‘A Russian governor has promised an SUV, a TV or a fridge to every woman in his region who gives birth on upcoming Constitution Day in an attempt to help beat a demographic crisis, his office said on Thursday.
The governor of the southern Ulyanovsk region even suggested giving people time off work nine months before the June 12 celebration to boost their chances, although he was not being entirely serious, his spokesperson said. [..]
Existing mothers who give birth to another child on June 12 will be rewarded with a Patriot sports utility vehicle from local UAZ factory she said.’
‘A German couple had to call out the fire brigade after tying each other up in chains – and then losing the key to the padlock.
Jochen Ranstett, 56 and his wife Maria, from the town of Weiden, dressed up in leathers and chained each other to their beds, but lost the key during the romp.
After hours of trying to free themselves they finally gave up and called for help on Jochen’s mobile phone.
He said: “It was so embarrassing. We just wanted to try something a bit different and we ended up with this.
“I even had to be taken to hospital because my wrists had swollen so much from trying to get out of the handcuffs.”‘
It’s relatively obvious. :)
(8.5meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘An Indian court has ruled against a group of female flight attendants who were grounded from the national airline for being overweight.
The court said that state-owned Indian Airlines had the right to take the step in the interest of flight safety and in the face of growing competition.
The flight attendants had argued that the move was demeaning.
The airline began a system of measuring air hostesses based on their height and weight last year.
The Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of the airline, saying that with aircraft flying at higher altitudes, the safety of the passengers depended on the crew’s ability to perform.’
‘China’s heritage bureau has launched a probe into Chinese mining companies alleged to have brought down part of the Great Wall to allow their trucks to avoid paying road tolls, state media reported on Thursday.
Coal mining companies operating near Hujiayao village, on the border between the northern province of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, had also taken soil from parts of the Ming-era (1368-1644) wall to build houses and piled “small mountains” of coal against it, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a local newspaper.
“Big trucks carrying coal had even opened a big gap in the Great Wall to make a coal shipping thoroughfare,” the paper said.’
‘A Dutch reality television show in which a supposedly dying woman had to pick one of three contestants to whom she would donate a kidney was revealed as an elaborate hoax on Friday.
The show, which the broadcaster had said aimed to focus attention on a shortage of donor organs in the Netherlands, was condemned by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende before broadcast Friday night and sparked controversy worldwide.
Identified only as “Lisa,” the 37-year-old woman who had been said to be suffering from a brain tumor was to base her selection on the person’s history and conversations with the candidates’ families and friends.
In the last minutes of the program, she was revealed as a healthy actress and producers stunned viewers by saying “The Big Donorshow” was a hoax.
The contestants were also part of the deception, although all three are genuine kidney patients.’
Followup to Reality show prize: a kidney.
‘Before he became known as “Monster Pig,” the 1,051-pound hog shot in Delta was known by another name.
Fred.
Rhonda and Phil Blissitt told The Anniston Star on Thursday evening that, on April 29, four days before the hog was killed, Fred was one of many livestock on their farm.
Late Thursday evening, their claims were confirmed by Andy Howell, Game Warden for the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries.
“I didn’t want to stir up anything,” Rhonda Blissitt said. “I just wanted the truth to be told. That wasn’t a wild pig.”
Added Phil Blissitt:
“If it went down in the record book, it would be deceiving, and we’d know that for the rest of our lives.”‘
Followup to Boy Bags Wild Hog Bigger Than ‘Hogzilla’.
Here’s a funny complaint letter someone sent regarding embedded images in HTML.
The tattoos on the face are a bit crazy. Others are kinda amusing. For example:
‘The United States and Russia have agreed on a plan to accelerate installation of radiation detection devices at 350 Russian border crossings so the system to prevent nuclear smuggling is fully operational by 2011, U.S. officials said on Friday.
“This announcement is a major cooperative step in counter-proliferation work in Russia,” which contains a major portion of the world’s nuclear material, said Will Tobey, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the U.S. Energy Department.
“It will help us prevent smuggling into and out of the region,” he told Reuters in an interview.
Russia identified more than 480 cases of illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive material in 2006. While U.S. officials said these cases were not believed to involve weapons-grade nuclear material, the number of cases underscores the scope of the problem.’
Leaping through the air solves a lot of problems.
(845kB Flash video)
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‘A man has been shot dead by a security guard for singing out of tune in a Philippine karaoke bar.
Romy Baligula, 29, was halfway through his song on Tuesday night in a bar in San Mateo town, east of Manila, when 43-year-old security guard Robilito Ortega yelled that he was out of tune.
When Mr Baligula ignored his comments and continued singing, Ortega pulled out his revolver and shot him in the chest.
Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas said Mr Baligula died instantly. [..]
Deaths and violence are not uncommon in Philippine karaoke bars.
The popular Frank Sinatra song My Way has been taken off many karaoke bars in Manila after it was found to be the cause of fights and even deaths when patrons sang out of tune.’
‘Researchers may have figured out what makes la vita so dolce in Rome. A report from Italy’s National Research Council released Thursday found that there are traces of cocaine and cannabis in the air of the Eternal City.
The institute made the discovery during a study of toxic substances in the air of Rome, Taranto, in the heel of boot-shaped Italy, as well as in Algiers. The results found that in Rome, there were traces of cocaine and cannabis – as well as nicotine, caffeine and benzopirene, which is commonly released in cigarette smoke and auto emissions.
