News of the Weird - this just in!

[Nereus]

Rare brain condition leaves woman seeing world upside down

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wo ... side-down/

Bojana Danilovic has what you might call a unique worldview. Due to a rare condition, she sees everything upside down, all the time.

The 28-year-old Serbian council employee uses an upside down monitor at work and relaxes at home in front of an upside down television stacked on top of the normal one that the rest of her family watches.

"It may look incredible to other people but to me it's completely normal," Danilovic told local newspaper Blic.

"I was born that way. It's just the way I see the world."

Experts from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been consulted after local doctors were flummoxed by the extremely unusual condition.

They say she is suffering from a neurological syndrome called "spatial orientation phenomenon," Blic reports.

"They say my eyes see the images the right way up but my brain changes them," Danilovic said.

"But they don't really seem to know exactly how it happens, just that it does and where it happens in my brain.

"They told me they've seen the case histories of some people who write the way I see, but never someone quite like me."

[wpcoe]

Wouldn't it be disorienting for her to watch an inverted TV or monitor, since it is opposite of the rest of her entire visual experiences? I mean, wouldn't she adapt to a world where up (to us) is down (to her) and function within that experience?

[Pleng]

Wouldn't it be disorienting for her to watch an inverted TV or monitor, since it is opposite of the rest of her entire visual experiences? I mean, wouldn't she adapt to a world where up (to us) is down (to her) and function within that experience?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[hhfarang]

Company Offers One-Way Trip to Mars
ABC NewsBy BEN WALDRON | ABC News – 6 hours ago



A Dutch start-up named Mars One is hoping to send a select group of brave astronauts on a one-way trip to the Red Planet in the year 2023 with the aim of establishing a permanent human colony.

If all proceeds as planned, Mars One would launch four astronauts on the interplanetary voyage in 2022, landing the team on the surface of Mars in 2023, after which they would begin constructing the colony. Every two years, a team of four additional astronauts would arrive to reinforce the existing colony.

Founded in 2010 by 36-year-old engineer Bas Lansdorp, Mars One says it has developed a road map and financing plan for the project, and that the mission is perfectly feasible. "Mars One has developed a precise, realistic plan based entirely upon existing technologies," the website says. "It is both economically and logically feasible, in motion through the integration of existing suppliers and experts in space exploration."

Lansdorp told ABC News the primary colony, which will consist of several interlocked modules, will include small bedrooms, a larger common room, and areas for computer and research work. "It will look a lot like an Arctic station," said Lansdorp.

In the years leading up to the astronauts' landing, several cargo missions will take place to prepare the settlement. "Two rovers will move the equipment to the right location to the settlement, which will be habitable before they depart from earth," said Lansdorp. "After they land they will have to do a lot of construction work to make it their new home."

In order to raise the estimated $6 billion required to fund such an ambitious project, Lansdorp says that it hopes to capitalize on vast public interest in a manned mission to Mars by selling global broadcasting rights to the mission.

"The revenue garnered by the London Olympics was almost enough to finance a mission to mars," Lansdorp said. "We believe that if we can make this happen it will be much bigger than the Olympic games."

In effect the entire mission, from the early stages of planning, to the selection of the crew, to the landing and construction of the settlement, would be a massive reality TV show.

Mars One expects to begin the selection process for the astronauts who will be participating in the mission this spring.

"It will be a worldwide search for the best candidates and about six groups of four people will be selected in 2015," Lansdorp said. "From that time on they will be full-time employees of Mars One and they will learn all the hardware, medical skills, how to construct and repair and grow their own food."

Lansdorp says he is expecting over a million applications from prospective Mars One astronauts from around the world. After several application rounds designed to narrow the field and ensure that candidates are qualified, Mars One intends to broadcast the national selection process worldwide as a type of reality TV show, with viewers picking the eventual winners.

"We feel the selection of the first people to go to Mars should be a democratic process, we want to ask the audience 'who do you want as your ambassador to Mars and your envoy for mankind?'"

The project is not without its skeptics, and concerns have been raised about the logistics required to get the astronauts to the Martian surface, and their ability to provide for themselves upon arrival.

