Archive for February, 2007
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
22 Dead, 9 Hospitalized After Drinking Homemade Gin in Uganda
At least 22 people have died and nine more have been hospitalized after drinking illegal, homemade gin, a health official said Wednesday.
A 1-liter bottle of the illicit gin sells for US$0.40 (euro.30) and is popular among poor Ugandans because it is cheap and extremely strong. The ingredients are often unknown.
“They all died from poisoning,” said Dr. Elly Tumushabe, director of health services in Komo Island in Lake Victoria, about 95 miles east of the capital, Kampala. “They all drank a local brew brought to the island by a trader.”
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Fun with Alcohol | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Sword-Wielding Man Confronts Neighbor After Hearing Woman’s Cries on Porn Film
A sword-wielding Wisconsin man broke into his neighbor’s apartment thinking he was chivalrous after hearing the cries of a woman he thought was in peril — but instead, she was in porn.
James Van Iveren was in his Oconomowoc apartment listening to music when he heard loud cries from a woman he thought was pleading for help, reported the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The 39-year-old grabbed a cavalry sword, a family heirloom, and rushed upstairs to forcibly open the quarters of an upstairs tenant he barely knew.
“It was a woman screaming,” Van Iveren said of the Feb. 12 incident. “She was screaming for help.”
Bret Stieghorst told police that he was watching a pornographic DVD when Van Iveren kicked open his door, damaging the frame and lock in the process, with a 39-inch blade in hand.
Posted in Doh! | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
‘Fart bomb’ closes postal centre and roads
A smelly “fart bomb” had postal staff and firefighters holding their breath today when it burst at a postal sorting centre on Auckland’s North Shore.
The fart bomb was a giveaway in an internet magazine, but when other postal items were placed on top of the magazines being posted out the sachet bomb burst and released its contents shortly after daybreak.
Posted in Doh! | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Colombia clowns killed on stage:
Two circus clowns have been shot dead during a performance in the eastern Colombian city of Cucuta, police say.
The attacker jumped into the arena and fired before fleeing, police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Efe news agency.
Local reports say the audience of about 20 people, mostly children, thought the shooting was part of the show before realising both men had been killed.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Cops: Man earns pension from freezer
An Italian is suspected of hiding his dead father in a freezer for two years so he could keep collecting the old man’s pension.
Gaetano Sivieri confessed to police this week he had stashed his father’s body in an underground garage near the Alpine town of Aosta, media reports said.
“I needed the money,” the 63-year-old was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Nursing home ‘kept disabled man in cage’
A JAPANESE nursing home is being investigated over a claim that staff tied residents to their beds and kept a disabled man in a cage, officials said today.
The residents, many suffering from dementia, were regularly tied to their beds with ropes and handcuffs by caregivers, the Mainichi newspaper said in the latest case of abuse towards the elderly in a rapidly greying society.
Quoting a former employee at the nursing home, the paper said a disabled man in his 30s was locked in a cage designed for pets and kept there for at least three months.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Father killed family for being too western
A father killed his wife and four daughters in their sleep because he could not bear them adopting a more westernised lifestyle, an inquest heard yesterday.Mohammed Riaz, 49, found it abhorrent that his eldest daughter wanted to be a fashion designer, and that she and her sisters were likely to reject the Muslim tradition of arranged marriages.
On Hallowe’en last year he sprayed petrol throughout their terraced home in Accrington, Lancs, and set it alight.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, T.R.O.P. | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Tormented first by hiccups, now by media:
The notes under the door. The incessant phone calls. The impassioned pleas, all begging for a piece of the story.
It wasn’t reporters in search of secret intelligence involving the war in Iraq.
The subject: St. Petersburg’s Jennifer Mee, a 15-year-old who started hiccuping four weeks ago today and has yet to stop.
The competition for her story became so frenzied over the weekend that NBC’s Today show changed Jennifer and her mother’s New York hotel after another network’s exhaustive attempts to get an interview.
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Representatives from ABC’s Good Morning America called Jennifer’s home 57 times on Sunday and slipped notes under her hotel room door, her family said.
Posted in Corrupt Journos | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Hornets hit France and could reach Britain
Swarms of giant hornets renowned for their vicious stings and skill at massacring honeybees have settled in France.
And there are now so many of the insects that entomologists fear it will just be a matter of time before they cross to Britain.
Global warming has largely been blamed for the survival and spread of the Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, which is thought to have arrived in France from the Far East in a consignment of Chinese pottery in late 2004.
Thousands of football-shaped hornet nests are now dotted all over the forests of Aquitaine, the south-western region of France hugely popular with British tourists.
“Their spread across French territory has been like lightning,” said Jean Haxaire, the entomologist who originally identified the new arrival.
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Teen ’sport killings’ of homeless on the rise
All Nathan Moore says he wanted to do was smoke pot and get drunk with his friends.
Killing Rex Baum was never part of the plan that day in 2004.
“It all started off as a game,” Moore said.
The 15-year-old and his friends were taunting the homeless man — throwing sticks and leaves — after having a couple of beers with him.
No big deal, Moore says, but he’s sorry for what came next.
It was a mistake, he said, a sudden primal surge that made him and his friends Luis Oyola, 16, and 17-year-old Andrew Ihrcke begin punching and kicking Baum.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Teen Antics | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Carnival attracts 3 million in Germany – Muslims offended
Carnival parades accompanied by the shrieks of crowds and the thump of loud music drew crowds of an estimated 3 million people to three of Germany’s western cities Monday, but there were also complaints at crude humour by float designers.
A Muslim leader criticized a float in the city of Dusseldorf that satirically suggested Islam was not peaceful. The float carried two identical cartoon-style papier-mache figures, each wearing a suicide-bomber’s belt and carrying a dagger and a pistol.
