A Unicorn is Born

Lon has the Unicorn been an animal of myth, one we all know well as a horse with a horn in the centre of its forehead.

Today a nature reserve in Italy is claiming to have the first ever born Unicorn as a new born deer has just one single horn on the centre of its forhead rather than two horns a deer would normally have.

The deer is causing a stir in Italy with prominent people telling all of this unique deer such as the cries from Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Centre of Natural Sciences in Prato, near Florence who shouted "This is fantasy becoming reality,''.

Truth be told the deer has a condition causing this genetic flaw and some have said that this proves the mythical Unicorn born from days of old may have not been dreamt up but generated from such genetic disorders in animals years ago.

Bidding For Sex in Space

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has been inundated with enquiries from couples who want to make history and change the name of the "100 mile high" club.

Many couples have been in contact with Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic as they want to be the first to have sex in space!

With Virgin Galactic working on giving charter flights to space many couples are seeing this as the chance to have an out of this world experience by having sex on the journey while looking back at Earth.

Some couples have gone as far as wanting to make movies while up there and want to be the first so they can get in the Guinness Book of Records.

It is said that during the flight people will be weightless for a total of five minutes and Dr James Logan, an expert in the space medicine field said that weightless sex will not be as good as people think and was on record saying "Sex in zero gravity would more or less be a flailing exercise quite frankly. Sex in Martian gravity might be pretty appealing though.".

Japanese Woman Evicted from a Closet

A 58 year old homeless Japanese woman has been evicted from a closet, a very unusual story I must say but the real story is even more intriguing.

The 58 year old homeless woman was living on the streets of Tokyo, Japan when a year ago she found a house that the occupant had left unlocked. The 58 year old homeless woman decided to go in to the house and after being in there a short time could not resist staying in the warmth of the property.

Due to the occupant of the property still living in the house day in and day out the 58 year old homeless woman moved in to the top compartment of the man's closet!

The owner of the property did not notice he was sharing his property for about nine months until he started to become suspicious as food was disappearing from his kitchen. It took another three months before the owner decided to set up security hidden cameras that are motion sensitive and beamed any pictures directly to his mobile phone.

when the 58 year old homeless woman ventured out of the top compartment of the closet to get food the owner saw the pictures of someone in his property and automatically presumed it was a burglar so called the police. The police arrived at the property and looked around not finding anything, that was until they looked in the top compartment of the closet and found our homeless lady.

It later transpired that during her year of living in the property the homless woman had managed to bring a small mattress in to the closet compartment for comfort and was able to take regular showers and use the properties amenities when the owner was not around.

Police are still investigating how she was able to move in and out of the property freely without keys to open and close the entrance doors.

Facebook Party Trashed

A British expat named Amanda Hudson let a girl called Jodie use her five million pound holiday villa in Marbella, Spain for her 16th birthday party out of the goodness of her heart, just to find the house left in a ransacked state.

What started off as an innocent 16th birthday party turned in to a huge free for all as 400 gatcrashers turned up drunk and started throwing TV's, tables and other household goods in to the swimming pool, breaking doors and destroying carpets.

Some gatecrashers went further and stole up to £6,000 worth of designer clothing and jewellry.

All of this happened even though Amanda Hudson was there as she was unable to stop what was happening until she called the police.

How did this happen I hear you ask, well Jodie posted details of the party on Facebook and Bebo two social networking sites and unfortunately included a full address of where the party was. In the details Jodie called it "party of the year" and said "Theres gone be a lot of alcohol, an amazing DJ."

Normally Amanda is able to rent out her villa for £4,000 a week during the summer season but the damage is so bad that it seems no money will be made this summer.

Taxi Driver Gives Burgler Lift Home

Mr Shen, of Huainan city in China was working away in his taxi when a man hailed a cab. When he picked up the man he was surprised to find that the man had a lot of white goods with him and even a fish that did not have a tail that looked very similar to the one in his freezer at home.

Mr Shen took the passenger to where he wished to travel to and even listened as the passenger telling the story of him travelling a long distance from his home town on a bus.

Mr Shen finished his shift in his taxi and ventured home, it was only then that he realised the man who he had taken in his taxi had actually burgled HIS house, yes Mr Shen had become the getaway driver for the burgler of his own house!

Police later arrested a 56 year old man who now faces charges of burglary and theft.

Pensioner Stabbed For a Piece of Cake

Niccolo Bruno, a seventy year old pensioner from Novate Milanese, northern Italy got more than he bargained for when he went to pick up a piece of cake as another pensioner stabbed him.

