Watercooler Stories

Ontario considers banning pit bulls

TORONTO, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Following a bloody weekend attack on a man by two pit bull terriers in Toronto, the Ontario provincial government is considering a ban on the dogs.

"If we are banning or otherwise restricting other dangerous weapons, why would we not include these animals as well?" Attorney-General Michael Bryant asked the Toronto Star. "Some animals amount to nothing less than dangerous weapons."

He was responding to public outrage over an attack Saturday that hospitalized a 25-year-old man with extensive injuries to his legs, arms and back. The man was caring for his friend's animals when they turned on him while walking. The animals continued ravaging the man as police fired bullets into them -- a total of 16 shots.

"Nobody has the right to bring a lion into a day-care center," Bryant said. "We have to ensure that any dangerous animals out there are properly kept away from the public."

Under provincial law, municipalities have the right to ban dog breeds. Among other provinces, Saskatchewan is the only province with dangerous-dog legislation with penalties that include fines of up to $10,000 or six months in jail, or both.

Muslim 'I D4C U' text divorces on the rise

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The Muslim practice where a man can divorce his wife simply by repeating "I divorce you" three times has gone high-tech, ABC News reports.

Under Islamic law known as sharia, a man need simply express the word "talaq" three times. Last year, the technology-loving Malaysians began using it in text messaging, abbreviating it simply to "I D4C U," which is legal under sharia.

Accordingly, many women told ABC they're afraid to read text messages, open e-mail or even open mail from their husbands.

The report cited one impoverished and illiterate Muslim woman in the Indian capital of Bombay, or Mumbai, whose husband had recently left her. Her mailman routinely read her mail to her, but aware she had been dumped, suggested she refuse to sign for it and return it to sender. She took his advice and refused it although her husband later caught up with her for a talaq in person.

She is appealing in civil court, seeking support.

ACLU ads attack Patriot provisions

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday it is airing a new series of television advertisements attacking some provisions of the Patriot Act.

The ACLU wants to curb what it calls "extreme portions" of the act, due to lapse in 2005. The Bush administration is calling on Congress to renew and extend the act.

The ACLU ads feature 21 men and women, none actors, questioning whether certain portions of the act should be made permanent.

"In a series of quick cuts, men and women in a variety of settings express concern about sections of the Patriot Act that allow the government to spy on innocent Americans: 'The government can search your house...without notifying us...treating us all like suspects.' Questioning parts of the Patriot Act, they said, it 'isn't liberal or conservative ... left or right ... it's American,'" the ACLU said in a statement, quoting the ads.

The ACLU said the 30-second spot will air on the CNN, MSNBC and FOX networks through Nov. 1 at a cost of $1.52 million.

NYC protests vs. RNC, arrests continue

NEW YORK, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Republican National Convention protest groups staged more demonstrations in New York Tuesday and arrests were made almost from the beginning.

A police spokeswoman late in the afternoon said "30-35 arrests have been made at several locations. We don't have a breakdown."

But there were reports of arrests in downtown Manhattan, the Financial District, from breakfast time, including at Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and elsewhere to Midtown in late afternoon. More protests were scheduled for the evening.

The day was targeted by many groups in a coalition called "A31," for Aug. 31, to stage a wide range of scheduled, legal, demonstrations as well as illegal ones.

There were no reports of injuries unlike late Monday night when a plainclothes police officer was knocked off his Vespa scooter and kicked in the head. He was hospitalized with head injuries but was listed in stable condition Tuesday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed for help in identifying the assailant, caught on videotape.