Dogs and Cats Still on the Menu in Switzerland

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Eating Fido – or Tiddles – might be more commonly associated with China and Vietnam, but rustling up a slice of cured dog meat to enjoy as a snack is not unusual in rural areas of central and eastern Switzerland, Tages Anzeiger claims.

There are no statistics on the number of dogs and cats killed every year in Switzerland and social disapproval of dog-eating means the practice is shrouded in secrecy. No commercial abattoirs slaughter dogs or cats, but farmers in the Appenzell and St Gallen cantons in German-speaking Switzerland often slaughter the animals themselves.

The most popular breed of dog for eating is a close relative of the Rottweiler.

“There’s nothing odd about it”, one farmer in the Rhine Valley said. “Meat is meat.”

Another farmer, from Appenzell, tells of how he knocks dogs out with a club before slaughtering them and handing them to a butcher friend for preparation. A perplexed dog and cat-eater protested to the reporter that the practice never used to be frowned upon.

Read more from this story HERE.

Bulletproof Clothing Designer Launches New Line of Kids’ Ballistic Vests

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A Colombian company that makes stylish bulletproof clothing has launched a new line of child-sized vests and backpacks in the wake of the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

Miguel Caballero says his firm will begin making bulletproof clothing for children in the next two weeks. The garments are lightweight and look like normal clothing, but they are capable of stopping a bullet from a pistol or submachine gun.

Twenty first graders were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14 – leaving some parents to search for answers about how to make their children safer at school. Some groups have advocated arming teachers and principals. Others, including the National Rifle Association, have said armed guards need to be placed at every school in the nation.

The Bogota businessman, who is famous for shooting his employees at close range to demonstrate the effectiveness of his products, hopes to capitalize on the new-found fear some students and parents have about their safety at schools.

Read more from this story HERE.

DNA of Sandy Hook Killer Adam Lanza to be Examined for ‘Evil’ Gene

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Scientists have been asked to study the DNA of Newtown school killer Adam Lanza to see if has an ‘evil’ gene that led him to carry out the massacre. The study, which will look at any abnormalities or mutations in his individual DNA, is believed to be the first of its kind ever carried out on a mass murderer.

Lanza slaughtered 20 children and six adults in one of America’s worst ever school shootings on December 14, 2012. The 20 year old also shot dead his mother Nancy before taking his own life as police closed in on him at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut.

The massacre prompted President Obama to look into new gun controls and banning assault rifles such as AR-15 Bushmaster used by Lanza in his rampage.

The study of the killer’s DNA has been ordered by Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver who carried out the post mortems on all the victims. He has contacted geneticists at University of Connecticut’s to conduct the study.

Geneticists said they are likely looking at Lanza’s DNA to detect a mutation or abnormality that could increase the risk of aggressive or violent behavior.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Ambassador to Finland Sends Crazy Christmas Card

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U.S. Ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck is offering Helskini “a different take on the elder statesman” for the holidays.

Oreck posted a special edition of the embassy’s 2012 holiday card, featuring his bulging bicep, to his official Facebook account Tuesday and reportedly also mailed copies of it to friends.

The image comes from a photo shoot Oreck did last month for the Finnish fitness magazine “ProBody.” A similar shot donned the cover of the Dec. 4 issue, which included an interview with the ambassador.

“I say 60 is the new 40. My wife says, in my case, 60 is the new 58,” Oreck said of the shoot in a Facebook post. “One way or the other, fitness is important.”

How does he keep his arms so big? Oreck offered this advice to Finns in a video on the ProBody blog: “You never get to stop. You’ve got to do it every day – or all the time, I should say, for the rest of your days. That’s how it counts. Can’t quit now.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Satire: Obama calls Canadian Prime Minister Harper a “large lump”

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Diplomatic tensions rose today after a Fox News camera caught President Barack Obama talking to one of his press aides and making some very undiplomatic comments about Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper after the two met briefly at a Washington international benefit event.

As Obama and Media Relations Director Clive Leonard walked away from reporters, the Fox newsfeed clearly picked up the conversation.

LEONARD: “The Prime Minister is requesting a 15-minute meeting Mr. President.”
OBAMA: “What’s with that guy?”
LEONARD: “Sir?” (coughs)
OBAMA: “He’s shifty…he’s never standing where his voice seems to be coming from.”
LEONARD: “Ummm…”
OBAMA: “And he’s a large lump isn’t he? All pudge and hair.”

The comments were aired after a one-second tape delay before Fox News began repeating them in their entirety with added commentary. White House officials immediately asked Fox to stop airing the embarrassing comments but the network’s leading political commentator Bill O’Reilly responded to the request live on air with “Yeah right!”

