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73-year-old takes high school exams for 39th time

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:02:06 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

JAIPUR, India (AP) - This year, like the past 39 years, Shivcharan Jatav tried to pass his 10th grade high school exams - and failed again.

The 73-year-old from western India was undeterred, vowing Friday to try again next year, in the hope that an education would improve his job and marriage prospects.

Jatav, a farmer from the desert state of Rajasthan, who had no formal education as a child, said he had been trying to pass the exams since 1969, when an army recruiter told him it would improve his chances of being accepted into the military.

"Since then I have been trying to pass this examination, but without any success," Jatav said, days after receiving the bitter news that he had failed again.

Jatav passed only one subject, the ancient language of Sanskrit, and scored just 103 out of a total of 600 in the examinations, he said.

Even though he is too old to join the army he has kept at it, hoping to become a more eligible bachelor.

Tags: odd

"Amputee Wannabes" have healthy limbs removed

Tue, 22 May 2007 21:58:12 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: What a strange condition. These people are so obsessed with removing one or more of their limbs that they actually find the means and get it done.

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Baz remembers first seeing an amputee when he was a 4-year old boy in Liverpool. By the time he was 7 he had begun to think, "This is the way I should be." It was not until Baz was in his 50s, however, that he actually had his leg amputated. Baz froze his leg in dry ice until it was irreversibly damaged, then persuaded a surgeon to complete the job. When he awoke from the anesthetic and his left leg was gone, he says, "All my torment had disappeared."

Wannabes desperately wish to have their healthy limbs removed, and some have succeeded in having it done.

Why? Nobody really knows, including the wannabes themselves, who often say they have had the desire since they were children. "It's obviously peculiar," admits Kevin. "But knowing it is peculiar and saying it is weird does not do away with the problem."

In the meantime, psychiatrists are no closer to understanding the condition, and they are proposing no therapy other than amputation.

Tags: amputee, bodymod, weird, odd, strange

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