The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth. Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.
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Henry of Anjou becomes the first elected king of Poland.
1689
French and English navies battle at Bantry Bay.
1690
In the first major engagement of King William’s War, British troops from Massachusetts seize Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) from the French.
1745
French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
1792
The Columbia River is discovered by Captain Robert Gray.
1812
British Prime Minster Spencer Perceval is shot by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons.
1857
Indian mutineers seize Delhi.
1858
Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
1860
Giuseppe Garibaldi lands at Marsala, Sicily.
1862
Confederates scuttle the CSS Virginia off Norfolk, Virginia.
1864
Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern.
1960
Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
1967
The Siege of Khe Sanh ends, the base is still in American hands.
As summer time approaches, one business in Owensboro, Kentucky, is starting a new policy. No more sweaty money will be accepted.
Management at Tobacco Road say that sometimes customers reach into their shoe, sock, or bra and hand over sweaty bills.
“Some of them like to bring me some soggy money," Cindy Collins, Tobacco
Road manager, said. "They dig deep into their not 'so called pocket's
to bring me some nasty money that we don't want to accept anymore."
Management recently placed a sign on the door that says cashiers will no longer be accepting boob or sock money.
Collins says most customers pay the traditional way by pulling bills
out of purses and wallets, but from now on the ones who don't will be
turned away.
"Money is nasty anyway, but we don't want to accept money that's sweaty
or normally in places you wouldn't put money at,” said Collins.
Collins says most customers are having a good laugh when they read the
new policy. The store has seen an increase in business since the new
policy has been put in place.
The orchestra students at Miami Coral Reef High School in Florida
recently left judges in tears and audience members inspired.
The school's concert orchestra was performing in Tampa for the Florida
State Music Program Assessment when the power suddenly went out just
minutes into the group's first number.
Incredibly, instead of stopping, the orchestra continued playing.
And playing.
People in the audience, along with the backstage crew, took out their cellphones to light the room while the students played on.
Neither a beat or note was missed.
When the orchestra finished the emotional Serenade Triste over seven minutes later, the audience cheered wildly.
It was then that the auditorium was evacuated and the group was not able to perform its second piece.
Dr. Lee Stone, Coral Reef's Director of Orchestras, said afterwards that
two of the panel's four judges were moved to tears.
The University of Iowa judge shared his feelings on his comments sheet.
"You totally inspired me! I'm in love with the wonderful spirit of Coral
reef HS Orchestra! 'Serenade Triste' is my new favorite tune. I cried
in the dark as you performed w/ heart."
And he wasn't alone.
"Just saw the most amazing thing-lights went out in the middle of the
Coral Reef performance of Serenade Triste," the University of North
Carolina judge said. "The Florida State MPA-kids kept playing-audience
members took phone flashlights on stage so they could play the EIGHT
minutes of the piece-and, the crowd went wild!"
Not surprisingly, the Coral Reef concert orchestra received a
much-deserved superior rating.
"Your young men and women truly went above and beyond all expectations
in performance, deportment, and courage." Stone wrote in an email to
school parents.
Daniel D’Aloisio from Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, says he’s being
“strong armed” by the government to change his personalized license
plate, which reads VI6SIX.
Late last month, the 42-year-old received a letter from the Ministry of
Transportation notifying him he has 30 days to turn in the offending tag
or face cancellation because it’s considered inappropriate under the
ministry’s “Religion” criteria.
“Any combination that could be perceived by the general public as
religious subject matter, messaging or meaning is not permitted,” reads
the letter, presumably connecting the figures on the plate to 666, the “number of the beast” as
described in the bible’s book of revelation.
But according to D’Aloisio, nothing could be further from the truth. He
said he had the plate punched 15 years ago as a memorial to his father,
who died of cancer, and their shared love of hockey.
He said he never had a problem with the custom tag until this March,
when he opened a letter from ServiceOntario informing him that the
Ministry of Transportation had received a complaint about his plate and
that it was under review.