The first was labelled ‘the cliche,’ the second was labelled ‘the reality.’ Both scowling figures were labelled ‘mullahs,’ a term used to describe both Shiite and Sunni clergy. The float was part of a carnival parade watched by more than half a million people in the western city of Dusseldorf.
‘This hasn’t got anything to do with humour,’ said Aiman A Mazyek, general secretary of the National Council of Muslims in Germany. ‘The message it gives me is: ‘We love our prejudices, we’ll stand up for them, even if they are flagrantly untrue.”
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
Scalpel left in body for 23 years
A Brazilian woman is set to sue a hospital after discovering the cause of her 23-year-old stomach ache was a scalpel left in her body. The 5cm scalpel was found in Maria Abadia Dias’ lower abdomen after doctors took an X-ray.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
Spitzer’s Secret Senate Slush Fund
Governor Spitzer is planning to funnel millions of dollars in borrowed state money to Senate Democrats, who have been secretly asked by the administration to submit their wish lists for local capital projects, according to lawmakers.
The move marks the governor’s boldest effort to solidify his influence over the Democratic conference, whose support he is counting on in the short term to give him an edge during negotiations, and in the long term to play an instrumental role in pushing through his governing agenda.
For the past month, Senate Democrats have been submitting the paperwork for tens of millions of dollars in grants unbeknownst to most other lawmakers. There is no written agreement between Mr. Spitzer and the conference; the administration discussed the possibility of funding Senate Democratic projects with Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, who passed on the message to conference members at a private meeting.
Posted in Politico Follies | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Croatia probes Hitler likeness, jokes on sugar packets
Small packets of sugar bearing the likeness of Adolf Hitler and carrying Holocaust jokes have been found in some cafes in Croatia, prompting an investigation, the office of the state prosecutor said on Monday.
“The local district attorney in (the eastern town of) Pozega has opened an investigation and is currently looking at the matter,” said Martina Mihordin.
The Novi List daily newspaper reported that officials at a small factory in Pozega have confirmed the sugar packs were produced on their premises.
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
PROOF PETE’S JUST A LYING JUNKIE:
JUNKIE Pete Doherty’s claim that he’s beating drugs is a pathetic LIE. The Babyshambles rocker was caught on a mobile phone camera snorting a deadly mix of cocaine and the horse tranquilliser ketamin. Pasty-faced Doherty, 27, can be seen hoovering up line after line of the nightmare cocktail, which he fondly calls CK. And the pal shooting the footage can be heard warning him: “You’re doing them too big, Pete. It’s dangerous – you need to calm down a bit, man.”
Posted in Doherty Chronicles | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Drug dealer’s body severed in Homewood crash:
A man found dead on a Homewood street this morning was cut in half when he reached into a car and the driver took off, slamming him into a pole on Hamilton Avenue.Pittsburgh Police said the victim, who has not been identified, was selling drugs to the driver of a blue Dodge Neon shortly after 6 a.m. Witnesses told police that the driver accepted crack cocaine but tried to drive away without paying. The seller then reached inside the driver’s side window to try to put the car into park, but the driver drove off.
Hat tip to Kara!
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Kara's Classics | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Priest jailed for exorcism death:
A Romanian priest has been jailed for 14 years for conducting an exorcism that led to the death of a nun who he believed was possessed by devils. Irina Cornici, 23, died after being starved and chained to a cross at a secluded convent in the north-east.
Posted in Sinners in the hands of an angry God | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Traumatized US soldiers being treated in ‘virtual Iraq’:
Traumatized US soldiers are being treated for post-war psychological disorders by going out on patrol in a computer-generated “virtual Iraq,” experts told a conference.
Skip Rizzo, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, has helped create a program that simulates life in the war zone for Iraq veterans suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The ground-breaking treatment allows soldiers to experience the sights, sounds and even the smells of a war-zone, courtesy of wrap-around goggles linked to a startlingly realistic virtual world.
The idea is to re-introduce veterans to the experiences that have inflicted mental scars until gradually they are no longer haunted by the memories, a long-established therapeutic technique known as “exposure therapy.”
Posted in Mad Scientists | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Maryland to Unveil the Page That Began a New Chapter
It was a speech so moving the crowd wept. It was a speech so personally important George Washington’s hand shook as he read it until he had to hold the paper still with both hands. After the ceremony, he handed the thing to a friend and sped out the door of the State House in Annapolis, riding off by horse.For centuries, his words have resonated in American democracy even as the speech itself — the small piece of paper that shook in his hands that day — was quietly put away, out of the public eye and largely forgotten.
Today, however, amid festivities celebrating his birthday, Maryland officials plan to unveil the original document — worth $1.5 million — after acquiring it in a private sale from a family in Maryland who had kept it all these years. It took two years to negotiate the deal and raise money for the speech, which experts consider the most significant Washington document to change hands in the past 50 years.
He saved the Republic from monarchy and military dictatorship. If only our successor Presidents were so worthy…
Read his resignation speech here.
Posted in Historical Oddities | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Hundreds Arrested During NBA All-Star Weekend:
Las Vegas police are reporting a high number of arrests over NBA All-Star weekend. As of Sunday, nearly 300 people involved in N-B-A-related festivities have been booked into the Clark County Detention Center since Thursday.
Posted in Idiot Celebrities | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Australian sees thirteenth zodiac sign
Love, career or life out of sorts? If you’re searching for answers in the stars, you may be looking at the wrong ones.
A 13th sign has emerged in the 12-sign zodiac thanks to tiny shifts or wobbles in the Earth’s rotation around the Sun, an Australian astronomer said.
“Basically, the Sun’s apparent path has moved since 3000 years ago when astrology was born,” John Shobbrook, the manager of Australia National University’s Siding Spring observatory told Reuters.
The new sign is Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer, whic falls between November 30 and December 18, placing it between Scorpio and Sagittarius.