Niccolo was at an all you can eat buffet when he went to the dessert counter and noticed a cake that had only one slice left, Niccolo thought he would have this last piece of cake and grabbed it. Unfortunately for our seventy year old pensioner, Niccolo was not the only person eyeing the cake as sixty two year old Alfredo Mancini came hobbling over and stabbed his knife in to Mr. Bruno.

After the ensuing squabble over the cake Alfredo Mancini tried to make his quick getaway from the crime scene by grabbing his walking stick and trying to hobble out as quick as he could. Needless to say he didnt get very far as two policemen arrested him, now Mr. Mancini faces a possible jail sentence for causing bodily harm.

Niccolo Bruno did go to hospital but thankfully was released the same day after medical staff tended to his wound.

Mexican Donkey Jailed

A donkey in Mexico has just been released from jail after speaking three days in the slammer for biting and kicking two men.

Have you ever heard of such a thing? I didnt think so!

Blacky attacked two men near Tuxtla Gutierrez by biting and kicking them and was arrested and placed in jail. After three days the unlucky donkey was released after his owner paid for the hospital bills of the two victims and also a fine for the assualt.

The donkeys owner believes the case is over and he is not involved any more but he still has payments of just under $500 to make to each of the victims in compensation.

A jailed donkey, I thought I had heard it all.

Bartering Drugs for Snacks

A man called Wade Churchward is awaiting sentence in New Zealand for bartering marijuana for snacks from the local petrol station.

Wade Churchward, a 28 year old man from Wellington, New Zealand travelled to his local late night petrol station for chocolate and crisps. Obviously suffering with the late night munchies he started eating the chocolate before reaching the counter to pay for them.

Upon reaching the counter Wade realised he actually had no money on him so tried to persuade the cashier to let him keep the small haul of munchies by offer twelve grams of marijuana and a pipe.

Unfortunately for our good friend Wade Churchward he had neglected to notice that a police car had pulled up on the petrol station forecourt and that one of the police man was actually standing behind him in the queue at the counter.

Needless to say Mr. Churchward was dully arrested for drug possession and is awaiting sentence on the 3rd July.

Drunk and Naked except for Ugg Boots

David Ball a 32 year old man from Tyseley in Birmingham, England has been arrested and jailed for four years following the burglary of a supermarket and theft of a motor vehicle.

This may sound like a simple crime to some but this could not be further from the truth!

David Ball went out for a night on the town and got blind drunk. After getting home he realised he wanted to smoke a cigarette but didnt have any so he put on his girlfriends UGG boots, wrapped a white sheet round his naked body, stole his girlfriends car and drove to the closest supermarket.

Once at the supermarket the drunk David rammed his girlfriends car repeatedly in to the supermarket doors until they broke, he then climbed out of the car with the sheet over his head and his bottom on show. After getting in to the supermarket David Ball started grabbing boxes of cigarettes.

David Ball climbed back in to his girlfriends car before police started after him in a high speed car chase that only finished when the drunk David crashed in to two parked cars.

The blind drunk David initially said he had no recollection of the burgalry but chased his mind after seeing the footage taken from a CCTV camera of his bare bottom running in to the supermarket and grabbing the cigarettes.

Caught Stealing Grapes

Imagine getting caught stealing grapes...not something you would want to admit to your mate, but how about getting caught stealing five hundred and eighty kilograms of grapes!

Ladislau Darocz and Florin Calin, two greengrocers from the Lasi region found in the east of Romania (second Romanian story on VVIDE in three days) were caught stealing 580 kilograms from a rivals warehouse.

Ladislau Darocz and Florin Calin were caught as there "getaway" plan involved hiring three taxis to take the grapes away. Police in the area thought it odd to see three taxis in convoy so late at night so decided to stop them and have a look, needless to say they were shocked to find a taxi driver surrounded by grapes, in the front of the car, in the back of the car and in the boot of the car.

Both greengrocers complained to the police that they had took the grapes as their rival was putting them out of business with his larger store. Unfortunately for these two greengrocers they may not have a business to run any more as they both face jail time.

The Sixty Year Old Virgin

Rodica Trandafir a sixty year old lady from Romania has been forced to go to a gynaecologist to prove that even at her ripe old age, she is a virgin!

Rodica Trandafir lives in the eastern provinces of Romania in the county of Bacau and has felt the need to visit her local gynaecologist due to locals in the county spreading viscous rumours about her being a lady of the night.

Locals from Rodica's home town had frequently been whispering about men coming and going from her home at all hours of day and night. After putting up with this gossip for some time Rodica decided to take the unorthodox approach of visiting a gynaecologist and getting a certificate to prove that she is not only NOT a loose lady but even at sixty years old, still a virgin.

After getting the certificate proving her chastity Rodica then posted a copy to all her neighbours that had been questioning her sex life.

