Weird news - the fascinating story of a penguin far away from home

In recent years, there was a movie called "Happy Feet" that chronicled the story of a penguin who got separated from the rest of its family and group, and got moved to a enclosure far away. The movie was fairly popular and increased the awareness of penguins to a large degree (increasing the concept of them being seen as cuddly and fun creatures).
So, it became international headlines when an Emperor Penguin was found on the beach outside the New Zealand capital Wellington, at a distance of 3000 km from the traditional location. Medical observation showed that the penguin was weak, and was eating sand and sticks in order to cool down (which was making the penguin even weaker). The penguin became the center of attention, and was eagerly watched by people all over (link to article):

Fattened up on a diet of "fish milkshakes" and escorted by his own personal veterinary team, the world's most famous penguin, Happy Feet, sets sail on Monday for the icy waters he calls home. The emperor penguin washed up on a beach just outside the New Zealand capital Wellington in mid-June -- weak, emaciated and more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from the
Antarctic colony where he hatched about three-and-a-half years ago.
The wayward bird's unexpected appearance stunned wildlife experts, who said he was only the second emperor ever recorded in New Zealand, and captivated the public, which closely followed every turn in his struggle for survival. "The level of interest has been incredible, not
just in Wellington or New Zealand, but around the world," Wellington Zoo's veterinary manager Lisa Argilla said. "Everyone's been really curious to see what happens."

Finally, after some treatment, the penguin was taken in a ship and released back in the water near the penguin colony.

Spending 100,000 Euros to find a missing snake, which was dead all this time

Once in a while you come across stories that could make your blood boil as a tax payer, to see municipal authorities spending huge sums of money for something that may not seem to require so much money. But read the following case and wonder about else could have been done, given the situation. A poisonous snake escaped from its owner, and other people in the area are in danger. The authorities need to find the snake, and this is not a lion or tiger that can be trapped easily. Snakes are far more difficult to find, slithering into hidden places and so on. So, you had the authorities literally blocking the entire neighborhood to find the snake, while running up huge expenses; in the end, they found the snake, which was dead (link to article):

After the highly poisonous monocled cobra escaped from its container in March, fire services cleared the entire apartment block, removed all the furniture and gutted the owner's flat. They then sealed all the doors and windows of the building, so the 30 cm (1 foot) long reptile couldn't get out, and set large sticky traps to catch it, Wiebels said.
Officials finally found the snake lying dead in the rooftop apartment of its 19-year-old owner on Thursday. By that time the cost of the operation had ballooned to about 100,000 euros ($133,700). Taxpayers are likely on the hook for 40,000 euros, because an escaped snake is considered public hazard, Wiebels said.

Giving away $1 million worth of savings in a mattress

Sometimes good tasks can also result in harm. What else are the results you can draw from the below story ? A daughter sought to do good to her elderly mother, and bought a new mattress for her to replace the old that the mother was using. She also wanted to make this a surprise, so she took the effort of throwing out the old one and replacing with the new one. However, this surprise turned into a huge shock for everybody concerned when it was disclosed that the old mattress contained nearly $1 million, the life savings of the mother. And the mattress had been taken away by trash (link to article):

A woman in Tel Aviv, Israel, gave her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise gift, throwing out the old tattered bed her mother had slept on for decades. The gesture ended up bankrupting Annat's mother, who had stuffed her savings of nearly $1 million inside her old bed for decades, Annat told Israel Army Radio. A massive search is under way at the city dump, where security has been beefed up to keep out treasure-seekers who have heard Annat's story in Israeli media.
Annat alerted the two major dump sites in the Israeli city in an effort to locate the bed, but so far she has had no luck. Yitchak Burba, one of the dump site managers, told Army Radio that he and his men are working relentlessly to try to help Annat find the million-dollar mattress among the tons of garbage at the landfill. The publicity has triggered a wave of people also trying to find the mattress and its contents for themselves. Burba has increased security around the dump to keep them out.

Such news is very traumatic to read. It almost reminds of that saying that I heard once: "No good deed goes unpunished".

