WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: People who do not plan carefully

This week, it’s about people who don’t plan carefully. After seeing the 3D version of Titanic earlier this month, it made me realise how important it is to plan carefully. On the real voyage, two thirds of the passengers and crew died because there weren’t enough lifeboats. The death toll aboard the RMS Titanic was almost half that of 9/11, all because of carelessness as far as planning its trip to New York went.

On that note, the co-Bellends of the Month for April 2012 are anyone who played a part in creating this disaster. This is the second posthumous award, the second award given on the same day as a Weekly Gross-out, and the second award to more than one person. However, this is the first award to be given for actions that did not take place in the month of the award, and also the first award not to be given to named persons. This award includes the people who didn’t foresee that there would be so many people on board, and therefore didn’t include enough lifeboats for everybody to be saved. It also includes the people who started lowering the first few lifeboats at less than full capacity. Had EVERY lifeboat been filled to full capacity before sailing off, then a few hundred more lives could’ve been saved. And last but not least, there’s also the issue of the joker who thought it would be a good idea to just go round the iceberg. They could’ve avoided the iceberg by stopping until the iceberg was well out of the way or finding a different route to New York on which the ship would be nowhere near the iceberg.

Not coming up Trumps so far

It was Donald Trump's long-held dream to build the best links golf course in the world in Scotland, as a tribute to his late mother who was born in the country. But it is fast turning into a nightmare for the billionaire business tycoon. After initial opposition to the project from environmental groups, Trump now has a green problem of his own, in the shape of an offshore wind farm. With the Trump International Golf Links ready for action from July, Trump has shelved plans for an adjoining hotel until a decision is made on the wind farm. I think he should stop being such a big bully. There are more important things in life than building a hotel on land that could be used for something more worthwhile like a wind farm. The rich shouldn't be exerting undue control over the world's resources just because they can afford to do so. He's already got his golf course, and if I were him, I'd just leave it at that.

The link has been proven... or so we think

In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation in hate-crime legislation, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct in a men’s bathroom; and Glenn Murphy Jr., a leader of the Young Republican National Convention and an opponent of same-sex marriage, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being accused of sexually assaulting another man. See a pattern here? Homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can sometimes be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a reaction formation — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.” It’s a compelling theory, and now there is a scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire. I knew I was right in thinking there could be a link. In other news, US authorities may allow Iran to enrich uranium in exchange for some concessions. The Obama administration is considering the possibility of allowing Tehran to enrich uranium up to a concentration of five percent if Iran agrees to let international inspectors carry out sustained and comprehensive control over their nuclear program. That means no nukes directed at Washington.

Jail to the ex-Chief

Former President of Liberia Charles Taylor was today found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands. However, he was acquitted of actually ordering the offences or being part of a joint enterprise to conduct them. The eleven-count indictment produced a four-year trial that heard allegations of rape, murder, sexual slavery, cannibalism, arms dealing, "blood" diamond trade, and use of child soldiers. That was just low but at least that bellend is now paying for his misdeeds. I hope Kim Jong-il or Bashar al-Assad suffers the same fate one day.

Hug, Interrupted

Michelle Brademeyer says Transportation Security Administration officers at Wichita’s airport treated her 4-year-old daughter like a terrorist. The TSA says its officers followed proper procedures, and the agency denies part of Brademeyer’s version of what happened around noon April 15 (Central Daylight Time) at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. In an interview with The Eagle this week, Brademeyer said she is telling her story, which has drawn attention from overseas media after she wrote about it on Facebook because other kids shouldn’t be treated like this. I couldn't agree more.

The children had passed through the security screening, but their grandmother had set off the alarm. Officers asked the grandmother to sit to the side and wait for a pat-down. Isabella saw her grandmother and excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do. Their contact lasted a few seconds, but a female officer started yelling at the child and demanded she, too, must sit down and await a full body pat-down. Her daughter responded by putting her hands over her face and crying. The mother was prevented from coming any closer, explaining the situation to her, or consoling her in any way. It was implied, several times, that the grandmother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed the child a handgun. This is a complete overreaction. In fact, the TSA itself is a complete overreaction, having been established a week or so after 9/11.

In other news, the Perthshire village of Dull in Scotland has announced that it is to be twinned with the town of Boring in Oregon.

I thought it was North Korea who had a beef with the States

At least one major South Korean retailer has suspended the sale of American beef after authorities confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, sometimes referred to as mad cow disease, in a dairy cow in central California. Mad cow disease, which for the record is NOT another name for pre-menstrual syndrome, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. It is usually transmitted between cows through the practice of recycling bovine carcasses for meat and bone meal protein, which is fed to other cattle. In people, symptoms of the disease include psychiatric and behavioral changes, movement deficits, memory disturbances, cognitive impairments, and sometimes death. The South Korean government will step up checks on U.S. beef imports, but everyone else should follow suit just in case the disease spreads. Speaking of diseases, seven of the eight suspects who are accused of taking part in a brutal videotaped gang-rape of a teenager are to appear in a South African court today (local time) to ask for bail. It is unlikely that the suspects, accused in a crime that has shocked many in South Africa, will be granted bail, and an eighth suspect, a man who was found with the victim, is scheduled to appear in court next Friday.

Four for a draw

Manchester United's title defence was hindered in shocking fashion as, having come from behind, the champions let slip a two-goal lead to take only a point from a pulsating encounter with Everton yesterday morning (NZ time) at Old Trafford. The game was drawn 4-4. Man United's goals were scored by Wayne Rooney (two goals), Danny Welbeck, and Nani. Everton's goals were scored by Nikica Jelavic (two goals), Marouane Fellaini, and Steven Pienaar. Three players were shown yellow cards.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Conversion therapy

"I don’t want to be outrageous,” says Dr Mike Davidson softly – but it is hard to believe him. The 57-year-old Christian counsellor and campaigner has upset a lot of people lately, with his claims that homosexuals can become straight if they get enough help, therapy, and prayer. The British doctor has been called deluded and his work condemned as inflammatory, homophobic, and harmful. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone can recover from. If people want to live in a monogamous homosexual relationship, they need to be given the freedom, the space, the respect, and the value to do that. Homosexuality is just a trait that some people just happen to possess. Some people are into the opposite sex, some people are into the same sex, and some people are into both sexes. And that's the way it should stay.

Let's not drone on about this

Iran said today that it had reverse-engineered an American spy drone captured by its armed forces last year and has begun building a copy. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the aerospace division of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, related what he said were details of the aircraft's operational history to prove his claim that Tehran's military experts had extracted data from the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel captured in December in eastern Iran. This could be quite worrying if they use that drone against the States. Even though US officials believe Iran will find it hard to exploit any data and technology aboard it because of measures taken to limit the intelligence value of drones operating over hostile territory, the captured surveillance drone could prove to be a national asset for Iran. It could even be turned into a nuclear weapon for all we know.

Could this be the end of antenna-gate?

After releasing two generations of iPhones with exactly the same form factor, Apple is expected to show off a new chassis design, and possibly new materials, in its sixth-generation smartphone. Korea IT News reported on Wednesday that the iPhone 5 is likely to be housed in Liquidmetal, which is the commercial name for an alloy of titanium, zirconium, nickel, copper, and other metals. It would make the outer surface of the phone smooth like liquid, hence the name. This is quite impressive, but Apple will need to ensure a change in material does not compromise the performance of the device. They have already had performance issues with the antenna positioning on the last two models, so they should at least fix that up this time round. In other news, Facebook unveiled changes to its terms-of-use document yesterday, tweaking earlier drafts in an apparent effort to ease users' concerns about privacy and how their information is used.

Banning the branding

Forcing cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging will help deter young people from taking up the habit, says the MP pushing the plan. Cabinet has agreed in principle to introduce a plain packaging regime in line with Australia, depending on the outcome of a public consultation process. The plan is aimed mainly at discouraging young smokers, and I think it's a good idea. The tobacco companies can make some stupid arguments like "a Government prohibition on a company's right to use their own intellectual property constitutes property removal and sets a disturbing precedent for businesses throughout New Zealand," but this is actually about keeping their poison out of people's mouths. Young people only get hooked on that rubbish because of the packaging.

And now she leaves

After 24 years of stubborn campaigning for democracy in Myanmar and a steely determination to stay inside the country despite official admonishments to leave, Aung San Suu Kyi will make her first foreign trip since 1988, visiting Norway and Britain, the spokesman for her political party said on Wednesday. U Nyan Win, the spokesman, said the trip was a sign of confidence in the country’s political reforms. During her long campaign against military rule, in which she spent 15 years under house arrest, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was free to leave Myanmar. The generals ruling the country at the time would have liked nothing more. Her decision to stay, despite the deprivations of house arrest, has been one of the hallmarks of her political career. It is also what distinguishes her from other prominent political prisoners in the country, who did not have the option to leave. But at least not leaving when she had the option to do so worked, and I hope other repressive governments (including but not limited to the decadent Kim Jong-Un, who wasted money that could've fed much of the population for a year on a failed rocket launch) decide that continuing their reign of terror isn't worth it.

To buy or not to buy: that is the question

Controversial Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara provoked an angry reaction from China yesterday after saying taxpayers in Japan's capital will buy a small chain of uninhabited islands at the centre of a damaging territorial dispute. Ishihara, an outspoken critic of Beijing who has made a career out of provocative nationalistic remarks, said he has approached the owner of the islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyou in China. If accepted, the offer would put the question of sovereignty to bed once and for all. However, I do not believe that this can be the best way to sort out the dispute. If it was, then Taiwanese taxpayers could be paying higher tax rates just so the Republic of China could buy huge expanses of land which were already rightfully theirs to begin with. In other news, Warren E. Buffett disclosed yesterday that he had prostate cancer, a development that would probably heighten the questions over his successor as the chief executive of his conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway.

