‘With more than a billion people now sharing just 100 surnames, Chinese authorities are considering a landmark move to try to end the confusion, state media reported Tuesday.
Current Chinese law states that children are only allowed take the surname from either their mother or father, but the lack of variety means there are now 93 million people in China with the family name Wang. [..]
Under a new draft regulation released by the ministry of public security, parents will be able to combine their surnames for their children, a move that could open up 1.28 million new possibilities, the China Daily reported.’
‘New research shows that Australian children are becoming more anxious about themselves and the future of the planet.
The Australian Childhood Foundation survey of 600 children shows that more than half are scared there will not be enough water in the future.
The report also showed that more than a third of children were anxious about terrorism, were worried that one day they will have to fight in a war, and one in four believed the world will end before they reached adulthood.
The head of the foundation, Dr Joe Tucci, says this insecurity could have consequences for society.’
‘Threatened with a poisonous snake. That’s what police say happened during an argument in Sumter.
Now, the snake is missing and four people are under arrest. [..]
Police say the assault happened in the parking lot of Shuckers Grill and Bar in Sumter. They say the four men surrounded the victim and threatened him with the snake. Investigators say one of the men was bitten, but the victim went unharmed. The four men were later arrested.
Timothy Farmer, the man that was bitten, was treated at the hospital and released. He and two other men are being charged with second-degree lynching.’
(3.5meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘A would-be murderer who defecated on trains to “purge” himself of inner voices urging him to kill has been detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital.
Over several months Bonney Eberendu, 36, ran up a £50,000 damages bill as teams of “specialist cleaners” were forced to withdraw rolling stock from service and spend hours cleaning up after him. [..]
Eberendu, of no fixed address, who has a previous conviction for blackmail involving threats to cut off his victim’s fingers, later told police he had spent years hearing “voices in his head”.
They caused him “such distress he wanted to murder a woman or a child by frenziedly stabbing them”.
[..] “But he didn’t carry out an act of murder because by defecating and smearing his excrement he purged himself of the urge to kill.”‘
‘The US military has embarked on a new and risky strategy in Iraq by arming Sunni insurgents in the hope that they will tackle al-Qaida operatives in Iraq.
The US high command this month gave permission to its officers on the ground to negotiate arms deals with tribal elders and other local leaders. Arms, ammunition, body armour and other equipment, as well as cash, pickup trucks and fuel, have already been handed over in return for promises to turn on al-Qaida and not attack US troops.
The US military in Baghdad is trying to portray the move as arming disenchanted Sunnis rising up in their neighbourhoods against their former allies, al-Qaida and its foreign fighters. But the reality on the ground is more complex, with little sign that the US will be able to control the weapons once they are handed over.’
‘Surgery was performed on Sunday to remove a coconut from the body of a man who was sodomised with the fruit during an attack by a gang of men.
Ste Madeleine police are now investigating the case, in which the 27-year-old victim was found at the side of a canefield road at Golconda Village, near San Fernando.
Police were told that the man was seen drinking alcohol in the hours before he was found, and a group of men who picked him up are being sought.’
‘Most people know that nerves work by passing electrical currents from cell to cell. But you might be surprised to learn that no one knows exactly how anesthetics stop nerves from carrying pain signals.
That’s why two scientists believe that we really don’t know how nerves work after all.
According to their controversial theory, electricity is just a side effect of how nerves really operate: by conducting high-density waves of pressure that resemble sound reverberating through a pipe. [..]
The theory has not been well received. [..]’
‘Middle School student Kyleray Katherman had a hunch something was amiss with the school’s drinking fountain water. And right he was.
For an English assignment, he tested the bacteria content at four water fountains and one toilet to challenge a ban on students from bringing bottled water to class. It seems some were using it to sneak in alcohol.
Guess which was cleaner? It wasn’t the water fountains.
He then asked students where they would prefer to get their water. That wasn’t the fountains, either.
Classmates, teachers, administrators and board members said they had no idea.’
‘Calgary police handed jaywalking tickets to homeless people evacuated from a shelter Thursday morning, upsetting residents and the centre’s executive director.
People inside the Drop-In Centre were told to leave after the discovery of an electrical problem. Executive director Dermot Baldwin estimates about 50 residents were given tickets after they exited the building.
“You’ve got hundreds of people who’ve been evacuated from the building and the police are giving out jaywalking tickets,” he said. “It’s not a helpful thing. It’s not a service to the people, that’s for sure.”
