Beauty at any cost: Japan and Korea seem to be the birthplaces in the quest for youthful and beautiful skin, with the latest "elixir" (as usual, based on traditional, centuries-old beliefs) being snail mucus -- applied by specially bred live snails that slither across customers' faces. The Clinical Salon in central Tokyo sells the 60-minute Celebrity Escargot Course session for the equivalent of about $250. (I was going to write a clever comment here but all I could come up with was –yuk)
You can control your future after all: Among people earnestly devoted to palmistry (the foretelling of the future by "expert" examination of the inner surface of the hand), a few in Japan have resorted to what seems like cheating: altering their palm lines with cosmetic surgery. Dr. Takaaki Matsuoka is a leading practitioner, preferring an electric scalpel over laser surgery in that the latter more often eventually heals over, obviously defeating the purpose. He must be careful to add or move only the lines requested by the patient (e.g., "marriage" line, "romance" line, "money-luck" line, "financial" success line).
And they want a nuk: Officials in Shiraz, Iran, have acquired a finger-amputation machine to streamline the gruesome punishment often meted out to convicted thieves. (A masked enforcer turns a guillotine-like wheel to slice off the finger). Iran is already known for its reliance on extreme Islamic Sharia, which prescribes amputations, public lashings and death by stoning. Experts on the Middle East believe the government will now step up its amputating of fingers, even for the crime of adultery. (The modern age has come to Iran -automated amputations)
Religious extremists give me hives: Measles, despite being highly contagious, was virtually eradicated in America until a small number of skeptics, using now-discredited "research," tied childhood vaccinations with the rise of autism. Now the disease is making a come-back. About half the members of the Eagle Mountain International Church near Dallas have declined to vaccinate their children, and as of late August, at least 20 church members have come down with the disease. The head pastor denied that he preaches against the immunizations but said: "The (medical) facts are facts, but then we know the truth. That always overcomes facts.". (It’s hard to argue with people that think “facts” are not "truth").
Common sense ain’t so common: A prosecutor in Houston filed aggravated rape charges against a 10-year-old girl who had been arrested in June and held for four days in a juvenile detention center. A neighbor had seen Ashley touching a 4-year-old boy "in his private area" (in other words, apparently playing the time-honored, rite-of-passage game of "doctor").
Are your eyes bleeding yet? Okay, I’ll stop for today -but don’t get comfortable, there’s more, much more. We humans are a crazy species.
Today's Reflection:
A bargin is something you don't need -at a price you can't resist.
Live Long and Prosper...
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