No weddings but a funeral

Amina el-Filali, a moon-faced Moroccan peasant girl, seemed destined for an obscure life in a dreary little farming village 50 miles south of Tangiers. But that was before she was lured into sexual relations at age 15 by a 23-year-old unemployed laborer (and complete bellend) who took her into a shed next to the eucalyptus grove behind her house. She was then ushered into an early wedding, with the man who took her virginity, by a traditional Muslim family eager to salvage its honour. But the wedding plans backfired when she swallowed rat poison to commit suicide rather than endure what she told her mother was an unbearable marriage. Since the suicide (which took place shortly before lunch on the 10th of last month), she has become a national cause and an icon for women’s groups, human rights organisations, progressive politicians, and millions of ­Western-oriented Moroccans who have demanded changing a law that permits marriage at such a young age. The demands for change have arisen only eight years after a landmark modernisation of the country’s family code, spearheaded by King Mohammed VI. The family code set 18 as the legal age for marriage for both sexes. But it also provided for exceptions to be decided by judges on the basis of special legal and social circumstances. In practice, the provision robbed the age limit of much of its meaning, so I think it needs to go. Had there been no exceptions to the age limit, Amina might still be alive today.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Aston Villa

This morning at Old Trafford, those nutjobs were sunk 4-0 by the champions, Manchester United, in a match that the Reds deservedly dominated start to finish. There were two goals by Wayne Rooney, one by Danny Welbeck, and one by Nani. Each team received three yellow cards apiece.

Much ado about shrapnel

A Colorado college student says he was short-changed by the city of Fort Collins when it refused to accept his bucket of change. Ted Nischan tried to use his nearly 50 pound (almost 23 kg) bucket of loose change to pay a US$160 speeding ticket. Strapped for cash and two days from losing his license, he first tried to pay by credit card, but the municipal court didn't have a working credit card machine. So he went back home, grabbed his savings, and went back in and tried to pay it. They would not accept it. The court told him it would be a waste of taxpayer money to count it all, even though his bank already confirmed it was the right amount. That may be true, but it is the city's job to accept the fine. Nischan was paying the fine in legal tender, which, according to Wikipedia, is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. For instance, if an individual owes someone US$100 in the United States, he or she can try to pay the debt in Mexican pesos or valuable jewelry or gold metal, or even a cheque or a charge card, but the creditor is not required to accept any of those as payment. The creditor must accept US $20 dollar bills, however, because that is legal tender in the United States. In Mexico, however, pesos are legal tender, but US dollars are not. So, by Mexican law, the creditor must accept pesos as payment, whereas the creditor can refuse US dollars or gold. But, because the city of Fort Collins were having none of it, the poor kid was forced to dip into his college financial aid.

Milking the camels dry

In a Dubai café, patrons sip camel-milk lattes, camel-ccinos, and shakes made with camel milk. The recently opened Cafe2Go is one of the first to put camel milk on its menu and it seems to be passing the taste test with intrigued customers. Camel milk has been a staple for Bedouins for centuries, but it has never before been produced in scale or used commercially in this way. For Emiratis, it is a way of combining local pride with a healthy option. Camel milk is lower in fat and higher in Vitamin C than cow's milk. In the milk are all the vitamins, minerals, fat, and carbohydrates that you need for daily life. I bet people in other countries will be seeing this in their health food stores or supermarkets soon.

Expensive rocket, major fail

The cost of today’s failed rocket launch by North Korea is estimated by South Korean intelligence officials at $850 million – nearly enough to feed about 80% of the population of the impoverished nation for a year. The launch site cost $400 million and the rocket and payload cost an additional $450 million, a military official told Yonhap, South Korea’s state-affiliated news agency. Yonhap says the cash could feed 19 million for a year. That rocket was a stupid waste of money and it just proves that Kim Jong-Un is already on his way to being an irresponsible leader. North Korea is poor enough as it is without making such silly mistakes like that.

A win for Wigan

Manchester United's lead at the top of the table was trimmed back to five points this morning after a shock 1-0 defeat at DW Stadium in Wigan. Wigan's goal was scored by Shaun Maloney and there were two yellow cards going Man United's way.

I bet the North looks silly after learning about this

Cho Myung-chul remembers what it was like to vote in North Korea: they have a little piece of paper and a pencil right next to it. If you don't like the candidate you can pick up a pencil and cross their name off, but the person who picks up the pencil will die. There is always someone watching outside, and of course, there is only one candidate. That, everyone, is as close to the "democratic" part of its official name as it gets over there. The idea of a free election seemed impossible to Cho Myung-chul before he defected. But he is now hoping to become the first North Korean in the South Korean parliament. He stands a fair chance of being elected, number four of 46 proportional representative candidates for the ruling Saenuri party. He asks CNN, "Can you imagine the shock of all my former colleagues and school friends in North Korea if I get a place in the National Assembly?" I can't imagine said shock. The Korean peninsula was split in 1953 when an armistice was signed after a bloody war. The two sides have never signed a peace agreement. South Korea has since grown to become Asia's fourth largest economy whereas North Korea struggles to feed its own people, asking (better put, mooching off) the international community for food and monetary aid. But I hope they sort it all out.

Fuelling theft

With gas hovering around $4 a gallon (which is still cheaper than what one can expect to pay in New Zealand), more and more Americans are deciding they'd rather steal it than pay for it. Theft of fuel has traditionally risen and fallen with pump prices, but now crooks are going beyond simply siphoning from a parked car or driving off without paying after a fill-up. Around the nation, thieves are using ingenious methods and breathtaking brazenness to empty the tanks of trucks, industrial fleets, and even gas stations themselves. Petrol prices need to come way down before there are any more incidents like these:

*A group of men were arrested in Davis, California, after they were caught on tape using a customized truck to pump gasoline directly out of underground storage tanks at area gas stations. The truck was disguised as a bread delivery truck for cover.
*In Tampa, local cops interrupted two men at a BP station as they were pumping out gas from storage tanks into barrels set up in a modified minivan. The incident has put local authorities on high alert.
*Utah has seen a spike in thefts from cars and trucks, and other machinery at construction sites, including $200 worth of diesel stolen from a 40-ton excavator at one site in the town of West Point.
*In South Texas, a man was charged with murder after he and two cohorts caused an explosion after trying to siphon fuel from natural gas condensate tanks, leaving one dead and others severely burned.
*In the California Wine Country region, Emeritus Vineyards shelled out thousands of dollars beefing up security after thieves were cutting fence locks and stealing gas from the winemaker’s fleet of delivery trucks.

But there is a way one can thwart those bellends and at the same time not have to obtain fuel for their cars - convert them to run on electricity.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: QPR

The Queen's Park Rangers are the latest group of bellends to have gone down at the hands of the one and only Manchester United. This morning's game at Old Trafford ended with a 2-0 win for the home team. The goals were scored by Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes. The yellow card went to Rafael and the red card went to Shaun Derry.

So a shop opens on Easter

Shops across the country continue to flout Easter trading laws, with more found to be in breach of the act this year than the previous two. A Department of Labour spokeswoman said inspectors visited 38 shops on Good Friday and 26 shops today, with 22 found to be open on Friday and 19 today. The 41 shop total was slightly higher than last year, where 39 shops were found in breach of the act, and 2010 when 38 shops were nabbed. The Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 specifies most shops must close on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and until 1pm on Anzac Day. That is a stupid law which, for the most part, is only there to force observances of religious holidays on everyone. Some countries still require shops to close every Sunday because the respective legislation was written by a bunch of religious freaks hell-bent on imposing their stupid views on the entire populace. Requiring businesses to close on certain days is also a gross breach of civil liberties and something needs to be done about it.

Kidney trouble in China

Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury after illegally buying one of the kidneys of a teenage boy, who used the money at least in part for an iPhone and an iPad, according to state media. The five, including a surgeon, removed the organ in April 2011 from the 17-year-old high school student from China's Anhui province. The teenager is now suffering from renal insufficiency and his condition is deteriorating. One of the defendants, a man named He Wei, was described as penniless and frustrated over gambling debts, and allegedly sought to make enormous earnings through illegal kidney trading. But even so, only in Iran are you allowed to sell your kidney for money, and even then, it's probably not a good idea to begin with. But it's worth it if you're only after the latest technology or trying to pay off a debt or save up for a holiday.

Azawad: just like Nauru

Tuareg rebels who overran much of northern Mali after disaffected soldiers toppled the government in the south declared an independent state called Azawad today, cementing the division of the former French colony as its neighbors began drawing up plans for military action to tackle the twin crises of the coup and the apparent secession. The declaration came within 24 hours of the northern rebels declaring a cease-fire, saying they had completed military operations after achieving their objectives — the capture of a string of settlements in a lightning advance across the desert north of the country. But they've got a fair bit to go before they can call themselves a country. For starters, they just rushed in without deciding on a capital unlike the other recent secessions. There are other separatist regions who had already decided on a capital before becoming independent (for instance, Pristina was already the seat of government for Kosovo before its independence in 2008), and there are some who aren't independent yet but already have capitals (for instance, Tiraspol is the capital of Transnistria). However, Nauru doesn't have an official capital either.

