On The Cat-Walk

Paw thing on the catwalk
By ERIN PARKE - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 19 April 2007
Dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs took to the catwalk in an annual animal beauty show that featured one wee problem.

The beautiful and the bizarre were on display at Animates store at Kaiwharawhara, Wellington, yesterday, with the pets sashaying down the runway to the strains of pop star Christina Aguilera. Maybe it was nerves but the only hiccup was some contestants, who would not have won a prize for toilet training.

As entrants slugged it out for the best dressed and pet-owner lookalike categories, there were high hopes for french bulldog Gucci, who wore a stylish tiara. Her owner, Ruby Perigo-Blackburn, 8, of Melrose, said it was the most fun she had had in the school holidays, though Gucci was overlooked by the judges.

Laura Neal, 6, of Karori, wanted to bring her pony, but ended up taking her collie Jessie down the catwalk. "Jessie doesn't like cats so it's lucky there are none here.'

Lizzie Deane-Jackson entered pet rat Popcorn in the lookalike category. The five-year-old from Karori says her cat is her best friend "even though he doesn't eat popcorn".

Falling Asleep at a car

Driver who fell asleep at pump jailed for 18 months
By KIM RUSCOE - Fairfax Media and Stuff.co.nz | Thursday, 19 April 2007

A two-year-old who was left in the back seat of a car when her drunk father fell asleep while refuelling the vehicle called out "Bye, Daddy" after he was jailed for 18 months today.

At Waitakere District Court today Shannon Perenara, a 30-year-old Auckland labourer, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and disqualified from driving for three years, effective from today.

He was denied leave to apply for home detention.

The incident happened around 9am on March 24 when officers were called by a concerned Rotorua service station attendant who found Mr Perenara slumped at the petrol pump. Officers had to wait 40 minutes for him to wake up before he could be breath-tested.

The man's daughter was left unrestrained on the back seat while her father lay collapsed at the pump.

Mr Perenara tested more than four times above the legal limit, with 1729mcg of alcohol per litre of breath.

Police said at the time it was one of the highest readings in New Zealand. At Waitakere District Court today, Judge Barry Morris said he had no choice but to sentence Perenara to prison.

Judge Morris said Perenara had 23 prior convictions over nine years for offences including traffic, drugs and assault.

Included in this were six convictions involving drink driving, the first being 10 years ago, and four for driving while disqualified.

Mr Morris said that if Perenara was "stupid and irresponsible enough to endanger his own daughter then what concern does he have for us?"

Perenara showed no emotion while being sentenced but family members including his mother and his partner cried.

Perenara mouthed "I love you" to family members as he left the courtroom.

- With NZPA

Harlan Coben's New Thriller!

Harlan Coben Newsletter
"I see my father with that shovel...."

And so begins THE WOODS, my newest thriller, available everywhere NOW or on April 17th, which, uh, depending on when you’re reading this, could be today. I love this time of the year -- when the novel finally gets in your hands and becomes a real book.
http://www.harlancoben.com/static/novels/tw.htm

You can read an excerpt here (http://www.harlancoben.com/static/novels/tw.htm#excerpt) or for those who like hardcopy, the first chapter will be printed on the back page of the Arts section in today’s (again April 17th) New York Times. UK readers: THE WOODS comes out May 17th. French readers: Go to Harlan-coben.fr for details.
http://www.harlan-coben.fr/

I am scheduled to appear (always somewhat tentatively) on the NBC TODAY SHOW on April 17th and CBS EARLY SHOW on April 18th before departing on book tour. Here is the full tour schedule. I hope to see some of you on the road. I am still watching my figure (THE WOODS book tour catchphrase: Bringing Sexy Back) so let’s keep those snacks healthy.
http://www.harlancoben.com/static/appearances.htm

What else? Oh, the audio version of THE WOODS is read by the great Scott Brick. You can see him read the beginning here. Scott read NO SECOND CHANCE and THE INNOCENT and is really an extraordinary talent.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2018033978


PROMISE ME is out in paperback both here and the UK. There is a cute nine-second commercial for the book being shown on ATMs throughout the UK. Click here and check it out.
PROMISE ME: http://www.harlancoben.com/static/novels/pm.htm
ATM Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/FZWEmCZGDeM (full screen)

Well, I’m off. Hope to see you soon and that you really enjoy the new book. As my UK publisher likes to say, "Get Lost in THE WOODS...."

