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Global Bizarre

By Times wires
Published March 8, 2008

Boy toys

For Russian women, men are just pawns

Today is International Women's Day, and to celebrate, the women of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, will get together and play chess. With men. As the game pieces. College boys will volunteer to wear specially designed masks and gowns to make them look like pawns, rooks, bishops and, yes, queens. They will then run around as the female players tell them to on a great big board in the city square. "We had difficulties in finding men to volunteer. It was hard to convince young men to be under women's control for the games," a spokesman for the organizing committee said.

Boy's foray into real estate rejected

The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., reports that for $2-million, the Palmerton school district was willing to sell its sports fields. This upset Andrew Sabo, 5, who is on a team that plays flag football at the field. So he asked his dad if he could buy it. So Andrew scrawled his offer - $5 - on a piece of paper and submitted it. His dad helped, probably to help him learn a valuable life lesson about civics. "It was pretty much to shut him up," Dave Sabo said. Oh, or that. But he instilled confidence, no doubt. "I made him understand: You're not going to win." Okay, well, he was right. The offer was the only one the district got, but it still politely declined. With no other offer, though, the fields are safe. For now.

Animal kingdom

Man learns crocs find people yummy

Novon Mashiah, 27, was nearly killed last week by a 13-foot crocodile while fishing in Australia. The Daily Telegraph of Sydney reports Mashiah was on a boat - on the South Alligator River ... not far from Darwin - when he saw the croc, and wanted to get a photo. So he leaned over the back to get closer ... closer ... closer. And wouldn't you know it, the croc lunged at him, landing on the side of the boat before falling into the water. "The animal clearly wanted to kill me," said Mashiah, suddenly understanding his place in the food chain. "One minute I was leaning over the boat teasing it for a picture, the next minute it burst out of the water." Apparently, he teased it because he had no stick to poke it with. "I didn't realize that crocs were so aggressive."

Update

Barbie bandits

One of the two women involved in the "Barbie Bandit" bank robbery in Marietta, Ga., has gone on the record as saying it was "a bad idea." Ashley Miller testified that robbing the bank in February 2007 at the behest of her boyfriend, Michael Darrell Chastang, was the "worst decision I ever made." Miller made the assertion during Chastang's trial. This makes it unanimous, because co-Barbie Heather Johnston earlier told police that, "Well, actually we're pretty dumb, to tell you the truth." Miller, Johnston and a bank teller have pleaded guilty and are testifying against Chastang.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 7, 2008, 23:29:49]