Man faked his own death for 20 years

Destiny works in strange ways. Here is this paranoid man, who believed that people were out to get him because he was dealing in drugs. As a consequence, he wanted to vanish, and how better to do this than to claim that he was dead. And when did he do this ? When he was on a trip with his fiancee, leaving her to believe that he was indeed dead (drowned at sea). In addition, he left behind a daughter who has been searching for him ever since:

A man who faked his drowning death nearly 20 years ago off a Florida beach was found out by North Carolina police who stopped him for a traffic violation, authorities said Thursday. Bennie Wint left behind a grieving fiancee and a daughter from a previous marriage. Over the past two decades, he acquired a common-law wife and another child in Marshall, North Carolina.
When pulled over in Weaverville on Saturday because of malfunctioning lights on his license plate, the man said his name was James Sweet, Wyatt said. But when Wyatt ran the name through official databases, he was unable to find any information. "I found it suspicious and believed it to be a false name," Wyatt said. He arrested the man on suspicion of driving without a license and giving false information, both misdemeanor offenses, and booked him under the name "John Doe." But "John Doe" finally opened up to Wyatt, admitting he was really Bennie Wint and had been on the run since 1989.

He also caused the local police and beach authorities to spend a huge amount of time and effort looking for him, and that should be something for which he should be charged.

Timber washing ashore still private property

Rules of law can sometimes be pretty strange. Imagine walking down to the seashore, picking up some wood, and then be told that you are doing something illegal (and in fact the wood that washed ashore remains private property). Well, this is something that people in the United Kingdom had to face recently when a huge amount of timber fell from a Russian cargo ship in the English Channel and started washing ashore:

The sight of wooden planks littering the shoreline in Kent has drawn stares from curious residents, but others have shown up to take some of the wood for themselves. "I've got a leaking roof and I think it might be really good for that job," said Rex Hope, who drove off with planks of wood in the back of his truck.
But by Friday, authorities had to warn off scavengers after the timber washed up on beaches between the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs, on the tip of the Kent coastline in southeastern England. "This cargo remains the property of the original owner, and to steal it is not only foolhardy, but also a criminal offense," said John Molloy, chief superintendent in East Kent. Under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995, it is an offense to keep cargo from a wreck or refuse to give it to the receiver. Violators face a fine of up to 2,500 pounds ($3,400).

Bet most people did not know about this, and one wonders whether a lot of people would really care !

Husband wants his kidney back

Divorce cases can be smooth, or they can be very messy. In many divorce cases, the settlement process can be very tension filled and full of acrimony. People have emotional attachment to many items, and will fight tooth and nail for each item. However, the demand from the estranged man in this divorce case was totally out of the ordinary - he had donated his kidney to her when she needed it. After that, he found out that he was cheating on her, and now he wants his kidney back, or he wants the value of the kidney back:

GARDEN CITY, New York: A New York doctor is demanding his estranged wife pay him $US1.5 million ($2.1 million) to compensate him for the kidney he gave her while they were still on good terms. Richard Batista, 49, said he gave his kidney to Dawnell Batista in June 2001, and she filed for divorce in July 2005.
Dominic Barbara, a lawyer for Dr Batista, was quoted as saying: "The main reason the doctor is doing this is because of how he's been treated in this case." Dr Batista, a vascular surgeon for Nassau University Medical Centre, has demanded the $US1.5 million as part of the distribution of assets in the divorce. A medical expert estimated the value of the kidney for the legal team.

An interesting case, and one does not know how the judge will react in this case.

Woman about to be arrested fakes labour

When people are about to be caught for something they have been doing, or are in the process of being arrested, they will do anything to try to escape. Any excuse, any action, anything works. Police officers are pretty used to this excuse-making habit of people and in many cases have gotten immune; but, there is a basic decency in every person, and this lady tried to exploit this property in trying to escape being arrested:

A woman in America has discovered the hard way that faking going into labour doesn't help you escape arrest for shoplifting. The woman was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after police were called to a mall over a report of a woman stealing a keychain. They also found pain medication without a prescription in her purse, and so also arrested her on drug charges.
But while being arrested, the woman complained of birth pains and said she was going into labour. She was taken to a local hospital by ambulance.

And this was the point where there was a lot of surprise involved; not only was the lady not going into labour, she was not even pregnant. The police did not take this kindly, and added the extra cost of the ambulance and hospital efforts onto her arrest charge. The judge is also less likely to be amused.

Cuddly giant panda attacks human, again !

Giant pandas would probably we counted as among the most cute and cuddly looking animals on earth, so cute in fact, that they are the symbols of the World Wildlife Fund. However, the giant panda is a wild animal, and like any other wild animals, must be approached with caution. Here is a gentleman who thought that a panda was all cute and cuddly, and suffered quite serious bites as a result:

Gu Gu is not your typical soft and cuddly giant panda. Zhang Jiao was attacked by Gu Gu the panda when he fell into the pen at the Beijing Zoo on Wednesday. For the third time, he's tasted the flesh of an unwitting intruder in his pen at the Beijing Zoo. His most recent victim was 28-year-old Zhang Jiao, who told CNN he fell into the panda pen Wednesday while trying to catch a small toy thrown by his young son.
The 240-pound giant panda sunk his teeth into Zhang's left leg before moving on to the right leg. "The panda is a national treasure, and I love and respect [him], so I didn't fight back," Zhang said. "The panda didn't let go until it chewed up my leg and its mouth was dripping with my blood." Zookeepers needed to use tools to pry open Gu Gu's jaws.

However, there is no end to the stupidity of man. This happened in the enclosure of a seemingly cute animal, but people have been known to step in the enclosures holding dangerous animals such as tigers, lions, crocs, etc.