Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[ganbaru]

Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2032347/
It's a bit unexpected.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2032347/
It's a bit unexpected.

My guess that the census is done from US. Technically speaking, Italy should be the worst, followed by US.

[Ithekro]

I suppose, one fights terribly if one doesn't have anything to fight.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

I suppose, one fights terribly if one doesn't have anything to fight.

It seem than the issue isn't corruption withing our borders but of canadian compagny than ''acts'' on the international...

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2032347/
It's a bit unexpected.

I think despite what the article says (comparisons between the US and Canada) that there's a scale and criteria problem. The NGO appear to be simply counting the number of convictions (e.g. Canada 1, US 200) and doesn't have a real definition of what it considers to be "bribery". *I* consider the scale of "political donations" in the US to be nothing BUT bribery, graft, and coercion ... none of that is counted at all.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I think despite what the article says (comparisons between the US and Canada) that there's a scale and criteria problem. The NGO appear to be simply counting the number of convictions (e.g. Canada 1, US 200) and doesn't have a real definition of what it considers to be "bribery". *I* consider the scale of "political donations" in the US to be nothing BUT bribery, graft, and coercion ... none of that is counted at all.

Considering how Italy buys PIGS debts through their banks in secret, and how their media is being controlled by a perverted oyaji, I think US is still better off as they have stronger control over the world economy - at least all that lobbying resulted in foreign policies to serve American interests.

Though it is sad to become Big Corp interests instead of American interests - BoA is already starting to look like Gazprom.

[Xellos-_^]

Talk about a death at a funeral! A shocked Russian woman reportedly died from a heart attack after waking up during her own funeral.

As mourning relatives filed past her open coffin the supposedly dead woman suddenly woke up and started screaming as she realised where she was.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...id=91690&tsp=1

well at least she died in the right places and all the arrangement has been made.

[ganbaru]

Sheep go back to school at Ewe of Vermont
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-24-19-45-31

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Holy, Japan takes idol manufacturing to a new level!
http://gizmodo.com/5814813/can-you-f...beautiful-girl

After Miku, I'm sure Gibson would make another comment about this development. It's been a very long way since Sharon Apple.

[ganbaru]

Chinese crested-Chihuahua mix deemed 'ugliest dog'
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-25-02-31-19
What's the f..king idea ?

[Xion Valkyrie]

Real news vs FAUX NEWS headlines:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/actua...news-headlines

[Kotohono]

Wow looks my state finally showed it's brain last month...
Florida Bestiality Law Passes On Third Attempt, Awaits Governor's Signature

Florida, your long nightmare is over!

No, I'm not talking about the current reign of your grifter governor -- that's a nightmare of much shorter duration.

At long last, and on its third attempt, the Florida legislature has succeeded in passing an anti-bestiality bill. From the perspective of the folks outraged about what happened to this goat, this is their "Osama bin Laden has been brought to justice."

Here's the story from Brian Hamacher of NBC News in Miami:

Thus ends a long and frustrating quest for Rich, who has been trying to pass such a law since 2009. It seemed certain that she would prevail on her second attempt, but the measure foundered in Florida's State House of Representatives because lawmakers "said they didn't want to be accused of wasting time addressing a rare crime when Floridians needed them to help create jobs," and that they "also didn't want to debate the icky subject in public meetings occasionally frequented by children."

But today, hooray! Success at last. Hamacher reports that now, "It's up to Gov. Rick Scott to sign off" on the bill. Which means there's still reason to worry, because if there's a governor in America who could screw this up, it's that guy.

Well still stupid and silly it told three tries to pass... surely they couldn't have screwed this up somehow...

Oh Wait...
Florida's Bestiality Law May Have Accidentally Outlawed Sex Entirely

There may be some terrible news to report out of Florida today, depending on how the state's residents have collectively decided to apply the basic science of biological classification to their lives. Last week, we noted some good news: The Florida legislature had finally passed a law that would outlaw bestiality and preserve the innocence of Florida's native fauna.

