Off Topic: NOD

[Glen]

Was this guy at the Browns game last Sunday?
=========


Guard Convicted of Crushing Kittens

<http://a188.g.akamaitech.net/f/188/920/1h/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/images/icon_mail.gif> E-Mail This Article
<http://a188.g.akamaitech.net/f/188/920/1h/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/images/icon_print.gif> Printer-Friendly Version
<http://a188.g.akamaitech.net/f/188/920/1h/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/images/newspaper.gif> Subscribe to The Post
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 18, 2001; 3:41 PM

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. ?? A prison guard was convicted Tuesday of aggravated cruelty to animals for crushing five kittens to death in a trash compactor at Sing Sing.

Ronald Hunlock, 47, could get up to two years in prison.

"In the overall scheme of things in today's world, the lives of five kittens could easily be considered of slight significance by some," said Judge Peter Leavitt, announcing his verdict after a non-jury trial. "This court feels differently."

Hunlock was also convicted of trying to kill the kittens' mother, who escaped from the compactor at the last moment and has since been adopted.

He showed no reaction on hearing the verdict.

Hunlock found the kittens in a search of an inmate's cell at the state prison last month and ordered the prisoner to put them in the compactor. When the inmate refused, Hunlock did it himself.

He claimed the cats were deathly ill.

Hunlock has been suspended without pay and will be fired upon his sentencing March 19, corrections officials said.
© 2001 The Associated Press

[Glen]

Flashy ... how mooning Santa might look

Bare botto in the grotto

A CHEEKY Santa has been given the bum?s rush by Harrods? bosses ? for baring his botto in their grotto.

Managers have sacked him and his little helpers after the unnamed Father Christmas stripped off.

They took an after-hours photo of Santa wearing nothing but his boots to boost the festive spirits of staff at the posh London store.

But the prank was rumbled when frosty bosses discovered the snaps of the out-of-work actor.

And instead of any more Ho Ho Ho, Santa was told to Go Go Go.

The girl student who took the snap was also axed and the staffer who printed the photo was ordered to resign.

A Harrods? spokesman said: ?The photo was not obscene and we recognised it was a prank. Nevertheless it was unacceptable behaviour.?

A colleague said: ?The photo was a bit of a laugh. It happened at the end of a long day and a few people decided to let off steam.

?But Harrods are very protective of their Santa and say he is the only real one around.?

DO you know the saucy Santa or his helpers? Ring us on 020 7782 4105 and we?ll call you right back.


============




Santa shoots woman

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A man in a Santa suit set aside his bag of gifts, drew a gun from his trademark black belt and shot a woman on a Sao Paulo street, wounding her in the wrist and face.

The unidentified Santa was handing out candy to motorists stopped at a traffic light when he yanked the draw strings on his bag of sweets, pulled a revolver from his belt and fired at a woman who was entering her car parked nearby, said a spokesman at the Sao Paulo police department.

"The woman was wounded in her wrist and face but was not seriously hurt," said the spokeswoman. She said the incident did not appear to be a botched robbery but gave no other explanation for the shooting.

A witness helped police artists draw up a composite sketch of the shooter Santa after she saw him with his beard, red suit and gloves removed. Those items, along with the gun, were recovered by police.

Local media reported the woman was involved in a paternity suit and said police were investigating the crime as a possible act of retaliation.

[Glen]

Child Santa booted out of mall
Tue Dec 18 2001 19:43:34 ET

A 6-year-old boy who dressed up like Santa Claus and handed out presents from a big red bag was told to take his cheer somewhere else by a shopping mall in Washington state.

"I was cuter than their Santa!" Joel Demmon declared Monday.

The 4-foot-2 first grader has been donning a red suit and flowing white beard for two years and giving away presents at malls and stores, his mother told KOMO-TV.

"People stop for a moment while this little Santa gives them a present, and their face lights up, his face lights up, and it's just a moment of happiness," she explained.

The boy cried after an employee of the Bellis Fair Mall in north Bellingham ordered him out over the weekend, saying he was competing with the mall's own Santa and creating liability issues by giving out toys.

Bellis Fair spokeswoman Mary Vermillion said the would-be St. Nick got the boot "in fairness to everybody who wants access to the mall, so we avoid any unfortunate situations."

Joel has continued his gift-giving elsewhere in the town of 60,000, located 90 miles north of Seattle

[Glen]

Tuesday December 18 8:38 AM ET
Santa Falls Foul of Anti-Terrorism Laws

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police, taking advantage of sweeping new anti-terrorism legislation, arrested Santa Claus on the grounds that he had a beard, was behaving suspiciously and, in all likelihood, belonged to a underground cell. Or so demonstrators would have you believe.

The ``arrest'' Monday was stage-managed by local pro-democracy activists who say that the legislation -- which the Senate, or upper house of Parliament, was due to start debating later Monday -- will destroy many civil liberties.

The law, the brainchild of Justice Minister Anne McLellan, and passed already by the House of Commons, will ban fund-raising by terrorist groups, widen wiretapping authority and allow police to make preventive arrests of people they think would engage in terrorism.

As thick snow fell across Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a small crowd of demonstrators watched an actor dressed as a policeman handcuff a protesting Santa and take him away.

``We're sorry to say that Santa has been put on the list of terrorists and he is being arrested today because of concerns by Anne McLellan that he might be up to no good,'' said local activist Betty-Anne Daviss.

As Santa was hauled off to meet his fate, fellow demonstrator Ken Johnson said it was clear the suspect was part of a larger organization.

``They're clearly in cahoots across the country, all these people doing very similar and weird things, spending time in shopping malls and waving in parades. I'm sure those hand signals are indicating something to other members of the cell,'' he said.

McLellan rushed out the legislation to meet the needs of various government departments in the wake of the Sept. 11 strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

After concerted protests, the government did soften the legislation by introducing sunset clauses under which two provisions -- allowing for preventive arrests and judicial investigative hearings -- would expire after five years.