Posted in End of the World Update | 3 Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Melon-butting record smashed
A man has broken the world record for smashing watermelons with his head at the biennial Chinchilla Watermelon Festival in Queensland.
29-year-old John Allwood, a local melon picker, head-butted 40 watermelons in less than a minute to claim the title of world champion.
Posted in Cultural Oddities | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Teacher suspended after exposure allegation
A Shelbyville Middle School teacher has been suspended from teaching after being issued a citation alleging indecent exposure, according to a Shelby County sheriff’s report.
Thomas L. Piles, 53, Fishers, was suspended Monday after an incident reported along I-74 near the 109-mile marker. An Anderson man told police a sport utility vehicle driven by a man passed beside his vehicle on the interstate and he saw that the driver was exposed, according to a report by Deputy Michael A. Cleveland.
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Piles explained that “these pants always do that,” the report said.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Aunt needed better briefing on bail funds
A man’s plans to bail himself out after a drug bust went more than a bit awry over the weekend. With the aid of a drug-sniffing dog, police found 48 grams of cocaine on the 32-year-old man after pulling him over for speeding, police said.
The suspect then arranged for his aunt to bring a small safe, which he claimed contained money for his bail. But when his aunt opened the safe in front of a state trooper, they found cash, drug paraphernalia and 16 grams of cocaine, police said.
Posted in Idiot Criminals | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Op is ‘turtle’ success:
Doctors at a Chinese hospital have performed a caesarean section on a turtle.
Lu Feng Keepers at Chengdu City Zoo sent the turtle, called Dabao, to hospital for an x-ray to find out why she was so lethargic, reports China Central Television.
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The zoo sent the turtle to Chengdu 416 Hospital for a caesarean delivery, and doctors more used to human patients managed to improvise.
Posted in Idiot Authorities | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Surgeons’ lame excuse:
Surgeons trying to correct the limp of a five-year-old boy in China has apologised after lengthening the wrong leg. They say the mistake was down to the boy being anaesthetised on his back but then operated on while lying on his stomach.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Couple Plan to Tie the Knot in Graveyard
It’s not the traditional “till death do us part,” but Scott Amsler and Miranda Patterson believe getting hitched in a graveyard is just thinking outside the box. Come September, the Illinois couple expects to pledge their undying love among the dearly departed in this St. Louis suburb’s city cemetery, even though those who approved the request are dead set against seeing it become a trend.
Posted in Modern Narcissism | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Kim Jong-il Orders Japanese Cars Confiscated:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered most Japanese cars in the communist country seized in a sign of his growing discontent with Japan imposing severe sanctions after the North’s detonation of a nuclear bomb last October, the Yonhap News Agency reported Monday quoting informed sources.
“After he paid tribute to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace on Jan. 1, he saw a Japanese car that wasn’t working blocking the road and gave a National Defense Committee edict to seize Japanese cars,” Yonhap quoted a source familiar with the North Korean situation as saying, asking to remain anonymous.
Posted in Crazed Dictatorships, N. Korea | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Storm sucked paraglider up to icy death
A Chinese paraglider may have suffocated or frozen to death after being sucked upwards into a storm cell at a rate up to 20 metres per second.
The body of Beijing man He Zhongpin, 42, was found by the Westpac Rescue helicopter 25 kilometres south-east of Bingara in northern NSW about 2pm yesterday.
Mr He, a member of the Chinese national paragliding team, was in training for the Paragliding World Championships, which start next week in nearby Manilla.
Posted in Darwin Award | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Organic farming no better for the environment
Organic food may be no better for the environment than conventional produce and in some cases is contributing more to global warming than intensive agriculture, according to a government report.The first comprehensive study of the environmental impact of food production found there was “insufficient evidence” to say organic produce has fewer ecological side-effects than other farming methods.
Posted in Unintended Consequences | No Comments »
Monday, February 19th, 2007
Science Finding Ways to Regrow Fingers:
Researchers are trying to find ways to regrow fingers _ and someday, even limbs _ with tricks that sound like magic spells from a Harry Potter novel.
There’s the guy who sliced off a fingertip but grew it back, after he treated the wound with an extract of pig bladder. And the scientists who grow extra arms on salamanders. And the laboratory mice with the eerie ability to heal themselves.
This summer, scientists are planning to see whether the powdered pig extract can help injured soldiers regrow parts of their fingers. And a large federally funded project is trying to unlock the secrets of how some animals regrow body parts so well, with hopes of applying the the lessons to humans.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Incidents Of Students Cutting Selves With Blades Concern School
A growing subculture “Emo” fad where teens cut themselves to express their personal pain has prompted concern from parents of children at a Central Florida school after some reported cutting incidents, according to a Local 6 News report.
The report featured a 12-year-old girl named Lisa, who attends Central Middle School in Melbourne, Fla., who had cuts on her body caused by a razor blade. She said the sight of her own blood brings instant relief.
“What does it feel like when you cut yourself?” Local 6’s Kimberly Houk said. “It feels like my anger is gone,” the 12-year-old said. “I just feel normal again.”
Back in the 80’s, we used to call these kids “Slash Monsters”. My friends’ girlfriend Sydelle was into this, thus earning herself the moniker “Syd Slasher”. This behavior is sooo last century…
Posted in Teen Antics | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Three Women Found Dead in Chicago Apartments
Three women were found bludgeoned to death with a hammer in two apartments on the city’s far North Side, and police had a suspect in custody Sunday.
Officers found the bodies after they were called to a domestic dispute Saturday morning.
They also found a man hitting himself on the head with a blunt object, apparently trying to kill himself, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The 56-year-old man was hospitalized in police custody and was in fair condition early Sunday, authorities said.
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Nazi camp used for nude pics
Accusations of “extraordinary bad taste were levelled on Sunday after details emerged of an Austrian designer snapping nude photos at a former Nazi concentration camp.
