UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

As of the time of writing, the general consensus seems to be Melissa Theuriau (born 18 July 1978), a French journalist and news anchor for M6, a popular private French television company.

In recent times, Ms Theuriau has become an internet phenomenon, her fans constantly uploading video compilations of her online, and these typically get tons of views. Reportedly, she’s “surprised” by all the attention, reportedly saying, “I cannot explain it…I am absolutely not seeking this publicity.”

The following video, uploaded July 2010 is one of the many videos of her on youtube:

In 2006, Maxium US readers voted her “TV’s sexiest news anchor”. The next year, FHM France named her the world’s most beautiful woman.

In May 2008 she married French comedian/actor Jamel Debbouze; her son Leon was born in December that year.

Popularity: 1% [?]

It was just a matter of time. During the World Cup fever, there would be countless replicas of the famous trophy, so it makes sense for drug lords to try making a Cocaine World Cup trophy, hence less likely to be detected.

The BBC reported on 4th July 2010 narcotics police in Colombia has seized a replica World Cup trophy made of 11kg of cocaine. It was mixed with acetone / gasoline so that it’s mouldable, then gold-painted. The 36cm (14in) trophy was inside a delivery box in a warehouse at Bogota airport, about to be sent to Spain.

Earlier, on 13th March 2010, it was reported that Colombian police found 16kg of cocaine inside replicas of three sculptures by renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero, also on the way to Spain. The drug was mixed into the clay of the sculptures as they were being cast. It was found in a Bogota warehouse.

Botero’s statues are usually oversized figurines

On 20th March 2009, it was reported that Spanish police has seized a 42-piece dinner set made entirely of compressed cocaine weighing more than 20 kg. The set contained blue-sunflowery plates, cups, pots and saucers – painted blue and decorated with sunflowers.

It had been sent from Venezuela to Barcelona through London.

A video of the set being unpacked:

On the 6th of March 2009, a 66-year-old Chilean man with a broken leg in a cast was arrested at Barcelona airport after the “cast” was found to be made of cocaine and not plaster. He arrived from Santiago. As if that’s not enough, he was also carrying 6 cans of beer and 2 small hollowed-out stools that contained… you guessed it right: cocaine. Total loot: almost 5 kg. The police said he might even have broken his leg on purpose.

That’s it – as a result of that stunt, I’d say it’d be impossible for our man to get life insurance quotes.

Why all these cases targeted Spain? Because of the common language, and because Spain is Europe’s second highest consumer of cocaine in Europe after Britain.

Popularity: unranked [?]

At least for World Cup 2010, don’t even think of watching matches in Somalia.

If you’re caught by Islamist militants, you’d be lucky to escape with mere flogging in public.

Instead of watching matches, these gangs spend their time patrolling around looking for people to catch red-handed in front of a TV.

Just a few days ago, they killed 2 people caught watching a game in the privacy of their home.

Yes, their World Cup fever is slightly different.

Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aros, of Hizbul-Islam, one of the militant groups was quoted to have said:

We are warning all the youth of Somalia not to dare watch these World Cup matches. It is a waste of money and time and they will not benefit anything, not even get any experience by watching mad men jumping up and down.

Yes, folks, Mr Abdi Aros thinks Lionel Messi is a lunatic and Cristiano Ronaldo is basically a monkey in disguise.

Somali football fans are probably all squinty eyed, for they have one eye on the TV, and another on the door, while huddled under a massage table cart just in case them enforcers come crashing in.

Source
The BBC, 14 June 2010

Popularity: unranked [?]

The following toilet signs used to be at McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida. A pub being a pub, alcohol is sure to be served. What if you’re new there, had a few drinks and felt an urgent nature call? Which door would you choose?

It had been there for many years and General Manager Billy Martin explained it as follows: “it’s all in good fun. We’re not trying to be malicious. It’s an Irish joke kind of thing.” Yeah, and probably quite effective fat burners too – I imagine there’d be fistcuffs or hurried walks on a daily basis.

However, in May 2007, the signs were taken off, by order of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, for “lack of signage properly designating bathrooms.”

If McGuire’s did not take it off, closure was threatened.

The issue came to fore when someone filed a complaint, that “a college-age man walked in on his 15-year-old daughter” and that “his daughter was embarrassed and left the restaurant crying.”

However, thousands of pub patrons have signed a petition, demanding that the sings are put back.

Source
Northwest Florida Daily News, 16 May 2007

Popularity: 1% [?]

In June 2009 I came across a newsreport about Tong Liangliang, 2 of China who started at 18 months old, and by his 2nd birthday was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. His teacher? His own father who believed cigs are good for hernia pain. If the toddler was not given a fag, he’d throw a fit.

That’s already horrible news, but I was caught totally unprepared when reading another newsreport dated 21st May 2010, about Ardi Rizal, 2 of South Sumatra, Indonesia who smokes TWO packs of cigarettes a day!

Yep, hooked on 40 sticks a day even before he knows what acnepril is.

Just like Tong, he started at 18 months and throws a tantrum if his parents don’t give him any.

And just like Tong, his parents are ignorant about the health risks. Ardi’s father was quoted to have said:

I’m not worried about his health, he looks healthy. He cries and throws tantrums when we don’t let him smoke. He’s addicted.

Video of Ardi Rizal smoking away:

Source
Daily Mail (UK), June 2009
Daily Mail (UK), May 2010

Popularity: unranked [?]

Halden fengsel is a prison in southeast Norway. It opened on 8th April 2010 and has a capacity of 252.

It has been described as the world’s most modern and humane prison. In other words, a prison that doesn’t feel or look like one.

Guiding principle:

Repressive prisons do not work and that treating prisoners humanely boosts their chances of reintegrating into society.

Well, judging from the appearance of the front, it does seem so right?

Features:
- Area: 75 acres (30 hectares)
- cells look like college dorm rooms, with flat-screen TVs & mini fridges
- cells have long vertical windows to let in natural light
- no bars on windows or doors
- every 10 – 12 cells share a living room and kitchen.
- living room look like Ikea showrooms: stainless-steel countertops, wraparound sofas & birch-coloured coffee tables
- sound studio
- jogging trails
- freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Wow, I suppose they can even call for a baby eczema treatment cream in the middle of the night, courtesy of the Norwegian government of course?
- “kitchen laboratory” where inmates are offered cooking courses.

But probably the best feature of all:
- Guards do not carry guns, and they routinely eat meals and play sports with prisoners, to create a sense of family

The prison received it’s first inmates March 1, 2010 but was officially opened on April 8 by the Norwegian King Harald V.

Source
Time, 10th May 2010

Popularity: unranked [?]

On 14th October 2009 in Aberdeen, a grandmother of 60 and her two granddaughters aged 8 and 2 were walking in a park.

Thereupon, unemployed Ryan Yates, 29, kitchen knife in hand, approached them, with the stated intention of killing the woman, in order to be able to rape the 2 girls. Later, his statement to police stated that as he walked out of his house that day, it was his specific plan to “look for some children to have sex with”.

Then, silently and methodically he stabbed the woman in the chest. In the ensuing struggle, Yates told her that “he’d let her go if she let go of the knife.” When she refused, Yates spat in her face.

