Odd News

The employees of Italian railroads started a series of strikes this morning, which will include also employees of airlines, bus and port transportation. According to the agency DPA, the number of strikers can reach 300 000. Railroads began their eight hours break from work at 9 a.m. Hundreds of flights are going to be canceled in Rome and Milan, because of the strike, started at 11 a.m. Bus, tram and metro drivers will stop their duties in several Italian towns in various times. This strike is organized by the Main Italian Trade-Union as a protest against the reduction of finances in the field of public transportation for the next year. They are also connected to the main economy crisis in the country controlled airline company Alitalia and the railroad organization Trenitalia. It looks like the Italians will have to use their feet to get anywhere, or to figure out something more sophisticated. One example of pure geniality sits in their government. The conservative politician Gustavo Selva, who used an ambulance for an emergency ride to television, where he had been interviewed. He walked into the studio and announced: "I used an old journalistic trick to get here on time!" The emergency doesn't think about his act as a joke. At the same day, the U.S. President George W. Bush visited the country and they answered more than 600 calls, sending out 50 ambulances to help people hurt in protests over Bush's administration. And of course, it was still day as another- people didn't stop being sick or die. There was for sure someone else who would use the ambulance for more than an "old journalistic trick."

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_us/stewardess_retires;_ylt=AuZanSSfgPk92tBh8k6YflWs0NUE

by Romana Schlesingerova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

When the word "money laundry" is mentioned, everyone automatically imagines a process, in which the funds, coming from illegal activities, are redeemed by various financial operations and become a part of legal economy. Only few persons really know that this concept is related to real laundering. Believe or not, money laundry has way more common with doing your laundry, as you would ever think. This "invention" has its origin in USA, beginning in the last century, when the alcohol had been prohibited by government, which leaded to the birth of several gangs and major boom of criminality. These companies started to conglomerate and purchase public wash-houses and car washes, as an excuse for their black gains. One of the most famous owners of dozens of them was no one, than notorious Al Capone. Activities connected to "dirty money" are miscellaneous. Besides the smuggling of alcohol and hazard, the source of today`s illegal earnings are, above all, drugs. This money comes from the street sale, but most of all, from the organized groups, that work internationally. "Dirty money" flows to the world`s economy also from the sales of guns, illegal immigration, laundering money, big thefts, smuggling art and historical goods, and finally from the car steals. Accumulating the mentioned money from financial frauds, bank and tax drifts, is now, part of this world. Anyway you do it, it is a crime. Not every is discovered at the very end. It all depends on you and your skills. This is not a walkthrough for opening a personal washing place in your basement. Just don't be silly, as Alexander Smith from Augusta, Georgia, who walked in the bank with a fake 1 million bill, trying to open an account. Let`s just say, even the fraud has its boundaries.

by Romana Schlesingerova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

You know the Lost in Space? Or the Lost in Translation? Sure you do, but you don't know the new one. I's called Lost in Germany. Maybe Germany is not as big as the space, but indeed, it is big enough to get lost. Actually Germany means 357,021 square kilometers of ground you can get lost in. Well, it never happened to me, but then again I've never been to Germany. However one Lithuanian farmer been there and done that. He got lost in Germany. Just so you know Lithuania is in northern Europe in between Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast and it's not a big country. And think, with its 65,200 square kilometers, we can even call it small country. That might be the reason why Saulius Marcinkevicius, 41 and some of his friends and fellow farmers decided to go on the road trip. The first one abroad for the Marcinkevicius (and now he claims that also his last one). The group of adventurous farmers stopped at the servis station near Leipzig. It was November 13. After the break they went on, but no one noticed that somebody is missing. That somebody was Marcinkevicius. Alone, in foreign country, not able to speak any foreign language, with just 100 Euros and his passport (thank god he had it in his pocket) farmer decided to hike. So, he walked around 200 kilometers, not speaking to anybody, eating apples he had found and drinking water from rain puddles. Finally after 9 days of walk and loss of 5 kilos he got home safe and sound and is now happy. In his words:"I got lost, and went through some extreme experiences, the kind that other people sometimes pay big money for."

