Watercooler Stories

New U.S. regulations snag Canada travelers

LYLETON, Manitoba, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- New U.S. government regulations require passports for Canadians to enter the United States have travelers in a bind over their birth certificates.

Many residents, dubbed "border babies," were born in the United States because they were closer to an American hospital, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

For example, Mallo Clark and his siblings were born in Westhope, N.D., although they live in Lyleton, Manitoba, near the U.S. border. Therefore they have U.S. birth certificates.

Other Canadians are affected by an obscure law in effect between 1947 and 1977, providing that people who lived outside the country on their 24th birthday and neglected to sign a particular form would automatically lose citizenship. Their chance to become a citizen of their own country has expired, the CBC said.

The revelations are causing problems with pensions too, because a birth certificate is required and citizenship must be established to get a Canadian pension.

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley said the situation was unfair and told the CBC the government would fast-track citizenship for those affected.

Calf dies after deputies use stun gun

SPOKANE, Wash, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Two Spokane-area deputies may face animal cruelty charges after shocking a calf near a farm in the state of Washington for more than four minutes.

The calf died after reportedly being jolted with 50,000 volts from a stun gun, The Oregonian reported.

A district court judge said sufficient evidence exists to bring charges of second-degree animal cruelty against deputies Damon Simmons and Ballard Bates.

Animal-rights attorney Adam Karp called the incident "a first" for Spokane County. He said circumstances are unique because the defendants are law officers, the victim is an animal that was running loose near a highway and the prosecutor did not want to pursue the case.

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said the deputies did not want to shoot the calf, but it was a hazard to motorists on Interstate 90.

Karp told the paper he will submit a complaint on behalf of Chris Anderlik of Liberty Lake. Anderlik said the calf was "tortured mercilessly."

The officers had corralled the calf on grass near the Centennial Trail. The cow had darted through traffic, but when officers arrived, it was grazing.

Spouses take second-place to computers

DENVER, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Given a choice between the computer and the significant other, most Americans go for the computer, a new survey found.

The "Cyber Stress" survey of 1,001 -- conducted in December and January by the independent firm Kelton Research -- found 65 percent of respondents chose spending time with the computer over a spouse or mate.

The survey found the average American spends 12 hours each month addressing home computer problems, the Denver Post reported. The average consumer has computer troubles about every four months, the survey said.

About 52 percent used words like anger, sadness or alienation to describe their most recent experience with a computer problem.

The nationwide survey was commissioned by support.com.

Man able to bury wife after three years

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Kenyan man was given legal permission this week to bury his wife three years after her death and a fierce battle with his mother-in-law in an African court.

The Nairobi Daily Nation said following Tuesday's decision by the chief magistrate's court in the Kenyan town of Machakos, Jackson Nthumba Kumulu will finally be able to bury his wife, who died in 2004.

"Finally, I can rest, as I've my wife's remains. I plan to give her the decent burial she deserves," Kumulu said.

The legal battle was instigated by Kumulu's mother-in-law, Anna Nduku Kithanze, 19 days after her daughter had died.

Kithanze had alleged that since Kumulu never paid his wife's family a dowry, then he was not entitled to her remains.

Despite the extraordinary court fight, Kumulu offered an olive branch to his embittered in-laws.

"Though this dispute has brought acrimony between my family and that of my in-laws, I hope my mother-in-law will attend her daughter's burial," he told the newspaper.