Some practical religion

February 24, 2012 at 7:22 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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THE NEWS

Odd news from around the world

Zimbabwe: A dramatic way to lose some very personal possessions: “Jonah Maturure told the Sunday News that he’d taken off his trousers and put them in a tomato box above his head before he crossed the river. He’d crossed the same spot in the same river several times before, but this time, a giant croc was waiting for him. “I was not suspecting anything … But when I was almost in the middle of the river I was attacked,” he told the news website. “It mauled a chunk of my buttocks before attacking my manhood, tearing my testicles into shreds. The skin covering my manhood was partly torn but I quickly put my thumb in its mouth … It then grabbed my hand and I could hear my bones cracking.” Realizing that he wasn’t going to save his personal possessions, he threw his tomato box in the river, The Sun reported. That move may have saved his life. The beast loosened its death grip and swam straight for the tomato box. Maturure escaped, bleeding profusely from his nethers, and ran to a nearby house for help.”

Why divorced men are suddenly such a catch: “When Sabine Gruchet arrived for her first date with Steve Allen he was waiting in the restaurant car park, with an umbrella to shield her from the rain and a pre-paid parking ticket for her Jaguar XF. Sabine, a model, knew instantly her years of dating toyboys had been a mistake. What she needed was a divorcee, like Steve, who had lived, loved, lost — and learnt some important lessons about how to treat a woman. ‘I realise now someone like Steve who has suffered his fair share of heartache, going through divorces and not seeing as much of his children as he would like, is what I really need.’”

World’s hairiest girl: “She may be known as ‘monkey face’ or ‘wolf girl’, but remarkably being the world’s hairiest girl hasn’t got 12-year-old Supatra Sasuphan down. The schoolgirl, whose face is covered in hair through a rare genetic condition which afflicts just 50 people worldwide, initially faced merciless teasing at school in Bangkok. But rather than let the condition ruin her life, Supatra says she enjoys being a world record holder and is even one of the most popular girls at her school. She works hard and is one of the better students in her school, and even has ambitions to become a doctor – so she can ‘look after the sick and her own family’. Likewise her parents, who found out about her condition when she was born, say she is just ‘a normal little girl’. Supatra is one of just 50 known sufferers of Ambras Syndrome – caused by a faulty chromosome – to be documented since the Middle Ages. Before the disease was understood, sufferers were branded ‘werewolves.’”

Thieves who stole ice sculpture could go free thanks to bungling police after station freezer MELTS evidence: “A pair of cold-hearted thieves who allegedly cut the head off a dragon ice sculpture in downtown Salem, Massachusetts, may be off the hook after the evidence of their crime melted when a police freezer malfunctioned. William B. Hare, 47, and Rajendra John Srivastava, 30, were busted twice by officers February 12 for stealing the piece of the sculpture. The first time, the officer simply told the men to put the head back on the sculpture and leave. But when she came back later, the pair had removed the head once again. When officers arrested Hare and Srivastava, they sent the icy dragon’s head to the department’s freezer to save as evidence for a potential trial, Salem Patch reported. But Tuesday morning, when an officer checked the freezer, it had apparently malfunctioned. The dragon head, evidence of the icy theft, was 75 percent melted, Patch reported.”

‘Voice of God’ to scare church roof raiders in Britain: “Hundreds of churches are to have “voice of God” alarms fitted to their roofs deter thieves from stripping off lead and copper. Special movement sensors are to be hidden in spires and finials triggering a booming voice to take intruders by surprise warning that they have been detected and that security guards are on their way. The initiative, backed by the Church of England, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Home Office, comes after the rate of metal thefts reached “catastrophic” proportions in some dioceses with an average of seven churches targeted every day. The soaring cost of metal during the global economic crisis has helped fuel a surge in metal thefts, triggering chaos on the rail network when copper signalling cables are taken.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.