Lee plate is pricey
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong man has paid $5,000 for a car license plate that read "BRUCELEE," after the late kung fu movie star.
"When I studied in England, foreigners would only know two Chinese people. One is Bruce Lee. The other is Chairman Mao (Zedong)," the buyer, identified only by his surname, Wong, said on a Hong Kong cable television station.
The Lee-inspired plate was among several vanity plates auctioned by the Hong Kong Transport Department, according to the department's Web site.
Lee, who died in 1973 at age 32 from swelling of the brain, was born in
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San Francisco but grew up in Hong Kong, where he also made his name as an actor.
'Hello' humiliation
BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.
Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late - among other misdemeanors - will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. They won't wear the armbands in public.
The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.
"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.
"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.
Borrowing bandit
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DENVER - A library patron suspected of selling hundreds of books, tapes and DVDs he had borrowed has cost area libraries tens of thousands of dollars, officials said.
Thomas Pilaar, 33, was suspected of using different names to obtain seven library cards from the Denver Public Library, then checking out 300 items per card and selling at least some of the items, KCNC-TV in Denver reported.
"It appears his intent was to sell 2,100 (items) from the Denver Library collection," Denver Public Library spokeswoman
M. Celeste Jackson told the station. She estimated the losses at about $35,000.
Authorities were tipped by a woman who recently bought books through Craigslist.org and noticed the library identification stamps.
Today's best bet
Moorhead RiverArts
Weekly summer event has food, music, art and games.
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5 p.m.
Along the riverfront near the Moorhead Center Mall
(218) 299-5296
If there's something you want to see in The Rail, e-mail Features Editor John Lamb at jlamb@forumcomm.com
