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SAN DIEGO - A man who sneaked a bag of his feces into a San Diego courtroom during his home-invasion robbery trial, smeared it on his lawyer and threw it at jurors has been sentenced to 31 years in prison. Superior Court Judge Frank Brown on Monday sentenced Weusi McGowan for robbery, burglary and two assault charges stemming from the feces-flinging incident during his January trial. McGowan, who attorneys say suffers from mental illness, had asked for a mistrial because he believed jurors had seen him in restraints when he entered the courtroom. Several days after his request was denied, McGowan pulled out a bag of excrement he had hidden in his clothing, rubbed it on his lawyer and tossed it at the jury, hitting one juror's computer case. Source
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Police are investigating after an Athens woman scared off a would-be burglar by acting like a dog. The Athens Banner-Herald reported Monday that the woman scared off the suspect around 11 p.m. Saturday. According to police, the woman got on the floor and began scratching at the door and acting like a large dog when the suspicious man tried turning the woman's door knob. The police report did not say what specific dog-like behaviors, such as barking, the woman mimicked. The woman said the man, who appeared to be homeless, quickly ran from the porch. Police searched the neighborhood for him, but were unsuccessful. Source
Parents and teachers in China are protesting after a sculpture of a tiny girl with giant breasts was installed in a city park. The sculpture depicts a 20cm tall girl with breasts that are five metres high and wide, reports News Express. Parents have protested at the installation in Foshan City, Guangdong province, which they say is highly embarrassing. One local mum, called Liang, complained: "The park used to be a great place for families, but now what attracts my son the most is the huge breasts. "I have tried to educate him with some scientific knowledge, but all he thinks when he sees the statue are smutty thoughts." And a kindergarten teacher, who brought her class to visit the park, says it shocked some of them to tears. "The little girls were scared and cried loudly, asking me if they would grow those huge things, and boys laughed crazily," she said. A park spokesman said the statue was intended as a permanent fixture in the park but admitted it had been repeatedly damaged - with one person even trying to fit it with a giant bra. "It's normal to have disagreements about art, we can understand it," said the spokesman. Source
Article Submitted by grahamsherman01@gmail.com. Thank You! A six-year-old Chinese girl has doctors puzzled after thick grey hair started growing all over her body, earning her the nickname "cat-girl". Li Xiaoyuan, from Fengkai in southern China, had a small birthmark on her back just months ago, which has since grown to cover her entire back and parts of her arms and face, The Sun reports. "Doctors told us it was just how a birthmark even when it started spreading but now it covers half her body," her father Li Yan was quoted as saying. "None of the other children want to play with her, they are calling her cat-girl and are really mean." Her mother Li Jian said it broke her heart to see her daughter suffer like this. A surgeon at Zhaoqing City Dermalogical l Hospital in China's Guangdong province said Li Xiaoyuan may have a rare skin disease that makes normal moles run amok. Dr Lou Zhongquan said laser surgery could have been used if the skin problem was smaller, but there would be a significant chance of post surgery haemorrhage if Li was operated on. Source
JOHN Brumby has weighed into the 'Midgets' Cup' controversy, saying the Cranbourne event was hurtful to small people. Mr Brumby said today he realised people had different views about the race but he thinks it should not have happened, the Herald Sun reports. "What occurred may well be humorous to many people but I think the test is whether it's hurtful to people and what occurred is quite hurtful to a number of people,'' he said. “So I think it's tacky.'' But one of the dwarf "jockeys" involved in a race at a country cup that has triggered a furore, angering racegoers and the Racing Minister says it was “all in good fun”. Professional entertainer Jeremy Hallam said this morning he thought if anyone should be going into bat for dwarves, it should be dwarves themselves. The 50 "Midgets' Cup" held at the Cranbourne Cup has angered racegoers and Racing Minister Rob Hulls, who has described the event as "an embarrassment. Three punters piggy-backed the dwarfs, wearing racing colours, in the race which saw one dwarf fall and crash