No fine for woman who returned library book nearly 68 years late

A woman has returned a book she borrowed from a library in Auckland, New Zealand, nearly 68 years after it was due back. The book, A.W. Reed's Myths and Legends of Maoriland, was borrowed from Epsom Library in 1948 and was due to be returned on December 17 that year. Epsom Librarian Zoe Cornelius said the woman came in on Thursday afternoon to return the book and chat with staff.
"She told me she was an Epsom Library member as a child, but they moved away and she accidentally took this book with her." The woman was in the city to visit family and took the opportunity to give it back. "She's had it for years and always been thinking she wanted to get it back to us, and was never able to do so," Cornelius said. The woman told library staff she got Myths and Legends out as a child, and was now a grandmother.
She had read the book a number of times over the years she had it. Cornelius said it wasn't uncommon to have books returned after several years, but this was the oldest overdue book she'd seen. "It was fantastic, though, that she could bring it back for us and tell us about it. I just got such a thrill out of it." The due date slip inside the back cover clearly states the borrower will be fined "at the rate of three-pence for the first week or part thereof, and one-penny per day thereafter".
According to those terms, the woman would be fined 102.50 pounds for the 24,604 days it was overdue. Converted to todays money and adjusted for inflation (using the Reserve Bank's online inflation calculator), that's a $7,321.43 fine. But she would be fined even more by today's standards. These days Auckland Libraries fines members a flat $1 for each day a book is overdue, making the woman's debt $24,604.00. However, Cornelius said the woman would "definitely not" be fined. "Of course she would have been a child at that time as well, and we don't charge our kids fines," she said.
There's a video here.

Indian state threatens to jail people who cook between 9am and 6pm

In the scorching summer, fires in the northern Indian state of Bihar have killed 66 people and 1,200 animals in the past two weeks. The state government has come up with an unusual solution - no cooking.

Cooking will not be allowed in villages between 9am and 6pm during the summer and those who violate the order can be jailed for up to two years. Religious functions involving fire have also been banned. The Nitish Kumar government's logic is that heavy winds are picking up sparks from cooking fires and igniting straw huts.
The latest incident took place in the Begusarai district two days ago, when over 300 huts were burnt. "The point is that hundreds of lives are at risk. The order has only been given after a detailed survey on just how the fires started. The jail term is based on a law on disaster management," says Vyasji, the Bihar government official in charge of handling disasters.

YouTube link.

At a village in Bihar's Jehanabad, Satender Bind, who lost his hut in a recent fire, says: "It sounds fine but I wonder how many people will follow it. There are practical difficulties. But yes... I did lose my home in a fire and it started from someone's cooking." Policemen at the village say enforcing such an order is difficult but the threat of punishment may spur villagers to follow it on their own.

Montana newspaper exposes hilarious ‘facts’ on display at creationist museum

Montana newspaper exposes hilarious ‘facts’ on display at creationist museum

Dinosaurs rode the ark with Noah. People lived 10 times longer in Biblical times because the Earth’s atmosphere had more oxygen then. These are just a few of the wrong-headed “facts” on display at The Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum.

Creativity thrives in the mind of a psychopath

Creativity thrives in the mind of a psychopath

What happened to good American jobs?

What happened to good American jobs?

Does the First Amendment Justify Corruption?

Does the First Amendment Justify Corruption?

University of Utah honors hate group member ...

University of Utah honors hate group member–but gets busted scrubbing her bio

Lynette Nielsen Gay is described as a philanthropist by the university, which lists a variety of organizations that she has either founded, or for those where she serves on the Board of Directors

5-year-old dead and brother badly injured in abuse case so horrific that cops needed counseling

5-year-old dead and brother badly injured in abuse case so horrific that cops needed counseling

A 5-year-old boy died and his 6-year-old brother remains hospitalized after their mother and two other women brutally beat them for stealing food.

Killer of Alabama bisexual teen was having affair with victim and his mom

Killer of Alabama bisexual teen was having affair with victim and his mom: police

Joshua Adam Reese is accused of killing Nicholas Hawkins and dumping his body in a wooded area in mid February.

Nashville DA: Anti-trans ‘bathroom bills’ are wrong ...

