Couple stoned to death in Mali for adultery

On July 31, 2012July 31, 2012 By A.P.In adultery, Africa, Aguelhok, al-Qaida, execution, Mali, militant Islam, MUJWA, shariah, stoningLeave a comment

An al-Qaida-linked Islamist militant group in control of northern Mali stoned to death a couple accused of engaging in extramarital affairs, the group’s spokesman said.

The couple were publicly executed in the remote town of Aguelhok, near the vast West African nation’s northern border with Algeria, on Sunday, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine group told Reuters.

“These two people were married and had extra-conjugal relations. Our men on the ground in Aguelhok applied shariah (Islamic law),” said Sanda Ould Bounama, reached by telephone on Monday.

“They both died right away and even asked for this application. We don’t have to answer to anyone over the application of shariah,” he said.

A local government official told the AFP news agency that he was on the scene. “The Islamists took the unmarried couple to the center of Aguelhok. The couple was placed in two holes and the Islamists stoned them to death,” he said.

“The woman fainted after the first few blows,” he said. The man shouted out once and then was silent, he added.

Mali have long practiced Islam, but frustrations with the strict form of shariah being imposed by Islamists have sparked several protests in recent months.

Ansar Dine and well-armed allies, including al-Qaida splinter group MUJWA, have hijacked a separatist uprising by local Tuareg rebels and now control two-thirds of Mali’s desert north, territory that includes the regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

Western and African governments are struggling to muster a response to the crisis as politicians in the capital Bamako continue to squabble over how the country should be governed after a March coup removed the country’s president.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13045617-mali-al-qaida-linked-group-stones-couple-to-death-over-alleged-adultery?lite

Florida man who lost his hand to an alligator is being charged with unlawful feeding

On July 31, 2012 By A.P.In Alligator, Collier County, Crime, dismemberment, Florida, Nature, The Everglades, Unlawful feeding of an alligaotor, Wallace WeatherholtLeave a comment

A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 2.7-metre alligator is facing charges of feeding the animal.

Wallace Weatherholt, 63, was charged with unlawful feeding of an alligator and posted $1000 bond on Friday, Collier County Jail records show.

Weatherholt was attacked on June 12 as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades.

The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water’s surface when the alligator attacked.

Wildlife officers tracked and euthanised the gator.

Weatherholt’s hand was found but could not be reattached.

A criminal investigation followed.

Feeding alligators is an offence.

Weatherholt’s next court date is August 22.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/offbeat/14400025/us-man-in-gator-biting-charged-for-feeding/

London cab driver turns his taxi into a hotel room for The Olympics

On July 30, 2012July 30, 2012 By A.P.In England, hotel, London, Olympics, taxiLeave a comment

Man scares his wife while driving behind truck being towed on highway

On July 29, 2012 By A.P.In PranksLeave a comment

4 year old boy gets stuck in claw machine and gets free toy

On July 28, 2012July 25, 2012 By A.P.In Aiden Moore, children, The ClawLeave a comment

Aiden Moore, four, failed to win a teddy – so he crawled into thearcade machine by squeezing through the flap to get one.

He was stuck inside for 30 minutes.

His brother Coen, six, couldn’t believe it when he saw his smiling face on the other side of the glass.

Dad Darran, 45, said: “The flap opens outwards so he must have had quite a job.”

Mum Gemma, 27, added: “Coen came running up laughing his socks off. Aiden was sat inside the machine with a big grin on his face holding a cuddly toy.

“The staff couldn’t find the key. When they finally found it the crowd gave Aiden a round of applause as he was lifted out.”

But the boys, of Hereford, Herefordshire, had the last laugh when staff at the Dawlish Sands Holiday Park in Devon gave them a toy each.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/weird-news/2012/07/13/mischievous-boy-gets-stuck-after-squeezing-through-arcade-machine-flap-to-grab-a-teddy-86908-23908028/

29 Cannibals in Papua New Guinea Arrested

On July 27, 2012July 25, 2012 By A.P.In Anthony Wagambie, Australia, brain-eating, Cannibalism, Human Behavior, long pig, New Guinea, Papua, penis soup, sanguma, sorceryLeave a comment

Authorities have arrested 29 people accused of being part of a cannibal cult in Papua New Guinea’s jungle interior and charged them with the murders of seven suspected witch doctors, police said Friday.

Madang Police Commander Anthony Wagambie confirmed a report in The National newspaper that said the cult members allegedly ate their victims’ brains raw and made soup from their penises.

“They don’t think they’ve done anything wrong; they admit what they’ve done openly,” Wagambie told The Associated Press by telephone.

He said the killers believed that their victims practiced “sanguma,” or sorcery, and that they had been extorting money as well as demanding sex from poor villagers for their supernatural services.

By eating witch doctors’ organs, the cult members believed they would attain supernatural powers and literally become bullet-proof, he said.

“It’s prevalent cult activity,” Wagambie said. He said he believes there could be between 700 and 1,000 cult members in several villages in Papua New Guinea’s remote northeast interior. All of them might have eaten human flesh, he said.

According to the report in The National, which is published in Papua New Guinea, 28 men and women appeared in a Madang court on Tuesday. Wagambie said they were charged with willful murder.

