UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News July 24, 2008

Judge: Girl's name a 'social disability'

NEW PLYMOUTH, New Zealand, July 24 (UPI) -- A New Zealand Family Court judge has removed a 9-year-old girl from her parents' custody after her name was revealed as Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt ruled at the hearing in the city of New Plymouth for the child to be temporarily placed under the guardianship of the court to allow for a name to be chosen that doesn't give the girl a "social disability," the Taranaki Daily News reported Friday.

"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said of the name.

The court was told the girl, whose birth was not officially registered in New Zealand, refused to tell her name to her friends.

'Guide ferret' gets transit bump

OTTAWA, July 24 (UPI) -- Canadian transportation officials annulled the public transport pass of a ferret named Gyno that an Ottawa woman claims is a guide animal.

Frances Woodard, 54, is challenging the decision made earlier this year by OC Transpo, Ottawa's public transit authority, over a the revocation of the permit for her 3-year-old albino ferret, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

Woodard is diagnosed with agoraphobia, associated with anxiety and panic attacks in public, and claims the ferret helps with her disorder.

"He grounds me," Woodard said of the ferret. "It's like he senses I'm going into a panic, and the petting and stroking calms me down. It gives me something to focus on other than the panic," she told the newspaper.

Vincent Patterson, OC Transpo's manager of performance, said he couldn't comment on the revocation of the pass for Gyno, but told the Citizen sometimes animal assistance cards are "mistakenly issued."

Police: Drill video caused burglary tip

GELEEN, Netherlands, July 24 (UPI) -- Police in Geleen, Netherlands, said the apparent sound of a burglary at a do-it-yourself store turned out to be a how-to video that had been left running.

Investigators said a nighttime security guard at the Gamma store phoned police after he heard the sound of drilling, Expatica reported Thursday.

However, officers did not find any burglars making a getaway but instead discovered the sales staff had left a how-to video running that featured use of a power drill, they said.

Identical couples confound clientele

YIWU, China, July 24 (UPI) -- Two identical couples who run a Yiwu, China, restaurant said they have been branded a "robot couple" by customers who cannot tell them apart.

The couples -- twin brothers married to twin sisters -- said customers are often dumbfounded to find the same faces opening the restaurant at 6 a.m. and closing at 3 a.m., The Telegraph reported Thursday.

"Many diners thought we worked too hard and are like robots, but they don't know that we are actually four people," said one of the twin brothers, Mao Zhanghua, 32.

Mao said both couples got married three years ago and the quartet decided to go into business together. The pairs also each have a young son, and they said the cousins are nearly identical.

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