Big breast helps to win verdict

She used to hate her body so much. To her, her 44-inch bust was a burden. But this time, it was her breast that helps her to overturn a court verdict. The bikini model and actress, who goes by her professional name Serena Kozakura, was cleared after a court decided she was too well-endowed to squeeze into a room through a hole, as she had been found guilty of earlier.

Kozakura 38, was charged with having kicked down the door of a man's apartment after she had been kicked out following an argument with another woman there in November 2006. In July last year, the Tokyo District Court found her guilty of willful destruction of property, but she appealed against the conviction.

During the appeal hearing, the court heard testimony from the man and a witness who both said Kozakura had kicked a hole in the door, through which she wriggled through to re-enter the apartment. The hole in the door was a rectangular shape 72 centimeters long by 22 centimeters wide. But Kozakura has a 101-centimeter bust and her breasts alone extend out 29 centimeters from her chest bone.

The appeal hearing conducted a reconstruction of the alleged crime and found that it would have been extremely difficult for Kozakura to squeeze through the hole in the door as witnesses testified she had. Further doubt was cast on the validity of the man's testimony because the clothes she had been wearing at the time of the incident were not damaged as they would have been had she gone through the hole, nor did her feet show any signs of marks that would have occurred had she kicked the door.

Tokyo High Court presiding judge Kunio Harada agreed and threw out the guilty verdict on Monday, saying there was reasonable doubt over the man's account. Kozakura was delighted by the ruling. "I lost work after being charged, but justice prevailed in the end," she said at a news conference she held in Tokyo after the conviction was overturned. "I was always worried about being a bit fat, but this time I was glad."

Source : www.news.com.au

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World record nobody wishes to attempt

This is one world record that nobody wishes to neither attempt nor break. That's because this record is about "Greatest Distance Thrown in a Car Accident" and is currently held by Matthew McKnight. The 29-year-old record-holder lived to tell about being thrown 118 feet by a car that hit him while traveling about 70 mph. He was struck on Oct. 26, 2001, while trying to help accident victims along Interstate 376 in Monroeville, about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh.

He suffered two dislocated shoulders plus a broken shoulder, pelvis, leg and tailbone. He spent two weeks in the hospital and 80 days in rehab before returning to work in April 2002. McKnight is a volunteer firefighter and paramedic, though he was not on duty when he stopped to help the accident victims. He works full-time as a communications specialist at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

McKnight's emergency room physician, Dr. Eric Brader, submitted paperwork for the record, which Guinness recognized in 2003. It was not listed in the book until the 2008 edition, however. "I thought it was a big joke. Dr. Brader is known for joking around a lot," McKnight told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "But when he brought (the paperwork) to me, I saw how serious he was." Mcknight hopes that nobody will ever break his record for a good reason.


Source : MSNBC News

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The real Papa Smurf

Fourteen years ago, Paul Karason developed a bad case of dermatitis, which results in swollen, reddened and itchy skin. He started self-medicating, using a treatment called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. Instead of curing him, it turned him into a real life Papa Smurf!

The substance is usually consumed orally but Mr Karason also decided to rub it into his peeling skin to accelerate the effects. According to the 57-year-old, his skin slowly turned blue that neither he nor he friends noticed the change at first. "The change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and other people around me likewise," said Karason. "It wasn't until a friend I hadn't seen in several months came by my parent's place to see me and he asked me 'what did you do?.'"

Karason, who recently moved from Oregon to Madera, California, said it hasn't been easy living with blue skin. He try to avoid public places as much as he can. Karason made the move in hopes of fitting in a little better. "I hope that they just accept me," he said, "And I think that will happen here. Where I was, I rather doubt it would have. This is different kind of community here." So far, Karason hasn't sought any medical attention for his condition. When he was asked if he's still drinking the colloidal silver, he said yes, but much less.

The FDA does not consider colloidal silver safe or effective to treat any disease or condition. In fact, taking it could have serious side effects such as Argyria, an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of your skin, nails and gums; Seizures and other neurological problems; Kidney damage; Indigestion; Headaches; Fatigue and Skin irritations.

Source : Fox News

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Chimp vs. Human - Chimps won!

Young chimps have been competed against university students in laboratory tests of working memory and unbelievablely the chimps outsmarted humans. The assumption that the brain of a human can outperform that of close relatives is overturned today by a study that adds to research that brings chimpanzees closer to humans.