At the time, I posited that only shiny-pated grifter-Governor Rick Scott could possibly foul up the effort. But over at Southern Fried Science, blogger "Andrew" points out that the law's wording has basically outlawed sex entirely:

Click here for a handy visual provided by Southern Fried Science that elucidates the fact that human beings are smack dab in the middle of the animal kingdom -- by which he means the "group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia" and not the horse that won the 2011 Kentucky Derby (being "smack dab in the middle" of a thoroughbred horse is a situation the law originally intended to prevent).

Andrew ends with a quip:

(As it happens, I already check with my veterinarian and local livestock breeder prior to intercourse, but my therapist tells me that this is a "fetish" that he'd like me to consider discontinuing.)

UPDATE: Good news and sweet relief for the people of Florida. Per the Southern Fried Scientist, here's a "a slightly less humorous but technically correct" way of looking at things:

All well and good, but we remind you that this is the legislature that twice failed to pass a law banning bestiality, so one can't have complete faith that "absurdity" can be "avoided" in any event.

That said, to all the people in Florida who made love tonight with the added passion of knowing you might be breaking the law: you're welcome.

/facepalm

[Archon_Wing]

Man, writing laws is suffering.

[ganbaru]

Politic in Florida seem to be rather complicated, no ?

[justinstrife]

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/no-him-he...122541829.html

Spoiler:

STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes.

"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

Breaking down gender roles is a core mission in the national curriculum for preschools, underpinned by the theory that even in highly egalitarian-minded Sweden, society gives boys an unfair edge.

To even things out, many preschools have hired "gender pedagogues" to help staff identify language and behavior that risk reinforcing stereotypes.

Some parents worry things have gone too far. An obsession with obliterating gender roles, they say, could make the children confused and ill-prepared to face the world outside kindergarten.

"Different gender roles aren't problematic as long as they are equally valued," says Tanja Bergkvist, a 37-year-old blogger and a leading voice against what she calls "gender madness" in Sweden.

Those bent on shattering gender roles "say there's a hierarchy where everything that boys do is given higher value, but I wonder who decides that it has higher value," she says. "Why is there higher value in playing with cars?"

At Egalia — the title connotes "equality" — boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, waving plastic utensils and pretending to cook. One boy hides inside the toy stove, his head popping out through a hole.

Lego bricks and other building blocks are intentionally placed next to the kitchen, to make sure the children draw no mental barriers between cooking and construction.

Director Lotta Rajalin notes that Egalia places a special emphasis on fostering an environment tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. From a bookcase she pulls out a story about two male giraffes who are sad to be childless — until they come across an abandoned crocodile egg.

Nearly all the children's books deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no "Snow White," ''Cinderella" or other classic fairy tales seen as cementing stereotypes.

Rajalin, 52, says the staff also try to help the children discover new ideas when they play.

"A concrete example could be when they're playing 'house' and the role of the mom already is taken and they start to squabble," she says. "Then we suggest two moms or three moms and so on."

Egalia's methods are controversial; some say they amount to mind control. Rajalin says the staff have received threats from racists apparently upset about the preschool's use of black dolls.

But she says that there's a long waiting list for admission to Egalia, and that only one couple has pulled a child out of the school.

Jukka Korpi, 44, says he and his wife chose Egalia "to give our children all the possibilities based on who they are and not on their gender."

Sweden has promoted women's rights for decades, and more recently was a pioneer among European countries in allowing gay and lesbian couples to legalize their partnerships and adopt children.

Gender studies permeate academic life in Sweden. Bergkvist noted on her blog that the state-funded Swedish Science Council had granted $80,000 for a postdoctoral fellowship aimed at analyzing "the trumpet as a symbol of gender."

Jay Belsky, a child psychologist at the University of California, Davis, said he's not aware of any other school like Egalia, and he questioned whether it was the right way to go.

"The kind of things that boys like to do — run around and turn sticks into swords — will soon be disapproved of," he said. "So gender neutrality at its worst is emasculating maleness."

Egalia is unusual even for Sweden. Staff try to shed masculine and feminine references from their speech, including the pronouns him or her — "han" or "hon" in Swedish. Instead, they've have adopted the genderless "hen," a word that doesn't exist in Swedish but is used in some feminist and gay circles.

"We use the word "Hen" for example when a doctor, police, electrician or plumber or such is coming to the kindergarten," Rajalin says. "We don't know if it's a he or a she so we just say 'Hen is coming around 2 p.m.' Then the children can imagine both a man or a woman. This widens their view."

