SPEEKERBOXX

Home
News
Gigs
Sport
Reviews
SB Study
SB Forum
Contact Us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA: An attempted armed robbery in Texas was cut short after police shot water into the suspect’s getaway car to end a five-hour long stand-off. The officers from Grand Prairie and Fort Worth forces fired the water under high pressure through an open passenger door at the man. Police had chased the car after a robbery at a shop in Fort Worth and had negotiated by mobile phone with the man, who was believed to have at least two handguns. Officers had tried to approach the car several times but were forced back when he pointed a gun at them. A police spokesman said they had hoped to end the standoff sooner by using tear gas, but couldn’t without endangering neighbours in the residential area. The man was checked by paramedics and taken to a local jail, but was expected to be turned over to Fort Worth police.
Norway: A Norwegian motorist blamed a Coca Cola bottle after police pulled him over for speeding. Alfred Lervik, 41, claimed the bottle rolled on to the accelerator pedal after he braked suddenly. He demonstrated how it happened in a test car but failed to convince watching motoring experts and court officials. Police prosecutor Anette Vangsnes said Lervik was facing a suspended 18-day prison sentence and a €684 fine.
Singapore: A Singapore car salesman, whose wife smashed up 18 vehicles in a rage, says he will pay for the damage. Wah Lay Chin went on the rampage after friends claimed her husband, Robin Tu, was cheating on her. Tu said he would bear the costs of his wife’s rampage, but refused to comment on rumours of an affair.


USA: In a perfect example of Americana pop culture phenomenon, a grilled cheese sandwich that bears the image of the Virgin Mary has been sold on eBay to Internet casino GoldenPalace.com for an eye-opening $28,000.Seller Diana Duyser made the sandwich ten years ago, and after taking one bite out of it, noticed the Virgin Mary's face staring back at her. She put the sandwich in a clear plastic box with cotton balls and kept it on her night stand.

Duyser, 52, believes the sandwich has brought her luck over the years and is truly convinced of its divinity."I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother of God," says Duyser, a work-from-home jewelry designer. "That is my solemn belief. People ask me if I have had blessings since she has been in my home. I do feel I have, I have won $70,000 on different occasions at the casino near my house."

The paranormal nature of the sandwich is mainly due to the fact that millions of people are able to see the same holy icon on the bread, not to mention that a ten-year-old sandwich has remained remarkably free of mold. Oddly, no special care has been taken to preserve the sandwich. Duyser claims that she has placed the sandwich in a simple plastic case, not "a special one that seals out air or potential mold or bacteria."

Given Duyser's success at her local casino, it is fitting that a casino ended up with the good luck charm that helped Duyser win big. GoldenPalace.com has become familiar with eBay auctions, having recently purchased several items and using them to raise over $200,000 for various charities. Since this "slice of heaven" has affected so many people worldwide, Golden Palace intends to do the same with the sandwich by taking it on tour around the world and allowing people to see the icon, hear Duyser's story, and share in the good luck that it brings.

The sacred sandwich has received over 1,700,000 visitors since being posted on eBay. A Google search on the sandwich returns an incredible 89,000- plus matches, and a search on Diana Duyser's name alone returns over 3000 matches.

Britain: British workers have been told: Have a merry Christmas, but skip the mistletoe, don't dance on the desks and definitely don't perch bare-bottomed on the photocopier. The Trades Union Congress and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents advised: 

-Nix on candles, flaming puddings and cigarettes.

-Careful with the Christmas trees, which injured a thousand Britons in December 2002.

-Skip the mistletoe. A sexual harassment case is no fun.

-No dancing on the desks.

-Use paper cups, not glasses.

-No indoor fireworks.

-"Resist the temptation to photocopy parts of your anatomy - if the copier breaks, you'll be spending Christmas with glass in some painful places."

Such advice provoked resentment. "The purpose of Christmas parties is to encourage team spirit, encourage relationships and so on," said Nick Goulding, chief executive of The Forum of Private Business. "If you tie them down with pettifogging regulations, you really undermine the whole thing you are trying to achieve. "It is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut," Goulding said, perhaps highlighting a potentially dangerous practice overlooked by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.  OfficeTeam, reported a survey of 2,400 which found that one in three workers dreaded the parties, and one in five feared they might damage their careers by getting drunk and misbehaving.

Canada: Police in Canada say a bizarre urban legend has led them to a house filled with marijuana plants. A woman accidentally called them after her son told her dialling an extra one after the 911 emergency number would tell if police were tapping her phones. The 60-year-old woman hung up as soon as she realised she’d called police. But they thought something was wrong at the address in Surrey, British Columbia, so they rushed to the scene. A spokesman said once inside, they discovered “a reasonably sized marijuana growing operation.”
Norway: From arms to disarming, it seems Scandinavian men are in a class of their own. Officials in Norway are investigating why tax authorities class female strippers as entertainers but male ones as artists. An artist is in a lower tax bracket than entertainer and the countries Gender Equality Ombudsman says she is concerned. It comes after a complaint that all-male Chippendales only had to pay a 15% artists’ tax for their tour while female strippers had to pay 24%.
USA: A US judge has ordered teenager to take his mother out for lunch as punishment for trespass and disorderly conduct. Judge David Donnelly handed out the bizarre sentence to 18-year-old Arturo Cruz for embarrassing his mother. Cruz, a first-time offender, was appearing before Roxbury District Court in Massachusetts. According to local reports Judge Donnelly said: “Let me get this straight: You made your mother miss work and come here today didn’t you?” Judge Donnelly called Cruz’s mother Rosa and asked her where she enjoys having lunch. The judge ordered Cruz, in lieu of the typical $100 fine to buy his mother lunch at Legal Sea Foods. “You make sure you eat well,” Judge Donnelly told Rosa Cruz. He told her son: “You make sure you tip well.” Cruz later returned with his receipt. His mother ordered crab legs and the bill came to $90.34.

