The Odd Truth, Oct. 19, 2004
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum.
Coming To A Plate Near You
LIMA, Peru - After 34 years of patient tinkering, researchers at Peru's most prestigious agrarian university have bred a new culinary export they hope will scamper onto dinner plates throughout America and the world: the super guinea pig.
The animal is a cuddly companion for millions of children in the United States. But in Peru, the rodent's birthplace, it remains a vital source of protein in rural communities, a mainstay of Andean folk medicine and a common religious sacrifice.
"It is well known that Peruvians eat guinea pig. Foreigners are more reluctant to eat it as they see the animal as a pet," said Gloria Palacios, director of La Molina National University's project to promote guinea pig exports.
"I think if they become familiar with the cuisine, maybe suddenly they'll give in and be tempted to try it," she said. "It is really delicious."
Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year. It is a dining experience that normally requires two hands to pick scant, sinewy meat from a bony carcass - often with the head staring up from the plate.
But earlier this year, La Molina university started exporting the "Peruvian Breed" - faster growing, plumper, tastier guinea pigs - to the United States, Japan and several European nations that have large Peruvian immigrant populations.
Archaeological evidence shows guinea pigs were domesticated in Peru as far back as 2500 B.C., and had deep cultural and religious significance. Guinea pigs are still a common tool of ritual healers, or "curanderos," who use the animals to diagnose illnesses.
Today, churches in Lima and Cuzco still display Indian depictions of the Last Supper with Jesus and the 12 disciples eating roasted guinea pig.
Angry Wife Stabs Hubby's Penis
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A Cambodian woman stabbed her husband's penis with a knife during an argument in which she accused him of being a violent drunk, police said Monday.
Tuy Narin, 35, attacked 37-year-old Chhun Saran earlier this month in Kandal province near the capital Phnom Penh, said Mang Penh, a local police officer.
Tuy Narin called her husband a drunkard, prompting him to retaliate by throwing a sandal at her, Mang Penh said. Tuy Narin's mother and two sisters then wrestled the outnumbered husband to the floor and his angry wife stabbed him with a knife, the police officer said.
The victim, who appeared to have been drinking, required seven stitches at a local hospital but the injury was "not life-threatening," he added.
The assault happened on Oct. 9, according to Koh Santepheap (Island of Peace) newspaper.
Chhun Saran withdrew a complaint against his wife after relatives intervened and urged the couple to reconcile, Mang Penh said.
Woman Tries To Bribe Cops With Striptease
TALLINN, Estonia - A woman pulled over by police on suspicion of driving while drunk tried to get out of the ticket by performing an impromptu striptease that was captured on police video.
Tallinn police spokeswoman Jana Zdanovits told the AP on Tuesday that the woman, who was not identified, was pulled over Monday night in the capital's Mustamae area. Zdanovits said that after the woman took, and failed, a breathalyzer test, she suddenly bared her breasts to the two officers. The police spokeswoman confirmed a tabloid report that the woman then offered the pair of officers a private performance.
Zdanovits said a police camera caught the incident on tape.
The woman faces charges of drunk driving. If found guilty, she could be fined $478 and lose her license. The average monthly salary in Estonia is around $519.
Drunk driving is a major problem in Estonia, where the average half-liter bottle of vodka can be bought for $4 and hard liquor is sold in convenience stories.
Obviously, Forgery Is Not His Forte
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - A man charged with forgery allegedly tried to get out of jail by - what else? - forging documents for his release.
Now, 20-year-old Jared J. Bailey faces new felony charges of attempted escape and forgery.
Investigators say Bailey forged the signature of Monroe Circuit Judge Douglas R. Bridges on a court order that purportedly changed his bail from $100,000 surety bond to $500 in cash.
Bailey's old roommate told police that Bailey asked him to fax the fake papers to Bailey's attorney. The friend said he went to a copy store with a fax number he thought was the attorney's, but the documents went to the jail instead, according to an affidavit.
The fake document is complete with a clerk's office stamp and a template similar to the real thing. It details a hearing in Bridges' court and states: "The defense informed the Judge that substantial evidence disputing the prosecution's claims had been found ... After hearing the new evidence presented by the defense, the court orders that the defendant's revoked bonds be reinstated, and that the corresponding holds be lifted."