Young chimpanzees have an "extraordinary" ability to remember numerals that is superior to that of human adults. "There are still many people, including many biologists, who believe that humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.

Prof Matsuzawa, a pioneer in studying the mental abilities of chimps, said even he was surprised by the results of his study. He and colleague Sana Inoue report the findings in the journal Current Biology. "No one can imagine that chimpanzees-young chimpanzees at the age of five-have a better performance in a memory task than humans.

The chimps' memory ability is reminiscent of what scientists call "eidetic imagery", a special ability to retain a detailed and accurate image of a complex scene or pattern. Such a "photographic memory" is known to be present in some normal human children, and then the ability declines with the age, he added.

Prof Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews commented: "I have seen Prof Matsuzawa's chimpanzees performing this task and one's first response is 'that's impossible!' because they remember a sequence of numerals so well and 'list' them so fast. I have also attempted the task myself and my limited recall only underlines how extraordinary is the apes' achievement."

In the new work, the researchers took three pairs of mother and infants and taught them Arabic numerals from 1 to 9. They were then pitted them against university students in a memory task. The chimps or humans were briefly presented with various numerals from 1 to 9 on a touch-screen monitor. Those numbers were then replaced with blank squares, and the test subject had to remember which numeral appeared in which location and touch the squares in the appropriate order.

Nine university students, three young chimpanzees and the chimps' mothers were tested. In the hardest tests, where numbers are flashed for 0.21 seconds on a screen, the star five-year-old chimp averaged 80 percent accuracy, double that of the university students. The young chimpanzees could grasp many numerals at a single glance, with no change in performance as the hold duration - the amount of time that the numbers remained on the screen - was varied. In general, the performance of the three young chimpanzees was better than that of their mothers and also all of the students.

One chimp, Ayumu, did the best. The researchers believe that the young chimps' newfound ability to top humans in the numerical memory task is "just a part of the very flexible intelligence of young chimpanzees".

Source : news.nationalgeographic.com

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M. Schumacher the fastest taxi driver

When one cabbie in southern Germany apparently was not driving fast enough, his customer, former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, took the wheel himself. The seven-times world champion shocked a cab driver by taking over the wheel in order to be on time for a flight.

Schumacher, 38, flew into the aerodrome at the Bavarian town of Coburg on Saturday and took a taxi to the village of Gehuelz, 30 kilometres away, to pick up a new puppy - an Australian Shepherd dog called "Ed". But when the former Formula One ace, plus his wife and two children, caught a taxi back to the airport they were short on time and, afer a polite request, cab driver Tuncer Yilmaz watched in wonder as Schumacher took the wheel.

"I found myself in the passenger seat, which was strange enough, but to have "Schumi" behind the wheel of my cab was incredible, he drove at full throttle around the corners and over-took in some unbelievable places." Mr Yilmaz was well rewarded for the unusual journey - on top of the 60 euros (88 US dollars) fare, he was also given a 100 euros (146 US dollars) tip.

Schumacher’s spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, confirmed the story. She said Schumacher had flown in from Switzerland on Saturday on his private jet to buy a puppy from a breeder in the town of Gesuelz. The German track ace, who now lives in Switzerland, retired from Formula One in 2006 after a glittering career and, despite test drives for his old team Ferarri, has insisted there is no chance of a return to racing.

Source : BBC News

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Kill with a kiss

A woman has been sentenced to death for killing her lover with a kiss! Xia Xinfeng and her childhood sweetheart, Mao Ansheng, swore an oath that if either was unfaithful, they would have to die. Xia took action after she saw her man talking to a woman in a way that made her suspicious, a court in Henan province, central China, was told.

They had arranged to meet the next day at a public bath-house. She filled a plastic pellet with rat poison, hid it under her tongue, and while they were kissing, nudged it into his mouth. Mao failed to notice it, swallowed it and died shortly afterwards.

Rat poison is one of the common methods of murder and suicide in China, so much so that one variety, "dushuqiang" was banned three years ago. In one case, a widow used it to kill 10 guests, with whom she had been engaged in a feud, at her husband's funeral banquet.

Despite the crackdown, however, besides Xin Xinfeng, a couple from Yunnan province, Chen Lihua and Huang Jianxiao, were also sentenced to death this week, suspended for two years, for lacing their respective spouses' dinners with rat poison.

