The BBC seems to be building a set of short films on animals that commit criminal acts. Here is the latest installment:

Cat burglar strikes again

Frankie the cat has been stealing soft toys in Swindon for the past year.

Prior episodes:

Shoplifting seagull caught on camera (01.01)

Brazil’s pigeon drug mules(00.20)

Perhaps an entire series can be started to reveal the “criminal mind” in the animal kingdom. I wonder if there are any examples of animal cyber criminals (yet)?

The BBC tells of a strange security incident in the Vienna theater, when a weapon prop turned out to be the real thing. An actor cut his own throat on stage:

The audience is said to have applauded what they thought was a stunning special effect, and only realised something was wrong when the actor staggered off stage to receive treatment.

Austrian police launched an investigation and have not ruled out the possibility of foul play, Austrian media reported.

They were told that the knife had been bought at a local shop.

“The knife even still had the price tag on it,” one officer said.

There are advantages to using props that are not very realistic, one of which is reducing the risk of using a real one by accident.

The US Pentagon under President Bush stands accused of failing to address and respond to known risks to Marines. The Department of Defense does not mince words in their report, according to USA Today:

When field commanders first began requesting MRAPs, military officials saw the armored Humvees as a more immediate option to countering IEDs, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. “The threat has evolved and our force protection measures have evolved with it,” he said.

The Marines requested the inspector general’s investigation in February after an internal report accused the Corps of “gross mismanagement” of the urgent request for MRAPs. Hundreds of Marines died unnecessarily because of delays in fielding the vehicles, said the Jan. 22 study by Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer and civilian science adviser.

Two U.S. senators — Democrat Joe Biden of Delaware, now the vice president-elect, and Republican Kit Bond of Missouri — demanded an investigation after details of Gayl’s study were published.

The summary report is available here:

…the Department entered into operations in Iraq without having taken available steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED risk to soldiers and Marines.

Classic example of security negligence in management.