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071127/tod-lithuania-germany-offbeat-86d1698_1.html

by Lucia Mitrova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

The adoption in its pure meaning is a gesture of hope and new life for children that had not the chance to be born in the whole family, who were neglected, fighting their little wars on streets or eating from trash cans until the social workers find them and accommodated them. For some of those it was even worse, coming to a place, where dozens of the same stories found their way. The only thing left had been the hope- the hope for luck to be adopted. For these kids, the old dilemma of tell-or-not-tell about the adoption is resolved. Let`s think about those, who were adopted as infants, small babies in diapers, not able to remember a thing, a single memory of who their real parents were, where they were born and how they found their happiness in another family. Those can be endangered by the reality. Their lives can suddenly change from a heaven to hell. This is the reason why the majority of parents that once adopted are so concerned about the decision- Tell or not to tell? People always worried, that when their adoptive child find out about hers/his real origin, he/she will immediately pack one suitcase and left the home to find the HOME. That`s why there where so many children that had no clue about the fact that they had been adopted, in the past. New research challenges the common perception that adoption negatively impacts a child's self-esteem. A study by a Dutch researcher shows that adopted children tend to overcome developmental and emotional problems, and achieve a normal level of self-esteem. Don't worry, your child can be disoriented or confused, but at the end of the day, he/she will know who the mama really is.

by Romana Schlesingerova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Earth wonders never seize to amaze and it only proves that there are still things that can make us gaps in surprise. Furthermore, we don't know still the potential that the nature has and instead of taking advantage, we mistreat it. Looking all the way to Italy, the latest discovery gives us the chills; a 1.5-kg white truffle was found in the Italian countryside. Christiano Savini is a truffle hunter and every year he goes hunting together with his father in an area of Tuscany. His dog, Rocco, sniffed out the truffle by an oak tree near Pisa last weekend. At the beginning it wasn't a surprise due to the fact that ten years ago they found there another white truffle of a half-kilo. It was buried 2.5 feet underground and they had to dig wider and wider, like in a reverse cone, rather than digging down and narrowing towards the spot where the truffle was, according to Savini's statement. The dog was all agitated and he continued to jump from one side to the other as if to indicate they had to enlarge the hole. After displaying the enormous truffle at a five-star hotel in Rome on Tuesday, Savini sent it to Macau, a Chinese enclave, for a charity auction that will be held on Saturday and it is expected to get as much as 150,000 euros (108,000 pounds) because a truffle of the same size found last year in Italy's truffle town of Alba, was bought for 125,000 euros by a Hong Kong bidder. Although it is not the biggest white truffle ever (in 1954 was found a 2,5 kg truffle that was presented to former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower) Savini consider it to be a gift for him and his family. The truffle hunter deserves our applause not only for his achievement but also for the fact that he looked beyond money and all other financial retribution. Good for him and bon appetite to the one buying it (if he/she eats it). Enjoy!

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Everyone can go to the store! This fact had to be faced by TESCO store workers in Ilkeston, Derbyshire who found little piglet in the truck full of toilet paper. This unusual situation needed to be fixed using unusual measures. Workers called the RSPCA and little Andrex as they named little animal was transported into animal shelter for recovering until they will find new home for him.   I suppose our life would be boring and dry without unexpected curiosity situations that eventually make us laugh. I believe there are no coincidences in the living. Everything happens because of something. Maybe we need to be aware of something or need to slow down our life rhythm or we need to stop for a while and think about the way we live. Finding little piglet doesn't look like a huge thing, but maybe if someone can take care of little wounded creature, they can find the reason to go on or at least unusual companion, someone who really needs them.   How many different love stories did we hear during our lives? People meet at the strangest places we can say. The way how relationships go are unexpected and every single one is special and unique. Nobody act the same as any other person, nobody thinks and deal with people the same way you do. If there were different workers in the store who find little Andrex, maybe he wouldn't be alive anymore. We need to take responsibility for our lives, we need to make our decision and live our life the way we can be proud of ourselves even in case we find little piglet behind the toilet paper.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071120/lf_nm_life/britain_piglet_dc;_ylt=AqMseZYYjYwWHeH4WEz1QH.s0NUE