Austerity over his dead body

An elderly man took his own life near the Greek parliament building in central Athens in what was apparently a protest over the austerity crisis gripping the nation. The man, who was in his mid-70s, wrote in a suicide note that the government had made it impossible for him to survive. This is not surprising in a country that had a 21% unemployment rate as of December last year. There has to be a better way to sort this crisis out than causing the populace to take their own lives. Greece has been struggling with an unsustainable level of debt and an economy that has been in recession for years. Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilisation of ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilisation. As such it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games (but obviously not the drug cheats that ruin some of the sports), Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama including both tragedy and comedy. I believe they can rise above their current difficulties and become a great nation once again.

Corrupt sheriff in his own jail

A former lawman once crowned America's Sheriff of the Year was bedding down last night in a Colorado jail named in his honour, as he began a 30-day sentence for drug and prostitution offences. Patrick Sullivan, who was accused of providing methamphetamine in exchange for sex, admitted a felony drug charge and soliciting a prostitute and was sentenced to time in the Patrick J. Sullivan, Jr. Detention Facility. This is totally unbecoming of such a highly-acclaimed sheriff but at least this proves that even the people responsible for enforcement of the law are not above the law. But even so, he should've been locked up for longer because cops are there to protect and serve, not to have sex with prostitutes for meth.

Black burned

But not in a racist way of course. Manchester United took a huge step towards a 20th league title with a priceless victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park, secured by superb late goals from Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young. Only two yellow cards were shown.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: The outgoing military government of Myanmar

But first, APRIL FOOL! I’m not really branching out into pornography. In fact, the picture to the left is the most porn you will ever see here.

Less than two years ago, Myanmar's leaders were doing all they could to silence pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Now they're poised to welcome her into parliament. The sudden relaxation of political shackles on the Nobel laureate has raised the inevitable questions of why, and what do they want in return? One expert said Myanmar's new leaders, who were elected to power in a vote derided as a "sham" in November 2010, had tired of being ostracised by the international community. It's about time those nutjobs realised what they were turning their nation into and backed out without needing a coup. In other news, Tuareg separatist rebels in the north of Mali have claimed Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu.

Goodbye forever

This will be my last post here. I will be gone but not forgotten. Goodbye forever.

In Loving Memory
DISSEMINATORS OF THE TRUTH
(March 2010 – April 2012)

But this is not really the end. Tomorrow, this blog will start hosting pornographic images. Think of us as Disseminators of the Porn.

March shall no longer march on

But we still have the Bellend of the Month to crown, and this month, it's Bonnie Miller. The 45-year-old woman was on an nighttime stroll with her family in St. Joseph, Michigan, when she tried sending a text about an appointment. But she didn't watch where she was going and fell off a pier and into a river's frigid water. This is why people shouldn't text while they're walking. It's not safe because your eyes are diverted to a screen and not to what's in front of you. She is lucky to be alive after making such a stupid mistake.

750 POSTS TODAY

North Korea has said it will fire a rocket to put a satellite into orbit between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-sung, saying the launch was for peaceful purposes. But the United States and its allies suspect it is a disguised missile test, and say the launch would contravene UN sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's missile program. It probably is a disguised missile test. In other news, Americans are queueing around the block for a chance to win the biggest lottery jackpot in history. The US Mega Millions lottery has reached an unprecedented US$540 million, which organisers claim is the biggest bonanza in world history.

Looks like this planet is just about fracked

Under a new law, doctors in Pennsylvania can access information about chemicals used in natural gas extraction, but they won't be able to share it with their patients. A provision buried in the law is drawing scrutiny from the public health and environmental community, who argue that it will "gag" doctors who want to raise concerns related to oil and gas extraction with the people they treat and the general public. In other words, companies must disclose the identity and amount of any chemicals used in fracking fluids to any health professional that requests that information in order to diagnosis or treat a patient that may have been exposed to a hazardous chemical. But the provision in the new bill requires those health professionals to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that they will not disclose that information to anyone else - not even the person they're trying to treat. This doesn't make sense because doctors should be able to share that info with their patients. The public have a right to know which chemicals are used in that wretched operation, and there is good reason to be curious about exactly what's in those fluids. A 2010 congressional investigation revealed that several fracking companies had used 32 million gallons of diesel products, which include toxic chemicals like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, in the fluids they inject into the ground. Low levels of exposure to those chemicals can trigger acute effects like headaches, dizziness, and drowsiness, while higher levels of exposure can cause cancer. That's all the more reason why people shouldn't mess up our planet like that. There's already enough oil and gas just waiting to pollute the air.

We've had an Arab Spring, so why not a Cuban Spring?

Pope Benedict XVI will give a Mass in Cuba’s capital Havana today, capping a visit to the communist island where he vowed prayers for those denied freedom, only to see the government reject calls for political change. Benedict has come to Cuba to lend his weight to the rising influence on the island of the Roman Catholic Church, which gained strength following Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit. The church’s subsequent campaign has helped open up economic and religious freedoms under Raul Castro, while the political system remains dominated by the communist party. But it's not enough: Marino Murillo, vice president of the Council of Ministers, ruled out any political change yesterday, though he did leave the door open to further economic reform. There needs to be some serious political change. The United States has an army base at Guantanamo and they should use those resources to maybe invade Cuba and force the issue. In other news, a new espresso machine that plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter socket aims to give French drivers a cup of espresso wherever they are. The Handpresso Auto is the newest addition to Fontainebleau-based Handpresso’s line of portable, hand-held espresso makers. To use it, you plug the machine (which is about the size of a flashlight) into the car's cigarette lighter, add water, pop in a pod of espresso grounds (any brand will do), and press a button. Water is pumped through the grounds at 16 bars of pressure, and the drink is ready in two minutes.

Fulham go down in uneventful match

Man United took three points to go back to the top of the table this morning, but they were made to fight all the way by Fulham, who defended manfully throughout and ensured a nervous 90 minutes at Old Trafford. The goal was scored by Wayne Rooney and the only yellow card went to Ryan Giggs.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Self-immolation

A Tibetan man set himself on fire in New Delhi today at a protest against a visit by Chinese president Hu Jintao, who is due to arrive in India later this week for a summit meeting. Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer show the protester enveloped in flames, before being taken to hospital with burns on his torso. It was not clear how serious his injuries were, but what is clear is that self-immolation is just stupid. It's quite a sight to behold, but it's not a substitute for taking any real action. Violence against oneself (including but not limited to self-immolation) is prohibited by most interpretations of Buddhist doctrine, and even if you're not a Buddhist, self-harm is still the wrong thing to do.

What's the Marines' major malfunction?

The United States Marine Corps has initiated disciplinary action against Marine Sergeant Gary Stein for comments he posted on his "Armed Forces Tea Party" Facebook page criticising President Barack Obama and his healthcare plan. The Marines' reaction to his comments is an infringement on his freedom of speech. He has every right to express personal political opinions. That's what makes America, and several other like-minded countries, great. Of course Obama's not perfect, but McCain wouldn't have been perfect either. In other news, Apple Inc's new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch "retina" display and is set to be launched around the second quarter.

Not much hunger but plenty of games

I saw The Hunger Games today, and quite frankly, my suspicions about reality television were confirmed: officials known as Gamemakers were adding hazards to the arena, for instance, there were several Gamemaker-created wolves chasing the final three tributes. We all expect the people behind a reality TV show to create challenges for the contestants to complete, but chucking random hazards into the arena (I also noticed the Gamemakers creating a forest fire) just takes the real out of reality. And speaking of reality, Facebook has weighed in on a practice by some businesses asking employees or job applicants for their passwords to the popular social-media site. In a nutshell? Facebook says don't do it unless you want to get sued. This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user's friends, and also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability. So don't do it.

The white man got me got me questioning: where is the justice?

It started a couple of weeks ago with just a few cryptic messages on Twitter and other social media websites: Where is the justice? and R.I.P. TrayvonMartin. A day later, nationally-syndicated radio host Michael Baisden sent out a message to his 65,000 Twitter followers and 585,000 Facebook fans, adding a few details. “Unarmed 17-year-old boy shot by neighbourhood watch captain in Sanford, FL outside of Orlando,” the tweet said. It provided a web link to a story. Since then, hundreds of thousands of messages have spread the word about Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who was shot to death Feb. 26 by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Racial tensions have rapidly escalated as civil rights groups have held rallies, saying the shooting was unjustified. It was unjustified unless Zimmerman was acting in self-defence, and that bellend should count himself lucky he hasn't been arrested yet. This sort of carry-on is totally unnecessary and should never have happened. Time is passing while a child murderer is walking free, and he should be arrested before another child dies at the hands of that nutjob.

Looks like electric cars and fracking are the way of the future

Families cancelling vacations. Fishermen watching their profits burn up along with their boats’ petrol. Drivers buying only a few gallons of gas at a time because they can’t afford to fill the tank. From all corners of the country, Americans are irritated these days by record-high fuel prices that have soared above $4 a gallon in some states and could top $5 by summer. And the cost is becoming a political issue just as the presidential campaign kicks into high gear. Some blame President Barack Obama. Some just cite “the government,” while others believe it’s the work of big, greedy oil companies. No matter who is responsible, almost everyone seems to want the government to do something, even if people aren’t sure what, exactly, it should or can do. But if something isn't done about it (and no I'm NOT talking about driving off at the pump), then the US may well be on the road to becoming Ethiopia, or worse, Panem. Panem, as you should already know, is the dystopian setting for The Hunger Games, which opens in cinemas this weekend. And speaking of The Hunger Games, Hollywood is predicting massive tickets sales for the movie's first weekend. There are even predictions of takings of $130-140 million - matching the debuts of some of the Twilight movies. Based on the first of three novels by Suzanne Collins, the film is a post-apocalyptic story in which 21-year-old American actress Jennifer Lawrence plays heroine Katniss Everdeen who volunteers to take her sister's place in a televised fight-to-the-death battle. And speaking of death, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in the United Kingdom has recommended that all hospital doctors, whose role involves care for the dying, should go on a training course every five years. Doctors there would be trained to treat dying patients with dignity and help them pass away at home surrounded by loved ones if they so choose.

