimentel pleaded Monday in Fairfax County Circuit Court to two counts each of malicious wounding and unlawful wounding. The attacks occurred over several months in 2011. He was suspected of slashing nine different women at various retail outlets, including Tysons Corner Center. The Washington Post reports (<a href='http://wapo.st/11GHLx2'>http://wapo.st/11GHLx2</a>) that under a plea deal, five other counts were dropped. Neither prosecutors nor Guillen Pimentel's attorney gave any indication of why he carried out the attacks. He was arrested in January 2012 after fleeing to his native Peru. He faces up to seven years in prison at a Sept. 6 sentencing.

Why Weed Activists Fear This Guy

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:59 EEST

SEATTLE &mdash; For the activists who led the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow the marijuana reform movement across the country. With visionary zeal, the 45-year-old former Microsoft manager described his plans to a conference room packed with reporters and supporters last month, saying he was tired of waiting for a green light from the Obama administration, which still hasn't said how it will respond to the legalization of recreational pot in Washington and Colorado. Shively vowed to quickly raise $10 million and eventually build his company, Diego Pellicer, into an international pot powerhouse. Though he promised a "cautious and measured" expansion, Shively's approach nevertheless contrasted with that of state regulators who want to avoid repeating the national experience with Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol, industries that profited wildly on addiction and abuse. Mark Kleiman, who heads the team hired to be Washington's official marijuana consultant, responded on his blog: "It was inevitable that the legalization of cannabis would attract a certain number of insensate greedheads to the industry." Shively's ambitions &ndash; "We are Big Marijuana," he proclaimed &ndash; don't merely raise questions about what marijuana legalization might look like in the long run and whether large corporations will come to dominate. He also risks getting himself indicted. The Justice Department has said while it doesn't intend to prosecute sick people for using marijuana, it will go after those who try to get rich from commercial sales. It hasn't said yet whether it will sue to block Washington and Colorado from licensing pot growers, processors and stores. The legalization votes in Washington and Colorado have created a fever for cannabis-related investing, to an extent. Conferences have focused on the parameters for legally investing in "ancillary businesses" &ndash; those that supply equipment needed by pot grows, for example &ndash; without financing the actual production or distribution of marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law. Shively isn't skirting the edges of the nascent industry, but diving right in, in a way that few other entrepreneurs are. Some companies that make high-end marijuana-infused products, such as Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs, are planning to make their brands available in other states, but it's not clear anyone else is taking steps to create a pot empire. "Developing a national brand in an industry in which it is illegal to move the core product across state lines presents some serious logistical challenges," said Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Diego Pellicer's business plan estimates $120,000 of pure profit per month, per recreational pot store. Shively said he plans dozens of stores in Washington and Colorado, earning his company the "Starbucks of Pot" nickname. At the May 30 news conference, Shively announced Diego's first corporate deal &ndash; an arrangement with a Seattle medical marijuana company called the Northwest Patient Resource Center. He said Diego would be starting in the medical marijuana market in Washington and Colorado, and then transitioning some dispensaries to recreational pot stores once the states begin issuing licenses. Shively said the arrangement was "not in violation of either federal or state law," but it was troubling enough to one of the dispensary company owners that he's walking away from the deal &ndash; and the company he helped found &ndash; because he fears it puts everyone involved at risk of federal prosecution. "I'm not an activist. I'm just a businessman," said the part-owner, Thomas Jun, a 42-year-old father of three. "I can't afford to do any federal time." According to Shively, Diego Pellicer has acquired the option to buy Northwest Patient Resource Center, but does not actually own it. That's what gives Diego Pellicer some protection and allows it to position itself for the time when more states legalize pot and Congress changes federal laws, he said. No marijuana will be moved interstate. "We don't touch cannabis. We don't have ownership of cannabis," he said. "It's not a perfect insulation or buffer, but it's the best possible mechanism that we can come up with." Through his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, Jun provided the AP with internal company documents, including a draft of the $1.6 million agreement dated May 30. The deal directs monthly payments of up to $50,000 from Diego be used to "to further develop and enhance NWPRC's customer locations and to otherwise grow its business as currently conducted." Former federal prosecutors say that could be seen as a conspiracy to violate federal law. "It certainly would make me nervous to be involved in anything like this," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School-Los Angeles and a former assistant U.S. attorney. Shively called the draft provided to AP "an obsolete document," but declined to provide further details. He also declined to discuss a $10,000 check he wrote to the dispensary company May 27. The deal highlights the tension between the varying degrees of acceptance of marijuana by the states and the outright prohibition by the federal government, which makes banking and other business functions problematic. For example, beyond the growing and sale of marijuana constituting federal crimes, the movement of money related to marijuana sales likely constitutes money laundering. Dixie Elixirs won't be directly involved in the growing, processing or sale of pot in multiple states, said Tripp Keber, its managing director. Instead, it will license its technical know-how and recipes to people in Washington or elsewhere who want to produce products under the Dixie Elixirs brand &ndash; and try to avoid the attention of federal prosecutors by adhering to state laws. "Big public federal indictments are going to do the industry a disservice," Keber said. If Shively's model is endorsed by the regulators writing rules for Washington's pot industry, "then we would be increasing the risk of intervention by the federal government," said Alison Holcomb, the Seattle lawyer who drafted Washington's law. Shively said investors are advised that the company and those involved could face federal prosecution. A copy of Diego's business plan includes 11 bullet points listing risks the company faces. None specifically suggests those involved could be prosecuted. ____ Johnson can be reached at <a href="https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle">https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle</a>