News of the Weird - this just in!

[Nereus]

No jail for man who put ham in Muslims' shoes

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... lims-shoes

A 30-year-old man who stuffed ham into the shoes of Muslims as they worshipped at a mosque has been spared jail.
Jamie Knowlson also draped slices of the meat - which Muslims are banned from eating - on railings outside the mosque as his victims prayed inside, Britain's Daily Mail has reported.

The offender was captured on security vision as he abused worshippers after they confronted him over his sacrilegious act.

"Knowlson initially told police the stunt was a drunken joke but later admitted that he was fully aware of the offence his actions would cause," The Mail reported.

"He pleaded guilty to causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment and could have been jailed for up to two years, but walked free from Bristol Crown Court with a suspended six-month prison sentence because he had returned to the mosque to apologise for his actions."

During sentencing, Judge Carol Hagen told Knowlson that it was "difficult to imagine a more offensive incident".

"Not only the fixing of meat to railings but aggravated, in my view, that members of the mosque were inside praying at the time," she said.

The Mail said Knowlson went to the mosque from a nearby homeless shelter on January 9.

"(Prosecutor) David Hunter said it had been a premeditated attack specifically targeted at the Muslim community," it reported.

"Knowlson sat in tears as he was handed a six-month suspended sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work.

"A second man is due to stand trial in connection with the incident later this month."

[Nereus]

Mum gives 7yo a boob-job voucher

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/of ... ob-voucher

The headline says it all: "I've bought my seven year old a boob job."

A 50-year-old mother in the UK known as The Real-Life Barbie - because of her extensive surgical enhancements - has revealed that she gave her child a £6000 ($9200) voucher for breast-enlargement surgery.

Sarah Burge told Closer magazine that she gave her daughter Poppy the voucher for her seventh birthday because Poppy had "begged" her for a boob job.

"I gave her the voucher so she can have it after she's 16, when it's legal," Ms Burge said.

"If she develops naturally big boobs, she can have something else done with it."

Poppy said that for her birthday she wanted "a new computer, a holiday and a voucher for surgery".

"When I got it all, it was a dream come true," she said.

"All my friends were jealous.

"I can't wait to be like Mummy with big boobs. They're pretty."

The voucher was part of a £12,000 "exotic pamper party" for Poppy - who wore a £300 dress - and seven friends.

The children were treated to makeovers, manicures and pedicures.

They drank pretend champagne in a pink pamper bus and ate a £250 designer cake, according to reports.

"Miss Burge, who lives in a £500,000 four-bedroom home in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, is more than capable of paying for the lavish celebration thanks to the lucrative business she runs organising plastic surgery and swinging parties and writing erotic novels," the Daily Mail reported.

"Admitting that her daughters Charlotte, 25, Hannah, 17 and step-daughter Jazzy, 17, have already had Botox and are planning further surgery of their own, Miss Burge reveals a worryingly blase attitude towards surgery."

Last year, Ms Burge taught Poppy to pole dance.

"Poppy is a normal kid who is good at sports and loves playing outside. Girls don't want Snow White and Cinderella any more," she said.

"They want to be WAGs and famous like Cheryl Cole and Lady Gaga. I'm just supporting her and making her dreams come true."

Ms Burge plans to undergo £51,000 of surgery - including a facelift, bottom implants and liposuction - for her 51st birthday.



She wants Poppy to watch the procedures on video.

[hhfarang]

Cloned cow in Argentina to produce "human milk"

Buenos Aires - Argentinian scientists have introduced modified genes in a cloned calf that are to cause it to produce a kind of human breast milk when it grows up. The cow named Rosita ISA had two human genes introduced, which guide the production of two proteins contained in human milk and which are important for the nutrition of babies, Argentina's National Institute of Agrobusiness Technology near Buenos Aires said Thursday. When the cow is fully grown, it was expected to give milk similar to that of humans. It would contain lactoferrin and lysozyme, which offer infants better antibacterial and antiviral protection than normal cow's milk provides. The calf was born April 6, and scientists would have to wait about two years before it gives birth and produces milk.

The Nation

[hhfarang]

Female Kuwaiti politician advocates that "Men Should Be Allowed Sex Slaves"!

Full story here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml

[Nereus]

Train burnout:

[richard]

Speed bumps? or sleeping policemen?

[kalbow]

Idiot Uses Shotgun to Remove Wart from His Finger

http://gizmodo.com/5812227/idiot-uses-s ... his-finger

Brian Barrett —I'll say this much for the UK security guard who tried to blast off a nagging wart with a shotgun: he succeeded. Although I'd imagine he wasn't planning on taking out his finger in the process. Meet Sean Murphy, won't you? He's special.

