Sideswipe

Loaded up: A gun-toting marketing ploy for a dealer in crime stories.

Police Arrest Man For Giving Manicure: Michael Fisher, 23, from the US state of New Hampshire, has been arrested and charged with violating the state's licence law. The manicure was really a PR stunt to protest over what he said were needless obstacles facing small businesses in the state. His first and only customer was Kat Dillon, who said it was her first manicure. It was also Fisher's first time giving one. "I'm going to buff it and shine it with one of these, a buffer," he said. The manicure performed without a licence was done right outside the state Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics office. "The reason I'm doing this is because it's one of the harmless things I can do to prove the law is unjust," Fisher said. "Without the Government's permission, you can't do nails, hair, a lot of other things." Fisher said his manicure movement was inspired by the movie Gandhi and backed by his fellow free-staters, who favour minimal government and maximum personal freedom.

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An outraged resident of Kitchener Rd writes to the North Shore City Council: "I have to voice my absolute disgust at the lack of consultation regarding the cycle lane along Kitchener Rd. A neighbour informed me yesterday, and suggested that I look at your website for information. After 10 minutes of searching I found it: Submissions closed. It's not like you don't know where we live. Maybe a mail drop would have been an idea?"

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The BBC reports: "Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol. A man aged 20 and a girl of 17 are believed to have been filming a mock duel when they poured fuel into two glass tubes and lit it."

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The half-price-meal McDonald's Grey Lynn offer for on-duty police officers is not, it turns out, McDonald's policy. In Monday's Sideswipe a hungry Aucklander had to wait while the burger joint processed a discount for an order from a patrol car. In fact, McDonald's discourages its owner-operators from such practices. Spokesman Liam Jeory said McDonald's had been told the police hierarchy were not comfortable with the arrangement, which began informally among some individual owners years ago.

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Disturbing or hilarious? On Tuesday night Paul Holmes got a lapdance from the White House strip joint owner Brian Le Gros as part of an investigation into the kind of hospitality being offered by the "companionship industry" to the Balmy Army influx. The tenuous premise allowed startling footage of a game of nude pool (only the ladies), a look at their flash smoking areas and a tour of the different rooms where services were offered.