 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
||||||||||
discriminating taste
During the Iraqi war, a Danish pizzeria owner was charged with discrimination for refusing to serve German and French tourists. Aage Bjerre risked a fine for making his statement. His pizzeria is located on Denmark’s Fanoe Island, a popular holiday destination for Germans.
tooth fairies
A scheme has been uncovered by police in Paraguay in which teeth were being stolen from dead bodies and being sold as new dentures. Thieves were raiding cemeteries to take the teeth, which were then sold illegally to dental laboratories. Dentists in the Assuncion area were buying the teeth thinking they were lab made and fitting them in patients’ mouths. Cemeteries have requested improved security.
rags to riches
A massive hunt has begun in Germany for a homeless man who has inherited a fortune. Wilhelm Fischer, known as Willi, is a 60-year-old man who has been homeless for most of his life, and is now the sole heir of a large fortune left by his great aunt. Lawyer Michael Mand is leading the search for Willi, who is believed to be living somewhere on the streets of Munich.
great escapes #1
A man dressed as Jesus for an Easter pantomine, in Colombia, was almost fined for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike. He was acting out Bible passages near the church of Maria Goretti, using a motorbike because his donkey prop had been stolen the night before. According to parish priest Aristobulo Daque, who applied some ecclesiastical pressure of his own, the carbonari who attempted to fine “Jesus” received such a booing from the watching mob that he decided to use his discretion and let the man go.
great escapes #2
Escapeology reched a new high when a man broke free from a straightjacket while suspended upside down from a burning rope 50 m above Glasgow, UK. Shahid Malik completed the stunt in just under three minutes. The previous record was set at 36 m. After a short break, the 49-year-old then escaped from a padlocked sack inside a crate suspended 30 m above ground. Malik already held two records: one for escaping from a straitjacket while suspended from a helicopter hovering at 500 m, the other for the fastest escape from a regulation straitjacket.
great escapes #3
A Russian woman has been rescued after allegedly being locked in a sewer for three weeks. Workers on the sewer in the city of Tver accidentally locked her in after she fell into a sewer opening. She was eventually rescued by workers from a heating company working above the sewer after they heard her cries. “I only survived because I happened to have a bit of food with me,” she said. “It was a smelly, cruel prison.”
stop, thief!
The introduction of whistles to a Chinese electronics factory has seen a dramatic drop in thefts there. Managers issued workers with a whistle, and in a move that gives literal meaning to the term “whistle-blower,” were told to blow them whenever they saw anything suspicious around their Huanxu factory.
mutton chopper
Sheep are being recruited by fire services in Italy as firefighters, and are being used to contain forest fires and grass blazes by eating away brush and grass to create firebreaks. This enables firefighters to get to the heart of the blaze, and stops it spreading as well. Scientists at Italy’s National Research Centre used sheep in trials in Sardinia, and said that they were more effective than expensive bulldozers and mowers. They are also more environmentally friendly.
good at heart
Statues of legendary Caracas criminals “Tomasito,” “Miguelito” and “Isabelita,” stand among other religious icons in a Santeria shop in downtown Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuelans have long practiced the Santeria faith, but the newest icons—criminals who are legends in Caracas’ slums, whose spirits are trying to repent for their sins by warning youngsters to avoid crime, help people get out of jail, and cure drug addiction.—ap/aap
The following appeared in the Signs 100 years ago.
(Signs was then known as the Bible Echo and Signs of the Times.)
The census reports in the United States indicate that murders are greatly increasing in that country. In 1886 there were 1449 murders in the US. In 1895 there were 10,500 murders, an increase of 700 per cent. An American statistician upon this subject has remarked that a “similar increase for the next 10 years will give us more than 75,000 per annum!” [Note: in 2003 there were around 20,000.]
Extract from Signs of the Times, July 2003.
Home - Archive - Topics - Podcast - Subscribe - Special Offers - About Signs - Contact Us - Links
Copyright © 2006 Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ACN 093 117 689
Unassociated
advertisement:
This article comes from a
regular column in
Signs
of the Times.