headlong into the turf, but was unhurt. Champion jockey Damien Oliver and racing officials also say people should "lighten up". Thousands of racegoers watched the race at Sunday's Cranbourne meeting. Mr Hallam said he was surprised at the uproar. “I think there was nothing wrong with it. It was all in good fun. The people were involved for a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, which is what we were there for,” he told Neil Mitchell's program on Radio 3AW this morning. “It wasn’t too over the top. I didn’t see it as degrading, because it was taken professionally, so I don’t see any problem with it.” “We were all told about the gig … and we could have put our objections up, but we were all fine with it because we are entertainers and we’ve done a lot of work like this before.” He said the entire performance was “handled professionally”. But he was open-minded about whether people were now too politically correct to see the funny side of the performance. “Everyone has their own sense of humour … each to their own I guess,” Mr Hallam said. But Mr Hallam was adamant about his own limits, when asked if there was anything he wouldn’t do for entertainment. “Definitely wouldn’t be tossed. Definitely not. But apart from that, as long it’s professional and I can see the funny side in things and not just taking the piss, then definitely.” In fact, Mr Hallam took his performing so seriously, he had established a company hiring out dwarves for entertainment. While he was taken aback at the reaction, "then again I’ve been in my fair share (of controversy) … when I was the dwarf in the Jagermeister shot pouring thing last year.” During that controversy, Mr Hallam, found himself at the centre of a storm over promoting binge drinking after he strode topless along a St Kilda bar handing out free shots of Jagermeister. Photos of that incident sparked equal measures of anger and applause. The stunt was sanctioned by the Racing Victoria Limited marketing department. But Mr Hulls said the race was an embarrassment and would do nothing to promote the racing industry. He said he was puzzled by what it hoped to achieve. "At a time when racing should be fighting hard for that discretionary dollar and fighting hard to get young people back to the track, this type of event does nothing to promote the industry as vital, modern or innovative," Mr Hulls said. Meredith Tripp, former president of Short Statured People of Australia, said events that made fun of short people made it harder for them to get through life without being subject to ridicule. "For a big corporate group, seeing some sort of comical side to such an event is unfortunate," Ms Tripp said. "We hope to it make easier for short-statured people to participate in society without being bullied or laughed at or stared at. But things like this set us back a little bit." Dozens of racing fans who contacted the Herald Sun yesterday were outraged by the midgets' race. But RVL boss Rob Hines said it was just a "bit of fun". Mr Hines said he was not at Cranbourne, but saw the stunt on YouTube. He said RVL had canvassed the support of the Victorian Jockeys Association, including Oliver. "The little guys were dressed up in jockey silks and that was the purpose of it. They were basically jockeys on punters," Mr Hines said. "We would be very surprised if any of the jockeys on the day had any issue with it. "From what I gather they all thought it was a bit of fun. "It was done as a bit of fun, that's all it was. If we have offended anyone then we apologise to those people." Oliver said he thought the race was "hilarious" and added "people should lighten up". Victorian Jockeys Association chief Des O'Keeffe said he had concerns when the race was first mooted. "It had potential for a shemozzle," he said. Mr O'Keeffe said he wondered if there would be any upside to the stunt. "I had an awful feeling about it, but the feedback from my members was that they were not offended," he said. "But I can understand if some people were - it was very odd." Cranbourne Racing Club chief Neil Bainbridge said the club received no complaints on the day. "I'm surprised to hear of any negative feedback. It was never put on to be distasteful to anyone," he said. Mr Bainbridge said the event was an RVL initiative staged in conjunction with his club. Source Midget Cup Racing Video
