Beggar’s Night

When I was growing up, Halloween was the official night for trick-or-treating. Regardless of what day of the week Halloween fell on, you went out to gather the tribute. That was the night you went around the neighborhood wearing your costume and knocked on doors asking for candy. If you didn't live in a particularly good area for the candy swag, you went to another, more sugar-flush neighborhood. It was a lot of fun and quite safe for kids back then.

But the really zealous ones among us, hungry for more sugar, would practice another ritual. They would don their costumes a night early and see if they could get extra loot. This night was known as "Beggar's Night". The loot wasn't as good, overall, but a fair number of people did give out treats even on the night before. Since then, and in other areas of the country, the term 'beggar's night' has come to mean the designated day for trick-or-treating. Sometimes before, sometimes after the actual day of Halloween. But I had no idea the idea of beggar's night had spread to the animal kingdom - and that it would be this long after the actual date of Halloween.

But in Michigan, they have a deer practicing Beggar's night.

CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small, immature deer that calls a gated community home.

The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least several days. It hangs there like an orange-and-black feed bag from its thin handle, which appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds.

Ironically, the container that resembles a feed bag and is intended to hold children's treats is instead keeping the animal from eating. It also looks as if the plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from drinking.

Animal experts who went Thursday to the neighborhood in Kent County's Cascade Township to assess the situation not only saw the deer but got to within 35 to 40 yards of him, said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo in nearby Grand Rapids.

Zoo personnel, as well as other animal experts, planned to return to the site Friday. If they see the deer, they hope to safely shoot a tranquilizer dart into him, remove the plastic jack-o'-lantern after the buck becomes unconscious, and then take the animal somewhere to recover until he can be released back into the wild.

Although Vescolani and the others got a good look at the buck, which has been spotted in a herd of several deer, they could not get close enough to make a good assessment of his physical condition. Still, the bucket was not impairing the animal's vision, and the deer looked strong, he said.

"He seems to be doing pretty well," Vescolani said. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."

Well of course he's doing just fine right now. Kids of any species can live quite well on a diet of pure sugar. That's the beauty of beggar's night!

AP Trumpets Mehlman Will Step Down

The Associated Press has just released a story saying Ken Mehlman will step down at the end of his term and will not seek to extend his tenure in the  job as head of the RNC.

WASHINGTON - Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party lost both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, will step down from his post when his two-year term ends in January, GOP officials said Thursday.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because Mehlman had not yet made his intentions public.

Brian Jones, an RNC spokesman, declined to comment beyond saying that an announcement about Mehlman's future with the party would be made in the days ahead.

Democrats won control of the House and Senate on Tuesday by capitalizing on voter frustration with President Bush, the war in Iraq and the scandal-scarred Congress. Democrats also took a majority of governors' posts and gained a decisive edge in state legislatures.

The officials said Mehlman made the decision not to run for a second term more than a month or two ago — well before the election.

It was not unexpected, this is a normal thing after an electoral defeat (which is how Dean got his job). It will, of course, be shouted as a victory by the left. It's not, of course. It is just how the system works.

Politics Of Personal Destruction

The sliming can't just end at the election apparently. The hate-filled left has to try to indulge itself in still more personal destruction. In yet another attempted "outing" the extremely un-funny "comic" Bill Maher went on Larry King and suddenly said that Ken Mehlman is gay. (For the record, Maher has never seemed at all humorous to me. Neither has Stephen Colbert. By the way, notice he's pretty well disappeared since his little Bush bash at the press club dinner? Guess the left doesn't need their tools after they use them up).

I've said it before, I'll say it again for the ClueProof™: Who freaking cares about anyone's orientation? Apparently, it is a huge deal to the left. And they feel the need to bash gays whenever they can. Whether or not if it is relevant to anything, they "out" at the drop of a hat. They'll even make charges with no proof whatsoever and hope like hell it gets picked up by the media.

Confederate Yankee has the details of this latest one. It is pretty sickening to watch what the left is becoming in this country. Whether is is gay bashing (with or without proof) or denigrating decent and honorable behavior it is getting old. Very old.