He said many of those ticketed, especially the mentally ill, won’t be able to afford to pay the $57 fine and will likely have to go to jail.’
‘Teachers who were suspicious that children on a school camp in Victoria might have alcohol in their bags found something much more sinister instead – two sawn-off shotguns and several rounds of ammunition.
Inspector Craig Gillard of Colac police said two boys, aged 14 and 15, were among a group of students from Colac College who had been on a school camp in the Gippsland region near the town of Bairnsdale.
He said teachers had become suspicious that some students might have alcohol hidden in their bags so decided to do a search.
“During that search, a teacher has located a 22 calibre (sawn-off) rifle and 10 rounds of ammunition in one bag, and a 12-gauge (sawn-off) shotgun and seven rounds of ammunition in another bag,” Insp Gillard said on Southern Cross radio.’
‘A Sun City West veterinarian was arrested on suspicion of punching a five-pound Chihuahua five times in the head, temporarily blinding one eye of the dog.
Dr. Joshua Winston faces charges of animal cruelty and theft, according to a prepared statement from Maricopa County Sheriff’s office.
Winston allegedly struck the Chihuahua’s head five times and dislodged the dog’s eye on June 4, according to the statement. The dog needed corrective surgery after the incident, according to the statement.’
‘A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.
Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco that military leaders had considered, and then subsequently rejected, building the so-called gay bomb. [..]
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, “One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior.”
The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.’
‘With Islamist violence brewing in various parts of the world, the set of rules that seek to guide and justify the killing that militants do is growing more complex.
This jihad etiquette is not written down, and for good reason. It varies as much in interpretation and practice as extremist groups vary in their goals. But the rules have some general themes that underlie actions ranging from the recent rash of suicide bombings in Algeria and Somalia, to the surge in beheadings and bombings by separatist Muslims in Thailand.’
‘A Belgian businessman rejected a Nigerian job applicant because the businessman said his own dog was racist and would bite non-whites, Belgian media reported Saturday. The 53-year-old man Nigerian told De Standaard newspaper he arrived at the Belgian’s wrought-iron business and was immediately confronted by the barking dog.
The Belgian turned the man away before he could even enter, and wrote on his labor office letter that he could not hire the man because of his color, adding there was a risk the dog would bite him.
The local labor office has concluded that the Belgian was racist and has removed him from its list of potential employers.
“My dog is racist. Not me,” the Belgian told De Standaard.’
The driver explains the injury. It’s unfortunate. Unfortunately funny.
(1.6meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Officials began investigating after a train was stopped between stations in Berlin on May 31, as an electronic signal from its cabin alerted railway controllers that the train had no driver.
Drivers have to press a safety button – a ‘dead man’s switch’ – at regular intervals, otherwise a computer on the train stops it automatically, and alerts authorities that there is a problem.
The driver was found dead with his trousers open by the side of tracks several hundred metres away from the train, and police now say that it appears he fell out of the locomotive after he opened a door to relieve himself from the train.
The train was travelling at 70 mph at the time.’
‘My extensive experience in making Paneer compelled me to try something different, that is, making Paneer out of my own breastmilk. Basically this is human cheese. Why would I do that? Well, basically, there are about twenty bags (each 150ml) of frozen breastmilk in the fridge, and they have passed their three months drinkability period, which means I would not be able to donate the milk like I did before. But the milk is still less than six month old, which is the actual expiry date. So what do I do with it? I could make cream soup like I did several months ago. But I really wanted to try something different, and making Breast Milk Paneer sounds really exciting.’
‘A Georgia judge ordered the release Monday of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, a sentence that had been widely criticized as grossly disproportionate to the crime.
Several influential people, including former President Jimmy Carter, publicly supported Genarlow Wilson’s appeals, and state lawmakers voted to close the loophole that led to his 10-year term. [..]
Monday’s ruling doesn’t ensure Wilson’s freedom, though.
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said Monday afternoon that he had filed notice of appeal, arguing that Georgia law does not give a judge authority to reduce or modify the sentence imposed by the trial court. He said he would seek an expedited ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court.’
Followup to Unfair: 10 years for consensual oral sex.
‘The way Hollywood tells the story, if you step through a laser beam then you should expect and alarm to go off and everybody laughs or something. But the way the defense company Ionatron tells the story, if you step through a laser beam things are a lot worse than some bells ringing in your ears.
That’s because this laser is really a laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC) that can conduct electricity. You break the stream and—ZAP—you wake up behind bars to the smell of burnt hair and another man’s aftershave. And that’s what we are calling a best case scenario.
