 Man Arrested For Creating
Fake Army Unit
A Chinese man was arrested for creating a fake US Army unit and convincing immigrants that joining the squad was a path to citizenship, authorities said. Yupeng Deng, 51, allegedly gave his recruits military uniforms, had them parade in a Los Angeles suburb and took them to the decommissioned USS Midway aircraft carrier, which is a museum in San Diego. Deng charged more than 100 fellow Chinese nationals a fee of between $300 and $450 to join the fake Army unit, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. He called his bogus squad the US Army/Military Special Forces Reserve unit, or MSFR for short, and he gave himself the lofty title of supreme commander, prosecutors said. Aside from telling recruits that belonging to the unit was a path to US citizenship, Deng also urged them to pay him cash for higher military rank. Deng faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.
 Leader Teased For Pocketing Pen
Czech media chided President Vaclav Klaus after an Internet video showed him discreetly pocketing a ceremonial pen during a visit to Chile in what viewers are calling a theft. The video titled "The Czech Republic's President steals a pen" shows the President admiring the pen during a news conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, then holding it under the table where he appears to put it in his pocket. The video has logged more than 100,000 in two days and caused a media stir, with television news shows repeating the video and papers splashing it on the front page. Presidential spokesman said Klaus had a right to take the pen, which presidents and their delegations get on state visits. "We at the Prague Castle always give such a pen to delegations, along with a notepad," he said.
New App Calculates Calories Through Photos Of Food
Worried about how many calories you are going to consume in that slice of pizza, chocolate cake or bag of fries? A new iPhone application may help. After taking a picture of the meal with the phone, the app gives a calorie read-out almost instantly. The app, called MealSnap, was developed by DailyBurn, a fitness social network that has created several other fitness and diet-related iPhone applications. Within minutes of taking a picture of a meal and matching it to a database of some 500,000 food items, the app sends users an alert with a range of calories for the meal that was photographed. The database can quickly help identity the food, how many calories there are, proteins, fat, carbs, vitamins, whatever you may want to know. Users can then choose to share what they've eaten on Twitter or FourSquare, leading to social accountability.
 Deer Stands Guard Over Goose Nest In Cemetery
A deer has been standing watch for several days over a female goose nesting in a city cemetery, a scene normally reserved for a children's movie.
For at least four days, the deer stood guard near the nest of a Canada goose as she sits on her eggs inside a large urn at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
"He does appear to be guarding the goose, as it were," Wildlife Administrator Joel Thomas said. "He's within touching distance of her – there's no doubt what's going on."
The deer, which he said looks like a buck that has shed its antlers, has not strayed from his post. Employees at the cemetery were alerted to the situation after the animal positioned itself between the bird and an employee of a company that traps and relocates geese, which is said have become a messy problem in large numbers.
"When he approached the bird with a net, the deer puts itself between him and the bird, and he's repeated that behavior for some time," he said. Typically positioning himself broadside to any car or passerby who comes near the nest, the deer stares intently until the potential aggressor moves on, he said. Why exactly the deer has chosen to champion a bird of a different feather is a complicated question. While interdependence among species in the wild is not unheard of, whatever is causing this animal kingdom alliance is anybody's guess.
 Laugh It Off!
A blonde, wanting to earn some money, decided to hire herself out as a handyman-type and started canvassing a wealthy neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any jobs for her to do.
"Well, you can paint my porch. How much will you charge?"
The blonde said, "How about 50 dollars?" The man agreed and told her that the paint and ladders that she might need were in the garage. The man's wife, inside the house, heard the conversation and said to her husband, "Does she realise that the porch goes all the way around the house?" The man replied, "She should. She was standing on the porch."
A short time later, the blonde came to the door to collect her money. "You're finished already?" he asked. "Yes," the blonde answered, "and I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats. "Impressed, the man reached in his pocket for the $50. "And by the way," the blonde added, "that's not a Porch, it's a Ferrari."
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