Fat cat could be a record breaker

KSource:
Ananova



A Chinese man believes his two-and-a-half stone cat could be the heaviest in the world.

Xu Jirong, of Qingdao, in northern China's Shandong province, says the cat, appropriately named Chubby, has a 27ins waist - bigger than a human girl's.

"She puts on more than two pounds every year - I suspect the problem is that she much prefers pork to fish," he told Wuzhou Daily.

"She can swallow down four or five pieces of raw pork within minutes."

However, Xu says Chubby is quite a good 'watchcat'.

"She attacks any stranger who comes in the apartment by scratching them - she's really quite terrifying," he added.

However, a vet said Chubby was clearly obese and said that all pets need a healthy diet and exercise.

Dog survives being shot 4 times

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A 2-year-old yellow Labrador mix is recovering at a Kansas City shelter after being shot four times. And workers at Wayside Waifs have dubbed him Bullet. Waifs spokeswoman Ashlee Parker said Bullet was found several weeks ago in Caldwell County, shot once in the head, once in each front shoulder and once in the neck.

The Kansas City Star reported that the Cameron-based rescue group Safe Haven took in the dog, paid for his treatments and nursed him mostly back to health. Parker said Bullet still has some pain in one of his shoulders and one leg.

Bullet arrived at Wayside Waifs Tuesday. He got X-rays and was neutered and currently is not up for adoption.

Officials don't know who shot the dog or why.

AP

what is the world coming to?!

Teen Baffles Doctors Crying Tears of Blood

A Tennessee teen has baffled doctors by regularly shedding tears of blood.

Calvino Inman suffers bloody tears seeping from his eyes for up to an hour a day.

The 15-year-old is being teased at school for being "possessed" and doctors have been unable to diagnose his specific condition.

One theory is that Inman has a condition called haemolacria — literally meaning "bloody tears." The condition can be triggered by a tumor or even a bad case of conjunctivitis (pink eye).

Inman, of Rockwood, Tenn., said: "I feel it coming up, like a tear, sometimes it will burn."

His mother Tammy said: "I just truly want somebody to say they can help us."


Fox News

Girl, 15, Admits Trying to Poison Father With Tainted Jell-O

LIVINGSTON, Mont. — A 15-year-old Montana girl has admitted trying to poison her father using Jell-O laced with lamp oil.

The teen appeared before District Judge Nels Swandal Monday via video conferencing. She pleaded guilty to a charge of simple assault, a lesser count than the felony attempted aggravated assault charge she first faced.

Court records say in early June, the girl made Jell-O tainted with lamp oil. Twice over a period of three days she tried to get her father to eat it. The girl and her father had recently quarreled because he revoked her privileges for missing curfew.

"What did you think was going to happen," Swandal asked the girl.

"That he'd have diarrhea and stuff," she replied.

A spokeswoman with the Rocky Mountain Poison Control Center for Montana said if lamp oil were ingested and stayed in the stomach, it would cause little trouble, but breathing fumes could cause inflammation in the lining of the lungs.

Swandal placed the girl on probation until she turns 18. Her attorney said she will enter treatment for chemical dependency.

The girl had been held at a juvenile detention center in Glendive since her arrest on June 7. Swandal did not order any more detention time.


Ananova

Dog given parking ticket

An Australian traffic warden fixed a parking ticket to a dog's lead after it was 'parked' illegally outside a shopping centre.

The dog was tied to a fence outside Darwin's Rapid Creek market when it was approached by two city council traffic wardens, the Northern Territory News reports.

One of the inspectors wrote out a ticket - and taped it to the dog's lead.

Witness Ray McEvoy said he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I watched an elderly lady and her very faithful blue heeler roll up at the market. The lady tied the dog to the fence and gave him a bowl full of water. And off she went into the markets," he said.

"Then two traffic inspectors came along. They had a bit of a talk and, to my amazement, wrote out a warning infringement notice for the dog and taped it to his lead rope."

Council spokesman Grant Fenton said a dog was considered to be "at large" if the owner was not there.

"You can't tie up a dog and leave it," he said.


Ananova

China schoolgirl aspires to be 'corrupt official'

BEIJING (AFP) – A six-year-old girl has become a media darling in China on her first day of school by expressing her aspiration to become a "corrupt official" when she grows up, state media said Friday.

The young student stated her aspirations in a televised interview that was posted on a southern China website, leading bloggers to describe her comments as "a reflection of social reality," the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

"When I grow up I want to be an official," said the girl, whose face was blurred to protect her identity.

"What kind of official?" the interviewer asked.

"A corrupt official because corrupt officials have a lot of things," she replied.

Numerous other children appearing in the video were asked the same question, with many saying they wanted to become teachers, while others said they were not sure what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Many chatroom users praised the child for her "realistic" outlook on life, while others expressed cynicism over rampant corruption in China.

"Socialism has issued a new version of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'," said one posting.

"The ugliness of life has already tainted the children -- how are we ever going to educate the next generation?" another posting said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has repeatedly warned that corruption is one of the greatest threats to the legitimacy of Communist Party rule.


AFP

Facebook firing after 'friend' boss ripped

Source: Toronto Star



Woman let go after rant: 'I guess you forgot about adding me on here?'

In tech terms, it's called a cascading failure.

A woman in Britain being called "Lindsay" made a big one this week, and it cost her her job.

First, she came home after a hard day and, rather than complaining to the cat, decided to do it on the web.

Lindsay opened up her Facebook account and posted a fairly vulgar description of her boss.

"OMG, I HATE MY JOB!" Lindsay wrote. "My boss is a total pervvy wanker always making me do s--- stuff." Mistake No. 2.

Mistake No. 3. was forgetting that her boss was one of her Facebook friends, and thus had access to all of her posted comments.

Mistake No. 4 was firing this broadside two weeks before the end of a six-month trial period.

Five hours after Lindsay posted her lament, her boss replied.

"I guess you forgot about adding me on here?" his post began.

Then he proceeded to rip her straight back.

"That `s--- stuff' is called your `job', you know, what I pay you to do? But the fact that you seem able to f--- up the simplest of tasks might contribute to how you feel about it."

Angry boss then points out that Lindsay is a couple of weeks shy of the end of her trial period and delivers the coup de grâce.

"Don't bother coming in tomorrow. I'll pop your P45 (pink slip) in the post, and you can come in whenever you like to pick up any stuff you've left here. And, yes, I'm serious."

The Schadenfreude moment appears to be genuine. A screen capture of the exchange – with names blacked out – has been circulating the web for several days.

"It is pretty hysterical," said labour lawyer Mary Beth Currie. "Well, not for her."

According to Currie, the sort of treatment Lindsay received at her boss's hands could also happen in Canada.

"Yes, a termination would be possible," Currie said. "People have to realize that they can't disparage their employer after working hours like this."

It is now normal practice in this country to include a paragraph addressing what can and can't be done on social networking sites into the section of employee agreements covering Internet policy.

"This is not unusual," said Peter Biro, a partner at WeirFoulds LLP. "You're going to see kajillions of cases like this out there."

This is the latest in a series of headline-grabbing stories of irked employees typing and living to regret it.

From a Swiss insurance worker chopped for Facebooking while home ill, to a Brit public relations drone axed for complaining about being "bored" in her work, people are learning the hard way that bad moods are temporary, but the Internet is forever.

Nor would it be the first time someone's been cut via a social networking site. B.C. aesthetician Crystal Bell made headlines in January after she was fired over Facebook, though not for anything she had written online.

In Lindsay's case, the lesson is clear. Choose your (Facebook) friends wisely.