International update: Japan

Here's a bizarre story from Japan about a city Councilman banned from meetings for refusing to take off his pro wrestling mask...

 Japan's Oita City Council knew what it was getting when Skull Reaper A-ji was voted into office: a grown man who wears a "lucha libre"-style wrestling mask at all times. But the less-awesome politicians who attend the meetings have banned him until he removes his mask.

"If I take my mask off, I'm an entirely different person," he said. "I will not take it off." He says his mask makes average citizens more comfortable when they talk to him.

I say let him wear his mask. Western New York has a lot of politicians who should wear masks when they go out in public. 


http://now.msn.com/skull-reaper-a-ji-banned-from-city-council-meetings-because-of-wrestling-mask#scptmd

Tall drink of water

At 6 ft 9, the tallest girl in Brazil (whose name I'm not even going to try and pronounce) towers over her 4 ft 4 boyfriend. Usually women this tall look like Godzilla but this one is an aspiring model. She's so tall she can't even fit into her local school bus...

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International update: Iran

 



I can't even believe we let Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on American soil to speak before the UN in New York City. In his speech, he confirmed to the rest of the world why it is imperative that Iran never be allowed to develop any sort of nuclear program...

In a fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed today against the United States and European Union, whom he said have "have entrusted themselves to the devil." 

The Iranian leader, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and denied the existence of the Holocaust, spoke today on one of Judaism's holiest days, Yom Kippur. During his speech he referred to Israelis as "uncivilized Zionists."  

Other than that, Ahmadinejad seems like a pretty stable guy. My favorite part of his rant was when he criticized the United States for not treating Osama bin Laden with respect...

In addition, he criticized the United States for "throwing" Osama bin Laden "into the sea without military trial," referring to the U.S. disposal of bin Laden's body off of a U.S. warship following Muslim prayers. 

If someone murdered 3,000 innocent Iranians, this wackjob would be dragging their body through the streets of Tehran and shooting shotguns into the air. That's the difference between the US and Iran. We don't cut off the hands of thieves or punish women because they have been raped. 

I'd like to see this idiot walk over to Times Square and start explaining to everyday New Yorkers (who lost loved ones in 9/11) why we should have been nicer to Osama.  Ahmadinejad and Iran should be treated differently than the rest of the civilized world. Any country supporting a fool like is clearly not made up of civilized people.

Don't believe me how crazy these people are? Look what they did back to Sgt.  Slaughter back in 1985...



http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ahmadinejad-u-n-assembly-speech-video-155849849.html

International update: six limbed Pakistani baby

I had a cousin born like this. He's known as the second biggest freak of the family...

Farooq was born two weeks ago in Sukkur, a city in the southern province of Sindh, and was born to a couple who are cousins, according to the New York Daily News.

From what I hear, although this is new to Pakistan, multi limb births are common in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and certain parts of Riverside...
Umar Farooq, Six-Legged Baby, Recovering After Surgery To Remove Extra Limbs (GRAHIC PHOTOS)



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International update: India

Guinness awaits the world's largest family of Albinos in India. This family of 10 (three are missing from photo) from New Delhi will soon be inducted into the records book. This is nothing. I saw a family the other day on Mineral Springs that made these guys look like the Brady Bunch. Let the nightmares begin...




The World's Biggest Albino Family


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Standing out in the crowd

You have to hand it to North Korea. They really know how to throw a funeral. You may have already seen the doctored photo they released (uncovered by ABC News) from Kim Jong II's funeral (shown below). A few soldiers were not standing perfectly choreographed, so they were, in the words of Dr. Emmett Brown, erased from existence. Actually, they were turned into snow by the state controlled media.

In the above photo, one man appears to be twice as tall as the men on either side of him. Some believe he could be North Korea's only basketball star, Ri "Michael" Myung. Others speculate, the man might just live too close to one of their nuclear reactors.

After

Before

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International update: Peruvian mayor Pat Robertson

More proof that the rest of the world is not as enlightened as some might think.The mayor of a Peruvian town said this week that contamination in the drinking water is making people in his town gay...

The mayor of a coastal Peruvian town says he’s discovered the reason there are a growing number of gays in his area: the presence of the metal strontium in the local water supply.

“Unfortunately Strontium reduces male hormones and suddenly we’ll be as Tabalosos, as other towns, where the percentages are increasing of homosexuality,” Mayor José Benítez warned the citizens of Huarmey during an opening ceremony for a local water project.

We tried to reach the Peruvian mayor's spokesman for comment, but were told he was attending a Wham! concert. By the way, I'm not one to gossip, but what's Byron Brown drinking these days? We hear he likes to spend a lot of his free time down at Club Marcella. Lots of canaries flying around by the docks (and sending the Blogger emails). Not that there's anything wrong with it...

Peruvian mayor says contaminated water is making his town gay | Breaking News | Wisconsin Gazette -.