“The highest concentrations of cocaine were found in the center of Rome and especially in the area of the University of La Sapienza,” said Dr. Angelo Cecinato, who led the investigation.’
‘President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday.
The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.
Democrats in control of the U.S. Congress have been pressing Bush to agree to a timetable for pulling troops from Iraq, an idea firmly opposed by the president.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush would like to see a U.S. role in Iraq ultimately similar to that in South Korea in which “you get to a point in the future where you want it to be a purely support model.”‘
‘One year on, the torrent of mud gushing out of a drilling site on Java island shows no signs of abating.
Toll roads, railway tracks and factories have been submerged and 15,000 people have fled from their homes since May last year when mud began flowing from a “mud volcano” following an oil-drilling accident in Sidoarjo, an industrial suburb near provincial capital Surabaya.
The mud volcano has put an area four times the size of Monaco under hot mud.
An embankment has been built in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the mudflow.’
Followup to Indonesia plans new tactic to curb massive mud flow.
see it here »
‘Nearly half of all men are unhappy with the size of their willies — for no good reason, a study claims.
Researchers say there is no need to worry as 85 per cent of women ARE satisfied with their partner’s penis proportions.
The study found girth matters more than length to 90 per cent of women. The 60-year worldwide research — led by Dr Kevan Wylie of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield — analysed 12,000 willies and quizzed 50,000 adults.
The average erect penis was 5.5ins to 6.2ins long (14cm-16cm) and 4.7ins to 5.1ins (12cm-13cm) in girth.’
‘In the most conspicuous sign yet of India’s unprecedented prosperity, the country’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is building a new home in the financial hub of Mumbai: a 60-storey palace with helipad, health club and six floors of car parking.
The building, named Antilla after a mythical island, will have a total floor area greater than Versailles and be home for Mr Ambani, his mother, wife, three children and 600 full-time staff.
Draped in hanging gardens, the building will have a floor for a home theatre, a glass-fronted apartment for guests, and a two-storey health club. As the ceilings are three times as high as a normal building’s, the 173m (570ft) tower will only have 27 floors.’
‘Director Mike Figgis spent longer at LAX airport than intended. He’d arrived in Los Angeles, along with half the acting and directing world, for what is known as ‘pilot season’, when the big studios try out new scripts, directors and actors in a two-week frenzy of auditions and career make-or-breaks. When Figgis was being grilled by airport immigration, he was asked the purpose of his visit. Unthinking and tired after a long flight, Mike replied: ‘I’m here to shoot a pilot.’ After five hours in an interrogation cell (yes, really), he finally made it into town.’
‘Works to reopen the main road between Langholm and Lockerbie have been delayed by badgers.
The B7068 was closed before Christmas after a landslide at Scroggs Bridge and lengthy diversions put in place.
A council spokesman confirmed that work had ground to halt after a badger sett was found under the route of the works. [..]
“I appreciate that work was delayed because of the discovery of a badgers’ sett and land ownership issues,” he said.
“But from an initial indication that the road would be closed for weeks it has now been months and currently there is no end date in sight. [..]”‘
‘A Minnesota woman who was forced to the ground and handcuffed after a DirecTV dispatcher told police that an installer was being held hostage is suing.
“These are regular people. She’s a schoolteacher. … You shouldn’t have SWAT teams coming after someone if they know there’s not a crisis,” Marc Kurzman, a lawyer for Julie and Steven Pyle of Savage, Minn., told the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press. The Pyles are seeking more than $75,000 in damages in a federal civil rights lawsuit against DirecTV, Savage police and Scott County enforcement dispatchers. [..]
Julie Pyle felt bad the job was taking the installers so long, so she baked them cookies, the lawsuit said.’
It’s one of those claw games, but instead of trying to grab stuffed toys, you’re after live lobsters.
‘Keep your fucking opinions to yourself you arsehole Australians. Don’t write me any more letters like that. That goes for the whole fucking world!’
(30meg Windows media)
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‘A 5-year-old panda who last year became the first to be released into the wild after being bred in captivity has died, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.
The body of Xiang Xiang was found Feb. 19 in the forests of Sichuan province in China’s southwest, Xinhua said. He survived less than a year in the wild after nearly three years of training in survival techniques and defense tactics.
Xiang Xiang, who may have fallen from a high place while fighting with wild pandas, died of serious internal injuries, the report said, citing the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan.’
‘Just over one in 10 men do not volunteer to work with children because they are worried people will think they are a paedophile, a survey suggests.
Childrens’ charities NCH and Chance UK also say almost one in five men do not come forward because they would have to undertake a criminal records check. [..]
Work commitments were given as a reason by 59% of those who did not volunteer, and 68% said they did not have enough time.
In all, 13% of the men questioned said they would not choose to volunteer to work with children due to fear of being perceived as a paedophile.’
‘This weekend, learn how to hack your brain by making Mitch Altman’s Brain Machine! It flashes LEDs into your eyes and beeps sounds into your ears to make your brain waves sync up into beta, alpha, theta, and delta brainwaves!’
‘They have been accused of sexually abusing staff during a drunken rampage through the first-class cabin of an international flight.
Now Sydney men Jeremy Snaith and William Sergeant are eating fermented camel meat inside the notorious al-Wathba prison outside Abu Dhabi. in the United Arab Emirates.
The food is the least of their worries as the wheels of justice grind slowly and Snaith and Sergeant contemplate up to 15 years in a desert prison where the temperatures soar above 50 degrees and punishment includes stonings, lashings, overcrowding and sleeping in lice-infested blankets on cement floors.’
