In Other News

[BlackCat]

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cn87608w389o

Meh, the sailors could at least have dressed as stormtroopers

[Broken_Erika]

Suspected burglar caught after sitting down with book

A would-be burglar in Rome was caught after stopping to read a book on Greek mythology in the middle of a robbery, Italian media report.
The 38-year-old reportedly gained access to a flat in the Italian capital's Prati district via the balcony but became distracted after picking up a book about Homer's Iliad on a bedside table.
The 71-year-old homeowner is said to have awoken and confronted the alleged thief, who was engrossed in the book.
News of the failed robbery attracted the attention of the book's author, who told local media he wanted to send the man a copy so he could "finish" his read.

After being caught off-guard, the alleged robber reportedly attempted to make a quick getaway by escaping via the same balcony, but was arrested shortly afterwards.
He is said to have told police he had climbed the building to visit a person he knew.
"I thought I had ended up in a B&B, saw the book and started to read it."
Giovanni Nucci, the author of The Gods at Six O'Clock, which explains the Iliad from the perspective of the gods, told Il Messaggero: "It's fantastic."
"I'd like to find the person caught red-handed and give him the book, because he'll have been arrested halfway through reading it. I'd like him to be able to finish it.
"It's a surreal story, but also full of humanity."
The thief was reportedly in possession of a bag containing expensive clothing allegedly stolen from another house earlier that evening.
Nucci said his personal favourite deity was Hermes, the god of thieves.
"He is also the god of literature. It is clear: everything fits," he joked.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg4kpv3p4zo

[-Jrabbit]

In other news, our old friend Asher:
1. is an American citizen now, and
2. recently got married.

[pchang]

And he’s probably > 40 years old….

[-Jrabbit]

Well, of course. No "probably" about it...

[Meticulous Man]

[Ming]

Town Is Missing its Clothing as 4-Pawed Cat Burglar Pilfers Items from Neighbors and Brings Them Home


Taboo pictured with her stash of hot property

There are cat burglars, then there are cat-burglars.

Taboo, a 12-year-old black and white resident of West Yorkshire in England, has stolen gloves, socks, underpants, and shoes from properties across the area.

Her owner, Sandra Danskin has now been forced to share regular pictures of the loot on social media so residents can reclaim their stolen items.

But Danskin, who works night shifts, said sneaky Taboo is rarely caught and has become a master of her criminal trade.

“Whenever I come home from my shift there are all sorts of things waiting for me, either dragged in through the cat flap or left on the drive,” Danskin told the British news media service SWNS. “This morning I had four pairs of socks and a pair of underpants. She loves bringing back items of clothing like that, but also we’ve had a mop head and kitchen rolls.”

“We even had half a dozen eggs once, still in their box, but all broken. We think she must have taken them off someone’s doorstep when the milkman dropped them off.”

Neighbors have joked that they changed the locks of their houses, and that Danskin should figure out how to train her little thief to discern worthless goods from high-end goods like Rolexes.

Sandra believes that Taboo steals clothes from people’s washing lines or sneaks into their houses if their doors are left open. The little Lupin has only been caught once so far when a neighbor spotted her trying to take a T-shirt from his clothes dryer in the kitchen.

“If she brings back a sock she will always go back and get the matching one so there’s a pair,” Danskin said. “I have a box full of stuff she’s brought for me and every now and then I go on Facebook and post a photo of it all so people can claim it.”

Taboo was originally a house cat and belonged to Sandra’s daughter, Gemma. Eventually, Gemma could not bear with the kleptomaniac cat any longer, and Taboo went to live with Sandra and her three other cats.

Now the cat burglar loves to let her current owner know when she’s pulled off a successful heist by emitting a signature howl.

“Whenever she gets something she sits outside and makes this high-pitched whining noise to let me know,” says Danskin. “I’ve tried talking to her about it but she doesn’t change her ways. Underwear, socks, shoes… she just keeps bringing them.”

“I can’t tell you how many pairs of gardening gloves she’s brought me. I’ve never heard of a cat doing anything like this before, and she shows no signs of stopping.”

Evidently, she’s never heard of Charlie, the Klepto-Cat of Bristol. Charlie became famous some years ago for stealing toys from the houses around her owner’s home in very similar circumstances. Must be something with tuxedo cats.

[Ming]

Missing Boy Caught Playing Hooky from School by News Helicopter: 'First Time We've Seen Something Like This'

"It was a really gratifying experience," said reporter Dan Rice after finding the missing New York City boy



A child who was reported missing in New York City was caught playing hooky by none other than a local news helicopter.

The 9-year-old was reported missing around 9:45 a.m. local time after he did not show up to school at 7 a.m. on Aug. 22, the New York Police Department (NYPD) told CBS affiliate WCBS-TV, Fox News and the New York Post.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Following the report, a news helicopter was sent to the area where the boy was reported missing.

Inside the chopper, WCBS and WNYW aerial reporter Dan Rice said he and his pilot Eric Ross were “circling around” his Brooklyn apartment building when they came across someone that “fit the description of the missing child” sitting on a chair on the rooftop," according to WCBS-TV.

An NYPD alert had noted that the child had been wearing an orange tie when he had gone off to school in the morning — a detail that tipped off Rice.

“I looked down at my notes. I see what the assignment desk had sent me, and I see what the child was wearing. I look back at the child, and that child was wearing everything that's in the description. He looked to be about 9 years old," Rice told the station.

