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Stories from the stranger side of the news, from daft criminals to kamikaze squirrels.
Home penis enlargement ends in painful death
Fins on 06/27/2007 at 11:27pm (UTC) | | | Phnom Penh - Cambodian officials on Tuesday warned the public against home penis enlargement plans after a coroner found a man who had repeatedly self-injected his member with hair tonic had taken his own life to end the painful side effects.
Coroner Vieng Vannarith concluded that a 35-year-old construction worker had hanged himself last week after the hair tonic remedy which advertised it gave thicker and more lustrous locks failed to have the same effect when injected into his penis.
Authorities said the man had been self-injecting for some time, and the treatment had caused massive ulceration, leaving him in such permanent agony that he decided to end his ordeal by his own hand.
Although the case was a suicide, details were released to the newspapers, with authorities saying they were concerned that such dangerous self-treatment with home remedies was not an isolated case and this should serve as a warning to other Cambodians not to try this at home.
"He wanted a bigger one very badly, and the results were tragic," Vannarith said. | | | |
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N.Z. Couple Can't Name Their Son '4real'
Philly.com on 06/25/2007 at 9:04am (UTC) | | | New Zealand authorities have blocked a couple's bid to officially name their new son "4real," saying numerals are not allowed.
Pat and Sheena Wheaton said they decided to name their new baby "4real" shortly after having an ultrasound and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.
"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name," Pat Wheaton told TV One on Wednesday. "With this name, everyone knows what it means."
But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.
The government office has opened negotiations with the parents about the name under a policy that says all unusual names must be given case-by-case consideration.
"The name has not at this stage been rejected," Registrar-General Brian Clarke said in a statement Thursday. "We are currently in discussions with the parents ... to clarify the situation."
Clarke said the rules are designed to prevent names that are "likely to cause offense to a reasonable person." Satan and Adolf Hitler were proposed names that have been declined, he said.
If no compromise has been reached by July 9, the baby will be registered as "real," officials say.
New Zealand law requires all children born in the South Pacific nation to be registered with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry within two months of birth. | | | |
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Italians sexiest
Fins on 06/21/2007 at 6:43pm (UTC) | | | Who are the sexiest, rudest, funniest people in Europe?
According to a English magazine survey, the Italians are the most popular and they are the sexist as well – maybe there’s a connection.
Italy is also the country Europeans would most like to live in, and Italian the nationality they would most like to be.
The British are top of the poll on two fronts. They have the best sense of humor, say fellow Europeans, who seem to judge the Britons by Basil Fawlty, Monty Python and Mr. Bean.
And Britons are thought to have contributed most to the world, with respondents citing football, medicine and industry among others as the reason.
It was felt a good time to ask Europeans what they felt about each other. To find out, the magazine dispatched researchers to 19 countries across Europe, from the UK to Russia, inviting nearly 4,000 respondents to comment on any country but their own.
They asked them questions like which Europeans they liked most and least, who were the sexiest, most efficient, who had the best sense of humor and the best food, and where they’d really like to live.
The answers – some of them surprising – are to be published in the July issue of the magazine. Italy came out of it smelling of roses, with Europeans in love with the country, its people and its food.
Some of the main ratings:
Sexiest – Italians, followed by Spain, then France
Least sexy – Belgians
Funniest – British
Least funny - Swiss
Most efficient – Germans
Rudest – Germans, with French second
Least rude – Norway and Switzerland
Most open-minded – Dutch
Favorite European city – Paris
Favorite country – Italy, with Spain second, France third
Some respondents’ comments:
Middle-aged Belgian woman – “The Germans make too much noise and are too chauvinistic.”
Young Dutch woman – “The English do not seem to know how to behave when they’re on holiday. All they do is drink and yell.”
Spanish shop assistant on Italians – “They party and have a great sense of humor.”
Young Briton on Italians – “They know they’re sexy, which is annoying, but it makes them even more attractive.”
Briton on contribution of Irish – “They gave the world Guinness.”
Elderly Swiss man on British contribution to world – “They created football.” | | | |
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Lucky Chinese
Fins on 06/19/2007 at 9:15am (UTC) | |
Stolen terrier Arnie finds way home after nearly two years - 'I'll be back'
Fins on 06/19/2007 at 8:55am (UTC) | | | A Tibetan terrier named Arnie who went missing for nearly two years made his way home to his delighted family.
Eleven-year-old Arnie, named after former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, disappeared from the garden of his home near Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, 21 months ago.
His owner Gillian Singleton believed he was stolen for breeding purposes. She said her "happy, beautifully groomed dog" had been playing in the garden one minute and he was gone the next minute.
Her children David aged 9 and Emily aged 6 were devastated following the disappearance of their dog and the family immediately launched a full-scale search for him.
But despite a countywide search, and contacting animal shelters and dog wardens, Arnie was nowhere to be found.
During the search the family found another stray dog named Lucky who was at death's door and took him in and cared for him. He joined the family cat at the Singleton home.
When they thought all was lost with Arnie, he lived up to the famous catchphrase of the movie idol he is named after: "I'll be back."
While the family were on vacation in Portugal Arnie turned up outside their home in Couny Cork. They got a call to say a dog that looked like Arnie had been seen by a neighbor hanging outside their house.
Family members confirmed it was indeed Arnie, though he was in bad shape and had lost a lot of weight.
"We were sad at the treatment he received at the hands of whoever stole him," said Mrs Singleton. "I don't know who had him or where he was for the last 21 months."
She said she was telling her story so that people who have lost dogs will have hope.
Arnie was introduced to Lucky and the two of them are getting on famously, though both are competing to prove who is top dog in the house. | | | |
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Parrot squawks on cheating lover's affair
Fins on 06/17/2007 at 9:49am (UTC) | | | A devastated Englishman learned the horrible truth that his girlfriend was cheating on him - straight from his pet parrot's mouth.
Chris Taylor's parrot Ziggy began squawking "Hiya, Gary" every time his girlfriend Suzy Collins's mobile phone rang.
The African Grey also made kiss noises each time it heard the name Gary on television or radio.
At first amused owner Mr Taylor, a computer programmer, dismissed it as something the bird had picked up watching TV.
But then he snuggled up beside Suzy on the sofa in their flat in Leeds and Ziggy cried out in Suzy's voice "I love you, Gary." The cat was finally out of the bag.
Call-center worker Ms Collins, 25, broke down in tears and confessed to having a four-month fling with a former colleague. She had met her lover in the flat while Ziggy looked on.
Her confession ended their two-year relationship. It also led to 30-year-old Mr Taylor parting company with his pet - because it kept screeching out her lover's name.
Mr Taylor wasn't sorry to see the back of Suzy after what she did, he said. But it really broke his heart to part with eight-year-old Ziggy which he had bought as a chick.
"I lost my girlfriend and best mate at the same time. But it was torture hearing him repeat that name Gary over and over," he said.
Mr Taylor named the parrot after Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie's alter ego. It learned to reproduce the line "Put on your red shoes and dance the blue!" from the Bowie song Let's Dance.
Ziggy has since found a new home with the help of a local parrot dealer. | | | |
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