City uses DNA to fight dog poop

Yet another broken light bulb award goes to this city in Israel. With all of the crap going on over there, you'd think they would have better things to do than to worry about dog poop. I suppose the job of dog poop analyzer could be given as a punishment for certain crimes...
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PETAH TIKVA, Israel (Reuters) - An Israeli city is using DNA analysis of dog droppings to reward and punish pet owners.

Under a six-month trial programme launched this week, the city of Petah Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv, is asking dog owners to take their animal to a municipal veterinarian, who then swabs its mouth and collects DNA.

The city will use the DNA database it is building to match faeces to a registered dog and identify its owner.

Owners who scoop up their dogs' droppings and place them in specially marked bins on Petah Tikva's streets will be eligible for rewards of pet food coupons and dog toys.

But droppings found underfoot in the street and matched through the DNA database to a registered pet could earn its owner a municipal fine.

"My goal is to get the residents involved, and tell them that together, we can make our environment clean," said Tika Bar-On, the city's chief veterinarian who came up with the idea for the DNA experiment.

Bar-On said the DNA database could also help veterinarians research genetic diseases in dogs, investigate canine pedigree and identify stray animals, replacing the need for electronic chip identification.

UAE emirate bans pyjamas at work

Umm... First of all, it's pajamas, not pyjamas. Secondly, I've heard of some businesses actually having a pajama day, but those people aren't seen by the public. However, civil servants? *boggle* What the heck are they doing wearing P.J.'s at work while dealing with the public anyways? What's more, what made so many people there think this was ok? Sounds like mismanagement to me. Perhaps they should just fire the knob-head who told his underlings it was ok to do this in the first place? What's more, they actually had to pass a law about it! This has, "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!", written all over it. C'mon UAE, join the rest of us in reality. You don't fix everything through legislation. Instead you lay out policy for different departments of government. Break policy and you get sacked. Simple, yet effective. Sheesh... Better yet, hire sane supervisors.

DUBAI (AFP) - The local government of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates has introduced a dress code for civil servants after a large number were caught wearing pyjamas at work.

The rule, effective from January 1, requires Emirati government employees to stick to the national dress -- the long white robe known as "kandoura" for men and the black abaya for women, newspapers reported Thursday.

Expatriates working for the local government will have to show up in suits and ties, Gulf News and Al-Khaleej reported.

The decision to impose a mandatory dress code was taken after a large number of employees were caught on duty in their sleeping attire and pyjamas, Gulf News quoted the head of the personnel department in the emirate, Maath al-Mutawaa, as saying.

Government employees will henceforth dress in a way reflecting the progress being seen in the emirate, he added.

The conservative emirate of Ras al-Khaimah at the northern tip of the UAE has recently been opening up to outsiders and launched a series of economic projects in a bid to catch up with more "advanced" members of the UAE, which includes oil-rich Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a business and tourism hub.

Baby put into X-ray machine at Los Angeles airport

How stupid can you be!?!? There are little radiation stickers on there. You can even watch what other people do before you get up there for crying out loud! They even have those little signs out front with the pictures. I'm sorry, but if you don't understand the little pictures, you don't need to be breeding! Geesh!

LOS ANGELES, Dec 20 (Reuters Life!) - A woman sent her one-month-old grandson through an X-ray machine at Los Angeles International Airport, security officials said on Wednesday.

The woman, who spoke little English and was traveling to Mexico, put the infant in a plastic bin used to hold loose carry-on items for security scanning at the busy airport on Saturday morning.

Security screeners saw the baby as it started to pass through, pulled the bin out, and immediately sought medical assistance for the child, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez said.

The baby was examined at a local hospital and judged not to have received a dangerous dose of radiation.

"The lady obviously mistakenly put the baby in the machine. It was an unfortunate incident," Melendez said.

Airport officials said it was an innocent mistake by an inexperienced traveler and only the second such incident there since 1988, when a baby in a car seat went through an X-ray scanner.

Woman Tells Cop She Bought "Bad Crack"

I found this little gem whilst poking around on yahoo. Just when I thought people can't get any dumber, someone like this pops up and completely surprises me. What's next, drug dealers registering with the Better Business Bureau!?!? Please lady, for the sake of all humanity, Get Out of The Gene Pool!!!

HAWTHORNE, Fla. - A North Carolina woman was arrested after complaining to a police officer that the crack cocaine she had just purchased wasn't very good, authorities said.

Eloise D. Reaves, 50, approached the Putnam County sheriff's deputy at a convenience store Friday, telling him that another man had sold her "bad crack" that contained wax and cocaine.

She pulled an alleged crack rock out of her mouth and placed it on the deputy's car for inspection, the Palatka Daily News reported for Tuesday editions.

The deputy told Reaves that she would be arrested if the crack tested positive for cocaine.

She was charged with possession of cocaine and bonded out for $1,504.