Rodica even went to the local media and said "There has been some nasty gossip about me. The men my neighbours are talking about are relatives who are helping me do some work on my house.

Your Bum Needs A Bra Love!

Dr Hart, an American psychologist has revolutionised ladies attire by creating a bra for a ladies bum!

Dr. Hart, who is female herself, believes that her nesw invention will restore a sagging bottom to its former pert self. The bum bra in question is simply a set of straps that go around the waist and under the bum lifting it slightly.

Karin Hart says by lifting the bum in this manner for long periods the bum bra is giving shape and tone to the saggy buttocks.

So how did Dr. Hart design this highly technical product?

The lovely Doctor saw her bum become saggy after a large amount of weight loss so took adhesive and started taping her bum in different positions until the optimum position became apparent and she then set about making designs of the garment from there.

The bum bra has been patented so I imagine a high number of you are moaning about not being able to create and sell your own versions.

This miraculous invention will set you back $30 (£15), lets just hope for this price it will give you the same affects as a surgical bum lift as the product professes to do!

School Dinners Drugged

Imagine going to school and being bored through your morning lessons before going in to the diner hall and finding fellow students stripping off their clothes, climbing walls and collapsing in fits of laughter on the floor! Sounds crazy doesn't it, but this actually happened in the easterns Russian city of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk.

Many thirteen to fifteen year old students were running wild after eating the soup in the dinner hall and others were affected after purchasing drinks at dinner time.

The worst affected were found to be unable to move from the floor as they were laughing so much their sides hurt while male and female students alike were stripping down to their birthday suits just for the fun of it, one teacher alikened the dinner hall to "a lunatic asylum".

After investigations were underway it was found that the soup and drinks were laced with Ecstacy and this is what caused the students to run wild.

Ten Million Hiccups!!

Ten million hiccups, imagine hiccuping ten million times in 15 months and beiong a proffesional singer!

A twenty four year old British man named Christopher Sands is a professional backing singer who has had the hiccups for fifteen months. On some days he can hiccup every two seconds while he is awake.

Starting in September 2006 these hiccups have been the bain of Christophers existence with the only way to keep them away for a short period being to hunch his body in to a tight ball...which as you can imagine is not the most easy thing to do if your not in the comfort of your own home.

Christopher has decided to have an operation to stop these pesky hiccups as it is affecting his singing career greatly for obvious reasons.

So what is the reason this poor man is hiccuping so often? A faulty stomach valve is what the Doctors think so the operation that Christopher is having will be to create a new one that functions correctly.

Football Playing Goldfish

I thought I had heard it all, that was until forty one year old Dr Dean Pomerleau from Los Angeles stepped forward and announced that he had trained his goldfish to play football!

You think its crazy that a goldfish can play football? Well Comet the goldfish not only plays football, this clever little goldfish plays fetch, pushes a rugger ball over a series of posts and even slaloms round poles.

Comet is a young two year old goldfish with the world at his feet, well flippers. His owner Dr Pomerleau has spent alot of time using food as a reward for Comet completing tasks like playing football, much like how you would train a dog. This type of training is called positive reinforcement training.

Dr Pomerleau has even gone as far as to say that given the correct training a fish can LIMBO!!! Due to the sensational football playing Comet the goldfish Dr Pomerleau has worked with a company called R2 solutions to create a special kit so anyone can train their goldfish in the comfort of their own home.

Well I dont know about you but Comet the goldfish sounds like one in a million to me, I have never seen or heard of a goldfish playing football...they normally just swim around making bubbles.

Azerbaijan Angered by Nestle Cereal Gift

The country of Azerbaijan has become so angered by a free gift from a Nestle cereal that Nestle has withdrawn the cereal.

The free gift in question is a CD-Rom that carried information about different countries from across the globe. Unfortunately for Swiss based Nestle the information on Azerbaijan was in reference to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The information said that Azerbaijan started a war with Armenia in the early 1990's and that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Armenia.

Azerbaijan is saying that Nestle is supporting Armenia and have called for all its citizens to boycott Nestle products!

Nestle have given a formal apology but this seems to have done nothing to quell the issue.

Who ever thought that a simple free gift with a cereal box can cause such outrage to the point that a cereal company is being accused of joining forces with one country over another!

Teddy Bear Mother to Baby Monkey

A white naped mangabey monkey that is only three weeks old has been seperated from her real mother since birth as her mother is recovering from having a caesarean birth at London Zoo.

This may not sound interesting but becomes interesting until you find out that being motherless isn't worrying the three week old white naped mangabey monkey as she has become best friends with a teddy bear that zoo keepers have given her.

