J.K. Rowlings hit with plagarism suit!

She's being hitting everybody with one, it's refreshing to see that somebody has recognized what she is; a hack!

SYDNEY – J.K. Rowling has been named in a lawsuit alleging she stole ideas for her wildly popular and lucrative "Harry Potter" books from another British author.

The estate of the late Adrian Jacobs on Wednesday added Rowling as a defendant in a lawsuit it filed in June against Bloomsbury Publishing PLC for alleged copyright infringement, according to a statement released by the estate's representatives, who are based in Australia.

The lawsuit, filed in a London court, claims Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" copied substantial parts of Jacobs' 1987 book, "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No. 1 Livid Land." Jacobs' estate also claims that many other ideas from "Willy the Wizard" were copied into the "Harry Potter" books. Jacobs died in London in 1997.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is the fourth book in Rowling's series and was published in July 2000.

Sydney agent Max Markson, who is representing the trustee of Jacobs' estate, Paul Allen, said Rowling was added to the lawsuit after Allen learned that the statute of limitations to sue her had not run out, as previously thought.

"I estimate it's a billion-dollar case," Markson said Thursday. "That'll be the decision of the courts, obviously."

There was no immediate comment from Rowling. In June, Bloomsbury said the allegation that Rowling lifted from Jacobs' work was "unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue." Bloomsbury said Jacobs' estate first approached the company in 2004 with its claims, but was unable to identify any text in the "Harry Potter" books that was copied from "Willy the Wizard."

In a statement, Allen said the estate is also seeking legal advice on whether the Harry Potter films and soon-to-be-opened Harry Potter theme park breach copyright law.

I'm still waiting for Alan Moore to file one against her for lifting the character from his "Book of Magic" series of comics.

I'm Sorry I cheated, darling. Here's a diamond to make it all better!

They say diamonds are a girls best friend. If this is true, then Robert Carlton's wife Elizabeth was the lady with the most amount of friends. Read on and laugh (or at least chortle a bit).

LONDON (Reuters) - Never again honey -- and here's a diamond to say sorry.

Every time British businessman Robert Charlton cheated on his wife, he bought her some extravagant jewelry to try to make amends. After 26 years of marriage, long-suffering Elizabeth Charlton had more than 40 glittering pieces.

Charlton's infidelity cost him nearly 300,000 pounds ($492,400) it emerged last month, when his daughter auctioned off the late couple's jewelry collection.

"He bought her a lot of things to keep her happy and to ease the pain of his many affairs," said Clare Durham, a spokeswoman for Woolley & Wallis, the auction house that handled the sale. "I think everybody knew it was a fairly open secret."

Over the course of his romances, Charlton, who died in 1974, bought his wife antique diamond earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. One piece, a riviere necklace made up of 54 diamonds, was the most expensive item auctioned, fetching 50,000 pounds.

The riviere was once bought in the 1900s for around 400 pounds, the auction house said, a sum that would have made it extremely expensive when Charlton bought it in the 1960s.

"The big diamonds were Edwardian and Victorian so they were antique pieces when he bought them for her in the 60s and 70s," said Durham.

Charlton's daughter chose to auction a total of 43 pieces from the guilt-ridden collection after other family members declined to accept them. The family kept other pieces.

"He didn't just buy her jewelry when he played away. He did buy her gifts for birthdays and Christmas and things like that. I don't think he was that bad," said Durham.

No, probably not. Then again, all those diamonds...

British women say: Give us a normal bloke over a metrosexual queenie anyday!

Yes guys! Women still have their priorities straight!

LONDON, Aug. 4 (UPI) — A British survey suggests women prefer “real men” with beer bellies and hairy chests to “metrosexuals” with tight shorts and manicures.

The survey of 5,192 women, conducted by Lion Bar Ice Cream, found 80 percent of respondents now consider metrosexual traits including hair straightening and frequent sunbathing to be turn-offs, The Sun reported Tuesday.

The poll also found one in 10 women questioned in the survey like the smell of beer on a man while a fifth of those polled said they are attracted to men with “a bit of body odor.” “This is great news for real men this summer,” a Lion Bar spokesman said. “They can get their roar back and ditch the moisturizer, manicures and tight shorts this summer — leave that for the footballers. “British blokes can also wear their Speedos with pride, even if they have a bit of belly and welcome the wolf whistles as they walk down the beach,” he said.

That's it! I'm moving to England!!!!

Note to the Milkman: one quart of fat-free and and eight of weed!

Read this and ponder...

LONDON (Reuters) - A milkman who admitted he delivered cannabis as well as pints to elderly customers to ease their aches and pains, was spared jail Friday.

Robert Holding, 72, from Burnley, told police he supplied the drug to 17 customers after detectives raided his home and found nearly 6oz (167g) of cannabis in an egg crate in the van he used for deliveries.

"He said he sold the cannabis to existing customers because they were old and had aches and pains," said prosecutor Sarah Statham.

"He said he sold a 9oz (255g) bar about every three weeks and sold it for a relatively cheap value. He said that customers left him notes saying, for example, 'Can I have an ounce this week or can I have an eighth.'"

Holding, who admitted supplying and possession of the drug at a previous hearing, was given a 36-month prison sentence suspended for a year at Burnley Crown Court Friday, the Press Association reported.

Judge Beverley Lunt told him the sentence was "an act of mercy" because he visited his wife, who has Alzheimer's disease, every day in a care home.

"You were not some philanthropist helping out the elderly out of the good of your heart. You dealt drugs for profit in a calculated way. It was a business," the judge told him.

His lawyer Philip Holden said his client "wasn't making much of a profit" and that his oldest client was 92.

"Word had got out that he was a man who could supply cannabis to those of a certain age with aches and pains and he misguidedly believed he was providing a public service," he said.

After the verdict Holding insisted he had not made money from his drug dealing.

"They (the customers) enjoyed it, they saved a lot of money while I was doing it and I only did it for a short time," he said.

However Neil Standage, area crown prosecutor for East Lancashire, said there was no evidence that he was only supplying elderly people with painful ailments.

"This might make it sound like what he was doing was harmless. It wasn't," he said.

This would not happen if drugs were legalized!
I don't do them. But I'm for legalization and medication.
And for universal health care too!!!

Egad Vicar! You have a WHAT in your WHAT???

The weird parade continues! Read what this Vicar did in his spare time when not directing his flock in the name of the Invisible Man. He was in an emergency room, having a potato removed from his rectum!!!!

The clergyman told stunned casualty nurses he fell backwards on to his kitchen table while hanging curtains.

He happened to be nude at the time of the mishap.

The embarrassed reverend, in his 50s, had to undergo a delicate operation to extract the offending vegetable.

The spud was yesterday revealed to be among a litany of objects medics in Sheffield have removed from people’s nether regions.

Others include a can of deodorant, a cucumber, a Russian doll — and a carnation.

Like most of the other patients, the red-faced vicar insisted to staff at the city’s Northern General Hospital that his predicament was NOT the result of a sex game gone wrong.

A & E nurse Trudi Watson said: “He explained to me, quite sincerely, he had been hanging curtains naked in the kitchen when he fell backwards on to the kitchen table and on to a potato.

[...]She admitted some sex-related emergencies had made staff chuckle. But she urged anyone contemplating sticking something where the sun doesn’t shine to think again.

Ms Watson said: “My advice? Don’t do it.”

Hey! Everybody hangs curtains nude in the kitchen, right?