- Notes
& Shorts from around the world
Horses for Courses
A horse that had become a regular at a pub in Tyneside has been
banned, for fear that it will spoil the new carpet. Peggy, a
carthorse, first wandered into the Alexandra Hotel in Jarrow
when her owner popped in for a pint. She enjoyed a pint of bitter,
and became a regular feature. Now, the pub has had a makeover,
and Peggy is no longer welcome. “Although she is probably
cleaner than some of my other customers, I had to put my foot
down,” said landlady Jackie Grey.
Court Poets to the Narcos
When Jesús Rey David Alfaro’s body was found in scrubland
outside Tijuana, Mexico, it was wrapped in a blanket with a note
reading: “You’ll be next.” Alfaro, a popular singer
known as the ‘Little Rooster’ had been shot. Locals
recognised the killing as the work of the Sinaloa cartel, which
operates along the Pacific coast. Alfaro was one of a dozen narcocorrido
singers murdered since 2006 and was linked to a rival gang. Narcocorrido
singers are often ‘adopted’ by the cartels, which help
finance their careers in exchange for having their exploits chronicled
in song. “They’re essentially court poets to the drug
world,”said Elijah Wald, author of a book on narcocorrido
music. A cartel’s sponsorship comes at a steep price. Musicians
risk death at the hands of rival cartels, or even their own patrons.
“In the underworld, you gain immortality through the words
of a corrido,” said Mexican journalist Gilberto Castro.
“If you aren’t bad, nobody will write about you.”
Knitting for Vandalism
An 89-year-old vandal from western Germany has been sentenced
to knit sweaters for her victims. Heidi Kohl was caught slashing
the tyres of dozens of cars, because she felt too many were being
parked in her neighbourhood. She was fined, but as she had no
money, she offered to knit jumpers instead. “When she has
knitted the sweaters the matter will be over for us,”said
prosecutor Helmut Bleh.
- Statistics Watch
In 2005, Baltimore’s per capita homicide rate was higher
than Darfur’s.
Only five out of every 100,000 paper clips are ever used to clip
paper.
China is now the world’s sixth largest wine producer.
- Bons Mots
“Anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows that a
good relationship depends on three things: dishonesty, mistrust
and poor communication.” English actor Richard Wilson
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