\u2014 A Saudi judge ruled in April that it was finally time for Ali al-Khawahir, 24, to suffer for stabbing a boy in the back when Ali was 14. The victim was paralyzed. Under Saudi justice, Ali must also be struck with paralysis or else must raise the $260,000 to compensate the victim.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Saudi cleric Abdullah Mohamed al-Daoud in May urged his 100,000 Twitter followers to \u201csexually harass female cashiers\u201d to discourage them from working outside the home. He\u2019s the one who urged in February that babies be veiled to protect them from sexual harassment.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Crystal McVea, author of a recent book chronicling her near-death experience, told a Fox & Friends TV host in April that among her most vivid memories of the incident was getting so close to God that she could \u201csmell\u201d him.<\/p>\n
\u2014 In May, Anna Pierre, a candidate for mayor of North Miami, Fla., announced on her Facebook page that she had secured the endorsement of Jesus Christ. That would be fortunate for her, since a month earlier, she had complained that people had been leaving bad-luck Vodou-ritual feathers, food scraps and candles on her doorstep. Jesus\u2019 stroke wasn\u2019t enough. She finished seventh in the race.<\/p>\n
\u2014 A catering company in Leicestershire, England, became a holy site in May after the Hindu owner found an eggplant that he thought resembled the elephant-headed Lord Ganesh. He said he prays to it twice daily and has welcomed 80 other worshippers.<\/p>\n
\u2014 As part of his recent U.S. tour, the Dalai Lama, who was introduced to a University of Maryland audience by Maryland Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley, greeted the governor on stage by rubbing noses with him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n Congress established the Interagency Working Group (IWG) in 2009 to set guidelines for advertising healthy foods for children. Public comments on the guidelines are now being posted. General Mills appeared among the companies most alarmed by the IWG proposals, according to its comments on the Federal Trade Commission website (as disclosed by Scientific American in May). Of the 100 most commonly consumed foods and beverages in America, GM asserted, 88 would fail the IWG standards, and if everyone in America started following the health recommendations, General Mills would lose $503 billion per year in sales.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cultural Diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n One of April\u2019s most popular Internet images consisted of face shots of the current 20 contestants for Miss South Korea that revealed that all 20 appeared eerily similar and had a Westernized appearance. Commented one blogger, \u201cKorea\u2019s plastic surgery mayhem is finally converging on the same face.\u201d Wrote a South Korean commentator, \u201cGirls here consider eye surgery just like using makeup.\u201d Wrote another, \u201cI loved this episode of the Twilight Zone.\u201d The country has the highest rate of cosmetic surgery per capita in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Whale Of A Dog Treat<\/strong><\/p>\n Michinoku Farm of Tokyo finally agreed in May to withdraw its whale meat dog chews, but only after angering environmentalists for having favored the country\u2019s pampered canines over endangered North Atlantic fin whales, which were the source of the chews. The meat was purchased from Iceland, which openly defies the international moratorium on whale meat. Japan officially disagrees with world consensus about which species are endangered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Least Competent Criminals<\/strong><\/p>\n Dennis Gholston, 45, who had outstanding traffic warrants in Pennsylvania, decided in May that even though he was alone in his car, he couldn\u2019t resist using a high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) on the New Jersey Turnpike near Carteret. According to the officer who stopped him for the HOV violation, Gholston was hauling $4,000 worth of heroin in the car. He was charged with intent to distribute.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wedded Bliss<\/strong><\/p>\n An initiative in the Sehore district of India\u2019s Madhya Pradesh state that encourages marriage awards gifts and financial assistance to couples who agree to wed in mass ceremonies. But because the country suffers from a notorious toilet shortage, the district announced in May that to qualify for the government benefits, the groom must submit to officials a photo of himself beside his own toilet to prove that he and his wife will have home sanitation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A News Of The Weird Classic<\/strong><\/p>\n A 55-year-old British man whose bowel was ruptured in a catastrophic traffic accident was fitted in 2009 with a bionic sphincter that opens and closes by means of a remote control. Ged Galvin endured 13 surgeries in a 13-week hospital stay. He grew frustrated with using a colostomy bag. Surgeon Norman Williams of the Royal London Hospital proposed the imaginative operation. Williams, who was interviewed along with Galvin for London\u2019s Daily Mail, wrapped a muscle transplanted from Galvin\u2019s leg around the sphincter and attached electrodes to tighten or loosen its grip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Questionable Judgments<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Expectant North Carolina parents Adam and Heather Barrington have disclosed they will accept underwater midwifing from the Sirius Institute of Pahoa, Hawaii, which arranges for the mother to swim with dolphins before and after she gives birth. \u201cIt\u2019s about reconnecting as humans with the dolphins so we can … learn from one another,\u201d said Heather. Said Adam: \u201cDolphins are very intelligent and healing, which … calms mother and baby. …\u201d Biologists writing for the Discovery Channel, however, reminded readers that underwater births are extraordinarily dangerous, and that dolphins are \u201cwild animals\u201d that gang-rape female dolphins and \u201ctoss, beat and kill small porpoises.\u201d Said another, the Barringtons\u2019 plan is \u201cpossibly the worst idea ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Washington, D.C., began registering its dogs this year according to their breeds. Faced with many owners who claimed not to know their dog\u2019s breed, the city of Washington settled on the Mexican hairless dog, or \u201cxoloitzcuintli\u201d (pronounced \u201cshow-low-eats-QUEENT-lee\u201d) as the breed that will be listed in city records for those dogs. An official said the decision might encourage owners to learn more about their dog\u2019s breed.<\/p>\n \u2014 The restaurant Bacon Bacon was shut down in May by the city of San Francisco because of neighbors\u2019 complaints about the smell. The fragrance of bacon is, of course, widely experienced across America. A petition to overturn the ruling was underway at press time.<\/p>\n \u2014 More than 50 Iowa sex offenders have open-carry gun permits. A 2-year-old state law requires sheriffs to demonstrate probable cause that a sex offender will use a gun illegally if his gun application is to be rejected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2014 A Saudi judge ruled in April that it was finally time for Ali al-Khawahir, 24, to suffer for stabbing a boy in the back when Ali was 14. The victim was paralyzed. Under Saudi justice, Ali must also be struck with paralysis or else must raise the $260,000 to compensate the victim. \u2014 Saudi [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[65,40],"yoast_head":"\n