Only 5 days earlier, he was released for another sex-related assault.

Fortunately, a passer-by intervened, and Yates calmly walked away.

He has admitted to all the charges & to be chemically castrated.

On 29th January 2010, his own mother, Ann, 50 was quoted by The Sun to be so disgusted that she’d said:

I brought him into the world – and I’d take him out of it.

She said that her son got started in the world of sex crimes at 14, would never stop, and that she’d willingly kill him with her own hands. His father had passed away.

Among other vile things Ryan had done were:
- at 15, he had tried to rape his own mother!
- he had stripped a female relative as he threatened her with a knife.
- had attacked women on many occasions
- at 14, he walked up to a stranger and asked her for a kiss!
- at 12, he was allegedly found in bed with an even younger girl

Incredibly, he always informed his mother of his misdemeanors, even though she never failed to make police reports.

One could argue that having a job, any job, like selling scales and keeping oneself busy could divert one’s energies from things like these, but perhaps for some individuals, the normal rules don’t apply.

Popularity: unranked [?]

If ever there’s such a thing as an A-list Hollywood geek, Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) would be it.

She was a major American star actress during MGM’s Golden Age, and at the same time, an engineer, who co-invented “an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication.”

Usually cast as glamorous and demure, she acted in 18 films from 1940 to 1949, including her role as Delilah in Cecil DeMille’s Samson and Delilah, the highest earning film of 1949. In 1941 she was in Ziegfeld Girl alongside Hollywood legends Lana Turner and Judy Garland. Cementing her reputation as a formidable actress, Lamarr has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During the same period, Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed the concept of frequency-hopping spread-spectrum, a secret communication system in June 1941, for which they were granted a US patent in August 1942. It used a piano roll to move between 88 frequencies and has the capability to cause radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam. It was so ahead of its time that it was not practicable due to the current state of mechanical technology of that time, and was only implemented in 1962 by the US military during a Cold War blockade of Cuba.

This frequency-hopping idea is a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, like CODFM and CDMA, which many ICT-related industrial products uses.

Groovy actress indeed!

Popularity: 1% [?]

… and their case publicised by the media.

But what is sex addiction? According to Mayo Clinic:

symptoms range from rampant promiscuity to spending hours looking at pornography and using sex to escape from problems such as depression or stress. It is often accompanied by secrecy and shame, and sufferers have difficulties with emotional intimacy.

Does romantic attachment to Hinkley lights count?

It is estimated that 3-5 % of Americans, including women, are affected.

Treatment usually involves psychotherapy (group meetings as is done in Alcoholics Anonymous) and depending on the situation, medication which could decrease libido. Relapse is common, because, recovering alcoholics are expected never to drink again, but how can one expect that of something as natural as sex?

On 19th February 2010, golf megastar Tiger Woods (born 1975) admitted on TV that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and that he had been in a therapy program for 45 days.

On 28th August 2008, David Duchovny (born 1960) announced that he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility for treating his sex addiction.

The first top-grade celebrity to be rumoured to have gone for this kind of rehab was Michael Douglas (born 1944) in 1992. However he denied it and said he was seeking treatment for his drinking problem. His first wife, Diandra had labeled him a sex addict.

Those are celebrities who really or allegedly entered treatment, other addicts that were not reported to have gone to rehab include Charlie Sheen, Wilt Chamberlain (allegedly slept with 20,000 woman in his lifetime!), Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones bassist), Magic Johnson (basketball star), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Jack Nicholson, Ilie Nastase (tennis), Engelbert Humperdinck, Julio Iglesias, Gene Simmons (Kiss), Eric Benet, Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Sizemore, Bill Murray.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Suffering from public speaking anxiety and feeling bad about it? Don’t fret, rather count your blessings. The following surely don’t have any of that, yet didn’t have a happy ending.

The following is a partial list of the rich and famous who committed suicide through lethal suspension by a ligature.

Alexander McQueen, CBE, 40, four-time British Designer of the Year. On 11th February 2010, he was found dead, hanging in his wardrobe.

Jonathan Brandis, 27, who was a teen idol in the early 1990s when he played scientific prodigy Lucas Wolenczak in the TV series seaQuest DSV. Hanged himself November 2003. Friends were quoted to have mentioned that he was “lonely and depressed” about his faltering career.

Ian Curtis (1956 – 1980), lead singer, songwriter and lyricist of Joy Division, whose song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is considered by some as the best single of all time, and is listed in Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500 songs of all time. On 18th May 1980 he hanged himself in his kitchen.

Justin Fashanu (1961 – 1998), professional English footballer who in 1981 became Great Britain’s first GBP1 million black soccer player when he moved to Nottingham Forest. In 1990 he became the first, and still the only prominent footballer to announce that he was gay. In the early hours of 3rd May 1998, he was found hanged in a lock-up garage he’d broken into.

Michael Hutchence (1960 – 1997), lead singer of rock band INXS, who’ve sold more than 30 million records worldwide. On 22nd November 1997, while INXS was on a world tour, he was found dead in his hotel room, in “a kneeling position facing the door” and “had used his black leather belt to tie a knot on the automatic door closure at the top of the door, and had strained his head forward into the loop so hard that the buckle had broken.”

Paul Hester (1959 – 2005), drummer of rock band Crowded House, which produced such classics as “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “Fall at Your Feet” and “Weather with You”. On 26th March 2005 he committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a park near his house.

Chris Benoit (1967 – 2007), Canadian professional wrestler for WCW and later WWE, two-time world heavyweight champion, one of the most popular and talented technical wrestlers ever. On the weekend of his death, he was booked to win his 3rd world heavyweight championship. After killing his wife and son, he created a noose from the end of the cord of a weight machine to hang himself.

Popularity: 2% [?]

K Chattu Kuttan, 90 of Sri Lanka and employee of Galle Face Hotel, Colombo is probably the world’s oldest, still working hotel doorman, and surely one of the world’s most famous hotel employees.

Slim all these years, all those standing up and walking around sure proved to be effective fat burners.

He has been an employee at the hotel for almost 70 years (since 1942), and a doorman for 18 years, and has seen it all:

- a Japanese Zero fighter plane crash-landed on the hotel grounds during World War II
- sex symbol Ursula Andress danced in the ballroom on New Year’s Eve 1976.
- hobnobbed with people such as Emperor Hirohito, Richard Nixon, Sir Laurence Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, Lord Mountbatten, Princess Elizabeth, Jawarharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Yuri Gagarin and Arthur C. Clarke.

He has made the cover of some of the world’s top travel publications, and his life story told in them.

It’s no wonder that guests would scramble to have a photo opportunity with him:

He still walks the one mile to work every morning and takes the bus home at the end of his afternoon shift.

When will he retire? In his own words: “Walking to work and the busy life at the hotel keeps me going.”

Source
Yahoo News, 13th Feb 2010

Popularity: 1% [?]

Rocky_Balboas_Son’s posted a story recently about how he carried out the greatest Valentine’s Day revenge ever against his former girlfriend for cheating on him with some guy named Theo.

