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Mountain Goat Crowned King of
Ireland
A mountain goat was crowned king of Ireland at an ancient festival.
The Puck Fair, which dates back centuries, is an annual event marked
by drinking and music in the town of Killorglin in southern Ireland.
At the centre of the festivities is a male goat, who is caught in
the surrounding mountains, and paraded through the town with much
fanfare before reigning as king for three days.
“Deep down it satisfies the Irish humour,” Declan Mangan, chairman
of the fair’s organizing committee, told reporters. “The mere fact
that it happens annually is something great.”
The origins of the fair remain unclear, but it always falls on
August 10-12.
One theory suggests mountain goats alerted residents of the town to
an impending attack by English leader Oliver Cromwell’s forces in
the 17th century. Another points to pre-Christian pagan links.
At least 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the celebration
this year, which also features horse and cattle shows.
“King Puck” himself will enjoy stately care and regular feeding
before being released back into the wild.
“He will have regal duties for three days and after that he’ll be
just another goat,” said Mangan.
Nigerian Official Accused of Hiring Witch Doctor
Police arrested the Head of a Federal Agency charged with developing
Nigeria’s impoverished Southern oil region after allegations that
the man spent millions of dollars on a witch doctor in hopes of
vanquishing a rival.
President Umaru Yar’Adua announced that the Head of the Niger Delta
Development Corporation, Sam Edem, had been suspended from his job
after local media reports of Edem’s large expenditure on black
magic. Police later said he had been arrested.
The police said they were investigating the source of the roughly $4
million Edem reportedly spent on hiring a sorcerer to hex and kill
another development official.
The Federal Government said it was investigating how Edem, a civil
servant in a country of low wages, had amassed the fortune he used
to engage the sorcerer.
The government said in a statement that Edem wasn’t available for
comment. It added that he hasn’t denied any of the charges.
Although Nigeria’s 140 million people are split between Christianity
and Islam, black magic is still prevalent in some rural areas.
Police said in a statement that Edem contracted the witch doctor to
kill a subordinate who Edem believed harbored him ill will. Edem
also wanted the sorcerer to help compel a state governor to award
Edem “juicy contracts,” according to the police statement.
The police said Edem was “incensed” when none of the work contracted
to the witch doctor had been achieved and had demanded a total
refund. To which the witch doctor refused.
Nigeria is regularly ranked among the world’s most-corrupt nations.
Investigators say some $400 billion has been stolen or squandered
since the country’s 1960 independence from Britain.
Husband Tricks Wife into Sex with Another Man
A Fort Pierce woman says a hairy chest helped her realize her sex
partner was not her husband.
It was dark when the 18-year-old was having consensual sex with her
man. Then he suddenly needed something from the bedroom closet.
Another man “returned to the bed - at least she thought it was him,”
according to the report. Having slept with the man, she later
realized, it was another person.
The young woman said this man had a wider, hairy chest.
When she went to the bathroom she saw a taller man head back into
the closet and realized that was a friend of her man.
Woman MP Demands Hookers for the Troops
A top female politician in Holland wants Dutch prostitutes sent
abroad with the troops to help them relax.
Annemarie Jorritsma, a politician for the centre-right People’s
Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the mayor of the town of
Almere, went on national Dutch TV to demand the ‘extra benefits’ for
soldiers.
She added: “The army must think about how their soldiers can let off
some steam.”
The idea has been backed by the Dutch sex workers union which said
it thought the idea had some merit.
But an unnamed military spokesman, quoted in the ‘Volkskrant’
newspaper, expressed reservations.
He said: “I don’t think my wife would like the idea very much.”
There are currently around 2,000 Dutch soldiers stationed outside of
the Netherlands, the majority in either Afghanistan or Bosnia.
Man Forgets he is Married
AN Australian man was told his marriage was invalid - because he had
married 30 years earlier during a drunken bender.
The 67-year-old remembered a “nice” blonde woman he met in Arizona
during shore leave from his job as an oil rig cook but says he had
no idea they married.
“He has no recollection of going through any form of ceremony of
marriage with her, or of discussing marriage, or of anything
referable to marriage,” said Justice Sally Brown, annulling the
marriage.
The 67-year-old, who cannot be identified, told the reporters that
“the sky fell in” when he was shown the Arizona marriage licence.
“I looked at the signature and thought it could have been mine or it
could not have been,” he said.
In 1978, he would still have been married to his first wife. He had
since divorced and married his Hawaiian girlfriend. It was when they
applied to live in Hawaii that US immigration authorities broke the
news.
He said his latest wife, who has become his girlfriend again because
their marriage was declared invalid, was very understanding.
“We have been with each other on and off for over 20 years in
Australia,” he said. “She’s a terrific, a top cook. She looks after
me and I take care of her. I couldn’t find anything better.
“I’m an old-fashioned guy. I’m loving and I believe that for a
marriage to work, it has to be a two-way street. She does the
washing, I hang it out on the line.”
Now that he is officially single, he plans to make his current
girlfriend his wife - again.
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