Weird news - Hearing of a robbery before it could happen

It is the stuff of science fiction where one if able to figure out when a crime will happen in the future. In the current case, where a phone call arrives at emergency services, the dispatcher listens in, trying to figure out if somebody will say something, or maybe somebody is already in an emergency and is unable to communicate. And then suddenly the dispatcher hears abut a plot, with people discussing a robbery about to take place, but there are no details about the location where the robbery could happen, although the name of the police chief was discussed.
What was funny was that the police chief was in a restaurant while the police was trying to pinpoint the location of the callers, and after some amount of trying to determine the location, it was determined that the would-be criminals were highly intoxicated in a car in the parking lot, and so when they were caught, they were charged with being drunk in public rather than attempted robbery (link to article):

The mysterious phone call arrived about 9 p.m. Saturday night. A Danville, Kentucky, dispatcher answered, but the other end was silent. Instead of hanging up, the dispatcher continued to listen, fearing an emergency might be unfolding in the central Kentucky town of 16,000. Eventually, the dispatcher was able to make out tidbits of a conversation between two male voices. "They were saying things like, 'What if I went in there with a gun and what if we robbed the place?' " Danville Police Chief Tony Gray said. "Then the other one said something like, 'What if they know it's us? We go there all the time.' Gray said that both of the men were "highly intoxicated" and that one of them, though he didn't realize it at the time, was still on the phone with dispatch. The chief said he recognized one of the suspects from his high school class. "He had accidentally butt-dialed emergency dispatch after they started talking," Gray said. "The entire phone call from start to finish was about 14 minutes."

Weird news - Penalty on man for forcing plane to dump fuel

Over the years, especially after 9/11, airlines have stopped becoming lenient on passengers who cause a ruckus on a flight. This can happen often enough when people have had too much to drink, something that causes weird behavior and which can threaten the safety of other passengers, or atleast cause them major inconveniences. In this specific case, the drunk man caused a huge ruckus on the flight and the pilot had to land back at the airport from which he had taken off, before doing that, he had to dump some of the fuel that he had loaded on the plane in order to have a safe landing (link to article):

A few preflight drinks can get expensive rather quickly. But for David Stephen Young, a round of six alcoholic beverages he drank before his flight from Calgary to London prompted a rash of unruly behavior, culminating in an abrupt turnaround, an arrest and a hefty fine of more than $16,000. Young, 44, was ordered by a judge to pay WestJet for 20,000 tons of wasted fuel the pilot dumped over Alberta to safely land the aircraft back in Calgary on Jan. 4. The fine came after he pleaded guilty last week to resisting arrest and failing to comply with safety instructions during the fight, according to USA Today.

Weird news: Man tied up by airline staff after creating drunken ruckus

There are a lot of stories about airline travel. In earlier days when airline travel was more cushy and comfortable (and there were fewer worries about security risks, weight restrictions, leg-room issues, etc), the stories used to be about mile-high experiences and escapades (although there were the occasional stories about hijacking and such). However, over a period of time, as there were regular shut-down of airlines due to costing and losses, things got tighter with more restrictions and charges for everything. The 2001 attacks also made it easier for airlines to discipline unruly passengers or those who were overly argumentative, since the crew and captain would declare that they were uncomfortable with such persons on board and security would be properly accommodating.
However, one area remained that causes problems to the crew, and that is the availability of alcohol on flights (no longer free on some airlines). Eventually there will be times when somebody will go overboard and decide that enough alcohol needs to be added to their system to make them unable to control themselves and then create a fuss. It gets tricky for the crew as to how to handle these passengers, in many cases, they are handed over to security after the plane makes a quick stop-over at the closest airport. However, in this case, the crew had an interesting way of restraining the passenger, they tied him up (link to article):

After a few drinks on flight AI-301 on Wednesday, the passenger allegedly got into a tiff with some crew members and passengers and then tried to hit them and tore the clothes of two attendants, airline sources said. As the incident turned into a major row, the passenger was overpowered by some crew and passengers and tied him up on the seat, they said. This led the captain to consider diverting the flight to Singapore because of the threat posed to the other passengers.

In the end, the passenger does get handed over to security for further processing; there is much less patience with passengers who get unruly or misbehave with staff.

