Weird News Files

PLEASANTVILLE, N.J., — A Pleasantville, N.J., family said their pet dachshund, which went missing nearly five years ago, has been found by a Pittsburgh animal shelter. Edna, 18, said her mother, Elda Arguello, received a letter from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania informing her that the male dachshund, named Tootsie, was found as a stray in Pittsburgh. The shelter tracked a microchip implanted in the animal back to Arguello and her family, WPVI-TV, Philadelphia, reported Monday.

Colon said several members of the family planned to travel to Harrisburg, Pa., for a reunion with their long-lost pet, who was about 6 months old when he went missing from Arguello’s yard nearly five years ago.

“We appreciate the Animal Rescue League. If not for them and the microchip, we would never have seen Tootsie again. Because (the Animal Rescue League) understands animal lovers, they did all that they could to find us. We are so thankful to (the organization) and their work to get Tootsie back to our family,” Colon said.

Source: UPI Link filed under Weird U.S. News

AC/DC’s Highway to Hell is one of the most requested funeral tunes in Australia.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead from the Wizard of Oz, and Another One Bites the Dust by Queen are also popular.

Funeral managers at Centennial Park, the largest cemetery and crematorium in Adelaide, said only two hymns still rank among its top 10 most popular funeral songs: Amazing Grace and Abide With Me.

Highway to Hell, which includes the line: “Going down, party time; My friends are gonna be there too”, is just outside the top ten, with Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

Leading the funeral chart is crooner Frank Sinatra’s classic hit My Way followed by Louis Armstrong’s version of Wonderful World.

“Some of the more unusual songs we hear actually work very well within the service because they represent the person’s character,” Centennial Park chief executive Bryan Elliott said.

Among other less conventional choices were Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python, Hit the Road Jack, and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.

Source: Ananova Link   filed under Weird World News

A Malaysian couple have been beaten to death by four close family members in a ritual apparently intended to help one of them stop smoking, police have said. 

They reportedly smashed the husband and wife’s heads on a table, and beat them with broomsticks and motorbike helmets at a house in Kuala Lumpur. 

The couple’s 14-year-old daughter was also injured and taken to hospital. 

One of the couple’s sons and three other relatives remain in custody. Four others have been released, police said. 

Ku Chin Wah, the head of the police crime investigation department in the capital, said the attack had taken place when Mohamed Ibrahim Kader Mydin, 47, and his wife, Rosina Mydin Pillay, 41, visited their family on Thursday. 

The gathering was part of celebrations to mark the end of fasting during the Muslim month of Ramadan. 

Mohamed Ibrahim was seeking help to stop his smoking habit, while his wife was suffering from asthma and a liver ailment, Mr Ku said. 

“Following this, a 23-year-old male relative suggested that the couple undergo a ritual which involved all family members joining forces to beat up the couple to rid them of their ailments,” he told Malaysia’s official Bernama news agency. 

An ambulance was called but not for hours after the beatings, and neither the husband or the wife regained consciousness, he added. 

Several other members of the family, including the couple’s children, aged 14, 19 and 21, also suffered injuries in the incident, Bernama reported.

Source: BBC News Link  filed under Weird World News

PORT CHARLOTTE, FL. – A Port Charlotte man was released from its County Jail at 6:30 a.m. this morning and arrested a short time later after he was caught burglarizing a vehicle and “carhopping” in the jail parking lots.

28-year-old Bryan David Dudenhefer was first arrested Wednesday shortly after 10:00 p.m. and charged with Burglary, and Possession of Burglary Tools for breaking into the Army-Navy Fashion Store in Port Charlotte. Deputies found him outside the store next to a broken window. They found a bag with a brick inside the window and broken glass in his shoes.

After posting bond this morning, Dedenhefer was observed by a Corrections Deputy checking car doors in the jail parking lot and appeared trying to locate an unlocked vehicle. The deputy contacted another deputy in the jail and when they came out they saw Dedenhefer get into a Ford F-150 pickup truck in the parking lot next to the jail. The deputies told Dedenhefer to get out of the truck but he refused several times; deputies then physically removed him.

When road deputies arrived, Dedenhefer admitted to looking for unlocked vehicles in the parking lots. He stated he could not find his wife so he looked for an unlocked vehicle with a cell phone inside so he could call his wife to pick him up from jail after he was released. He also said he could not find an unlocked vehicle in the jail parking lot so he went next door to the Public Safety Building and found the unlocked pickup. He said he searched the truck for a cell phone but couldn’t find one.

Dedenhefer was taken back inside the County Jail on the new charges. His bond on the new charges was set at $3,500.

Source: ABCNews  Link  filed under Weird US News

NEW YORK ― A former Verizon phone technician racked up $220,000 in phone-sex calls by tapping into the land lines of nearly 950 customers, authorities charged on Tuesday.

Joseph Vaccarelli, 45, of Nutley, New Jersey, made approximately 5,000 calls, resulting in 45,000 minutes of call time, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said in a news release.

Vaccarelli placed the calls in about 30 municipalities in Bergen County, according to the release.

Verizon estimated that out of a 40-week period, Vaccarelli spent 15 weeks talking on 900 chat lines, authorities alleged.

Vaccarelli was charged with theft by deception and theft of services.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Central Municipal Court.

Source: CBSNews Link Filed under Weird Sex News

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When it comes to securing the homeland, who better to help you sleep at night than various characters from the popular children’s show, “Sesame Street” … ?!?

Seriously.

In a move that will make Bush administration detractors bring back those duct tape jokes again, the Department of Homeland Security has partnered up with the famous children’s show.

“We all want our children to feel safe in this world,” said Meryl Chertoff, wife of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, at a ceremony held at the John Tyler Elementary School to announce the partnership. ”And who better to do that than our Sesame Street friends, Grover and Rosita!”

“I always knew that [Mr. and Mrs. Chertoff] would be big muppet Muppett supporters!” said Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell.

As you can imagine, the partnership is aimed at children, and seeks to encourage family preparedness plans in the case of emergencies.

“Family preparedness is the cornerstone of personal and community readiness,” said Secretary Chertoff in a statement (he was scheduled to attend the event, but has been busy handling the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas). “And we could not be more pleased to team up with Sesame Workshop.”

But perhaps Grover puts it best in his introductory remarks, published in a pamphlet titled, “Let’s Get Ready!”

“I, your furry, blue friend Grover, have a story to share. Are you wondering what it is about? I will give you an itty-bitty hint: It is about getting ready for emergencies! Oh boy, that was a big hint. Do you want to get ready, too? You do? Oh, I am so pleased. Then read this story with me, and let us get ready together!”

Source: DC Examiner Link Filed under Weird US News

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