Thursday, September 30

Interesting Valuations + September Postings Reprised

   A. Interesting Valuations

   1. "Your body may be worth more than $45 million"
      < http://www.danhosp.org/HealthNews/reuters/NewsStory0702200324.htm >
   "It may be illegal, immoral and certainly ill-advised, but selling every usable
    part of your body could fetch upward of $45 million, according to a survey in
    the August issue of Wired magazine"

   2. "Cost of happiness is £2.7 million"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_853129.html >
   "Money may be able to buy happiness but it costs nearly £2.7 million, claim
    researchers"

   3. "Gold rings cheaper, swans-a-swimming more expensive"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200312/s1012754.htm >
   "The price of 'True Love' has risen this Christmas, according to United States
    economists who have analysed the cost of five gold rings, four calling birds,
    three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree"

   4. "For $12 trillion, Britain can be all yours"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200312/s1017835.htm >
   "Want to buy a largish island off France? Slightly used, with annex. Rains a
    bit. Trains often late. Nice gardens. Food dubious, but lots of places to
    drink"


   B. September Postings Reprised

   [Animal Rescue]
   * "Pekinese saves shepherd from bear"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1109915.html >
   "A Romanian shepherd who was attacked by a bear in the mountains was saved by
    his pet Pekinese dog"
   * "Dog saves heart attack owner"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1114667.html >
   "A man who suffered a heart attack while alone in his house, was saved when his
    dog got him the phone so he could call for help"

   [Confused Animals]
   * "Lobster found guarding a watch"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/06/17/503447-ap.html >
   "Lobsters have long been known as solitary and territorial crustaceans -- but
    timely and fashion conscious?"

   [Bizarre School Punishment]
   * "Pupils made to eat cow dung in class"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1119613.html >
   "Education authorities in southern India have suspended a teacher for forcing
    his students to eat cow dung"
   * "Teacher sends boy home with feces in bag"
      < http://apnews.myway.com//article/20040925/D85ABQC80.html >
   "A teacher is on paid administrative leave after sending a first-grader home
    with feces in his backpack because the boy soiled the classroom floor"

Monday, September 27

Noteworthy Wedding Receptions

   1. "Couple have wedding reception at KFC"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1107663.html >
   "Newleyweds Jason and Nina Payne treated their guests to a reception at Kentucky
    Fried Chicken"

   2. "A Happy Meal for the happy couple"
      < http://www.stockportexpress.co.uk/news/index/articles/article_id=6027.html >
   "Wacky newlyweds Simon and Paula Hand amazed friends and family when they held
    their wedding reception at McDonalds"

   3. "Firemen called to extinguish cake"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_686045.html >
   "Staff at the Three Kings restaurant in Beauvoorde, were lighting fireworks on
    the wedding cake when a spark caught one of the fire detectors, setting off the
    alarm at the fire station in nearby Veurne"

   4. "Wedding reception takes bad turn: Fight breaks out, man loses finger"
      < http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/082503_NW_da_wedding.html >
   "A wedding reception in Corunna took a turn for the worse. A wedding guest bit
    off another man's finger"

   5. "Melee mars wedding reception"
      < http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,831360,00.html >
   "A donnybrook erupted at a wedding reception Sunday night when a guest became
    enraged because he thought his girlfriend was manhandled during the traditional
    garter belt ritual"

   6. "Serb pilots shot down by newly-weds"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200310/s965318.htm >
   "A two-seater sports plane on an unauthorised joyride was apparently shot down
    by mistake when it flew over a Serbian wedding party where guests were firing
    guns into the air"

   7. "Bride whisked to reception in giant yellow digger"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_785153.html >
   "A bride who asked for a chauffeur driven limo to pick her up from church was
    stunned when a giant yellow digger arrived instead"

   8. "Newly-weds hitch to reception after car confiscated"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200211/s731323.htm >
   "A newly-wed couple had to hitch a ride to their reception after their ribbon
   -decked wedding car was confiscated under Queensland state's tough new
    'anti-hoon' laws"

   9. "Underprivileged say 'I do' to lavish wedding banquet"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200211/s733309.htm >
   "About 200 underprivileged children and elderly people and have become
    unexpected guests at a wedding banquet in an upmarket Singapore hotel on
    Saturday after the bride and groom reportedly forgot to cancel their booking"

Tuesday, September 21

Big Food

   1. "World's longest sandwich"
      < http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/14/1092340540619.html >
   "Lebanese villagers have turned a traditional recipe into what could become the
    latest Guinness Book of Records entrant by making a 720-metre long sandwich"

