News of the Weird, February 24, 2008
Minister Chuck
by Chuck Shepherd
Lead Story
* Several Duke University campus organizations, including the
Women's Center, the Student Health Center, and the Women's
Studies Department, sponsored a "Sex Workers Art Show" on
February 3rd, at which nearly-nude "artists" danced for students
and others while vulgarly criticizing America via acts such as a
woman's pretending to eat excreted dollar bills and a man's
kneeling with an American flag inserted in his rear end. Two years
ago, Duke's men's lacrosse team was vilified by the Duke
administration and faculty merely for hiring two female strippers
for a party (from which emanated false charges of rape and the
eventual disbarment of the local district attorney). A University
spokesman explained to a National Journal reporter that the recent
show was acceptable because it was "art" and "social
commentary," rather than male-bonding entertainment. [National
Journal, 2-11-08; Raleigh News & Observer, 2-6-08]
Cultural Diversity
* Brand-new Japanese parents receiving a gift are then customarily
obligated to give a lesser one in return, and the Yoshimiya rice
shop in Fukuoka recently created the ideal such return: small bags
of rice of the exact weight of the newborn, printed with its face and
name, so that original gift-givers (relatives, friends) can experience
cuddling "the baby." Then, of course, according to Yoshimiya's
owner, they can break open the bag and eat the rice, though he
admitted some people have a problem with that. [Reuters, 1-8-07]
* "We sleep with the snakes [meaning, cobras], we eat with the
snakes, we live with the snakes [but] we are not scared," said the
14-year-old girl in a village near Calcutta, India, to a Wall Street
Journal reporter in November. Said a village leader, "Whenever I
lie down in my bed, a cobra will just slide on top of me, without
hurting me." In fact, more than 3,000 cobras live in one hamlet,
mostly in peace, with few bite victims (though a cobra bite is often
fatal because villagers initially trust the gods and spirit doctors to
treat them). Cobras are so revered in the village that cobra bites
are usually described as attacks by vipers or by "nonresident"
cobras, based on a belief that local cobras are incapable of evil.
[Wall Street Journal, 11-26-07]
* There is usually a well-stocked Red Cross tent when the January
"corralejas" (amateur bullfights) take place in towns in the
Colombian countryside, reported the New York Times in January.
"This year was calm, no deaths yet," said a newscaster in Sincelejo.
Hundreds of wannabe matadors jump into makeshift rings, some
sponsored by local merchants but others merely inebriated or sober
and foolish, some gaudily dressed, some in bunches (with one
group even picknicking). Wrote the Times, "A stream of men
arrived" in the Red Cross tent, "intestines peeking out of a belly,
bone protruding from a fractured shin, blood spurting from a gash
in the buttocks." Said a local, "This is about the ecstasy of
escaping death." [New York Times, 1-24-08]
Latest Religious Messages
* Lord Balaji was a locally-popular Hindu god in Hyderabad, India,
until a few years ago when a priest noticed that more of his
worshipers were complaining that valuable U.S. professional "H-
1B" visas were harder to get. Overnight, Balaji was transformed
from a purveyor of general prosperity to the "visa god,"
specializing in lucky H-1Bs, and the temple now draws 100,000
visitors a week. Said one, to a Wall Street Journal reporter in
December, "I've never heard of anyone who's gone to the temple
whose visa [application] got rejected" (even though typical advice
from priest C.S. Gopala Krishna is simply to walk around the
temple "11 times"). [Wall Street Journal, 12-31-07]
Questionable Judgments
* In December, even after the widely-reported tiger attack on a
visitor at the San Francisco Zoo, the Houston (Tex.) Zoo was still
allowing its visitors to play "tug of war" with its own lions and
tigers. A 20-pound slab of meat, attached to a long rope, is tossed
into the enclosure, and visitors are encouraged to toy with the cats
by yanking on it as the animal lunges for it. Said a Houston
zookeeper, the game keeps the animals from getting bored.
Besides, a zoo official said, "[The lion or tiger] kind of lets us
know when he wants to play, and we go along with that." [KVUE-
TV (Austin), 1-9-08]
* Two counselors in the Denver (Colo.) school system proposed in
December that the school board give high school girls who get
pregnant at least four weeks of maternity leave, without academic
penalty, so they can bond with their newborns. The counselors
said the policy would encourage teen mothers to stay in school.