Yes, yes the tiny primate is enjoying the comfort of a big fluffy teddy bear that she is using as a replacement to its mother for the time being. It seems that this little monkey is more than happy with her motherly replacement so is not getting lonely during her time away from her real mother.

It seems that the endangered species of white naped mangabey monkey's have managed to increase their number by one very cute and adorable little female who has a teddy bear for a mother!

360 Billion Dollar Cheque Anyone?

Charles Ray Fuller, a twenty one year old man from Texas, has been arrested on the suspicion of attempted fraud. The case isn't that complex to be fair, the young lad decided to try and walk in to a bank with a cheque for three hundred and sixty billion dollars, yes thats $360,000,000,000 and cash it in.

Luckily the lady cashier at the Chase Bank in Fort Worth was not as silly as the young man in question and called the account holder. The account holder said that Charles Fuller was her daughters boyfriend and he by no means had authority to be cashing a cheque of that size!

As well as being arrested on the "suspicion" of fraud Charles Fuller has also been charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and Marijuana.

You may wonder what craziness drove Mr. Fuller to try such an act.....well his answer in the back of the police car was simple...he claims that the money was given by his girlfriends mother so he could start his own record label!!

Maybe he should count the amount of zeros he sticks on a cheque before thinking a bank will believe his story.

Pink Floyds Loses Big Flying Pig

Roger Waters, the famous man behind Pink Floyd, watched in horror as his two storey high inflatable pig with OBAMA written on its belly (Waters is backing Barack Obama) became unattached from its moorings during his gig at the Coachella Festival in Calafornia, United States of America.

Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd bass guitarist was heard shouting "Thats my pig" as it took off on its upward journey....who ever said pigs can't fly? Unhappy with seeing his huge pig fly off in to the sunset Waters offered a $5,000 reward and four lifetime tickets to the Coachella Festival.

Luckily the pig was found in a luxurious country club in La Quinta. The pig was found in two halfs by two seperate families who will each have a reward of $2,500 and lifetime tickets to the festival.

Roger Waters is really happy to be getting his huge inflatable pig back and the pig is said to be doing fine!

Wanted: Women to Test Chocolate

Its a well known fact that the ladies of the human species love to nibble on a piece of chocolate so I imagine that women would love to test chocolate so this would be the perfect job for many a woman out there in the world.

One hundred and fifty women are required by the University of East Anglia based in Norwich, United Kingdom. Unfortunately this is not a test about the release of endorphins but more about a test on whether chocolate can help the female species with type 2 diabetes and possible reduce the chances of women getting heart disease when in their senior years.

The science behind this test is due to Flavonoids, a plant compound found in the cocoa used to make chocolate as it is believed to help reduce heart disease. The University in question has recruited a top chocolatier from Belgium who is making chocolate that is three times higher in Flavonoids than the average chocolate bar.

The lucky 150 women who are taken on for this research will have to eat one chocolate bar a day for a year and need to have past their menopausal stage, have type 2 diabetes and be in the process of taking statins to reduce their cholesterol.

Porn Lands Woman in Jail

A woman from America has been arrested and jailed after getting confused during a porn film and attacking her boyfriend!

Amanda Moya, a twenty year old woman from Albuquerque, was enjoying the foreplay of a little porn before jumping on the good foot and doing the bad thing with her boyfriend until a particular scene popped up on the screen.

Amanda saw what she thought was more than she bargained for when a porn actor, who looked very similar to her boyfriend, entered an intrigueing position on the film. Amanda saw red and grabbed a knife before starting to attack her boyfriend.

The boyfriend had the knife at his throat before managing to escape the property in nothing more than a skimpy pair of shorts, at this point he was being chased down the road while on the phone to the police. Amanda had already managed to knife him in the face and bite his chest (not out of lust I may add).

Amanda Moya has been arrested and interesting not only charged with assault and aggravated battery but also with child abuse as when she was chasing her boyfriend, the victim, down the road she had also left her eight month child alone at home.

It is important to note at this point that the porn star in question was not her boyfriend although I imagine for all his troubles he probably wished it was him.

Romanian Electrician Stakes Claim for State Position

The title may not seem like much of a story but there is an interesting twist to this little piece of Romanian news.

Cornel Cernoschi, a Romanian electrician who found himself out of work decided to take a history course to prove his intelligence. After studying long and hard our Romanian electrician stumbled across some interesting ancestry about his family.

Cornel searched long and hard to find that he is related to a fifteenth century ruler of the Romanian province of Moldavia, this ancestors name, believe it or not, is Stephan the Great.

Since finding this information out our Romanian electrician has decided to stake a claim with the government to lands stolen from his ancestors many years ago. Cornel has even gone as far as taking the government to court demanding that he gets titles, land, a house, recognition as the heir to the region and other privileges that anyone of this position would have.