"To send people there, with life support, with food, with air, with all the other things that they need, books, entertainment, means of communication, and means of providing for their own resources for a long stay on Mars, that's even more challenging," said Mars expert Dr. Alan Baker of Kingston University in the U.K. in an interview with Reuters. "The sheer size of the rockets you'd need to do this would be absolutely colossal," he said.

But Mars One and Lansdorp remain optimistic, and stressed that the technology required for a one-way trip to Mars already exists.

"We know that we are working on a complex, ambitious project. There will be many hurdles to take, but we are eager to face and overcome those hurdles with the help of our suppliers, advisers and ambassadors," he said.

Note from hhf: I know a few people I would like to get signed up for this...

[PeteC]

Video of the event at the link. Brings a grin, but could have been serious. It sure ruined the evening for a few young ladies. Pete

Reckless boat driver punished

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/3 ... passengers

Published: 5 Apr 2013 at 17.14
Online news: Local News

The driver of a Bangkok commuter boat which churned up waves that swamped passengers on a pier has had his licence suspended and the boat's controller has been fined.

The Marine Department announced the punishments after a video of the incident posted on YouTube stirred outrage among viewers.

Sornsak Saensombat, director-general of Marine Department, said the investigation found the boat driver had been careless in his duty and risked the safety of passengers. His licence was suspended for six months while the person controlling the boat was fined 5,000 baht.

A YouTube user named Manazaa uploaded a video showing the incident, which occurred on April 2 at about 7.30pm.

The clip shows five women standing on Chaan Issara Pier, one of the busiest piers along Klong Saen Saeb, waiting for a boat to pick them up.

The first boat passes without stopping, creating a small wave. It is followed by a second boat just a few seconds later at high speed, apparently racing the other one. It was the second boat that caused huge waves to splash the passengers, knocking two of the women to the ground. No one was injured but three of them were soaked.

Chavalit Methayaprapas, owner of Krobkrua Kon Song, the boat operator, apologised for the incident. He said there was no excuse for the driver's behaviour and the company would take full responsibility for the incident.

He said the two boat drivers told him they had not been racing but they admitted they had left too small a distance between the two boats, which resulted in large waves. Unfortunately, the incident happened when the level of the water was high too. The two drivers have been transferred to work in other position.

The commuter boats on Klong Saen Saep are a popular alternative for many city residents who want to avoid traffic congestion on the roads. The 18-kilometre route between Phan Fa Bridge in Phra Nakhon district and Wat Sibunrueang in Bang Kapi has been in operation since 1990 and serves as many as 100,000 trips a day.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in March started a trial service of the 11-km extension from Wat Sibunrueang to Min Buri district, with free service to be provided until Aug 13.

[GLCQuantum]

CHINESE authorities have blocked people searching for pictures of the official Communist Party newspaper — because it looks like a giant penis.
The newly erected People’s Daily building in Beijing, which is under construction and has the top part covered in scaffolding, has raised sniggers on Chinese social network Sina Weibo.
Now a search on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, for the phrases ‘People’s Daily’ and ‘building’; sends back a message saying the search has been blocked ‘In accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies.’

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... z2SmSE6VsR

[PeteC]

You couldn't make this stuff up no matter how hard you tried. Pete


Mechanics held for stomping on police dummy

Published: 12 May 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Two air-conditioning mechanics were arrested yesterday for allegedly attacking a traffic police dummy in Phitsanulok's Wang Thong district after they mistook it for a real law enforcement officer.

Somyos Boonthawee and Thanet Panthawong were charged with kicking and stomping on the dummy, known as Ja Choei or idle sergeant, close to Wang Thong market on Monday evening.

The two men were drunk as they rode a motorcycle past the market. Mr Somyos suddenly stopped his motorcycle when he saw the dummy, mistaking it for a real officer.

The two men were worried that they might be required to take a breathalyser test.

However, when they realised it was not a real officer, they became frustrated and attacked the dummy, breaking off its head and arms.

The incident was photographed by a passer-by who sent the pictures to police. The men were charged with damaging state property.

Police also ordered Mr Somyos and Mr Thanet to redeem themselves by apologising to the damaged dummy.