China: China has launched a campaign against poor English spelling on signs and menus. Officials are fed up with restaurant listing items like fried pawns and bean eurd. They say so-called Chinglish words often confuse and amuse visitors giving them the wrong impression of the country. “There are many ‘Chinglish’ words on road signs, public notices, menus and signs describing scenic spots, which often puzzle foreigners,” Xiong Yumei, Vice Director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau, said. Some examples: “Collecting Money Toilet” for a public toilet, and “To take notice of safe, the slippery are very crafty” on a sign warning that roads are slippery.  

Germany: A self-employed man who earns just €20,000 a year was landed with a €2 million legal bill after asking a lawyer to do a few minutes work. The man asked the lawyer to help him sort out a taxman’s mistake. The lawyer took just one hour to sort out the mix-up where the local taxman had sent the self-employed man a bill for nearly €298 million on his €20,000 salary. Under German law, lawyers are entitled to a certain percentage of the reduction if their action results in a reduction in the tax bill. A Bonn court spokesman said the law was clear the lawyer would get the money, but it’s unclear who pays.
Croatia: An armed robber abandoned a bank hold up after the cashier laughed at his order to ‘stick them up’. The masked robber entered a bank at Zagreb’s main square in plain daylight and threatened the clerk with his gun “Knowing she was behind a bulletproof glass, the clerk laughed heartily, rang her boss to say she was being robbed and asked him to call the police,” said a police spokeswoman.  
Britain: Dog lovers celebrated after a judge granted clemency to Dino, a German Shepherd sentenced to death for biting. The case had gone as far as the European Court of Human Rights. Dino, a seven-year-old Alsatian, got into legal hot water when he bit the hand of a woman who tried to intervene in his fight with her dog in January 2001. He faced a destruction order, but his owner Bryan Lamon who said the incident was out of character, spent €94,000 on a protracted legal fight to save him.
Singapore: Singapore has enlisted its 40,000 taxi drivers to foil terrorists. The state has asked them to be on alert for nervous or restless passengers. Cab drivers have been given pamphlets describing what militants might do or ask. As part of a campaign, drivers have been told to watch out for people who wear thick or loose clothing, carry heavy luggage but decline offers for help, who leave taxies in a hurry without taking luggage or talk and behave suspiciously.
Germany: Staff at Stuttgart Zoo were surprised when a four-month-ole female gorilla, brought to them from Berlin Zoo, turned out to be a boy. After its birth in Berlin, little Makouka had been listed as a girl. Berlin Zoo vet André Schuele claimed it wasn’t him who checked the animal after it was born but he could understand the mistake. “In the first days after the birth, it’s easy to get it wrong because the sexual organs aren’t that well developed.” But it is unclear how Reimon Opitz, who changed Makouka’s nappies every day, managed to overlook so significant a difference.
USA: A woman returning her rented car to an airport drop-off point drove the vehicle through a terminal building. The elderly lady was trying to drop the car at the office at Boise Airport in the US state of Idaho when she became confused and followed a sign for terminal access. It’s reported she drove the car through a set of automatic opening double doors, through the terminal and past the baggage claim area. Airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said the woman stopped when she reached the rental-car counter. There was no damage to the terminal building, nobody was hurt and the woman wasn’t prosecuted.
Croatia: A veteran hunter was shot by his own hound while preparing to go into the woods. Spaso Ivaosevic, a hunter in central Croatia since 1957, cleaned and loaded his double-barrelled shotgun as usual on Wednesday. He briefly leaned the gun against a wall near his house when his two-year old dog Lero, chasing chickens through the yard, stormed past and tripped over the shotgun. It hit the ground and fired, showering Mr. Ivaosevic with pellets. The hunter was treated for a fractured leg bone, while the fate of Lero was not known.
USA: A man who tried to impress his wife by setting up a break-in at their home in Oklahoma has been arrested. It’s reported that the man – a schoolteacher – recruited two students to break into the house in Edmond.  It’s understood he may have staged the break-in to make himself look like a hero and salvage his marriage. He’d planned to return from a late-night walk, confront the two intruders and drive them off.  But it backfired when one of the students told his parents and they called the police. Police in the town said they launched a major response after receiving reports of intruders in the man’s house. The man faces a misdemeanour charge of filing a false report, while criminal charges could also be filed. Police say the man may also have to pay for the cost of the police operation.
 Brazil: A rancher accused of ordering the killing of four government agents inspecting claims of slavery was released from jail after being elected mayor of his home town. Antreio Manica was let out of prison after being elected mayor of Unai in a landslide victory. Federal police suspect Manica and a brother hired the gang that executed three labour ministry inspectors and their driver earlier this year. “As he was elected mayor there was little concern he would try to flee,” a police spokesman said.
Britain: Foreign doctors are learning slang to treat their patients.Seven GPs from Austria speak fluent English but have struggled to understand patients from Yorkshire.  Now the confused doctors are watching cult movies such as The Full Monty and Brassed Off to help them understand their Yorkshire patients while a colleague has compiled a dictionary of local terms. Dr. Lis Ridgers from Barnburgh, near Doncaster said: “They didn’t understand ’boobs’ meant breasts and ‘gone off their legs’ was somebody feeling unwell.” Dr. Rodgers has now translated ‘Me leg’s all manky’ as an infected limb while to be ’jiggered’ is over-tired.  The GP’s now know that ‘feeling whammy’ is under the weather, ‘roaring’ is crying and ‘gipping’ is vomiting.