I would do anything for work but I won't do that

When Justin Bassett was interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was astonished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and password. Bassett, a New York City statistician, had just finished answering a few character questions when the interviewer turned to her computer to search for his Facebook page. But she couldn't see his private profile. She turned back and asked him to hand over his login information. Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he didn't want to work for a company that would seek such personal information. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them cannot afford to say no. If this is what has become of the job marketplace, it's best to apply for the job under a different name which couldn't possibly be linked to a Facebook account. Your employer shouldn't be allowed to ask for such information. This is more invasive than anything else I've heard of. I'd sooner have sex with my cousin than disclose my social networking passwords.

Wolves lose to the best

Man United beat the Wolves yesterday morning at Molineux Stadium. The goals were scored as follows: one each Jonny Evans, Antonio Valencia, Danny Welbeck, and two by Javier Hernandez. Welbeck received a yellow card, and Ronald Zubar received two, which meant that Wolverhampton had to play the second half a man down.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Robert Bales

Robert Bales is the name of the bellend accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians. Charges against him are expected to be filed within a week, and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal specialist with the US military familiar with the investigation. Bales has had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he's also run into some trouble in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion. My theory is he couldn't cope and may have just buckled under the stress. He should've gotten help instead of going postal and taking it out on Afghan civilians living off base. But because he did what he did, he runs the risk of being dishonorably discharged from the army, which I hope doesn't happen to such a troubled soul.

So you think you can stone her and spit in her eye?

Activists presented a petition on Tuesday to the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on Pakistan to free a Christian mother of five from being put to death on the charge of blasphemy. A Pakistani court found Asia Bibi guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with Muslim fellow field workers. The offence is punishable by death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code, and Bibi was sentenced to hang. But an investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges stemmed from religious and personal enmity and recommended Bibi's release. It's about time too, because with Pakistan now running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, the government should make an important gesture by releasing Asia Bibi, and repealing its blasphemy law, which is inconsistent with basic human rights and is only there to justify persecution of religious minorities. In other news, Pyongyang plans to launch an "Earth observation" satellite using a carrier rocket next month.

He took a good beaning

A 56-year-old man was killed on Thursday when he was buried under a 20-foot (6.1 m) mound of pinto beans at a warehouse in Colorado. Raymond Segura Junior was pronounced dead at the Kelley Bean Company's facility in Brush, Colorado after dozens of rescue workers and even four inmates from the county jail had spent an hour digging through all those legumes to get to the trapped worker, but he was dead when the crews reached him. This should never have happened and neither should this: the BBC said yesterday that blasphemy is part of "everyday language" and refused to apologise to a vicar who complained about comments made by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Mr Clarkson was filmed shouting "Jesus wept" while driving a KTM X-bow open top sports car in an episode that was broadcast on the 4th. He also said "God Almighty" while driving a Bentley powered by a Spitfire engine. The vicar of St Mary's church in Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire said he would avoid the motor show in future, accusing the BBC of double standards where religion was concerned. Even though most religions are all the same rubbish, we should respect them.

Out of many, one will win

Nearly 500 Egyptians have obtained applications to run for president, a sign of the excitement generated by the country's first presidential elections in which the outcome is in doubt, election officials said on Wednesday. They said a total of 472 people have received the papers to officially declare their candidacy for the vote, which follows last year's ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. Besides the known presidential hopefuls who have been seriously campaigning, the applicants also include a wide range of obscure Egyptians in different professions like journalists, judges, lawyers, and school teachers. If you thought the US presidential election was generating a lot of buzz, then you haven't seen buzz. At least not like this. Out of 472, there can only be one who takes the crown. I won't list all of their names, but suffice it to say Hosni Mubarak won't be on the list. He was the only one on the list four elections in a row, but now, there are hundreds.

Guess who's back, back again? Rugby's back, tell a friend!

After a marathon seven-hour plus Dunedin City Council meeting yesterday, the council agreed to write off $400,000 owed by the Otago Rugby Football Union. An $80,000 debt to Dunedin Venues Management Ltd was also written off. That's right, the Otago Rugby Football Union has been saved, with the Dunedin City Council agreeing to write off a debt of $400,000 and the national union loaning it $500,000. They desperately needed that bailout, but people shouldn't always rely on bailouts otherwise they'll never learn to do anything for themselves. A bailout is good for staving financial ruin but it could cause financial ruin on the other end. In other rugby news, Crusaders first five (or fly-half) Dan Carter will tomorrow mark a major milestone in the journey to bring the Crusaders back home by kicking the first ball over the goal posts at the new Christchurch Stadium, which is nearing completion. The turf is down, seating is in, lights have been tested, and field markings are down. All that's left is for Dan Carter to test the goalposts.

Happy Pi Day, everybody!

Today is also Einstein's birthday, so slap your elbows to this funky beat concocted in honour of the great man himself and all the work he has done in the name of science.

City no longer on top

That’s right, it only took a 1-0 walloping courtesy of Swansea to manage that. But today, we have to give away the third and final Yogi Award for 2012, and it’s going to Resene. They were smarter than the average business that has advertised in a movie theater. I like the “Painty Feet Two” poster they put out (pictured), which is basically a very well done take on the poster for Happy Feet 2, and I liked the use of the phrase “Every stroke counts” at the top of the poster. That phrase, or any variation of it, is a good maxim to live life by; for instance, when it comes to debt management, every cent counts (that means putting extra money towards a debt if you can, not underpaying your mortgage bill by 80 cents, giving up smoking, etc.)

Now on to the results of yesterday morning’s Man United game at Old Trafford: Wayne Rooney scored two goals against West Bromwich Albion, which was reduced to ten players after Jonas Olsson was booked twice and sent off as a result. The Swedish import was the only person carded for misconduct in the match.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: The past two years

But only because it hasn’t all been good news everywhere over the past two years. But we’ve made it to two years, and we have another Yogi Award to present. We’re presenting that to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. This branch alone has been smarter than the average court system. In 2010, some nutjob going by the name Comrade Duch was sentenced by that court to 19 years in prison. But last month, they increased that sentence to life, which is what he deserved all along. It’s about time someone did something about the bellends behind the most shameful chapter in Cambodian history, especially considering that there was a New Zealander among the thousands that died in Tuol Sleng.

The judge who just wouldn't quit

Because it's our second anniversary tomorrow, we're awarding the first of three Yogi Awards to people or groups of people who, over the past 12 months, were smarter than the average whatever. Hillary Adams, daughter of November 2011’s Bellend of the Month, gets the first Yogi Award for being smarter than the average daughter. In January, she spoke out against some new outrages her father, who is already a total jerk, had committed against her and her sister. You can find out what she is saying here, but let me give you a taste of what she wrote in that update: he had promised her her school savings in return for a car, and he still has every penny and the car. If that were me put in that position, I would sell the car on eBay, and then the house, and I would use the money on a gun and bullets to put that loser out of his misery. But I’m not the one on the receiving end of his gross mistreatment, so I’ll just have to settle for the next best thing: I should start a campaign on Twitter to have that nutjob removed from office (I have selected #removewilliamadams as a candidate for the hashtag) and put in his place.

Not a good way to curry favour

Friends of Indian-origin student Dharun Ravi, who is on trial for allegedly spying on his roommate's sexual encounter with another man, have testified that he never harboured anti-gay sentiments. Taking the stand in the trial of 20-year-old Ravi for the defence, which began its case in a New Jersey court, were seven character witnesses, who were acquaintances of the former Rutgers University student and his father. They testified that they had never heard Ravi say anything bad or negative about gay people. I haven't either, and for all we know, he may well have been jacking off while watching the illicitly-obtained footage. I don't know whose side he's on but he shouldn't have filmed two guys getting it on without their consent. But because he did, he faces 15 charges, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation for spying on his roommate, who committed suicide after finding out about the footage, while he was being intimate with another man. That is just wrong and I hope that pervert (or homophobe as the case may be) gets what's coming to him in the prison showers.

It's not just priests

A repressed homosexual church youth leader and former judge's associate has been jailed for 15 months for filming minors in toilets and hoarding child porn, but he may be eligible for parole in as little as four months. Anthony Kurt Power of Wynn Vale, South Australia pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in indecent filming including images of minors and two counts of possessing child porn between July 2009 and March 2010. I think four months is too soon when it comes to bellends like him. His actions were a gross breach of the trust placed in him as a youth group leader and a friend, and he should be made to do the full 15 months at the very least. Child porn is a poor substitute for an as-yet ill-defined sexuality that he had repressed. And besides, if he was looking to go into the priesthood, he was at the wrong church.