Egalia doesn't deny the biological differences between boys and girls — the dolls the children play with are anatomically correct.

What matters is that children understand that their biological differences "don't mean boys and girls have different interests and abilities," Rajalin says. "This is about democracy. About human equality."

The world has lost it's mind.

[ganbaru]

Dead Massachusetts man sought for jury duty for 5 years.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-27-11-28-07

Ohio deputies: Woman sprayed us with breast milk
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-27-14-09-46

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/no-him-he...122541829.html

Spoiler:

STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes.

"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

Breaking down gender roles is a core mission in the national curriculum for preschools, underpinned by the theory that even in highly egalitarian-minded Sweden, society gives boys an unfair edge.

To even things out, many preschools have hired "gender pedagogues" to help staff identify language and behavior that risk reinforcing stereotypes.

Some parents worry things have gone too far. An obsession with obliterating gender roles, they say, could make the children confused and ill-prepared to face the world outside kindergarten.

"Different gender roles aren't problematic as long as they are equally valued," says Tanja Bergkvist, a 37-year-old blogger and a leading voice against what she calls "gender madness" in Sweden.

Those bent on shattering gender roles "say there's a hierarchy where everything that boys do is given higher value, but I wonder who decides that it has higher value," she says. "Why is there higher value in playing with cars?"

At Egalia — the title connotes "equality" — boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, waving plastic utensils and pretending to cook. One boy hides inside the toy stove, his head popping out through a hole.

Lego bricks and other building blocks are intentionally placed next to the kitchen, to make sure the children draw no mental barriers between cooking and construction.

Director Lotta Rajalin notes that Egalia places a special emphasis on fostering an environment tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. From a bookcase she pulls out a story about two male giraffes who are sad to be childless — until they come across an abandoned crocodile egg.

Nearly all the children's books deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no "Snow White," ''Cinderella" or other classic fairy tales seen as cementing stereotypes.

Rajalin, 52, says the staff also try to help the children discover new ideas when they play.

"A concrete example could be when they're playing 'house' and the role of the mom already is taken and they start to squabble," she says. "Then we suggest two moms or three moms and so on."

Egalia's methods are controversial; some say they amount to mind control. Rajalin says the staff have received threats from racists apparently upset about the preschool's use of black dolls.

But she says that there's a long waiting list for admission to Egalia, and that only one couple has pulled a child out of the school.

Jukka Korpi, 44, says he and his wife chose Egalia "to give our children all the possibilities based on who they are and not on their gender."

Sweden has promoted women's rights for decades, and more recently was a pioneer among European countries in allowing gay and lesbian couples to legalize their partnerships and adopt children.

Gender studies permeate academic life in Sweden. Bergkvist noted on her blog that the state-funded Swedish Science Council had granted $80,000 for a postdoctoral fellowship aimed at analyzing "the trumpet as a symbol of gender."

Jay Belsky, a child psychologist at the University of California, Davis, said he's not aware of any other school like Egalia, and he questioned whether it was the right way to go.

"The kind of things that boys like to do — run around and turn sticks into swords — will soon be disapproved of," he said. "So gender neutrality at its worst is emasculating maleness."

Egalia is unusual even for Sweden. Staff try to shed masculine and feminine references from their speech, including the pronouns him or her — "han" or "hon" in Swedish. Instead, they've have adopted the genderless "hen," a word that doesn't exist in Swedish but is used in some feminist and gay circles.

"We use the word "Hen" for example when a doctor, police, electrician or plumber or such is coming to the kindergarten," Rajalin says. "We don't know if it's a he or a she so we just say 'Hen is coming around 2 p.m.' Then the children can imagine both a man or a woman. This widens their view."

Egalia doesn't deny the biological differences between boys and girls — the dolls the children play with are anatomically correct.

What matters is that children understand that their biological differences "don't mean boys and girls have different interests and abilities," Rajalin says. "This is about democracy. About human equality."

The world has lost it's mind.

Yeah... I don't care about gender roles, but seriously, guys. Grammar.