Nashville DA: Anti-trans ‘bathroom bills’ are wrong — sex predators are overwhelmingly ‘straight’ men

Texas man smashed martini glass into woman’s face after she told him to stop ‘grinding’ on her

Texas man smashed martini glass into woman’s face after she told him to stop ‘grinding’ on her

Christopher Taber Depolo, 29, of Austin, was arrested after he “grinded” up against a woman then shattered a glass on her face when she tried to make him stop.

Woman amused after being given 'sex ticket' by man in a van

A young woman says she could do nothing but laugh when she received a bizarre “sex ticket” from a man in Bexleyheath, south east London,. Nikola McMillan, 22, from Bexleyheath, was shopping with her mum and daughter in Broadway on Tuesday when a man in a van called her over. After she was handed what she first thought was a leaflet, she showed her mother and the pair burst out laughing.
Miss McMillan said: “I thought it was a leaflet for his business or something because he was in a work van. He literally called me over and gave me the sex ticket, rolled up his window and then looked in the other direction.” The mother-of-one has seen the funny side of the “sex ticket”.
She added: “My mum and I read through it and started laughing – something like this has never happened to me before. My sister phoned the number on the card to see who would answer and she said it sounded like an old man.”

Pennsylvania woman responds with racial slurs after neighbors complain about her ‘loud sex’

Pennsylvania woman responds with racial slurs after neighbors complain about her ‘loud sex’

Amanda Marie Warfel was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and one count of harassment after the neighbors complained about the racist abuse.

Owners of LA vegan restaurant get deaths threats for eating meat at home

‘The fucking irony!’: Owners of LA vegan restaurant get deaths threats for eating meat at home

Cafe Gratitude owners Terces Engelhart and husband Matthew are under attack based upon an admission they made on their blog a year ago.

NC couple arrested for waving gun in restaurant after employees get chicken wing order wrong

NC couple arrested for waving gun in restaurant after employees get chicken wing order wrong

Clarissa Gagum and her husband, Rasheem Gagum, both 24, were both taken into custody on Thursday after Clarissa became angry that her order was wrong at FU Wangz in Wilmington.

Harriet Tubman Isn't the Only New Woman to Grace U.S. Currency

Harriet Tubman Isn't the Only New Woman to Grace U.S. Currency: Here Are the Other 7

1,300 Lbs Roman Coins Found in Spain

1,300 Lbs Roman Coins Found in Spain

The invaluable cache of coins was found by construction workers who were carrying out routine work on water pipes in southern Spain.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

313		Licinius unifies the whole of the eastern Roman Empire under his own rule.
1250		King Louis IX of France is ransomed.
1527		Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France sign the Treaty of Westminster.
1563		All Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI.
1725		Spain withdraws from the Quadruple Alliance.
1789		George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president.
1803		The United States doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase, which was sold by France for $15 million.
1812		Louisiana is admitted into the Union as a state.
1849		Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian patriot and guerrilla leader, repulses a French attack on Rome.
1864		Work begins on the Dams along the Red River, which will allow Union General Nathaniel Banks‘ troops to sail over the rapids above Alexandria, Louisiana.
1930		The Soviet Union proposes a military alliance with France and Great Britain.
1931		The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opens.
1943		The British submarine HMS Seraph drops ‘the man who never was,’ a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans, into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain.
1945		Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. Karl Donitz becomes his successor.
1968		U.S. Marines attack a division of North Vietnamese troops in the village of Dai Do.
1970		U.S. troops invade Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas.
1972		The North Vietnamese launch an invasion of the South.
1973		Nixon announces the resignation of Harry Robbins Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and other top aides.
1975		North Vietnamese troops enter the Independence Palace of South Vietnam in Saigon ending the Vietnam War.
1980		Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London.

Kennewick Man to Receive Native American Burial

Kennewick Man to Receive Native American Burial

The decision was based upon review and analysis of new information, in particular a DNA study and skeletal analyses published last year.

Spirituality Via A.I.

Monk Robot Offers Spirituality Via A.I.

Xian’er was developed last year as part of a collaboration between a dozen Chinese technology, culture and investment companies.

Looking Old

This Gene Makes You Look Old

Variations in a single gene appear to play a major role in how old we look.

Man ordered to remove zombie statue from his yard

A man from south Nashville, Tennessee, says that his homeowners association is ordering him to remove a statue of a zombie from his front yard. Jim Grinstead has lived in his home near Percy Priest Lake for nearly 10 years and says the zombie he and his wife call “Clawed” has been in his yard for five of those years.

