In the News....

[BFofAKournikova]

okie dokie, it's time we have a news thread! here we can post news articles we find strange, facinating, or funny! But please for the most part let's try to avoid politics, war, or just the average old depressing stuff the media tries to shove down our throats.

[BFofAKournikova]

Relatives: U.K. Mystery Man Is From Fla.


LONDON - A mystery detainee who allegedly created a bogus identity as an English nobleman by assuming the name of a dead baby is actually an American who went missing from Florida more than 20 years ago, his relatives say.

The man being held in a jail in Kent, England, goes by the title of the Earl of Buckingham but he is really an Orlando native named Charles Stopford, his father, Charles, and sister Rebecca Davis say in a documentary to be broadcast Sunday on Sky One television.

The relatives said they saw photos of the fake lord on the Internet along with a story in The Times this week and concluded he is Stopford.

"When I first saw his photo, I cried and I was excited because I was 100 percent positive it was him," Davis said in an excerpt of the documentary aired Saturday.

The elder Stopford said he has no idea why his son suddenly vanished from Florida in 1983.

But one of the man's brothers, Wesley, told The Times that the detainee had been convicted that same year of possessing explosives after he tried to blow up the car of his boss at a fast-food restaurant in Orlando. He was put on probation but spent 60 days in jail after he violated the terms. Shortly after that, he disappeared.

"Charles always had an obsession with the English," his father said.

Davis said she had believed Stopford was simply traveling around Europe all these years.

"I remember him saying that he loved the thought of traveling. He wanted to travel Europe," she said.

British media have dubbed the man "The Real Jackal" — an allusion to Frederick Forsythe's novel "The Day of the Jackal," which made famous the trick of using information from a baby's tombstone to create an identity.

In this case, the detainee was arrested in January 2005 as he tried to enter Dover, England, from Calais, France, across the English Channel. Police ran a passport check and saw that the person with his name was supposed to be dead, The Times said.

He is alleged to have taken the name of Christopher Buckingham, who died in 1963 at the age of 8 months, and used it to obtain documents to live as a British subject.

For the past decade he has been calling himself the Earl of Buckingham, a title that has been extinct for more than 300 years, The Times said.

The man served nine months in prison over the false passport incident. But after completing the sentence, he has remained in jail because he refuses to reveal his true identity, the paper said.

"As far as we are concerned, he still claims to be Christopher Buckingham," Kent police spokeswoman Kelly Betts said.

The fake earl apparently speaks with a perfect British accent, she added.

He has two English *****ren by a woman he is now divorced from, and all three are said to be stupefied by news that he is not the man they thought he was.

The Times said police in Kent have sent fingerprint and DNA samples to the United States to try to determine the man's identity.

Police spokeswoman Betts said she could not confirm this. She did say British authorities were working with American embassy officials to determine whether the man really is Stopford.

"We are following up a number of leads to find out who he is," she said.

[BFofAKournikova]

Family Kicked Out of Buffet Restaurant


DES MOINES, Iowa - Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet. The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two *****ren were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate.

"They told us we are not welcome there anymore," said Dershem, a repeat customer at the Dragon House buffet. "We waste too much food. But the buffet is all you can eat. And you know kids. They won't always eat everything and they want something else."

Dershem said she paid her $5.95 fee on Saturday but was abruptly told to leave after eating one plate of food.

Employees said they had been watching her family on previous trips to the restaurant and were fed up with her habits.

"They just take one bite and throw it away," said cashier Lin Huyen. "They take four egg rolls and crab ragoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food."

Dershem said she was shocked by the scolding and complained to management when she paid her check. "It was embarrassing. ... If it's a one-stop buffet, post it," she said.

Dragon House manager Kent Cao said his restaurant offers all you can eat buffet, not all you can waste. Dershem's family took food, didn't finish it and then piled on the same food again, he said.

"Shes done that too many times," Cao said. "We would welcome her back if she has respect and knows what she wants."

Bob Oberbillig, an adjunct professor at the Drake Legal Clinic, says the patron would have no legal case against exclusion from a business unless there are other factors such as racial discrimination or mental health issues.

"An establishment can exclude people if they smoke or waste food," he said. "It's still a private business."

[BFofAKournikova]

It's hard out there for a virgin...


BERLIN (Reuters) - A brothel has become the first in Berlin to offer special deals for virgins with prostitutes trained in the delicate art of catering for customers who have never had sex, a German newspaper reported Friday.

The brothel in the red light area of the Kreuzberg district of the city charges 60 euros for a half an hour of sex and works within the laws of Germany where prostitution is legal.

"These are men who either never had sex before or have never been in a brothel before," the brothel's operator was quoted as saying in Berlin's B.Z. tabloid.

"It's the first house of love in Berlin that specializes in taking care of beginners," wrote the daily on its front page.

