And now . . . this - Sept. 22/05

Reason #86,207 to nuke the Dutch

A television presenter on a new Dutch talk show plans to take heroin and other illegal drugs on air in a program intended to reach young audiences on topics that touch their lives, producers said Wednesday.

The show, scheduled to premier on late-night television Oct. 10, is called "Spuiten & Slikken," or the "Shoot Up and Swallow" show. . . .

Justice Ministry spokesman Ivo Hommes said it was not immediately clear whether Wesselink could be prosecuted. Possession of any amount of heroin is illegal, but in practice police usually do not have resources to chase after people with less than a half a gram of the highly addictive narcotic.

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"Chase after him"? Why would they have to chase after him? He's on TV. Try the studio first. (Duh.)

Yet more nudist follies

One lap of Loch Ness was barely tolerable, but two more proved too much Saturday for a group of nude swimmers who surrendered to bad weather.

The four men and two women, taking turns of an hour each, began their charity stunt Friday night and completed their first 23-mile lap Saturday morning. And that was all, as temperatures sank and winds rose.

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Plus, there was the ever-present danger of a monster-related chomping.

Life imitates Hitchcock

A Frenchman in his sixties lived for five years with the body of his dead mother to keep receiving her 700 euros monthly pension, judicial sources said Saturday.

The man, a hospital morgue worker, is to be prosecuted for fraud and concealing a death Saturday after police found the corpse in a two-room apartment in the city center in piles of rubbish.

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Police are also attempting to determine the identity of the dead woman found in the shower and the private detective at the foot of the stairs.

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