The 38-year old security guard from South Yorkshire was recently sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for using an illegal firearm. Specifically, a stolen 12-bore Beretta shotgun that he fired off at the (plant) nursery where he works. His target: a wart that had resided near the top joint of his middle finger for five years. The result? Well, let's let Sean explain:

He said: "It was hurting a lot and causing my finger to bend. I'd been to the doctors and tried all sorts of things but it wouldn't go.

"I didn't expect to lose my finger as well when I shot it but the gun recoiled and that was it. The wart was gone and so was most of my finger. There was nothing left, so no chance to re-attach it."

According to the prosecuting attorney, the attacker/victim had "had some drink" before the incident, which, no kidding.

I don't know that there's a moral to the story, other than that shotguns and surgery still don't quite mix. [Yorkshire Post via Geekologie]

[London Boy]

TEXAS BEER JOINT SUES CHURCH over LIGHTNING STRIKE !



ONLY IN TEXAS ...


Drummond's Bar began construction on expansion of their building to increase their business.



In response, the local Baptist Church started a campaign to

block the bar from expanding with petitions and prayers. Work progressed

right up until the week before the grand reopening when lightning struck

the bar and it burned to the ground!



After the bar burning to the ground by a lightning strike, the

church folks were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about "the

power of prayer ", until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds

that the church . . ."was ultimately responsible for the demise of his

building, either through direct or indirect actions or means."



In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all

responsibility or any connection to the building's demise.



The judge read through the plaintiff's complaint and the

defendant's reply, and at the opening hearing he commented "I don't

know how I'm going to decide this, but it appears from the paperwork

that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an

entire church congregation that now does not."





True Story.

[STEVE G]

Sheep stranded on roof in Wales rescued by firemen

A sheep that got stuck on the roof of a house in Wales had to be rescued by two sets of firefighters who flocked (sorry) to its aid in the village of Pontycymer.

Claire Walters, who photographed the action as it onfolded on the roof of her terraced house, said she was sitting watching TV when she heard some odd noises.

'When I went outside and was facing the front of my house, I looked up towards the roof and there was a sheep standing there,' explained the 38-year-old.

After 999 was called, two fire engines were dispatched and the woolly-headed animal was eventually coaxed down.

'We have never had anything like that before, though we have found sheep in some difficult places,' remarked a spokesperson for Bridgend Fire and Rescue Service.

'It was running back and forward on the roof, but eventually it must have realised how many firefighters were there trying to get it down. So it thought, "I'd better come down now".'

The experienced sheep rescuers reckon the creature reached the roof through a mixture of shear determination (snarf) and, err, by climbing up a nearby garage.

For anyone worried about the animal's welfare, by the way, it wasn't harmed by its roof-based adventure - as our friend in the fire service assured us.

'It was certainly an interesting call-out, it's not where you'd expect to find a sheep, really quite funny,' he added. 'It brightened up our weekend, that's for sure.'
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/866399-all ... -from-roof

[Nereus]

Storm over MP's 'pussy-whipped' remark:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/ne ... ed-remark/

WA Liberal MP Don Randall has accused the mining industry of allowing itself to be "pussy-whipped" by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in comments that have been described as grossly sexist by some of his colleagues.

Mr Randall made the comments during a Friends of Mining lunch at Parliament House on Wednesday which was attended by about 50 coalition MPs and senators.

After hearing from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Simon Bennison and Cazaly Resources executive Clive Jones, Mr Randall rose to berate the industry for being too nice to Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and lacking fight against the Federal Government over its mining tax.

"The problem is that the mining industry is being pussy-whipped by Julia Gillard," Mr Randall, the member for Canning, told guests, according to witnesses.

One Liberal said the choice of language was disgraceful.

Another said Mr Randall's comment was particularly ill-advised, given Labor's recent accusations of entrenched misogyny within the coalition.

Among those attending were Nationals leader Warren Truss, Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, frontbenchers Bronwyn Bishop, Ian Macfarlane, Kevin Andrews and dozens of back-benchers, including chief organiser of the lunch, WA Liberal MP Barry Haase.

Mr Randall said that if his comments had offended any of his colleagues, none had raised it with him.

"It was a tongue-in-cheek type comment. I'm not denying it. It's a term that's often used and I use it as well," he said.

Ms Bishop, the most senior female Liberal in Federal Parliament, said she was not offended by Mr Randall's remark.

"I took it that he was talking about males who cower in the face of dominant women," she said.

"He didn't say it in a way that I found offensive, he said it in the context that the Government was known for its retribution and the miners appeared too scared to take them on again.

"If people were offended by it, they should have asked Don Randall what he meant by it."

