The Milwaukee Post

18 • Milwaukee Post • July 5, 2013 NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY CHUCK SHEPHERD Lead story ■ Sieging cheaters: As many as 50 exam monitors were forced to take cover at a high school in Zhongxiang, China, in June, fending off outraged students (and some parents) who hurled insults and stones at them after the monitors blocked cheating schemes on the all-important national "gaokao" exams. (It was "siege warfare," and eventually "hundreds" of police responded, according to a dispatch in the Daily Telegraph of London.) Metal detectors had found secret transmitters and contraband cellphones used by groups beaming in exam answers from outside. Independent proctors had been assigned because of longstanding suspicions that the schools' own proctors routinely enabled cheating (with results such as the 99 identical papers submitted in one subject on the previous year's exam). Said one student (in the mob of about 2,000), noting how widespread cheating is nationally, "There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat." Things believe people ■ Sheriffs and government deedrecorders in several states have reported annoying attempts recently by "Moorish American nationals" to confiscate temporarily vacant houses (often mansions), moving in without inhibition, changing the locks, and partying joyously – based on made-up documents full of gobbledygook and stilted legalese granting them sovereignty beyond the reach of lawenforcement. There is a venerable Moorish Temple Science of America, but these trespassers in Florida, Maryland, Tennessee, and other states are from fanciful offshoots that demand reparations (usually in gold) for ChristopherColumbus-era Europeans having stolen "their" land. A North Carolina police investigator told the Washington Post in March that "every state" is experiencing the "Moorish American" invasion. Cliches come to life ■ Sheriff's deputies arrested Shane Kersey, 35, in March as the one who made phone calls to four schools in New Orleans's Westbank neighborhood, threatening to burn them down. When taken into custody, Kersey had aluminum foil wrapped around his skull and secured by a baseball cap but explained to an officer that he needed it "to prevent microwave signals from entering his head." ■ Among the character witnesses in May at the New York City sex-trafficking trial of alleged pimp Vincent George, Jr., 33, and his father were three of the younger man's ladies, who praised him unconditionally to the jury as a good father to the children they bore for him and as the person responsible for helping them kick their drug habits. Heather Keith, 28, and Danielle Geissler, 31, referred to each other as Vincent, Jr.'s "wife-in-law." Geissler admitted that George ("Daddy") slapped her around a bit, explaining that they both "slapped each other around sometimes but never over work or staying in the (prostitution) life." (Three weeks later, the Georges were acquitted of sex trafficking, although convicted of money laundering.) Ooops! ■ Tim Blackburn, 50, fell off a ladder in Stockton-on-Tees, England, in 2007, and shattered his arm so badly that doctors had to remove four inches of bone and attach a metal scaffold around his arm that took six years to heal completely (and then only because of help from a cutting-edge ultrasound procedure). In May 2013 – one day after he got a clean bill of health – Blackburn tripped over his dog and tumbled down the stairs in his home, and his arm "snapped like a twig," he said. Bright ideas ■ Technology companies are making great strides in odor-detection robots, valuable in identifying subtle scents ranging from contaminants in beer brewing to cancerous tumors in the body. And then there is CrazyLabo in Fukuoka, Japan, which is marketing two personalhygiene robots, available for special occasions such as parties, according to a May BBC News report. One detector, shaped as a woman's kissable head, tests breath odor and responds (e.g., "smells like citrus"; "there's an emergency taking place"). The other, resembling a dog, checks a person's feet and can either cuddle up to the subject (no odor) or appear to pass out. Undignified deaths ■ The man who claimed the "world's record" for traveling the farthest distance on a zip line attached only to his hair was killed in April as he similarly attempted to cross the Teesta River in West Bengal, India, on a zip line. He died of a heart attack, and since observers were unclear whether his limpness was part of the performance, he hung lifeless for 45 minutes. (He was identified in news reports as a "Guinness Book" recordholder, but as with many such claims, the Guinness Book has no such category.) ■ A 22-year-old man was killed in March attempting to rope-swing from the picturesque, 140-foot-high Corona Arch near Moab, Utah, trying to emulate a famous 2012 Internet video at the arch, "World's Largest Rope Swing." This man, however, apparently overestimated the length of rope he would need to launch himself off the arch to begin his swing – and crashed to the ground. Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL., 33679 or by email to WeirdNewsTips@yahoo.com. HINTS FROM HELOISE BY HELOISE A simple prewash formula Dear Heloise: I remember that you had a simple prewash recipe. I can't seem to find my copy Could you please reprint it? . – Haddie in Chicago You bet I will, and this will save you from spending money on commercial products. It is a really easy solution that you can mix up for just pennies. Mix equal parts water, household ammonia and dishwashing liquid. For example, combine 1 cup, 1 cup and 1 cup. Make sure to use dishwashing, NOT dishwasher, liquid. Mix well, and put into a clearly labeled spray bottle. Wash clothes immediately after using this solution. Do not let it sit. Do keep it out of the reach of children and pets. Have other laundry problems you need answers to? I have put all of my stain solutions into one handy pamphlet, Heloise's Handy Stain Guide for Clothing. To order, send $5 with a long, selfaddressed, stamped (66 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Stain Guide, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Did you leave your clothes in the dryer too long? To remove wrinkles, place a damp towel in with the load, and restart the cycle for 15 minutes. – Heloise Send a great hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000 or email to heloise@Heloise.com. Answers on Page 23

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