`In a controversial treatment, doctors in the US have given a severely disabled child drugs to keep her small and ‘manageable’ for her parents.
In a report published in a medical journal this month, the doctors described a six-year-old girl with profound, irreversible developmental disability who was given high doses of estrogen to permanently halt her growth so that her parents could continue to care for her at home.
The controversial growth-attenuation treatment, which included hysterectomy, was requested by the child’s parents and initiated after careful consultation and review by an ethics committee. ‘
`A dog may be man’s best friend. But one dog, Lady, decided she needed more friends — and she found plenty in the knot of toads living at the local pond. A suburban family’s secret struggle with an uncommon addiction comes to light in this personal essay by NPR’s Laura Mirsch. [..]
“We couldn’t keep our dog’s addiction a secret any longer,” Laura Mirsch says. “The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and soon the other dogs weren’t allowed to play with her.”‘
‘Amazing kid who did not let his blindness slow him down. From video games to skating, it is almost as if he can see.’
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`On Oct. 27, 2004, James Flemons walked into work with a homemade samurai sword and slashed his co-worker to death.
Prosecutors say Flemons, then 30, was angry because of constant bullying by the victim, Anthony Williams, and other co-workers at Peerless Metal Powders & Abrasive.
But Flemons’ lawyer says he is schizophrenic with a psychotic obsession with fantasy role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons.’
`The Te Uku-bred Barnevelder chick – hatched at Marlene Dickey’s property at the start of last month – has died.
But it wasn’t the extra legs that led to its death, more likely an extra anus, Mrs Dickey believes.
“He developed two bottoms and I think he got glugged up,” she said.’
‘A hippo attempts to save an antelope from the jaws of a crocodile.’
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`One of Oklahoma’s nominees for state superintendent of education has proposed a unique idea for protecting students from outbreaks of violence.
Bill Crozier, a Union City Republican going against incumbent Democrat Sandy Garrett, said he believes old textbooks could be used to stop bullets shot from weapons wielded by school intruders.
If elected, he said he would put thick used textbooks under every desk for students to use in self-defense.’
‘Check out this pelican that thought he would snag a pigeon for a snack. The pigeon puts up enough of a fight that the pelican gives up finally and lets it go.’
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`King Juan Carlos of Spain was at the centre of an embarrassing scandal yesterday after it emerged he shot a domestic bear that had been fed honey-laced vodka to slow its reactions during a recent hunting trip in Russia.
The governor of Vologda, a region in northern Russia, ordered an investigation after a letter recounting the death of Mitrofan the bear was leaked to the Russian press.
In a letter to governor Vyacheslav Pozgalev, the deputy head of the region’s hunting grounds conservation department deplored Mitrofan’s shooting in late August as “abominable”.
“The party sacrificed a good-humoured and jolly bear who had been kept at a farm in the village of Novlenskoye,” Sergey Starostin wrote.’
`A convicted killer facing lethal injection beat the executioner to it Thursday, committing suicide by slitting his throat and arm with a blade in his Texas death row cell 15 hours before he was supposed to die.
Michael Dewayne Johnson, 29, was found in a pool of blood by officers making routine checks on him every 15 minutes, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Johnson apparently scrawled words in blood on the wall of his cell, but prison officials would not say what he wrote.’
`An Austrian businessman announced Thursday that he would get rid of urinals shaped like a woman’s mouth from a public toilet near Vienna’s national opera, after facing pressure from politicians who demanded their removal.
The urinals, which are located in the “Opera Toilet,” a lavishly decorated public restroom, feature thick, lipsticked lips, a set of teeth and a bright red tongue. [..]
“The owner thinks the idea (of the urinal) is funny,” Lackner said, adding that it seemed he was not prepared for the hostile reactions. [..]