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International update: Bulgaria

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Fed up with the incumbent, a political party in the Bulgarian city of Varna has succeeded in running a donkey against him. In my favorite part of the story, the incumbent has refused to share a platform with the donkey (nicknamed Marko the ass)...

Angel Dyankov, a representative of the Society for New Bulgaria party, told the country's Darik Radio: "Unlike the other mayor candidates and politicians, the Donkey has a strong character, doesn’t steal, doesn’t lie, and gets work done."

Donkey enters elections in Bulgaria

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International update: Mexico

It's amazing the things that pass for trends in some places. In this Northeastern Mexican town, girls won't look twice at a guy unless he's wearing these clown-like boots. You have to wear them or people might think you look stupid. That's if you are not wearing them. Bizarre.

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International update: Pakistan

From the Associated Press: A few dozen people gather in the capital city of Pakistan to protest our special forces bringing the world's biggest terrorist to justice. Someone should remind them those were real people needlessly murdered on their way to work 10 years ago. 3,000 people with families. The one sign says "Obama: Take care of your own problems first." He did take care of our biggest problem: Osama bin Laden and 99% of the world is grateful. The US government gives Pakistan $1 billion dollars a year in aid. Obama should take their advice and spend it next year on our own soil...



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International Update- Indonesia

Kids are starting to smoke and drink at a younger age. You might already have seen this video. Maybe the new cigarette tax isn't such a bad thing after all...

International Update- Malaysia

A giant hole appeared seemingly from out of nowhere in Malaysia this week. "Officials have no explanation for why the giant hole has appeared but confirmed they were looking into it".

Traffic halted as 5 metre crack tears through Malaysian road Mail Online

International Update-Guatemala

This sinkhole in Guatemala City, Guatemala was caused by tropical storm Agatha. It swallowed up a three story building and a house.

This one was equally as big (100 yds deep) and swallowed up a dozen houses. It was also in Guatemala in 2007:

International update-Tanzania

People in certain parts of Africa kill albinos on a regular basis. They think that possessing their body parts will bring them wealth and prosperity. They should get together with the Iranian cleric that believes the recent earthquakes in Iran were brought about by scantily dressed women. If that's the case, expect tremors soon near Mr. A's Pub on Elk St. These Tanzanians and Iranians must have plenty to talk about at cocktail parties...

Activists: Mother, son albinos killed in Burundi
Associated Press

Attackers in Burundi chopped off the limbs of a 5-year-old albino boy and pulled out his mother's eye, killing them over the belief that their body parts would bring wealth and success, human rights activists said Friday.
Those deaths and other recent attacks in Tanzania are part of long pattern of violence against African albinos. At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since attacks against them spiked in late 2007, the International Federation of the Red Cross says.
Since then, 57 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 in Burundi, said Vicky Ntetema with the rights group Under The Same Sun.
The killings are fueled by superstitious beliefs that human albino body parts will bring others wealth and success, Ntetema said.

Out of the 57 reported cases of killings reported in Tanzania, only two people have been convicted.

Wow. That's a pretty impressive success rate. Former DA Frank Clark must have relatives working in the DA's office over in Tanzania.

International Update: South Korea

This is a great story. At first, I thought it was just another story about Byron Brown's son. Then I realized it was about a woman in South Korea who passed the written part of her driving permit application on her 950th try. 68 year old Cha Sa-soon (no relation to Israeli hairdresser Vidal Sassoon) took the test almost daily for four years. She wants a license so she can sell her vegetables in a small truck.

She finally scored the minimum of 60 out of 100 to pass the test. Score one for persistence and determination. Now, only two questions remain: Does she actually know how to drive? Will I have pizza for lunch? Something tells me, we'll find out the answers to both soon.

http://www.fox59.com/news/sns-76d38e54fd644f19989d8a31c8e017f4-1,0,1536896.photo

International Update: Saudia Arabia

An anthropologist would say, who are we to judge the norms of another society? But then, you hear stories like this and wonder if it is not a basic human rights violation. A Saudi Arabian man was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes for bragging about his sex life on a popular Saudi television show. He was charged with "publicizing vice", not to be confused with the 80s show Miami Vice. In the US, such a guy would just be made fun of at his neighborhood tavern.

Al-Jami, a 'fixer' who books guests on the show, got off easy. She was sentenced to 60 lashes and a two year travel ban. So much for freedom of the press. This is a country that still gives lashes to rape victims. I love it when people criticize this country. I wonder how many lashes critics like me would be sentenced to? I hardly doubt they would waste their time with lashes.
Saudi journalist sentenced to 60 lashes - CNN.com*

In a similar story, 20 foreigners face lashing and prison terms for attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced. Wasn't this the premise for the 80s movie Footloose? Maybe a Saudi Arabian version of the movie is in the works. Remind me not to leave New York state.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16978938/from/ET

International Update: Russian Bears

In Russia last week, a bear on ice skates fatally attacked 25 year old circus hand Dmitry Potapov and critically wounded another man trying to save him. I'm surprised this happened. You don't hear that much about bears in entertainment attacking their handlers except for the 50 or so other cases documented this year.


