greatness remembered: the man who disguised himself as a tree

Perhaps it is because he is from my home state. Maybe it is because it happened in a branch of my bank... but I believe the story of James Coldwell should be preserved for future generations.

Who is James Coldwell? He is a legend among bank robbers. A prince of ineptitude. He is the man who robbed a bank disguised as a tree.

Back in July of 2007, Coldwell, aged 49, entered a branch of the Citizen's Bank in Manchester NH. To disguise himself, he duct-taped branches of a tree to his head and torso. It was unquestionably the perfect disguise.

Unarmed, he approached the teller window and demanded money. Shocked by his unusual approach, the teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash. James exited the bank and went home to enjoy his fortune.

Unfortunately for James, the branches didn't hide his face from security cameras (see picture). He was easily identified and was arrested a short time later.

http://bit.ly/O0lF

the best of the worst landings

Stay Grounded (Tea and Toast) by Tom Williams from Green Thing on Vimeo.

on sale at the grocery store

that wasn't a chicken finger

Zoran Bulatovic works at the Raska Holding textile factory in Novi Pazar, Serbia. Business for the company has been horrible. So, some employees have not been getting paid. In fact, some have not been paid for years. They only receive social benefits for their work.

How could Zoran and his friends get the attention of their superiors? What would make them finally stand up and take notice?

Zoran ate his finger.

Yep. He took a saw, cut most of the baby finger from his left hand and ate it. (!)

He said, "We, the workers have nothing to eat. We had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example. It hurt like He said, "We, the workers have nothing to eat. We had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example. It hurt like ..."

A meeting between workers and government officials was slated for Tuesday.

http://bit.ly/e4Mnr

more animals on the police blotter

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hanging on for a free ride

mixed messages from the family

hello, it's your manager. bring me some money.

It is either sheer brilliance or incredible laziness.

A thief in Clay County, Florida has stolen hundreds of dollars from local restaurants by calling them and asking them to bring him money.

The heists began on April 3. The caller poses as a manager or supervisor and has convinced workers at several fast-food restaurants to take money out of their cash drawers and deliver it to an address in Jacksonville. So far, he has made calls to Wendy's, MacDonald's, Burger King and Subway and has met with surprising success. One employee, for example, delivered cash to a specified mailbox.

The police have alerted local restaurants about the scam. No arrests have been made.

http://bit.ly/1rymN
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Really?? Restaurants needed to be "alerted" not to bring money to someone who calls and asks for it??

still more unfortunate name combinations

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ER workers call 911 to assist patient outside their door

This week, a builder in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada informed the City Hospital Emergency Room staff that a man in a hospital gown had just collapsed outside the door. The man was within feet of the ER and was in obvious need of help.

Leaping to action, a member of the ER staff called 911. The 911 dispatcher called an ambulance. After a 4 to 6 minute wait, the ambulance arrived.

The ER staff made no attempt to step outside the door to look at the man, assess his needs or help him. That sort of emergency is something that emergency workers wouldn't handle. Rather than help, they chose to call 911 to assist a man they could see through the doors.

Fortunately, before the ambulance arrived, security guards did the logical thing-- they helped the man into the ER. Were it not for the security staff, the ambulance workers would have had to do the job.

According to Patti Simonar, director of emergency and critical care services for the region, what the ER staff did was standard procedure. After all, having the ER staff to go outside the door creates a risk for the patient (?) and staff.

In a similar incident, back in 2006, Ron Bitz arrived at the hospital ER 10 minutes before it opened (9:00 am) suffering from a heart attack. He was not allowed to come in. Rather, an ambulance was called. The rescue workers worked on him until 9 and then carried him into the ER.

http://bit.ly/rkayA
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great job opportunities, no experience needed

preferred??

you'll never see a sneeze the same way again

photoshop contortionists

"At Medtech, we'll give you a helping hand with your studies"
(notice that she has three hands... and they seem to be all lefts. Two of her left hands are on her right side and neither are in a place where they could belong to her body)


I dare you to try to recline in this position.

anyone hungry for some Chinese food?

boy survives being impaled

Last month, 6-year-old Mihir Kuman was celebrating a holiday at his home in Ranchi, India.

He was climbing on the roof of his family home when he suddenly slipped and landed on an iron rod that had been left standing by some builders.

The rod punctured his rib cage and went completely through his body. Mihir was rushed to a the Rejendra Institute of Medical Sciences where he endured a three hour surgery.

Fortunately, the rod was successfully removed and amazingly, Mihir did not suffer any major injury to internal organs. He will be fine.

http://bit.ly/bpzo5
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motorcycle safety

amazing: art by Edgar Meuller

German Artist Edgar Meuller creates incredible optical illusions on pavement. When viewed from the correct angle, these works of art look truly 3-D. Amazing.






via

your local paper can be a source of wise advice

man falls 5 stories and survives.... twice.

Last week, Alexei Roskov of Russia was drinking in his 5th floor apartment. Suddenly, Alexei got up, opened the kitchen window and launched himself out of it.... falling 50 feet to the ground.

The fact that he was drunk undoubtedly had something to do with the fact that Alexei survived the 50ft drop to the ground with only minor scratches. Alexei gathered himself off the ground and somehow managed to climb the five flights of stairs back to his apartment.

His wife Yekaterina, immediately called the ambulance. However, as they waited for the ambulance to arrive, Yekaterina started scolding Alexei for his stupid jump.

Alexei couldn't stand his wife's nagging and scolding... and so, he went to the window and jumped again.

Said Alexei, "I have no idea why I jumped the first time but when I came back up and I heard my wife screaming angrily at me I thought it was best if I left the room again - out of the window."

Miraculously, Alex also survived the second 5-story drop with only cuts and bruises. He was treated by the ambulance medics and released. The good news is that Alexei realizes how lucky he was and has given up drinking altogether for his own safety.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3275215.html
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hooray for me. I'm not a loser.

This has to be one of the most bizarre (and pathetic) things I've seen... but it is a real product. If you are interested in buying one, just go to the website that is on the video or click here.



If this video fails to load, use this URL http://bit.ly/PNbDh

where oh where did my nurse go??

Timing is everything.

This week, a nurse at a Madison, Wisconsin hospital was assisting in a surgical procedure. Part way through the procedure, she was called away by her manager.

Outside the operating room, the nurse was told that her services would not longer be needed at the hospital. That's right-- she was fired, terminated, downsized, made redundant, pink-slipped, involuntarily-separated-from-payroll, while in the middle of a surgery.

The nurse wasn't fired because of poor job performance or any disciplinary action. She is simply part of a hospital staff downsizing.

The nurse was not able to return to the operating room. Fortunately, the surgical patient was not affected by the immediate "downsizing" of the surgical team. However, the sudden firing was a violation of medical protocol (not to mention human decency).

http://bit.ly/uwk9J

thirty seconds she will always remember

I've had better days.

susan boyle: she’ll surprise you and make you smile.

Guaranteed that this video will make you smile and lift your heart.  This is worth the watch. (This video does not allow embedding.  The link will open the video in a new tab/window.) 

see the video

for sale: rare and valuable items. we think.