DEATH PARAGRAPH

According to Amnesty International, China has gone on an “execution frenzy.” In the last three months, China has executed about 1,780 people (with a bullet to the back of the head). That number is greater than the total number of executions in the rest of the world over the last three years.

— YOUR MONEY’S NO GOOD HERE

It took nearly a month for the folks at H & R Block to convince a New Jersey man the million bucks he won was not a joke or a scam.

and…

Robert Hanssen officially pleads guilty to spying.
He avoids the death penalty and the FBI avoids a courtroom airing of national security secrets.

The American airman accused of rape in Japan is turned over to Japanese authorities.

U.S. unemployment levels rise to 4.5%.

The Peace Corps is recruiting former dot commers.
{I wonder what kind of equity packages they offer?}

A dog successfully crosses six lanes of Arizona highway. Story includes the incredible video.

Go Get Your 12 Yr Old Bride In NC Quick!
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It sounds like fodder for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not”: Did you know that in
North Carolina, a 12-year-old girl can get married with permission from one of
her parents? The antiquated law – a vestige of the state’s agrarian past – will
finally go the way of the horse-drawn plow Oct. 1, when the state raises its
minimum marriage age from 12 to 14 and tightens other restrictions on under-16
weddings.

Pop Rocks Rumor Finally True?
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It’s a flavor combination only a kid could love — grape and sour-apple
sherbet, with popping candies sprinkled throughout. But a kiddie-size scoop of the
stuff landed an Alamo girl in the hospital in May after that candy popped in her
tummy, not on her tongue. Now, Chris Janze is suing Baskin-Robbins on behalf of
her 5-year-old daughter, who had to be hospitalized to relieve the internal
pressure her lawyer says was caused by Pop Rocks candy.

3 Parked Cars and Your Out!
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A 27-year-old Australian woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail Monday for
failing to stop her car and call for help after a drunken passenger stuck her head
out a window, hit at least three parked cars and died.
Shaw, who was in the United States to study tourism, pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor count of driving under the influence and no contest to a felony count of
leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Stoltz blamed Shaw’s drinking for “a lack of urgency” after the Feb. 28
accident that killed Karla Barton, 20, of Australia, Shaw’s roommate.
Instead of stopping, Shaw drove home after the accident. After going into her
apartment to call authorities, Shaw did not return to her dead friend’s side.
Instead, she introduced another passenger in the car to a neighbor so he could
borrow clean clothes to replace his shirt and pants, which had become soaked with
Barton’s blood.

You Will Not Write 100 Times, I Love Little Boys
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An Ohio man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after writing fictitious
stories about torturing and sexually abusing young children.Brian Dalton, 22, of
Columbus, was charged with pandering obscenity involving a minor after his
probation officer found a journal with the stories during a routine search of his
home.

Tough Love And Mud Pies
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An investigation has been launched into a boot camp for unruly teenagers after
the death of a boy who was allegedly deprived of water and forced to eat mud.

Barney Fights Back
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Barney may be a dinosaur who chants about hugs and love, but his lawyers aren’t
afraid to get nasty when protecting their plump, purple trademark.
In the last few weeks, a law firm representing Lyons Partnership — which owns
the rights to Barney — has stepped up its efforts to yank hundreds of humor
sites poking fun at the children’s cartoon character that so many Internet users
love to hate.
A typical nastygram from Gibney, Anthony and Flaherty goes something like this:
“We have reviewed your website and have concluded that it incorporates the use
and threat of violence towards the children’s character Barney without
permission from Lyons Partnership.”