Watercooler Stories July 25, 2008

Cop fined $35 for illegal parking

PORTLAND, Ore., July 25 (UPI) -- A Portland, Ore., judge has fined a police officer $35 after he parked his patrol car in a no-parking zone while he ate at a restaurant.

Traffic Court Judge Terry Hannon found the police officer guilty of breaking parking laws after attorney Eric Bryant filed a citizen's complaint about the illegally parked patrol car, The (Portland) Oregonian reported.

"I tried to represent the best interests of Oregonians," Bryant said. "And I believe that Oregonians believe police don't get to ignore the law."

Hannon said he did not believe the officer did anything wrong when he left his patrol car in the no-parking zone while he dined at a Japanese restaurant. However, he said he was required to hand down a guilty verdict because the letter of the law was violated.

Portland police leaders said they were preparing a proposal for the city council that would make an exception for officers to park in no-parking zones to eat or use restroom facilities, provided no legal parking is available and the car does not present a danger to public safety.

Swedish company pulls baby bikini

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 25 (UPI) -- Swedish clothing company Ellos has pulled two-piece bikinis designed for baby girls and apologized for the products after widespread protests.

The bikinis, which were designed for girls as young as 2 months old, were pulled from stores after children's and women's groups complained that the revealing swimwear contributed to the sexualization of the bodies of small children, Swedish news agency TT reported.

"Ellos is a family company. We do not want anyone taking offense from our assortment," Ellos representative Per-Olf Gustafsson said. "We have erred in this case and we will do our best to ensure that there is no repeat."

Smoking man ticketed in 'workplace' van

LLANAFAN, Wales, July 25 (UPI) -- A Welsh man said he was ticketed for smoking in his privately owned van because officials consider it a workplace under the law.

Gordon Williams, 58, a self-employed decorator from Llanafan, Wales, said he was pulled over by council officials near the city of Aberystwyth and issued a fixed penalty notice for smoking in a workplace -- despite his insistence that the van was not a place of business, The Telegraph reported.

"I was on my way to a shop to buy some tea bags when the council official pulled me over," Williams said. "But I was told that because my van is my place of work I had broken the smoking laws."

Williams said he plans to fight the fine in court.

"It's not my place of work -- I decorate houses not vans," he said. "I don't use it for work so I can't see how they can do me for smoking in the workplace."

Popular execution attraction under fire

MILAN, Italy, July 25 (UPI) -- Consumer and children's rights groups said they asked an Italian fun fair to get rid of a popular new attraction that mimics an electric chair execution.

The mechanical "game," delivered from Los Angeles, has become a main attraction at a fair in Milan, Italy, since it opened this month, ANSA reported.

The attraction allows patrons to look on as a full-size mannequin starts to shake and smoke before slouching over in an accurate representation of an electric chair execution, ANSA said.

"It brings out the worst, most brutish aspects in people and destroys years of work by those who fight against the death penalty,'' said Sergio D'Elia of the Nessuno Tocchi Caino (Let Nobody Touch Cain) movement, which opposes capital punishment.

The attraction's owner, Renzo Biancato, insists it is "just a game."

''It's not a real man but a 'monster' who's paying for his crimes, like in a horror film,'' Biancato said, adding that the attraction is already popular in other European countries.

He said he would take the game to another venue if he was forced to leave the fair.

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