MI5 Tracking 30 Terror Plots In Britain

The head of the British intelligence service MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, gave a speech in which she warned that the agency is currently tracking some 30 terrorism plots in Britain. Some 1,600 individuals are being watched. Even the Guardian admits that Dame Eliza is not known to be an alarmist.

MI5 has identified 30 major terrorist plots being planned in Britain and is targeting more than 1,600 individuals actively engaged in promoting attacks here and abroad, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of the agency, warns today.

The 30 plots are the most serious of many more planned by some 200 British-based "networks" involved in terrorism, she said in a speech seen by the Guardian. In a gloomy assessment of the home-grown terrorist threat, MI5 says most of those involved are British-born, and most are connected with al-Qaida.

Dame Eliza is known for her sober assessments about the extent of the terrorist threat and has distanced herself in the past from ministers' more dramatic speeches on the subject, so her public intervention will be taken seriously. However, sceptics will question why MI5 and the police have not acted to arrest or charge those said to pose such a direct threat to Britain's security. Security sources argue that the alleged plotters are still being tracked because there is either insufficient evidence to apprehend and charge them or because their plans have not reached the stage when they pose an imminent threat to the public.

Dame Eliza described the extent of the threat MI5 says Britain faces in a rare public speech in which she expressed concern about the scale and speed of those being radicalised and indoctrinated and how young teenagers were being "groomed to be suicide bombers".

She said it was clear from "martrydom" videos that suicide bombers are motivated in part by "their interpretation as anti-Muslim of UK foreign policy, in particular the UK's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan". Tony Blair has repeatedly said that linking terrorism to the government's foreign policy is absurd. Dame Eliza's speech, which will be published on MI5's website today, was cleared by John Reid, the home secretary. It was delivered to an invited audience at the department of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London yesterday.

The Guardian revealed last month that counter-terrorist officials have warned that Britain has become the main target for a resurgent al-Qaida. But this is the first time MI5 has provided figures to illustrate its assertions. "We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy," said Dame Eliza. She added: "What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 … that we know of." These plots, she said, "often have links back to al-Qaida in Pakistan and through those links al-Qaida gives guidance and training to its largely British foot soldiers here on an extensive and growing scale".

If opinion polls were broadly accurate, more than 100,000 British citizens considered the July 2005 attacks on London were justified, Dame Eliza said.

As the article states, Dame Eliza's speech will be posted on the MI5 website. It is not there yet as far as I can see, but will be soon if the article is correct. The West is at war, folks. The American elections did not change that one tiny bit.

General Court Martial For Watada To Proceed

The commanding officer at Fort Lewis, Washington has recommended that general court martial proceedings be started against LT Ehren Watada. Two charges have been specified, missing movement and conduct unbecoming. A third charge, contempt towards officials was dropped without comment.

SEATTLE - An Army lieutenant who challenged the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq and then refused to deploy to the country will face a military trial, the Army said Thursday.

Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik recommended that the Army proceed with a general court-martial against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada.

Watada, 28, was charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials for comments he made about President Bush.

The Army later added another specification of conduct unbecoming an officer based on his comments in Seattle during the national convention of Veterans for Peace in August. At a hearing later that month, prosecutors showed video footage of Watada calling on other soldiers to stop participating in U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Dubik referred only the charges of missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer. He gave no reason for dismissing the charge of contempt toward officials, Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek said Thursday.

"He has the statutory discretion to determine what charges to refer to trial," Piek said. "We can't discuss the particulars of the case because it is ongoing."

Watada, from Honolulu, has said he believes the war is illegal. He was first charged after he refused to deploy to Iraq on June 22 with his Fort Lewis Stryker unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted. Links to all earlier posts can be found here.

Keeping An Eye On Cassini

Apparently, the planet Saturn is keeping an eye on NASA's Cassini probe.

A freaky storm two-thirds the diameter of Earth and unlike anything ever seen has been spotted on Saturn.