He was surprised when he recently received a letter from the homeowners association ordering him to get rid of the statue. The first sentence of the letter says: “During a recent inspection of the community on April 19, 2016, it was noted that there is a zombie in your yard that needs to be removed.”
Grinstead says his family has a specific sense of humor that makes Clawed a perfect fit for their home. "I don't own guns, but I have a zombie, so it's my personal choice of defense system." Grinstead joked. The letter caught Grinstead off-guard because no neighbors had ever complained about Clawed, and Grinstead believes this is a homeowners association going overboard.

YouTube link.

"I don't have the freedom to pick what I want in my yard because somebody wants to read the rules so strictly that it can't allow for individuality? That's a shame." Grinstead said. As of Tuesday afternoon, Clawed remained in the front yard, but Grinstead knows he'll have to claw his way somewhere else. "To know that he's gonna have to go is like losing a family member, you know? It's disturbing." Grinstead said, adding that he had decided to move Clawed by the end of the week to avoid retribution from the homeowners association.

Uncovering the stupidity of the latest anti-millennial rant

Uncovering the stupidity of the latest anti-millennial rant

If you were born between 1985 and 1996, Texan Alexis Bloomer believes you’re a whiny, lazy and entitled pain in the ass.

Inside the bizarre world of Mormon porn ...

Inside the bizarre world of Mormon porn — which is freaking out the cult and Utah wingnuts

Utah has declared pornography to be a “public health crisis.” But it isn’t because of Mormon porn addiction -- it’s because of porn usage.

Teabagger ‘Christian’ Threatens To Rape A Disabled Child Because Her Parents Are ‘Godless Fags’...

WOW!

'Christian family values' strike again.

Gregory Kirschmann is a bible-thumping teabagger who believes that the 'holy' lies are law above all else. As a “peaceful christian,” he hates atheism, gay marriage and all those who think or believe differently from him with such passion that he is willing to threaten a child with Down’s Syndrome because one of her parents dared to do the unthinkable:

Cathy Harris ‎@woundedchristn

Greg Kirschmann angry w/ my friend 4 confronting clergy sex abuse. He threatens to rape her Down's Syndrome child

That’s right, godless limey fags, the crime of confronting sexual abuse by the clergy comes with the punishment of sexual abuse of your children, even if those children have Down’s Syndrome.

More

Oklahoma court rules that forced oral sex is not rape ...

Oklahoma court rules that forced oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious from drinking

“There was absolutely no evidence of force or him doing anything to make this girl give him oral sex,” said the defendant's attorney, Shannon McMurray. “Other than she was too intoxicated to consent.”

Bigoted Cops Shove Lesbian Out Of Women’s Bathroom Because She Looks Like A Man

Bigoted Cops Shove Lesbian Out Of Women’s Bathroom Because She Looks Like A Man

The hopes and dreams of millions of bigots finally came true when three cops on a power trip confronted a lesbian in a public restroom and shoved her outside. Why? Because they “thought” she was a guy

Media Outlets Are Reporting 1 Million People Are Boycotting Target

Media Outlets Are Reporting 1 Million People Are Boycotting Target. Here’s The Truth.

Woman who fell through ceiling of store recalls being in ceiling but not how she got up there

Police say a woman was arrested last week after she broke into a Big Lots store in Springfield, Missouri, climbed into the ceiling and then came crashing down to the floor.

Amanda L. Chandler, 30, was charged on Thursday with second-degree burglary after police say they found her rummaging through the cash register at Big Lots in the middle of the night. According to a probable cause statement, police were dispatched to the store just after 2am on Thursday because the alarm was going off.
The responding officer noticed a window was broken out near the entrance of the business. The officer saw a woman, later identified as Chandler, standing toward the front of the business looking through a cash register. The officer shone a flashlight at Chandler, and she ducked down and then ran to the back of the business.
Once she reached the back of the business Chandler climbed into the ceiling in a back storage area. Chandler then fell through the ceiling in the women's restroom. The officer arrested Chandler after the fall and transported her to the Greene County Jail. While at the jail, Chandler allegedly told a detective with the Springfield Police Department she remembered being in the ceiling but she did not remember how she got there. Chandler is being held in the Greene County Jail on $15,000 bond.