They were later released on bail.

[STEVE G]

.......when they realised it was not a real officer, they became frustrated and attacked the dummy, breaking off its head and arms.

I'm left wondering what they would of done with a real police officer!

[pharvey]

MoD launches appeal to find two men pictured carrying 'unexploded bombs'

The Ministry of Defence has launched an appeal to find two men photographed walking in Dorset with two "unexploded bombs" on their shoulders.

The men were spotted near Worbarrow Bay "nonchalantly" walking awawy from the beach holding the 120-millimetre tank shells.

A shocked woman, who has not been named, took a photograph of the men with her mobile phone, saying:

“I thought they were carrying rugs, but as they walked past, I saw they were enormous shells" she said.

“I was with somebody who used to be in the Army and he said that because their ends were intact, they were unexploded,” she said.

“I was really scared. As they were walking past, my little girl was alongside them. They could have gone on the Sandbanks Ferry or on the motorway. I just think they’re idiots.”

The shells were found on the 7,000-acre Lulworth Military Range used by the Army for tank firing practice.

It is not yet certain whether they are live bombs, but it is thought the two men took them hoping to sell them for scrap metal.

A spokesman for the MoD said the shells would have probably been fired from a Chieftain tank or a Wombat anti-tank rifle used by the Army during the Cold War.

He said: "The MoD takes the safety of the public extremely seriously and all pathways at Lulworth Ranges that are open to the public are cleared of military debris, including shells, before access is permitted.

"A number of signs have been placed on-site warning members of the public of the dangers of venturing from authorised pathways and removing shells.

"Unfortunately there are instances where these warnings are ignored.

"The MoD urges public using the ranges to keep to the designated pathways and be advised that it is extremely dangerous to touch any military material they may find.

"These shells are not something anyone should be picking up."

[pharvey]

Who said Christianity wasn't fun.............

Priest brands Archbishop of Canterbury a 'w****r' in Facebook posting as tempers flare over gay marriage

Capture.PNG (124.96 KiB) Viewed 859 times

A furious row has erupted among members of the clergy after a Church of England priest branded the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a "w****r" for resisting the government's attempts to legalise gay marriage.

The attack, by the Revd Marcus Ranshaw, came after Archbishop Welby warned that the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill would effectively "abolish" the traditional institution of marriage, the "cornerstone" of society.

In an angry posting on Facebook last night, the Revd Ramshaw, a supporter of gay marriage, wrote: "what really upsets me is nasty people such as Justin Welby robbing me of my faith in the church, he does not speak in my name and i think he is a wanker, but im not going to stop being a christian or a priest."

But he was swiftly taken to task by the Revd Arun Arora, the Director of Communications for the Church of England, who posted: "Calling another Christian a w****r doesn't work for me as a priestly response," and went on to add: "I think any right-minded person would find a priest calling his archbishop an onanist to be utterly outrageous."

[Dannie Boy]

Twenty-eight UK expats and holiday-makers have been fined after police in Portugal swooped on a bar where a game of bingo was being played for biscuits.

Landlady Marianne Pittaway, from North Yorkshire, was fined 700 euros (£595) for hosting the game at The Yorkshire Tavern in Albufeira, on Friday night.

Ms Pittaway, 34, also received a four-month suspended prison sentence.

She said she was "still in shock" and that the country's regulations were "wrong in a lot of aspects".

Ms Pittaway, who has been in Portugal for eight years, said her bar would "definitely not" be staging bingo again following Friday's raid.


When we tried to leave three of the guys, who were armed police, actually made a barricade in front of us”

Lee Williams
The 28 appeared in court in Albufeira earlier to face charges of "exploitation of illegal gambling, illegal gambling and witnessing illegal gambling", according to the police.

Even some of the people in the bar who were not playing bingo were fined 150 euros (£125) and given a three-month suspended sentence for "witnessing illegal gambling".

Organisers of bingo in Portugal have to apply for a government licence.

'Just a joke'
Speaking ahead of her court appearance, Ms Pittaway, originally from York, said: "I put on the bingo for some entertainment and a bit of fun. We were only playing for some biscuits and drinks.