The tempest, some 5,000 miles wide (8,000 kilometers), has an oddly human-looking hurricane-like eye. But it is very different from a terrestrial hurricane, scientists said today.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft photographed the huge storm. It swirls with 350 mph winds at the ringed planet's south pole. It has a remarkably well-defined eye ringed by clouds that soar 20 to 45 miles high (30 to 75 kilometers), or up to five times taller than hurricane clouds on Earth.

"It looks like a hurricane, but it doesn't behave like a hurricane," said Andrew Ingersoll, a member of Cassini's imaging team at the California Institute of Technology. "Whatever it is, we're going to focus on the eye of this storm and find out why it's there."

The storm's eye is clear of clouds, as with a hurricane on Earth. And the eye-wall clouds are also similar to those that surround the eye of a storm here. Researchers don't know if rising, moist air is fueling the clouds, as in a normal hurricane. But the storm's eye, eye-wall and spiral arms are all "hurricane-like," they say.

Yet this storm rotates around Saturn's south pole—astronomers say the pole seems to be within the storm's eye and the system seems locked in place.

We strongly suspect that the planet is very suspicious of NASA's intentions and is watching closely.

"Perhaps the most likely option is to leave Cassini in a long-lived orbit that would have little to no risk of ever hitting anything," Mitchell said. "Another is to impact Saturn like Galileo did at Jupiter, although there are some complications with this one."

Allen Concedes In Virginia

Senator George Allen, displaying a class and grace that should shame Al Gore, has conceded defeat rather than subject the state of Virginia to endless recount and recriminations.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Republican Sen. George Allen has conceded defeat to Democrat Jim Webb, sealing the Democrats' control of both houses of Congress and concluding a dramatic fall for a one-time top-tier presidential contender.

Webb, a former Republican and Navy secretary under President Reagan, claimed victory early Wednesday after election returns showed him with a narrow lead of about 7,200 votes out of 2.37 million ballots cast.

Allen chose not to demand a recount after initial canvassing of the results failed to significantly alter Webb's lead, the adviser said. Virginia has had two statewide recounts in modern history, resulting in changes of only 37 votes last year and 113 votes in 1989.

Thank you, Senator Allen. Well done.

UPDATE:

Allen said the "owners of government have spoken and I respect their decision."

"The Bible teaches us there is a time and place for everything, and today I called and congratulated Jim Webb," he said.

UPDATE: John McIntyre concurs, calling Allen and Burns examples of statesmanship and patriotism. He has some harsh words for those lawyer up to retain power (recognize anyone, Algore?)

Politicians who deliberately and cynically undermine the faith in our elective process do great damage to this country for cheap short-term political gain. Respect for the rule of law and the willingness to live with heartbreaking defeats is critical to the long-term well being of our democratic system of government.

UPDATE: Allah has the video. Despite the mendaciousness of the left, Allen could have called the recount, the state, by law would have paid for it and yet he did the right thing. Links are in comments to Virginia election law.

Declaring The Blue Crab Republic

Attention, please! The new home of the Blue Crab Republic is almost ready. The brand, spanking new island is rising from the sea near the island of Vava'u, part of the Northern Tongan island group.

A YACHT sailing out of Vava'u motored into a strange "sea of stone" on August 12, and the following day its crew became possibly the first people to witness the birth of a new volcanic island that has been forming in Tonga.

The crew of the yacht 'Maiken' have recorded their observations on a web blog along with photos of the pumice rafts that they came across a day out of Neiafu while sailing towards Fiji.

After passing Tonga's Late island 'Maiken' crew member Haken reported seeing streaks of pumice floating in the water, then, "We sailed into a vast, many miles wide, belt of densely packed pumice. We were going by motor due to lack of wind and within seconds 'Maiken' slowed down from seven to one knot. We were so fascinated and busy taking pictures that we plowed a couple of hundred meters into this surreal floating stone field before we realized that we had to turn back."

He said the pumice blocked their engine cooling system and they had to clean it out. They thought it must have come from a volcano and since they didn't know the extent of the eruption and it was getting dark they decided to anchor in Vaiutukakau bay outside Vava'u for the night.

The following day they identified the active volcano as the one close to Home Reef, and they sailed within two miles from it where they could see the volcano clearly. "One mile in diameter and with four peaks and a central crater smoking with steam and once in a while an outburst high in the sky with lava and ashes. I think we're the first ones out here," he reported.