And another Syrian leaves the Dark Side

Syria's deputy oil minister, Abdo Hussameddin, says he is resigning to join the anti-government revolt. He announced his defection in a video posted on YouTube, and is the highest level political figure to abandon the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising erupted a year ago. I support his decision, as long as he doesn't switch back. Assad is definitely getting what's coming to him. That bellend is already unpopular even without losing his deputy oil minister, and I won't be surprised if he becomes the fifth Arab leader to be toppled by the people. And speaking of people, people should be impressed about the new iPad. It does have a faster chip, Retina display, and (with the obvious exception of Wi-Fi only models) 4G connectivity (even though we don't have 4G networks in New Zealand). And speaking of things we don't have in New Zealand, I found out that tonight's episode of The Cleveland Show (it's the one where Rallo's friend Murray gets married and Cleveland pretends to be thinner for his wife) had already aired in Australia. I feel bowled underarm knowing that Australia gets all the good stuff before we do. And speaking of good stuff, I will most definitely get an iPad 3 when it gets a bit cheaper.

Happy 22nd, Abby and Brittany

Today is also the 60th birthday of Antiguan cricketer Viv Richards. But more important, today is the day that Apple will reveal their next-generation iPad. Will it have a Retina display? Will it connect to LTE networks? Will it look a lot more awesome than the iPad 2? Will there be a more powerful chip? We'll just have to find out tomorrow.

Can an Arab soul yearn as well?

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran has the right not to sing the national anthem, "Hatikva." The law doesn't oblige him to do so, and the song's lyrics don't enable him to do so. As a loyal citizen of his country, the justice did not want to betray his conscience during the new Supreme Court president's inauguration by singing a song whose words are alien to every Arab citizen of Israel. An Arab citizen cannot sing "a Jewish soul yearns" or "the hope of 2,000 years," words that ignore the existence of an Arab minority in the State of Israel - a minority for whom this land is also their land.

The uproar that erupted following Joubran's refusal damaged the delicate fabric of Israeli democracy far more than his silence did. But against the background of the chorus of denunciations from the right, the position taken by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, both of whom came to Joubran's defense, was particularly noteworthy. They deserve high praise for this because even though Hatikva was written as an expression of the national sentiments of the Jewish people and Israel is a Jewish homeland, Arabs are just as much a part of Israel as the Jews.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Tottenham

This morning (New Zealand time as always) at White Hart Lane, Manchester United emphatically cleared a major hurdle in the race for the Barclays Premier League title, posting a priceless victory over the bellends playing for Tottenham Hotspur. One of Man United's goals was scored by Wayne Rooney and the other two by Ashley Young. The other goal was scored for Tottenham by Jermain Defoe. There were three yellow cards.

The casino's worth a gamble

As residents of Foxborough, Massachusetts got their first look this weekend at the resort casino envisioned by developer Steve Wynn, in the form of an artist’s rendering mailed to 7,000 households, opinion was mixed, with some recipients impressed and others dismissive. One thing, however, seemed clear: the visual aids would not bring consensus to the town of 17,000, where the casino issue has already proved deeply divisive. Even I, despite living thousands of kilometres away from the proposed casino, have a reason to support the casino and a reason to oppose it. The casino, on the one hand, could fuel the problem gambling and other issues like prostitution already plaguing Las Vegas and Atlantic City. But on the other hand, it could bring tourist dollars to the community, with maybe some of it going to a respected charity. However, I'm not the one in charge of the development and I'll just let the people of Foxborough sort it out for themselves.

Our second anniversary is in nine days

But there are some anniversaries today: today is the 15th anniversary of the Sky Tower's opening, but it's also the 21st anniversary of Rodney King being savagely beaten by four LAPD officers. That is one of the worst examples of white-on-black crime in history, and it should never have happened. Their acquittal by an 83.3% (ten out of twelve jurors) white jury in a state court caused widespread rioting throughout LA, and even after a federal trial resulted in two of the officers going to jail, the other two still got off. That was just horrible and unnecessary. If I were the presiding judge in the state trial, I would've overridden the jury's not guilty verdicts and had those nutjobs put in the stocks for a well-deserved dose of public humiliation.

Davy Jones has gone to his own locker

That's right, Davy Jones of the Monkees has died. But there's some more serious business to take care of. When Specialist Reynald Matias was heading to Afghanistan with his Army unit late last year, their chartered flight stopped to refuel at Leipzig-Halle Airport in Germany. During a brief layover, he called his wife in Tacoma, Washington, using his debit card on a payphone in the terminal’s troops-only transit lounge. “What are they charging you?” his wife, Crystal, asked when he reached her. He did not know, so she told him to hang up. A few days later she got the answer: $51 for what she estimated was a two-minute call. This is just not on. You can expect huge roaming charges when you use your cellphone overseas, but at a public payphone, it's just not right. $51 for a two-minute call is totally unfair. If I wanted to waste money like that, I'd chuck it in the fire.

Summer has ended on a good note

It’s not the extra day. It’s a mixture of three things:

• The Tokyo Sky Tree has been completed and is now the second-tallest structure in the world (after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai).
• North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment in exchange for humanitarian aid (this could just be a ruse).
• On Tuesday, The Pirate Bay stopped giving out links to .torrent files. Instead, they’re using Magnet links. It's simpler for them and no more hassle for you. It's more resilient than the .torrent files and it uses much less bandwidth for those who want to mirror. Also, since the magnet links are just a hash, it's on every single torrent detail page - so no-one knows that you actually downloaded a file or not (great for evading the Copyright Nazis).

My opinion of the third one? Fine by me, as long as it still gives me the movie or TV series I’m after. The Pirate Bay has been good to me because it means I don’t have to shell out my hard-earned cash on the DVD or wait for a repeat. Even though I’m always getting told off for using our entire monthly broadband allowance, it’s worth it because I’m getting something for nothing and the Copyright Nazis haven’t come after me yet, and with this new development, I don’t think they ever will.

That’s one more month shot

Our second anniversary is almost here. But before we get onto that, our Bellend of the Month is to be crowned. This month, it’s Tommy Jordan. That bellend shot his teenage daughter’s laptop and put the incriminating evidence on YouTube. His excuse? “My daughter thought it would be funny/rebellious/cool to post on her Facebook wall just how upset she was and how unfair her life here is; how we work her too hard with chores, never pay her for chores, and just in general make her life difficult. She chose to share this with the entire world on Facebook and block her parents from seeing it. Well, umm... she failed. As of the end of this video, she won't have to worry anymore about posting inappropriate things on Facebook... Maybe a few kids can take something away from this... If you're so disrespectful to your parents and yourself as to post this kind of thing on Facebook, you're deserving of some tough love. Today, my daughter is getting a dose of tough love.” He has the most retarded take on tough love. This is just horrible and he should, at the very least, be made to buy her a new laptop. He joins the tiger mom, the eagle dad, and that judge who beat the crap out of his daughter in 2004 in an ever-growing list of bad parents. If my father ever did that to my laptop, I’d turn that gun on him and make him deader than Amy Winehouse, Steve Jobs, Colonel Gaddafi, Kim Jong-il, and Whitney Houston combined. If you want to see that waste of a man carry out his dirty work, click here.

Reds continue march to the top

Manchester United's title bid was dramatically put back on track yesterday morning by Ryan Giggs' late winner in stoppage time at Carrow Road. Other goal-scorers in the match against Norwich City were Paul Scholes (for Man U) and Grant Holt (for Norwich City). Rio Ferdinand was one of three players to get yellow cards.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Posthumous baptism

Anne Frank, the most famous of all Holocaust victims, has been posthumously baptised at a Mormon temple, fueling the growing controversy over the bizarre practice. The rite was conducted recently in a Mormon temple in the Dominican Republic, according to Helen Radkey, an excommunicated church member turned whistleblower. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practices proxy baptism, which is when they convert Jews, Christians, and Muslims to the faith years after they died by ritually dunking a stand-in for the deceased. Radkey has revealed that Mormons posthumously baptised thousands of people, including Joan of Arc, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and Barack Obama’s mother. This is just weird and unnecessary, and there's not much point in baptising the dead. There are people who find God on their deathbeds, but I don't see how posthumously baptising someone is going to make their life the church's definition of better. People should just live while they can. Even if one does live a long and eventful life, be it 70, 80, 90, 100, or even more years, it can't be forever.

Is this a tough carpet to munch on or what?

Three women in Cameroon have been charged with practising homosexuality in what is believed to be the first such case in the country. The case, allegedly involving a lesbian love triangle, came to court on Monday, but has only been reported now due to the remoteness of the area. Homosexual acts in Cameroon are punishable by up to five years in prison. But that's five years too long. Homophobia is widespread in Cameroon, especially in a time where it shouldn't exist anywhere. It is possible that many homophobes may well be closet homosexuals themselves. This needs to stop.

Yemen has officially been freed from the evil Saleh

Yemen swore in its new president today, cementing a power transfer deal reached in November to end months of protests and violence over outgoing leader Ali Abdullah Saleh's longtime rule. Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, who served as Saleh's vice president and became acting president in November in an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, was sworn in today in front of Yemen's parliament. This is another important step forward in the democratic transition process, but it isn't really doing anything to help the oppressed in China or North Korea. And speaking of China, their growing influence in Nepal could mean that the mountainous republic sandwiched between China and India, which for decades has been a safe haven for Tibetans who escape China, could force a crackdown on the Tibetan minority. Traditionally, India has had the biggest influence in Nepal. But China's influence is growing, and as China becomes a bigger factor in Nepal, refugees from neighbouring Tibet say they are being squeezed. This could be bad news for the Tibetan people, and something needs to be done, even if it means war. And speaking of This Means War, I have three words to say about it: Best. Movie. Ever.

