Nerd Prom: Nerd Prom Friday 2 – The Nerdening
July 16th, 2005 | comics talk
End Of The Japanese Foot Cult
July 16th, 2005 | researchmaterial
The Tokyo District Court convicted Fukunaga, 60, whose real name is Teruyoshi Fukunaga, of fraud. Prosecutors had demanded that he be jailed for 13 years.
Between 1994 and 1997, Fukunaga and senior cult members examined the bottoms of feet of passers-by and lied that they were suffering cancer and recommended that they undergo religious training in the cult to cure their disease, according to the ruling.
They thus defrauded 31 people out of 149.21 million yen under the pretext of “training fees,” the court found.
During the hearings, Fukunaga had pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges. “What we did was not aimed at making money. I was engaged in activities aimed at saving people…”
Nerd Prom: The Stark Existential Horror Of Nerd Prom
July 15th, 2005 | comics talk
Look at this. Look at the eyes. The eyes are not happy, are they? The eyes are borderline hysterical, stricken, pleading. Please. Help me. Get this fucking hot dog out of my my mouth so I can scream. OR KILL ME
Ukrainian “Vampire Witch”
July 15th, 2005 | researchmaterial
A vampire has been arrested in Ukraine after luring street children into her home for their blood.
Diana Semenuha, 29, believed that drinking blood could fend off a muscle-wasting condition.
She kept the children intoxicated on drugs and alcohol and bled them regularly, selling the surplus to other black magic practitioners. When that weakened them, she dumped them back on the streets and lured replacements with the promise of a place to sleep and a hot meal.
…Detectives found seven drugged children strapped to beds and benches, and a large, black knife and silver goblet engraved with satanic symbols.
Ukraine has an estimated 200,000 street children, whose widespread addiction to glue sniffing and alcohol made them easy prey for the woman dubbed the “vampire witch” by local media.
Semenuha’s arrest exposed an occult network in the city. Many claimed to have been taught by Semenuha and said that she would cut herself and let them drink her blood.
One of the children, named only as Andrei, told police: “She gave me vodka and I sniffed some glue. But than she came up to me with a syringe and asked me to stretch out my hand. I didn’t feel any pain because I was too scared. She drew the blood with the syringe and a needle and than put it in her silver bowl and drank it, murmuring in some strange language.”
Semenuha, who when arrested gave her profession as “witch”, has admitted holding the children. “I let them sniff glue, but I paid for it and took a small amount of blood in return,” she said. “But there was no violence involved, I also fed them and gave them shelter.”
Police fear that she could escape prosecution for corrupting minors and plying them with alcohol because the seven children found at her home have since escaped from care and gone back on the streets.
The Economics Of Brazilian Breast Implants
July 15th, 2005 | researchmaterial
Each Silimed breast implant costs nearly $400.
…demand is the highest in July, during the southern hemisphere winter, as women schedule surgery during the winter school holidays, which precede the beach season.
…the implants, each bearing an individual number, could now only be sold for clandestine surgeries. Horrific stories abound in Brazil about the illegal operations that can cause gangrene and death.
Nerd Prom: The First Crap Robot
July 14th, 2005 | comics talk
An excellent disguise so as to avoid being recognised from the sex offenders’ register.
Nerd Prom Begins
July 14th, 2005 | comics talk
Aaah. The masses gather at the San Diego Convention Center, eager to be dry-humped by a thousand sweaty men in Stormtrooper costumes.
Meanwhile, Heidi MacDonald and the New York comics pro community are going native in the departures lounge at JFK.
Woman Grows Penis, Becomes Monk
July 14th, 2005 | researchmaterial
Thin Sandar, a chicken seller in Myanmar, had always dreamed of being a man. When she inexplicably grew a penis last month, the 21-year-old treated it as an awe-inspiring omen — as have the thousands of stunned villagers who have traveled to a pagoda to see him.
“On the morning of the full moon day of June 21, I noticed my thing (sex organ) was not the same as before,” Thin Sandar, who now goes by the male name Than Sein, told AFP in an interview at his home.
“And my breasts disappeared,” Than Sein added. “So I called out and showed it all to my mom and dad. It was very strange.”
People privately concede Than Sein is a hermaphrodite. Several medical experts have examined him, and he awaits test results from the central women’s hospital. But few have come forward with a medical explanation of the transformation as they await an official report by the health ministry, whose experts have also examined Than Sein. Medical doctor Aye Sanda Khaing put it in layman’s terms in a local journal: “Her penis appeared at the site of her clitoris,” the doctor was quoted as saying…
Executing Hackers Makes Fine Economic Sense, Apparently
July 14th, 2005 | researchmaterial
By using studies estimating the deterrent value of capital punishment, he figures that executing one murderer yields at most $100 million in social benefits.
The benefits of executing a hacker would be greater, he argues, because the social costs of hacking are estimated to be so much higher: $50 billion per year. Deterring a mere one-fifth of 1 percent of those crimes – one in 500 hackers – would save society $100 million…