MWF
Now needs wood
- Joined
- May 29, 2008
- Messages
- 28,275
- Location
- MWF HQ, Ukadia
- Car(s)
- MX-5 1.8i Indiana SE, update pending
Who is it going to offend? And why isn't that post in the Awesome Thread???
Nasty Surprise
US Vigilant in Fight against Chocolate Eggs
Bringing Kinder Surprise eggs into the US can incur a fine of hundreds of dollars because the famous chocolates with toys inside are illegal there under a 1938 law. Seizures of the eggs have doubled since 2010, but egg-lovers are now petitioning for the ban to be lifted.
People travelling to the US would be well advised to refrain from taking Kinder Surprise eggs with them. The chocolate eggs are illegal in the US because of a law dating back to 1938 which bans inedible objects inside confectionery. There are concerns that small children could choke on the mini-toys found inside the eggs.
The law predates the Kinder Surprise eggs made by Italian company Ferrero but people caught entering the US with them in their luggage risk incurring a fine of several hundred dollars. Last year, customs officers fished 60,000 of the eggs from people's luggage, more than twice the number seized in 2010.
Several thousand US citizens have responded by launching online petitions demanding that the ban on the eggs be lifted. Ferroro couldn't be reached for comment.
Keeping Easter Safe
American officials have, in recent years, proven to be particularly vigilant in keeping the eggs ova non grata in the US. A 2008 press release issued by US Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, announced the finding of dozens of such eggs at JFK airport in New York just prior to Easter that year.
"The vigilance of our CBP officers at the mail facilities has prevented these potentially dangerous toys from ending up in children's Easter baskets," crowed Leon Hayward, CBP acting director of field operations, at the time. "We will continue to keep our guard up to stop harmful products from entering the United States."
SPIEGEL/cro
A Kinder Surprise egg in Germany. Rejected in the US.
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,827741,00.html
"We will continue to keep our guard up to stop harmful products from entering the United States." Can this also be applied for long metal things, that shoot bullets out of them and children also like to play with in the US? Because I'm quite sure, that more children in the USA die of bullets, than in Europe by eating Kinder Surprise eggs.
My question is, if one gets mailed from Europe does the intended recipient pay the fine?
If so, pick a congressman and let the fun begin!
That is from 2008...
Mother-of-five died after drinking industrial-strength vinegar in horrific 'home abortion' she researched online
A pregnant mother-of-five died after drinking industrial-strength vinegar during an attempted home abortion she had researched online.
Catherine Furey, 38, suffered a violent and eventually fatal reaction to the concentrated acid similar to that used in a chip shop.
A police investigation was launched and officers arrested her sister-in-law Dawn Chadwick for handing her the vinegar bottle in late 2010.
She was eventually charged with manslaughter but after an 18-month investigation this was dropped this week, allowing the details of this tragic case to be revealed for the first time.
Cop Fired For Speeding 143 MPH While Drunk Gets Job Back
Manager Of Safety Fighting Decision To Overturn Firing Of Derrick Saunders
DENVER -- The Civil Service Commission has overturned a decision to fire a Denver cop who admitted to speeding while intoxicated. It is a decision Denver's manager of safety is fighting to overturn.
Officer Derrick Saunders was sentenced to five days in jail after pleading guilty to charges he was drunk and driving 143 mph in a 55 mph zone on June 17, 2010.
The manager of safety fired Saunders last December. Saunders appealed, arguing his termination was unfair and excessive.
Now a panel of hearing officers is saying the drinking and speeding didn't warrant termination, which the manager of safety disagrees with.
Manager of Safety Alex Martinez said the decision to overturn Saunders' dismissal "deprives the manager of the authority to impose reasonable discipline and disrespects the efforts of the many honorable law-abiding Denver police officers to maintain high standards of professionalism."
"We would never hire someone as a law enforcement officer who had engaged in this behavior and should not be required by hearing officers to continue to employ someone as an officer with this proven criminal conduct, " Martinez added.
Saunders' termination was overruled based on "discretion and precedence."
The Civil Service Commission said the Denver manager of safety "failed to prove any extraordinary aggravation" and "also failed to consider (Saunders') mitigating factors."
"Moreover, the disciplinary action of termination far exceeds the discipline given to other officers in comparative or greater misconduct cases," the commission argued.
The Civil Service Commission said this is not the end of the case. The city attorney has 10 days to file a motion to stay or an appeal.
In firing Saunders, Martinez wrote the June incident showed "a serious lack of character" related to being a police officer and "a willful and wanton disregard" for police department values.
"The extraordinary high speed alone is stunning. The fact that you drove at this dangerous speed while your ability to drive was impaired by alcohol is shocking. In addition, you were driving at night and with a passenger in the car," Martinez wrote when he terminated Saunders.
Saunders previously had been cleared of pointing a gun at a McDonald's employee in Aurora in 2009. The employee said Saunders, an officer assigned to Denver International Airport, grew impatient when his order wasn?t filled fast enough. He was in the drive-thru with another off-duty officer when he pulled the gun on them on May 2009, according to the McDonald's workers.
Saunders denied pointing the gun and a jury cleared Saunders of felony menacing and weapons charges in April 2010.
Saunders has been a Denver police officer since 2007.
A Texas honor student who works both part-time and full-time jobs to support her two siblings was ordered to spend 24 hours in jail and pay a $100 fine after she missed a few days of school.
Willis High School junior Diane Tran was warned last month not to cut anymore classes, but after she skipped school again this month, Tran was summoned to appear in court and arrested upon arrival.
Tran says her parents divorced without warning and moved out of state, leaving her behind in Willis. Her plate already brimming with advanced placement and dual-credit college-level courses, Tran has been forced to work full-time at a dry cleaners and part-time at a wedding venue to help support a brother in college and a baby sister living with relatives in Houston.
Her friends say she is often so exhausted, she simply can't wake up in time for school. "She goes from job to job, from school she stays up ?til 7 o'clock in the morning," said classmate Devin Hill.
But her personal problems did not concern the fittingly surnamed Judge Lanny Moriarty, who readily admitted to making an example of Tran. "If you let one (truant student) run loose, what are you gonna' do with the rest of ?em? Let them go too?" Moriarty told local reporters. "A little stay in the jail for one night is not a death sentence."
Perhaps not, but it could still have a profound impact on Tran's future.
"Now this girl's got a record, which could hamper her later in life," said Woodlands resident David Byrne, one of many who reached out to assist the teen after her plight went public. Tran's employers, with whom she currently resides, are also setting up a fund to help out.
Judge Moriarty, who told KHOU he was concerned throwing the case out would make him appear "soft," will likely make a decision this week about striking Tran's jail time from her file.