Eagle dad was bad enough

At the end of a dirt road leading to a double-wide trailer in rural Alabama, authorities say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin was being forced to run for three hours as punishment for having lied to her grandmother about eating candy bars. The severely dehydrated girl had a seizure and died days later, her death ruled a homicide. Her grandmother and stepmother who police say meted out the punishment are in jail, facing murder charges. This is obviously a very tragic, devastating, heartbreaking situation, and I hope those two scumbags get the chair for making the poor kid do all that running over something so petty as a few candy bars. In other news, Texas authorities removed 11 children on Tuesday from a crowded home where a registered sex offender lives after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds.

Marriage: now open to same-sex couples

The government's denial of all federal benefits to same-sex married couples is an irrational and unconstitutional act of discrimination, a federal judge ruled yesterday. This is a step toward a likely Supreme Court test of a law known as the Defense of Marriage Act. The Defense of Marriage Act is based on unfounded assumptions about marriage and the suitability of gays and lesbians as parents, and was enacted in 1996 by a Congress avid to show its disapproval of homosexuality, said U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco. The law needs to go because it treats homosexuals (known by some bellends as fags, queers, carpet-munchers, dykes, and lots of other hurtful names) differently on the basis of their sexual orientation without any legal basis. The imposition of subjective moral beliefs of a majority on a minority cannot provide a justification. That horrid piece of crap, signed by Bill Clinton, denies joint tax filing, Social Security survivors' benefits, immigration sponsorship, and hundreds of other federal marital rights to same-sex spouses. But now, the law can one day be removed from the books and consigned to the trash pile where it belongs.

Who wants to see a real double rainbow?

Most people blow out a few candles on their birthdays, but Rihanna, who turned 24 on Monday, seems determined to start a full-on fire. In the wake of Chris Brown’s controversial return to the Grammy stage last week (many people were uncomfortable that Brown, who pled guilty to felony assault after a fight with Rihanna the night before the 2009 Grammys, was welcomed back to the show and given two performance slots), the two have been playing awfully nice with each other. On Monday, Chris Brown tweeted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN” (Rihanna’s real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty), to which she quickly replied “Thanks!” The small exchange was enough to launch a thousand blog posts asking whether Rihanna should be interacting so benevolently with her former beau, whom many feel has not demonstrated adequate or genuine remorse about his past iniquities. But if Chris Brown truly has changed his ways, then I believe they have a chance of making it work. Even though Chris Brown is still on probation, this has showed us that anything is possible. I just hope they don't screw it up again.

McTestTube with fries and Coke, please

The world's first test tube hamburger will be served up this October after scientists perfected the art of growing beef in the lab. By generating strips of meat from stem cells researchers believe they can create a product that is identical to a real burger. The process of culturing the artificial meat in the lab is so laborious that the finished product, expected to arrive in eight months' time, will cost about £220,000. But researchers expect that after producing their first patty they will be able to scale up the process to create affordable artificial meat products. It might be a bit controversial, but the hunger problem plaguing the poorer nations can soon be put to rest.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Kiwi FM going international

Mediaworks-owned Kiwi FM has announced it will be introducing 40 percent international alternative music to its offerings. It is no secret the radio station has struggled to get a leg up in ratings with Mediaworks radio programme director Andrew Szusterman saying it ranked just a 0.1 percent share in the last biannual radio survey and around 0.4 percent when it was at the top of its game. For the most part, insider word mirrors the poor ratings and expresses the introduction of international music to be a positive change. That may be true, but no matter how crap the ratings are, there needs to be at least one radio station playing 100 percent New Zealand music. That's what made the station what it is, and if they do put the international music on, they'll have to change the name to reflect the change in playlist (Mainly Kiwi FM would be a good name) or face further criticism for false advertising.

Let's see Bear Grylls top this one

A Swedish man has survived being trapped in his snow-covered car for two months without food. The car was found on Friday at the end of a forest track more than 1 km from a main road in northern Sweden. Police say the temperature in the area had recently dropped to -30˚C. The man, who was too weak to utter more than a few words, said he had been inside since the 19th of December. He may have survived by doing a combination of drinking melted snow and going into a state of hibernation like some animals do in the colder months. But at least he's recovering at Umea University Hospital, where staff say he is doing well considering the circumstances. In other news, Latvians have resoundingly rejected the option of making Russian the country's second official language.

The 72 virgins will have to wait

Amine El Khalifi, the Moroccan man accused of trying to blow up the U.S. Capitol, told acquaintances that America's war on terrorism actually was a war on Muslims and they needed to be ready for battle. Then, the 29-year-old unemployed man started preparations of his own — and he thought everything was going according to plan. A man brought him an automatic weapon. He got a suicide vest, scouted out targets, and practiced setting off explosives. But yesterday, his goal to detonate the vest at the Capitol ended with his arrest in an FBI sting, according to U.S. authorities who had been monitoring him for nearly a year. But now, the FBI have got that bellend and he's now ready to be sent to Guantanamo where he belongs.

Marijuana One too close to Marine One

A small private plane carrying a load of marijuana strayed into President Obama's no-fly zone over LA yesterday and was forced to land at Long Beach Airport after being intercepted by U.S. Air Force jet fighters. The four-seat Cessna entered the restricted airspace at about 11 a.m. Pacific as the president was flying from Orange County to LAX aboard Marine One, a military helicopter provided for his use. Federal officials said the aircraft was never close enough to endanger Obama, but that doesn't excuse him being too close to the president or the weed. Aircraft are typically prohibited from flying within 10 miles of any plane or helicopter carrying the president. This rule is for the president's safety, but the marijuana on board shouldn't be that big a deal. The problems caused by some drugs are mostly caused by it being illegal, just like with black markets for alcohol during Prohibition. There are believed to be medicinal benefits as far as marijuana goes. In other news, a veteran Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy has been arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a child.

Saying no to robo

The Federal Communications Commission clamped down on telemarketers yesterday — even those from companies you do business with, such as your bank — by placing severe limits on robocalling and even texting. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Congress and his agency have long recognised the need for consumers to have control over the telemarketing calls that come into their homes, and the FCC has long had rules to put consumers in control. But despite these clear ground rules, too many telemarketers, aided by autodialers and prerecorded messages, have continued to call consumers who don't want to hear from them. But now, this can come to a long overdue end. Telemarketers will now have to:

• obtain prior written consent before placing robocalls to consumers. Written does not mean handwritten, though — electronic forms are OK.
  
• obtain consent even if they had previously done business with the person they want to call. According to Consumer Reports, this means that if you have a checking account at a bank, marketers cannot call you to try to sell you on a home equity line of credit unless you sign off on being contacted.
  
• provide an automated way for people to revoke their consent to the robocall by pressing a few keys on their phone during the call. If this happens, the new rules require telemarketers to add the person to the company's Do Not Call list.
  
• strictly limit the number of so-called dead-air calls in which consumers answer phones and hear nothing.

In other news, a man who was eating at a downtown Las Vegas restaurant called the Heart Attack Grill (it offers "Bypass" burgers, "Flatliner" fries, and free meals to people over 350 pounds) had to be wheeled out of the restaurant on a stretcher on Saturday evening, after a medical episode that restaurant employees say looked like a heart attack.

Back to the Peseta

It is either a taste of Spain's past, or of the future after a euro armageddon. The rural town of Villamayor de Santiago has reintroduced the peseta. With its cobbled square and flocks of sheep, Villamayor seems an unlikely place for a monetary revolution. But in the flatlands of La Mancha, the home of Don Quixote, anything can happen. And it did. Lots of people have pesetas left at home still, and a decade after the currency was formally replaced by the euro, Villamayor's shopkeepers have taken in more than 1 million pesetas. In fact, all of Spain should bring back the peseta because the euro has been immersed in the European sovereign debt crisis since 2009. Governments the Eurozone over are being forced to default on their debts and resort to austerity measures, causing protests. Sorry to tell it like it is, but the euro's just not working out. It was good at first because of less currency changes at the border, but the euro is now at a crisis point. It can, however, still be saved.

Malaysia, truly corrupt

Malaysia's government on Monday defended its decision to deport a young Saudi journalist named Hamza Kashgari who may face persecution at home for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter. International rights groups have slammed the deportation but Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia was not a safe haven for fugitives. That may be so, but everybody is entitled to their own opinion when it comes to stuff like religion. That poor guy should not have been booted out just for expressing an opinion the Malaysian authorities don't agree with. He was kept incommunicado and denied access to lawyers and the U.N. refugee agency just because of the free expression of opinion. By its actions, the ministry of home affairs once again showed that it believes rule of law is whatever it says and that it is more than willing to be totally opaque in its operations to maintain its flexibility to do what it wants when it wants. That act of cowardice means that someone who is about the same age as me could wind up deader than Whitney Houston because of their beliefs.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Galaxy Nexus

Apple has requested a ban on sales in the U.S. of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone, claiming that the showcase for Google's heavily touted Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android operating system violates four Apple patents. Delicious as the new version's name may sound, there is no way this Android crap should be allowed on the market. Apple make the best phones and they deserve the market share they've built up over the years. Androids are total rubbish.

Three points does it

Two goals in four second-half minutes from Wayne Rooney took Manchester United to the top of the Barclays Premier League table after a predictably fractious, but thoroughly deserved victory over Liverpool this morning at Old Trafford. The other goal came from Luis Suarez, who started for the first time since receiving an eight-game ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra and unexpectedly shunned the United skipper's offer of a pre-match handshake, and two yellow cards were dished out.