The woman used the memorial site at the former Mauthausen death camp as backdrop for nude photos of herself, the news magazine Profil wrote in its latest edition.
The photos – shot in the late 1990s – show the woman naked and in sensual poses in front of a camp watchtower and before a sculpture depicting a dying soldier.
Profil quoted the woman – whom it did not name in its initial reports – as saying the photos were an “artistic thought experiment”.
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Batmobile to go under the hammer
A 1960s BATMOBILE created to promote the original Batman TV show is to be auctioned in London later this month.The superhero’s car, believed to be the sixth produced, is expected to fetch more than £75,000 ($187,000) when it goes under the hammer at Coys Spring Classics auction on February 27.
The Batmobile was devised when the cartoon superhero suffered a broken leg in the 1950s, and his trusty sidekick Robin built the vehicle to allow him to continue protecting the residents of Gotham City.
The car became world famous, featuring in more than 100 episodes of the show, with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.
Posted in Superheroes | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
The clock is ticking faster now: Army and police desert beleaguered Mugabe
Widespread desertions from Zimbabwe’s army and police are weakening Robert Mugabe’s security forces as large strikes loom because of the country’s deepening economic collapse.
With inflation now at a global record of 1,600 per cent, The Observer can reveal that soldiers and police officers who cannot feed their families are leaving their posts in large numbers.
Flyers of army officers who have gone missing are posted in the hallways of the King George VI headquarters in Harare and the 1 Commando quarters near the airport, according to journalists.
Posted in Crazed Dictatorships | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Child Hit With Frozen Meat Now In Coma
A 5-year-old girl from Elmira, N.Y., is in critical but stable condition after being hit in the head by a piece of frozen meat allegedly thrown by a man arguing with her mother.
Police have arrested 25-year-old Kenneth Groves on charges of assault and reckless endangerment. They said he was angry because his dinner wasn’t ready, opened the freezer and then began randomly throwing food items about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The girl’s aunt, Jennifer Chapman, told the Star-Gazette of Elmira that the child was standing in a different room when she was hit.
Posted in Bad Parents, Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Astronauts urged to take up skiing ahead of lunar missions:
Astronauts could be trained to cross-country ski across the surface of the moon as preparations for the next generation of lunar missions take shape, a conference heard Saturday.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced plans last year to build a base on the moon by 2020, hoping to use the lunar outpost as a launchpad for exploring the solar system in future generations.
Apollo 17 astronaut Harry Schmitt said that future inhabitants of the moonbase should be taught Nordic skiing to travel around the moon, where lower gravity means large distances can be covered with minimum effort.
“If I was running the astronaut office I certainly would recommend cross-country skiing, yes,” Schmitt told reporters during a presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.
Posted in Space | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
4 Florida Teens Arrested in Death of Boy Found in Trash Bin
Four teenagers were arrested Saturday in the death of a boy whose badly decomposed body was found in a trash bin, police said.
Quintin A. Barnett, 15, was arrested on one count each of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Aspen Thermilus, 16, Keon Williams, 14, and Johnny Randle, 16, were each arrested on one count of accessory after the fact in a murder.
The four Miami teens were all being held in juvenile detention, Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss said. It was not known if any were represented by an attorney.
All four confessed to their involvement in the death of 14-year-old Rod K. Williams, though their individual accounts differed as to how he died Feb. 2 at Randle’s house, police said.
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality, Teen Antics | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Newborn Ends Up in Mother’s Pant Leg
A woman gave birth to a boy outside a western Pennsylvania hospital – a delivery that happened so quickly that the newborn wound up in his mother’s sweatpants.
“It happened so fast,” Rebecca Johnson, 24, told the Daily Courier in Connellsville. “I didn’t know what happened until he was in my pant leg.”
Posted in Human Oddities | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Homeless woman burned to death
Two women are accused of soaking a homeless, drug-addicted prostitute with gasoline and burning her to death after she reported that one of them had robbed her.
Leslie “Jill” May, 49, was abducted from the street and killed at Candlestick Park the day she told the police that Mia Sagote, 30, robbed and beat her over a debt May’s boyfriend owed, authorities said.
Posted in A Bit of The Old Ultraviolent, Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Mexican Businessmen Break Kebab Record
A group of businessmen in the northern Mexican City of Chihuahua broke a tasty record Friday, making a hunk of meat on a skewer big enough to serve 24,000 tacos.
In the Friday event dubbed as the “Tacoton,” the meat for a pastor taco, a variety of the Mexican dish that consists of pork squashed onto a stake, weighed 3.9 tons and was 13 feet high, Mexican government news agency Notimex reported.
Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the hunk of meat as the world’s “largest skewer of kebab meat,” Notimex reported.
Posted in Cultural Oddities | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
For sale: prime place for a prophet to play:
As real-estate listings go, this one is out of this world. A property is on sale in Quebec for a cool $2.95-million, and it even comes with its own flying saucer.
UFOland, the playground and pied-à-terre of the white-robed prophet known as Rael, is on the market — a onetime utopia that appears to have fallen to Earth.
The Raelians, who gained global notoriety in late 2002 after announcing the birth of a yet-to-be-seen cloned baby, say their popularity has peaked in Quebec. So they are packing up and moving south.
Posted in Aliens, Cultural Oddities, Sex, Sexual Deviants | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
The New Fashion Cue: Britney Shears
On Friday night in Los Angeles, trainwreck pop-starlet Britney Spears walked into a hair salon and — in view of the cameras that have stalked her since adolescence — picked up a pair of clippers and shaved her head. The
25-year-old former Mouseketeer and mother of two then marched her bald head into a tattoo parlor and had a pair of tiny red and pink lips drawn onto her wrist.
