Watercooler Stories

Bogus parking ticket ring broken in NYC

NEW YORK, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Four New York City traffic enforcement agents allegedly issued dozens of phony parking tickets to unsuspecting drivers.

The New York Daily News said the agents sent some of the tickets through the mail, not even bothering to put them on cars.

The officers were charged with forgery, falsifying business records and official misconduct, the newspaper said Wednesday.

The NYPD's Department of Internal Affairs said one agent allegedly wrote 19 bad tickets in one day.

An two-month internal investigation found 48 bogus tickets, but police say there could be many more. The agents often targeted cars with out-of-state plates in the hope drivers would be less likely to fight the tickets, the newspaper said.

Not a bird or plane -- it's baby Superman

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A New Zealand couple, angry with national regulations regarding newborns' names, is considering the name Superman for their new son.

The BBC said Wednesday that after welcoming their son into the world recently, Pat and Sheena Wheaton were shocked to learn that they could not name their child 4Real after their initial reaction to an ultrasound image of him.

Now the couple is mulling over the idea of naming their son Superman, while considering taking legal action to reverse a law that forbids using numbers in newborns' names.

The couple has argued that New Zealand officials do not reject names such as John Williams III for their use of numerals, so they should be allowed their "for real" moniker.

The Wheatons told the BBC that even if Superman finally wins out in the end, they will refer to their newborn son as 4Real in everyday life.

Ohio woman accused of stealing a Bible

CINCINNATI, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A 23-year-old Ohio woman apparently did not have time to read a Bible she is accused of stealing from the downtown Cincinnati library.

The Cincinnati Enquirer said Wednesday that while the 'Good Book' tells readers "Thou shalt not steal," Tiffany Walker of College Hill allegedly was caught attempting to walk out of the library with a copy of "The Prophecy Study Bible" without properly checking it out.

Library workers allege the woman had approached them regarding how to check out the $39.99 text, but instead chose to simply walk out with it.

Walker will now have to answer to a count of theft in a Hamilton County court for the alleged sinful event, the Enquirer reported.

Records may show unknown side of Hitler

BERLIN, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A record collection said to have once belonged to Adolf Hitler suggests the infamous German leader may have liked many famed Jewish and Russian musicians.

While the Nazi Party head publicly vilified Jewish and Russian citizens alike during his reign, a recently unearthed record collection suggests he may have been a fan of those cultures' music greats, The New York Times said Wednesday.

The records were found recently in the home of a former Soviet intelligence officer, along with a note that alleged the recordings were once Hitler's personal property.

Some of the noted musicians whose works were included in the collection were Polish Jewish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In the note accompanying the collection, Lev Besymenski alleged that he took the records from Hitler's Berlin office in 1945.

The collection had remained hidden in Besymenski's attic until his daughter found it shortly after the former officer died in June, the Times reported.