Harlan

Taser Happy

Taser used on dad leaving Houston hospital with baby

By CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA and KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


A Houston couple said both the Houston Police Department and the Woman's Hospital of Texas are responsible for endangering their newborn when the husband who held the baby in his arms was hit by a taser as an off-duty police officer as he attempted to leave the hospital early Thursday morning.

But police maintain that William Lewis, the baby's father, endangered the 2-day-old infant by refusing orders to quit trying to remove the baby from the hospital when abduction alarms went off.

Lewis, 30, said he and his wife were preparing to leave the hospital when staff told him he would not be able to leave with the baby. After a failed attempt to leave through the elevators with the baby, who wore an alert sensor that warns hospital officals about potential kidnappings, staff called security, Lewis said.

The man's wife, who did not want her name used, said she came out of her room into the hallway as police arrived and saw off-duty HPD Officer D.M Boling shocking her husband. Boling was working security at the time.

"He was holding the baby when [the officer] tasered him. My baby hit the concrete floor," said Lewis' wife, who was still in the hospital at the time recovering from a C-section. "When I went down to pick her up to take her to the neo unit her scream was so loud and so bad I thought she was dying right there."

The mother said hospital pediatricians examined the baby after the incident and said she was fine, "but my baby she had the shakes real bad. She's not as calm as she was before."

Lewis was first charged with kidnapping, although it was later changed to endangerment, police said. Lewis appeared in State District Judge Debbie Stricklin's court today. His arraignmnent was rescheduled for April 30 and Lewis is free on a $5,000 bond.

Boling tased Lewis after Boling repeatedly told Lewis he could not leave the hospital, Houston police spokesman Officer Gabe Ortiz said today.

Boling's report of the incident does not indicate whether he knew Lewis was the baby's father, Ortiz said.

He said the report showed that Lewis dropped to the hallway floor after being hit by the Taser. Boling estimated in his report that the baby fell from the father's arms about two feet before landing on the floor.

Boling joined the department in September 1984 and was working an off-duty security job at the hospital when the incident occurred.

Records show that since HPD officers began carrying Tasers in December 2004, Boling has shocked at least two other people. In one incident, in February 2005, Boling discharged his Taser three to four times to subdue a man who resisted arrest during a disturbance call.

The reports show that the baby was born April 9 and was two days old when Lewis decided to leave the hospital with the baby about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, Ortiz said.

Police reports gave no indication that the baby suffered from any conditions that required continued treatment, Ortiz said.

Hospital officials did not address whether they believe the father should have been leaving with the baby in a statement released after the incident.

"Our nurses educate the mothers and their family members upon admission regarding the safety procedures throughout our hospital," hospital officials said. "The security of our infants is our utmost priority here at The Woman's Hospital of Texas."

Security measures identify the mother with a new infant from the moment of birth, they said. "In this case, our safety measures worked. Our infant abduction deterrent was effective."

Woman's Hospital spokeswoman Kris Muller said the hospital has had the most advanced anti-abduction meaures availalble in place at the hospital since it opened in 1976.

"We regularly upgrade it whenever improvements are available,'' Muller said.

The hospital delivered 8,867 babies in 2006 and 8,333 in 2005, Muller said.

St. Luke's Hospital spokeswoman Melinda Muse said that institution also has sophisticated anti-infant abduction security measures in place. However, the hospital does not release details of the systems, Muse said.

"My deal is that I broke no laws and maybe I broke some hospital policies but I broke no laws," Lewis said. He and his wife said they were preparing to leave because they felt they were ready to leave, but "it was like you can't leave no explanation, no reason," Lewis said.

Lewis' wife said "the only thing that endangered my child was that police officer who tased my child when Will was holding the baby ... I don't know how it went from us leaving to this."

Lewis' wife said she was prepared to ask for a copy of the hospital's surveillance video. She also said she may not return to the hospital "because they hired an irresponsible cop and he was taser happy."

