Monday 9/28/09

Human Interest News — Posted on September 28, 2009

Name that driver
Irish police were on the lookout for a Pole named Prawo Jazdy. After all, the man had over 50 traffic offenses, and each time he gave authorities a different address. But it turns out that Prawo Jazdy is not a man; it’s Polish for driving license. Police officers had apparently assumed that the two words listed at the top right corner of the licenses constituted the driver’s name and recorded it as such. “It is quite embarrassing to see the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities,” said a police memo obtained by Irish newspapers. About 200,000 Poles reportedly live in Ireland, attracted by its once-booming economy.

House of cards
Barbara Lambert’s game of solitaire on Aug. 31 turned out to be anything but solitary. That’s because Lambert is a Democratic state representative in Connecticut and her game of computer solitaire, caught on camera by an Associated Press photographer, was in the state House during a budget speech by House Republican leader Larry Cafero. The photo, which also shows Democratic Rep. Jack Hennessy playing solitaire and another colleague logged on to ESPN.com, went viral on the internet and became a topic of conversation on cable TV. Republicans in Lambert’s hometown of Milford seized on the photo and are planning a “solitaire fundraiser” to benefit the local police department. Voters, said Milford Republican Town Committee chairman Tom Jagodzinski, “expect their elected officials to represent their interests, not be preoccupied with putting the red five on the black six.”

To bark for
Every dog has his day-especially if he’s living it up on his owner’s dime. Discriminating dog owners near Sydney may soon be dropping off their four-legged friends at PawPaws Urban Retreat, a luxury hotel and spa for dogs only. The idea, says Mandy Richards, PawPaws owner, is to give wealthy Australian jetsetters a luxurious place to leave their pooches rather than hire a dog sitter when the owners are traveling. While at the incense-filled resort, dogs bask in the customized spa, enjoy pet massages and special chef-prepared meals. “For me, it was all about creating something that was great for dogs and great for their owners,” Richards told Northside, an Australian newspaper. “I used to ruin my holidays stressing about my dog while she was in the care of a kennel, and I wanted to remove that worry for other people.