Three weeks ago, Liberal senator David Bushby was accused of being sexist when he "meowed" at Finance Minister Penny Wong during a Senate inquiry.

Mr Randall received national attention in 1998 when he said Democrats leader-turned-Labor MP Cheryl Kernot had the "morals of an alley cat on heat".

[PeteC]

I've always admired the Australians for calling a spade a spade. The US and US politicians used to be like that, but the PC brigade has now taken over and we have to listen to wossie hogwash. Pete

[hhfarang]

^ Yes, you certainly can't call a spade a spade any longer there!

[E-Dork]

A FATHER locked his 21-year-old son in a tiny wooden BOX — as punishment for stealing chickens.
In the basement of his home in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Johan Knelsen lived in the 10ft-by-6ft filing cabinet-style cage for eight weeks before police arrived.
His father, David Knelsen, a Canadian, told authorities his son was mentally ill and needed punishing for taking three chickens. Local media reported Johan was also in his father's bad books for using a phone. The family is part of a certain Mennonite denomination which strictly interprets the Bible and shuns the use of technology.

When Johan was released from the box, police found it crammed with pillows and urine-filled bottles.

Johan said: "I went out, and when I came back they were angry with me here at home. Some people tied me up and put me in here, eight weeks ago.
"I ate and slept here. I did everything here. I ate and drank water and washed here."

The prosecution lawyer handling the case said locking someone up like that was against the law. Ever Merida added: "It is not permitted that a boy is physically and psychologically tortured inside a jail. It is in total violation of Bolivian law." Under orders from police, Johan's father opened the box and helped the young man to his feet.

There are dozens of Mennonite settlements in the rich lowlands of eastern Bolivia.

In 2009, eight men from a Mennonite community where arrested in Bolivia and accused of raping at least 60 women in their farming settlement.

Pictures here and video here..

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... weeks.html

[STEVE G]

(AFP)A self-styled Taiwanese "prophet" was convicted Thursday of "spreading rumours" when he said a monster earthquake would destroy the island last month and fined Tw$40,000 ($1,380), a court said.

Wang Chao-hung, better known as "Teacher Wang", stirred up a media frenzy after he "predicted" a giant quake and tsunami would hit Taiwan on May 11, urging people to move into makeshift shelters converted from cargo containers.

Wang later claimed that his remarks were misinterpreted by journalists when the catastrophe failed to materialise, but he was convicted by a district court in Nantou, central Taiwan, of spreading socially disruptive rumours.

He may face additional fraud charges as prosecutors are investigating claims that he might have cooperated with container businesses to set up a shelter village in Nantou.

[Nereus]

Officials bar Buddha from restaurant name

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa ... rant-name/

A Denmark (west australia) couple say they are shocked at a "ludicrous" government department's rejection of a bid to register their restaurant name - the Healthy Buddha Bar - on the grounds it could be offensive.

The restaurant, which focuses on local produce and sustainable practices, was the realisation of a long-held dream for owners Steven Potts and Jo Botting and has been doing solid trade since opening on March 14. Then, last month, they received a letter from the Department of Commerce rejecting their application to register the name.

"We are shocked and mortified because we've spent thousands of dollars setting it up and now we can't register the name," Mr Potts said. "The name is about peace and harmony and enlightenment. We have books about Buddha and quotes from the Dalai Lama around the restaurant.

"There's nothing negative or offensive about the place."

Mr Potts, who has been a caterer for 25 years, said the couple checked the name was available online and applied to register it, before moving quickly to set up the restaurant.

"When we've called (the department) they said there is nothing they can do, that's the law," he said. "We've got signage, cards, postcards and T-shirts made for our staff to wear and now it's against the law.

"We will keep trading until someone comes and tells us we can't. We're hoping they won't enforce it because we're not going to change it. It's crazy."

A department spokesman said the name was rejected because the combination of the words "Buddha" and "bar" was potentially offensive to Buddhists, who eschew alcohol. Buddha Bar, in Subiaco, was also rejected initially but the decision was overturned on appeal. Business owners who have their trading name rejected can appeal to the Commerce Minister or the courts. The Buddhist Council of WA and the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils could not be contacted yesterday.

Amanda Battley said her Buddha Soul fashion label also faced hurdles in WA before being registered 18 months ago.

"I tried to register Buddha Baby but they rejected it on the grounds it was offensive to the Buddhist religion," she said.

While not a Buddhist, Ms Battley said she loved the beliefs and her Bali-based clothing line and organic restaurant were based on cultivating peace and harmony.
...........................................................................................................

No Buddhists in Thailand.

the name was rejected because the combination of the words "Buddha" and "bar" was potentially offensive to Buddhists, who eschew alcohol.

Perhaps its spelt wrong?