By the end of the story, she got dumped not once, but twice, on the V-Day no less.

The Story

What do you think? Some might contend that all those effort would only have a fleeting effect at best, and that the time expended could’ve been better spent doing fat burner reviews…

Popularity: 1% [?]

In January 2009 I mentioned that Sabahans are the world’s most inventive name-makers, based on their children’s names listed in school rolls.

Fast forward a year, as usual I looked at the latest list of new students (Standard I), and unearthed some gems.

The following are totally unique, even mighty google doesn’t have them!

Gretcxine:

Freswyn, which surprised me, because that seemed a perfectly normal name:

Oddelshonn:

Do you know of any other person with Shermieko as his or her first name?

Welldino:

Aedryan got lah, but Aeldryan?

Berbbay:

Still, at least they don’t name their kids after pond filters!

Popularity: 1% [?]

The following ladies have been dubbed the most beautiful woman who ever lived at one time or another in articles and surveys. Obviously it will be difficult to pinpoint ONE woman with certainty that she is/was definitely the most attractive member of the human female species who ever walked the earth. You take your pick.

Helen of Troy, “the face that launched a thousand ships”, although whether she really existed is debatable.

Cleopatra VII (69 BC – 30 BC), who is generally depicted as “a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world’s most powerful men are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.”

Queen Nefertiti (circa 1370 BC – circa 1330 BC), the chief consort of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

Greta Garbo (1905-1990, Swedish actress): in 1954, 13 years after her last movie, she was named the most beautiful woman who ever lived by none other than the Guinness Book of World Records.

Others which have been mentioned include the following, all with figures so enviable they might never need to look up slimming products at fdaapproveddietpills.net.

Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Ava Gardener
Sophia Loren
Elizabeth Taylor
Grace Kelly (1929-1982)
Claudia Schiffer
Rita Hayworth
Natalie Wood
Vivien Leigh
Aishwarya Rai
Catherine Deneuve
Raquel Welch
Sharon Tate

Popularity: 7% [?]

The most challenging job in the world today could very well be running the navy of one of the world’s most lawless and pirate-infested nations, Somalia.

Jobs in IT? That’s easy peasy in comparison!

But salute to Farah Ahmed Omar for grimly soldiering on despite all the odds.

He has been the navy chief since 1982.

Other sailors will be shocked to hear that for a person who’s supposed to be patrolling the sea, he has not been to sea for 23 years!

Nor does he have any boats or related equipment.

And instead of splashing about at sea, training for recruits will be classroom-only, for obvious reasons.

Somalia used to be among the top navies in Africa with 10 battalions. However it has not been operational since the country descended into chaos in 1991.

There are patrols at sea but they are not enough to deter the pirates.

International aid is scant due to funds tending to “disappear down a black hole.”

And apparently “some of the people trained to tackle piracy as coastguards became pirates themselves”!

Source
The BBC, 16 June 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

The world’s most vandalised yuletide symbol could very well be the Gavle goat of Sweden, so called because it’s located in the town square of Gavle, north of capital Stockholm.

The 13-meter (43-feet) high goat made of straw is the traditional Scandinavian symbol of Christmas.

It is burned down almost every year, sometimes a mere few hours after being put up.

It was first built in 1966 and has been destroyed by flames 24 times since. At this rate the organisers would probably be forced to source for building materials during Black Friday to save costs.

Other than fire, it has, over the years, been run over by a car, have had its legs taken off and been smashed.

In all those years, only 10 has been incident-free.

In the latest episode, it was burned to the ground a few days before Christmas 2009.

List of major events:
1966: 1st goat burned down – hence setting the tone
1970: Burned down 6 hours after put up
1971: Smashed to smithereens
1976: Destroyed by a car crashing into it
1979: Burned down even before completion
1987: Burned down even after being fire-proofed
2001: Burned by a 51-year-old tourist from USA
2005: Burned by 2 guys, one of them dressed as Santa Claus.

Source
The BBC, 23 Dec 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

It was reported in the Daily Telegraph on 15th December 2008 that Greig Howe, 35 of Bournemouth, UK bought a 35-feet tall Christmas tree, cut it into 3 sections, then positioned them on different floors of his house: the living room, bedroom and the roof.

Hence, to onlookers outside the house it would seem that the whole tree has shot through the entire house!

It cost him GBP250 and has 160 big baubles and 2,000 LED lights, of course with a star at the top. I guess installing metal tiles would make the lights seem that much brighter.

In his own words:

I had it in mind because that corner of the house is perfect for it and I really wanted to give the kids a Christmas they wouldn’t forget. From the outside it is a bit of an optical illusion because it appears to be one huge tree that has shot up through the ceilings and floorboards and out through the roof. People keep stopping and laughing at it and my 11-year-old son Harry absolutely loves it.

Source
Daily Telegraph (UK), 15th Dec 2008

Popularity: 1% [?]

The following Christmas traditions are stranger than celebrating that special day at Outer banks foreclosures – so strange they might never get accepted anywhere except their source:

Krampus Night, celebrated 5th December in Austria.

Krampus is the antithesis of Santa Claus, his evil twin if you will. If Santa Claus encourages good behaviour by handing out presents, Krampus is more like your cane-wielding discipline teacher. On that evening, people would dress up as Krampus, then walk the streets holding a stick as if to beat them up.

The Caganer

I don’t think you will ever find this statue in nativity scenes anywhere else other than Andorra and parts of Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Usual nativity scenes only show what’s around the manger, but in Catalan culture it’s the whole town of Bethlehem, and the Caganer is in it, but far from the manger of course, because he is depicted as pooping, or in more polite language, defecating, or passing motion. The practice is tolerated by the local Catholic church.

Source
Mental Floss

Popularity: 2% [?]

Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, of Bahia in northeast Brazil, in an apparent black magic ritual to “get back at his wife”, inserted FORTY needles into his 2-year-old son, including the neck, torso, legs and at least one had penetrated a lung.

He and his wife had only been married 6 months.

After being arrested, he broke down and claimed he was provoked to do so by his mistress.

Some of the needles are 2 inches (5cm) long.

Some of the needles could be removed, but those inside organs would have to remain there.

The boy is now in intensive care after vomiting and complaining of pain in the stomach.

Source
The BBC, 17 Dec 2009

Popularity: 2% [?]

The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 from 7th to 18th December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark has been described as the most important conference ever held.

It is held because most of the world’s governments believe that climate change is a threat to human society and also the natural world.

It aims to strike a deal on major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Major discussion topics:

- Targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially so by developed countries
- Financial support to achieve this by developing countries
- A “carbon trading scheme” which is hoped to end the destruction of the world’s forests by 2030.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen described it as an “opportunity the world cannot afford to miss”.

There are delegates from 192 countries, with about world 100 leaders expected to attend, including US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

An unprecedented number of countries have pledged emissions cuts.

Any agreement there is intended to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, due to expire in 2012.

56 newspapers in 45 countries published the same report on the opening day of the conference, in 20 languages.

Source
The BBC, 7 Dec 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

In August 2006, Ian Young, 27, a perfectly straight man from Derby (United Kingdom) walked into Starbucks at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), and found the only seat available was next to what seemed to be a beautiful 33-year old woman.