In the Army Now

I Think I Saw Something	Did You Mean Me?	Looks Clear - No Need To Be Quiet
Yessir	I'm Having A Hard Time Seeing Very Far Without My Glasses	Aim for The Ass
I Can't Reach This Pocket (assistance requested)	I Have Been Hit (showing approximate size of hole)	Something's Wrong With My Gun (repeat gesture to add "..again!" to indicate frustration)
This is My Stop	Shut Up A Second	My Battery Died
Jesus Christ they're Shooting at us!	Be Quiet for Once In Your Goddamned Lives, Already	I Need More Ammo
Male	Unwashed	Teenager
Bearded Thug	Crybaby	Unconscious
Pansy	Big Tits	Boyish, Hairless Male
Television	Book	Shit, I Think He Was On Our Side
He'll Be Out In A Minute	I Missed Because My Sights Are Off	Sorry, My Fault
My (Fogged-up) Goggles need a Wipe	I Brought the Wrong Ammo Again	This is what I think of your Opinion
They Haven't Got A Chance	They May Have A Chance	We haven't Got A Chance
You First	There's No Way I'm Going In There	We're Outta Here
Stay In Front of Me Where It's Safe	Are there Two Teams, or what?	This Gear is Heavy, My Lower Back Could Use a Massage

Kinder Care?

Kindergartner Charged With Felony Tantrum
Avon Park, Fla., is a zero-tolerance kind of place.

On March 28, Desre'e Watson, a 6-year-old kindergarten student at Avon Elementary School, had a bad morning. She cried. She wailed. She kicked. She scratched. She hit a teacher. That's what the police say, anyway.

The police? That's right. To subdue the unruly kindergartner, school officials phoned Avon Park's police department ("committed to enhancing the 'Quality of Life' of the community"). When the cops arrived, young Desre'e attempted to resist arrest by crawling under a table. But Avon Park's finest pulled her out, cuffed her, put her in a police cruiser, drove her to the county jail, and charged this 50-pound menace with a felony and two misdemeanors. The police report is below.

"When there is an outburst of violence," Police Chief Frank Mercurio told a local news station, "we have a duty to protect and make that school a safe environment for the students, staff and faculty. That's why, at this point, the person was arrested regardless what the age." Let's hope his message gets across to those brats in the neonatal wards.

Hot Gas?

April 9, 2007 — Consumers are feeling the pain at the pump, as gas prices have risen for nine straight weeks. Now lawsuits around the country claim drivers are being ripped off in a gas gouge they can't even see.

There are at least nine lawsuits pending that claim some gas stations are padding their profits by selling warm gasoline.

That might sound strange, but think back to high school physics. Liquids expand as they get warmer, so if the gasoline at the pump is overheated, you don't get as much in your tank.

Mark Rushing is a long-distance trucker. When he fuels up, every penny counts.

"Fifty-eight gallons of gas cost me $168 dollars," Rushing said.

But he says he often overpays because gas stations don't follow the fuel industry's own standard that gas should be sold at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the temperature outside gets above 60, gasoline at the pump expands, and you get less of it.

Physics professor Michio Kaku demonstrated the concept by heating water in a bottle. As it heated up, it expanded and overflowed. In other words, it took less water to fill the same size container.

"Remember that gasoline expands roughly three times faster than water," Kaku said. "So magnify this effect inside your gas tank."

You pay the same, but you're getting less energy for your car. That's why Rushing and other drivers are suing. They say they're being ripped off because pumps don't account for outdoor temperature changes.

Disagreement Over How Much Fuel Is Lost

It's something most people never even think about.

"I just never thought about it. I put gas in my car and go," said Linda Morton.

An investigation by the Kansas City Star newspaper found that American drivers may overpay $2.3 billion a year, with drivers in warm states like California hit the hardest.

An independent fuel marketers and retailers group argues if any gasoline is lost, the amount is tiny.

"We do not see the information they have gathered as being credible," Jay McKeeman said. "Basically it's about a tablespoon in 12 gallons of gasoline."

But consumer advocates point to chilly Canada, where the pumps are controlled for outside temperature. The industry went along with it there, and cynics say that's because fuel "shrinks" when it's cold, which benefits consumers.

"They fixed it in Canada because they [the industry] were losing money," said trucker Mark Rushing. "How come they won't fix it here?"

There are no laws requiring gas stations in the United States to adjust for hot fuel, so they are not doing anything illegal.

But if you want to avoid "losing" fuel in your tank, fill up overnight or early in the morning before it gets hot.

Or fill up if it's below 60 degrees — you may actually get a little extra fuel for your money.