December 31, 2005

Airliner Dumps Drunk on Desert Island: The pilot of a Monarch Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing on the tiny Portuguese island of Porto Santo when a drunken passenger refused to calm down. The liquored-up man was then escorted off the plane and given his luggage. The island, which is a two-hour ferry ride away from the nearest major airport on Madeira, is famous for its almost complete absence of vegetation. The incident occured on a flight from Manchester, England, to Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands. After spending 36 hours on the island, population 5,000, the man finally managed to book a seat on a German charter flight to the Canary Islands.
Full story→(The Australian: The Times)

December 30, 2005

Stomach Ache Turns Into Baby: Helen Smitham, 25, of Distington in northwest England, rushed to the hospital thinking that she had gotten food poisoning from a kebab. She then gave birth to 4 pound 11 ounce (2.1kg) baby boy. "I had absolutely no idea," a stunned Ms. Smitham said. Mark Askew, 41, her boyfriend, was also in total shock when he got the phone call. Their baby son Deaton was born on December 24. ...talk about a surprise Christmas gift!
Full story→(The Australian: AFP)

Dead Man Comes Back To Life: Manuel Lino, a 95 year-old man, was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Portuguese town of Abrantes on December 1. "With great pain we left him there and returned home where we started preparing the funeral," Mr Lino's stepson-in-law, Joao Baco said. It was discovered that Manuel was still alive when he was heard coughing in the hospital morgue. The once dead man was released on December 7 and went on to spend Christmas with his family. The hospital has "opened an inquiry into the incident."
Full story→(The Australian: AFP)

December 24, 2005

Typo Leads to Christmas Tradition: In 1955, a local Sears, Roebuck and Co. store ran a newspaper ad urging children to make a phone call on Christmas Eve and talk to Santa Claus. There was a typo in the phone number, however, and callers instead reached Continental Air Defense Command, now known as NORAD, at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Rather than hanging up, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup and his troops answered every child's call that night with a report of Santa's location. And so a tradition was born. NORAD has now reported the location of Santa to eager chlidren on Christmas Eve for fifty years. During December 2004, the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site had 912 million hits from 181 countries. If you read this in time check it out for yourself at: NORAD Tracks Santa
Full story→(DefenseLINK)

December 22, 2005

Burglar Stuck in Chimney for 8 Hours: A would be burglar never quite made it into the J&E Barbecue in Skiatook, Oklahoma. Jeremy Brownrigg tried to gain entry to the BBQ Restaurant by sliding down a chimney and became stuck part-way down. Brownrigg hooted and hollered for over eight hours until someone heard his pleas for help. Three firemen rescued him by pulling him up and out. Restaurant owner Eddie Hamlin told local NewsChannel 8 that he had spoken to Jeremy and may drop the complaint, saying that the misadventure was alcohol induced and that Jeremy seemed to be a good kid. Hamlin also added that he may start selling T-shirts that say "What people won't do for J&E Barbecue."
Full story→(Fox News)