Prostitutes are given "sensitivity training" for first-time clients, who the brothel operator said are not necessarily young but often 40 or older: "They need to be aware of how much courage it takes to go to a brothel the first time."

[BFofAKournikova]

Burglars steal sun porch to enjoy sunshine

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thieves made off with a 15,000 euro ($18,910) sun porch after spying it in a shop window during the Netherlands' first week of summery weather this year, police said Thursday.

"They smashed a window to get into the shop which had a fully assembled sun lounge in the showroom. They had to dismantle it and took it away in seven parts," police spokesman Anton de Ronde said.

The 23-foot by 6-foot sun porch, designed to be attached to a house, was for sale in Apeldoorn, to the east of Amsterdam.

[BFofAKournikova]

Former Disney dancer named Playmate of the Year

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A former Walt Disney World dancer who used to dress up as Cinderella and Snow White was named Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year on Thursday.

Kara Monaco, 23, an aspiring actress from Lakeland, Florida, received a check for $100,000, a car and a sports motorbike from Playboy Enterprises Inc., company founder Hugh Hefner announced at the Playboy Mansion.

Monaco, a blonde, hopes to leverage her new role to boost her modeling and acting career.

She was Miss June in 2005.

[Relaxed]

ehh...?.....why don't you just post a link to the news/article?
Takes less space and anyone that might be interested can click on it.....

If you ask me, this is very boring reading and .."to much"..
No offence

[BFofAKournikova]

Moving puppy-bag sparks bomb alert in Italy

MILAN (Reuters) - A moving bag apparently abandoned on a tram in Italy sparked panic among passengers who thought it was a bomb -- but turned out to contain four puppies.

Passengers, alarmed by movement in the large bag left on a seat Tuesday evening, warned the driver, a witness said.

"The driver stopped the tram and started walking up and down, trying to find out why the bag was left in the middle of the carriage," the witness told Reuters. The transportation company in the northern city of Milan confirmed the report.

"People started moving away from the bag and some old ladies started murmuring about a possible bomb attack," the witness added.

But just as the driver prepared to raise the alarm by calling transport headquarters, the owner of the bag -- a homeless man sitting on the other side of the coach -- stood up and opened the bag, revealing the puppies.

"They were just puppies, but these days you never know," the driver said.

Italy has been on alert for possible attacks since the March 11, 2004 bombings in Madrid and the attacks on London's transportation network last July.

[BFofAKournikova]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

ehh...?.....why don't you just post a link to the news/article?
Takes less space and anyone that might be interested can click on it.....

If you ask me, this is very boring reading and .."to much"..
No offence

that's why I have the headlines big & bold......you don't like, then don't read...

[Steffi]

Very amusing, BF. Liked the Berlin Virgins story. But unless the girls have changed a lot since I was last in Berlin (2 years ago) I'd stay clear of them. A more surly, miserable bunch of women you couldn't hope to meet. I had to interview some of them in a purely professional capacity for an English publisher and was not impressed. Hamburg is much better..

Now for my addition to your thread. A true news story from England which you should love! Here it is:

[Relaxed]

that's why I have the headlines big & bold......you don't like, then don't read...

No i "don't like" ..as i told, it's boring reading.

My opinion and my free speak, and i also told you: No offense

Are you some kind of moderator in this forum BFofAKournikova?

[BFofAKournikova]

Man Celebrating Jail Release Arrested

OGDEN DUNES, Ind. - A man celebrating his release from jail was arrested on a South Shore train for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District police arrested John A. McKenzie, 32, of Chicago, on the train headed to South Bend Tuesday night.

McKenzie was drunk as he rode the northern Indiana commuter line with his wife and three *****ren, following his release from a Chicago jail, police said.

Another passenger reported McKenzie to officers after he allegedly swiped a beer from him, police said.

An argument erupted, and police from NICTD, Ogden Dunes and Burns Harbor arrived to take McKenzie into custody after he made repeated death threats to the officers, police said.

McKenzie remained in the Porter County Jail Thursday, a jail officer said.

[BFofAKournikova]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

No i "don't like" ..as i told, it's boring reading.

My opinion and my free speak, and i also told you: No offense

Are you some kind of moderator in this forum BFofAKournikova?

nope.....and I didn't take offense btw.....guess I should have posted a smiley in my response

[Geode]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

No i "don't like" ..as i told, it's boring reading.

My opinion and my free speak, and i also told you: No offense

Are you some kind of moderator in this forum BFofAKournikova?

As with any free speech issue, if you don't like it, avoid it. No one is forcing you to read it.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

ehh...?.....why don't you just post a link to the news/article?
Takes less space and anyone that might be interested can click on it.....

If you ask me, this is very boring reading and .."to much"..
No offence

Nope, its fun