The Night Note: 9/21/09

News you need to know

The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.

JEDI CLAIMS DISCRIMINATION BY GROCER
According to the Jedi code, there is no emotion, there is peace; there is no ignorance, there is knowledge; and there is no death, there is the force. Oh, and if you're shopping for some Wookiee Cookies at your local supermarket, there is no hood.  So says one Tesco grocery store in Wales, which busted a Jedi for shopping while cloaked. And the Jedi is striking back with a charge of religious discrimination. (NBC Washington)

HAPPY COWS REALLY DO MAKE BETTER MILK?
Comfortable Norwegian cows are producing more milk and have less udder infections since new regulations allowing them to relax for up to half a day on soft rubberized mattresses were introduced. In 2004, Norway introduced rules to replace gradually all sheds where cows are kept in stalls with ones that allow them to move more freely and lie down on a softer surface.  "They lie about half of the day, which is natural for them," doctoral student Lars Erik Ruud told Reuters after researching the impact of the rules, the first of their kind in the world. (Yahoo)

BATH-TIME PHOTOS CHILD PORN?!
Last fall A.J. and Lisa Demaree took a memory stick with family photos to the printing center at the Wal-Mart store in Peoria, Ariz. Some of the photos showed their three young girls, all under 5 years old, partially nude in the bathtub. The Demarees say these were innocent pictures that all families take. But a Wal-Mart employee felt otherwise and contacted the police who agreed that this was a child pornography situation.   The Demaree's lawyer released this photo to show the pictures of the girls are innocent.  The police report read, "The young girl appeared to be posed in a provocative manner." A report issued by Peoria authorities described the photos as "child erotica" and "sex exploitation." (SFGate.com)

100 YEAR OLD BOOK STILL A MYSTERY
This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils. If you didn’t know the book’s vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome. (NY Times)

OHIO GIVES 2ND SHOT AT FAILED EXECUTION
On Friday, a federal court in Ohio issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state from attempting for a second time to execute Romell Broom, a convicted murderer whose execution by lethal injection earlier this week was halted after technicians were unable to find a usable vein for more than two hours. The state had planned to try to execute Mr. Broom again next week, but his attorneys filed suit on Friday, claiming that a second attempt would violate the constitutional ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”  The Associated Press reported that the restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost is effective for 10 days. (The Lede)
 

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