Postal worker accused of delivering mail while drunk

Police in Minnetonka, Minnesota, have credited an alert motorist for putting them onto a suspected drunk driver last Friday who was delivering mail. It was a tip from another motorist that aroused suspicion of the possible drunk driver. “It was a US Postal Service vehicle,” said Minnetonka Police Chief Jeff Sebenaler.

“This was a person out delivering mail.” The chief identified the driver as 59-year-old Mary Elizabeth Sweet, a two-year post office employee. She was on her mail route in Minnetonka shortly before 11:30am when the alert tipster saw her nearly clip another car. The driver kept following Sweet and dialed 911 to report her erratic driving.
“They actually watched the vehicle strike a stop sign and then police arrived shortly after,” Sebenaler said. The chief said that Sweet was arrested when her mail delivery truck was stopped. She was charged with a third-degree gross misdemeanor for failure to consent and a fourth-degree misdemeanor for driving under the influence. A preliminary breath test registered a 0.297 reading - more than three times the legal blood alcohol limit.

YouTube link.

She was arrested and her mail delivery completed by other employees, a US Postal Service spokesperson said. Sebenaler says that daytime impaired driving arrests are increasing. That’s why he’s thankful that an alert motorist called in the unexpected vehicle. Sweet was released from custody on Monday. A postal service spokesman says that Sweet has been placed on non-duty status, meaning she’ll be off the route pending the outcome of the investigation.

Naked man allegedly caught pleasuring himself in truck while broadcasting live on the internet

A 26-year-old man from Nampa, Idaho, is accused of pleasuring himself while parked in a truck and broadcasting the acts over the internet in the nude.

Earlier this month, Boise Police received an anonymous tip about lewd conduct occurring at the Boise Town Square Mall. Officers investigated the call, and were able to identify the suspect and determine that he would be back in the area.
Police tracked down the suspect in a Nampa parking lot and say he was "completely nude, involved in sexually explicit acts with himself" and was "broadcasting live over the internet." Police arrested the man, identified as Daniel J. Mena, and charged him with disorderly conduct.
"The idea that these types of acts were going on in a public place, open to the view of any passer-by's is something we take very seriously. The possibility that our residents, including children, might have been exposed to this lewd behavior is disturbing," said Sergeant Tim Riha of Nampa Police Department. Mena is being held in the Canyon County Jail.

Man dressed in panda onesie shot by police after threatening to blow up Baltimore TV station

Man dressed in panda onesie shot by police after threatening to blow up Baltimore TV station

Earth Gets Greener as Globe Gets Hotter

Earth Gets Greener as Globe Gets Hotter

Carbon dioxide emissions are fueling more verdant landscapes around the globe, but the potentially temporary greening doesn't mean global warming is good.

Man bitten on penis by deadly redback spider while using portable toilet

An Australian man has taken himself to hospital after a venomous redback spider bit him on the penis. The tradesman was using a portable toilet on a Sydney building site on Wednesday morning when he was bitten. A spokesperson for St George Hospital confirmed that a 21-year-old man was treated for a redback bite.
The redback spider, closely related to the black widow spider, is distinguished by a long red stripe on its abdomen. The spider's bite causes severe pain, sweating and nausea.
The owners of the property confirmed that the man had been bitten on the penis. He was later discharged from hospital in a stable condition. Although there are recorded cases of deaths from redback bites, none have occurred since the development of antivenom in 1956.

Animal News

Half the World's Farmed Fish May Be Hard of Hearing

An ear bone deformity has left an estimated half of the world’s farmed fish with hearing loss, which impacts their balance as well as hearing.

Endangered Flightless Parrot Sees Baby Boom

The kakapo, the heaviest parrot in the world, has seen an unprecedented bumper crop of babies.

Snoring Lizards Reveal Sleep Predates Dinosaurs

Sleep patterns like REM and SWS evolved in a common animal ancestor more than 300 million years ago.

Dolphin Freed from Aquarium Seen Years Later with Baby

A bottlenose dolphin released from captivity three years ago has been spotted with a calf in waters off South Korea.

Hyena Ate Early Human 500,000 Years Ago

Humans were both hunters and the hunted 500,000 years ago, suggests the gory remains of one unfortunate individual. 

Peacocks Shake Booty to Mesmerize Onlookers

A male peacock undulate its tail feathers in such a way that the 'eyes' of the feathers remain still and can mesmerize captivated females.

Animal Pictures