Cornel even stood in court and announced "I want to be granted a high state position to represent Moldova, as well as some kind of symbol of my status and worth - a manor house should do."

The court case is still ongoing and it will be interesting to see if our Romanian electrician ends up with what he feels he is entitled to...I feel it may be time to start researching my family ancestry!

Dog Becomes Mother to Nine Kittens

The setting is in rural Des Moines county Iowa, thats in the United States of America for those unsure, and the story is about a dog who has become a mother for the second time in six weeks and this second time is to kittens...impossible I hear you cry...well read on and find out how!

Lily, a black labrador, was resuced from a farm after being deserted by her owner and taken to an animal shelter. During her first two weeks at the shelter Lily gave birth to six little puppys and took to motherhood like a duck to water.

After her own puppys grew old enough Lily's puppys all went to good homes but then a problem came up at the animal shelter in which Lily was able to help.

Three litters of kittens were born and none of the mothers survived, this meant that nine kittens were without a parent and the shelters workers were working round the clock to bottle feed these new born felines.

One of the workers who knew of lilys good nature thought to try Lily with two of the kittens to see how she fared...guess what...she took to motherhood of the kittens as if they were her own. Lily keeps a watchful eye on the little kittens and if one was to stray out of the bed she will go and pick the kitten up and bring it back, hell she even licks them clean like they are her own children.

Due to this success Lily the labrador is now the mother of nine kittens, all of which are three to four weeks in age.

The best part of this story is that due to Lilys good work she has now found a home with a loving family, although she wont be able to leave the shelter until her kitten babies are old enough to leave for their new homes in about two to three weeks.

Adolf Hitler Dolls For Sale

Adolf Hitler dolls could be hitting the shelves of toy stores near you!

Yes it's true, a Ukranian toy manufacturer is to start manufacturing dolls of the Second World War German dictator. The Hitler doll in question will be sixteen inches in height (thats a little over 35 centimetres) and will come with two clothing styles

• Early Adolf clad in Jodhpurs and a brown shirt


• Wartime Adolf clad in black trousers, a double breasted grey tunic and the coveted Iron cross

To take things a little further the Adolf Hitler doll will also come with Hitlers favourite companian, his alsation Blondi.

It will be interesting to see how well these dolls sell in the Ukraine and if they manage to become a childs commodity elsewhere!

The decision to make these Hitler dolls by a Ukranian toy company is quite unique as any positive depictions of the Nazi regime and images associated to the regime are illegal in this former Soviet country.

The company behind the Hitler doll are looking to have the dolls on the shelves of Kiev by the summer and to expand thereafter.

A Flying Priest Gets Lost

Rev Adelir Antonio de Carli from the Sao Cristovao parish in Brazil has gone missing after flying off in a chair tied to loads of party balloons filled with helium!

The daredevil priest took off from Paranagua, a city in Parana, Brazil on a journey to the city of Dourados which is located not far from his parish. The idea behind this huge adventure was for the priest to fly for over nineteen hours using the power of his party balloon chair to break the world record for the longest time someone has been in the air using helium filled party balloons and to also raise money a spiritual rest stop.

Unfortunately eight hours into his flight the forty one year old priest was hit by winds that decided his journey was not to Dourados and sent him in the wrong direction. The last the priest was heard from was when he radioed in to port as he was thirty miles off the coast line over the sea.

A big search is underway using helicopters and boats to find the elusive priest but it is believed he will be found alive and well as the Rev Adelir Antonio de Carli is fitted with a thermal suit and parachute along with the chair being bouyant so will float at sea. Oh not forgetting that this priest is a skydiving veteran!

Bulgarian Pop Idol - Valentina Hasan

Okay so you may not even realise that Bulgaria has a pop idol contest on its television, but it is now in its second season.

During the first stage of the Bulgarian pop idol auditions a few weeks ago a twenty nine year old woman from a tiny village called Zvezdelina in the khardzali province made history by becoming the first world famous Bulgarian pop idol export....but for all the wrong reasons.

The lady in question is called Valentina Hasan and although she is Bulgarian by birth she is Turkish by decent, research also shows that Hasan is her married name and that she currently resides in Spain.

What has bought Valentina Hasan to the world stage is her unique take on Mariah Carey's song "Without you". What makes it unique is that Valentina believes she is speaking in English and even tells the decision panel when they try to correct her that they are wrong.

Valentina's version of "Without you" is called "Ken Leee" (Can't live for those that do not speak Valentina's English).

Currently This Bulgarian pop idol export is being sent round all the social networking sites and has millions of views on Youtube, so why not see for yourself what all the fuss is about and comment below!

