ODDLY ENOugh

ODDLY ENOugh

Daily dose of national anthem in hospitals stuns Egyptians

CAIRO

A decision by Egypt’s new health minister to have intercoms in state hospitals play the national anthem every morning, followed by a recitation of the Hippocratic oath, has set off a storm on social media.

The minister, Hala Zayed, insists her decision will help promote “patriotism and loyalty” and remind doctors of their “professional ethical code and humanitarian role.”

However, many Egyptians took to networking sites recently, ridiculing the move. Some suggested the minister should instead focus on improving conditions in derelict state hospitals.

Zayed’s edict may simply be a case of patriotic overdose amid a wave of new-found devotion for all things Egyptian.

Boa constrictor falls from ceiling, lands on man

PULASKI, N.Y.

A central New York man got a rude awakening when a large snake fell from his bedroom ceiling and landed on him while he slept.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation said July 11 that one of its officers responded to a call June 29 from a man who said a snake had fallen on him while he was sleeping in his apartment in the Oswego County village of Pulaski, 35 miles north of Syracuse.

DEC officials said the officer determined a 6-foot-long red-tailed boa constrictor had escaped its enclosure in an apartment. The agency said the snake fell from the ceiling of the downstairs apartment, where it landed on a man sleeping in bed.

The man wasn’t injured.

The snake was returned to its owner.

Man gets his Sea-Doo back nearly 6 years after Hurricane Sandy

TOMS RIVER, N.J.

A New Jersey man has been reunited with his Sea-Doo nearly six years after it was swept away in Hurricane Sandy.

NJ.com reports Douglas Ferrigno got an unexpected call from police in Brick Township earlier this month. A man renovating his home was about to clear a Sea-Doo from his property when he checked out a number on the watercraft and contacted police.

Ferrigno’s Sea-Doo had been sitting 6 miles away from his Pelican Island home at another house. It was secured by a cover and had all its parts intact including its key.

The Sea-Doo roared back to life after Ferrigno replaced a few plugs and the vehicle’s battery.

Ferrigno says the watercraft’s return is “a nice symbol to know that good things can happen.”

Associated Press