“The thing that surprises us the most,” Lackner said, “is that no man has ever said anything about this.”‘
`A Little Rock man whose SUV was cut off in traffic was arrested after he allegedly shot at a motorist with a crossbow following a brief chase. “It was a drive-by crossbow shooting,” said Steve Gilgenbach, a pitcher for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock baseball team who said he was the man’s intended target. “I’ve never been shot at by a crossbow before.”
Wayne Allen Dierks Jr., 26, posted bail after his arrest Sunday on charges of committing a terroristic act, possession of an instrument of crime, driving while intoxicated and driving on a suspended driver’s license. Committing a terroristic act is a felony; the other charges are misdemeanors. An arraignment was set for Oct. 25.’
Good old terroristic acts.
`Going into this elevator would certainly makes one nervous. A sign at the entrance cautions the people that goes in about work in progress. A more detailed look shows that the floor has been painted with an illusion that there is no floor.’
`A local family is outraged by a school photo. When the pictures came back from the studio, a seven-year-old girl’s image appeared to have been doctored to give her cleavage.
The debate is whether the photo just has a very strange shadow or it’s been digitally altered by someone.
“It’s just bad. It’s horrible. She’s my baby, not for somebody to look at her like that. She’s seven, she’s not an adult,” said the girl’s mother, Jenn Truhe.’
`Hello my name is Keiko and I live in Tokyo in Japan. I have a nice apartment in Ochanomizu and you are welcome to stay with me if you are UNDER 35 and YOU ARE NICE LOOKING and YOU ARE WHITE. You can save your hotel cost (a lot in Tokyo!) and we can have fun! – but ONLY if you are a white guy. I do not want asian men, sorry.’
`A spurned husband tried to murder his estranged wife by triggering her life-threatening allergy to latex with a rubber glove, a court heard yesterday.
Charles Henson, 39, put his fingers in Allison Phelps’s mouth while wearing the glove and told her she would die within four minutes, Lynne Matthews, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court. [..]
Miss Phelps had a life-threatening allergy to latex and carried an adrenaline injection with her at all times, the jury was told.’
`Not content with having them dotted all over the countryside, Sweden is now considering putting a little red cottage on the moon. The idea, first conjured up by the artist Mikael Genberg seven years ago, may become reality with the help of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), according to N24.
The state agency SSC has carried out a technical study showing that it is indeed possible to put a little red cottage on the moon.
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“If we manage to do this Sweden will be the third country to occupy the moon”, said SSC’s Fredrik von Schéele.’
`Police said an Iowa woman wanted a wedding gown so badly that she would have traded her child for it.
Davenport, Iowa, police charged 31-year-old Marcy Gant with one felony count of sale of an individual. She is accused of trying to sell her 4-year-old son.
They said Gant bought a wedding dress from a local street vendor, paid part of the tab, and offered her son to make up the rest of the balance.’
‘Not sure whats going on here but during a soccer game some player completely freaks out and keeps falling backwards.’
Seems a kick to the face makes you act strange.
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`There are many thousands of Chinese restaurants around in the UK and everyone has their favourite dish, but only in China itself do chefs specialise in a range of slightly more unusual delicacies.
A glass of deer penis juice amongst food on a table at the restaurant (Photo credit: Stefan Gates)
Many of the restaurant’s guests are wealthy businessmen
The dish in front of me is grey and shiny.
“Russian dog,” says my waitress Nancy.
“Big dog,” I reply.
“Yes,” she says. “Big dog’s penis…”‘
`He’s seen machetes, utensils and knives.
“A pitchfork?” asked Officer Robert Vega, police spokesman. “Now I’ve seen it all.”
That was Vega’s reaction to a Wednesday report of a garage sale turned violent, an argument between buyer and seller that allegedly ended with the buyer using a pitchfork to stab the seller in the hand.’
`An inmate serving a life term for molesting and killing a 10-year-old girl named Katie somehow got “Katie’s Revenge” tattooed across his forehead, and prison authorities were trying to determine how it happened.