That woman turned out to be a man with a very masculine name: Mohammed Fazdil Min Bahari, who prefers to be called Fatine, a make-up artist who had been disowned by her own mother.

To be more precise, he’s a “pre-op transsexual“, which can be defined as:

… a woman in living in the body of a man; and has breasts (through taking female hormones and/or breast implants), and male genitalia. In most cases, he lives full time as a woman.

Note: in Fatine’s case, she’d been taking hormones since the age of 17, yet isn’t considering gender reassignment surgery due to the risks involved. Well I guess anything can happen on one of those power exam tables.

Ian and Fatine got married in a civil partnership ceremony in the UK in May 2009.

Now she is Malaysia’s most infamous trans woman, transgender, tranny, TS or shemale, because due to immigration complications she could be deported to her home country and prosecuted because homosexuality is illegal there.

To Ian, a property maintenance company owner, Fatine is, for all intents and purposes a real woman:

I know it is hard for people to understand but I love Fatine. I feel lucky to have met such a caring, wonderful person. It doesn’t matter to me that she is a transsexual – it’s the person she is inside that I care about and love. I can’t contemplate the idea of us not being together. I look at her and see a beautiful woman.

He described how Fatine was upfront about her sexuality the first time they met:

We started talking … when she got up to leave I asked for her number. That’s when she said she might not be what I was looking for and that she was actually a transsexual. I just said, ‘Oh’ and blushed with embarrassment. But for some reason I wasn’t put off. I’d never met a transsexual before and my instinct was that I liked Fatine. Even if it was just as friends, I wanted to meet her again. It just felt right. My first impression in the coffee shop was that Fatine was a woman. If she happened to have male sex organs then that was some sort of birth defect. I never thought of her as a man.

2 days after the first meeting, they met again and kissed. They then met two more times before deciding they were in love with each other.

In October 2007, they commenced a “physical relationship.”

In December 2008, Fatine traveled to the UK on a tourist visa, which turned into a long-term stay. However, Fatine’s Leave To Remain Visa was rejected in September 2009 because of an “incorrect passport photo.” A second application was also not approved because Fatine’s tourist visa had expired – and she was told to return to Malaysia.

His MP tried to help, but to no avail, as a UK immigration spokesman said:

This applicant entered the UK as a visitor. The rules are clear that a visitor must leave the UK within six months but may reapply for a new visa from their country of origin.

But now that this case has been making news around the world: if Fatine returned to Malaysia, what would happen?

Malaysia’s Immigration Department Director-General Abdul Rahman Othman was glaringly ominous:

The penalty imposed on Fatine may be more severe than the two-year passport issuance deferment as he has brought great shame upon us.

As for Fatine, she was quoted to have said:

I have received a lot of negative e-mails and comments from people, some even accusing me of insulting the Malaysian government. I feel frustrated that people did not understand that I went to the UK only because I wanted to be with the man I love. I cannot do that in Malaysia. I am so frightened to go back. I am worried for my safety. The portrayal of our our love story by a Malay tabloid is inaccurate – it was never our intention to insult the Malay community. The tabloid also put my father’s name in the article, which was unnecessary and my mother is now afraid to leave the house. I don’t know what to do – my family has already disowned me. I’ve spent hours on the phone asking for forgiveness. I love them but I can’t change what has happened. I understand that Malays are very traditional and that people like me aren’t acceptable, but I hope things would cool down eventually.

Source
The Sun (UK), 27 Nov 2009

Popularity: 13% [?]

The Berlin Wall fell on the 9th of November 1989, having been built starting August 1961. In its 28-year existence, it stopped the emigration of East Germans to West Berlin and on to other places. During its existence, about 5,000 people (some reports say 39,000) attempted to go over it, with a death toll of between 100 and 1,000, aged 10 to 80.

Some notable incidents:

Rudolf Urban, then 47 was the first victim of the Wall on 19th August 1961 when he injured himself jumping out of a window at the border, and later died. Other reports say the first victim was Ida Siekmann who died of her injuries after jumping out of the window of her apartment, even though she managed to land on the West side.

Conrad Schumann (1942 – 1998), one of the most famous defectors from East Germany. The Berlin Wall was on its third day of construction on 15th August 1961. At that stage it was only a low barbed wire fence. Aged 19, Schumann was guarding it. Then, some people on the Western side shouted Komm rüber! (“come over”). Schumann jumped the barbed wire then entered a waiting West Berlin police car which quickly sped away. The moment when he jumped was immortalised by photographer Peter Leibing and became a well-known Cold War image. In 1998, suffering from depression, he hanged himself.

Günter Litfin (1937 – 1961), then 24, was the second victim of the Wall, and the first would-be escapee to be shot dead by border guards. Around 4pm on 24th August 1961, he swam across the border but was spotted by guards and ordered to swim back. As he he lifted his hands, he was shot dead.

Peter Fechter (1944 – 1962) was an East German bricklayer. On 17th August 1962, about a year after the construction of the wall, the then 18-year old tried to cross over to West Berlin and was shot dead. He became one of the first victims of the Berlin Wall’s border guards.

Together with Helmut Kulbeik (a friend), upon reaching the wall on the western side after running across no-man’s land they were shot at by guards. Kulbeik managed to cross over, but Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still on the wall in full view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip, fully visible to Western journalists. He was screaming in pain, yet received no medical assistance either from either side of the Wall, resulting in him bleeding to death after about one hour. That prompted hundreds of people congregating on the West side and shouting “Murderers!!” to the guards. After he died, guards from the East side removed his body.

In 1966, two as-yet-unnamed boys aged 10 and 13 years, were killed on no-man’s land as they tried to escape, the youngest victims of the Wall.

Burkhard Niering was an East German border guard who held 2 colleagues hostage while trying to escape to the West. He was killed by a sniper at Checkpoint Charlie in January 1974.

Chris Gueffroy (1968 – 1989), then aged 20, the last person to be shot dead while trying to escape to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall. Together with a friend, Christian Gaudian, on the night of 5th February 1989, they were shot at by border troops while on no-man’s land. Gueffroy was shot 10 times in the chest while Gaudian was badly injured.

Winfried Freudenberg (1956 – 1989) was the last person to die in an attempt to escape from East Germany to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall on 8th March 1989.

With his wife, he made a homemade balloon filled with natural gas. At midnight of 7th March 1989 they went to the place where Freudenberg worked and filled the balloon with gas. Someone noticed and called the police. Seeing a patrol car coming, Frudenberg went up alone because the balloon wasn’t full of air yet to also support his wife. After a few hours, he crashed into the backyard of a villa in West Berlin, killing him instantly. The balloon was found a few blocks away. Exact cause of crash is still unknown.

Full list of victims, including the 8 East German border guards.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Requirement: must be at least a Member of Parliament / congresswoman in their respective countries.

Many a light-hearted survey have been done, including probably the most comprehensive by Spain’s 20 Minutos newspaper earlier this year.

The most stunning beauty-power combination must be that of Yulia Tymoshenko (born 1960), the current Prime Minister of Ukraine. She’s arguably the world’s most beautiful head of the executive, and also famous for her trademark plaited hairstyle.