Source : The Shanghai Daily

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Anencephaly - Neckless baby

Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without a forebrain, the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebral hemispheres.

Such is the case that happens in Nepal as it is reported by eKantipur.com. The birth of a bizarre-looking baby in Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha district, drew a huge number of onlookers to witness the astonishing sight. The neck-less baby with its head almost totally sunk into the upper part of the body and with extraordinarily large eyeballs literally popping out of the eye-sockets, was born to Nir Bahadur Karki and Suntali Karki at the Gaurishnkar Hospital in Charikot.

The bizarre baby, however, died after half an hour of its birth, Suntali, the mother, informed. It was taken to the hospital after its death. The news about such a baby being brought to the hospital spread like wildfire and there were hundreds gathered at the hospital to have a look. The police had to be deployed to control the crowd.

"We wouldn't have been able to save it, even if it had been brought here alive" said a nurse attending to the mother at the hospital, adding "This is an extremely abnormal case". The baby weighed 2kg at birth and was born after the normal nine-month gestation period.

Suntali, already a mother of two normal daughters, was not suffering from any illness during the pregnancy. Nir Bahadur, the father, says he does not feel any remorse for the newly-born baby's death. I am happy that nothing happened to my wife, he said.

Note : Though Anencephaly does exist, the story and the 2nd attached photos authenticity is undetermined. Also, it was not known why the baby was paraded.

Source : library.med.utah.edu
Source : kantipuronline.com

Tags : Anencephaly cephalic disorder neck-less baby disorder Nepal Gaurishnkar Hospital

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It's dove at first sight

It's like a tale straight out of Disney. An abandoned baby monkey, close to death, is revived by the love of a bird. The 12-week-old macaque was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Guangdong Province, China, after being abandoned by his mother.

Taken to an animal hospital, he was weaned back to physical health but still showed little appetite for life. It was not until a fellow patient, a white pigeon, took him under her wing and showed him love and affection that he perked up.

The blossoming relationship helped to revive the baby macaque who has developed a new lease of life, say staff at the sanctuary. Now the unlikely duo are never far from each other's side.

Source : dailymail.co.uk

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Rich bitch Trouble in trouble

Trouble is a white Maltese dog that inherited $12 million from late New York hotelier Leona Helmsley since she passed away in August 2007. But now, Trouble is really in trouble after receiving about 20 death threats. And Trouble was flown on a private jet to Florida two months ago to throw her pursuers off the track.

Helmsley cut two of her four grandchildren out of her will, but established a $US12 million trust fund for Trouble. The dog used to live in luxury in a 46th-floor apartment on top of the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, eating food prepared by the hotel chefs.

The will stipulated that Helmsley's 80-year-old brother should care for her beloved pet, but he refused to do so and it passed to the care of her staff. John Codey, who manages the dog's trust fund, said the cost of Trouble's security, medical care, chef-cooked meals and grooming was about $300,000 a year.

"We were alarmed by the number of threats - 20 to 30, something of that order," said Helmsley's former aide John Codey. He told CBS's Early Show that blackmailers had threatened: "I'm gonna kill the dog. I'm gonna kidnap the dog. I need the $12 million."

Trouble's penchant for biting people has earned her many enemies over the years, but Mr Codey said he had been astonished at the animosity toward her. "I think the reaction was really quite bizarre," he said. Mr Codey said the 2kg pooch had a rotating security team and used an alias when she flew out of Connecticut.

When Trouble dies, any remaining money from her trust will go to the charitable foundations that inherited the lion's share of Ms Helmsley's estimated $US4 billion estate.

Source : BBC News
For previous written article about Trouble, click here

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Bigfoot appear in a smaller form?

Natasha, a black Macaque in the Safari Park Zoo near Tel Aviv, Israel surprised scientist by the difference between her from others Macaque. Black Macaque, like others monkey usually walks on all four and occasionally they will walk upright for a short period of time. Natasha walks upright all the time, bearing similarity to the walking style of the legendary creature Bigfoot with not such a big foot.

In 2004, Natasha went through a death experience, a stomach ailment that almost killed her. She and three other monkeys were diagnosed with severe stomach flu. At the zoo clinic, she slipped into critical condition. The veterinarian Igal Horowitz that's treating Natasha said "I was sure that she was going to die," he said. "She could hardly breathe, and her heart was not functioning properly."