Posted in Idiot Celebrities | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
MPAA rips off freeware author:
The author of ForestBlog, a blogging tool, has discovered that the MPAA was using his code in violation of his license. He gives the code away for free, but requires that users link back to his site and keep his name on the software. The MPAA deleted all credits and copyright notices from his work, and used it without permission. They ripped him off:Way back in October last year whilst going through the website referals list for another of my sites I stumbled across this link. That’s right, my blogging software is being used by the MPAA (Motion picture Association of America); probably one of the most hated organisations known to the internet. Cool, I thought, until I had a look around and saw that all of the back links to my main site had been removed with nary a mention in the source code!
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Hackers and Hacking, Idiot Authorities | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Group Demands Apology From Georgia Lawmaker for Memo Saying Evolution Is a Jewish Conspiracy
A Jewish organization is demanding an apology from a Georgia legislator for a memo that says the teaching of evolution should be banned because it is a myth propagated by an ancient Jewish sect.
State Rep. Ben Bridges denies writing the memo, which attributes the Big Bang theory to Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism.
Bridges has long opposed the teaching of evolution in Georgia classrooms and has introduced legislation requiring only that “scientific fact” be taught.
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Symposiums on Kim Jong Il’s Undying Feats Held
Symposiums on the undying feats performed by Kim Jong Il were held by working people’s organizations.
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The speakers profoundly explained the imperishable feats performed by Kim Jong Il for the times and history, noting that his birth was a great auspicious event which opened a bright prospect before the continuity of the Juche revolutionary cause and accomplishment of the human cause of independence.
They said Kim Jong Il, genius of thought and theory, scientifically formulated the revolutionary idea of President Kim Il Sung and steadily developed it in depth to meet the demand of the developing revolution, thus clearly indicating the road ahead of the times and humankind.
Posted in Crazed Dictatorships, N. Korea | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
N.D. tries to break snow angel record
Among the thousands of people frantically flapping in the snow Saturday in an attempt to set the record for the most snow angels ever made were parents, children, even snowplow drivers.
And then there was Pauline Jaeger — who on her 99th birthday, was making her very first angel. “It’s fun,” Jaeger said. “I feel just like a kid.” More than 8,900 people flapped their arms and legs on the state Capitol grounds Saturday in an attempt to reclaim the record, which was snatched away about a year ago in Michigan.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
French wartime collaborator dead:
French Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, convicted of sending French Jews to Nazi camps in World War II, has died, aged 96.
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Papon was the second-highest official in France’s south-west Bordeaux region during the German wartime occupation.In 1998, he was jailed for 10 years for helping to send about 1,500 French Jews to Nazi-run death camps during WWII.
Papon never expressed remorse for his wartime actions but was freed in 2002 because of his age, after serving only three years of his sentence, a move which angered Holocaust survivors.
His view: “To resign would have been easier perhaps but, in the culture that I received from my parents, my philosophy teachers, it meant deserting.”
Posted in Nazis | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Landlady cleared for throwing out two lesbian PCs ‘kissing’ in pub
A landlady who swore at two lesbian police officers fondling in her public house – The Old Cock – has been cleared of a public order offence.
Nikki Hackett was accused of banging her fists on a table and telling the pair: “We don’t want that ****ing thing or your sort in here.”
Uncomfortable onlookers saw the pair passionately kissing each other during a night out in the traditional pub, prompting swift action from Mrs Hackett.
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Unleash the gods of war: cargo cult awaits its messiah
THEIR MUSCULAR backs daubed with the letters U-S-A in bright red paint, a platoon of 50 young men march and wheel beneath a relentless tropical sun.
Shouldering bamboo poles like rifles, theyexecuteimmaculatedrills, stamping to attention, about-turning and deploying their imitation weapons beneath a giant stars and stripes flag fluttering from a pole.
This tiny, imitation army belongs to one of the world’s last surviving cargo cults, an anthropological phenomenon thought to have begun in the late 19th century and which mushroomed in the Pacific after the second world war.
When soldiers and airmen from the US and other allied countries arrived in the islands with huge war cargoes, it was believed by islanders that these were gifts from the gods – so those who followed the beliefs of a cargo cult would be rewarded for their faith. When goods fail to appear, as in the post-war period, it is because they have not yet performed the correct rituals – this has led to islanders re-creating airstrips, lookout towers and “radio equipment” made from wood or coconut shells and imitating the troops drills.
Posted in Cultural Oddities | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Report: Feds Say They’ve Solved Pennsylvania Pizza Bomber Case
Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a bomb around his neck exploding, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank in 2003 with the bomb attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad. No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the plot and whether Wells was an innocent victim or willing participant.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
WWI postcard from soldier finally arrives
A postcard sent from the trenches during World War I by a private to his wartime sweetheart finally arrived — 92 years after he had sent it.
Pvt. Walter Butler wrote to Amy Hicks in 1915, telling her he was alive and well — but the army issue postcard never made it to her home in Wiltshire, 60 miles west of London. Butler survived the war, and the couple went on to marry.
Posted in War | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Venezuelan food shortages spur Chavez to crack down:
Shortages of basic foods have been sporadic since the government strengthened price controls in 2003 after a debilitating strike by oil workers. But in recent weeks, the scarcity of items like beef and chicken have led to a panicked reaction by federal authorities as they try to understand how such shortages could develop in a seemingly flourishing economy.
Entering a supermarket here is a bizarre experience. Shelves are fully stocked with Scotch whiskey, Argentine wines and imported cheeses like brie and camembert, but basic staples like black beans and desirable cuts of beef like sirloin are often absent. Customers, even those in the government’s own Mercal chain of subsidized grocery stores, are left with choices like pork neck bones, rabbit and unusual cuts of lamb.
Posted in Crazed Dictatorships | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Oregon City Sues $2.6M Lottery Winners Over Alleged 4-Month Wild Party
A couple who won a $2.6 million lottery jackpot and spoke of helping young people fight drug addiction and alcohol abuse are facing a lawsuit alleging they held four months of parties with public sex, fights and signs of drug dealing.
