SNIPPETS

MAY 6, 2010

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Italy is holding its first divorce fair, offering services such as life coaching and beauty advice to a booming number of separating couples in the Catholic country.

MAY 5, 2010

PARIS, May 4 (UPI) -- A group of French lawmakers wants to repeal an "obsolete" law banning women from wearing trousers while outdoors in Paris.  The 10 members of the French parliament suggesting the "obsolete" law, introduced by the city's police chief in 1799, be "de-legislated" said it is already trumped by 1946 legislation making men and women equal under the French constitution, The (London) Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Same old story.  The French take so long to address a major crisis.

MAY 4, 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Police in Columbus are looking for a man they say robbed a bank near downtown, then handed two $100 bills to passers-by as he ran away. FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas said the man robbed a Huntington Bank branch early Monday afternoon after showing a teller a gun in his waistband. Trombitas said the man was running up the street when he encountered a mother and daughter window-shopping.

Sounds like the kind of guy who should be working for the Obama administration.

MAY 3, 2010

TORONTO, April 30 (UPI) -- A Canadian company is creating designer wood-chopping axes starting at $200 and selling for up to $500 at a New York outlet.  Graeme Cameron, 38, and Peter Buchanan-Smith, 38, the New York-based designer who paints, varnishes and stains the axes, said the tools are specially designed to cut through even the most difficult pieces of wood, the Toronto Star reported Friday.

Look, if you have a favorite murderer, it's a thoughtful gift.

MAY 2,  2010

PALM BAY, Fla., April 30 (UPI) -- Police in Florida praised the courage of a 62-year-old man who used his handgun to foil a bank robbery.  Ruben Torres, 62, an off-duty security guard, said he was at the Space Coast Credit Union in Palm Bay Thursday when a man entered and began behaving suspiciously, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Friday.  "He wasn't disguised or anything. But he put a Wal-Mart bag on his head, walked to the counter and gave the teller a note ... He even took the bag off his head and gave it to the teller to put the cash in," Torres said.

People who put Wal-Mart bags on their heads are especially dangerous, and very frugal.