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Inmates File Suit After Prisons Ban Some Religious Books Over Terrorism Fears

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:50:30 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: "Bookburning" is not going to solve the root problem here. The change needs to come from within. When change comes from within, books don't matter!

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

NEW YORK — Inmates at the federal prison camp in Otisville, N.Y., were stunned by what they saw at the chapel library on Memorial Day — hundreds of books had disappeared from the shelves.

The removal of the books is occurring nationwide, part of a long-delayed, post-Sept. 11 federal directive intended to prevent radical religious texts, specifically Islamic ones, from falling into the hands of violent inmates.

Three inmates at Otisville filed a lawsuit over the policy, saying their Constitutional rights were violated. They say all religions were affected.

"The set of books that have been taken out have been ones that we used to minister to new converts when they come in here," inmate John Okon, speaking on behalf of the prison's Christian population, told a judge last week.

Okon said it was unfortunate because "I have really seen religion turn around the life of some of these men, especially in the Christian community."

Tags: law, general interest, crime, bizarre, books, civil rights

Students invent powdered booze

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:38:15 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: I cannot BELIEVE this! Why don't they just wean them on alcohol then?

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Dutch students have invented powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.

The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gram packets that cost €1-1.5 ($1.35-$2).

Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.

Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project.

"Because the alcohol is not in liquid form, we can sell it to people below 16," said project member Martyn van Nierop.

The legal age for drinking alcohol and smoking is 16 in the Netherlands.

Tags: life, law, health, government, general interest, bizarre, alcohol

Granny grows horn

Fri, 18 May 2007 14:47:42 GMT

clipped by: LorisKnight

Clip Source: www.ananova.com

A Chinese grandmother has a five inch horn growing out of her forehead.

The horn curves downward and looks like the stalk of a pumpkin, reports the Yangcheng Evening Post.

Granny Zhao, 95, of Zhanjiang city, Guangdong province, says it first appeared three years ago.

"At first, it was only a mole, but it gradually grew and became like a horn," she said.

Zhao says the horn causes her little trouble except to affect her vision slightly: "It causes me no discomfort, but blocks part of my view."

But her family are hoping that medical experts can explain the phenomenon.

Tags: odd, bizarre

Florida Pub in Hot Water Over Ambiguous Bathroom Signs

Fri, 18 May 2007 02:18:35 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: So which one do you use if you're drunk and transexual?

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

DESTIN, Fla. — Confusing signs on the bathroom doors at McGuire's Irish Pub have played jokes on customers for years — sending women to the men's room and vice versa.

But the father of a girl who was interrupted by a man in the women's room and Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation don't find the signs funny.

The agency recently threatened the Panhandle tourist landmark with closure for "Lack of signage properly designating bathrooms."

The state took action after the father filed a complaint, which said his 15-year-old daughter was embarrassed and left the restaurant crying after the bathroom incident.

The men's room sign has large print that reads "Ladies" and smaller text clarifying women shouldn't go in there because it's the men's room. The women's room has a similar sign.

Tags: life, law, general interest, bizarre, humor