We trust the government in Tonga will have no objections. They are, after all, also known as the Friendly Islands. We would also like to thank the folks on the Maiken for locating the new real estate for us. (Pictures at the Maiken link).

Your Tax Collectors Are What?

The City of Patna, the capital of Bihar state in India, has been having a great deal of trouble collecting taxes. So much so that their revenue has dropped from an expected 700 million rupees ($15.2 million) per year to only 200 million rupees ($4.34 million). Now, that is a big problem with revenue. So the city has gotten creative in their efforts to collect back taxes.

They have hired a squad of eunuchs as collection agents.

They were hired by Patna's Municipal Corporation on Wednesday after the city's tax arrears ran into the millions, said Atul Prasad, the municipal administrator.

Revenue officials accompany the eunuchs with tax records to settle the outstanding arrears on the spot.

Indian rulers once castrated boys to create eunuchs to work in their harems. But eunuchs today are generally males with partial genitals or who opt for castration because of strong female feelings.

They often make a living on tips for dancing at weddings and blessing newborn babies, and are believed to be stubborn and not take no for an answer.

The new tax collectors met with considerable success in their first day in the job. They collected 425,000 rupees ($9,240) from shop owners, said Bharat Sharma, a revenue officer.

"We are confident that their reputation and persuasive skills will come in handy for the municipal authorities to collect taxes from defaulters," Sharma told The Associated Press.

The eunuchs are not given a salary and instead receive 4 percent of the amount they collect from defaulters, Prasad said.

According to this story, the tactics they use are a bit unusual:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Eunuchs in eastern India were drafted by authorities to sing outside the homes of tax evaders to embarrass them into paying up, a report has said.

Sari-clad eunuchs were out in force with municipal tax collectors Wednesday in Patna, capital of Bihar, India's most lawless state, the Indian Express reported.

"Pay the tax, pay the Patna Municipal Corporation tax," chorused the eunuchs on the doorstep of their first target, Ram Sagar Singh, who owed 100,000 rupees (2,240 dollars).

A mortified Singh promised to pay within a week, the report said.

We would make a joke about a certain agency of the United States government here, but we prefer not to be audited. Or visited. Or noticed in any way whatsoever. Thank you.

Calling All Jarheads!

The Marine Corps gets their very own museum. Located in Quantico, Virginia, the brand new and very large museum uses all the latest cutting edge technology to tell the story of the Corps.

QUANTICO, Va. - From the highway, the National Museum of the Marine Corps beckons to visitors, its 210-foot-tall steel spire cutting through the sky, evoking the historic flag-raising at Iwo Jima.

Inside, visitors can experience that iconic World War II moment, landing on the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima and viewing one of the flags raised atop Mount Suribachi and captured on film by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.

The sensory display is one of three immersive exhibits in the 118,000 square-foot museum that use sound, lighting and even temperature changes to help viewers experience moments in Marine Corps history firsthand.

"We're telling our stories not with just objects," said Lin Ezell, the director of the museum about 25 miles south of Washington, D.C. "We're using the cutting-edge technology of the museum business to help bring those stories alive."

But the objects are there — more than 1,000 of them, including the UH-1E "Huey" helicopter that was piloted by then Capt. Stephen Pless, who received the Medal of Honor for rescuing Army soldiers during the Vietnam War. Fighter aircraft, including an AV-8 Harrier and the FG-1 and F4U Corsair, are suspended from the thatched glass and metal roof of the museum's Leatherneck Gallery — a circular entryway surrounded by quotes about the Corps chiseled in marble.

The $90 million museum features a fast-track timeline on the Marines, exhibits on World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and an area dedicated to what it is like to ship off to boot camp to become a Marine.

The museum also features a temporary exhibit on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan told through the lenses of combat cameras. On view are photos of Marines handing out cotton candy to Iraqi children, a close-up of a Marine's weathered fingers wrapped around the trigger of his weapon. Other pictures show the sun illuminating the body of a fallen Iraqi insurgent, his mouth agape and his weapon by his side.

