X-rated Font on School Handout

X-rated font? Handout? School? OK. Full article here.

Quick Summary:

• During a school open house in Monroe, New York, a third grade spelling handout was given to parents.
• The packet featured male and female stick figures in erotic poses to form letters of the alphabet.
• School officials apologized to the parents for the packet.
• Administrators claim the teacher did not intend to use the font.

My $0.02: *pulls of MS Word and scrolls down font list* Ah-ha! Here's that X-rated font! Right next to Times New Roman. *smacks head* How could I miss it? Really easy to mix up. *sigh* Come on, it was obviously a specially downloaded font you couldn't accidentally use. Might as well 'fess up...

Hands Dipped in Boiling Oil in Attempt to Prove Innocence

I'll let the title speak since the details behind this story are a little horrifying. Full article here.

Quick Summary:

• In Rajasthan, one of India's states, rice and wheat stolen from a school in late August.
• The police were informed but took no action.
• The council, or panchayat, decided to find the culprit itself.
• 150 men from the village and neighboring areas were commanded to pick a copper ring out of cauldron of boiling oil.
• The panchayat decided the 50 men who refused to retrieve the ring were guilty.
• The council elders have now been arrested.
• One man involved said this is not the first time such an incident has occurred.

My $0.02: A lot to ponder about. First is the meaning of food in our culture. Food is so plentiful. If someone came in and stole food from a school, there would be anger in the community over who would do such, but the school would probably be able to replace the food easily. There definitely wouldn't be any sort of extreme torture. Food is so available we don't even realize its value... My second issue is why only men were gathered. A woman could just as easily have stolen the food. The fact women weren't even thought suspect or capable subtly reflects inequality. Finally, the method used to find the thief was obviously ridiculous. The guilty were probably more likely to stick their hands in the oil than the innocent since they had something to prove. The innocent would definitely defy the punishment and not stick their hands in oil. The situation is a modern witch hunt. And to think torture has occurred in the area before and could occur again...

Your Brother Was a Goat?

A Nigerian man suspected of murdering his brother informed police he attacked a goat which magically transformed into his brother. Full article here.

Quick Summary:

• The man says he tried to chase some goats off of his farm.
• One goat wouldn't move, so he attacked it with an axe.
• Once he attacked the goat, it turned into his brother.
• Many people in Nigeria still believe in black magic.

My $0.02: Yeah, his explanation sounds like some sort of weird dream description. It would have been better if he gave no comments...

Cell Phones Found in Bowels of Prisoners

The title is pretty self-explanatory. Full article here.

Quick Summary:

• Four prisoners in El Salvador hid cell phones, chargers, and spare chips in their lower intestine.
• The prisoners, members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, used the cell phones to coordinate crimes outside of prison.
• The cell phones were found via X-rays after six weeks of investigation.

My $0.02: I wonder how the prisoners got the cell phones into the prison in the first place. Also, how did they know when the cell phones were ringing? Put them on vibrate?

Car Crash Victim Rescued Half-Naked

A Slovak man in a car crash was rescued without his pants on and a vacuum pump on his penis. Full story here.

Quick Summary:

• The 42-year-old man ignored a "give way" sign.
• He crashed into a bus.
• After the accident, rescuers found the man unconscious with no pants on and a vacuum pump on his penis.
• The man was admitted to the hospital with head injuries.

My $0.02: Wow. I just hope no one else got hurt....

Pope Benedict a Man of Many Hats...

I couldn't help but post this picture of Pope Benedict XVI in red saturno (which looks suspiciously like a cowboy hat to me). It seems to put a fun spin on his position.

Image Source: Yahoo! Photos

E Celeste Extreme Energy Review

Drink: E Celeste Extreme Energy
Official Site: Unable to locate

E is just another energy drink which combines a nasty flavor with a strangely sweet taste. Though you try to love the drink, you just can’t get past the bitter undercurrent. The worst part occurs when you realize the freakish flavor doesn’t even offer any energy. Overall, it tastes like an improved version of Hansen’s Energy Deuce.

Summary: Nastily sweet.
Final Score: 2 out of 5

Note: I couldn’t find any information on the internet about this drink or who makes it. Does anyone have a clue? The can is green, and I’ll be posting a picture soon.

Ultrasound Disturbs Brains

Though ultrasound is considered safe, babies of mice who had ultrasound had abnormal brain development. Full article here.

Quick Summary:

• The animals were marked with a chemical to mark newborn neurons.
• Ultrasounds were applied to the bellies one group of the pregnant mice for the next three days for periods which totaled 5 to 420 minutes.
• A second group had a sham procedure with no ultrasound waves.
• The control group received no procedures.
• The babies of the mice who received more than 30 minutes of ultrasound had brains which embedded material for the outer brain to the inner brain.
• The fake treatment and control group showed no such changes.
• Previous ultrasound studies have shown delayed speech development and increased left-handedness in humans.

My $0.02: Though I question the study because of the high number of the ultrasounds in such a short period, I feel like such results probably apply to humans. I still wonder why such technologies aren't tested for longer on animals before they are introduced to humans. So many women get ultrasounds now, it's impossible to tell what the side effects will be on the population.

A Bit of an Explanation

Hey readers,
I usually don't do personal addresses, but I have to apologize for the serious lack of activity of over the summer months. Being a geek, I have a natural aversion to hot weather and the sun. Thus, I went into a state of near hibernation, only emerging to munch the occasional bit of internet news. As the weather starts to cool, expect more updates.

Your friendly internet geek,
geekdom04