-- Amber Roberts, 30, a resident of the unit for the criminally insane at Eastern State Hospital in Spokane, Wash., informed officials in November that "I (just now) murdered someone, but you're going to have to find him." As staff members searched the facility, Roberts offered to help by shouting "hot," "cold," "you're getting warmer," and so forth. Roberts yelled "Very Hot!" as they closed in on the room containing the body of a 56-year-old patient that Roberts then admitted strangling. (However, a few days later in court, she pleaded not guilty.) [Associated Press via KATU-TV (Portland, Ore.), 11-21-2012] -- Notwithstanding its nuclear submarines, ballistic missiles and spy satellites, France maintains Europe's last "squadron" of military carrier pigeons. Legislator Jean-Pierre Decool lauds the pigeons and campaigns for their upgrade, warning that in the event of war or other catastrophe, the birds would be a valuable messaging network. (Pigeons have been used at times in the current Syrian civil war.) Until very recently, according to a November Wall Street Journal dispatch, pigeons wearing harnesses had been used by a hospital in Normandy to ferry blood samples to a testing lab (a 25-minute flight). [Wall Street Journal, 11-10-2012] -- Tunisia's Ministry for Women and Family Affairs demanded in October that the government prosecute the publisher of the children's magazine Qaws Quzah ("Rainbow"), aimed at ages 5 to 15, for an article in the then-current issue on how to construct a gasoline bomb (aka the "Molotov cocktail" in America). The country has been rocked by the same kind of upheaval experienced in other Arab countries, except less so since its longtime president stepped down rather quickly in January 2011. [BBC News, 10-9-2012] College student Courtney Malloy, 22, was rescued in November after getting stuck at about 1 a.m. trying to cut between two buildings in Providence, R.I. The space between City Sports and FedEx Kinko's was 8 to 9 inches, said firefighters, who found Malloy horizontal and about 2 feet off the ground and "unable" to explain how she got there The head of the Perse School in Cambridge, England, recently instituted a "10-Second Rule" for minor disciplinary infractions: Students could avoid punishment if they quickly produced a clever explanation for their misbehavior. "Getting children to talk their way out of a tight corner in a very short period of time" said Ed Elliott, encourages creativity and could produce a generation of British entrepreneurs. Said a supporter, "Often the ones who get further are the artful dodgers," who "bend the truth." (Elliott warned, though, that "out-and-out falseness" would not be tolerated.) [BBC News, 11-19-2012] "Braco," a Croatian-born "healer" (although he rejects the term), seems to make legions of sick or troubled believers feel better merely by entering a room and gazing at them in silence for a few minutes before leaving. (A Washington Post reporter, seeking relief from his allergies, attended a 100-person session in Alexandria, Va., in October, but found no improvement.) "Whatever is flowing through him," said one transfixed fan, "is able to connect with a part of us." Said another enthusiast, "The thing that makes Braco unique is he really doesn't do anything." [Washington Post, 10-12-2012] Plastic surgeons in Turkey and France told CNN in November that mustache implants have suddenly surged in popularity as Middle Eastern men use their increased lip bushiness to convey power and prestige. Surgeons extract follicles from hairier parts of the body in procedures that cost the equivalent of around $7,000 and show full results in about six months. An anthropology professor told CNN that, by tradition in Arab countries, a man of honor would "swear on my mustache," use mustaches as collateral for loans, shave off a vanquished foe's mustache as a reward, and gravely insult enemies with "Curse be upon your mustache!" [CNN, 11-29-2012]

Two British men have been banned from a restaurant in Brighton for eating too much from the 'all-you-can-eat' menu. George Dalmon and Andy Miles pop into the Mongolian restaurant Gobi twice a month, reports the BBC, paying £12 each. After the pair ate five bowls of food – each – at their last visit, the owner called them "filthy pigs" and told them to get out. "As we were eating the last bowl, the owner came up and said never to come back again, we're disgusting, and we're eating him out of business, so we're nothing but filthy pigs," says Mr Dalmon. "So, I was quite shocked about this and I asked him if he was joking and he replied 'no, I'm definitely not, I've had it with you two, that's it'." The owner, Peter Westgate, admitted he'd called them "filthy pigs". "Like when the shark shuts its eyes before it feeds, they're like that," he told the BBC. "They just get to the buffet and whatever happens, they just pile it in Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/All-you-can-eat-diners-banned-for-eating-too-much/tabid/417/articleID/271556/Default.aspx#ixzz2Gh1goAOk EAST BREMERTON — A woman carrying a gun tried to rob the Sheridan Mini Mart late Thursday, but the clerk, who was on the phone, couldn't be bothered, according to Bremerton police. The suspect came into the convenience store, on Sheridan Road at Pine Road, about 10 p.m. The clerk noticed she was clutching a gun, but at first thought it was a joke, police said. The suspect told the clerk to unload the till. The clerk said he was busy and kept talking on the phone. The robbery suspect then left, police said. Police, helped by a tracking dog, couldn't find the suspect. Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/dec/28/east-bremerton-clerk-says-hes-too-busy-for/#ixzz2Gh7F042G

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http://www.3news.co.nz/Inmate-arrested-for-refusing-to-leave-prison/tabid/417/articleID/240830/Default.aspx Inmate arrested for refusing to leave prison Most people can't wait to leave jail, but one northern Arizona inmate has been charged with trespassing after refusing to leave the Coconino County lockup. Coconino County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gerry Blair says 44-year-old Martin Batieni Kombate was arrested in Flagstaff last week for trespassing and was scheduled for release Monday on his own recognisance on the charge. But when detention officers from the sheriff's office showed up to escort him out, Kombate allegedly said he wasn't leaving and was staying because he couldn't find his wallet. Blair tells The Associated Press that Kombate was disorderly in a jail cell, would not leave, so the police were called and Kombate was arrested. Blair says Kombate remains in jail. Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Inmate-arrested-for-refusing-to-leave-prison/tabid/417/articleID/240830/Default.aspx#ixzz2Gh1Fdarc