by Natalia Holvova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Shut up, shut up...says the song of Black Eyed Peas and because King Juan Carlos loves it, he keeps on singing. Just the other day he hummed it to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. However, due to their status, he reformulated it polite and said: Why don't you shut up? ("Por que no te callas?"). Beyond all jokes, at a summit last week in Chile, the Spanish king told Chavez to shut up in a heated confrontation. Since then it become not only a hit, but also hip. Madrid daily El Pais reported on its Web site Monday more than a half a million people have downloaded a mobile phone ringtone featuring the phrase and companies gained around $2.2 million for it. President Chavez initiated the conflict when he called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist" and while Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's current Prime Minister, asked him to be more diplomatic, he kept interrupting. As it is, King Juan Carlos, annoyed, said the phrase that would become history. Many of Chavez's opponents in Venezuela would have said the same thing; therefore they become prime supporters of the king. Furthermore, in Venezuela the word "no" written in the Spanish message on T-shirts is in uppercase and represents a call for voting against constitutional reforms that would significantly expand Chavez's power. Rumor has it that the next best thing will be T-shirts and mugs featuring the words. On Youtube the videos of the confrontation are already a hit. Did you bought something with message? What are you waiting for, the demand is high you might be left outside.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_fe_st/shut_up_ringtone;_ylt=AqXLSfTZLD2EACEaC5jpZias0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Do you remember that little animated squirrel from movie Ice Age. How cute it was. Just jumping everywhere around, looking for the nuts and for the right place for it. And that winking. Was not that neat? But in case you do not know, the real squirrels are the same. Only difference is that squirrels are trying to be close to us. They are able to find the right place for their nests anywhere. The best place is your house. Everywhere where is some food, there is a good place. So be careful when you will be opening your refrigerator next time. Do not be surprised when you find small squirrel nest inside of your car. There is no food, but it is warm in there. Places like parks or woods are not enough cool for modern squirrels, they want luxury. Only problem is that they can be dangerous. They can bite, scratch and jump like crazy. There are some of them who are not so clever, so they are looking for the oddest places you can imagine, like engines, transformers, or in electricity. Of course some of them are killed sometimes, but it is not significant for other squirrels. They are trying to do the same again and again. Nobody knows why they pick up these places. Maybe there is some smell or sign, which they think is something different. I just do not believe that they are so stupid. They can not be.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_re_us/odd_squirrel_outages;_ylt=AlfI2zPWKdQ21.o.pYBtqt.s0NUE

by Zuzana Valkova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Funny as it may sound for 117 customers of Xcel Energy were left in total darkness after they power was knocked out. The suicidal squirrels not only that they created a black out, but also they perished in the unfortunate incident that took place on Monday. Brian Elwood, a spokesman for Xcel Energy, stated that measures have to be taken in order to prevent such incidents from happening again. The first city affected by the squirrel's contact with an overhead transformer was Wisconsin and the 117 customers dealt with the consequences. In less than an hour the power was restored by repair crews. Unfortunately for the little animal it did not survived, only its remains were found afterwards. 40 miles away from the first power outage, Ironwood, Michigan, on Monday morning a second squirrel get into another substation, causing an outage that affected more than 1,400 customers in Ironwood and two nearby communities, according to Elwood. One of the persons that suffered deeply due to the power blackout was Rodney Johnson who was stuck on an elevator at the city's Enterprise Center. The firefighters struggled for a couple of minutes to open the door and during that time Johnson prayed to make it to Thanksgiving, because of his past record of claustrophobia. When they finally succeeded to get him out, he almost knocked out a firefighter just to get out of there. Elwood says they can't help it; the curious animals cannot be kept away from lines although they are one of the leading causes of outages, trailing only severe weather. They learnt just like the people with bird feeders who try to keep the squirrels out, that in fact squirrels always find a way to get back in. Stay connected and follow the line of the events, you might get to the bottom of a solution.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_re_us/odd_squirrel_outages;_ylt=ArxBhWqQRh4OV.EfF6XdRQ6s0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Many people don't know much or anything at all about Navajo culture today. This folk live on the nation's largest Indian reservation, where the life continues differently. Traditions here are still keeping alive and many special attitudes of their nation still reign too. The very extraordinary view is the respect and honor Navajo man show to Navajo women. The role of woman here is placed on a special level as much as the beauty of them is considered alternatively than we are usually used to. Kind of proof is really remarkable weeklong so called Miss Navajo Nation pageant which is not only about the beauty. The pageant began in 1952 and the winner became a woman who got the most applause from the audience. The time has changed but the main point and strict contest requirements of the competition stayed. The Miss Navajo Nation Miss can join now any Navajo women who contest requirements such as to be single, to have a high school diploma, no children and be aged 18 to 25. One of the most important demands is to know and be able to speak in traditional language of Navajo culture. This is also one of disciplines joined women have to fulfill. However it sounds easily, because their job is to explain directions to their house in traditional language, this is the most difficult part almost for all competitors. Other challenging skill they have to prove is sheep-butchering with butcher-knives. But on the other side they are naturally exposing also their charm in evening gowns and high heels and jewelry. The Navajo women beauty has different criteria like the casual one. It is more about internal beauty, which might not be wonderful to others, the harmony they are striving for.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_en_tv/ap_on_tv_miss_navajo_pageant;_ylt=AgO2MsVjfXakQrqEnX7FJbCs0NUE

by Zuzana Blazeckova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.