Oddities and Humor

A San Bernardino mother whose children were kidnapped 15 years ago was able to finally track them down using Facebook.

San Bernardino’s Deputy District Attorney says it’s the first time his office has handled a case like this one. But in this digital age, it may not be the last.

Faustino Utrera, father of two toddlers, a boy and girl, vanished with them in 1995. Their mother reported them missing and 15 years passed. "At the time, they were 2 and 3 years old. So they’re now 17 and 16," said Kurt Rowley, San Bernardino Deputy District Attorney.

But in those years, the Internet exploded and social networking sites revolutionized the process of tracking people down.

"The mother got on to Facebook and typed in one of the children’s names and hit a Facebook page," said Rowley.

It was her daughter, and they started corresponding. The mother even sent the teenager a family photo, dating back to before the split. But the relationship stalled. "The teenager said, 'Not interested in a relationship. We just have a happy life. Leave us alone,'" said Rowley.

The teen’s Facebook page disappeared. The mother, who still lives in San Bernardino, contacted Rowley and his investigators. They tracked the Facebook profile and the girl to Orlando, Fla.

Utrera was then arrested and is now charged with two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of violating child custody orders.

As for the mother and her children, they will have to build a new relationship.

"There is no relationship there," said Carrie Hoeppner of the Florida Department of Children & Families. "You don't have that immediate joyful reunification. If in fact that is what will progress, it will take time. These children will have to build a relationship, and that is something that will not happen overnight."

Facebook is being used to serve summonses (supeonas?) here in Oz.

I don't see how that could stick, but it seems it must.

Court uses Facebook to serve paternity test order
KIM ARLINGTON COURTS
June 4, 2010
In a case which highlights the difficulties of keeping a low profile when you have a Facebook account, a court has ordered that the social networking site be used to serve legal documents on an elusive father in a child support dispute.

The federal magistrate who made the order, Stewart Brown, said the Adelaide case was unusual but ''demonstrative of social movements and the currency of the times''.

The man, known as Mr Howard, had a brief relationship with a woman who later gave birth. No father was named on the birth certificate, and when the mother sought an assessment of child support her application was rejected for lack of legal proof of paternity.

The mother's solicitor repeatedly wrote to Mr Howard asking him to undergo a paternity test, but he moved regularly and there was no reply. Letters sent care of his parents and current girlfriend elicited no reply, and a process server had no success delivering the documents.

But Mr Howard was a regular Facebook user. When Mr Brown was told a private message could be left for Mr Howard on Facebook, he ordered that the documents be served electronically.

In a recently published judgment, delivered in Adelaide, Mr Brown said he was satisfied Mr Howard had been properly served with the documents and inferred Mr Howard wanted no involvement as ''the parentage test can have only one outcome because he is [the child's] father''.

Mr Howard closed his Facebook profile and MySpace website after the documents were served. But Mr Brown found the mother was entitled to an assessment of child support, payable by Mr Howard.

It is believed to be only the second time in Australia that legal documents have been served via Facebook; a Canberra law firm used it in 2008 to serve notice of a judgment on two borrowers who defaulted on a loan.

Tim Butcher, a senior lecturer at RMIT, said it was an example of creativity in the legal system.

''People are finding new ways to use social media every day,'' he said. ''It's only natural that courts, businesses, government agencies will use these tools to track us down. You have the world at your fingertips - but the flip side is that people can find us as well.''
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/court-uses-facebook-to-serve-paternity-test-order-20100603-x7dc.html

June 3, 2010

Hundreds of seemingly drunk lorikeets are falling out of trees and the sky in Palmerston, near Darwin, mystifying vets. The parrots are showing signs of drunkenness by losing all co-ordination and passing out, and then cowering in cages as they recover from their "hangovers".

a few other odd spots
http://www.theage.com.au/execute_search.html?text=odd+spot&ss=theage.com.au

Really, I can't fault the judge for that. Plus, the guy had it coming.

I had seen a number of those stories about the web. Interesting to have them gathered like that. As for the birds, it is common around here for them to attack a tree or bush of fermented berries and get drunk that way.

we get one of those "odd spots" in our national daily each day.
You can understand why many Australians shake their heads and think all Americans are stupid when we are exposed to daily doses of: A missouri man... and A Florida woman....

Can't blame them. To me, it shows that news gathering is pretty darned active in the states. Insatiable.

Another facebook application: THEY'RE going THERE with THEIR friends. It's called grammar, use it.

My dog is half Labrador retriever and half pit bull. Naturally, I figured, if she ever got the little kitten across the fence, it was a goner. A week or so old, three kittens were waiting for their mother. One kept wandering up to the fence wire. I restrained Punky once and grabbed the kitten. I pitched it onto a soft spot away from the wire. Then I brought my dog into the house. A while later, I noticed she had gone back out. I ran around the house to find her carrying the kitten around in her mouth. I got her to release it. Could not believe she had made no effort to harm it.

My good friend and co-worker got his GED this week. I feel so proud.

That's great about your friend, edgar. Often a GED is better than a regular diploma.

Wish that I could have found a photo for this news.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100607/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_gladiators__graveyard

That's a awesome story, letty.

Neighbors From Hell brings a little bit of Hell to Houston

In Neighbors from Hell, a new TBS animated series premiering tonight at 9 p.m., a family of demons moves to the suburbs in an attempt to stop a greedy oil company from developing a drill large enough to reach the inner core of Earth, where Hell is located. And those suburbs? Happen to be in Houston.

The series has stellar comedic credentials: the creator, Pam Brady, was a former writer on South Park, and two of the demons are voiced by none other than the hilarious Patton Oswalt and Molly Shannon. But is this series a diss on our hometown? Brady claims, "Houston equals every suburban town. I love space and space travel! I'm very pro Houston!" Still, there's something unsettling about the fact that our hometown is portrayed as being filled with people whose behavior shocks the consciences of demons from Hell. Then again, BP does have offices in our fair city. /cheapshot

You can only be young once. But you can always be immature. - Dave Barry

Funny, edgar, and the demons' anecdote is awesome as well.

Another oddity.



Galileo's finger.

I couldn't find but one, however.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_galileo_s_fingers

Here are the two left, Miss Letty:

The Flayed Fingers, by Guy De Maupassant.

I'll give you a hand, mon bel ami..