Topical Chat, December 22, 2006

Casinos in Philly, and this is supposed to bring down the property taxes??? With the way this city (and state) handles money, I’ll bet this move puts us further in debt … just sayin’.

1. On a man who went missing in western Japan, surviving in near-freezing weather without food and water for over three weeks by falling into a state similar to hibernation:
“He later woke up and asked the Ranger for a pic-a-nic basket.”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2741274

2. On polish lawmakers drawing up a resolution naming Jesus Christ as the honorary king of Poland:
“And you wonder why there are so many Polish jokes out there …”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2740597

3. On a statue of “The Great Defecating Peasant” being increasingly found on mantelpieces in Spain:
“This might trump that drunken bratwurst eater statue found in Germany.”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2741287

4. On a suburban New York village sending out fake water bills of more than $1,000 to dozens of residents "just to get their attention" because it hasn't been able to gain entry to read their meters:
“This will probably go over as well as a fart in church.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2741370

5. On a woman mistakenly putting her 1-month-old grandson through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport:
“The parents report they no longer need a night light.”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2740328

6. On a former president of the Reading School Board being arrested on charges of armed bank robbery:
“I’m still scratching my head and wondering why we still have problems in education in the good ol’ U-S of A.”
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4864492

7. On Peruvian President Alan Garcia suggesting an unorthodox use for the coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine: Why not toss it in a salad?:
“This might get many inner city kids to finally ‘eat’ their greens.”
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=4864974

8. On a businessman who paid $280,000 for an original 1860 handwritten copy of the classic holiday poem that begins "'Twas the night before Christmas" and read it for friends at a party:
“Sometimes I wish I had so much money that I didn’t know what to do with it.”
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=4854243