Alina Kabayeva (born 1983), elected to the Russian Parliament in 2007. She is Russia’s most successful rhythmic gymnast to date, and also one of the most decorated in the history of the sport, with 18 World Championship medals and 2 Olympic medals.

Luciana Milagros León Romero (born 1979), Congresswoman for Lima, Peru for the 2006-2011 term. Listed no.2 by 20 Minutos newspaper.

Mara “Mara la Bella” Carfagna (born 1975), a lawyer and Italy’s Minister for Equal Opportunities since May 2008. She’s a former model, placed 6th in Miss Italy 1997, TV host, and has posed topless for fashion magazines in the past. After her election in 2006, Berlusconi controversially quipped that he’d marry her if he wasn’t already married, prompting his wife to force him to issue a public apology. Some called her the most beautiful minister in the world and was ranked number one on men’s magazine Maxim’s “The World’s Hottest Politicians”, even though she placed only 4th in 20 Minutos’ list.

Sara Ruiz Chavez (b. 1976), Mexican congresswoman.

Honourable mentions

Anna-Maria Galojan (b.1982), Estonian political scientist, apparently ran for Parliament but lost.

Yuri Fujikawa (b.1980, some say 1982), member of the assembly of Hachinohe City, Aomori prefecture, Japan. She has been called “too beautiful to be a politician.”

Wow, all perfectly groomed aren’t they, with perfect teeth to boot, perhaps they got theirs done at dental implants Plano, Texas?

Source
Daily Mail (UK), March 2009

Popularity: 4% [?]

The following are probably the coolest Halloween costumes ever.

For starters, check out the following video of a Bumblebee (Transformers) custome; it really transforms at 0.32! There are quite a few videos of DIY Transformers costumes on youtube, but this is the best I have seen so far.

The only improvements to it could be:
(i) enable the car to actually run!
(ii) [some one commented] a version that transforms one’s date into Megan Fox

And how about this mobile toilet costume? At first glance, it would seem that there are 2 guys there!

Can anything top those two? Probably things that magically transform into patio furniture cushions would do the trick.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Paul Bint, 47 could be the world’s greatest impersonator with criminal intentions, so skilful was he that orlando vacations could be had at will.

Dubbed “King Con”, he pretended to be successful professionals for 25+ years and was not caught, until he posed as a top lawyer, Director of Public Prosections, Keir Stamer QC.

In the past, the man with reportedly 24 aliases has posed as an aristocrat, a banker, a doctor, a property tycoon, a policeman and even a ballet dancer!

His first recorded case was in 1983 when he posed as a doctor doing the rounds in hospitals, and in one case he touched a woman’s breasts while telling her to trust him as he was a doctor. He also arranged X-rays, attended to a man whose lung had collapsed, stitched up the head of a patient and even attempted to enter an operating theatre where a heart bypass operation was ongoing!

Perhaps worst of all, he also told the parents of a 17-year-old girl hurt in a road crash she would live. 6 hours later she died.

He also once gatecrashed a high-class party and sent Dom Perignon champagne to Koo Stark’s table.

But his favourite seems to be posing as Queen’s Counsels.

Motive: to attract women.

Modus Operandi: advertise himself in lonely hearts columns, boasting about his alleged wealth. In reality, the former headresser is homeless.

Source
The BBC, 26 Oct 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand (sometimes written as Porntip Rojanasunan), 54 at first glance could be easily mistaken for a washed out rock star due to her “punk-rock hair dyed purplish red, sparkly eye shadow and a silver fish-shaped ear cuff,” not mentioning a fashion sense not usually attributed to medical specialists.

Some photos follow.

When she testified at the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock in Malaysia on 21st October 2009

Investigating the Santika Pub fire in Bangkok (January 2009) which killed 59 people

In 2005

She is probably the top forensics expert in the South East Asian region, who gained international fame for her work after the 2004 Tsunami.

She has conducted more than 10,000 autopsies. Whoa, that’s a lot, perhaps she’d gotten so used to seeing dead bodies that she’d pass by one without even a blink, while holding a discount cigar in one hand.

She is the Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Thailand.

Dubbed Dr Death, she spends more time with the dead than the living, a fact which apparently terrified her husband.

She is a celebrity in her home country but disliked by “many on the police force who has criticized the police as corrupt and has frequently challenged their findings.” As a result, she travels with a minder.

On her appearance, in her own words in 2005:

I wanted to work for society but also I wanted to dress in this style. Being an ordinary doctor was not a good way for me, so I had to find some specialty that was compatible. I work with the dead, and the dead do not complain.

Another, in September 2009:

It‘s my artistic side. Before I became a doctor, I wanted to be an interior designer and the first magazine I subscribed to was the fashion magazine Glamour. The second one was National Geographic. You see, these are two opposite things in my life.

She’s married to a bank manager in Bangkok and they have a teenage daughter. She writes books about her work in her spare time. Her favourite TV show is unsurprisingly “CSI: Miami”. She sleeps for only 4 hours a day, a habit started with she entered her profession 30 years ago.

Popularity: 2% [?]

On 17th October 2009, the world’s most unusual cabinet meeting ever was held by the government of Maldives: 5 meters underwater for 30 minutes. To communicate, they used whiteboards and gesticulations.

Why underwater? To highlight what global warming could do to the country, which lies in the Indian Ocean with an average elevation of a mere 2.1m (7 feet) above sea level: the world’s lowest-lying country.

It was attended by 11 of the 14 cabinet ministers, chaired by President Mohamed Nasheed, and also attended by Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

The president is a certified open water diver, while the other ministers recently took diving lessons and had to be certified fit to go underwater, probably none on a weight loss pill regime.

The prez chairing the unusual meeting

The prez in more normal circumstances

To get to the meeting spot: a turquoise lagoon off Girifushi Island with a backdrop of corals, they hopped on a boat and travelled 20 minutes before going down. Each minister was accompanied by 2 persons: a diving instructor and a military bodyguard.

By the end of the meeting, they’d signed a document asking for a global cut down in carbon emissions to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, which they hope will replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Some of the other ministers in attendance

The document entitled “SOS from the frontline” was printed on a white plastic slate and signed with waterproof pencils.

Video

Later a press conference was held, also underwater.

Journalists followed the proceedings by snorkeling around.

Source
The BBC, 17 Oct 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

I think this is even earlier than Sarah Richardson’s case in May 2008.

Mother-of-four Hayley Jones, 26 was killed due to what she did on Facebook on 2nd March 2007.

On that fateful day, she changed her Facebook relationship status from “married” to “single.”

She was spending increasingly more time online and prevented her partner of more than 10 years, Brian Lewis, 31 from using the PC, causing him to “fear their relationship was on the rocks,” but Lewis told police “the only tension between him and Hayley was the use of the home computer.”

10 days later, at 4am, Lewis strangled, then stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife through 3 layers of clothing and 2 sleeping bags at their home because “he could not stand to lose her to another man.”

At that time, she had been sleeping on the settee.

At this point, insurance companies might then conclude that females who changed their relationship status to “single” would make a bad health insurance lead!