Other news outlets quickly began running the footage with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (not his real name) stating that the President’s harsh words were “school-yard” and could damage relations between the two countries at a time when cross-border issues such as the Keystone Pipeline are already causing friction. However, Wolf could be seen snickering when Obama was shown saying Harper is all pudge and hair.

Read more from this satirical story HERE.

Thief Who Stole Packages From Neighbor’s Doorsteps Turns Out To Be Eight-Year-Old Girl

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CLERMONT — If you’re expecting packages shipped to your home this time of year, you may be worried about thieves grabbing them from your doorstep before you get home.

A number of missing packages in one Lake County neighborhood prompted neighbors to set up a sting, and now, police said they believe they’ve cracked the case.

Jessica Araujo runs a business from her Clermont home, where she regularly receives shipments. Over the last few months, she thought several packages worth more than $1,800 never arrived, but she said she didn’t suspect they were stolen.

That is, until last week, when her neighbors on Briar Run Drive reported they also had packages of gifts stolen from their front doorstep.

According to police reports, the packages included Barbie dolls, children’s makeup and children’s cell phones.

Read more from this story HERE.

Chicago Transit Authority Passenger Attacked With Sock Filled With Human Feces

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A woman riding the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line in Oak Park told police she was last week attacked by another passenger wielding a sock filled with human feces.

“He had a sock full of his poop on me,” the 21-year-old college student told the Pioneer Press. “It was everywhere; on my face, my hair, my clothes.”

The victim, requesting anonymity, said she screamed and tried to follow her attacker, but he escaped up the Austin Boulevard exit and ran northbound on Austin.

The college student, who came to Oak Park six weeks ago to live with a family and provide in-home child care, said she was riding an east-bound train from Oak Park to Chicago when she was attacked.

“The guy got on with me at [the] Oak Park [station],” she said. “I wasn’t really paying attention. … “Next stop [at Austin], he throws something in my face.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Unbelievable Footage of Eagle Snatching Baby (It’s a Fake)

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UPDATE FROM THE DAILY CALLER: IT’S A FAKE

A design school in Montreal has taken credit for the video, explaining that the amazing clip was created using 3D animation techniques:

_______________________________________________________________________________
ORIGINAL STORY:

Next time you’re up North visiting America’s chilly hat — that’s Canada — don’t let small children out of your sight. That’s the takeaway lesson from a video that spread quickly Tuesday afternoon.

The 60-second clip shows a golden eagle swooping out of the sky and grabbing a small boy from a Montreal park, and trying to fly away with his prize.

Luckily for the boy — and for his dad, who was so busy filming birds of prey that he forgot to keep an eye on him — the eagle wasn’t prepared to carry away a 20-pound child. The animal dropped him from a height of three or four feet before zooming off to find a smaller snack.

Read more from this story HERE.

PETA Urges Honey Boo Boo To Rename Pet Chicken ‘Nugget’ to More Animal-Friendly Name

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In our time watching Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, we’ve learned a few things: Honey Boo Boo’s family fiercely embraces its redneck ways. A dollar makes Honey Boo Boo holler. And finally, the pageant princess LOVES eating meat. But PETA apparently hasn’t figured this out yet, as the organization recently sent Honey Boo Boo a letter asking her to give her pet chicken a more animal-friendly name. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.

Honey Boo Boo loves Nugget, her pet chicken, but she’ll love Nugget even more deep-fried and ready for consumption. PETA’s leaders either have not watched Here Comes Honey Boo Boo or don’t understand what a carnivore its star is, because they decided to send the little pageant queen a request for better animal treatment, or more specifically, not naming her pet after the means by which it will ultimately be consumed.

So, since PETA doesn’t find Nugget a suitable name for a chicken, what could work better? How about “I Am Not A Nugget?” Nice try, PETA, but you might as well quit now. In addition to being incredibly clumsy to pronounce, this name would be a bit misleading. It’s pretty obvious that Nugget ultimately will become a plate full of nuggets.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Doctors Stunned as Brain-Computer Interface Allows Quadriplegic Woman to Feed Herself

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A woman who is paralysed from the neck down has stunned doctors with her extraordinary skill at using a robotic arm that is controlled by her thoughts alone.

The 52-year-old patient, called Jan, lost the use of her limbs more than 10 years ago to a degenerative disease that damaged her spinal cord. The disruption to her nervous system was the equivalent to having a broken neck.

But in training sessions at the University of Pittsburgh, doctors found she quickly learned to make fluid movements with the brain-controlled robotic arm, reaching levels of performance never seen before.

Doctors recruited the woman to test a robotic arm that is controlled by a new kind of computer program that translates the natural brain activity used to move our limbs into commands to move the robotic arm.

The design is intended to make the robotic arm more intuitive for patients to use. Instead of having to think where to move the arm, a patient can simply focus on the goal, such as “pick up the ball”. Read more from this story HERE.