An Auburn [Indiana] man was arrested Monday after police found a mobile meth lab on his moped, police said.

via  The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind..

Having Inner Strength

If you can start the day without caffeine

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment

If you can conquer tension without medical help

If you can relax without adult beverages

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs

Then you are probably the family dog

I’ve had some doubting comment about the size of the broken truck pictured at this post. The size is correct. I’ve watched this truck in action at the copper mines just west of Salt Lake City, Utah, and they are unbelievable even when you see them. Here’s a description of the truck and there is more information at the link in the bottom left of this post.

The Caterpillar 797 was the largest truck of its kind in the world from 2000 till 2001. Its powered by a 24 cylinder V24 quad-turbo diesel engine that produces an amazing 3,400 horsepower. The truck stands at 23 feet tall and 47.5 feet long. The 797 is a whopping 30 feet wide. With the box raised the truck stands almost 50 feet tall.

Eight onboard computers monitor oil pressure, transmission torque, engine performance and tire temperature. The tires on the Cat 797 were especially designed for this machine made by Micheline. They stand 13 feet tall & each tire costs roughly 30,000 dollars. The 797 has an 850 gallon fuel tank or an optional 1800 gallon fuel tank. The truck itself sells for 3.4 million dollars.

via Caterpillar 797 Pics.

Source unknown

A Florida man searching for his dog thought he saw it under his car. Nope. It was an alligator which bit both his hands when he reached for it. No word on whether the dog was in the alligator.

via Man reaches for dog, gets bitten by alligator | abcactionnews.com.

A Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, man was arrested for bank robbery Monday at the address he conveniently supplied the cops when he left his wallet on a teller’s counter when he made his getaway.

Did I mention that the “gun” in his pocket was actually a “blackened banana?”  I’m not quite sure what “blackened” means. If it was that ripe I hope he didn’t squeeze it too hard.

via Is that a banana in your pocket … — themorningcall.com.

Kira, a 5-day-old baboon, is fed by an employee of the Royev Ruchey Zoo in Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk November 5, 2009. Kira’s mother refused to feed her cub and now it will be bottle fed

viaEnglish_Xinhua.

Children on a remote Scottish island are to take what is believed to be the world’s shortest flight to and from school. The plane journey from Papa Westray to Westray in the Orkney Islands takes just 96 seconds, covering just over a mile, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Six teenagers will have to take the Loganair service to Westray Junior High after the local ferry service was suspended.

via Ananova – Children take ‘world’s shortest flight’ to school.

A Polk County [Texas] teacher is suing the state for requiring her to be fingerprinted for a background check, saying it violates her religious freedom.

According to her attorney, Scott Skelton, of Lufkin, Pam McLaurin believes the book of Revelation literally and that getting a fingerprint would bear her the mark of the beast and she would be “be tormented in burning sulfur.”

via  KTRE.com Lufkin and Nacogdoches |.

Charlotte Eisgrou, left, and Ann Primmack, right, identical twins, are celebrating their 100th birthday this weekend with family and friends from all over the country. The twins were born weighing only about 3.5 lbs each on Dec. 24, 1909. The doctor had to use the family’s oven as an incubator.

via South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.

Police in North Wales are having to find £18,000 to refund motorists after issuing speeding tickets for people driving more than 30mph – in a 40mph zone…

North Wales Police Superintendent Simon Shaw admitted that police had wrongly believed the county council had changed the speed limit to 30mph in 1993.

via Ananova – Police to fork out for speed limit gaffe.

Baffled scientists are trying to get to the root of this astonishing plant dug out of the ground by a Chinese farmer.

Root boy /Europics

The two foot tall root weighs in at a massive 12 lbs and bears an amazing resemblance to a boy in even the smallest detail.

via Ananova – Getting to the root of the matter.

A UK design student has come up with a hat that can tell if you’re smiling. Should you wipe that silly grin from your face  the hat detects it and jabs you with a sharp spike. Smile, darn you, smile!

More via Frown if you dare … | The Sun |News.

An alleged burglar wanted by Welsh authorities sent a newspaper a picture of himself because he didn’t like the mug shot it published.

via Burglar sends paper homemade ‘mug shot’ – UPI.com.

Link

The picture is of one of the ski lifts in Stevens Pass (4100 feet) in central Washington State.

Stevens Pass | Mountain Cams.

Andrew J. Burwitz, 20, of Appleton, Wis., allegedly tried to do a drive-by shooting at the home of his ex-girlfriend’s family and another random house. Police found him because he failed to roll down his car window and shattered it when he made the first shot.

More at  Minneapolis / St. Paul News – City Pages – The Blotter.

It’s about 18 feet tall and looks like stainless steel.

The fork’s appearance a few days ago, tines firmly stuck into a little Caltrans-owned median, was a bit of a mystery at first.

“It’s a guerilla installation,” guessed Rochelle Branch, the city’s cultural affairs manager, who oversees the public art program. “I don’t know if it’s through Caltrans, but it is clever.”

via Pasadena’s Fork in the road is guerilla art installation – Pasadena Star-News.

An Indian holy man says he can cure the sick – by persuading them to wallow in the mud with him. Avinash Tripathi, 31, claims that immersing himself in the slime on the riverbanks in Varanasi gives him the power to heal others…

“Any ills can be cured when people let the earth flow through them.”

via Ananova – Muddy miracle worker.

The Ugandan ethics minister has put a halt to witch doctors advertising their services on the radio claiming that the stations “…are promoting witchcraft-related activities to the detriment of Uganda’s integrity” and are in violation of the 1957 Witchcraft Act.

via www.screenafrica.com