‘Iranian MPs have demanded an apology from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after teachers were given government-sponsored tests deemed “insulting” to the prophet Muhammad.
The exam – sat by teachers seeking promotion – provoked outrage by posing questions which appeared to degrade Islam’s holiest figure by alluding to personal habits and proclivities. Most of the 40 multiple-choice questions have been judged so mocking that Iran’s state-controlled media has refrained from publishing them.
One less offensive question, reproduced by local newspapers and websites, lists four choices when asking how Muhammad compared himself with the prophet Joseph. They are: “A) I am more beautiful than Joseph; B) Joseph is more beautiful than me; C) I am cuter than Joseph; D) Joseph is more beautiful than me but I am cuter than him.” Others refer to his hair and beard colour.’
‘Authorities are considering taking an 8-year-old boy who weighs 218 pounds into protective custody unless his mother improves his diet, officials said Monday.
Social service officials will meet with family members Tuesday to discuss the health of Connor McCreaddie, who weighs more than three times the average for his age. [..]
An unidentified health official was quoted as telling The Sunday Times that taking custody of Connor would be a last resort, but said the family had repeatedly failed to attend appointments with nurses, nutritionists and social workers.’
‘One of the elephants, Topsy, was known for having a bad temper, and had killed three people in the last three years. After the last killing, it was decided that she had to be destroyed by hanging. Note, I am making none of this up. New York’s ASPCA protested that hanging was cruel, citing the fact that it had been replaced by electrocution in the NY penal system. Luna Park’s owners took the protest in stride, and decided that electrocution would be the kindest solution, and one that they could sell tickets for! They enlisted the willing Thomas Edison to help with technical matters.’
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‘The Ministry of Defence funded a secret study to ascertain whether people with psychic powers could help protect the nation, it emerged last night.
The MoD arranged the tests to discover whether volunteers were able to use psychic powers to “remotely view” hidden objects. The studyinvolved blindfolding test subjects and asking them to “see” the contents of sealed brown envelopes containing pictures of random objects and public figures.
Defence experts tried to recruit 12 “known” psychics who advertised their abilities on the internet, but when they all refused they were forced to use “novice” volunteers.
The MoD last night defended the cost of the experiment, carried out in 2002, in which commercial researchers were contracted at a cost of £18,000 to test them to see if psychic ability existed in case it could be used in defence [..]’
‘A teenage girl in southern Pakistan, whose late father lost her in a poker game when she was 2 years old, has asked authorities to save her from being handed over to a middle-aged relative.
Rasheeda, 17, said she has filed applications with the police and a local councillor asking them to prevent Lal Haider, 45, from taking her to his home.
Her mother, Nooran said her husband racked up a debt of 10,000 rupees ($151) to Haider playing cards.
“My husband didn’t have money to pay, and instead he told Lal Haider that he could take Rasheeda when she grows up,” she said.’
I don’t entirely understand why he was doing what he did. But he certainly did it.
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‘This is the last haunting self- portrait of Andrew McAuley, a man and his kayak, alone. All around, a vast seascape of emptiness. The green-grey Tasman Sea heaving, the horizon a cruel circle.
For 30 days and nights, wherever the Australian adventurer turned his salt-rimmed eyes, he understood his aloneness.
“I never once doubted he would do it,” his wife, Vicki, said yesterday. And he almost did.
[..] At 7.15pm, the New Zealand Coastguard picked up an almost indecipherable distress signal from a vessel that identified itself as Kayak 1. There were two clear words: “help” and “sinking”. Then silence.’
‘The homicide squad is investigating the discovery of a dead baby in a cupboard of a family home at Geelong, south-west of Melbourne.
Police were called to a house in Peter Street, Grovedale at 6.15pm (AEDT) yesterday, when the newborn was found in a laundry cupboard.
A police spokesman said the circumstances of the baby’s death were unknown.
“The baby was born on the 24th of February, it was only one day old,” he said.
“(It was) located in the laundry cupboard of the house.”
The baby’s 37-year-old mother was taken to Geelong Hospital in shock.’
This guy is showing off, and it almost ends badly. Pretty cool tho. :)
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‘The United States is stepping up covert operations in Iran in a new strategy that risks sparking an “open confrontation” and benefits Sunni radicals, a US magazine reported Sunday.
In The New Yorker magazine, Seymour Hersh reports that US military and special-operations teams have increased their activities inside Iran, entering from Iraq to gather intelligence and to pursue Iranian operatives.’
‘A 107-year-old Hong Kong villager, who still enjoys an occasional smoke, has attributed his longevity in part to decades of sexual abstinence, a newspaper said on Sunday.
“I don’t know why I have lived this long,” Chan Chi — one of Hong Kong’s oldest people — was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post during an annual feast for the city’s elders.
“Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have lived a sex-less life for many years — since I was 30,” said Chan, a widower whose youthful bride perished during the Japanese invasion in World War Two.’
Here’s a compilation of five videos demonstrating how to get free drinks at bars using some clever tricks.
Two videos of various fun things you can do with thermite.
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‘Female koalas indulge in lesbian “sex sessions”, rejecting male suitors and attempting to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time, according to researchers.
The furry, eucalyptus-eating creatures appear to develop this tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity. In the wild, they remain heterosexual.
Scientists monitoring the marsupials with digital cameras counted three homosexual interactions for every heterosexual one.’
‘On 17 July 1962, a caravan of scientists, military men, and dignitaries crossed the remote desert of southern Nevada to witness a historic event. Among the crowd were VIPs such as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and presidential adviser General Maxwell D. Taylor who had come to observe the “Little Feller I” test shot, the final phase of Operation Sunbeam. The main attraction was a secret device which was bolted to the roof of an armored personnel carrier, a contraption called the The Davy Crockett Weapon System.’
‘A 53-year-old woman who claimed she received spiritual messages from geese before allegedly stabbing her toddler granddaughter to death was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.
A judge ordered Carol Lynn Pappas committed to the state mental health hospital, where officials will decide “when and if she will ever be released,” said Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for the district attorney.’
Using a metal detector to find shrapnel left in a soldier’s buttocks.
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‘Some of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.
Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”’
‘Is your child watching to porn? You may be surprised.
According to a new study by the University of Alberta, boys aged 13 and 14 living in rural areas, are the most likely of their age group to access pornography.
The study found that parents need to be more aware of how to monitor their children’s viewing habits.
Students were surveyed anonymously about how and how often they accessed sexually explicit media content on digital or satellite television, video and DVD and the Internet. Ninety percent of males and 70 percent of females reported accessing sexually explicit media content at least once. More than one-third of the boys reported viewing pornographic DVDs or videos “too many times to count”, compared to eight percent of the girls surveyed.’
‘State television reports that Iran has successfully launched its first space rocket. Fars news agency quotes the deputy head of Iran’s aerospace research centre, Ali Akbar Golrou, as saying the rocket reached an altitude of 150 kilometres, but did not stay in orbit. [..]
Bahrami, told state television that the rocket was carrying “material intended for research created by the ministries of science and defense.” Bahrami added, “All the tests [prior to the launch] have been carried out in the country’s industrial facilities in line with international regulations.” [..]
The announcement of the rocket launch comes at a time of growing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. [..]’
‘The newest fashion among schoolgirls is getting knocked up, according to one pregnant 14-year-old whose four friends are also expecting.
British teen Kizzy Neal says she’s been approached for advice from other pregnant girls her age ever since she conceived, reported London’s Daily Mail.
“When my friends see my bump they say they wish they could have a baby, then three weeks later they’re pregnant and don’t know what to do,” Neal said.’
Some pretty interesting facts about technology and the future.
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‘At a preliminary hearing yesterday, Allegheny County homicide Detective Robert Opferman testified that Mr. Page confessed that he became angry with Nyia because she kept taking off her diaper. Although Mr. Page initially said he backhanded her, Detective Opferman said Mr. Page later said in a tape-recorded statement that he kicked her between the legs, while wearing Timberland boots, and then put his hand “in there” to stop the bleeding.
He then took her outside, still crying, intending to put her in a sewer, the detective said. Instead, Mr. Page left her on the ground in an old playground less than a mile from the house.’
‘Most US intelligence on Iran shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency has proved to be inaccurate and failed to lead to discoveries of a smoking gun inside the Islamic Republic, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website on Saturday.
Citing unnamed diplomats working in Vienna, the newspaper said the CIA and other Western intelligence services have been providing sensitive information to the IAEA since 2002.
But none of the tips about Iran’s suspected secret weapons sites provided clear evidence that the Islamic Republic is developing a nuclear arms arsenal, the report said.
“Since 2002, pretty much all the intelligence that’s come to us has proved to be wrong,” the paper quotes a senior IAEA diplomat as saying.
Another official described the agency’s intelligence stream as “very cold now” because “so little panned out,” The Times reported.’
‘Indonesia’s government has grounded budget carrier Adam Air’s six Boeing 737-300 planes for safety checks after one of its aircraft cracked during a hard landing, officials said on Thursday.
The Boeings, almost a third of the airline’s fleet, will not fly until they have passed the safety inspection from the government, Adam Air safety director Hartono said.
The Indonesian government has stepped up safety investigations since an Adam Air plane carrying 102 people disappeared in January.’
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‘Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you ‘The Titanic’ is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he’s sinking is Christianity. [..]
Let’s go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.’
