Hot Shot
Man asks friend to shoot him to avoid work
By Megan Levy and agencies
Last Updated: 2:25am GMT 03/03/2008
A 21-year-old man in the United States asked his friend to shoot him in the shoulder so he could skip work, sheriff’s detectives in Washington say.
Not content with faking a cough or sniffle, Daniel Kuch took the bullet in the right shoulder allegedly to avoid taking a drug test at his place of employment.
It is unclear where Mr Kuch works, or whether he still has a job.
Daily Telegraph
2 comments March 3, 2008
Vanity, thy name is …..
Men seek a perfect body through surgery
By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent
Increasing numbers of men are turning to cosmetic surgery in an attempt to hold back the years.
An audit by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons shows almost a fifth more men had surgery last year compared to 2006.
There was a 61 per cent rise in the number of men having tummy tucks while breast reductions for men increased by 27 per cent.
The numbers of men having nose jobs increased by more than third, while male liposuction increased by 18 per cent in 12 months.
Experts believe that plastic surgery is becoming more acceptable and popular among men because modern culture places a greater emphasis on bodily perfection and youthful appearance.
2 comments February 6, 2008
Yeee–Hahaha!
Hold onto your helmets, cowboys
By Tom Leonard in New York
Rodeo riders, the last surviving champions of America’s Wild West spirit, are being told by health and safety experts to swap their stetsons for protective helmets.
The governing bodies are reluctant to comply. Under association rules, helmets remain optional for children as young as five. Just under 40 per cent of adult riders wear helmets, up from 10 per cent five years ago.
But some experts say that is not enough. They are pushing the sport to encourage all bull and steer riders to wear hard hats, and to make it compulsory for those under 18.
Luke Haught, a 23-year-old Texas bull rider, summed up the feelings of many. He said: “I’m sure it could save on some dental bills, but I don’t think it would feel right. I like my hat.”
Some refuseniks argue the helmets are heavy, block their vision and prevent only superficial injuries.
Rodeo’s macho attitude to health and safety is illustrated by the fact that its governing bodies keep no real data on accidents.
A study published last year claimed bull riders were about 10 times more likely to get injured than American football or ice hockey players.
2 comments February 1, 2008
Safety Cones
Ice cream sauce deemed ‘too risky’ to pour
By Sophie Borland
An upmarket ice cream parlour is refusing to pour chocolate sauce over its cones because of health and safety fears.
Morellis Gelato, which has bars in Selfridges and Harrods, has taken the decision in case customers slip on spilled toppings.
The family-run Italian company, which was founded in 1932 on a seafront in Broadstairs in Kent, says it is just not “common sense” to pour toppings on top of ice cream cones as they are highly likely to spill onto the floor.
Instead, staff give customers separate containers containing their flavoured sauce, chopped nuts or fruit so they can decide for themselves whether to risk pouring them onto their ice cream once they have been served.
2 comments February 1, 2008
Next bus arrives at …
Out of 600,000 pieces of space debris whizzing around our planet, it seems that we’re about to be hit by one the size of a bus.
Nobody knows where it’s going to land, but I bet I know where it’s come from: it’s that London double-decker bus that was discovered on the moon by the Sunday Sport newspaper a while ago.
I can hear the driver now: “Sorry I’m late, Gov. I had to take the bus through the wash half a dozen times to get the moon-dust off!”
But not to worry. The only person to get hit by space debris so far was a woman in Oklahoma who wasn’t hurt by it, so your chances are pretty good.
Unless it follows the general pattern of buses – none for ages, then several at once!
2 comments February 1, 2008
National Nothing Day
These Yanks – what will they think of next? A special day for doing nothing when the rest of the world strives to achieve that every day!
Seemingly created by newspaperman Harold Pullman Coffin in 1973, the idea was to provide Americans with one national day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing, or honoring anything. Why can’t they just go on strike like the Brits?
This picture is by Edward Hopper, and was chosen for its appropriateness by the Smithsonian Museum of American Art as part of the “1001 Days and Nights of American Art” theme.
And if you were to scurry over to their site today and follow the eponymous link you will find – nothing! And quite right too, when you consider what today is.