   2. "Cheshire bakery may have world's biggest sandwich"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_757364.html >
   "Roberts Bakery in Northwich made the 2.5 metres square tuna, mayonnaise and
    cucumber sandwich"

   3. "Gingerbread city hopes to be world's largest"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_732181.html >
   "Rostock in Germany has created a 400 square metre replica of its town centre
    made completely of gingerbread houses"

   4. "New world record for largest cookie by U.S. 18-tonne chocolate chip colossus"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/05/20/91692-ap.html >
   "It took eight hours and a cookie sheet the size of a basketball court to bake
    the 30-metre, 18-tonne chocolate chip colossus"

   5. "Town bakes 11,000-kilogram strawberry cake"  [registration required]
      < http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/22/1079939578256.html >
   "About 3000 kilograms of strawberries were used in baking the cake, which is
    2.57 metres high and 2.65 metres wide"

   6. "Merrimac chef baking, building world's largest wedding cake"
      < http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20040117/FP_005.htm >
   "The cake will be 17 feet high and weigh 13,000 pounds, more than double the
    weight of the current record-holder"

   7. "Baker claims 400ft cake is a record"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1085270.html >
   "... 440 pounds of whipped cream, 1,000 pints of milk, 1,500 pounds of sugar,
    880 pounds of butter, 90 pounds of chocolate and 22 pounds of cherries"

   8. "Giant birthday cake eaten in five seconds"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_859599.html >
   "A 450-metre long birthday cake was made by bakers in Brazil - and eaten in
    five seconds"

   9. "Making a 394-kilogram bagel"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/08/28/605451-ap.html >
   "Take 300 kilograms of flour, 225 grams of dry yeast, 24 kilograms of malt and
    six kilograms of salt. Mix, boil in more than 3,400 litres of water for 30
    minutes, bake at 150 degrees C for 10 hours"

Monday, September 20

Bizarre School Punishment

   Reading through these news items, I guess I should count myself lucky I didn't
   go to one of these schools.  Then again, I did manage to get through high school
   without receiving any form of punishment.  Not that I never did anything wrong,
   but rather I just didn't get caught ;)

   1. "Teacher cuts students' ears"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/09/16/631773.html >
   "A teacher in northern Bangladesh cut the ears of 17 students with scissors to
    discipline them"

   2. "'Apologise in blood'"
      < http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/21/1087669912799.html >
   "A Japanese teenager was forced by his teacher to write an apology in blood after
    dozing in the classroom"

   3. "Teacher in trouble"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/06/11/495312-ap.html >
   "An elementary school teacher was placed on paid leave for washing a boy's
    mouth out with soap after he shouted an obscenity at a classmate"

   4. "Parents mull case; teacher repentant"
      < http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2004/09/07/news/
          parents.mull.case.teacher.repentant.html >
   "Parents trooped to the Calaanan Elementary School Monday to confront a teacher
    who allegedly ordered her pupils to lick the toilet floors last Thursday while
    separate investigations are being initiated on the incident"

   5. "Parents bark over 'seal walk' punishment"
      < http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=31347 >
   "Two sets of parents said their children were told to 'drag their bodies across
    the hallway' in front of several onlookers after they were caught running in
    the halls of Oak Hill Middle School"

Friday, September 17

Alternative Versions of the Bible

   1. "And Jesus said to his people 'You boofheads'"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200306/s871472.htm >
   "In the beginning was the word and the word was 'G'day' - that's how the New
    Testament might have begun if Jesus had been born Australian, according to
    an author and broadcaster. Kel Richards has just completed a collection of
    favourite bible stories retold in Australian English"

   2. "Cor blimey! The Bible in cockney?"
      < http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/05/19/cockney.bible/ >
   "Seeking to bring the Bible to those who don't usually read it, a London
    religious education teacher has translated some of the best-known biblical
    tales into the colorful language of east London for the first time"

   3. "Magazine-format Bible uses pop culture to appeal to teens"
      < http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle
          %2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777446987 >
   "[T]he 'modern speak' in the magazine is appealing and easier for some people
    than more traditional forms of the Bible, such as the King James version"

   4. NHV (New Hacker Version) Bible Transliteration
      < http://www.christianhacker.org/html/NHV.html >
   "Finally! After years without God's word in their own L33T-speak language
    dialect, the Christian Hackers' Association is proud to introduce the NHV
    (New Hacker Version) Bible transliterated especially for hackers!"