(Meanwhile, the Department of Education of the Australian Capital
Territory in Canberra granted permission for a 16-year-old student
at Stromlo High School to take smoking breaks, based on a
doctor's finding that she is so "clinically addicted" to nicotine that
her work suffers without it.) [Denver Post, 1-7-08] [Sunday
Telegraph (Sydney), 11-4-07]
* A teacher at Yamata Elementary School in Yokohama, Japan,
was disciplined in January after a finding that she improperly
punished her class because a few students would not come to order.
Officials said she lined up all students and walked down the row,
slapping each one in the face. [Mainichi Daily News, 1-12-08]
Family Values
* (1) Geraldine Magda, 44, was arrested in Austin, Minn., in
January, following a nursing-home visit to hold the hand of her
dying sister in her final hours. Magda was charged with stealing
the wedding ring from her sister's finger during the hand-holding.
(2) A Chicago man traveled to Sheboygan, Wis., in December to
finally meet the 18-year-old woman who was his biological
daughter, but during the same visit, he was arrested and charged
with sexually assaulting her while she was sleeping. [Star Tribune
(Minneapolis), 1-4-08] [WTMJ Radio (Milwaukee)-AP, 12-8-07]
The Weirdo-American Community
* In December, street performer John Domingue said the
Huntington Beach, Calif., police have finally stopped hassling him
for soliciting tips at the city's famous Pier Plaza when he
demonstrates his skill at hammering nails into his nose without
serious injury. (Some bleeding results, which is why police said
they stopped him in the first place.) The American Civil Liberties
Union said it is watching the case, citing Domingues's
constitutional right to perform his nose-nailing, sword-swallowing,
and fire-eating acts for donations. [Orange County Weekly, 12-13-
07]
Least Competent Criminals
* More Questionable Judgments: (1) David Holland, 46, gave a
DNA sample last year to police in San Jose, Calif., to help resolve
murder charges against his brother, but was then arrested for an
until-then-unsolved 2001 rape when his DNA sample matched that
left behind by the rapist. (2) Edward Debrow of San Antonio,
Tex., who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a 1992 murder
conviction, appealed that sentence as too harsh. After a Texas
appeals court granted his challenge and ordered a re-sentencing in
October, a judge gave him 40 years. [San Francisco Chronicle, 11-
20-07] [KSAT-TV (San Antonio), 10-24-07]
Recurring Themes
* Awesome Capacities: Jason Panchalk, 36, was admitted to the
Pima County (Ariz.) jail in December, facing a charge of
trafficking in stolen property, but he arrived prepared. According
to a jailer, Panchalk was carrying "some syringes, matches, lighter,
heroin, marijuana, and an assortment of pills," all inside his
rectum. And in October, court officials in Cork, Ireland, who were
suspicious of a defendant's demeanor, had him medically
examined. According to a report in the Irish Independent, doctors
found a mobile phone, SIM card, and charger, all wrapped in foil
and coated with lubricant, inside his rectum. [KVOA-TV (Tucson),
1-9-08] [Irish Independent, 10-20-07]
Least Justifiable Homicides
* David Thomson, 49, was convicted in Edinburgh, Scotland, of
smothering his mom to death after she had taunted him for his
inept suicide attempt several weeks before (October). In Sydney,
Australia, a man was charged with beating a neighbor to death
because the neighbor was watering his lawn in violation of the
city's water restrictions (October). The boss of a factory in North
Korea was executed by firing squad before 150,000 people in a
South Pyongan province stadium after he was convicted of the
crime of making out-of-country telephone calls (November). [BBC
News, 10-23-07] [Fox News-AP, 11-1-07] [Daily Mail (London),
11-26-07]
Thanks This Week to Jan Lewis and Sam Gaines, and to
the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
* * * * *
Visit Chuck Shepherd daily at
http://NewsoftheWeird.blogspot.com (or
www.NewsoftheWeird.com / WeirdN...@Yahoo.com / P.O.
Box 18737, Tampa FL 33629).