Another parenting low

The latest animal parent, "Eagle dad", has caused an Internet uproar after uploading a video of him ordering his four-year-old son to run almost naked in a blizzard. According to China Daily, the father, He Liesheng, recorded the video of his son, He Yide, on a family vacation to New York during the Spring Festival holiday. In an attempt to make his son, who was born prematurely, and may have cerebral palsy, as strong and healthy as "others", he's implemented a rigorous training schedule including swimming, hiking, and jogging. His excuse? "When the old eagle teaches its young, it takes the young eagles to the cliff side, beats them, and pushes them to teach them to use their wings, and I believe I am helping my son in this way - to force him to challenge limitations and exceed his own expectations." That's bad parenting. This is worse than that whole Amy Chua thing. Ching chong parenting is not very good for children, and at best, it only furthers the stereotype of the overachieving Asian. What the "eagle dad" is doing to his son is child abuse, and he'd better stop it before he loses the kid.

Don't have a cow, girl

A Missouri mother accused of slitting the throat of her 9-month-old baby daughter reportedly tried to get help months before over what she thought was demonic possession. Bradie Simpson of Camden County, Mo., has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action and was jailed on $200,000 bond on Tuesday for the February 4 incident. There is no such thing as demonic possession, and I'm guessing it's a really strange and severe mental disturbance. Also, after finding Simpson and the child, the cops found heroin inside Simpson's home. She seriously needs help.

SEVEN HUNDRED POSTS!

Scientists have shown off the smallest-ever laser that works at the colours of light used in telecommunications and at room temperature. The tiny light sources switch on with no "threshold", meaning they operate much more efficiently than earlier, small laser attempts. They are just one-fifteenth the size of the light waves that they produce, and the cavity where the laser light is generated is less than 100 billionths of a metre across. That really is something because laser beams can, in principle, carry vast amounts of information faster than traditional semiconductor electronics. The principal application for the tiny lights would be in computing and telecommunications, and that would be a real breakthrough for the organisation of protests in the Arab world.

Let there be choice

Last fall, Los Angeles took a hard line on school nutrition. In an attempt to mold better eating habits in kids, the Los Angeles Unified School District eliminated flavored milk, chicken nuggets, and other longtime childhood favorites. But instead of making kids healthier, the changes sent students fleeing from school cafeterias. There have been reports of a thriving trade in black-market junk food, of pizzas delivered to side doors, and of family-sized bags of chips being brought from home. Garbage cans are filling up with the more nutritious food (not if it gets dirtied up for Oscar or any other grouches living inside the bin), even if kids aren't. The lesson? You can't just bully kids into eating healthful foods and take their lunch money. Children will choose their food no matter what you place in the lunch line, even if the choice is simply not to eat. If you impose too big a change, kids will simply bring their lunch from home or have pizza delivered at the side door. Or they may skip lunch altogether and wait for an after-school junk food binge. If I were in charge of the district, the schools would give students a selection of healthy and unhealthy food. As the example in LA makes clear, trying to teach students to eat more healthful foods by removing other choices can backfire. When children (or even adults) feel restricted or forced into a decision, they naturally rebel. This rebellion is the drive behind the Arab Spring and several other revolutions. Heavy-handed measures might be effective at putting nutritious foods on the lunch tray, but it is crucial to remember that the food's nutritional benefits will not materialise until it is eaten. In other news, Michelle Duggar has had a miscarriage, so 19 kids it remains (for now). The other 19 kids' names, all starting with J, are: Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace, and Josie.

Strike a pose... but not that one

Madonna has built a nearly 30-year career on her ability to shock and surprise, especially during awards shows and live TV appearances. And though her glittery, high-energy halftime extravaganza at Sunday's (Monday in several countries) Super Bowl drew praise from the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Christina Aguilera, and Perez Hilton, it was a slip of the finger, and the tongue, by one of her guests that grabbed headlines. During a performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," singer M.I.A. topped her guest rap with a defiant flip of the middle finger and a not-safe-for-primetime s-bomb lyric.
 NBC's censors were not fast enough to obscure the gesture, or completely blot out the expletive, and following the game the network issued an apology for the incident. "We apologise for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime," a spokesperson said. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late." But that explanation doesn't excuse the censors' inaction. However, fault shouldn't be solely on the network. They may have a responsibility to censor inappropriate portions of television broadcasts, but the performers are the ones attempting to stir up trouble, and even if the censors acted in a timely manner, the people in the stadium would still see M.I.A's middle finger. The censors don't have any real control over the performers. But at least there weren't any "wardrobe malfunctions" during this halftime show.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Jonny Evans

That bellend scored an own goal for Chelsea this morning at Stamford Bridge. Had it not been for his stupid mistake, Man United would've been able to give Man City a good run for their money. I'd rather have Hitler on the team because that stupid own goal had given the Blues an undeserved half-time lead, and strikes early in the second period from Juan Mata and David Luiz had seemingly extinguished any hopes United had of closing the gap on Manchester City at the head of the Barclays Premier League table. As far as United's scoring went, Wayne Rooney scored two goals and Javier Hernandez scored one. Two Chelsea players received yellow cards.

Lard have mercy

Hans Feldmeier, a German pensioner who received a tin of American lard 64 years ago in an aid package, has only just tasted it, after discovering that it is still edible. A food expert, Frerk Feldhusen, said the lard was rather gritty and tasteless and hard to dissolve, though quite edible. Feldmeier must be one of the lucky ones because lard that old would most likely have turned rancid a long time ago. The red, white, and blue tin of Swift's Bland Lard bore no expiry date, so we're not sure when rancidification was supposed to have taken place. The test result might make some consumers think twice before discarding food immediately after the expiry date, but I wouldn't take chances with food that was starting to spoil.

Protection: the gravest no-no?

The Catholic Church reacted strongly yesterday to a White House defense of new rules that will force many religious employers in America to provide contraception to their workers in government-mandated health insurance plans. "The White House information about this is a combination of misleading and wrong," said Anthony Picarello, general counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He said the bishops would "pursue every legal mandate available to them to bring an end to this mandate. That means legislation, litigation, and public advocacy. All options are on the table." What the bishops haven't realised is that contraception stops unwanted pregnancies, and many forms can also stop the spread of diseases like gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia, and HIV. Also, the rules could be made better: religious institutions can qualify for an exemption if the services violate their beliefs, but not if they employ large numbers of people who do not share those beliefs. That should be taken out because if you're an employer, you have a responsibility to insure employees' health, and this includes helping them with covering up their nether-regions before they get it on.

May the frauds be with you

Dishonest bank staff are increasingly preying on their elderly customers, new fraud figures have shown. CIFAS, an anti-fraud organization in the UK whose members include most major banks and building societies, said that there had been an alarming increase in the level of fraud committed by employees, with a third of it involving the theft of cash from customer accounts. Many of these fraudsters steal from elderly and more vulnerable account holders, and their actions are as bad as muggers in the street. This is just not right. Any case of bank staff stealing from customers is unacceptable and this increase is very concerning – particularly at a time when banks are talking about regaining the public’s trust and confidence. Common sense measures such as asking for and then keeping a receipt for any deposit or withdrawal, can help in preventing fraud. Another measure would be to bring back the stocks so the public can throw dung and rotting food at the fraudsters. In other banking news, The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer, will soon stop its ‘basic’ RBS and NatWest account holders from using other banks’ ATM machines.

This teacher got Berndt

Sorry about the bad pun. Mark Berndt, a veteran elementary school teacher, was arrested on horrifying child molestation charges after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. The 61-year-old worked for more than 30 years at Miramonte Elementary in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles before being fired as a result of the investigation. Miramonte serves a poor, mainly Hispanic neighborhood. More than half of its approximately 1,400 students are still learning English, according to the school's website.

Some of the photos showed Berndt with his arm around children or with his hand over their mouth. Other pictures depicted girls with what appears to be a spoon up to their mouths as if they were going to ingest a clear-white liquid. A blue plastic spoon and container found in the trash in Berndt's classroom tested positive for semen. None of the photos showed the students actually eating the semen, but the children reported they didn't like the taste. Authorities are recommending the children be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. Also, some of the children's mouths and faces had large, live Madagascar-type cockroaches on them. This is just stupid and he should never be allowed to teach again.

A tale of two stars

Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov both scored penalties this morning at Old Trafford as Manchester United erased Manchester City’s three-point lead in the title race with a fourth consecutive league win, this time against Stoke City. The final score against Stoke City was 2-0. Three players were booked.

Elementary, my dear bellends

Usually, we have just one bellend to confer the dishonour of Bellend of the Month upon. We’ve had a posthumous award, one that was also the following day’s Weekly Gross-Out, and one that was awarded on the same day as a Weekly Gross-Out, but never more than one.