   5. Klingon Language Version (KLV) of the World English Bible
      < http://klv.mrklingon.org/ >

   6. "Church rewrites bible in feminist language"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_821717.html >
   "They are rewriting passages which are seen to discriminate against women, and
    are also using 'unbiased and just' language. The term disciple is to be changed
    to 'disciples and disciplesses' and forms of address such as Lord or Our Father
    are to be omitted"

Wednesday, September 15

Unwanted Home Deliveries

   1. "Oil delivery turns into deluge"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200307/s898953.htm >
   "A German oil delivery man who got his addresses mixed up has accidentally
    pumped 3,000 litres of heating oil straight into the basement of a house"

   2. "Mistake inundates home with heating oil"
      < http://forums.simcentral.net//showthread.php?t=38120 >
   "Teri Jack smelled the fumes even before she read the note on her Davidsonville
    home's door informing her that a heating company had accidentally filled her
    basement with nearly 400 gallons of oil meant for a neighbor's house"

   3. "Raw sewage spews into Calif. homes like volcano"
      < http://countrystore.blogspot.com/2002_11_17_countrystore_archive.html >
   "Raw waste rushing through a city sewer line backed up into homes, blowing open
    toilet lids, filling bathtubs and damaging at least seven homes"

   4. "Foul event: Wrong water sent to homes"
      < http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2003-08-01-water_x.htm >
   "Some residents here are crying foul after learning that utility workers
    mistakenly hooked up four homes to the city's treated wastewater instead
    of its purified drinking water"

   5. "Broken pipeline leaks 300 gallons of oil into mobile home park"
      < http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20030413-2110-ca-oilleak.html >
   "A hazardous materials team cleaned up about 300 gallons of petroleum that
    bubbled up under a mobile home park Sunday, forcing an elderly woman from her
    residence"

   6. "Blood oozes out of apartment walls"
      < http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/26/1059084268840.html >
   "In a scene straight out of a horror film, blood has been leaking out of the
    walls of an apartment in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad"

   7. "Has this ever happened to you?"  [expired link]
      < http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=1800541 >
   "Bones, coffins and crosses crashed through the kitchen wall of a Brazilian
    home over the weekend after a torrential rain washed out part of a neighboring
    cemetery"

   8. "Brazilian town covered in foam"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_799630.html >
   "The town of Pirapora do Bom Jesus, Sao Paulo, was flooded by detergents and
    shampoos discarded into the River Tiete"

Tuesday, September 14

What's In A Name? - Sending The Wrong Message

   1. "Name change for Little Dicker chapel"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1099090.html >
   "The pastor of Little Dicker chapel has changed its name because too many
    'depraved' minds found it funny"

   2. "Rude message found on Aero bars"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_907988.html >
   "According to a source at the factory in York, the words 'S**t bar' appeared
    where the Best Before date and code would normally be printed"

   3. "Slang crosses up GM"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/10/16/227790.html >
   "A General Motors executive yesterday admitted that the future Buick model --
    which is set to debut late next year -- will be re-named in Canada after GM
    learned LaCrosse is a Quebec slang term for masturbation"

   4. "'Colourful' acronym forces Iraq army name change"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200306/s887364.htm >
   "The planned force was originally entitled the New Iraqi Corps, whose initials
    in Arabic produce a colourful synonym for fornication"

   5. "Family sick of living on Butt Hole Road"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_831848.html >
   "They say people posed for pictures outside their house in Conisbrough, many of
    them with their trousers dropped"

   6. "Wyo. seeks name change for 'obscene' road"
      < http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031121_481.html >
   "County Road 6FU southwest of Cody got its name in 1980, when Park County
    adopted an alpha-numeric road naming system"

Monday, September 13

Confused Animals

   1. "Spaniel adopts hare"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_888192.html >
   "Mr Poortman says the dog took an instant liking to the hare, which he's named
    Flappy, and they shared her basket"

   2. "Strange bedfellows"
      < http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/11/1073769455480.html >
   "Muschi, a small cat that formed an unlikely friendship with a half-tonne bear
    called 'mouse' in Berlin Zoo"

   3. "Family discovers its cat nursing mice"
      < http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20030714/003585.html >
   "[T]he Wellers saw their cat Patches nursing and caring for the mice as if
    they were part of her litter"

   4. "Bison baby thinks she's a puppy"
      < http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20030609/001821.html >
   "After a month in her new home, Bianca thinks she's just one of the family dogs"

   5. "20-year-old horse, moose become pals"
      < http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040830/ap_on_fe_st/horse_moose_5 >
   "A yearling female moose and a 20-year-old horse have become pals at a farm
    just outside Groton village"