The city lawsuit against Elizabeth and Samuel Howard also detailed allegations of an assault on a neighbor, slashed tires and loud music.
Samuel Howard, 54, denied the allegations. “I just feel like I’m a victim in the whole situation,” he said Friday.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
70-Year-Old Man Found Dead in Front of TV a Year Later
Vincenzo ‘Vinnie’ Ricardo was the proverbial tree that fell in the forest: No one knew.
From what police in Hampton Bays, N.Y., can determine, the 70-year-old was sitting alone watching TV in his two-story home when he died.
That was more than a year ago, and when workers were summoned to his house last week after a report that freezing temperatures had caused the home’s pipes to burst, they found Ricardo’s mummified body still sitting on the couch, the TV still on.
Posted in I hate it when that happens | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Race-themed party roiling Santa Clara University:
At first, the “South of the Border Party” thrown by Santa Clara University students didn’t strike freshman Nadine Rasch as offensive. It seemed a cool event with nachos, sombreros, mariachi music and salsa dancing. And this being a college party, some tequila and Mexican beer were to be expected if not approved by the select “Jesuit university in Silicon Valley.”
But students came dressed as Latino janitors, gardeners, gangbangers and pregnant homegirls.
“I realized they’re making fun of me, because my dad worked so hard so I could have these opportunities, and they’re making fun of people for that,” said Rasch, 18, a finance major from Guatemala, who did not attend the party. “A lot of people have the idea that Mexicans or Latin Americans are all like that and that’s wrong.”
Posted in College Antics, Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Man buys abandoned farm, discovers barn filled with vintage cars
Ok, so imagine you live in portugal and your moving house. you find a lovely farm house set in a decent plot of land. the place has been empty for 15 years! whilst exploring your new property you find a large barn in the trees. the door is padlocked shut and its all rusted solid. so you grind the padlock open………
Yes it is in Norwegian, but the photos say it all!
Posted in Doh! | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Polish MEP causes outrage with anti-Semitic remarks
A Polish member of the European Parliament has caused outrage among European Jews with a tract saying that Judaism has no place in most of Europe, partly because Jews create their own ghettoes.
Professor Maciej Giertych, a non-affiliated MEP, also caused strong consternation in EU circles, not least because the tract bears the parliament’s logo and was available online Friday.
It was first distributed at the assembly in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Eek!: Men Flee After Seeing ‘Giant Rat’
A furry, uninvited guest had manly men at an Iron Range tire shop shrieking and hopping on desks. “It was pretty humorous,” said conservation officer Dan Starr, who filed a report on the critter’s break-in. “Here were these big, burly outdoors guys running around screaming.” Taconite Tire employees arrived at work on Monday to find what they thought was a giant rat inside the store.
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
Action plan for killer asteroids:
A draft UN treaty to determine what would have to be done if a giant asteroid was on a collision course with Earth is to be drawn up this year.
The document would set out global policies including who should be in charge of plans to deflect any object.
Posted in End of the World Update | No Comments »
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
TV remote inventor dies aged 93:
Robert Adler, a US inventor best known for the creation of the couch potato’s dream device, the TV remote control, has died at the age of 93.
He received an Emmy award in 1997 for the 1956 invention jointly with fellow engineer Eugene Polley.
Posted in Technological Travesties | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Cannibal loses final appeal
A German cannibal, jailed for life for killing and eating a willing victim in a case that shocked the nation, lost an appeal against his sentence and will serve at least 15 years in prison, a court ruled on Friday.
“The life-long sentence means the defendant can be released no sooner than in 15 years – and then only if he is no longer dangerous,” the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany’s highest appeals court, has said.
Victim Bernd-Juergen Brandes travelled by train to meet cannibal Armin Meiwes in the western town of Rotenburg after the two men made contact over the internet.
Meiwes then videotaped himself severing the victim’s penis with a knife before both men tried to eat it.
Posted in Cannibal Update | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
‘How I led Ralph Fiennes astray at 35,000ft’
The Qantas stewardess who claimed she rejected an amorous Ralph Fiennes on a flight to India has admitted having sex with him in an aircraft lavatory.Lisa Robertson told friends she was a big fan of the British actor and found herself luring him to the cubicle.
But they apparently shared more than a 15-minute fling at 35,000ft.
…
“I just stood up, reached down for his hand and told him to follow me,” she told friends.
“We went into the toilet and locked the door and off came much of our clothes.”
She said they then had passionate and apparently unprotected sex.
Posted in Idiot Celebrities, Sex | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Bionic eye ‘on market in two years’
A bionic eye that can restore sight to the blind could be on the market within two years, according to scientists.The first six patients to try the revolutionary devices have learnt how to detect light, distinguish between objects and perceive direction of motion.
American scientists were this week given approval to test a more advanced version of the electronic retinal implant on up to 75 subjects.
The breakthrough offers new hope to millions of people around the world who have lost their vision to degenerative eye diseases, particularly those with macular degeneration – the most common cause of blindness in western countries. Up to 15pc of over-75s are affected by the condition.
Posted in Mad Scientists | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Neo-Nazi rally was organized by FBI informant
A paid FBI informant was the man behind a neo-Nazi march through the streets of Parramore that stirred up anxiety in Orlando’s black community and fears of racial unrest that triggered a major police mobilization.
That revelation came Wednesday in an unrelated federal court hearing and has prompted outrage from black leaders, some of whom demanded an investigation into whether the February 2006 march was, itself, an event staged by law-enforcement agencies.
The FBI would not comment on what it knew about the involvement of its informant, 39-year-old David Gletty of Orlando, in the neo-Nazi event. In court Wednesday, an FBI agent said the bureau has paid its informant at least $20,000 during the past two years.
“Wow,” Gletty said when reached by phone late Wednesday. “It is what it is. You were there in court. I can’t really go into any detail now.”