"One minute we were all playing, having a bit of fun and then we were just bundled off in three police vans and taken to the police station."

Some of the people in the bar when it was raided by the police were not required to appear in court.

Among them were Lee Williams and Claire Fairhurst, from Wigan, who were not involved in the bingo. The couple were allowed to return to the UK.

Mr Williams said: "When we tried to leave three of the guys, who were armed police, actually made a barricade in front of us and told us were not allowed to leave and that we had to go to the police station to be read our rights and that we were being arrested as part of an illegal gambling group.

"I've had a lot of ribbing from my mates - I'm sick of hearing people saying 'eyes down' or 'house' - you've just got to smile about it, really."

In a statement, Portuguese police, Faro GNR, said the action had been carried out following "information reported by anonymous citizens".

It said officers found people were playing "games of luck and chance" outside an authorised place.

[Siani]

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A Thai man is keeping more than 4,600 scorpions as pets to atone for the years he spent cooking the arachnids to sell as snacks.

Scorpions, insects and worms are commonly eaten in Thailand, especially in the northern regions.

But after years of serving up scorpions, Suang Puangsri, a practicing Buddhist, felt it was time to befriend them instead.

"Although I was happy to have money, I felt suffering deep inside as they were being harmed by me," he told Reuters. "I felt scared that I was committing a sin."

The 38-year-old has given up the bottom floor of his two-storey home to the scorpions, who scuttle about a 6 meter by 5 meter (19 ft by 16 ft) enclosure decorated with branches and stone so that very little light and heat come in.

Suang buys up to one kg of live cicadas and other inspects daily to feed his pets, who have stung him so many times that he says he is immune to their venom.

He also spends at least an hour every day meditating inside the enclosure, often placing scorpions in his mouth.

Suang's pets have attracted a few tourists to his sleepy town of Fark Ta in the northern province of Uttaradit, and he now makes a living by selling figurines and stone carvings of ants, frogs, turtles and Buddhas.

Although the $570 he earns a month is a far cry from the $860 he made selling cooked scorpions, he and his family are content.

"I feel good about what is he doing. I didn't like it when he made the scorpions suffer. I'm not scared of those scorpions, but I don't dare touch them," said Suang's wife, Lampoon Pimtoom.

Suang is so determined to atone for his past sins that he even buys scorpions from other people who want to sell them to restaurants. When the arachnids become too many, he and his son release a few hundred back into the forest.

Suang's fixation with scorpions is unusual, but not totally unheard of in Thailand.

Earlier this year a Thai woman went into the record books for spending 33 days and nights with 5,000 live scorpions. She also held a 7-inch live scorpion in her mouth for 2 minutes and 3 seconds.

[PeteC]

Insanity personified.

[buksida]

Young Thais need larger condoms
The government plans to purchase more large-sized condoms, to cater for the growing needs of Thai men under 30 years of age.

Pornthep Siriwanarangsun, director-general of the Disease Prevention and Control Department, said on Friday that the Ministry of Public Health is looking to buy more condoms with a width of 54 millimetres to satisfy the needs of younger users.

"More Thai men are now over 170 centimetres tall and exceed 70 kilogrammes in weight. They can no longer use condoms with sizes of 49mm and 52mm," Dr Pornthep said.

"Small condoms make them feel uncomfortable and eventually they won't use them."

He said about 43,000 people were likely to be infected with HIV between 2012 and 2016. Encouraging people to use condoms with others who are not their normal partners would help reduce the rate of HIV infection.

The health ministry will also encourage people who are at high risk of catching HIV to have blood tests. Those found to be infected will be promptly treated to prevent the spread of infection, he said.

About 230 million condoms are sold nationwide each year but the ministry and the National Health Security Office can provide only 40 million condoms annually. The campaign needs more support from the public and private sectors, he said.

"The amount of money needed to finance this campaign is actually very little. A person who is infected may have to spend money getting treatment for the rest of his or her life.

"The government also has to spend more money providing this treatment," Dr Pornthep said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... h-ministry

[Big Boy]

Confused Xerox copiers rewrite documents, expert finds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23588202

Damned software wouldn't let me copy the story