   6. "Lemur thinks stuffed cow is mum"
      < http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_3652000/3652415.stm >
   "A baby ring-tailed lemur abandoned by its mother has found an unusual new
    mum, in the form of a stuffed toy cow"

   7. "Chicken that likes to think it's a dog"
      < http://ptenthusiasts.org/PTForums/printthread.php?t=40909 >
   "Her tiny bantam, called Mrs Seabright, despises the other chickens, preferring
    to sleep in the same bed as her two pet collies, Jess and Lexi"

   8. "Dazed and Confused"
      < http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/DyeHard/
          confused_pets_dogs_dyehard_031204-1.html >
   "Study finds that some animals suffer from confusion, too"

Thursday, September 9

Mascot Mania

   1. "A history of bizarre mascot incidents"
      < http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/2003/07/10/mascot_timeline/ >

   2. "Pittsburgh player may be charged after sausage mascot chopped with bat"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/07/10/132054-ap.html >
   "Pittsburgh first baseman Randall Simon was booked for misdemeanor battery
    for hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers' popular racing sausages with a bat
    during Wednesday night's game"
      "Mascots' revenge: Pickles launch counterattack"
      < http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/07142003_bb_mascotrevenge.html >
   "Three pickle mascots huddled at a minor league baseball game in Kentucky to
    plan a payback attack for their colleague ? an italian sausage at a
    Milwaukee Brewers game"

   3. "Mascot mayhem"
      < http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/sports/11262003_sp_mascotmayhem.html >
   "Whether or not it was an accident remains unclear, but in videotape Rocky
    appeared to stumble slightly before tripping on the stairs and smashing the
    cake in the birthday girl's face"

   4. "Man arrested after allegedly attacking Orlando mascot"
      < http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/8009371.htm >
   "Hawkins, 39, put Stuff the Magic Dragon in a chokehold Friday night in the
    waning moments of the Magic's 102-98 win over the Denver Nuggets"

   5. "Benny's mascot match misery"
      < http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?command=newPage
           &nodeId=133941&contentPK=10912363 >
   "Benny the Buck's giant head was stolen while its owner, Lez Dean, was watching
    a celebrity football match in Collingham, near Newark"

   6. "Bruising tackle nobbles Mooloo mascot"
      < http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3014135a11,00.html >
   "Part way through the first half of Sunday's Ranfurly Shield challenge between
    Waikato and the Bay at Mt Maunganui, Mooloo was hit with a blindside-bruiser
    of a tackle by a local fan"

Wednesday, September 8

Finally Found, After All These Years

   1. "Man reunited with wallet ten years after it fell down back of sofa"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_764699.html >
   "A German man has been reunited with his wallet more than ten years after
    losing it down the back of a sofa"

   2. "Man reunited with wallet - after 26 years"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_824442.html >
   "An Austrian man has been reunited with his wallet 26 years after he lost it
    down the back of a hotel armchair"

   3. "Japanese builders find US Marine's wallet after 46 years"
      < http://www.platinum-celebs.com/funny/news/001584.html >
   "Casimiro Naranjo III lost the wallet at Camp Foster, once Camp Hague, during
    a nine-month stay in 1957"

   4. "Wedding ring missing for decades mysterious reappears for anniv."
      < http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/bizarre/060904_APsn_ring.html >
   "Ann Cummings got a surprise gift for her 50th wedding anniversary: the
    engagement ring she lost 45 years ago"

   5. "Long-lost coin completes the picture"
      < http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1078596,00.html >
   "A gold coin unearthed from the battlefield of Agincourt, and once handled by
    the painter JMW Turner, has turned up after 91 years, just in time for a
    Turner exhibition in Birmingham"

   6. "Abandoned NZ boat discovered in Qld two years later"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1171404.htm >
   "A long distance row boat which disappeared two years ago has been found
    washed up on Wreck Island, off the central Queensland coast"

   7. "Missing dog found after nine years"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1088651.html >
   "A German family have been reunited with their stolen golden retriever dog -
    after nine years"

Monday, September 6

Animal Rescue

   1. "Man rescues cat; Cat saves man from fire"
      < http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/5/2004/01/27/story105.html >
   "A man who rescued a stray cat from the cold got the favor returned on Sunday
    when the cat woke him as his house filled with smoke"

   2. "'Miracle' dog saves family from fire"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200312/s1000750.htm >
   "A Melbourne family rescued from fire by a guide dog this morning say their
    escape is a miracle"