After intensive treatment, Natasha's condition began to stabilize. But a day after she was released from the clinic, she soon starts to walk upright from this day onwards. Horowitz was baffled, and said that the possible explanations to her advanced evolution of movement might due to her brain being damaged from the illness. Probably she thought that she has become Bigfoot. But apart from her evolutional walking style, her others monkey behavior remain unchanged.

Source : MSNBS News
Source : CBC News

Tags : Natasha Black Macaque Macaque Tel Aviv Safari Park Zoo walk upright human evolution bipedal Bigfoot

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Dead priest image appeared on a book about him

A "spooky" image of a priest executed for treason over the Gunpowder Plot has appeared on a 17th century book thought to be bound in his skin, it is claimed. Auctioneers said the face of Father Henry Garnet could be seen peering from the cover of the "rare and macabre" book about the Jesuit priest's death.

The item will go under the hammer at Wilkinson's Auctioneers in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on Sunday. Garnet, was hanged in May 1606 for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot. Sid Wilkinson, from Wilkinson's Auctioneers, said: "It's a little bit spooky because the front of the book looks like it has the face of a man on it, which is presumed to be the victim's face."

The book, called A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors, Garnet, a Jesuit and his Confederates, was published in 1606 just after his execution. The lot is considered so unusual there is no reserve price attached to it. Garnet's involvement in the plot to kill King James I was controversial. He claimed he knew about the conspiracy but was not involved.

Some scholars now believe he had been trying to prevent the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament rather than conspiring to kill the King. According to legend, a piece of bloodstained straw found at the scene of his execution started to develop an exact image of the priest's face.

Source : BBC News

Tags : Father Henry Garnet A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors King James I Gunpowder Plot conspiracy Jesuit image priest book 1606 executed

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Shark is not the top predators

The North Pacific Giant Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is a large cephalopod belonging to the genus Enteroctopus. It can be found in the coastal Pacific Northwest, usually around the depth of 65 meters (about 213 ft.). It can, however, live in much shallower or much deeper waters. It is arguably the largest octopus species, based on a scientific record of a 71 kg (156.5 lb) individual weighed live.

Octopuses are thought to be one of the most intelligent invertebrates and can change the color and texture of their skin to blend in with rocks, algae, or coral to avoid predators. Some species of octopus have been reported to unscrew jar lids to retrieve food and mimic the behaviors of other octopuses and also other sea creatures such as sea snakes and lion fish. Giant Pacific Octopuses are capable of solving complex puzzles. This species of octopus commonly preys upon shrimp, crabs, scallops, abalones, clams, and fish. It procures food with its suckers, which is then crushed with its tough "beaks" of chitin.

The Giant Octopus is extremely calm and they held a regular spot on display at the Seattle aquarium over the years. Then the keepers decided to move one of the Giant Octopus in to a large tank filled with sharks and other big fish. They purposely picked a larger octopus fearing that it'll get killed by predators like shark. They assumed that the octopus strength and camouflage would keep it safe. As it turns out, they were tragically mistaken.

Since then, each week keepers were finding shark carcasses in the bottom of the tank. The 3-4 foot sharks kept vanishing at an alarming rate. Curious by the fact that the so called top of the food chain was defeated by an unknown predator, the keepers decided to stay up and film the culprit. To their surprise, the predator is none other than the Giant Octopus! They learned some thing about this species they never imagine. It was a big surprise to find out that sharks were taken by octopus, a mere invertebrate. Now school books might need to re-categorize top predators.

Source : marine.alaskapacific.edu
Watch Video at nationalgeographic.com

Tags : North Pacific Giant Octopus Pacific Northwest shark predator prey eaten Seattle aquarium

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Man with tree roots limbs

Dede, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has become an outcast where he lives in the village of Tanjung Jaya, about 150 km south of the capital Jakarta. As a teenager, he first noticed warts growing on his body after he cut his knee. The 35-year-old was sacked from his job and deserted by his wife after wart roots started to grow from his hands and feet.