Weird news - Man drunk, takes a trip on an airport conveyor belt

Most people have seen the conveyor belt at airports, the belt located behind the counter where your luggage is placed after you drop it at the desk. The conveyor belt is also where the luggage is picked up after you have completed your flight and want to get on your way. However, most people have no idea about where the luggage placed on the conveyor belt goes, with the presumption that the luggage passes through security and X-ray scanners before it gets sorted to the relevant flight.
Secondly, most people who get drunk during the flight actually get drunk by drinking too much during the flight, with very few people actually reaching the airport drunk. Also, airlines have got far more strict in terms of what they allow and what they do not, so if somebody is already drunk when boarding, an airline may actually restrict the person from boarding. But very few people take a trip like this person did (link to article):

A drunk Norwegian tourist raised a security alarm at Rome's Fiumicino airport after he fell asleep on a baggage belt and travelled 160 feet before being spotted by an X-ray scanner. The 36-year-old arrived at the international terminal of Italy's busiest airport at the end of last month with a backpack and a can of beer in his hand. The Norwegian was due to check in for a flight to Oslo and when he found no one on duty at the airline desk he leapt across the counter and fell into a deep asleep on the baggage belt with his bag beside him, the Daily Mail reported.

Weird news - Man tried to sober up after being drunk, but lands up in the wrong house

Imagine being so drunk that you end up in the wrong house. A lady was sleeping in her own house when she heard the sound of running water (not something that would inspire any sort of security or trust), and called the police. It turned out there was indeed an intruder in her own house, somebody who had taken a shower in the house. When the police turned up, they found the man, now dressed, sitting in the verandah. It was then that the man realized that he was in the wrong house - after being totally drunk, he entered the house thinking it was his own house, and then took a bath to sober up.
It was after being confronted by the police that the man realized that he had entered the wrong house, and was then very heavily embarrassed about what he had done (link to article):

The man got lost on the way to his house in Katherine on Wednesday night. He walked into the home and took a shower in an attempt to sober up. The 34-year-old householder was asleep upstairs. She woke up, heard the water running and frantically rang the police. When officers arrived, they found the 42-year-old sitting on the woman's verandah - dressed again.
The man was taken into protective custody to sleep off his big night. "The woman was just happy for us to take him away," Supt Shean said. "She thought he was a burglar."

Weird news: Drunk man tries to drive off with train full of passengers

Drunk driving is a major crime, with a number of countries having tough laws dealing with the same. A person convicted of the same can be fined, driving license revoked, and jailed (and all of these can also be applied at the same time for somebody convicted of the same). When a person is drunk, their ability to follow a rational course of action gets impaired, and in extreme cases, they can take any action. A drunk person starts doing something that the person would otherwise only think about, as can be seen in this example.
It is not normal for a normal person to start driving a train unless they have been trained in driving the train, especially when there are passengers on board. So what would you say to a person who gets drunk and tries to make off with a train loaded with passengers (link to article):

A middle-aged man, apparently under the influence, jumped into the engine of a passenger train and tried to commandeer it. Luckily, the man could not locate the accelerator and his journey lasted only about 50 metres before the train's two drivers and a posse of Government Railway Police (GRP) men managed to get inside the driver's cabin and halt the train.

Being lashed for drinking alcohol

A lot of you would have seen revelries and festivals in many countries. Along with the carnival type of atmosphere, alcohol consumption is an intrinsic part of such celebrations. However, such is not the case everywhere. Alcohol is considered illegal and against religion in many Islamic countries, and people indulging in alcohol can be punished. This happened earlier in Malaysia, and now in the African country of Sudan, a Nigerian footballer was convicted of driving while drunk, and got a double sentence - one for driving drunk, and the other for drinking alcohol (link to article):

The 20-year-old forward, who joined the northern Sudan outfit in October 2008, was found guilty of drinking alcohol and driving under the influence by an east Khartoum court. Alcohol is illegal in the Muslim north of Sudan according to Article 78 of the penal code, although it is not in the semi-autonomous and largely non-Muslim south.
The forward's lawyer has appealed against the punishment for the player who had previously admitted in interviews that he had struggled to adapt to the different culture and religious life in Sudan.

Being lashed for drinking alcohol seems pretty weird, although being punished for driving while drunk is common and should be enforced.

Doing circumcision the hard way

Circumcision is a practice in which the foreskin is removed, and is prevalent in many religions and cultures. At the same time, the skin is very sensitive at that point, and the removal needs to be done with care. The removal is normally done early on when the person is a young boy, and with due care. So, how do you account for this chap, who wanted to do the circumcision using nail clippers, without any form for anesthesia ? Maybe, a few drinks were enough to get the person to try out this new way of doing circumcision (link to article):

A medic at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, has advised men against attempting DIY circumcision with nail clippers, after a young man who'd decided this was the best way to go roundhead was admitted for emergency treatment.
Hinting at what had provoked the patient to treat his foreskin in such a cavalier fashion, the medic concluded: "Using a pair of nail clippers must have caused excruciating pain, even if he had had a few drinks beforehand."

Seems fairly obvious advice ! Doing this by yourself in such a sensitive body location would surely have been very painful.