2 comments January 16, 2008
Jan 15th Iroquois Dog Feast
(…or, why dogs roll in anything they can find…)
The Indians scattered along the river, from five to eight miles apart, as far as the falls; they hauled their canoes above high water mark and covered them with bark, and went from three to five miles back into the woods. In the spring after sugar making, they all packed their skins, sugar, bear’s oil, honey and jerked venison, to their crafts. They frequently had to make more canoes, either of wood or bark, as the increase of their furs, &c., required. They would descend the river in April, from sixty to eighty families, and encamp on the west side of the river for eight or ten days, take a drunken scrape an have a feast. I was invited to partake of a white dog. They singed part of the hair off and chopped him up, and made a large kettle of soup. They erected a scaffold, and offered a large wooden bowlful, placed on the scaffold, to “Manitou,” and then they presented me with one fore-paw well boiled, and plenty of soup, the hair still between the toes. I excused ; they said, “a good soldier could eat such.” They said “God was a good man and would not hurt anybody.” They, in offering the sacrifice to Manitou, prayed to him for their safety over the lake, and that they might have a good crop of corn, &c.
YOURS, &c.,
Gilman Bryant
LETTER OF GILMAN BRYANT.
MOUNT VERNON, OHIO, JUNE 1ST, 1857.
The Early History of Cleveland
by Charles Whittlesey
1867
Add comment January 15, 2008
Piping Hot
Bagpipes a threat to the environment (and we’re not talking noise pollution)
MARC HORNE
THEY were once outlawed for being used as seditious weapons of war. Now, bagpipes have been blasted as an environmental menace.
Over-intensive logging means that the African wood used to make Scotland’s national instrument faces being wiped out.
As part of the campaign, Scots are being asked to fund the planting of “bagpipe trees” in a bid to atone for the environmental damage.
Traditionally the chanter on the bottom of Highland pipes, which is used to create the melody, was made from native woods such as bog oak.
But Scottish mariners who travelled to Africa in the 18th century returned with supplies of African Blackwood, which proved to be far more resilient and produced a sweeter sound.
Since then the species, known as Mpingo in Swahili, has been a staple component of most quality pipes.
This article: New Scotsman
Last updated: 02-Dec-07 01:14 GMT
Add comment December 3, 2007
Diesely Done
New firm makes biodiesel from cooking oil
MICHAEL BLACKLEY BUSINESS REPORTER
WHILE their purchase usually equates to a guilty pleasure, the occasional fish supper might soon be the menu choice of motorists everywhere.
Indeed, if one new company has its way, becoming a good customer of your local chip shop might not just fill an empty stomach but also help you to power your car.
In a first for Scotland, BioFuels4u, which is set to open in Haddington, will soon provide motorists in the Lothians with the ability to turn chip fat into fuel.
Despite a watchdog’s concerns, the company insists biodiesel can be safely produced from standard household cooking oil and the fuel used in any post-1992 diesel car.
However, safety groups have warned the process of producing biodiesel can be dangerous.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) points to a recent statement by the Health and Safety Executive that “advises against the home manufacture of biodiesel using domestic or other unsuitable facilities and by people who are not trained in handling dangerous substances”.
This article: New Scotsman
Last updated: 30-Nov-07 12:24 GMT
1 comment December 3, 2007
Antsy
Millions fear losing life savings in Chinese ‘aphrodisiac ant farm’
KIM HUNTER GORDON
IT WAS an offer too good to refuse. A guaranteed 30 per cent annual return – Chinese government approved and promoted by the nation’s best-known comic – on a novel scheme to raise giant ants for use in the production of an aphrodisiac.
Laid-off workers and pensioners in the poor Liaoning province believed what they were told and put their money into the scheme promoted by the Yilishen company.
But with payments frozen for the past two months, China has now ordered a complete media blackout on coverage of a burgeoning scandal, raising suspicions of negligence and corruption at some of the highest levels of government.
The company is rumoured to have collected ten billion yuan (£650 million) from three million people in north-eastern Liaoning – some of whom put their life savings into the scheme they now fear to be on the brink of bankruptcy.
Each participant in the scheme had put a minimum of 10,000 yuan (£650) in the scheme to become “ant farmers”, with a guaranteed annual dividend of 3,250 yuan (£210).
The Yilishen Group first ran into trouble in 2004 when its main product was banned from sale in the United States after the Food and Drug administration discovered it contained sildenafil – the active ingredient in Viagra – despite being sold as a natural health supplement.
New Scotsman
Last updated: 29-Nov-07 00:06 GMT
Add comment November 29, 2007