Jail staff viewed the papers as suspicious and did not release Bailey, whose bond has since been raised to $250,000 surety.
In April, Bailey was charged with six felony counts of forgery and theft involving $5,200 reportedly taken from three people. Bailey is also awaiting trial on charges of burglary, felony battery, confinement with a deadly weapon, attempted armed robbery and impersonating a police officer.
Norwegian Butcher Changes Name To 'Keikoburger'
OSLO, Norway - A young Norwegian with a hankering for an unusual name likely won't win any friends among fans of the "Free Willy" films or, for that matter, among conservationists.
The 20-year-old, who works in a butcher shop, legally changed his middle name to "Keikoburger" this month, Norwegian media reported Tuesday.
Keiko, a killer whale, starred in the trilogy of "Free Willy" films, about a young boy who befriends a captive Orca.
The six-ton Keiko died in remote Taknes Bay in December, likely from pneumonia, after swimming to Norway from Iceland in 2002 in a failed effort to return him to the wild. It was an odd choice for the cetacean given that Norway is the only country that conducts commercial whaling, despite a global ban and protests.
Norwegians eat the red meat of minke whales - not of orcas - which is sometimes ground into whaleburgers.
Espen Scheide, of the central Norway city of Trondheim, decided to make his Internet moniker "Keikoburger" part of his legal name.
The young man, now known as Keikoburger Scheide, told Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang, that he happened to see a form for name changes on the Internet, and decided, on a whim, to apply for Keikoburger.
"I didn't think I would get such a name approved," the paper quoted him as saying. "This is fun. Now I can get a driver's license and passport with an exclusive name."
Keikoburger Schiede, who could not immediately be reached by telephone, said he had no special relationship with Keiko, but thought the name was amusing. The change was approved on Oct. 7.
Who Would Mary Poppins Vote For?
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Elections officials knew something was wrong when they got voter registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.
They notified the Defiance County sheriff, who arrested Chad Staton on Monday on a felony charge of submitting phony voter registration forms. Investigators also were looking into allegations that a woman paid him cocaine in exchange for his efforts.
Staton, 22, had fraudulently filled out more than 100 voter registration forms, Sheriff David Westrick said.
"Staton was to be paid for each registration form that he could get citizens to fill out," the sheriff said. "However, Staton himself filled out the registrations and returned them to the woman who hired him from Toledo."
Staton was charged with false registration and was released without bond pending arraignment.
No other charges had been filed in the case Monday, authorities said.
Officers said they interviewed a Toledo woman who claimed that she had paid Staton with cocaine for the registrations. Officers said they obtained a search warrant and took voter registrations and drug paraphernalia from her home.
The woman told investigators that she was recruited for the voter registration drive by Thaddeus Jackson, Ohio director of the NAACP's National Voter Fund. Jackson could not be reached for comment Monday.
Overrun Mexican Town Offers Rat Bounty
MEXICO CITY - For one northern Mexican town, an army of cats seemed like the best strategy against a plague of mice. But the cats proved no match for the problem, and now the town is pinning its hopes on a more lethal predator: men armed with cash incentives.
A recent plan to transport some 700 city-dwelling felines to an isolated farming town in order to exterminate an estimated half million rats that have engulfed the area turned out not to be nearly as successful as authorities had hoped.
"I don't think (the cats) worked very well because we know a cat sees one rat, eats it, then doesn't kill again until at least two days later," Velazquez said in a phone interview. "Yes they helped, but not enough."
So the community's mayor said Monday his office would offer rewards for people willing to kill the rodents the cats could not conquer. Those who can stomach it can earn 40 cents for each rodent they kill, said Jesus Velazquez, the mayor of the city of Guadalupe y Clavo.
The municipality of Guadalupe and Calvo includes the rat-infested town of Atascaderos, a wind-blown enclave in the rugged Tarahumara mountains of northern Chihuahua state.
Even before the plague of rats, the farming town wasn't exactly paradise: it's name translates roughly as "Mud Hole."
There, 3,000 residents appealed to state authorities months ago for help in striking back against the rats. Locals say the rodents have overrun at least 800 homes, with an average of 200 rats in each.
The problem is especially serious because rats give birth to as many as 800 offspring per year, and authorities fear the Atascaderos rats will give birth to a new generation of vermin who will spread to neighboring communities in search of food.