2 good people return huge amount of money they found

Did you know that if a security truck carrying money dropped money onto the road by mistake, then you cannot legally pick up the money. The money is meant to be returned to the truck company, and it is a felony to actually take the money. However, in reality, how often would you come across people who find huge sums of money lying on the road, and return the entire money they found ? Would you be the one who would return this money if you found it ? Is your conscience clear ?
Well, in this case where an armored truck (the truck whose business it is to carry money safely and away from people who would want to steal the money) dropped bag of money from a side open door and continued merrily on its way, there were some good people who actually collected most of the money (including persuading others who had the money) to return the money (link to article):

Two good Samaritans returned more than $275,000 that tumbled out of an improperly secured armored truck in Syracuse, New York, last week. But some not-so-good Samaritans seem to have walked away with another $60,000 that fell onto the street. A Brinks armored truck inadvertently strewed more than a dozen bags of money on the ground in front of the Syracuse Antiques Exchange on Friday, according to Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse police department.
As word spread that hundreds of thousands of dollars lay in the street, people streamed out of passing cars and adjacent businesses. For the most part the gatherers cooperated in the recovery effort. Herring attributed the crowd's willingness to turn over the money -- rather than run away with it -- to his imposing stature. "Had I not been the size I was, it might have went a different way."

How easy it is to think of not returning the money, well these people withstood all those inducements and simply did their duty.

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 !

Having to attack the Komodo Dragon to live

Imagine having to fight off a Komodo (wikipedia) dragon in order to save your life. A Komodo Dragon is a massive lizard, as much as 3 meters long; so imagine getting caught in an island that is part of the Komodo National Park and having to face this dangerous animal. This is what happened to a group of 5 divers on a trip who went missing, and were eventually rescued after spending 2 nights on the island that does not have people living on them:

Five Europeans rescued Saturday after an Indonesia diving trip went wrong had to fight off a Komodo dragon while they were waiting to be found, according to reports. The divers -- three Britons, a Frenchman and a Swede -- spent two nights on the deserted island, which is home to the large Komodo dragon, before rangers found them Saturday. "On the beach a Komodo dragon came amongst us [Friday] afternoon," Pinel said, describing how the group had to pelt the dangerous reptile with rocks to scare it away.
They were one of two groups of divers who entered the water off Komodo National Park on Thursday and were supposed to be gone for an hour, said an employee of the dive company, Reef Seekers. The second group came back after the hour passed, but the first group failed to resurface, she said.

They were diving in seas that are dangerous because of fast tides, and that could have been a reason for their initial disappearance. The dragon is the top hunter on the island, and can attack humans and has been known to eat human corpses.

Brother and sister reunited after 67 years

Now this is a story that warms the heart. After being separated during the second world war (remember how long ago that was?), a brother was reunited with his sister through his niece. Jack Allen was fostered as a baby and then brought up by adopted parents, and for a long time his sisters were trying to find their lost brother; he on the other hand did not know that he had siblings, and it was a chance comment on an accent that helped make the connection:

Born Joseph McIver to unmarried mum Josephine McIver and father Douglas MacDonald, Jack was fostered as a baby, before eventually being adopted at the age of seven by Frank and Christine Allen from Birmingham. Jack's sister Pat Collins, 75, remembers her last few moments with her baby brother in 1940, before losing all contact with him until now. Pat and two of her sisters have always remained curious about their missing brother and have spent years searching for him.
Pat, who lives in Grimsby, was stunned when her daughter phoned her up telling her she had found her long-lost brother. Pat said: "Two of my sisters have been trying to trace Jack and it was Carole who found him. I could not believe it when I took the call from her. "I was the oldest child and I was brought up by Josephine's parents.
"I used to go and see her, but I thought she was my sister. After Jack was taken away I never heard of him any more."

This is a good story, and displays an incredible amount of luck.

Ghost ship: Nobody on board

A yacht was found in pretty good condition floating off the Australian coast. Rescuers found a ship floating silently 80 nautical miles off the northeast coast. Refer the CNN story.
The yacht seemed in pretty fine condition, the only problem being that one sail was in a shredded condition. Other than that, the engine of the yacht was running, food was on the table, a laptop was turned on, but of the crew members there was no sign.
A proper mystery as to what happened to the 3 crew members. The yacht had passed through an area where weather and sea conditions were rough, but they actually don't have any more clues. Rescuers are looking at the yacht's GPS records to figure out the past route of the yacht to see whether they can get any clues.