Why would a 700 lb. wild animal become upset if you trained it to play ice hockey or ride a motorcycle? My all time favorite bear attack is this incident caught on tape. These idiots in Poland brought their pet brown bear into a lit TV studio to do some tricks. The bear didn't care much for all the lights in the studio or the reporter's perfume and started mauling everything in sight. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt in this incident.

In many cases, something as simple as a toothache can set them off. Trust me. If a bear decides he's having a bad day, you're having a bad day, too. Bears have a cute way of telling you that they are upset. They drag you around by your neck. This just in. Bears are wild animals that don't naturally associate with people. It might be a good idea to let them ride their own motorcycles in the woods.
Ice skating bear kills Russian circus hand - CNN.com*

International Update:Chavez Tries to Ban Golf

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, dressed in his military outfit, called golfers "lazy", "bourgois", and said "there is no justification for a golf course within a city". The Caracas Country Club in Venezuela is comprised of the country's wealthiest families (just like the Caz golf course). This was Chavez' way of telling the people that he is one of them and not in cahoots with the country's rich snobs.

A sure way to tell whether a leader is crazy is when they put on the military suit. Very symbolic. Sometimes I think these guys just never got tired of playing with GI Joes when they were kids. This guy is hysterical. If an American leader talked like this, he'd be taken away by men in white suits.

I'm not a big fan of the sport but I don't begrudge people who play golf. I tried it once and just couldn't hit the damn ball. If I want to take a walk, I'll walk to the store. Anyway, to say golf is only played by wealthy snobs is a bit unfair of Chavez. Perhaps he forgot about the Cinderella story of a former assistant greenskeeper, now on his way to becoming a masters champion at Augusta...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/09/AR2009100904246.html?referrer=emailarticle

International Update- The Moammar and Mahmoud Show

You like to think the world is being run by sane, capable people. Think again. After reading this article from the News Wire Services today, I was reminded of the Peter Sellers movie Dr. Stranglove. In that movie, miscommunication and paranoia led the West to thinking the Russians were about to drop the atomic bomb on us. What followed were 90 minutes of comedy based on mistrust and the arms race. This movie still remains a timeless classic.

Here's a recap from today's Buffalo News. I couldn't find the link so I copied the article from the Morning call. President Obama asked the leaders to move past " reflexive Anti-Americanism" and work together to solve the problems of the world. Apparently, the rest of the world doesn't know that our politicians can't agree on where to put stop signs or red lights, much less solve bigger problems like world peace.

Despite being given the customary 15 minutes, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi went on a 96 minute tirade. We haven't heard from this guy in 25 years and now, all of a sudden, he's saying something more ridiculous every other day. Moammar, Libya has never even made it to the 2nd round of the World Cup. Your country stinks. Keep your mouth shut.

Gadhafi criticized the war in Afghanistan and spoke about current events like the 1983 invasion of Grenada. He spoke so long he wore out his first translator and had to ask for a second. The Libyan wackjob called Obama "our son" referring to Obama's African heritage. This statement is sure to go over well in middle America. In a blatant ass kissing move, he also suggested Obama should be made US President for life. He demanded massive reparations for the colonization of Africa and urged additional investigations into the death of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. (???) The only thing Gadhafi forgot to mention was the running back controversy on the Buffalo Bills involving Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch.

Not to be outdone, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a half empty crowd that Tehran was ready for peace and reconciliation. He then followed it up by ripping the US for the remainder of his speech. This led the US delegation to walk out. They must have heard enough and headed for a liquid lunch.

After the meeting, Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (didn't he play for the Sabres in the 1990s?). The two spoke specifically about Iran and agreed to blow it up next week. http://www.mcall.com/news/all-obama-un-092309-cn,0,187196.story

International Update- Libya

Other countries like to say the USA thinks they are better than them. Quite frankly, we are. Here's a prime example. Libya wants our respect and a place at the international table. Yet it's people cheered wildly for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the terrorist convicted of killing 270 people (mostly college students ) on Pan Am flight 103 in 1988. In fact, Moammar Gadhafi's son was there to greet him at the airport. Normal people don't cheer for mass murderers. I don't care what culture you are from. It was a classless act.

Why he was released also needs to be investigated. I don't care what they claim about compassion (the terrorist has terminal cancer). Scotland was given something by Libya (probably tons of cash) to release him. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton need to do something about this atrocity. Maybe Clinton will look into it after she brings the 200,000 jobs she promised to upstate NY. While they're at it, they should arrest the two Libyan terrorists that killed Doc Brown in Back to the Future.

Lockerbie bomber freed, returns to cheers in Libya*