Simply Dumb

You’ve got to wonder about the wisdom of someone in allowing this to happen simply to set a record.  Letting a 15-year-old, untrained at that, even participate in such a surgery is idiocy at its finest

Officials in southern India are probing allegations that a doctor couple let their teenage son perform surgery.
Reports said 15-year-old Dileepan Raj carried out a caesarean section to get into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s youngest surgeon.
Several doctors said the parents showed them a recording of the surgery. Now family members say the boy was only helping out at the operation.
The doctors face …read more

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The small and largely uninabited island of Redonda in the Carribean is enforcing a new smoking ban which will affect a popular British-owned pub.  How do the owners intend to get around this rule? Make the bar British territory by declaring it the official embassy.  What an odd story; read it below.

A pub landlord hopes to get round the new smoking ban by turning his premises into the official British embassy of a remote Caribbean island.
Bob Beech wants to turn The Wellington Arms in Freemantle, Southampton, into the UK base of the uninhabited Redonda.
It follows the pub already being granted …read more

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In the land of no sex toys, this little gimmick apparently goes too far.  But at the same time, if the vibrating ring is what I think it is, why do men need more stimulus during intercourse anyway?  It’s the women who are always left short.

A vibrating condom has sparked a fierce debate in India, over whether it is a sex toy – which are banned – or a means of birth control.
The controversial condom has caused outrage in the state of Madhya Pradesh, because a government-owned company is involved in marketing it.
The pack of three condoms, branded as Crezendo, …read more

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First tained pet food, then toothpaste, now poisonous Thomas the Tank Engine toys… What happened to our reliable trade partner?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls 1.5 million Thomas and Friends products — as in Thomas the Tank Engine — because a Chinese factory used lead paint. A consumer watchdog says 20 percent of China’s toys and baby clothes are substandard.

source Tags: china, product recall, thomas the tank engine, toys, lack of oversight

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I can’t even begin to express how unfortunate this story is.  Read about it in this CNN article then please donate a dollar here to save a book!

Tom Wayne amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero’s Books.
His collection ranges from best sellers like Tom Clancy’s "The Hunt for Red October" and Tom Wolfe’s "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure titles like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But wanting to thin out his collection, he found he couldn’t even give …read more

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The BBC has revealed a "shocking" new study that shows that Russian men in the UK have significantly lower life expectancy than the average Brit because they are engaging in "hazardous drinking."  Okay, aftershave is cheap, but why would you drink it???  Read about it here.

Russian men are risking death by drinking aftershave and cleaning agents, a study has suggested.
UK researchers estimated that half of all deaths in working age men in the country are due to hazardous drinking.
The products, which also include herbal tinctures sold in pharmacies, are widely available, cheap and contain up to 97% alcohol, the Lancet …read more

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Now I love LEGOs as much as the next person but maybe this is a bit extreme?  In any event, good for Nathan Sawaya.  He’s making a living off of what we all used to do for fun as kids.

Nathan Sawaya’s workspace is an explosion of color.
Clear plastic crates stuffed with LEGO bricks in every hue are stacked high against the walls. A computer sits on the floor, but it’s not functional. The red, yellow and blue replica is made entirely of LEGO.
In fact, everything in the room is made of LEGO; a cash register, a monkey, a bowl of …read more

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Here’s a little silly story that’s totally appropriate as my husband sits stranded in the Rome airport waiting for his connecting flight.  Do you think that these will be enforceable?

The Vatican today issued a set of "ten commandments" aimed at advising motorists on the moral aspects of driving.
The 36-page document, called "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road," covers everything from road rage and respecting pedestrians to drinking and driving.
Officials from the Vatican’s office for Migrants and Itinerant People claim that cars should not be "an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin".
The new guidelines specifically …read more

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Looks like these kids took despising their junior high teacher more than a bit too far.

A math teacher whose name is used in a student film featuring an evil teddy bear that orders other stuffed animals to kill a teacher is suing the four children who made it, alleging it defamed him.

Daniel Clevenger’s lawsuit, filed May 16 in Henry Superior Court, is the second round of legal action related to the 78-minute film "The Teddy Bear Master." Two months ago, school officials settled a federal lawsuit filed by three of the students to fight their expulsion from Knightstown Intermediate School.
The …read more

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Well, some say the face looks like their late mayor and others say it looks like Jesus.  I say it’s Ted Nugent.  Thank you ATHF.

Donald Stephens spent more than half a century at the helm of this Chicago suburb.
Now, less than two months after his death, some say an eerie likeness of the late mayor’s face has appeared in the peeling bark of a 50-foot sycamore.
The image is fueling speculation and wonder in the village of 4,200 residents — the town Stephens is credited with transforming from a tiny enclave of just a few dozen people to a bustling community …read more

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