| Pub ‘sorry’ for mouse-chewing contest |
A Brisbane pub has apologised for staging a mice-chewing contest.
The Exchange Hotel staged the contest in which live mice were chewed up and spat out by contestants to try to win a holiday.
RSPCA chief inspector Byron Hall said those involved faced fines of up to $75,000 and two years in prison.
By DON KAPLAN
June 10, 2004 — CNBC has axed a pro-wrestler who moonlighted as a TV finance expert after he gave a Nazi salute during a wrestling match in Germany. 
John Layfield, 36, the author of “Have More Money Now,” attempted to rile the crowd during a match against WWE champion Eddie Guerrero in Munich last weekend by goose-stepping around the ring and raising his arm numerous times in an Adolf Hitler salute.
Layfield, who wrestled under the name Bradshaw, had been a regular, paid commentator on CNBC’s “Bullseye” until his heil Hitler antics cost him the job this week.
The fascist act is illegal in Germany, but German officials did not press charges.
Typically, Mexicans bear the brunt of his prejudice during the WWE’s weekly telecasts.
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The WWE also responded to the goose-stepping incident: “WWE and John Layfield deeply regret Mr. Layfield’s actions in the ring at our event in Munich and apologize if it has offended or upset our fans. Mr. Layfield has been reprimanded for his actions.”
Controversial Commando Wins Iraq Contract
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June 9th, 2004
Occupation authorities in Iraq have awarded a $293 million contract effectively creating the world’s largest private army to a company headed by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer, a former officer with the SAS, an elite regiment of British commandos, who has been investigated for illegally smuggling arms and planning military offensives to support mining, oil, and gas operations around the world.
Under the “cost-plus” contract, the military will cover all of the company’s expenses, plus a pre-determined percentage of whatever they spend.
Industry insiders speculate that Aegis won the contract because of growing anger in Britain that UK-based companies have not been awarded large contracts in the reconstruction of Iraq.
LONDON (Reuters) – British police launched a murder investigation Thursday after a man found his daughter-in-law’s dismembered body in his son’s freezer.
Police said they believed the body was that of Tae Hui Dalton, 36.
The man let himself into his son’s house late Tuesday when he found no one home.
He was looking for milk for a cup of tea when he discovered the Korean-born victim wrapped up in plastic bags.
LONDON (Reuters) – An angry buzzard is terrorizing a quiet English country road by dive-bombing passing cyclists.
“We would advise them to paint a pair of eyes on their helmets,” a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spokeswoman told the Daily Express.
Top ten military budgets. (in billions): (1) U.S., $281.0; (2) mainland China, $88.9; (3) Japan, $43.2; (4) France, $38.9; (5) UK, $36.5; (6) Russia, $35.0; (7) Germany, $32.6; (8) Italy, $23.7; (9) Saudi Arabia, $21.2; (10) Taiwan, $15.2.
Five largest armed services. Soldiers (in millions): (1) mainland China, 2.4; (2) U.S., 1.5; (3) India, 1.3; (4) North Korea, 1.0; (5) Russia, 0.9.
Arms exports. The U.S. exports far more arms than the rest of the world combined–$33 billion versus $18.6 billion. The biggest arms importer? Saudi Arabia, $7.7 billion.
Top three in gross national product. (1) U.S., $9.3 trillion; (2) Japan, $4.4 trillion. (3) mainland China, $3.9 trillion.
Military expenditures as a percentage of gross national product. World leader: Eritrea, which spends 27.4 percent of its $757 million GNP (world rank: 155) on the armed services, most of it presumably to fight its archenemy, Ethiopia. The balance of the top ten, with percentages ranging between 21.2 and 8.8: Angola, North Korea, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Congo, Qatar, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Israel. U.S. rank: 52nd, at 3 percent.
Military expenditures per soldier. The U.S ranks first, spending $189,000 per soldier. Japan (number two) and the UK (number three) aren’t far behind, spending $180,000 and $167,000, respectively.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Department spent an estimated $100 million for airline tickets that were not used over a six-year period and failed to seek refunds even though the tickets were reimbursable, congressional investigators say.
The department compounded the problem by reimbursing employee claims for tickets bought by the Pentagon.
A traveler submitted a dozen vouchers claiming some $6,800 in airline tickets the department bought. When notified the department was refusing payments on five of the six claims, the traveler submitted six additional claims. DOD initiated action to collect money for three of the claims but could find no records of the other three.
The Pentagon bought 68,000 first-class or business-class airline seats for employees who should have flown coach.
People close to the pope claim that the pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations. John Paul II has always believed the world was on the precipice of the final confrontation between Good and Evil as foretold in the New Testament.
Before he became pope, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla said, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”
The pope worked tirelessly to convince leaders of nations on the UN Security Council to oppose Bush’s war resolution on Iraq. In the end, the pope did convince the leaders of Mexico, Chile, Cameroon and Guinea to oppose the U.S. resolution.
Florida elections division chief quits amid controvery on voter rolls
By Bob Mahlburg
Tallahassee Bureau
Posted June 8 2004
TALLAHASSEE ยท The head of Florida’s elections division resigned Monday amid reports he was feeling political heat over a push to purge thousands of suspected felons from the state’s voter rolls.
Ed Kast has told associates that he was uncomfortable with growing pressure to trim felons from voter rolls in time for the fall election.
“Ed had made a number of comments that the nature and timing of this felons list was not something he was responsible for. I think he felt in good conscience he could no longer be involved in the operations.”
In the 2000 election, which President Bush won after taking Florida by 537 votes over Al Gore, there were accusations that thousands were wrongly disenfranchised when the state purged the voter roles of suspected felons.