Credit where credit is due Valetina, it is a stirling effort and well done for having the guts to perform a song in a language you do not know!!!

Drunk Russian Knifed In Back

After a huge night on the alcohol in Vologda, a county in Russia, a fifty three year old Russian man stumbled home without a care in the world until he saw his wife the next morning. At this point you might imagine an arguement ensuing about his alcoholism but this was far from the truth as his wife found a knife handle sticking out of his back.

Yuri Lylin, the Russian with the knife in his back, said he had not realised the knife was there and did not feel any pain throughout the evening although he did shed light on how it probably happened!

After drinking copious amounts of Vodka Yuri and his friends made their own version of Russian roullette up, this involved one of the drinking crew to be blindfolded and given a ten inch knife which they started making stabbing motions with while all the other friends danced around them.

Yuri left the party with fond drunken memories of the silly games his friends and he had played, got home and went to sleep. It was only a peircing scream from his wife that woke him up in the morning that made him realise that the ten inch blade was sticking out of his back.

Yuri's wife rang an ambulance and he went to hospital where the knife was successfully removed, Yuri was then sent home. After all thats happened Yuri has no anger towards his friends and says its all a drunken accident, although I imagine his wife will have a few words to say when he goes out with this set of friends again!

Dancing Naked Parrot

Youtube strikes again! Only a few days ago I wrote a story about a Dutch schoolboy who got in to a spot of bother by putting a video of him showing his tackle while on a school trip to the Taj Mahal...this time Youtube has made a celebrity out of a naked Parrot!

Oscar is a parrot that suffers with a disease that meant she cannot grow any feathers on her body, this means she is naked and looks like a fresh chicken. Oscar was taken in by the Broward County Humane Society and given 6 months to live, this was 12 years ago and she is still growing strong.

What is surprising is that it isn't the fact Oscar has no feathers that is making people flock to visit her on youtube....oh no...its her dancing. People are just in love with her dancing antics, especially when she starts immitating Mick Jagger, talk about animals having personality!

See Oscar in action...this naked Parrot is amazing.

Women Saved By German Man Falling On Her

Not the way you would normally fall for a woman granted but for a twenty seven year old German man it was the way he saved an unconscious women's life.

Twenty seven year old Jens Wilhelms was walking along when he had the misfortune to fall down a twenty five foot lift shaft. What broke his fall at the bottom and saved him from injury was a big surprise to him, it was actually an unconscious fifty seven year old woman who had fallen down the shaft the day before.

Some would say its unlucky that the lady fell down the shaft and even more unlucky that she then had the misfortune of a man using her as a crash barrier when he fell down the shaft. The truth is that the fifty seven year old lady in question was actually saved by Jens as she had been unconscious for over 24 hours and was serious injured.

The emergency services who rescued both from the lift shaft said that it was a bizarre event as Jens falling on the woman actually damaged her more severely but saved her life at the same time.

Man Trades His Wife For a Goat!

Stoil Panayotov, a Bulgarian farmer, stunned a large crowd at a cattle market in Bulgarias second largest city Plovdiv by exchanging his third wife Elena for an eight year old goat!

Yes, yes, the Bulgarian farmer was not happy that his third wife could not supply him with an heir to his farming estate and decided to take emergency action. Mr. Panayotov took his wife to the cattle market with one thing on his mind, this was to trade her in for a younger model...albeit of the four legged variety.

The deal all started when one of Mr. Panayotov's friends said he didnt have any luck with women and had taken a fancy to the Bulgarians wife. Mr. Panayotov spoke to his wife who gave her approval to be swapped for the eight year old goat.

To rubs salt in to Mr. Panayotov's now ex-wife Elena's wounds, the goat that she was swapped for has now given the Bulgarian farmer three kids....sp he now has three heirs...although they are obviously not his own children!

Flashing The Taj Mahal

An International incident it became, also an incident that had many people laughing!

A young Dutch man who is studying caused outrage and an international incident when he took it upon himself to video his penis then pan around to the revered Taj Mahal. The Dutch student at the centre of the incident was even heard giggling as his trouser snake was seen in plain view by the camera with the Taj Mahal as a back drop.

The student was found out by uploading the clip of his escapades on the well known video sharing site You Tube (I believe they have removed this now)

The Euro College of Rotterdam where the student is studying has formerly apologised to the Indian Ambassador to Holland and suspended the student immediately as it happened on a school trip he was on.

The school has even been reported to possibly taking legal action against the student who they believe has seriously tarnished their reputation as an upstanding school that sits as a pillar of the community.

Fireman Turns Arsonist For Overtime!

Powel Leszek, a young Polish man at the tender age of eighteen faces up to ten years in jail just because he wanted to work overtime so he could buy his girlfriend a nice present!

