Fire Claims

A former Australian state deputy premier revealed in June that the federal government had so far paid out 67,000 compensation claims regarding the February brush fires, though only 2,000 homes were damaged.

Cultural Diversity

The nomadic Vadi tribe, in the Indian state of Gujarat, continues to be adept at flouting the country’s 18-year-old ban on snake-charming. Historically, the Vadi have taught their children, beginning at age 2, to be at peace with cobras through affection and respect. According to a June dispatch in London’s Daily Telegraph, male children practice the iconic flute routines, and females provide hands-on care and feeding. The cobras are not de-fanged (which would be disrespectful), but each is fed an herbal solution that supposedly neutralizes the venom and is released back into the wild after a few months’ service

First class travel for prisoners

The normal way that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons transfers “low-risk” inmates between institutions is to buy them bus tickets and release them unescorted with an arrival deadline. In the last three years, reported the Las Vegas Sun in May, 90,000 inmates were transferred this way, and only about 180 absconded. Though supposedly carefully pre-screened for risk, one man still on the loose is Dwayne Fitzen, a gang-member/biker who was halfway through a 24-year sentence for cocaine-dealing. (Since the travelling inmates are never identified as prisoners, Greyhound is especially alarmed at the policy.)

Source: newsoftheweird.com