She is survived by her children aged 3 to 10.

He was later sentenced to life in jail.

Source
The BBC, 1 Sep 2009

Popularity: 3% [?]

Jonathan G Parker, 19 of Fort Loudoun, Pennsylvania, USA could be the dumbest Facebook user ever.

He was such a Facebook addict that after breaking into a house on 28th August 2009 and stealing 2 diamond rings, he could not resist using his victim’s computer to log in to Facebook, then forgot to log off!

A friend knew where Parker was staying, which was nearby, so the hapless robber was quickly arrested, before he even had time to enjoy one of those Myrtle beach golf packages.

Interesting comments from cyberspace on the incident:

Status: Jonathan Parker is breaking into someone’s house right now.

Jonathan G. Parker Is Sitting In Jail Reminding Himself To Log Out Of Facebook At The End Of His Next Robbery.

Source
Martinsburg Journal, 16 Sep 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

You can call her the granny from hell. Mary Plaisted, 98 is probably the world’s most difficult-to-handle senior citizen.

She had lived in a ground-floor flat in Southampton, UK for 28 years but is going to be thrown out because of her anti-social behaviour:

- she harrassed her neighbours by banging on their windows and doors all night long
- she verbally and physically assaulted caregivers and the local council staff
- she used her panic alarm 563 times in a month (that would be about 20 times a DAY)
- she called police 264 times in the past 2 years (that would be about once call every 3 days), resulting in her phone line being cut off

Even her son Nigel Plaisted, 65, was reported to have supported the council’s action and called her mother “belligerent.”

Who knows what’s in her head all this time, it’s not as if she’s in desperate need of acne treatment products like a tantrum-throwing teenager.

Mind you, she’s still mentally sound.

Even her fellow senior citizens described her as an “absolute nightmare.”

But as expected, she denied everything.

Source
The BBC, 16 Sep 2009
The Sun (UK), 22 May 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Erzebet Bathory (17th century aristocrat), is the worst female serial killer who ever lived, and second in the all-time list, still led by Thug Behram, who killed 931. The Monster of the Andes only killed 350 people, but this pretty lady killed 600 people, by burning or mutilation of faces and genitalia, and biting the flesh off the faces, arms and other bodily parts. Nice, she might’ve thrown in a colon cleanse or two while she was at it.

Possibly the only other woman who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Ms Bathory is former prostitute Credonia “The Programmer” Mwerinde of Uganda, leader of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a pseudo-Catholic entity. This Priestess of Death, who claimed to have met the Virgin Mary, burned alive 600+ people at the same time, with the fire “so intense their skulls exploded.” The movement’s mass murder/suicide seems to have surpassed Jonestown as the most horrific cult tragedy in recorded history.

It is interesting to note that she was not even the founder of the cult, Joseph Kibwetere was: a prominent Roman Catholic and active politician, he was so persuasive that even Catholic priest Dominica Kataribaabo fell under his spell and joined in and became a leader below Kibwetere.

That means, Mwerinde was even more charismatic than even Kibwetere, and ultimately eclipsed the cult’s founder in both real importance and power, and reduced Kibwetere to mere figurehead.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The case in a nutshell: on 10th June 1991 convicted rapist Phillip Garrido, 58 abducted Jaycee Lee Dugard, then 11 who was on her way to school. 18 years later, on 26th August 2009 Garrido was exposed by chance.

There have been the British, Colombian, Argentine and Italian Fritzls, and now comes this latest case.

As I wrote earlier, a case is comparable to the original Fritzl if it involves a man who kept at least a daughter (whether adopted or not is immaterial) locked up for at least 20 years while raping her repeatedly.

In Garrido’s case, the girl is not his daughter and he kept her in captivity for less than 20 years.

Of course this is not to say that what he did was not “bad enough” – it was a horrendous crime by any measure, and the way he defended his actions was disturbingly bizarre.

I am only saying that by the yardstick set by the original Fritzl and 4 other “Fritzls”, Garrido did not make the grade.

Note: Garrido is apparently a religious fanatic but I wouldn’t rule out investigators discovering sexy adult costumes in his home.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Apparently, as of 1st July 2009, 12 fans of Michael Jackson have committed suicide.

Compare that to:

When John Lennon died, at least one fan, Colleen Costello, committed suicide.

When Elvis Presley died, “some” fans killed themselves. Does anyone know how many?

When Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana frontman died in 1994, at least one fan killed himself.

When Hide of top Japanese band X-Japan committed suicide on 2nd May 1998, 3 fans died in copycat suicides.

When Arsenal lost the 2009 Champions League tie to Manchester United on 6th May, Gunners fan Seuleiman Alphonso Omondi of Kenya killed himself while wearing an Arsenal shirt.

At least one fan of Japan’s national football team killed himself over its failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Paula Abdul’s fan, Paula Goodspeed, 30 killed herself in 2008.

Popularity: 1% [?]

So much has changed since the Stonewall Uprising 40 years ago.

Some milestones:

Robert Duncan (1919-1988), poet, the first important American to come out, in 1944.

Sam Adams, first openly gay mayor of a major city (Portland, Oregon, USA), who was elected in May 2008. He came out in 1993.

Jane Addams (1860 – 1935), a founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement, awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, probably the first openly gay person to win a Nobel Prize.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (b. 1942), Iceland Prime Minister since 1 Feb 2009, the world’s first openly gay head of government of the modern era.

Waheed Alli, Baron Alli (b 1964), British multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician, the youngest and first openly gay peer in the British Parliament in 1998, aged 34. One of world’s very few out gay Muslim politicians.

Justin Fashanu (1961 – 1998), the first English professional footballer to come out (1990) & Britain’s first GBP1 million black footballer. Hanged himself in May 1998.

Sir Elton John (b. 1947), British musician, probably the world’s most famous living gay person. One of the most successful artists of all time, has sold over 200 million records, 5 Grammys & an Oscar. Came out as bisexual in 1976 and a homosexual about a decade later.

Greg Louganis (b. 1960), American diver who won back-to-back Olympic titles in both the 3m and 10m diving events (1984 & 1988), probably the most famous gay athlete of all time.

Axel Axgil (b. 1915) and Eigil Axgil (1922 – 1995), Danish gay activist, the world’s first gay couple to enter into a civil union on 1st October 1989. They had been an item for 40 years.

Gene Robinson (b. 1947), the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop (in 2003) in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate.

Rembert Weakland (b. 1927), the former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee (1977 to 2002), who, in May 2009, in the process of writing a memoir, came out as gay.

Edward II (1284 – 1327?), probably the first gay English king?

Rob Halford (b. 1951), lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Judas Priest, probably the most famous gay classic hard rock / heavy metal frontman. He came out in 1998.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Last week, Putin humiliated Oleg Deripaska, 41 one of Russia’s richest men on live television, by forcing the businessman to reopen an aluminium plant after protests by apparently 30,000 laid-off workers.

The cameras clearly showed Putin throwing his pen on the table and ordering Deripaska to sign the paperwork.