Powel was earning the equivalent of two pounds (four dollars) an hour as a voluntary fireman in his home town. With his girlfriends birthday coming up the young Powel decided to put in as much overtime as possible in his job as a voluntary fireman, the only problem with this decision is that if there are no fires, there is no overtime.

To have work for his overtime to be agreed Powel went on an arson spree where he set fire to three seperate barns over the space of a week, at first everything was going well for the young Powel until a local resident saw him setting fire to another barn.

From just trying to earn a little extra to buy his girlfriend a nice birthday present Powel Leszek has been charged with endangering public safety and arson which carries a possible prison sentence of up to ten years!

The Wheelchair Getaway

The place - California
The bank - Wachovia Bank, Stanford Shopping Centre in Palo Alto
The perp - An old man aged sixty five to seventy years old in a wheelchair!

An old aged pensioner of around sixty five to seventy years of age with white hair and a beard innocently wheeled in to the Wachovia Bank at the Stanford Shopping Centre before pulling out a gun and getting the cashier to fist handfuls of cash in to a bag. Once the perp had got his cash he made a speedy getaway in his electric wheelchair.

Given he is in an electric wheelchair you would imagine that the police would be able to catch this aging armed robber but you would be wrong. The old robber managed to evade capture from the police and made his getaway without any problems.

The police are currently searching for this old man and have released a sketch, the problem is that they could not capture a good image of him on CCTV because of the hood of his sweatshirt that was covering his face.

It seems that no matter how old a person gets they can decide the criminal path is the one for them, who would ever have thought that a wheelchair bound pensioner could rob a bank and make a speedy getaway evading the police!

Child Assualted By A Hedgehog

Okay this is a serious story, albeit one that I am trying to keep a straight face while writing! Right....a fifteen year old boy has been attacked in New Zealand by a man weilding a hedgehog.

The fifteen year old boy who resides in the northern town of Whakatane in New Zealand was minding his own business when a 27 year old man by the name of William Singalargh decided to pick up a harmless hedgehog that was ambling along and throw it at the boy.

The fifteen year old boy suffered puncture marks and a red welt of a large size...William Singalargh who attacked him has been charged with assault with a weapon (never knew a hedgehog could be classed as a weapon).

If found guilty William Singalargh faces up to five years in prison and this is without the possible charges of animal cruelty that could also be bought against him.

Unfortunately I do not have evidence to say whether the hedgehog was physically or mentally scarred by the episode!

An Armed Robber Is Given A Cuppa

A man in Czechoslovakia donned a Spiderman mask and walked in to a supermarket brandishing a gun to rob the cashier of the money in her till but got more than he bargained for from the cashier, fifty nine year old Marketa Vachova.

Even though the would be robber was hidden behind a Spiderman mask and brandishing a gun at her she thought he was a nice young man and started to ask him what had caused him to want to rob the shop. As the shop was quiet and they were the only people present they got talking and Marketa, the cashier even invited him back for a cup of tea and a slice of cake!

The man in question actually apologised for what he was doing in the end, agreed to come back for the cake and cup of tea before walking out of the supermarket without the cash.

Unfortunately for our masked man the Czechoslovakian police are currently looking for him and say that he could potentially end up with a ten year prison sentence.

My hat goes off to Marketa Vachova who really did face something most people would not be able to handle and manage to diffuse the whole situation through the power of conversation.

Chinese Wounded Angel - Panic

A Chinese artist used his imagination and created an artistic piece called "Wounded Angels". What the artist didn't know was that his piece of art would cause widespread panic in the city of Shanghai that resulted in an elderly lady being rushed to hospital due to a heart attack brought on by the shock of the piece.

So what had everyone in a panic?

The Chinese artist in question had hung four mannequins with wings on their backs outside of skyscrapers. The problem was that early morning commuters mistook them for real people and thought they were ready to jump to their deaths.

The police received many calls about these "People" and rushed to the scene with firefighters to find they were just mannequins.

It seems that the artist in question did manage to engage an audience and really get people talking but it will be interesting to find out what will happen now after the widespread panic he caused.

A Camels Beauty Pageant

I thought I had heard it all, that was until I heard about the special beauty pageant being run in Abu Dhabi. Yes Abu Dhabi, a jewel in the UAE, has started a beauty pageant for CAMELS...yes camels.

You would think this is a small affair, a few camels and a few strange men ranking their beauty for a plastic trophy to be one but this could not be further from the truth.

Over ten thousand camels coming from as far as Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman are going to compete to become the most beautiful camel there ever was and the lucky owner can win up to four million British pounds, thats EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS. For those not lucky enough to win this large prize there are smaller prizes of cars and other expensive items.

