[roddy32]

I think that once that thing grows up, her owner may become dinner.

[jasper the rasper]

Yes, you are probably right there Roddy.

[roddy32]

This happened about 60 miles south of me a couple of days ago

'You hit a what?' SUV nearly slams into elephant

Quote

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sean Murphy, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 5, 9:45 pm ET

OKLAHOMA CITY – It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant? A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday.

"Didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road," driver Bill Carpenter said Thursday. "At the very last second I said 'elephant!'"

Carpenter, 68, said he swerved his SUV at the last second and ended up sideswiping the 29-year-old female elephant on U.S. 81 in Enid, about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City.

"So help me Hanna, had I hit that elephant, not swerved, it would have knocked it off its legs, and it would have landed right on top of us," he said. "We'd have been history."

The couple, who own a wheat farm, weren't injured. But the 8-foot, 4,500-pound elephant was being examined Thursday for a broken tusk and a leg wound. A local veterinarian said it appeared to have escaped major injury.

"I thought this can't be happening. Out here you could hit a deer or a cow, but this can't be happening. The good Lord was with us," Carpenter said. The elephant's tusk punched through the side of the SUV, tearing up sheet metal.

After sideswiping the elephant, his wife, Deena, flagged some people down and used their cell phone to call police.

"The dispatcher didn't believe her: 'You hit a what?'" he said. "I told my wife, I don't know whether to cry or laugh."

Enid veterinarian Dr. Dwight Olson said the elephant was hiding in some bushes just off the highway when he arrived shortly after the accident. Handlers from the circus were able to calm it down, and Olson cleaned the leg wound and gave it some pain killer.

The elephant was taken Thursday to the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University for a follow-up exam.

"I don't believe there's a broken bone, but I don't have an X-ray room big enough to examine it," Olson said.

The elephant had escaped from the Family Fun Circus at the Garfield County Fairgrounds earlier Wednesday after something spooked it while it was being loaded into a truck with another elephant, Olson said.

David Sacks, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said late Thursday the elephant is owned by the same license holder of two elephants that escaped after getting spooked by a tornado in WaKeeney, Kan., last year. The license holder is Doug Terranova, Sacks said.

A booking agent for the circus, Rachael Bellman, said she was unaware of the incident, and a telephone message left with circus officials wasn't immediately returned.

Carpenter joked about being involved in such a bizarre accident on what is usually a peaceful church night.

"I don't know what was in the wine, but it must have been pretty strong," he said.

http://news.yahoo.co...lephant_escapes

[roddy32]

Can't trust anubody nowadays

Quote

'Elf' jailed over dynamite hoax on Ga. mall Santa

AP Fri Dec 4, 9:10 am ET

MORROW, Ga. – A man dressed as an elf is jailed after police in Georgia say he told a mall Santa that he was carrying dynamite.

Police say Southlake Mall in suburban Atlanta was evacuated but no explosives were found.

Morrow police arrested 45-year-old William C. Caldwell III, who was being held without bond Thursday in the Clayton County jail. He was not part of the mall's Christmas staff.

Police say Caldwell got in line Wednesday evening to have his picture taken with Santa Claus.

Police say when Caldwell reached the front of the line, he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag. Santa called mall security and Caldwell was arrested.

Caldwell faces several charges, including having hoax devices and making terroristic threats.

___

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

http://news.yahoo.co..._odd_santa_bomb

[roddy32]

I think this guy does not like his family very well.

Quote

Man opts for jail over New Year with relatives

Reuter's
Fri Jan 1, 10:53 am ET

ROME (Reuters) – A Sicilian man stole sweets and a packet of chewing gum so he could get arrested and spend New Year's Eve in a jail cell rather than be with his wife and relatives, Italian media reported on Friday.

The 35-year old Sicilian first showed up at a police station on Thursday asking to be arrested because he preferred spending the night in prison rather than with his family, but was rebuffed because he had not committed a crime, the Agi news agency said.

The man immediately went to a tobacco shop next door, where he threatened the owner with a box cutter as he grabbed a few sweets and a packet of gum. He then waited until police arrived to arrest him for robbery, the news agency said.

(Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Charles Dick)

http://news.yahoo.co...prison_sicilian

[Fred Flintstone]

Bit extreme I know, but the way I feel about the "festive period" I know where he's coming from!!..

[roddy32]

I was Santa Clause this year so I was festive.

[luci2a]

Can we see the pictures roddy?

[roddy32]

It was only a Santa hat but noone has sent me the picture yet. I will post one when I get them.
2 of the kids actually though I was Santa because I already have the grey beard and even though I have lost weight, I still have the stomach too.

[luci2a]

Good!