The Indiana Department of Correction placed Anthony Ray Stockelman, 39, in protective custody away from the general inmate population last weekend after authorities discovered the tattoo, said Rich Larsen, a spokesman for the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.
Stockelman was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to abducting, molesting and killing Katlyn “Katie” Collman. Katie was missing for five days before her body was found January 30, 2005, in a creek about 15 miles from her home in the southern Indiana town of Crothersville.’
`A hardline Muslim teacher who caused a furore by denouncing pupils for celebrating Christmas has been made a Government schools inspector.
Israr Khan’s Ofsted appointment was described by a former colleague as ‘absolutely astonishing’.
Mr Khan, now headmaster of an Islamic school, launched into his tirade during a concert rehearsal at Washwood Heath Secondary School in Birmingham in 1996 after the choir including around 40 Muslim youngsters, had sung a number of popular Christmas songs, including carols.
He leapt from his seat, yelling: “Who is your God? Why are you saying Jesus and Jesus Christ? God is not your God – it is Allah.”
As children in the audience began booing and clapping, a number of choir members – both white and Asian – walked out, some in tears.’
`Boucher, who is nearing the end of a five-year sentence for aggravated assault, struck the cow with a broomstick when the stubborn animal resisted efforts to be restrained in a stall for milking.
“I just hit it once in the butt,” he told court, adding it was a hot day and the cows were getting out of control and aggressive.
“I didn’t think there’d be any repercussions that would be this serious.”
The cow suffered a small laceration to its udder along with swelling and traces of blood in its milk but eventually made a full recovery.’
`Authorities said a fight broke out on board a flight arriving at Miami International Airport on Wednesday morning. [..]
The FBI said that about two hours before the flight was scheduled to land, the Japanese man elbowed the passenger sitting next to him. Federal authorities said the Japanese man didn’t think the passenger should be using an iPod in flight and complained that he smelled. He then poured perfume on the man, poured water on himself and vomited in the aisle, authorities said.’
`David Hasselhoff lied to cops when he allegedly called 911 to report that his younger daughter attempted to commit suicide, according to his estranged wife, Pamela Bach. And Bach tells TMZ Hasselhoff made the call out of pure revenge.
TMZ first reported that police and paramedics responded to Hasselhoff”s 911 call Sunday night. Multiple police sources told TMZ the former “Baywatch” star reported that his younger daughter was “cut” and it was a suicide attempt. Now Pamela Bach tells TMZ that her daughter never attempted suicide and that David knew it. Bach claims David used his daughter as a pawn, telling Bach, “You’re going down. I’m calling the police.”‘
`When the rare birds of paradise escaped from his suitcase and flew over the heads of U.S. Customs Agents at Los Angeles International Airport, Robert Cusack decided it was best to confess that, yes, he did have more to declare.
“I have monkeys in my pants,” Cusack told the agents.’
`Wil Kemp, a reptile keeper at Rockhampton Zoo, in central Queensland, and his fiancee Kahila Pepper, named their son Tai, who was born prematurely on September 5, after the taipan. [..]
As news of the Crocodile Hunter’s death reached Mr Kemp and his fiancee, they gave Tai the middle name of Irwin after their wildlife hero.
And now they say they will feed Tai’s placenta to their three pet goannas, which live in pits in the family’s backyard bordering the zoo, following a family gathering on Sunday.
“I think we’ll just break some beers, chuck it in and do it,” Mr Kemp, 21, said.’
`Henrietta the chicken was living inconspicuously for 18 months among 36,000 other chickens at Brendle Farms – until a farm foreman discovered she had four legs.
Farm-owner Mike Brendle was amazed by the discovery among his standard two-legged, egg-laying hens.
“It’s as healthy as the rest,” he said.’
‘Steve, still weakened by the radiation he took, must try to rescue Jamie from the alien rebels. You kids with your “Lost” – this was the television event of the decade back in the 70’s.’
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