What not to do while driving

When driving, what are some of the key things that people are advised ? You should be sober, capable of driving, and not getting diverted. So this means no driving while under the influence of alcohol, no talking on the phone, and certainly no involvement in sexual activities. People found involved in any of these activities are liable to face action, and maybe even jailed (and these also have an impact on their driving record). So what do you about a person who does more than one of these at the same time (link to article):

A Seattle man was arrested for drinking under the influence of alcohol and having sex while driving last weekend, the Washington State Patrol reported. The incident happened when a state trooper noticed a sport utility vehicle drifting between lanes and driving at unusual speeds, sometimes speeding up then slowing down to well below the speed limit on Interstate 90, near Bellevue’s Bellevue Way, about 1:20 a.m. Friday.
State trooper Jeff Merrill, who wrote the news release, said in an interview Wednesday that „embracing while driving“ is a misdemeanor. In this case, the woman said she was performing oral sex on the driver while he was driving.

This guy was under the influence of alcohol, and was having oral sex performed on him, and was driving at the same time. Not only is he a risk to himself and other occupants of the car, but a serious risk to other people on the road; no way should such a person be allowed to continue driving.

Crocodile inside a bar in Australia

Imaging sitting in a bar, enjoying your drink with your plans, and having the fun that you are sitting there for. And then suddenly, you find that you have another companion, a baby salt water crocodile. This could only happen in Australia. In this case, patrons at a bar found a baby crocodile outside the door of the bar, and pulled him inside the bar for photos (and this bar located some distance away from the remote city of Darwin in Australia's North has hosted many strange animals in the past). Read more:

It sounds like the setup to a joke: A crocodile walks into a bar...
Drinkers at a watering hole in the Australian outback found themselves toasting a baby saltwater crocodile that wandered up to the pub's door Sunday. No one knows how the two-foot long (60 cm) crocodile ended up outside the Noonamah Tavern, located off a dusty highway about 25 miles (40 km) from the Northern Territory capital of Darwin.
But unusual creatures are all in a day's drinking for the tavern, said bartender Leila Naray. "We've had a lot of horses pop up. We've had cane toads, which are yukky," she said. "We have had a big buffalo come in, wander around. There's a photo of him with a beer." Two women who work at a gas station outside the bar first spotted the creature. Incredulous bar patrons then rushed out. A couple of men brought the crocodile inside the pub, taped its mouth and Naray snapped photos.

Seems interesting; the concept of picking up a crocodile without fear and then pulling it inside to take photos of it is either very brave or very foolish.

Police find drunk mother has child at the wheel

Seems like a scary scenario; imagine the horror of police when they stop a car and find that the car is being driven by a drunk lady. Finding a drunk driver already is a bad offense because of the danger to other drivers on the road, as well as to the person driving the road. And when this happens in the case of lady who already has a suspended license because of a prior drunk driving offense, it gets even more worrisome. And to compound matters, there is a 1 year kid sitting on the mother's lap and steering with the other children in the back of the car:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A patrol officer stopped a car for suspicious driving and found to his surprise that a drunk mother had let her one-year-old son take the wheel, the Ohio state police department said Thursday. Marya Green, 29, of Goshen Township, near Cincinnati, was arrested late Tuesday and found to have a 0.11 percent blood alcohol level -- well above the 0.08 percent legal limit.
Green had put her infant son behind the steering wheel, while two other children aged eight and five were also traveling in the car, she added.

This was very dangerous, given that in the case of any impact, the infant would have taken the impact of the steering wheel, with the lives of the other children in the car also at risk.

British Man jailed in Slovakia for jumping nude into a fountain

Well, he was actually jailed in May end, sentenced to 2 months in prison for jumping naked into a fountain during drunken revelry, was released early (after 10 days).
What happened earlier ? Well, this guy was due to be married on June 15, so during some pre-marriage celebration in Bratislava near the end of May, he obviously had too much to drink, and then jumped naked into a fountain. This sort of display was obviously not appreciated by the Slovakian police, who arrested him, and he was then sentenced to a 2 month prison sentence.
He looked all set to miss the marriage date, and then his parents rushed to Slovakia to help him, and the British Foreign Office intervened as well, and he was finally released a few days ago; presumably his marriage date stands.

Using a snake to scare police

A drunk driver, when threatened by police, used a snake to scare them. A young person, swerving across the road in Australia was spotted by police. They stopped him, did a breath analyzer test and concluded that he was indeed drunk.
At this point, he found that there was a snake slithering pass; and showing tremendous presence of mind, he picked up the snake and threatened the police. In the confusion, this guy managed to escape.
This is however not going to be the end, to his misfortune, he is known to the police, and they will pick him up somewhere else.