Man Shoots Fellow Monkey Hunter

CHIBA — Police have arrested a member of a hunters’ group on suspicion of professional negligence after he mistakenly shot to death a fellow hunter Sunday during a cull of monkeys.

Suminori Maeda, a 51-year-old resident of Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, shot and fatally injured Masayoshi Murakoshi, 72, also from Kimitsu, around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in a mountain forest. Murakoshi was immediately taken to hospital but was later pronounced dead, police said. Maeda told investigators that he shot Murakoshi after mistaking him for a monkey. At the time, Murakoshi was rushing to join other members of the group on hearing that monkeys had been sighted, police said.

Source: Japan Today

Ghost Pops

Another big snackfood discovery for me happened last weekend when I was in the supermarket looking for Nong Shim Spicy Shrimp Sticks. There were none of those, just the regular flavour, but I spotted a packet of these salty South African snacks called Ghost Pops (Flavoured Maize Snack). With a name like that, well naturally I'm gonna buy them! The pleasant surprise was that when I sampled them later that night along with a few beers, I found them to be most excellent indeed. A very appealing smooth/crunchy texture had they (reminiscent somewhat of Twisties Wicked Cheddar Zig-Zags) and a real nice saucy flavour. The shape of them is interesting too, can't figure out if they are supposed to be ghosts or what. They look more like the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. Well, sir. They're very good, the only downside being that they're $4.00 a pack, no doubt because they are imported from *District 9*.
Overall, a real treat for us salty snack aficionados!

Man Arrested For Burning Down House Over Gundam Models

Police in Kasai City near Kobe have arrested a 29-year-old factory worker named Yoshifumi Takabe on suspicion of burning down his own home on Sunday. The suspect reportedly doused his room with kerosene and lit it with a lighter around 2:10 p.m. on Sunday. The resulting fire eventually burned down the two-story house, which was about 250 square meters (about 2,700 square feet) and made partially from wood.

The police investigators say that the suspect had doused himself with kerosene, but had escaped the fire without injuries. His 55-year-old mother was also in the house but escaped without injuries. According to the police, the suspect said that his mother had gotten rid of his "valuable" Gundam plastic models, so he wanted to kill himself.

Source: Anime News Network

[Stratu says: This man's response was reasonable and clearly justifiable, given the circumstances. What the devil was his mother thinking? Takabe-san should be awarded cash money to the estimated vakue of his destroyed collection so it can be replaced.]