Yo, that's real mahogany dawg!

A "trailblazing" Norfolk town has begun heating many of its buildings - including the schools - by burning oil made from melted-down cow and pig carcasses. The strategy is described as "equal or lower in carbon footprint than natural gas." Should schools have to offer vegetarian heating?

The biggest waste of money in years.

Jad Holmes, 18, is scheduled to be in Middletown Municipal Court on Wednesday, charged with two counts of telecommunications fraud, for allegedly ordering more than $37,000 of candy online to be charged to Middletown High School. Holmes is accused of placing two orders -- for $19,880 and $17,372, respectively -- through a Michigan-based company. He's being held in Middletown City Jail on a bond of $30,700. Officials say they are willing to accept candy as payment.

will_die writes "Since Slashdot has a long history of articles and comments about Schoolhouse Rock! I figured it should be noted that one of the most famous singers died this week. Blossom Dearie sang many of song for that series, including 'Mother Necessity,' 'Figure Eight' and 'Unpack Your Adjectives.' Besides Schoolhouse Rock! she sang in her girlish voice for over 50 years primarily in jazz and cabaret. In addition to singing she played the piano and wrote various songs. However the songs she sung for Schoolhouse Rock! were written, composed and played by Bob Dorough, who is still alive. She died of natural causes after many years of failing health."

If you borrow a cup of sugar it is very important that you try and replace it.

It's good to see people troll forums other than Slashdot, but the My Little Pony forum? You may as well go down to the senior center with a hacksaw and start shortening canes. My favorite admin post from this thread has to be, "Your picture of Stalin riding a Year3 Limited Edition Starflower inside a German concentration camp was both upsetting and historically inaccurate."

A man arrested on a charge he held up a bank had almost $3,000 cash on him and listed his occupation as "robbery," according to a court document. Lonnie Pannell used false documents to seek treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Hot Springs, where a police officer spotted the money, the document states. Funny how the "always tell the truth" thing somehow got through to Lonnie, but the whole "don't steal" message seems to have eluded him.

Mankind can only dream of a future cool enough for these helmets.

It's fair to call Barbara and Scott Humpherys penny-pinchers, and they are making sure their daughters end up the same way. The family scours parking lots, sidewalks and every other place you can imagine for for other people's lost money. "It's not so much that we need the money," Barbara said, "it's to show an example to our children. The more change you see, that penny becomes 99 more, and it becomes a dollar." "With the economy the way it is right now, it's important that they realize Dad is not this endless tap of cash," added Scott, a U.S. Army career counselor. I think this is a great thing to do with your family. It teaches resourcefulness, financial responsibility and that child hands are the perfect size for slipping between sewer grates.

According to Randall Hinton he is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing. As an employee of the New York State Insurance Fund his work day consists of: listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He sees no one and talks to no one at work and it's been this way for almost a decade. Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he has never been allowed to investigate anything. Hinton contends he is without portfolio as retaliation for suing Gov. George Pataki's administration 10 years ago. In a January 2002 settlement in his suit against then-DEC Commissioner John Cahill (who later became Pataki's top deputy) and then-Assistant DEC Commissioner James W. Tuffey (now Albany's police chief) he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations. If I were Randall, I would enjoy my exile, but he's a bit more ambitious and has filed a complaint with the Division of Human Rights claiming discrimination stemming from the retaliation of his original claim against the DEC.

A 16-year-old student went to a job interview instead of the hospital after he was stabbed. The Staff at the King West Vets veterinary clinic noticed blood on the students leg during the co-op placement interview and called police. "He did really well on the interview and we were very proud of him for sticking to the appointment," said veterinarian Kent Ackerman. He wouldn't say if the student will get the job. You know times are tough when showing up after being stabbed doesn't land you the job.

This seems to be a common design flaw in balconies.

I still don't know what he is, but at least I know what he eats.

A Brazilian judge has ruled what I have known for years, TV is an "essential good" needed to watch soccer and popular reality shows. I would have changed "essential good" to "best friend" or "mentor," but I can recognize the need to be conservative in a ruling. The judge awarded $2,600 in damages to a man who sued a store for not replacing his faulty television set. "In modern life, you cannot deny that a television set, present in almost all homes, is considered an essential good," ruled the judge. "Without it, how can the owner watch the beautiful women on 'Big Brother,' the national news broadcast or a football game," the judge quipped.

Vandals in three US states have altered the text on electronic road signs, posting notices of "Nazi zombies" and "raptors ahead" instead of legitimate messages detailing traffic problems. The latest prank took place Tuesday in Collinsville, Illinois, and warned "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES". Past faux warnings from around the country this week include: "NAZI ZOMBIES! RUN!!!", "RAPTORS AHEAD.", and "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN." As you can imagine authorities don't think hacking traffic signs is funny and warn that doing so is against the law punishable by removal of your delicious brain.

A 68-year-old grandmother has taken the driving test almost every working day since 2005 in the southwestern city of Jeonju, South Korea. She failed again Monday for the 771st time. "It was a record-breaking number here. I wonder if she will try it again for a 772nd time?" Choi Yong-Cheol, a police sergeant supervising the test in the city's Deokjingu district, told AFP. The woman tells a local newspaper that she will take the test until she passes. Police estimate she has spent almost five million won (3,600 dollars) to take the written test, with each test costing 6,000 won in addition to other expenses. It appears this woman is single-handedly fueling all bad driving stereotypes.

The latest weapon of mashed destruction.

There is nothing to be proud of in this picture.

Mike writes "Rather than let their sewage go to waste, the city of Oslo recently announced that it plans to cut carbon emissions by converting 80 public buses to run on biomethane generated from raw sewage. The city plans to adapt two sewage plans with the technology this September, and the new biogas buses will be quieter and will cut 44 tones of C02 per bus per year."