Watercooler Stories

'Jesus sucks' banner prompts complaint

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A banner reading "Jesus sucks" that was pulled by a plane above Toronto amounted to religious discrimination, a man alleges in a human rights complaint.

British Columbia resident Dean Skoreyko filed his complaint against Kenneth Hotz and Showcase TV after viewing the stunt on the Internet, the Vancouver Province reports.

Hotz, the co-host with Spencer Rice of the TV series "Kenny vs. Spenny," conducted the stunt as part of a running competition between the two TV personalities.

Skoreyko didn't see the humor in it and alleged in a British Columbia human rights tribunal complaint the banner insulted his Christian faith.

Skoreyko told the Province he filed the complaint to ensure against double standards in the province's human-rights system.

Anger management offered at UK schools

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Some British parents and educators are questioning whether elementary school children will benefit from anger management classes being offered at nine schools.

The program in Birmingham, funded by the regional police department in response to growing rowdiness among youngsters, has stirred up a debate over the value of such training for kids as young as 9, the Daily Mail reported.

"I think it's a sad state of affairs if kids are so badly behaved they need to be given anger management sessions at school," parent Joanne Potter told the newspaper. "I can't believe that at the age of 9 they will take it all in either -- it's too young."

Potter said she had taught her children right from wrong and how to handle disputes in a civilized manner. However some teachers say many families let their kids run wild.

"If youngsters are given a good grounding from parents and teachers this shouldn't be necessary," said Nick Seaton, chairman for the Campaign for Real Education. "It shows that behavior of young people has become very serious when somebody thinks that 9-year-olds need anger management style lessons."

Maine trashcan nixed as mailbox

SUTTON ISLAND, Maine, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Residents of a Maine island say they liked getting their mail in a trashcan and are not happy they will have to travel to the mainland to pick it up.

The seasonal residents of Sutton Island for years have received their mail from a privately chartered ferry that dumped all the letters, bills and other mail for the island's residents into a trashcan on the municipal dock, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The U.S. Postal Service has ended the practice and residents now must travel a two-mile stretch of open ocean to pick up their mail in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

"That can mean a three-hour trip out of your day just to get the mail," resident Shea Howell told the newspaper. "It's not an insignificant part of people's lives to get mail."

U.S. Postal Service spokesman Tom Rizzo says the trashcan became an issue when someone on the island called to complain that outgoing mail was not being picked up quickly enough.

"It really never should have been allowed," Rizzo told the News. "There's no security to that mail whatsoever."

Australian hotel offers water menu

SYDNEY, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- An Australian hotel is wooing diners with its menu of water imported from around the world, tourism officials said.

The Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney offers 20 varieties of water, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. They come from as close as Fiji and from as far away as France and Italy.

Sven Fitjer, the food and beverage director, said the health-conscious are cutting back on booze.

"People are increasingly conscious of maintaining a healthy and more balanced lifestyle," he said. "However, they are not prepared to sacrifice on the experience."

The water menu uses language that in the past has been more typical of wine criticism.

One type of water is praised for its "elegant velvet" character when it is at room temperature, while anther is said to have a "large mouth feel" and is recommended for drinking before dinner.

The prices are also more typical of a wine list. One of the most expensive waters is the 420 Volcanic, from the Tai Tapu spring in an extinct volcano in New Zealand.