Terry Ghusto says he is standing in Friday’s Irish parliamentary elections with simple campaign pledges: “fix all the wonky pavements, abolish the military and get a proper job”.
It’s a ridiculous stance, the joker says, but no worse than the prevailing “shamrocracy” in bailed-out Ireland.
Mr Ghusto does not go unnoticed among the suits and clipped haircuts who go door-knocking for votes. To start with there’s the car: a tiny, bright-red Fiat 500 covered in giant stickers of the offbeat candidate. And if that doesn’t give it away there’s his dress sense: An emerald-green tweed jacket, coupled with a pale shirt and an orange tie.
Every day, Mr Ghusto dresses himself up in the Republic of Ireland’s colours. (AFP)
Better looking
Rightwing candidates are better looking than their leftwing counterparts, according to a study conducted by Swedish and Finnish economists.
“One possible explanation is that people who are seen or consider themselves beautiful tend to be more anti-egalitarian and rightwing,” Niclas Berggren, one of the three co-authors of the study, said yesterday.
The study compared election results from parliamentary and municipal elections held in Finland in 2003 and 2004 respectively with an online poll of non-Finns to determine how the 1,357 participating Finnish candidates ranked in terms of beauty. More than 2,500 non-Finns were shown photographs of each candidate, with no indication of which side of the political spectrum they stood on, and were asked to rank them on a scale from one (very ugly) to five (very beautiful).
Explaining the findings, he said that globally, “the left perhaps traditionally has used a more rational approach. (AFP)
Basic Instinct scene
Sharon Stone’s infamous leg-crossing scene in Basic Instinct has been named the most-paused “blink and you’ll miss it” moment in movies.
The scene – in which she is apparently not wearing underwear – caused a sensation when the film was released in 1992.
It topped the poll of must-see moments for movie subscription service Lovefilm. (AFP)
Alcoholic ice cream
A US ice cream man almost hit a child while drunk at the wheel of his van.
Ronald Purdy, 49, was pulled over after someone called police to report him in Florida.
Officers said Mr Purdy staggered out of the van and gave his birthday when he was asked for his address. He was nearly three times the legal limit. (PA)
Frontline footballer
A former Manchester City footballer has made a transfer from the pitch to the front line in Afghanistan.
Lee Crooks, who made 73 appearances for the club between 1994 and 2001, has joined the elite team of the RAF Regiment.
Wakefield-born Crooks, 33, played for a number of other clubs including Barns-ley, Bradford City and Rochdale before he joined the regiment as a Gunner in 2009. (PA)
Fairytale wedding
A friend of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be carried to her own fairytale wedding in a horse-drawn antique carriage.
Lady Katie Percy, the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland,is to marry City financier Patrick Valentine, 30, in Alnwick, Northumberland, this weekend.
The 28-year-old former motorcycle mechanic and gunmaker will arrive in the carriage for the wedding ceremony at St Michael’s Church before heading to a reception at her parents’ home, Alnwick Castle, which doubles as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. (PA)
Home alone
Two would-be burglars were thwarted by a 12-year-old when they broke into what they thought was an unocc-upied home in Hialeah, Flo-rida.
The girl was home alone and hid in a cupboard to call police on her mobile phone.
By the time the men opened the front door, they were met by more than a dozen officers, a Swat team and dog unit. (PA)