Nanny Strikes Again

In NZ, there is a lot of competition between supermarkets to win the almighty food $ from consumers. If you purchase over a certain $ value of groceries, supermarkets have been offering a voucher giving the shopper a discount off any petrol purchased from either their own petrol pumps or from local service stations. Up till now, some supermarkets have allowed the purchase of any tobacco products to be included in the final grocery total. The government / health department has now cracked down and made it illegal for any tobacco product to be included in the final total. Other products that are more harmful and make people "fatter" aren't been considered at this stage, but watch this space.
If people want to smoke, the few cents difference they would of got in petrol discounts certainly isn't going to make any difference if they smoke or not. So as long they don't smoke while they are filling up, I cannot see any harm in them been allowed to include tobacco products in the grocery total. Another case of living in a "nanny state" ?

Droll Into The Cup Please

It's a big ask, but an Australian researcher is hoping to help save the threaten hippopotamus by studying samples of drool from animals taught to salivate on command. The researcher has twice visited Mexico's largest private zoo, African Safari to collect samples. One of the zoo's vets there has trained the hippo's to walk into an enclosure and drop their jaws on cue, releasing a flood of slobber in the expectation of been fed. Hippo's which produce a massive amount of salvai is collected in a cup. Cheers !!! Just as well he doesn't have to collect samples from the other end to study.

He Ain't Heavy

British social workers have allowed a mother to keep her "heavy" son at home even though he is overweight for his age. She says her son will not eat fruit & vegetables and has refused to stop feeding him junk food. She has also refused to put a lock on the fridge. The boy is 8 and weighed in at nearly 90 kilos, before she sought help from health workers and a dietitian. He has so far, lost 11 kilos this year.

He was Light-Fingered

A 46 year old Iran man who was light-fingered and liked robbing safes is now even more light fingered after having four fingers on his right hand chopped off as punishment after been caught. While Iran's hardline judicary follws a strict interperation of Islamic law, enforcement of punishments such as amputation are rare. He is just going to have to learn to use his left hand to wipe his.........fingerprints off safes.

Bully Me - Bully My Minder

For South Korean students who have trouble with bullies, help is at hand. It seems that their government plans a crack down on bullies and is to start a trial next month to cut down on school violence. Students who are bullied will have a minder to protect them. The government hopes that by providing minders, they can find out which students are causing the trouble. (and pigs will fly) No student in their right mind is going to be silly enough to bully another student in front of a minder. The funding and services are been provided by companies wanting to help cut school violence.

Reminds of someone, who used to get bullied at school by a boy who kept trying to bite her because her surname was Smith. (Apple / Granny Smith - get it ? You don't - go back to sleep !!!) After she kicked him in the gonads, she wasn't bullied any more. I wonder why ? She must of been a tiger for punishment though, because later on in life she married a "Smith" and the bites never stopped.

Bird-Brain Idea.

If there ever was an award for a bird-brain idea, this would take all. Scientists in China who have implanted mirco-chips in pigeon's brains, lay claim to have created the world's first remote-controlled pigeons, saying they can control the bird's minds at the click of a mouse. By sending signals from the computer, they were able to plot a course and force the pigeons to fly in a chosen direction. They hope that the technolgy could be put into practical use in the future - no prizes for guessing what, in time to come.
Sit up straight, will take on a whole new meaning.