Category: International

One You Never Saw Coming: Ozzie has Neanderthal Genes

Just Imagine. The man who bites heads off birds and fronted for the hyper-heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, has bits of Neanderthal coursing though his veins. Ozzie Osbourne joins DNA co-discoverer James Watson and Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates as persons having their entire genome sequenced and analyzed. Ozzie it seems has a little segment on his chromosome 10 that very likely traces back to a Neanderthal forebearer. Says the unflappable Ozzie, “”Given the swimming pools of booze I’ve guzzled over the years—not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills, cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol…you name it—there’s really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why.” Brutish determination ,it seems, is the answer.  I am taking up funds to get a similar DNA sequence done for Dick Cheney. Any ideas on his forebearers? Meanwhile here’s some Black Sabbath to tide you over:

Source: Scientific American

–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Tattoo Artists Make News With Crimes on Two Continents

James “Jacob” Thompson, 22, was arrested in Texas on a bizarre mix of charges, including the allegation that he agreed to cut out a teenage girl’s birth control device in her arm before giving her a tattoo. What is amazing is that this may not be the worst tattooing crime recorded this week. Australia may have topped Texas this week in the most bizarre felonious tattoo.
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Quadriplegic Suffers Severe Brain Damage After Nurse Is Shown Turning Off Ventilator

A family in England is looking at a possible torts case with a rare piece of evidence. The family of quadriplegic Jamie Merrett, 37, was already concerned about what they viewed as shoddy nursing care from staff supplied by the NHS Wiltshire Primary Care Trust. To satisfy their concerns, they set up a camera shortly before an incident that left Merrett severely brain damaged. To their shock, the footage showed nurse Violeta Aylward turning off the ventilator system.
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Wilders Trial Thrown Into Disarray After Judges Found To Be Biased

The trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders for his anti-Islamic views has been thrown into disarray after his judges were found to be themselves biased — against Wilder. A verdict from the panel of three judges at the Amsterdam district court was due next week. A re-trial will be scheduled with new judges.
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Banned For Life: English Teaching Council Bans Teacher For Life For Incompetence

For those of us clinging to life tenure as teacher for dear life, Nisar Ahmed is like a nightmare from a parallel universe: he has been banned for life from teaching. General Teaching Council for England decided that it could not risk Ahmed, 46, from ever teaching again so it issued the only known lifetime suspension after a 13-year teaching career.

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Viva Il Talibano: Italian Town To Pass Anti-Blasphemy Law and Ban Both Sunbathing and Miniskirts

Castellammare di Stabia appears eager to join the forces in the West cracking down on free speech and expression. The city is moving toward the passage of a blasphemy law — the subject of prior columns and blog entries on a trend against free speech in the West. The city is also planning to ban miniskirts, sunbathing, and playing football in public places. If nothing else, the move will finally give the Taliban a seaside vacation spot to get away from it all.

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Colgate Palmolive Accused of Patenting Ancient Indian Recipe For Toothpaste

We have previously discussed how some of us view the patent, trademark and copyright laws as running out of control in this country. Now, there is an interesting fight between the United States and India over a move by Colgate Palmolive to patent an ancient recipe for herbal toothpaste. The Indians say that the recipe has been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by Indians and would now be claimed as the property of the company.
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Cafe Owner Ordered To Remove Extractor Fan As Offensive To Muslims Due To Smell Of Bacon

Councillors at Stockport Council in Greater Manchester have a rather broad notion of accommodating religious sensitivities. Acting under its authority of “residential amenity,” the Council has ordered a cafe to remove an extractor fan because the fan blows the smell of food outside, including the smell of bacon that offends Muslim neighbors.
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Randy Quaid and Wife Seek Canadian Asylum To Evade “Hollywood Star-Whackers”

Oscar-nominee Randy Quaid, 60, and his wife Evi, 47, have appeared in Canada with a novel claim for refugee protection — claiming that someone is killing off Quaid’s friends and that the couple needs protection from “Hollywood star-whackers.” Evi has a much better sense of taking a good mugshot.

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Singapore Set To Cane Another American

Singapore is about to cane another American – the first since Michael Peter Fay, then 18, received four cane strokes in 1994 for theft and vandalism. Kamari Charlton is a former Florida State basketball and football star. He was originally arrested for overstaying his visa (beyond the permitted 90 days). The caning is due to the visa violation.
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English Hotelier Left Homeless When Squatters Take Over House

Connan Gupta, 40, a hotelier moved out of his £700,000, five-bedroom home in Camberwell, England for renovations. When he returned, he found the locks changed and Italian squatters occupying his house — with all of his belongings, medication, and possessions inside. He will remain homeless and living with his sister while the courts sort it out.

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