[SaintessHeart]

News about the US legislation and economy are starting to crack me up, so more of them are to be moved here instead of being in the normal News thread :

Is your child a tax cheat?

What's next? Forcing the child to go to work so he can start paying income taxes?

No wonder they say the Fed is bankrupt : both monetarily and ethically.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/no-him-he...122541829.html

Spoiler:

STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes.

"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

Breaking down gender roles is a core mission in the national curriculum for preschools, underpinned by the theory that even in highly egalitarian-minded Sweden, society gives boys an unfair edge.

To even things out, many preschools have hired "gender pedagogues" to help staff identify language and behavior that risk reinforcing stereotypes.

Some parents worry things have gone too far. An obsession with obliterating gender roles, they say, could make the children confused and ill-prepared to face the world outside kindergarten.

"Different gender roles aren't problematic as long as they are equally valued," says Tanja Bergkvist, a 37-year-old blogger and a leading voice against what she calls "gender madness" in Sweden.

Those bent on shattering gender roles "say there's a hierarchy where everything that boys do is given higher value, but I wonder who decides that it has higher value," she says. "Why is there higher value in playing with cars?"

At Egalia — the title connotes "equality" — boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, waving plastic utensils and pretending to cook. One boy hides inside the toy stove, his head popping out through a hole.

Lego bricks and other building blocks are intentionally placed next to the kitchen, to make sure the children draw no mental barriers between cooking and construction.

Director Lotta Rajalin notes that Egalia places a special emphasis on fostering an environment tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. From a bookcase she pulls out a story about two male giraffes who are sad to be childless — until they come across an abandoned crocodile egg.

Nearly all the children's books deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no "Snow White," ''Cinderella" or other classic fairy tales seen as cementing stereotypes.

Rajalin, 52, says the staff also try to help the children discover new ideas when they play.

"A concrete example could be when they're playing 'house' and the role of the mom already is taken and they start to squabble," she says. "Then we suggest two moms or three moms and so on."

Egalia's methods are controversial; some say they amount to mind control. Rajalin says the staff have received threats from racists apparently upset about the preschool's use of black dolls.

But she says that there's a long waiting list for admission to Egalia, and that only one couple has pulled a child out of the school.

Jukka Korpi, 44, says he and his wife chose Egalia "to give our children all the possibilities based on who they are and not on their gender."

Sweden has promoted women's rights for decades, and more recently was a pioneer among European countries in allowing gay and lesbian couples to legalize their partnerships and adopt children.

Gender studies permeate academic life in Sweden. Bergkvist noted on her blog that the state-funded Swedish Science Council had granted $80,000 for a postdoctoral fellowship aimed at analyzing "the trumpet as a symbol of gender."

Jay Belsky, a child psychologist at the University of California, Davis, said he's not aware of any other school like Egalia, and he questioned whether it was the right way to go.

"The kind of things that boys like to do — run around and turn sticks into swords — will soon be disapproved of," he said. "So gender neutrality at its worst is emasculating maleness."

Egalia is unusual even for Sweden. Staff try to shed masculine and feminine references from their speech, including the pronouns him or her — "han" or "hon" in Swedish. Instead, they've have adopted the genderless "hen," a word that doesn't exist in Swedish but is used in some feminist and gay circles.

"We use the word "Hen" for example when a doctor, police, electrician or plumber or such is coming to the kindergarten," Rajalin says. "We don't know if it's a he or a she so we just say 'Hen is coming around 2 p.m.' Then the children can imagine both a man or a woman. This widens their view."

Egalia doesn't deny the biological differences between boys and girls — the dolls the children play with are anatomically correct.

What matters is that children understand that their biological differences "don't mean boys and girls have different interests and abilities," Rajalin says. "This is about democracy. About human equality."

The world has lost it's mind.

By George Carlin standards this is a sophisticated form of child abuse.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Real news vs FAUX NEWS headlines:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/actua...news-headlines

The horror is this isn't "silly", its a travesty. The mouthpiece of Rupert Murdoch laid out in the spotlight. Its pathetic to watch the local FOX news channel... they've hired the most marginal people (because anyone with a clue runs like hell away) so you get grammar hell, misspellings, tabloid monster headlines.. as well as the intrinsically misinforming tripe as the examples present here.