Rice then called the NYPD, who eventually made their way up on the roof and confirmed that it was indeed the child reported missing earlier in the day.

"He just packs up his computer and his book bag and goes off with the police officers,” Rice recalled to WCBS-TV. “They look back at our helicopter, gave us a big thumbs up and took [the] child down to his parents.”

Police confirmed to the outlets that the boy was eventually reunited with his mother.

Rice noted that the incident was “the first time we've seen something like this happen,” adding that he was glad "to be able to find that child for the parents down in that building. It was a really gratifying experience.”

Another neighbor told WCBS-TV that they had gone up to the rooftop to have a “cup of coffee” around 8 a.m. and noticed the child as well, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“There's a swinging bench up there, sort of. The kid was sitting on the bench playing on his iPad," the neighbor said. "I thought his parents gave him permission to go up there. I didn't even think, 'Why would the kid be up there?' It's a community place.”

Another neighbor told WCBS-TV that they had gone up to the rooftop to have a “cup of coffee” around 8 a.m. and noticed the child as well, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“There's a swinging bench up there, sort of. The kid was sitting on the bench playing on his iPad," the neighbor said. "I thought his parents gave him permission to go up there. I didn't even think, 'Why would the kid be up there?' It's a community place.”

[Ming]

Gatwick train cancelled after squirrels board and 'refuse to leave'

The squirrels boarded "without tickets, breaching railway byeclaws", a spokesperson for the train operator joked.


One of the offending squirrels. Pic: Great Western Railway

Two squirrels who boarded a rush hour train to Gatwick forced operators to cancel the service.

The squirrels jumped on the Great Western Railway (GWR) 8.54am train from Reading to Gatwick on Monday, forcing passengers to flee to other carriages.

The passengers alerted staff, who tried to lure the squirrels off the train at Redhill with snacks, before trying to force them off with brooms - but to no avail.

They subsequently called the journey off entirely.

It may have been disruptive, but a GWR spokesperson certainly saw the funny side.

"We can confirm that the 0854 Reading to Gatwick was terminated at Redhill after a couple of squirrels boarded the train at Gomshall without tickets, breaching railway byeclaws," the spokesperson said.

"We attempted to remove them at Redhill, but one refused to leave and was returned to Reading to bring an end to this nutty tail."

[pchang]

If only there were Haitian immigrants available to eat these squirrels.....

[The Mad Monk]

In other news, our old friend Asher:
1. is an American citizen now, and
2. recently got married.

The once and future American?

[Ming]

'Panda Dogs': Chinese zoo goes viral for luring visitors with painted pups
Source: CNN


A video screengrab shows two Chow Chow dogs painted to look like pandas at a zoo in China.
Image: Douyin

A zoo in China has admitted its star attraction, two so-called pandas, are just painted dogs.

The fluffy Chow Chow dogs painted to resemble the country's beloved national animal were seen in a video shot by a visitor to the zoo in southern Guangdong province.

The video, posted Monday on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, has gone viral, being shared more than 1.4 million times and liked by over 725,000 users.

In a photo shared by another user on social media, the black and white canines can be seen in an enclosure next to a sign that says "painted dogs."

"We are called Panda Dogs, a pet dog that looks like a panda, dyed and dressed up by Chow Chow. We are gentle, smart, friendly, cute and adorable!" the sign says.

The zoo's manager, Huang, said the dogs are one of its top attractions.

"You can see by our name, we are 'Strange Animals and Cute Pets Paradise,'" she told state-affiliated outlet Sichuan Observation. "These are Chow Chow dogs being painted (as pandas), as this is part of our specialties."


A video screengrab shows visitors, to a zoo in China's southern Guangdong province, feed a Chow Chow dog painted to resemble a panda.
Image: Douyin

This is not the first time dogs have been painted to look like pandas or other wild animals in China.

In May, a zoo in eastern Jiangsu province sparked outrage after visitors discovered it painted two dogs black and white to resemble pandas. Following widespread criticism, the zoo admitted the ruse.

A café in the southwestern city of Chengdu also came under fire in 2019 for offering a dyeing service for people to make their pets look like pandas. And in 2016, pet shops in Guangdong were caught selling dogs dyed to look like miniature tigers.

[Dinner]

That poor cucumber and why did he put it back in his lunch box after he was done using it?

https://youtu.be/XZAYm7org2I?si=lmzksw_aE4_HhWHF

[Ming]

SUV spotted parked atop dumpster in Florida



Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The mystery of an SUV seen perched on top of a Florida dumpster was revealed to have involved a poorly-timed parking job, a construction site and a forklift.

Scott Greenberg said he was on his way to the store when he spotted the vehicle parked on top of a dumpster off East Point Drive in Fort Myers.

"I had to do a double take. I texted my buddy. I'm like, 'Is that fair game? Is that free?' It's in the dumpster," Greenberg told WBBH-TV.

It turned out the SUV had been lifted onto the dumpster by a forklift operated by a construction worker helping to build a new apartment complex.

Workers said the vehicle had been left parked in a work area.

"Sometimes when you park where you're not supposed to, this is what happens," a construction worker said.

The vehicle was later removed from the dumpster and relocated to a parking space away from the work area.

Construction workers said they learned the SUV belongs to a contractor who loans it out to out-of-town workers in need of transportation.

[The Mad Monk]

That one could definitely be used in a "Florida or Russia?" game.