News Roundup

• From the "Peaceful Movement, My Aunt Tillie" Department - Two men in San Fransisco are learning just how warm and cuddly members of the Occupy movement really are.  You see, one of them has a telephone number that used to be used by a police officer and the other lives in an apartment that used to be rented by that police officer.  The officer in question has been fingered by Occupy activists as being the one who fired the tear gas grenade that injured a veteran at a protest in Oakland recently, and information about him has been posted on several websites.  Harassing and threatening calls have been so bad that the number has been disconnected and the police have been contacted.  Oh, and if you're playing the home game, you'll notice the "harass police and threaten their families" check box has been activated.  I certainly hope that these 'peaceful' people don't start harassing or harming the families of police officers.  That would get really bloody really quick, and I'm not talking about the targeted families.
•  From the "DIY Dentistry" Department - An Australian company has come up with a kit that would allow someone in a remote location, such as a soldier in the field or a hiker, to do temporary repairs to damaged teeth.  From the description, it appears that the user basically puts in a filler material that lasts for a few days while you seek professional help.  Sounds like one or two of these might be going into the emergency kits at Casa de Oso.
• From the "Gaming the System" Department - A man in Utah is in hot water after he admitted to faking being an illegal immigrant in order to avoid a drug dealing charge.  He was arrested for drug trafficking, said he was in the country illegally, got deported, then used his U.S. passport to get back into the country.  Apparently catch and release happens before prison these days.  I'm just surprised he bothered to use a port of entry to get back into the country.
• From the "Hand in the Cookie Jar" Department - A police officer in Boston is in trouble after it came to light that he was frequenting massage parlors while on duty.  Other officers may be implicated, as a former employee of one of the establishments asserts that as many as 30 of them were customers.  But hey, at least they were supporting the local economy.
• From the "My Ancestors" Department - Scientists believe that the Vikings may have used specially carved rocks from Iceland to find the sun behind clouds on castover days, which would have allowed them to navigate on cloudy days.  It might also explain how they ended up migrating to Seattle and North Dakota in a search for a better climate than Norway.  That's my family, y'all, taking travel directions from a rock.