Reuters: Undercover officers arrest drunks in bars

"SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkeness, Beck said.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

"We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this," she said.

"There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."

She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state."

Dude, you can't even go to a bar and get drunk anymore.

Just don't go to Texas.

ABCNews: the longest tornado toss

"March 21, 2006 — Matt Suter has never flown in an airplane, but that doesn't mean he hasn't soared above Earth.

Last week, a tornado sucked him up and out of his Missouri mobile home, only to drop him, safe and sound, in a field 1,307 feet away.

The tornado sucked up the windows, the walls, and then finally 19-year-old Suter.

"And the doors came off, the front door and back door, the windows busted," he said.

"This young man's very lucky to be alive," said meteorologist Harold Brooks. "Traveling any distance in a tornado and surviving is a big deal."

The F2 tornado carried Suter's unconscious body farther than four football fields, setting a new record and placing him in unique company.

In 1895, a 150-pound hog took flight as did a dog in 1954. The dog returned home just four hours later. In 1963, cows actually flew and then behaved "strangely" for days.

An Oklahoma baby survived after a tornado threw her 100 feet in 1999.

"All this other stuff is just stuff," said Suter's grandmother Linda Kelley. "I just wanted him to be OK."

Interestingly enough, Suter's solo flight was 10 times longer than the Wright brothers' first airplane flight. There was one other instance that rivaled Suter's: In 1955, a tornado scooped up a girl and her pony in South Dakota. It dropped the girl to the ground 1,000 feet away. Both she and her pony were unharmed. "

Funny, but also scary.

ABCnews: Dr. Phil's show nominated for the best hair

"March 21, 2006 — Is it the wide, shiny front of his pate? Or is it the way the short swaths of chestnut-colored hair wrap around the sides of his head and create a half-smile under his bald top?

Whatever the reason, Dr. Phil McGraw's hairdressers can be proud of what they have done with so little to work with. The show has been nominated for best hairstyling.

The New York Post speculated that McGraw's moustache had helped to earn the series its nod. But could it just be that bald is so in, that it's the best hairstyle possible? Or does this now mean baldness has jumped the shark? Say hello to the toupee for 2007?

The therapist's series faces some strong competition in the category from supermodel Tyra Banks' self-titled show — which, along with Tony Danza's self-titled daytime talker, was dissed in both major talk show categories — and McGraw TV mentor Oprah Winfrey's talk show, among others. McGraw was also denied a talk show host nomination.

Game show "The Price Is Right" was also nominated in the hairstyling category.

The trophies will be awarded on April 28, during a live televised ceremony on ABC."

CNN: Politician saves his rival's life

"ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) -- State Sen. John Giannetti was waiting for his take-out order of Italian food at a Maryland restaurant on Monday when he saw a man choking. He rushed over, performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged a chunk of seafood -- saving the life of his political rival.

The choking man, Jim Rosapepe, is challenging Giannetti in the Democratic primary for the suburban Washington district.

"It's one of those really weird, cosmic things," Giannetti told The [Annapolis] Capital. He said Rosapepe was hunched over and moving toward him in distress, so he decided to try performing the Heimlich. (Watch rivals recount their life-saving night -- 1:42)

Rosapepe thanked his opponent for saving him.

"Obviously, it's an incredible coincidence, and a happy coincidence," said Rosapepe, a member of the University of Maryland system's Board of Regents.

The race is still on, but Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said he hoped Monday night's incident would soften competition between the candidates.

"Maybe this means we'll see a more uplifting campaign as a result," Miller told The Washington Post. "I mean, I would think you'd be very hard-pressed to say anything bad about a man who saved your life."


Its one of those really wierd cosmic things dude.