The co-Bellends of the Month for January 2012 are Kieran and Michele Mulroney. They are the people who wrote the screenplay for the new Sherlock Holmes movie that came out this month. I liked the movie, but either of those bellends could’ve been responsible for writing a scene set in a Romani (Romani is another name for gypsies) encampment somewhere in France. In that scene, which is the worst example of antiziganism since Romanian president Traian Basescu called a journalist a “stinking gypsy” on the same day he survived an impeachment vote, the Romani were depicted as liars and thieves. This is not on because these are very negative stereotypes. It’s just like saying that the Irish drink themselves to excess, or that black people eat fried chicken and do drugs, or that Asians are bad drivers, or that homosexuals are responsible for spreading HIV, or that Jews are greedy and covetous, or that all Muslims are terrorists. I realise Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was from a different time, but NewSouth Books was able to remove the N word and references to “Injuns” from Huckleberry Finn.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: "Honour" killings

A husband and wife originally from Afghanistan have been found guilty in Canada of murdering their three teenage daughters and the father's first wife in a case that the judge described as stemming from a twisted concept of honour. Afghan immigrants Mohammad Shafia and wife Tooba Yahya were convicted along with their eldest son, Hamed, and were sentenced to 25 years in jail without parole for the drownings. The court also heard testimony suggesting that the father had repeatedly clashed with his daughters on many issues, including dating, clothes, and use of the Internet. The daughters ranged in age from 13 to 19, and their bodies were found along with that of Shafia's childless first wife in the family car in a canal after a trip to Niagara Falls. The prosecution alleged that the victims were drowned elsewhere before their bodies were placed in the car and it was pushed into the canal. The concept of an honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or community. However, in carrying out an honour killing, the perpetrators are actually killing their own honour. There is no honour in an honour killing, and nothing in the Koran permits or sanctions this rubbish. The first and most basic right that every Muslim is expected to follow is, in fact, the right to life. As written in the Koran (5:32), That if anyone slays a human being – unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth – it shall be as though he had slain all mankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind. In other news, officials in Kyrgyzstan say almost all prisoners have ended a hunger strike against jail conditions that saw 1,200 inmates across the former Soviet republic's penitentiary service sew their lips together in protest.

Fracks a lot

A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines. To the surviving humans of the sci-fi TV series "Battlestar Galactica," it is used as a substitute for a vulgar curse word. The word is "fracking" — as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long used by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock. It's not in the dictionary, the industry hates it, and President Barack Obama didn't use it in his State of the Union speech — even as he praised federal subsidies for it. The word sounds nasty, and environmental advocates have been able to use it to generate opposition — and revulsion — to what they say is a nasty process that threatens water supplies. I'm on the fence when it comes to fracking because on the one hand, it can threaten water supplies (along with the oil or gas causing pollution), but on the other hand, this can bring in more oil, which is actually quite a valuable source of money in these uncertain economic times. In other news, Man United are out of the FA Cup after Liverpool walloped them 2-1. But at least the Reds beat Man City earlier in the competition.

I'll drink to that, yeah yeah

There's nothing like drinking to a good cause, so why not let Philadelphia bars stay open until 3 a.m. to generate more tax revenue for city schools? That's the idea laid out by City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown on Thursday, a concept that immediately drew criticism. "I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reaction we're going to have is: Absolutely not in this community," said Matt Ruben, president of the board of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. I think this could be a great idea, and if it works, maybe more jurisdictions could let their bars stay open for longer. In fact, an illegal substance like pot could also make a great source of tax revenue if made legal. In other news, the Wall Street Journal, who last year exposed Amy Chua for the bad parent she is, is claiming that restaurants in Japan are serving the finest French food and espresso in the world, citing training that requires baristas to work for two years before serving espresso shots.

At least his house is made of money

An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of around €1,400,000,000; a monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust. Frank Buckley built the apartment in the lobby of a Dublin office building that has lain vacant since its completion four years ago at the peak of an ill-fated construction boom, using bricks of shredded euro notes he borrowed from Ireland's national mint. This is so amazing it would put a double rainbow to shame, especially when the house, whose walls and floor are covered in euro shreddings, is so warm you can sleep without a blanket. Pictures made from notes and coins decorate the walls, including one of a house, made from Irish 5 pence pieces. Even though Mr. Buckley isn't made of money, at least his house is, and if the euro fails as a currency, the notes won't fail as a great insulator. In other news, Karen Samford, a 72-year-old postal worker in Texas, has been suspended from her job after admitting she stole and kept literally truckloads of bulk mail over the last decade. Her boss reportedly became concerned with the excess mail in her office and asked if she had stashed any elsewhere, to which she admitted to renting entire storage units to hold the junk mail.

Smokes on a Plane

Passengers on a United flight operated by Continental Airlines made an unexpected stop in San Antonio last night. That came after a man on the flight apparently couldn't make it the whole way to California without a cigarette. The flight had to be diverted on Tuesday evening because of the unruly passenger who reportedly lit a cigarette in the cabin and refused to put it out, then fought with a flight attendant. There were few details on the man's identity, but KHOU TV of Houston says the FBI took him into custody before Flight 1287 resumed its journey to the airport in Ontario, California. It's a good thing the airline has such a heavy-handed shoulder to cry on, because smoking is just wrong. It's even worse on a plane because the other passengers inside the pressurised cabin will be bothered by the second-hand smoke. There is just no need for tobacco. It's the one crop that should never have been brought back to Europe, because that filthy habit is now a worldwide issue. Marijuana, although illegal, would be a way better substitute for tobacco.

Let them sell bras!

A social revolution began in Saudi Arabia this month, and it has little if anything to do with the Arab Spring: women are going to work in lingerie shops. The Ministry of Labor is enforcing a royal decree issued last summer ordering that sales personnel in shops selling garments and other goods, like cosmetics, that are only for women must be female. More than 28,000 women applied for the jobs, the ministry said. Anywhere else in the world, it would not be news that sales assistants in shops selling panties and bras were female. In Saudi Arabia, where women have always been excluded from the public work force, it is a critical breakthrough. This is not just about intimate garments; this is a milestone on the arduous path to employment equality for women in a country where they are systematically excluded from retail activity. It can be better, because if women are going to work in those shops, they would still need a man to drive them because they are prohibited from driving. This gross discrimination of women is slowly being eroded away, but there's still the issue of voting, running for public office, and driving to pick at.

It's a little too green in Bani Walid

Fighters loyal to Gaddafi took control of a town south-east of Tripoli yesterday, flying their green flags in defiance of Libya's fragile new government. The fightback by Gaddafi supporters defeated in the civil war, though unlikely to spread elsewhere, added to the problems besetting a government which in the past week has been reeling from one crisis to another. This has only happened because the new government doesn't have a law banning certain totalitarian symbols. Germany has a ban on swastikas used outside of an appropriate historical or religious context, and some countries in the former Eastern Bloc have laws banning not only the swastika but also symbols of their communist past. However, the National Transitional Council needs to ban the green flags that are a hallmark of Gaddafi's reign of terror. This new flare-up cannot be tolerated, but neither can the slow speed of reform.

WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Arsenal

And it's a good thing Man United beat those bellends 2-1 during this morning's clash at Emirates Stadium. Manchester City's last-gasp victory over Tottenham ramped up the pressure on the champions ahead of kick-off, but the Reds overcame Arsenal with goals from Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck. Arsenal scored courtesy of Robin van Persie. Six players received yellow cards.

What's a Chinatown without an arch?

Philadelphia's one has a gate. So does Boston's. Montreal's has four, and Ottawa’s is especially pretty. San Francisco’s is made of stone and has slithering dragons on its roof. But Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the most famous in the country, does not have a gateway arch to welcome visitors despite years of planning. OK so suburban and satellite Chinatowns are often arch-free. But Manhattan's is indeed the only large, traditional Chinatown in the U.S. without a gateway. For the sometimes fading enclaves that have them, the colorful gates, known as paifang in Mandarin, are tourist attractions — the backdrop to countless vacation snapshots. Most span a roadway, with lions guarding the sidewalk. In New York, efforts to build an arch have been launched periodically for four decades. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, so it’s a good year to get it started and hopefully get it done. I've been to the Chinatown in Melbourne and that had arches at each of the possible entrances.

Sometimes it only takes 80 cents

Paying your mortgage to the exact penny is important, particularly if you’re on a mortgage modification program and making trial mortgage payments. Tom Mudie, a Florida homeowner, found out the hard way when foreclosure proceedings were going to begin on his home when he was short 80 cents on his second trial mortgage payment due to a typo. Bank of America had approved him for a mortgage modification program and while making a payment by phone, he accidentally punched the number "0" instead of the number "8". So instead of paying the required $615.82, his payment was $615.02. When Mudie realised his mistake, he reached out to a customer service representative who advised him to send the bank a check for the 80 cents, which would apparently rectify the problem. Mudie immediately sent the check alongside his next payment, but the next month, the check for 80 cents was sent back along with his last payment and a letter from Bank of America stating: “Your loan is not eligible for the Fannie Mae modification program because you did not make all the required trial period plan payments by the end of the trial period.” A foreclosure of Mudie’s home was set to go ahead. This is just wrong. While the loan is actually owned by Fannie and being serviced by B of A, these small insignificant human errors can mean home or no home for desperate owners. Eventually, B of A resolved the problem and admitted it made an error, saying Tom is on the way to getting a permanent modification on his mortgage, but this should never have happened. As long as it was just an honest mistake which the borrower intended to fix, I wouldn't foreclose the poor man's house over 80 cents. This is just unethical and unnecessary.

Cyber-bully, prepare to be cyber-blocked!

Criminals who commit offences online and cyber bullies will be banned from the internet as part of the British Government’s new cyber security strategy, which was announced today. It calls for police and courts to make more use of existing “cyber sanctions” to restrict access to the social networks and instant messaging services in cases of hacking, fraud, and online bullying. Sex offenders and those convicted of harrassment or anti-social behaviour also face more internet restrictions under the new strategy. Officials are also looking into whether "cyber tag" technology could be used to monitor offenders and report to authorities if they breach their bail or sentence conditions by using the internet. While not really doing anything to improve this blog's readership, that plan should be put in place in other countries so that the Internet can be a safer place for all.