Watercooler Stories

Fla. homeowner: 'Where's our bailout?'

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, Fla., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Florida man's house has gained notoriety for a message he painted on his roof to the government from homeowners: "Where's our bailout?"

Ken Strzepka, 41, said he painted the message in large white letters on his roof in Indian Harbour Beach after the financial industry received its first cut of the $700 billion bailout plan and President George W. Bush spoke about not wanting to give assistance to "irresponsible" borrowers affected by the housing crisis, Florida Today reported Monday.

"How dare he say that Americans are irresponsible when the people guarding the hen house are the most irresponsible, and they got their money first?" said Strzepka, who owns an audio/video installation and energy efficient home upgrade business that he said is currently not doing any business due to the nation's economic woes.

"Homeowners still haven't been helped," he said.

Strzepka said that while he has received both positive and negative feedback on his roof message, he's just happy to help inspire debate on an important issue.

"Maybe they will pay more attention after seeing my roof," he said.

Milkman admits dealing pot to elderly

BURNLEY, England, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A 72-year-old English milkman admitted in court he supplied cannabis resin to elderly customers while he was on duty.

Philip Holden pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis resin, a Class C drug, and supplying the drug between April 1 and July 18, 2008, The Sun reported.

Holding's attorney, Philip Holden, said all of his clients were "of a certain age."

Burnley Crown Court Judge Beverley Lunt said the defendant claimed the drugs he distributed were "for elderly people who had aches and pains."

Holding's case was adjourned for a pre-sentencing report. He is due to be sentenced Feb. 6.

"You must understand these are serious offenses and in my judgment the likely outcome is an immediate custodial sentence," Lunt told Holding in court.

Library staff told to reject holiday goods

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The library staff in Louisiana's St. Tammany Parish should reject any customer attempts to provide them with holiday treats, a state board says.

The state Board of Ethics has informed the library staff for the New Orleans-area parish they are forbidden from accepting gifts from grateful patrons this holiday season, even small gifts such as cakes or houseplants, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

The board's ruling on last week's question from library officials has left some people with an unsavory taste in their mouths.

"There is a spirit and then there is the letter of the law, and I think the lines have been blurred in this instance," St. Tammany Parish Library Director Janice Butler said of the ruling.

"I personally feel like it's trying to kill a roach in your kitchen with buckshot," public library supporter Kitty Hagen told the newspaper. "You're going to lose a whole lot of things that you'd rather keep, and you may not get the roach."

Media says 'Christmas' during holiday season

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The global media use the term "Christmas" more than 600 percent more often than the less specific term "holiday season," a U.S. language tracking group says.

The Global Language Monitor of Austin, Texas, said in a news release that while holiday season is typically seen as more secular worldwide, "Christmas" was used in nearly 85 percent of all global media citations.

"Holiday season" was the second-most used term, accounting for nearly 13 percent of all global citations. "Xmas" came in third in the survey with 1.5 percent of all citations.

Those results were nearly identical compared to the group's analysis of holiday citations on the Internet. "Christmas" came in first online with nearly 81 percent, but "Xmas" topped "holiday season" for second with nearly 11 percent to less than 5 percent.

"We thought it would prove interesting to see how the holidays are actually represented in the global media," GLM President Paul JJ Payack said. "We were a bit surprised to see that the much discussed secularization of Christmas in the media was nowhere as widespread as speculated."