The sidenote of the video on youtube says:

Prime Ministers personal handling of the business conflict in the town of Pikalevo has set a precedent in the public dressing-down of the countrys top businessmen for neglecting their social responsibility. More interesting is the fact that one of the people receiving the dressing-down was one of Russias most famous businessmen, Oleg Deripaska, who used to be the richest man in the country until the global financial crisis left him heavily in debt. The high-point of the show was Putin virtually arm-twisting him into signing a contract, which was needed for the factory to start working again. During the meeting, chaired by Putin, Deripaska was obviously unnerved, with cameras catching his every move and facial expression. Never before has a person of his caliber been publicly humiliated this way in modern Russia.

The BBC said: “it was a brilliant piece of political theatre, which went down extremely well with Russia’s public who were delighted to see Mr Putin bringing the hated oligarch to heel.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Christina “Tina” Watson, 26, a beginner diver, drowned while scuba diving with her husband, David “Gabe” Gabriel Watson, an experienced diver, a mere 11 days after their wedding in 2003.

In fact, the American couple were on their honeymoon at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia when it happened.

In June 2009, he was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison, having previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Lawyers contended that he failed as a dive buddy: either giving her oxygen, inflating her buoyancy vest or removing weights from her belt to enable her to surface. They also said he most likely Gabe killed his wife by holding her underwater and turning off her air supply.

He never admitted to murder.

The following photograph was taken by another diver of his diving buddy. In the same photo, one can see a diving instructor racing to Tina Watson, who can be seen lying on the sea floor:

Tina and Gabe during happier times:

Source
The BBC, 5th June 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Gulbai Freedoon Murzan, born 1901, the mother of Daulat “Dot” Irani, 83 died more than 20 years ago (some say 29). Instead of a funeral, Ms Irani, a lifelong spinster, decided to keep the corpse in a freezer in her garage in Sidcup because, it is thought, she was “afraid of getting in trouble for having her mother in the UK illegally.”

A recent photo of Ms Irani

Ms Irani has lived in the UK since 1976.

However, recently she “felt she had to let it all out” and confided to a horrified friend, who then alerted the police, who came knocking on her door on 20th May 2009.

Apparently, the corpse was “well preserved”.

The house, with the garage on the right

Ms Irani said that it was a “great relief knowing it’s all out in the open”.

If she were to be prosecuted for preventing the burial of a corpse, she could be jailed for life. For the time being, the police said “they are treating the death as unexplained rather than suspicious.”

Source
Mail Online, 28th May 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

After the British, Italian, Colombian and Malaysian Fritzls, the Argentine Fritzl has been uncovered in the shape of unemployed Armando “Monster of Mendoza” Lucero, 65 (some reports say 67) of Mendoza, Argentina.

On 27th May 2009 it was reported that DNA testing has confirmed that he fathered SEVEN children with one of his daughters, now 35.

The children are now between the ages of 2 and 19. That means when she first gave birth, she was merely 16.

He is also accused of raping 2 other daughters, one of whom, aged 40 said she was raped since the age of 8: 32 years of rape.

All 3 cases went on over 20 years.

Newsreport (in Spanish)

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

Lucero has been imprisoned since 11th May 2009.

The daughter who bore him 7 children finally fled from home because her father threatened to rape one of her daughters, who is, in effect, his granddaughter.

Amazingly, unlike the other Fritzl-like cases, she was not imprisoned at home, in fact she lived in the same house as his second wife and his stepmother.

Lucero already had 7 children by his (first wife) and another 8 from a previous marriage. Therefore, he has fathered a total of 7+8+7 = 22 children.

Source
The Telegraph (UK), 27 May 2009

… would there be any insurance company willing to approve for him a disability insurance policy now?

Popularity: 1% [?]

After the British Fritzl, Italian Fritzl and Colombian Fritzl, the Malaysian Fritzl has reportedly been uncovered in the state of Penang.

It was reported on 24th April 2009 that police in Penang have arrested a father, 42 (another report said 47) and his two sons, 15 and 17 after the father’s 13-year-old daughter claimed that she had been a sex slave to them for the last four years, since she was 9 years old.

She claimed she had been raped by her odd-job labourer father at home and in a forest near her house, while her brothers had repeatedly molested her at home.

Another newsreport said that she was even sodomised by her father and a brother.

She claimed to have been paid between RM1 and RM2 by her father each time he abused her.

All this time she was too afrain to tell her housewife mother, until the 22nd of April 2009 when she decided to reveal all to her teacher, as she was afraid that her younger sisters, aged 7 and 9, would also end up being abused. She has seven siblings.

Source
The Star, 24th April 2009
New Straits Times, 24 Apr 2009

… it’s probably just a matter of time before every country’s Fritzl get exposed; then one would need a brain memory upgrade just to keep track of their names …

Popularity: 1% [?]

I truly am flabbergasted at the current state of affairs.

After Joseph Fritzl was exposed in April 2008, another 3 people from different countries with comparable crimes have been exposed in the space of a year.

By comparable crimes I mean a man having kept at least a daughter (whether adopted or not is immaterial) locked up for at least 20 years while raping her repeatedly.

In November 2008, the British Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison.

Then in March 2009, two “new Fritzls” were exposed, one in Italy, another in Colombia.

We compare the monstrous four:

Joseph (Josef) Fritzl (the Austrian Monster)
Age when caught: 73
Duration of sexual abuse: 24 years (1984-2008)
Number of daughters abused: 1
Age of daughter when first raped: 18
Number of pregnancies: apparently 8 (7 lived, 1 stillborn)
Method to avoid detection: built dungeon under house

Mr X / The Gaffer (the British Fritzl) [real name cannot be revealed due to a court order]
Age when caught: 54
Duration of sexual abuse: 25 years (1983-2008)
Number of daughters abused: 2
Age of daughters when first raped: prepubescent
Number of pregnancies: total 19, 9 survived.
Method to avoid detection: moved from house to house in rural areas

Michele Mongelli (the Italian Fritzl) [above]
Age when caught: 63
Duration of sexual abuse: 25 years (1984-2009)
Number of daughters abused: 1
Age of daughter when first raped: 9
Number of pregnancies: apparently none
Method to avoid detection: sheer personality power

Crime scene: Mongelli’s flat in Turin, Italy:

Curiously, Mongelli’s wife Caterina reportedly defended him: “This is all lies. He kept her inside because he was worried about her.”

Arcebio (some reports say Arcedio) Alvarez (the Colombian Fritzl)
Age when caught: 59
Duration of sexual abuse: 20+ years (1980s-2008)
Number of daughters abused: 1
Age of daughter when first raped: 9
Number of pregnancies: allegedly 11 (3 died)
Method to avoid detection: sheer personality power

Popularity: 1% [?]

I read that Romans are famous for throwing tantrums in public places if things don’t do their way, but I think the people of Hong Kong have upstaged them.

After that video of the Hong Kong woman who got upset for missing her flight, now it’s another Hong Kong woman who got angry upon being told that she can’t have her shark fin soup.

Wait for the end, it’s priceless!

Don’t worry, the video comes with English subtitles

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 6th January 2010

He’s reported to have died from stomach cancer, aged 93.