It was not clear what happened to the 29th suspect. Murder is punishable by death in Papua New Guinea, a poor South Pacific island nation.

Wagambie said the suspects were not required to plea to the murder charges and were being held in custody.

Police will gather more witness statements before pressing charges related to the cannibalism allegations, he said.

Cannibalism was part of traditional culture in Papua New Guinea, where human flesh was known as “long pig,” and survived in isolated pockets into the latter part of the 20th century while the country was under Australian colonial rule.

Wagambie, 36, said he had never heard of a previous case of cannibalism in his lifetime.

He expected police would make around 100 arrests over the weekend for cult-related crimes.

Four of the seven victims were murdered last week, Wagambie said, adding that no remains had been recovered.

“They’re probably all eaten up,” he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/papua-new-guinea-cannibals_n_1670688.html

Jonah Falcon detained by San Francisco airport security due to supiciously large bulge in his pants

On July 26, 2012July 25, 2012 By A.P.In California, Jonah Falcon, large penis, Penis, San Francisco, Transportation Security Administration, TSALeave a comment

Jonah Falcon was at the San Francisco International Airport preparing to travel from San Francisco to his home in New York City when he was stopped and questioned by Transportation Security Administration agents because they noticed a large and suspicious bulge in the front of his pants.

The agents questioned Falcon about the contents of his pants, and whether he was hiding something in his pockets. Falcon told the TSA agents that the only thing he was transporting in his pants was his enormous penis.

From the San Francisco Chronicle…

Jonah Falcon, 41, who has been featured in several documentaries about the world’s biggest penises, was returning from a trip in San Francisco on July 9 when he was stopped at security by TSA agents who spotted something out of the ordinary hanging to the left in his pants, he said.

“They wanted to know if I had something in my pockets, and when I said no, they asked if I had some sort of growth,” he said.

When he replied that it was just his penis, they “checked the area around it” but didn’t frisk him too severely, he said. They also wiped his hands to check for explosive powder.

Falcon’s penis is 9.5 inches when flaccid, and 13.5 inches when erect.

https://twitter.com/jonahfalcon?ilink=1

The Kissinger: Virtual Kissing for Long Distance Relationships

On July 25, 2012July 25, 2012 By A.P.In Bunny, Cow, Human Behavior, Lovotics, Pig, Relationship, sexuality, Swine, The KissingerLeave a comment

The Kissinger kissing robot concept from Lovotics lets people virtually smooch with each other. Big silicone lips on each animal-shaped device register and replicate lip movements for long-distance affection.

Kissinger looks like a cross between a cow and a bunny. I know what you’re thinking. That sounds super sexy!

The bot sports some good-size lips. The idea is that you kiss away on your Kissinger and the touch-sensitive device sends the movements to another Kissinger far away. That Kissinger moves its own lips in response.

The lips are made from silicone and the kissing critter makes a sort of buzzing noise when it replicates a smooch.

So far, Kissinger is just lips, no tongue. The robot is in concept form, with no word on wider availability yet.

To summarize, two people each make out with sensitive cow/bunny robots and, therefore, actually make out with each other.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57371948-1/kissinger-smooching-robot-for-virtual-make-out-sessions/

Genes for Breast Size Discovered

On July 18, 2012 By A.P.In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Researchers have identified seven genetic markers linked with a woman’s breast size, according to a new study.

While it’s was known that breast size is in part heritable, the study is the first to find specific genetic factors that are associated with differences in breast size, the researchers said.

In addition, two of these markers have previously been associated with breast cancer risk. This suggests some of the same biological pathways underlie both normal breast growth and breast cancer, said study researcher Nicholas Eriksson, of 23andMe, the genetic testing company that conducted the study.

The study alone does not provide enough evidence to link breast size to breast cancer. But it may contribute to a better understanding of the role that breast structure plays in breast cancer risk, the researchers said.

In the study, Eriksson and colleagues analyzed information from 16,175 female customers of European ancestry, and compared their answers to survey questions, including bra cup size and bra band size, to their genetic information.

While breast density is known to be a risk factor for breast cancer, the effect of breast size is less clear. A few previous studies have found that larger breast size is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in lean women.

The new study was published online June 30 in the journal BMC Medical Genetics.

Thanks to Dr. M.L. for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

Parasite in cat litter may increase risk of suicide

On July 3, 2012 By A.P.In Cats, defecation, Denmark, Human Behavior, Maryland, Neuropsychiatric Disease, suicide, Teodor Postolache, University of Maryland, ViolenceLeave a comment

Women infected with the common cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which lurks in litter boxes, may suffer undetected brain changes that lead to personality changes and even mental illness. That’s according to a new study of more than 45,000 women in Denmark published Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The parasite, excreted in cat feces, also spreads through undercooked meat and unwashed vegetables. Pregnant women have long been warned to avoid the parasite, because they can pass it onto their fetus, causing brain damage or stillbirth. In the new study, researchers found that women infected by T. gondii were one and a half times more likely to try to take their own lives than those who were not affected. They were also more likely to try to commit suicide violently—with a gun, sharp object, or by jumping, Time reports. Suicide risk increased with the levels of T. gondii antibodies found. “We can’t say with certainty that T. gondii caused the women to try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life that warrants additional studies,” study author Teodor Postolache, an associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Mood and Anxiety Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a press statement.