Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Impromptu Crimefighters

1. "Priest catches gang of muggers"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1101171.html>
"A Romanian priest who witnessed a mugging followed and caught the
 three-man gang responsible"

2. "Karate monks stop thief"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1211450.html>
"A Croatian thief got more than he bargained for when he ran into a
 pair of karate-trained monks as he tried to rob a monastery"

3. "Suspected thief caught by 4 women"
   <http://www.hernandotoday.com/MGB55OP8Y1E.html>
"Four women wrestled a would-be purse snatcher and held her until
 deputies arrived"

4. "88-year-old woman fights off burglars with cane"
   <http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/3965834/detail.html>
"A pair of jail escapees were apparently lucky to escape from a cane-
 wielding, 88-year-old Northern Kentucky woman who caught them
 breaking into her house Wednesday afternoon"

5. "280-pound man sits on intruder until police arrive"  [expired link]
   <http://www.wsbtv.com/news/3738579/detail.html>
"Police say the 52-year-old man came home Tuesday morning to find a
 woman standing in his home holding items from his house... Fisk, who
 is 6-feet 2-inches tall and weighs about 280 pounds, sat on top of
 Dye until help arrived"

6. "Business owner chases, runs over robbery suspects in hummer"
   <http://www.local6.com/news/2272794/detail.html>
"Police said that the man, identified only as Peter, followed the
 suspects through a neighborhood and eventually caught up with them.
 He then rolled his Hummer over their car"

7. "Cashier foils pen-wielding robber"  [expired link]
   <http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-penrobber0921,0,4554207.story?
       coll=all-newslocal-hed>
"A 62-year-old gas station cashier chased a would-be-robber out of
 the Stefko Boulevard station early Tuesday by chucking cartons of
 cigarettes at him"

8. "Paddler pounds pizza punk"  [expired link]
   <http://www.canada.com/halifax/news/story.asp?
       id={02087800-9A30-4E57-9938-96788532B0AE}>
"A man looking to hold up a restaurant got more than he bargained for
 when the clerk started clubbing him with a pizza paddle"

9. "'Shrek' scares thief"
   <http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/11/04/700715-cp.html>
"When a booze thief found himself being chased down by a six-foot-three,
 260-pound green ogre, he figured he'd be better off turning himself in
 to the police"

This collection of recent news items about unexpected crimefighters is
partly inspired by the upcoming release of the new Pixar animated movie,
"The Incredibles".  Here are a couple more items about Superheroes:

1. "The Science of Superheroes: Beyond the Incredibles"
   <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/
       1112_041112_incredible_superhero_science.html>
"T]o Robert Weinberg, a Chicago, Illinois-based science fiction writer,
 superheroes are worthy of scientific study"

2. "How To Be a Superhero"
   <http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=24363>
"Warning: This article reveals the secrets of invisibility, levitation,
 immortality, energy projection, mind powers and dimensional travel"