For those interested in purchasing units for home use, remember that all the really cool technology is controlled by the US government…and to stay clear of their buildings after 5pm.’
(1.1meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Two Thai street mutts who became ace sniffer dogs at an airport near the notorious “Golden Triangle” opium-producing region have been fired for urinating on luggage and sexually harassing female passengers. [..]
“He liked to pee on luggage while searching for drugs inside,” Mok’s former handler, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jakapop Kamhon, said. “He also liked to hold on to women’s legs.”
“Both were just as good as foreign dogs trained for use in drug missions.
“But they were stray dogs, so their manners were worse than those of foreign breeds,” he said.’
‘Contrary to the conventional wisdom, scientists have found that logging big dead trees after a wildfire and planting young ones makes future fires worse, at least for the first 10 or 20 years while the young trees create a volatile new source of fuel.
The findings by scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University raise questions about the long-standing practice of salvage logging on national forests at a time when global warming is expected to increase the size and numbers of wildfires and the annual cost of fighting them is running around $1 billion. [..]
They suggested that the large stands of closely packed young trees created by replanting are a much more volatile source of fuel for decades to come than the large dead trees that are cut down and hauled away in salvage logging operations.’
‘The Port Arthur killer should be allowed to die following several attempts to kill himself in his prison cell, euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke says.
Martin Bryant, Australia’s worst mass murderer, is serving 35 life sentences for the 1996 killings of 35 people at Tasmania’s historic Port Arthur penal settlement, in the world’s worst mass murder by a lone gunman.
Bryant has made at least five suicide attempts in Tasmania’s Risdon Prison and has been treated at hospital twice this year after slashing himself with disposable razor blades. [..]
“The sole goal of his (Bryant’s) imprisonment is punishment and punishment without hope of release is tantamount to torture,” Dr Nitschke said.
“As a society we should admit we are sanctioning torture here and in those circumstances we should allow him to die or provide him with the means to obtain a peaceful death.”
He said that giving Bryant an opportunity to end his life would quickly determine if he wants to kill himself.’
‘The CIA has dismissed a Council of Europe report alleging that it ran secret jails for terror suspects in Europe after the 11 September attacks.
A CIA spokesman said the report was biased and distorted, and that the agency had operated lawfully.
Swiss Senator Dick Marty, who wrote the report, said secret CIA prisons “did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania”.
The charge was denied by both Polish and Romanian officials.’
Followup to Secret CIA jails hosted by Poland, Romania.
‘After checking in at the Mukti Bhawan hostel, guests have two weeks to die or else they are gently asked to leave.
The hostel — a short walk from the Ganges river in the northern Indian city of Varanasi — is a final stopover for elderly Hindus hoping they will shortly end up on one of the hundreds of funeral pyres lit on the riverbank each day.
“While the rest of the world celebrates a new life when a child is born, similarly we celebrate death,” said Bhairav Nath Shukla, the cheerful manager of Mukti Bhawan, one of several places offering shelter to outsiders wanting to die in the city.
Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation.’
‘An Army Corps of Engineers report found mechanical and contracting problems with drainage pumps installed by the corps before the start of the 2006 hurricane season, prompting a Louisiana senator to call for a Justice Department investigation.
Although the pumps have been extensively overhauled, critical flaws remain a year later, according to the report, which was released Friday.
The review by three corps engineers from outside the New Orleand district office backed up findings of a May 2006 memo by a corps mechanical engineer working on the $32 million pump project. The memo warned the pumps were faulty and would not work during a hurricane.’
These people seem to have rigged up some sorta robot to steer their motorcycle by remote control.
(10.1meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Scientists working to build a life form from scratch have applied to patent the broad method they plan to use to create their “synthetic organism”.
Dr Craig Venter, the man who led the private sector effort to sequence the human genome, has been working for years to create a man-made organism.
But constructing a primitive microbe from a kit of genes is a daunting task.
Dr Venter says, eventually, these life forms could be designed to make biofuels and absorb greenhouse gases.
The publication of the patent application has angered some environmentalists.’
‘Thirty-one dirty and disorientated workers have been rescued from a brickwork factory in China, where they were being held as virtual slaves.
Eight workers were so traumatised by their experiences that they were only able to remember their names.
The labourers had to work unpaid for 20 hours at a time, and were only given bread and water in return.
The brickworks, in the poor inland province of Shanxi, is owned by the son of the local Communist Party secretary.’