Posted in Idiot Authorities, Nazis | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Armed Forces Reveal UFO Presence in Chile
More than 1,000 enthusiasts and experts gathered in Viña del Mar on Tuesday and Wednesday this week for the Tenth International Ufology Conference, organized by the Chile’s Ufology Investigation Group (Aion). The highlight of the meeting was a display of photographs taken by members of Chile’s Armed Forces.
…
The military photographs and videos were revealed late Tuesday evening. They included a photograph of a spherical metallic object captured flying over Antarctica and a video of Navy ships being pursued by a luminous object in 2000.
Posted in Aliens | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Judge Appoints Lawyer to Advise on Custody of Anna Nicole Smith’s Body
A judge appointed a third-party, neutral lawyer to advise the court over what to do with former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith’s body.
Broward County Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin appointed an attorney who is a neutral party, called an administrator ad litem, on Thursday to talk to all parties and come back with advice on what should be done.
Posted in Idiot Celebrities | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Drunk fisherman wrestles with shark
A fisherman fuelled by vodka caught a 4-foot shark and wrestled it onto a jetty on Australia’s south coast, suffering only small tear marks in his trousers, media reports said on Friday.Phillip Kerkhof, 41, caught the bronze whaler shark by hand on Monday after he spotted it chasing squid lures near the jetty at the tiny seaside town of Louth Bay in the South Australia state.
Posted in Fun with Alcohol | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Connecticut Teen Charged With Making Bombs to Target Classmates
A 16-year-old high school junior has been charged with making bombs in a plan to target classmates in his school, a plot uncovered after a video was discovered on the Internet, police said.
Frank Fechteler, who attended Newington High School, was charged late Wednesday and ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail, state prosecutors said. He was arraigned Thursday in juvenile court.
Police said they seized weapons from Fechteler’s home in Newington after receiving a tip from a parent about the attack plan.
The plot was foiled when a teen who knows the suspect sent a link to an Internet video on YouTube.com to a person who did not know Fechteler, police said. The video showed area high school students firing weapons and igniting explosives, but it was unclear Thursday who had made the video.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Teen Antics | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Dumbo’s rumble in the jungle:
Everybody knows teenagers get a bit grumpy, but when it is a four-tonne polo-playing elephant you had better get out of the way.
Abey, 18, lost focus on his game and hospitalised two team-mates at Sri Lanka’s sixth annual elephant polo tournament.
He threw off his mahout and American rider before rampaging off the pitch and crushing the Spanish team’s minibus with his head.
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Kiran Chetry gets an “Arrogant Disregard” letter
We may not see Kiran Chetry on Fox News Channel anymore.The news update and weekend anchor was in the middle of contract negotiations with the net, but they are no longer interested in matching any other offer she receives, according to a letter sent to her agent this afternoon.
In the letter, legal VP Dianne Brandi says “Chetry is free to leave Fox News prior to March 6 (the natural expiration of the agreement) with no further compensation.”
Why? Because, according to the letter, Chetry’s agent has “treated Fox News with such arrogant disregard that we do not desire to do any further business with you.”
Posted in Idiot Celebrities | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Crowds flock to ‘miracle’ statue
A statue of Jesus Christ is causing a sensation at an art gallery after witnesses said they saw sparks shooting from its eyes.
People are claiming the steel and bronze figure possesses miraculous powers and some visitors have taken to kneeling at its feet.
Posted in Most Mysterious | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
2,000-year-old date seed grows in the Arava
The wind ruffles the leaves of the date sapling in its planter, and Dr. Elaine Soloway quickly shields it. “There’s only one plant like this in the world, and I’m still worried about it,” she says. Methuselah – that is the sapling’s name – is indeed unique. In 2005, Soloway, from Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, germinated it from a 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.
For the past two millennia, since approximately the time of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, in 66-73 C.E., the seed lay dormant, until Soloway and her team breathed life into it, making it the oldest seed ever to germinate.
Posted in Historical Oddities | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Brainerd Dispatch: AP State News | Brainerd, MN:
James Melin, a software programmer for a county government agency in Minnesota, volunteers with the project and runs SETI(at)home on his seven home computers, which periodically communicate over the Internet with University of California servers.
Whenever communication takes place, servers record the remote computer’s Internet Protocol address and file it in a database that people running the software can view.
…
Several years ago, Melin installed SETI(at)home on his wife’s laptop, which was stolen from the couple’s Minneapolis home on Jan. 1.
Annoyed at the break-in — and alarmed that someone could delete the screenplays and novels that his wife, Melinda Kimberly, was writing — Melin monitored the SETI(at)home database to see if the stolen laptop would “talk” to the Berkeley servers. The laptop checked in three times within a week, and Melin sent the IP addresses to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Officers subpoenaed Quest Communications, Melin’s Internet service provider, to determine the address where the stolen laptop logged onto the Internet. Within days, officers seized the computer and returned it to the rightful owners.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Near-Earth Object Groups:
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth.
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There are currently 843 known PHAs.
This “potential” to make close Earth approaches does not mean a PHA will impact the Earth. It only means there is a possibility for such a threat. By monitoring these PHAs and updating their orbits as new observations become available, we can better predict the close-approach statistics and thus their Earth-impact threat.
Posted in End of the World Update | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Swiss officials may build giant mirror to give light to sunless village
Local officials said Monday they are considering the construction of a giant mirror to light up this mountain village with 198 residents who are deprived of sunlight for three months each year.The project would help illuminate parts of the southeastern Swiss town of Bondo that lie so deep in the Bregaglia Valley they do not receive any sunlight between December and February, said mayor Renzo Giovanoli, confirming a report in the daily Suedostschweiz.
Posted in Mad Scientists | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Dog’s Ear Severed, Glued On By Groomer, Owner Says
Anni Sheriffius said she was trying to wash off what she thought was dirt on her dog Jasmine’s ear when the ear fell off.
