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Mike Pingree

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November, 17, 2002

HEY, YOUR VOICE SOUNDS FAMILIAR: In an attempt to hasten payment, a debt collector in Hong Kong called a man more that 300 times in one day screaming obscenities over the phone.
The next day he called 687 times.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED ...: The city of Berkeley, Calif., bought 3,000 safety flags and put them in bins at four busy intersections. Pedestrians were supposed to pick up a flag before crossing the street and wave it as they crossed. They were put on their honor that they would deposit it in the bin on the other side. Naturally, all the flags were stolen.     The City Council has voted to replace them with other flags at $1.25 each. Skeptics expect the same result.

DON'T WORRY, THEY'LL NEVER CATCH ON: Police say three former fraternity brothers came up with a scam in which they placed a complicated, progressive bet on six horse races through an Off Track Betting company.
Then, after the races were run, they breached computer security and replaced their losing entries with the winning ones.
No one else had picked all the winners, so the payoff was $3 million; so big that officials launched an immediate investigation.
The three men, all 29, have been charged with wire fraud.

WHO DO YOU THINK WE ARE, BARNEY FIFE? Taking offense that their chief was prohibited from using a red light and siren for traffic control, an entire Kurtztown, Pa., volunteer fire squad resigned en masse.
The men felt "slighted and ridiculed" at the decision which, they said, proves they weren't being taken seriously.

BOOM! WHAT COULD THAT BE!? A policeman in the remote Northern Territories of Canada was awakened when a huge wild buffalo started repeatedly ramming his home.
He went out onto his back porch and threw a rubber shower sandal at the animal, causing it to run away.

Mike Pingree writes another Looking Glass column in the Boston Sunday Herald. You can read it by clicking here:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists.html

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