Strange News from Around the World.

Dentist Who Hates It When That Happens:
Anne Greer filed a lawsuit in June against Winter Park, Fla., dentist Wesley Meyers over the death of her father last year during procedures to secure his dentures with implants. During the October 2006 visit, Meyers had accidentally dropped a screwdriver down the patient's throat, which required a colonoscopy to remove. The man returned the following year to give Meyers another chance (against his daughter's wishes), and during that procedure, Meyers accidentally dropped a torque wrench down his throat, creating problems that ultimately proved fatal. [WKMG-TV (Orlando), 6-22-08]
Government in Action!
In April, Army medic Monica Brown was awarded the Silver Star for bravery for selflessly subjecting herself to enemy fire in order to treat fallen comrades in battle in Afghanistan. However, two days after her heroics, she had been ordered home, against her will, because generals were nervous that a female appeared to be "in combat," which violates Army rules. [Washington Post, 5-1-08]
By contrast, in April (according to The Buffalo News), the Army, citing personnel shortages, ordered honorably discharged soldier James Raymond back to duty, even though he is on medical disability for a knee injury and loss of hearing suffered in Afghanistan. (Soldiers on "Readiness Reserve" are still eligible for duty if necessary.) [Buffalo News, 4-16-08]
Closer to Home...
New Zealand man convicted of assault with hedgehog.
WELLINGTON (AFP) - A New Zealand man has been convicted for assaulting a teenager with a hedgehog after asking him if he wanted to "wear a hedgehog helmet".
William Singalargh, 27, was fined for assault and offensive behaviour by a court in the east coast North Island city of Whakatane after a more serious charge of assault with a weapon -- the hedgehog -- was dropped.
Singalargh claimed he was not the hedgehog hurler, but judge Ian Thomas preferred the evidence of other witnesses who identified him by the bright orange trousers he was wearing.
The 15-year-old boy was returning home with two friends when he was confronted by four men on the road outside his home, the court was told.
Singalargh was holding a hedgehog and asked the boy: "Do you want to wear a hedgehog helmet?"
After the boy declined, Singhalargh threw the prickly weapon, leaving a large red welt and four quills lodged in his hip.
When the boy's mother intervened to prevent a second throw, Singalargh pulled down his trousers and exposed his buttocks.
"He admitted to having been in possession of a hedgehog," police Constable Lyndon Reid said.
"He originally claimed that the group had been playing hacky sack with it," Reid said, referring to a game in which the aim is to keep up a small ball or bean bag in the air.
It was not clear if the hedgehog had been dead at the time of the assault, but Thomas described the case as "much do about nothing in many respects".

And...
Methane's longstanding menace as a climate-altering greenhouse gas is closer than ever to being controlled, said New Zealand scientists in June after genome-mapping found the source of flatulence in ruminant animals, and the researchers said they thought they could vaccinate against it. While livestock accounts for only 2 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas, it causes over half of New Zealand's. Unless the vaccination is successful, farmers will face a huge tax on methane by 2012 brought on by the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. [Daily Telegraph (London), 6-5-08]