———————–

He could very well be both the unluckiest and luckiest man who ever lived on this earth.

Unlucky because he was in both cities, dangerously close to ground zero, when they were destroyed with the first and second ever use of the nuclear bomb in history.

Lucky because he lived to tell the story, and is still alive as of the time of writing this!

Even more amazingly, his only apparently health problem is a “little deafness in one ear.”

Yamaguchi, 93 was in Hiroshima on a business trip on that fateful day of 6th August 1945, when Little Boy was dropped on the city by Enola Gay.

The following photo of the mushroom cloud towering over Hiroshima was taken by Seizo Yamada at ground level, 7km from ground zero:

Yamaguchi was 29 years old.

He suffered serious burns and spent a night there in an air raid shelter.

The next day, on the 7th of August 1945, he returned to his home city of… you guessed it, Nagasaki, presumably to recuperate.

Then, as we’ve all learnt from history books, Nagasaki itself was bombed 2 days later, on 9th August 1945.

Aerial image of Nagasaki before (top) and after (bottom) the bombing:

At that time, he must’ve wondered what grave sin he’s committed that karma fought back so ferociously.

More than 210,000 persons were killed as a result of the 2 bombings.

He reportedly told reporters after the Japanese government officially certified him as the only survivor of the double dose of atomic bombings recently:

My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die. I hope my experience will hold a lesson of peace for future generations.

Source
The BBC, 25 Mar 2009
Photos: wikipedia.

Popularity: 2% [?]

In 2005, Charlie Rosenbury, then an undergraduate majoring in computer science, wrote a computer program “in 5 hours” that sent messages to 250,000 Facebook users across the USA asking them to add him as a friend.

According to him, within 3 weeks, he got around 75,000 friends.

It did not endear him to many people or even Facebook’s creators though.

More recently, Justine Ezarik (above), 25 of Pittsburgh has 5,000 Facebook friends, which is apparently the system limit. She also reportedly has 50,000 MySpace friends, and more than 253,000 Twitter followers as of March 2009.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Other casanovas might have bedded more women, but when it comes to being a gigolo i.e. bedding, then milking money off wealthy women, perhaps nobody was better at the art than Helg Sgarbi, 44 the Swiss gigolo.

See, gigolos don’t need to look like latin lovers. In fact, he could be any anonymous lounge lizard at any hotel.

He was recently sentenced to jail for 6 years for cheating BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, 46, Germany’s richest woman out of USD8.8 million.

Ms Klatten is married with 3 children and reportedly worth USD8.5 billion.

He also scammed 3 other women in a similar way.

He later attempted to blackmail Ms Klatten by claiming to have a videotape of them lovemaking when she refused to hand over even more money: 290 million euros, that he said would enable them to “start a new life together.”

The trial was one of the most sensational in Germany’s history.

Sgarbi met Ms Klatten, who is married, at an Austrian spa resort in July 2007.

In a lesson to would-be gigolos, Ms Klatten said:

He was charming, attentive and at the same time he seemed very sad. That stirred a feeling in me that we had something in common.

Thus an affair began. 2 months after they met, the smooth operator managed to persuade Ms Klatten to give him 7 million euros by lying that he “needed to pay off the family of a girl he had injured in car accident in Florida.”

Source
The BBC, 9 March 2009

Popularity: 2% [?]

It was reported on 10th March 2009 that in a survey done by “Access Hollywood’s TV One Access”, Halle Berry, 32 was voted the Sexiest Black Woman Alive, edging out Tyra Banks, Alicia Keys, Jada Pinkett Smith and Beyonce Knowles.

She’s also a very talented actress, receiving an Oscar in 2001 for her performance in Monster’s Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2009, only black woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar.

She was runner-up in the Miss USA 1986 pageant.

Divorced from baseball player David Justice and musician Eric Benét, she’s dating Gabriel Aubry since 2005. They have a child.

… as for the rest of us mere mortals, time to shower her with online greeting cards?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Happened on 10th March 2009 in Akuressa, a town in southern Sri Lanka, during a celebration of Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.

The LTTE (Tamil Tigers) were the perpetrators.

Before:

It appeared to target the 6 government ministers attending the event.

At least 10 people were killed, including 3 local politicians and 3 students.

A split second later, BOOM!

At least 40 were wounded, including several of the ministers.

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Mahinda Wijesekara was the most seriously injured of the ministers.

The suicide bomber approached the crowd on a bicycle before setting off the bomb.

The video:

Source
The Telegraph (UK), 11 Mar 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

UPDATE 15th February 2010

Apparently there’s Dr. Shit F. Chew, a scientist of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

If you don’t believe it, have a look at this or google that name.

———————————————-

You’d be guaranteed a lifetime of being the butt of jokes, making you look for exit signs every time your name is called out loud.

These are actual names, taken from online telephone directories, discovered by researchers from parenting group TheBabyWebsite.com.

Justin Case
Barb Dwyer

Stan Still, who used to be a British Royal Air Force airman, said his name had been “a blooming millstone around my neck my entire life. When I was in the RAF my commanding officer used to shout, ‘Stan Still, get a move on’ and roll about laughing. It got hugely boring after a while.”

Terry Bull
Paige Turner
Mary Christmas
Anna Sasin
Doug Hole
Hazel Nutt
Anna Prentice
Annette Curtain
Bill Board
Tim Burr

Some have very “job-specific” names:
Dr Leslie Doctor
Dr Thoulton Surgeon
Dr Les Plack, a dentist in San Francisco.

Source
The BBC, 25 Feb 2009

Popularity: 1% [?]

Nujood Ali, 9 of Yemen walked out of her abusive 2-month old marriage in April 2008. She is probably the world’s youngest ever reported divorcee, although there’s a reported case of an 8-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia who won a divorce suit after apparently being inspired by Nujood’s story.

Nujood’s husband was more than triple her age, to whom her father had married her off.

She suffered daily beatings and rape at his hands.

Her autobiography was ghostwritten by French newspaper reporter Delphine Minoui.

She reportedly said that she never ever wants to be married again.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The 2009 Victorian bushfires are a series of bushfires that were ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria.

It started on 7th February 2009 and have resulted in more than 200 human deaths, covered almost half a million hectares destroyed about 2,000 homes and left almost 8,000 people homeless.

It is Australia’s worst ever bushfire.

One of the fires, the one at Churchill is strongly believed by investigators to have been started by an arsonist. 5 days after the fires started, at 4pm on 12th February 2009, Brendan Sokaluk, 39 was arrested, suspected of lighting it.

At least 11 people died in that fire.

Sokaluk has become the target of intense anger. Some people have suggested that he be “burned at the stake.”

At last check, his myspace search page still up with photo, but the link www.myspace.com/brendansokaluk is dead, however one could still see what it contained.

He also appears in at least one Facebook group. One of them is titled “Brendan Sokaluk, the Victorian Bushfires Arsonist, must burn in hell”

He is currently under protective custody in solitary confinement at an unnamed location in Melbourne.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862-1910) was an American doctor who murdered his wife.

As a result, he was hanged in London in November 1910.

He is the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless communication.

Popularity: 1% [?]