The graphic pictures are among a short list of images and exhibits that show the nature of warfare — a topic from which museum officials don't shy away.

There will be a dedication ceremony on Friday. Here's the website for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation that has a lot of information (and pictures) of the new museum. Congratulations, Marines. You deserve this. The museum will officially open to the public on November 13, 2006.

They’re Coming To Get Us!

They're coming! Be afraid, be very afraid. The aliens are coming to invade Britain. No, really, that's what the former head of the British Ministry of Defence UFO project said. Honest.

Britain is "wide open" to alien visitors and a department meant to look into UFO sightings is virtually "closed down", a former Government expert warned today.

Despite a series of "highly credible" sightings and landings in UK territory of metallic aircraft projecting lightbeams and emitting humming sounds, there is no longer formal interviewing of witnesses or investigation into the sightings, he said.

Instead, those working for the Ministry of Defence UFO project spend their time releasing formerly classified documents in answer to Freedom of Information requests from the media or members of the public.

Nick Pope, who ran the Ministry of Defence UFO project from 1991 to 1994, said he decided to speak out about the failure to seriously address the issue for the first time since resigning from his MoD post at the Directorate of Defence Security this week.

"The consequences of getting this one wrong could be huge," he said.

"If you reported a UFO sighting now, I am absolutely sure that you would just get back a standard letter telling you not to worry." "Frankly we are wide open - if something does not behave like a conventional aircraft now, it will be ignored."

"The X-Files have been closed down."

While there is no evidence of UFO hostile intent, he said, it cannot be ruled out.

"There has got to be the potential for that and one is left with the uneasy feeling that if it turned out to be so, there is very little we could do about it," he said.

"If you believe these things are extra terrestrial craft then you cannot rule out that what is happening is some kind of covert reconnaissance."

It seems to me there are a few more pressing things to worry about right here on earth. Besides, we already have all the evidence and he never calls or writes, so he can't really be all that serious!

Escape The Rat Race

The Hebridean island  of Canna off the coast of Scotland is looking for some new blood. They are offering two buildings for rent to new families willing to make a radical change in their lifestyle. They're getting applicants from all over the world, too.

The windswept Hebridean island of Canna, with a dwindling population of just 15 hardy souls, is looking for new blood — and the response has been amazing.

The National Trust of Scotland, the charity that runs the bird sanctuary island with archaeological links back to Viking times, was bombarded with applicants from as far afield as Dubai, Japan and Australia after advertising for families.

Applications to rent two properties close on Friday, a final choice will be made next spring and, as Britain's loneliest schoolchild, nine-year-old Caroline MacKinnon cannot wait.

She thrives on one-to-one tuition as the only child in the island's primary school but wants someone to play with.

"The ideal would be to get a family in with young children. Caroline is a very sociable child who will fit in with anybody," said her aunt Winnie MacKinnon, 43, who was born on the island.

Winnie, who runs the post office and holiday cottages on Canna, is astounded by the response.

"I am concerned people know what they are coming to. This is a life-changing decision," she told Reuters from Canna, which lies alongside the Hebridean islands of Eigg, Muck and Rum.

They plan to bring the shortlisted applicants out for a visit in January. That will change a few minds! More about Canna here.

Two Ways Of Handing Yourself

Gracefully:

This has been a long campaign, and a hard one.

But every day was made a bit easier by the knowledge that we were not alone — that there were people like you out there, doing work with your own family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers, spreading our message of change.

I just got off the phone with Jack Murtha.

I called to congratulate him on his victory.

One of the glories of our democracy is this tradition — and it's a rather odd one in the history of the world, I'll readily acknowledge — that we spend months and months banging each other on the head, and then on Election Night we shake hands and congratulate one another.

And life goes on.

Or Gracelessly:

"Mr. Cheney enjoys an office on the second floor of the House of Representatives that historically has been designated for the Ways and Means Committee chairman," explained Rangel, who vaulted to the top slot of the tax-writing panel - one of the most powerful in Congress - when Democrats rolled over the GOP to take control of the House.

"I talked to [future House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi about it this morning," a giddy Rangel crowed during a news conference at his Harlem office.