   3. "Dog saves garage in blaze of glory"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1085914.htm >
   "A family garage and most of its contents have been saved in the Victorian
    town of Sunshine, thanks to the efforts of the family dog"

   4. "Dog's barking helps to rescue owner"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1027795.htm >
   "A 43-year-old man has been rescued off rocks on a Dunsborough beach in
    Western Australia's south-west thanks to the efforts of his dog"

   5. "Well aimed dog bite saves hiker in bear attack"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_926645.html >
   "A hiker attacked by a brown bear in a forest in Slovakia has been rescued by
    his dog after it bit the bear on the backside"

   6. "Hero dog recovering from rattlesnake bites"
      < http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/2991305/detail.html >
   "Jet the dog ... is being credited for protecting his 10-year-old owner from
    being bitten by a rattlesnake"

   7. "Heroic goat rescues little girls from rabid dogs"
      < http://english.pravda.ru/fun/2002/12/03/40294.html >
   "A domestic goat saved three children from stray dogs in the town of Guyvoron
    in the Kirovograd region, Ukraine"

   8. "Cow drags farmer to safety"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/02/17/351176-ap.html >
   "A New Zealand farmer escaped from a flooded river by hanging on to one of
    her cows as it struggled through the raging waters"

   9. "Cat helps cops in stand-off"  [expired]
      < http://www.wsbt.com/showStory.php?id=13058 >
   "Man threatening to shoot police distracted when they throw his feline at him"

Friday, September 3

Strange Happenings In Sport

   1. "US baseball player injured while sneezing"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_958320.html >
   "A US baseball player has injured his back after sneezing - twice"

   2. "Mighty wind disturbs snooker star"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/02/05/337153-cp.html >
   "According to the tabloid Sun, one fan broke wind loudly, others coughed
    deliberately and a woman chattered throughout the two-hour epic in an
    effort to distract Hendry"

   3. "Rugby league player gains a tooth"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_936229.html >
   "A rugby league player had an opponent's tooth embedded in his head - and
    didn't even notice until after the match"

   4. "Texas Ranger hit by phone"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/04/20/69541-ap.html >
   "A 24-year-old man accused of throwing a cell phone that hit Texas Rangers
    right-fielder Carl Everett in the back of the head during a game faces a
    charge of assault with a deadly weapon"

   5. "Football player penalized for phone call (during game)"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/12/14/287352-ap.html >
   "The New Orleans pro football receiver couldn't wait to talk about his
    touchdown, so he pulled out a cell phone and made a call -- from the
    end zone"

   6. "Lambie: I slapped player with dead pigeon"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_753207.html >
   "'I did once hit a player in the jaw with a dead pigeon. His name was Declan
    Roche and he was talking back to me - so I got these dead pigeons out of a
    box and slapped him round the face with one'"

   7. "Player sent off for tackling streaker"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_902360.html >
   "A policeman playing football in an amateur cup final was sent off for tackling
    a streaker"

   8. "Fan pulls down ref's shorts and pants"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_887021.html >
   "A Belgian referee says he'll never officiate another match after his shorts
    and pants were pulled down during a game"

Wednesday, September 1

Cash Giveaways

   1. "German lottery winner gives winnings to charity"
      < http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1077359.html >
   "A German man who won 9.1 million euro on the lottery, has donated his entire
    winnings to charity"

   2. "Flood victims benefit from mystery lottery winner"
      < http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1161151.htm >
   "An anonymous benefactor has sent a winning lottery ticket worth 200 million
    yen ($A2,600,000) to a local government in central Japan to help disaster
    victims of heavy rain"

   3. "Sharing the wealth: Man throws 1 million yen from TV tower in central Japan"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/12/23/295683-ap.html >
   "A man who wanted to share his stock market winnings with the public tossed
    1 million yen ($12,345 Cdn) from the observatory deck of a tower in central
    Japan"

   4. "Powerball winner temporarily closes site"
      < http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/10/21/232435-ap.html >
   "Andrew (Jack) Whittaker established the Jack Whittaker Foundation after
    winning the $314.9-million Powerball jackpot on Christmas Day, the largest
    undivided jackpot in the game's history. The foundation has given away
    about $4 million, and continues to get about 1,000 requests each week."

   5. "Bank fails in free money giveaway"
      < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3667775.stm >
   "A sign in the window of a branch in Croydon, south London, offered a £5 note
    to anyone who stepped inside to collect it. But bank officials say no-one took
    up the bargain because no one believed it"