Now known as "Tree Man", his incredibly long warts on his hands and feet that resemble tree roots is baffling many experts about the cause of his condition, and believed to be a life-threatening. An US expert now believes that Dede may be cured from the condition. According to reports, Dr Anthony Gaspari from the University of Maryland, after testing his blood and found that the growths are the result of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

The Indonesian man says he is unable to work or travel anywhere and is forced to stay at his parent's home because his hands and feet are so heavy and cumbersome due to the growths. He said "First it felt itchy and some warts appeared on my feet. I neglected it and then growths started appearing quickly, covering my whole body". Dr. Gaspari has proposed a treatment plan for Dede and hopes to clear up the condition with daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A.

Source : telegraph.co.uk

Tags : Dede Indonesia Indonesian Tanjung Jaya Jakarta Tree Man Human Papilloma Virus HPV Anthony Gaspari

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Solving crimes by hearing only

Sacha Van Loo is not your typical cop. Although he is not entitled to carry a gun on the job or to make arrests, he is one of only six people in a special police force in Belgium. Van Loo is one of Europe's newest weapons in the global fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. A blind Sherlock Holmes whose disability allows him to pick up clues sighted detectives does not see.

Van Loo, 36, who has been blind since birth, is one of six blind police officers in a pioneering unit specializing in transcribing and analyzing surveillance recordings in criminal investigations. He also speaks seven languages, including Russian and Arabic.

The blind police unit, which became operational in June, originated after Van Thielen heard about a blind police officer in the Netherlands. Van Thielen was looking for ways to improve community outreach, and he hoped that blind people would prove more adept than the sighted at listening to surveillance recordings and interpreting them.

But his sense of hearing is so acute that Paul Van Thielen, a director at the Belgian Federal Police, compared his powers of observation to those of a superhero. When the police eavesdrop on a suspected terrorist making a phone call, Van Loo can identify the number instantly by listening to the tones. By hearing the sound of a voice echoing off a wall, he can deduce whether a suspect is speaking from an airport lounge or a crowded restaurant. And from the purr of an engine on a wiretap, he can discern whether a suspect is driving a Peugeot, a Honda or a Mercedes.

"I have had to train my ear to know where I am," Van Loo said. "It is a matter of survival to cross the street or get on a train. Some people can get lost in background noise, but as a blind man I divide hearing into different channels. It is these details that can be the difference between solving and not solving a crime."

"Being blind has forced me to develop my other senses, and my power as a detective rests in my ears," he said from his office at the Belgian Federal Police, where a bullet-riddled piece of paper from a recent target-shooting session was proudly displayed on the wall. "Being blind also requires recognizing your limitations," he added with a smile, noting that a sighted trainer guided his hands during target practice "to make sure no one got wounded."

Grappling with his blindness, he says, has also given him the thick emotional skin necessary for dealing with the job's stresses. "I have overheard criminals plotting to commit murder, drug dealers making plans to drop off drugs, men beating each other up," Van Loo said. "Being blind helps not to let it get to me, because I have to be tough."

To accommodate the new blind officers in the police station, they've installed elevators with voice-activated buttons and issued each blind officer a special computer equipped with a Braille keyboard and a system that translates images on the screen into sound. When Van Loo goes outside, he carries a compact police-issued global positioning system device with a voice that directs him to his destination, street by street.

Source : abcnews.go.com

Tags : Sacha Van Loo blind Sherlock Holmes blind police unit Belgium police officer blind

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Thieves stole entire railway stop

In Kelantan, East Coast of Malaysia, usual train passengers were shocked to discover that the shelter at the train stop station that they frequented has disappeared entirely! Suddenly they found themselves exposed to the elements when the metal thieves had carted off the entire railway stop at Pekan Tok Uban, near Pasir Mas, Kelantan.

Confirming this, KTMB east coast manager Ibrahim Sulaiman said that two weeks ago thieves, keen on extracting the steel components, removed a store and stop sign that indicated the stopping point for trains in Pekan Tok Uban. He said the company was deeply concerned over the growing theft of its equipment. It had lodged a police report since.

In recent years, as the cost of steel rises, the number of theft in the country has increased dramatically. They will striped down power plant, telephone booth together with the copper wires, parking meters, street signs, window frames from abandoned building and scout around any other source that has metals.

Because of ineffectiveness and insufficient support from the police forces, every year government loses millions of RM (approx. US$1 = RM 3.40) just to repair and replace the stolen items, and wait to be stolen again. Ibrahim appealed to villagers to keep a lookout for the thieves. He hoped that a comprehensive plan must be in place to tackle these problems as soon as possible as one day the thieves might be bold enough to cut away the entire