“Since license plates are the property of the Crown and are issued by
the ministry, and they are constantly in the public eye, the ministry
must avoid giving the impression that it is prepared to offend some
people at the request of others,” reads the letter signed by Joy
Armstrong, manager of products and services office for ServiceOntario.
D’Aloisio was invited to submit a written explanation of his choice,
which he readily did, hoping the government would understand.
“It was a combination of what I wanted to say about Mario Lemieux, the
six Stanley Cups I shared with my dad and all the people in my family,”
he said.
D’Aloisio said he spent a lot of time deciding what characters to
include on the plate, explaining that he and his dad were big fans of
the Pittsburgh Penguins center and that they had watched the Montreal
Canadiens win six Stanley Cups before his dad died.
He said VI is short for “vie,” which means life in French, and added
that years ago, when he picked out the plate, he intentionally kept it
to six figures because there were six members in his family.
He says he’s been questioned about the vanity plate over the years, but
added he’s always happy to explain the symbolism when asked.
“I even got pulled over and a cop asked me about it, and I explained
about Lemieux coming back from cancer and the Stanley Cups. He actually
said, ‘Oh, hey, that’s a cool plate, man,’” said D’Aloisio.
On April 27, D’Aloisio received another letter from the Ministry of
Transportation informing him that his explanation had been considered
but rejected.
He was told to turn in his plates.
“I’m Roman catholic myself, I go to cult, I was married in a cult,
my son was baptized in a cult,” he said, explaining that he in no way
worships the devil. “Every day I wear a cross on my neck that was my
dad’s before he died.”
Anne-Marie Flanagan, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Government and
Consumer Services, said recalling plates is a “very complicated”
process.
“Each complaint is reviewed by the Personalized License Plate Review
Committee, and that’s comprised of multiple levels of reviewers,” she
said. “Each level must vote in favor of recalling the plate in order
for the complaint to be escalated to the next level.”
Factors including government criteria and past decisions are considered
before a plate is recalled, she added.
Flanagan said only one written complaint is needed to launch the recall
process but added that in this case, the ministry may have a potential, personalized solution.
“We have an alternate license plate combination that we think would meet
the customer’s rationale and also meet the established criteria for
combinations.”
But D’Aloisio said he’d rather pay for a new plate and hang his custom
tag up in the garage than change something that means so much to him.
“I’m not a young punk trying to rebel. It’s just a memorial,” he said.
“I don’t want trouble. The plate is just something I worked hard on, so
this has been disheartening.”
Incest sparks strong emotions – and today,
in many cultures at least, they are largely negative. But has it always
been thus? Or is the taboo peculiar to certain times and places?
“A simple Google search would have shown
that Fr. Ken is potentially dangerous and should never be given any
position or title that confers respect, much less gives him access to
vulnerable people.”
Bryan also demanded that the mayors no
longer honor votes cast by anyone who is homosexual, Muslim, socialist,
communist, atheist, or anyone who worships a dog other than jesus christ.
When officers arrived they discovered Pedro
Gomez inside his apartment with several gunshot wounds. He was dead,
according to an Arizona Republic report.
A woman from Christchurch, New Zealand, has had to get rid of her
"bleating goat" to avoid a fine for excessive noise.
Jody Cartwright's goat Merrywether, who was just three months old when
she bought him in January, is an unusual addition to the list of noise
complaints made to the Christchurch City Council this year.
Cartwright had Merrywether at her house for only a month when she started receiving noise complaints in February.
"I had a goat when I was young and thought the dog could do with a companion – turns out that didn't work out so well."
She tried to take Merrywether on more walks so he would sleep longer but "he just wanted to be around people".
The company of her dog, Tanto, and cat, Dingo, was not enough to stop his bleating.
"If it was me coming home or mum coming up the drive, he would bleat for attention."
Christchurch City Council rules stated a noise control officer would
visit a home after a noise complaint was received to assess the noise
for volume, tone and duration.
Cartwright was issued an Excessive Noise Direction and a month to rehome
Merrywether to avoid paying a fine of $500.
She has now found a new home for Merrywether in rural Ashburton, where
he had better facilities and is settling in well.