Sheriffius rushed her dog to the veterinarian to learn that the dog’s ear had been cut off by a dog groomer and super-glued back on.
“And I saw the ear float away, and it freaked me out,” Sheriffius said.
Posted in I hate it when that happens | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Police: Woman ties up lover, drinks his blood:
Tiffany Sutton apparently wanted to drink up her lover on Valentine’s Day – literally, authorities said.
Police early this morning arrested Sutton, who they believe may have tricked her acquaintance into having “kinky sex” so she could drink his blood.
The victim, 45, and Sutton, 23, were lying in bed naked at early Wednesday when Sutton asked if he wanted to be tied up and he consented, police said.
But that’s when Sutton reportedly pulled out a knife and cut the victim’s leg, police said.
Sutton reportedly told him that she “likes to drink blood” and made several cuts to his upper body, police said.
He also said Sutton drank a “little bit” of his blood, police said.
He was able to break free, run out of his home, but Sutton reportedly followed with a pickaxe, police said.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Group Says Hybrid Cars Are Too Quiet, Threaten Pedestrian Safety
Hybrid cars have been hailed as the answer to a litany of problems in the U.S., from global warming to gas prices. But now one group is labeling them as something else: a threat.
According to the National Federation of the Blind, hybrid cars, which run on an energy efficient mix of gasoline and electricity, are problematic for children, elderly pedestrians and the blind.
Why? Hybrids are much quieter than their conventional counterparts, so silent that the NFB says that they can be difficult to hear coming down the street. The group conducted tests to try to prove their point.
Hat tip to Kara!
Posted in Idiot Activists, Kara's Classics | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Chinese man to hang for ant scam:
A Chinese company chairman has been sentenced to death for running a scam involving giant ants. Wang Zhendong promised investors returns of up to 60% if they put money into the fictitious ant-breeding project, the court heard. Wang, from Liaoning province, raised 3bn yuan ($390m; £200m) in three years, prosecutors said.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Study: Women’s Desks Four Times More Dirty Than Men’s
Women have three to four times the number of bacteria in, on and around their desks, phones, computers, keyboards, drawers and personal items as men do, the study by University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba showed.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Stowaway squirrel grounds jet
An American Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing after pilots heard something skittering about in the wire-laden space over the cockpit.The airline blamed the emergency landing of the Tokyo-Dallas flight with 202 passengers on a stowaway squirrel.
“You do not want a varmint up in the wiring areas and what-have-you on an airplane. You don’t want anything up there,” said John Hotard, spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline.
Hat tip to Kara!
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update, Kara's Classics | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Zimbabwe’s Inflation Rate Skyrockets
Huge price increases for bread, electricity and meat drove Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate to 1,593.6 percent, the Central Statistical Office was quoted Tuesday as saying.
The figure for January 2007 represents a 312.5 percent increase on the December rate, the biggest leap in 17 months. Economists have said there could be hourly price increases in stores by May or June, the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported last week.
Posted in Crazed Dictatorships | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
The anti-fur mob? They can p*** off
Designer Julien Macdonald has declared war on animal lovers protesting against his use of fur in London Fashion Week.
Some onlookers were shocked to see his autumn collection relied heavily on different types of fur – even to create an entire dress.
But he remained unrepentant, saying: “People who don’t like fur can p*ss off. I love fur. It’s a beautiful natural product from animals.”
Posted in Politically Incorrect | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Fla. Teen Hiccuping for Over 3 Weeks:
Jennifer Mee can’t stop hiccuping. For more than three weeks now, the 15-year-old St. Petersburg teen has hiccuped close to 50 times a minute _ despite the best efforts of doctors and home remedies.
She’s had blood tests, a CT scan and an MRI. Drugs haven’t worked. Neither has holding her breath, putting sugar under her tongue, sipping pickle juice, breathing into a paper bag and drinking out of the wrong side of a glass.
And, yes, people have tried to scare them out of her.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Year of Pig signals conflicts before new world order
The world can expect a roller-coaster ride of conflict and unrest, natural disasters and a plunge in global stock markets once the Year of the Pig begins, Chinese soothsayers say.
As the world farewells the Year of the Dog on Sunday, believers in Chinese superstitions have been busy consulting fortune tellers, feng shui geomancers and a wealth of new books for the year’s fortunes.
Posted in End of the World Update | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Why is a barren Chinese mountain being painted green?
Villagers in southwestern China are puzzled by a county government’s decision to paint an entire barren mountainside green.
Workers who began spraying Laoshou mountain in August told villagers that they were doing so on orders of the county government but were not told why, media reports said Wednesday.
Some villagers guessed that officials of the surrounding county, Fumin, whose office building faces the mountain, were trying to change the area’s feng shui — the ancient Chinese belief of harmonizing one’s physical environment for maximum health and financial benefit.
Others speculated that it was an unusual attempt at “greening” the area in keeping with calls for more attention to environmental protection.
Posted in Idiot Authorities | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
SHOCKING 200G HILL DEAL
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign reached a deal to pay a key South Carolina black leader’s consulting firm more than $200,000 just days before he agreed to endorse her run for president, it was revealed yesterday.
The arrangement involves South Carolina state Sen. Darrell Jackson, a well-connected African-American leader and pastor whose support is coveted by national campaigns.
Posted in Politico Follies | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Mother cat adopts newborn Rottweiler
Who says cats and dogs don’t get along?
Workers at the Meriden Humane Society are marveling at a short-haired mother cat that has adopted a 6-day-old Rottweiler puppy that was rejected by its mother.
The tiny pup, named Charlie by Humane Society volunteers, nurses alongside a jumble of black and gray kittens recently born to Satin, who was taken to the shelter by an owner unable to care for her.
Posted in Animal Weirdness | No Comments »
