Idea-'Sex tax meters' introduced for German prostitutes

BERLIN - Prostitutes in the German city of Bonn must carry a ticket purchased from a new parking meter-like machine while working the streets or face hefty fines from tax authorities in a scheme launched on Monday night. In Germany, ladies of the night pay income tax — the level of which varies from region to region — but compliance is difficult to enforce with women seeking business on the street. Germany’s first “sex tax meters,” from which prostitutes can purchase a ticket for 6 euros ($8.72) per night, will ensure the tax system is fairly implemented, a city spokeswoman said. “Inspectors will monitor compliance — not every evening but frequently,” the spokeswoman told Reuters. If caught without a valid ticket, offenders will first be reprimanded, and then faces fines and later even a ban. About 200 prostitutes work in Bonn. Due to protests from residents, city officials have limited the areas of operation to specific quarters. But critics say this has made it easier for prostitutes to ply their trade. The city has erected what officials call “consummation areas,” wooden parking garages where customers driving cars can retreat to with prostitutes.

More weird news

·         How-Juror caught trying to 'friend' female defendant

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Smart-Man dines, dashes, and then robs to pay the bill: Cops

When restaurant staff insisted a North Vancouver man pay for his meal, he held up a nearby gas station to cover the bill, RCMP said.Cory Henderson, 21, grabbed a late-night meal at Browns Social House in North Vancouver on Friday night, then skipped out on the $38 bill, according to police."When approached by staff for his actions he replied by telling them to call the police and that he would be at the Esso gas station next door," RCMP said in police press release.Moments later, cops received an alarm that the gas station was being held up. "The same male allegedly held a screwdriver to the employee's neck and robbed the gas station of an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect then returned to Browns restaurant and paid the unpaid bill with the just-stolen money," cops said in the release.Henderson now stands charged with robbery, fraudulently obtaining good, beverage and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. "Fortunately no one was injured in this most unusual robbery," said Cpl. Richard De Jong, "It is not every day a criminal will tell a victim what his next move will be and then go and just do it."

How-Juror caught trying to 'friend' female defendant

A 22-year-old male juror pleaded guilty to trying to 'friend' the female defendant in his case, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Instead of accepting his advances, the woman told her lawyer, who told the judge, who pounded the gavel.

It sounds like a case of eyes locking across a crowded courtroom, at least from the point of view of the juror. After the trial — involving a Tarrant County, Texas car wreck — recessed one day, he tried to link up with the defendant on Facebook. When she rebuffed his request, he suggested it was a case of mistaken identity, but that didn't hold water.According to the article, not only does Texas have jury instructions banning jurors from discussing trials on social media, this juror was given a copy of those instructions.

Why-Golfer mistaken for clown charged with golf-cart DWI

BATAVIA, N.Y. — A Massachusetts man whose colorful golf attire was briefly mistaken for a clown outfit has been charged in New York with driving a golf cart while drunk. The Genesee County sheriff says his department received a report that someone dressed as a clown was operating a stolen golf cart on the streets of the western New York town of Batavia on Sunday night. Deputies eventually found 37-year-old James Straub of Stoneham, Mass., at a home in Batavia, The Batavian newspaper reported.

Lucky-Man, 86, impales eye with pruning shears

 

An 86-year-old Arizona man is expected to make a full recovery after he was accidentally impaled through his eye socket with pruning shears. On July 30, Leroy Luetscher dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed in the ground point-side down. When he went to pick up the shears, he lost his balance and fell face down on the handle, the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson said in a release this week.

Lol-Hurricane Irene streakers prank news reporter in Virginia Beach (video)

Eric Fisher was explaining to viewers of The Weather Channel how 'speechless' he was at the swarms of people out and about in the treacherous conditions when the disruption happened.'I'm pretty much speechless about how many people we've been seeing driving around, people like what you see behind me, which I apologise for,' he said as the pranksters splashed around behind him.

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