German Artist Poses 1,250 Garden Gnomes Giving Hitler Salute In Town Square. A German artist is posing 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in an installation that he calls a protest of lingering fascist tendencies in German society. Artist Ottmar Hoerl posed the gnomes in the historic central marketplace of Straubing, a town in southeastern Germany, on Wednesday. The exhibit called "dance with the devil" is to run through Oct. 19. Most of gnomes are black plastic, but about 20 are painted shiny gold. Displaying Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany but a court ruled earlier this year that Hoerl's gnomes were clearly satire and thus allowed. Hoerl says: "the fascist idea, the striving to manipulate people or dictate to people ... is latently dangerous and remains present in our society." Source
A German man who mooned at a train got his trousers caught in a carriage door and ended up being dragged half naked out of the station. The 22-year-old journalism student shoved his backside against the window of a low-slung double-decker train after staff forced him off in Lauenbrueck for travelling without a ticket. A police spokesman in the northern city of Bremen said: "It's a miracle he wasn't badly hurt. This sort of thing can end up killing you." The man somehow managed to keep his legs from the train wheels as he was dragged along, dangling by his trousers, for about 200 metres, reports Metro. His ordeal ended when a passenger pulled the emergency brake. Rescues services were called in, causing rail services between Bremen and Hamburg to be suspended for over an hour, delaying 23 trains. The man - unharmed except for cuts and bruises - now faces charges of dangerous interference in rail transport, insulting the train staff, and may face sizeable a compensation claim for the delays he caused. "He was full of remorse when I talked to him," the police spokesman added. "And he advised others not to try the same thing." Source
A farmer in the United States has cut two of the characters from Family Guy, the cult animated comedy, into a maze on his property. Stewie and Brian form the centrepiece of this year's seven acre "Corn Maize" at Connors Farm in Danvers, Massachusetts. Bob Connors, the owner of the farm, has even approached Seth MacFarlane in the hope of persuading the Family Guy creator to pay a visit. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with him. I’d love to have him do the voices here on our busy weekend," he told the Boston Globe. The makers of Family Guy, a sharp comedy about an average American family with a talking dog, posed no objections to the use of its characters in the maze. The programme is shown on the Fox Network in the US, and BBC3 in Britain. “They waived the rights and all that," Mr Connors added. “We have to run everything by them, but they’ve been great." While corn, tomatoes and other crops are still grown on the farm, it boosts its income with an annual maze and other activities to attract families, including hayrides and fruit picking. This year's effort, which is only open until the end of the month, features the Griffin family's highly intelligent but misanthropic baby, Stewie, pointing up in anger at his friend Brian, the erudite family pet. Source
This Isn't The Food Pyramid: Feds Say Food Stamps Were Exchanged For Viagra, Porn. Viagra and pornography are not staples on the government's food stamp list. But authorities said a Detroit store supplied them during a series of illegal deals. Federal prosecutors filed fraud charges this week against three people who worked at Jefferson's Liquor Palace. The alleged scheme worked this way: Food stamp recipients would get cash from the store in exchange for swiping larger amounts off their electronic cards. The store would then be reimbursed by the U.S. Agriculture Department. But in some transactions, confidential informants got more than cash. The government said the store provided Viagra, painkillers, liquor, and porn videos in exchange for swiping about $2,000 off food stamp cards. The government said overall fraud at the store topped $130,000 over 2 1/2 years. The store is closed. Source
A zoo in Gaza has got around animal import restrictions by dyeing stripes on donkeys to make 'zebras'. The owner of the Marah Land zoo in Gaza City said he had used masking tape and black hair dye, applied with a paint-brush, to disguise the white females. Mohammed Bargouthi said it would have cost him more than £25,000 to bring in a real zebra via smuggling tunnels. "The first time we used paint but it didn't look good," said Mr Bargouthi. "The children don't know, so they call them zebras and they are happy to see something new." All the real animals at the zoo, including monkeys and a tigress, had been smuggled under the border at great expense, he said. Two genuine zebras died of starvation earlier this year during the Israeli military offensive, he added. The animal restrictions are part of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, imposed in an attempt to reduce rocket attacks and weaken the leadership of Hamas. Source
