Monday, May 24, 2010

Acupuncturist's 'theories' gets three convicted rapists released from prison in Vietnam

La Ngoc Tinh said the case was reopened at the request of Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet, after traditional medicine specialists said the men could not be rapists because they had never had sex.  The men were convicted in 2002 of raping an 18-year-old woman in Hanoi, and sentenced to 11 to 16 years in prison.
Pham Thi Hong, an acupuncturist at the national traditional medicine hospital, said prison officials had sent one of the men to her for treatment in 2006.  She said examination of a pressure point beneath the convict's ear showed a small capillary was unbroken, which Vietnamese traditional medicine holds to mean that he was a virgin. Hong then examined the other two men.

Full article: http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article466250.ece/Acupuncturist-pricks-holes-in-rape-conviction

British anti-vaccine doctor removed from the General Medical Council

The General Medical Council found Dr Andrew Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way he carried out his controversial research.  It follows a GMC ruling earlier this year that he had acted unethically.  Dr Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles - but the findings were later discredited.

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8700611.stm


Crop circle in Wiltshire, England inspired by math formula

 The circle, which is more than 300ft in diameter, was cut into a field of oil seed rape by Wilton Windmill at Wilton near Marlborough. Experts say that the design may be connected to Euler's Identity, a complex formula devised by the 18th Century Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler.  Lucy Pringle, the crop circle researcher who photographed the formation from a helicopter after it appeared in the early hours of Saturday morning, said that each segment of the circle represented an element of the formula.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7760079/Crop-circle-inspired-by-most-beautiful-formula-in-mathematics-appears-in-Wiltshire.html

Satanic Russian cannibal teens go on trial for murder

Prosecutors say the murders took place on 29 and 30 June 2008 in a remote forested area close to Yaroslavl with two victims killed per night. The self-styled devil worshippers, which included a young teenage girl, lured three girls and a boy aged from 15 to 17 to the spot by plying them with alcohol and inviting them to sit round a bonfire. They then killed them in a sacrificial ceremony, stabbing them 666 times each in homage to the so-called Number of the Beast.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7760270/Satanic-cult-teens-sacrificed-victims-then-ate-them.html


South Australian senator wants to make it a crime to brainwash people

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon says, in France for example, the crime of mental manipulation is punishable by five years in jail or a $100,000 fine.  Adelaide doomsday cult Agape Ministries is being investigated by police after weapons and thousands of rounds of high-powered ammunition were found at 13 properties and four people arrested or reported.  Senator Xenophon says current laws are little safeguard against brainwashing.

Full article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/24/2907277.htm


Cigar-shaped UFO spotted across Idaho

Two Idaho witnesses reported a cigar-shaped object that seemed to be ejected from a bright light in the northwest sky on May 24, 2010, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.  "As it peaked the light which I could see some discernable shapes in between the light gaps on it disappeared and I saw a cigar shaped object depart from the middle of the light and head north at a VERY high rate of speed. I could make out the object for about 3 seconds as it dimmed and then dispeared northbound."  The bright light immediately vanished once the cigar-shaped object flew away.

Full article: http://www.examiner.com/x-2363-UFO-Examiner~y2010m5d26-Cigarshaped-UFO-ejected-from-bright-light-over-Idaho-skies

Strange turtle/sea creature captured by fisherman

A fisherman in China was surprised to catch a mystery creature which looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a turtle.  Sun Yongcheng's catch, in Weishan Lake, Anhui province, was later identified as an alligator snapping turtle, which is not native to the country.  The species is only native to North America and was probably someone's pet before being dumped in the lake, the local fishing department said.  The creature's alien status meant that it could have posed a danger to the local ecological system, they added.

Full article: http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Fisherman_baffled_by_mystery_catch