Almost DARWIN Award Winners
				
					
				
				
				
				These are not DARWIN Award Winners, but they are pretty close... 
AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he 
lacked "intellectual leadership". He received a $26 million 
severance package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking 
intelligence... 
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.With a Little Help from Our Friends! Police in Oakland, California spent 
two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself 
inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that 
the man was standing beside them, shouting to please come out and give 
himself up... 
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.And What Was Plan B? An Illinois man pretending to have a gun kidnapped 
a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines. 
The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank 
accounts... 
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.And These Nitwits Are Teaching Our Children?! A 9-year-old boy in 
Manassas, Virginia received a one-day suspension under his elementary 
school's drug policy last week - for Certs! Joey Hoeffer allegedly told a 
classmate that the mints would make him "jump higher." And a student in 
Belle, West Virginia was suspended for three days for giving a classmate 
a cough drop. School principal Forest Mann reiterated the school's 
"zero-tolerance" policy...not to be confused with the "zero-intelligence" 
policy... 
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.Some Days, It Just Doesn't Pay to Gnaw Through the Straps... Fire 
investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed 
a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly installed 
fire prevention alarm system. "This is even worse than last year," said 
the distraught homeowner, "when someone broke in and stole my new 
security system..." 
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.And for the Main Course... A man in Taormina, Italy was hospitalized 
after swallowing 46 teaspoons, 2 cigarette lighters, and a pair of salad 
tongs. 
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.The Getaway... A man walked in to a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Shop, and 
asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too 
small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three 
hours until police showed up and grabbed him. 
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.Do-It-Yourself Brain Surgery?! In Ohio, an unidentified man in his late 
twenties walked into a police station with a 9-inch wire protruding from 
his forehead and calmly asked officers to give him an X-ray to help him 
find his brain, which he claimed had been stolen.  Police were shocked 
to learn that the man had drilled a 6-inch deep hole in his skull with a 
Black & Decker power drill and had stuck the wire in to try and find the 
missing brain. 
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.Have I Got A Deal for You! More than 600 people in Italy wanted to ride 
in a spaceship badly enough to pay $10,000 a piece for the first tourist 
flight to Mars. According to the Italian police, the would-be space 
travelers were told to spend their "next vacation on Mars, amid the 
splendors of ruined temples and painted deserts. Ride a Martian camel 
from oasis to oasis and enjoy the incredible Martian sunsets. Explore 
mysterious canals and marvel at the views. Trips to the moon also 
available." Authorities believe that the con men running this scam made 
off with over six million dollars... 
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.Too Well-Educated... In Medford, Oregon, a 27-year-old jobless man with 
an MBA blamed his college degree for his murder of three people. "There 
are too many business grads out there," he said. "If I had chosen another 
field, all this may not have happened..." 
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.Did I Say That?! Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery 
suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives 
asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words, "Give me all your money 
or I'll shoot," the man shouted, "That's not what I said!" 
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.Ouch, That Smarts! A bank robber in Virginia Beach got a nasty surprise 
when a dye pack designed to mark stolen money exploded in his 
Fruit-of-the-Looms. The robber apparently stuffed the loot down the front 
of his pants as he was running out the door. "He was seen hopping and 
jumping around," said police spokesman Mike Carey, "with an explosion 
taking place inside his pants." Police have the man's charred trousers in 
custody... 
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.Are We Not Communicating? A man spoke frantically into the phone: 
"My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!" 
"Is this her first child?" the doctor asked. "No, you idiot!" the man 
shouted. "This is her husband!" 
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.Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer! In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard 
King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without 
a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun, but 
unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket. Hmmm...wonder 
what he uses for a knife?