There have been several high-profile Somalian pirate attacks in the past month, raising global awareness to the lawless conditions in the waters around the horn of Africa. CNN has a
profile of the pirates, who they say are armed with GPS and rocket launchers, make up to $40,000 a year, and have a 75% success rate. International law enforcement agencies are seeking new laws that would allow them to pursue the pirates past coastal waters. [
CNN]
"Penis theft panic hits city..." 13 suspected sorcerers have been arrested in Kinshasa, the Congo's capital city, for possibly "using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft." [
via]
The design of a foldaway map is being called into question in a British Court. Designer Derek Dacey, owner of Compass Maps, claims that his map, the Unfolding Flower, which is inspired by origami, was copied by a rival company, Berlitz travel guides. [
The Times]
Happy Tax Day Everyone! I know, I know, it sucks. But, hey, look on the bright side: at least you're not
Wesley Snipes. The actor, famous for his roles in films like "Jungle Fever" and "Demolition Man," is facing up to
3 years in jail and a
$5 million fine for failing to pay his taxes for nearly the last 10 years. "Snipes has escaped paying more than 15 million dollars in income tax to the Internal Revenue Service." [
Breitbart]
A serial subway groper who has been arrested 53 times made his latest unwanted advance to a woman two weeks after he had been released from prison. Thanks to his most recent offense, if convicted, "Subway Rat" Freddie Johnson could be sent away for life as a result of his "persistent sexual abuse." [
WCBS]
Prostitution is "flourishing" in Indonesia, so the local leaders in one state have made a rule
requiring masseuses to wear chastity belts. The devices mandated by the government in Batu, an area that's popular with tourists, are "padlocks" that a massage parlor staffer must wear "on the waist band of her trousers." Sexy! [
Reuters]
There was
an issue with supermodel Naomi Campbell's luggage on a
British Airways flight. Of course, you can imagine how this story ends. It involves witnesses reporting that
Naomi was taken off the plane in cuffs being "aggressive and abusive to staff." A Scotland Yard spokesperson would only say that "a 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer." That's right, folks. Naomi Campbell is 37. That means she is a MILF and we are all much older and closer to death than we ever realized. [
Independent]
A
fetus was discovered in the bathroom on a Continental Airlines flight from New York to Houston. The
fetus was found by cleaning crews about an hour after the plane landed at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. FBI investigators and local police are trying to determine whether or not a crime was committed. The
fetus may have been the result of an illegal in-air abortion, or simply a miscarriage. [
KTRK TV]
South Korean spas are
dropping the logo they've been using for nearly 100 years because the sign, a red circle with wisps of steam, has been adopted by by-the-hour "no-tell motels" often used by adulterous couples and by "love motels" that are notorious for prostitution. Legitimate spas will now use a blue logo, and anyone found "using the sign at non-spa facilities can be punished by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,030." This measure is supposed to crack down on prostitution, but it also seems as if it will help potential johns. Now they can avoid the embarrassment and expense of going to a normal spa and asking for sex. [
AP]
A 22 year-old drug mule was
caught on a Miami-bound flight after
swallowing "dozens" of cocaine-filled capsules. The man began vomiting and convulsing just as the plane was about to depart from San Jose, Costa Rica. The wannabe drug smuggler, identified only by his last name: "Keller," was sent to a nearby hospital where
doctors surgically removed almost a half pound of coke from his stomach. [
Reuters]
In the wake of the Spitzer scandal,
lawmakers are seeking to eliminate a loophole that makes
prostitution legal in Rhode Island. The laws currently on the books in the state do not specifically prohibit prostitution as long as it "occurs indoors." According to the Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, as things are now, "persons are free to solicit sex for money in newspapers and/or over the Internet as long as the conduct that is agreed upon takes place in private." Proposals to criminalize the world's oldest profession in Rhode Island have been unsuccessfully introduced several times in past years, but the latest anti-prostitution bill seems to have extra momentum following the Spitzer debacle. Thanks a lot Eliot! Nice job fucking things up for the rest of us! [
ProJo]
Gridskipper
CNN has some pretty amazing video of the apprehension of six Somali pirates who were responsible (along with four other not-yet arrested pirates) for the recent attack on a French yacht. The footage, released by the French defense ministry this week, show the pirates being chased down in the desert, before cutting to an interview with a crew member and ending with a nice shot of Sarkozy greeting the hostages on a runway upon their return to France. [CNN]