"I'm trying to find some way to be gentle as I restore the dignity of that office," chuckled Rangel. "You gotta go, you gotta go."

….

Still, he couldn't resist taking a shot at Bush's immigration-reform plan, calling a guest-worker program "as close to slavery as you can legally get."

Rangel is getting the last laugh in a nasty war of words with Cheney.

Down the closing campaign stretch, Cheney ridiculed Rangel as an irresponsible tax-lover who wouldn't extend a "single one" of the tax cuts.

Rangel blew his stack when Cheney told Fox News Channel, "Charlie doesn't understand how the economy works."

"He's such a real son of a bitch, he just enjoys a confrontation," Rangel snapped to The Post.

Don't think people don't see the difference. Don't think people won't remember, either.

About Trial Balloons

I had a sneaking suspicion that there were trial balloons being floated in the press before the election. It appears I was correct in my thinking. Greyhawk found the evidence. He also has his take on why Rumsfeld is stepping down. I rather think he's right.

One thing regarding the Democrat's victory I expected: hearings. A lot of folks were just sent to Washington on the promise of willingness to "ask the tough questions" on Iraq. (A nice way to deflect any concerns that you have no answers, of course, but I digress…) But what that translates to is hearings - probably hearings ad nauseum, and doubtless with multiple planned appearances from one Donald Rumsfeld. My guess - and I state this with sincerity - is that barring appointment of a Special Assistant to the Secretary for Listening to the Tough Questions, Mr Rumsfeld's ability to run the Defense Department would effectively come to a close in late January, 2007.

He may still be spending that time at the show trials, of course - he himself may in fact become the unpaid Special Assistant to the Secretary for Listening to the Tough Questions. But now it won't compromise his ability to lead a military in time of war.

I'll let you read for yourself what the trial balloons are over at the Mudville Gazette.

Alert The Darwin Awards!

This guy has got to be a contender for an honorable mention in the Darwin Awards. He is still alive, so he can't get top honors, but he appears to have given it the old college try. It seems he was celebrating Guy Fawkes night (which has been traditionally celebrated with bonfires and fireworks) with the traditional fireworks. But he decided to start a new tradition by launching the firework from a non-traditional launch pad.

His butt.

LONDON (AFP) - A man was rushed to hospital in Britain with severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework from his bottom, an ambulance service spokesman said.

It is thought that the 22-year-old could have been trying to imitate a scene from "Jackass: The Movie", a controversial film featuring a series of edgy pranks.

Footage of the incident in Sunderland, north-east England, was captured on a mobile phone by a gang of youths and shows a white flash followed by hysterical laughter and a youth shouting: "Ha ha ha ha," followed by an expletive.

A spokesman for the North East ambulance service said: "We received a call stating there was a male who had a firework in his bottom and it was bleeding."

Aside from that oddly worded last sentence (was the firework bleeding?) this guy did do his level best to apply a bit of chlorine to the gene pool. In fact, he just redefined the term 'dumbass' rather effectively.

UPDATE: And there's video of the entirely new definition of the word.

"Everyone was laughing and didn't believe he'd do it. He pulled his trousers down and it exploded within seconds.

"No one thought he was hurt. But then he stood up and walked a few metres before stumbling and falling to the ground. There was quite a bit of blood."

Safety campaigners say they have never come across such a bizarre incident but it is thought the squaddie could have been copying a scene from the controversial film Jackass: The Movie which shows a similar prank.

A spokeswoman for the North East Ambulance Service said: "We received a call stating there was a male who had a firework in his bottom and it was bleeding.

"He was attended to and taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital."

The victim is recovering at Sunderland Royal Hospital after sustaining horrific internal injuries including a scorched colon. Safety experts today warned that misusing the explosives in such a senseless way can have serious consequences.

Police and paramedics were called to the Dame Dorothy Street area of Monkwearmouth, in Sunderland, on Bonfire Night after reports of the stunt.

The prank, involving a Black Cat Thunderbolt Rocket, has left safety officers bemused. A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said: "It's so unfortunate that someone is now paying the price for the misuse of fireworks.