The reason why so much money is at stake is because this wonderous event is sponsored by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Russian Shepherd Sues Roskosmos

Yep a simple shepherd is sueing the Russian space agency Roskosmos, and the reason why? A chunk of metal nearly 10 feet in length (just over 2,5 metres) from a Russian rocket nearly hit his outdoor toilet next to his home.

Boris Urmatov, the Russian shepherd concerned lives in a tiny village called Kyrlyk and is partially sighted which meant that when he was rudely awoken by something that sounded like an explosion in the middle of the night he didn't notice the rocket parts strewn across his back yard.

It was not until the early hours when the sun had rose that Boris the Shepherd managed to see the smooth egg like casing of the large rocket part sitting on the ground near his beloved outside toilet.

Boris has filed a claim for one million roubles (twenty one thousand two hundred pound) from Roskosmos as compensation for the damage and suffering caused.

Alexander Vorobyov, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roskosmos "If a court determines that, yes, those are rocket parts, they fell on his land, then for sure he will be compensated. No question about it."

Crucifixion Health Warnings!

It may sound very strange but it is very true, the Phillipine government has issued a health warning on the dangers of Crucifixion!

So what is this all about?

Well at Easter a large number of Catholic worshippers in the Phillipines practise self flagellation and even go as far as to practise crucifixion to show their faith and to rid themselves of any sins.

The Phillipine government have issued warnings saying that those who partake in crucifixion this Easter should get tetanus injections before the day and also make sure that all nails are disinfected as the nails are normally left in alcohol for a whole year.

It must be said that those who are crucified do live through the process but will have scars on their hands and feet showing where the nails are driven through. The nails are hammered through areas where there is no bone as not to severely damage the person being crucified.

One gentleman, a fishermonger in the Phillipines, will be crucified for the last time this year, making it his fifteenth time. The reason he took to crucifixion was due to his mother managing to get better from Tuberculosis 15 years ago.

In another interesting turn for crucifixion Coca Cola...yes Coca Cola has sponsored an event where an improvised Golgothas (the Biblical name given to the hill where Jesus was crucified) has been erected for people to flagellate and crucify themselves.

Prison Crowding - UK

The United Kingdom is reaching a critical stage in its prison service as jails have reached a status of overcrowding. The secretary of state for justice, Jack Straw, has recently urged Judges to start handing out fewer short sentences in preference to community service orders (Where the offender has to complete a specific amount of time working for the community).

Currently the population in the United Kingdom prison service is only 470 below its total capacity, which is a terrible situation as this means the prison service is roughly 99.5% full.

The government have seen this situation and have pledged to make another 2,500 spaces available in the prison service this year, but this situation has been coming along for a long time and was reported on a few years ago. I remember back in 2005 the government were looking at prison boats to easing the crowding in Her Majesty's Prisons.

I do wonder what the governemt has in store to reduce the crowding, will it give early release to offenders who have shown good behaviour or will the government look further in to the issue and try to find an alternative.

I have been thinking about a possible alternative and have a solution that the government could utilise effectively. The UK has many disused platforms in the north sea that gas companies once used to drill in to the earth so they could drill for gas. Could the government convert one of these huge platforms in to a high security prison, one where there is no escape besides via a helicopter arriving?

I think it would be great to use these disused eyesores on our landscape for something important, especially given that without using land on the greenbelt there is not much land left to start building new prisons.

The European Union soft porn film

Many of the wonderful people in the European Union will be surprised to find that the leaders of the European Union have took it upon themselves to create a soft porn film.....yes you heard right, a soft porn film.

The forty four second video showing eighteen couples going at it like rabbits (including gay couples) only breaks between each couple to show shelves rattling and eggs shaking.

The funniest thing about the film is the end when you see the couples climax and the words "Lets come together" show on the screen.

The film is actually called Film lovers will love and is an advertisment to show that EU funds go towards creating and distributing films in the European Union.

I couldnt resist showing you the film :P

Raul Castro - Cuban President

So Fidel Castro stands down as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years at the helm of the communist machine that has been the bain of many American Presidents time in office and Cuba's national assembly unanimously vote Fidel Castro's brother Raul Castro as the President.

At seventy six years of age Raul Castro may control the reins of Cuba for a good many years as long as he stays healthy, what will be interesting is if he will change any of the ways Cuba operates from how Cuba was run by his older brother Fidel.

Although Raul becoming the President is not surprising there must be many heads of state across the world who have held their head low in dismay as they were probably hoping for someone who is a lot more understanding of the democratic world.

One of the big surprises that did come out of the appointment of Raul Castro as President is the fact that he chose Machado Ventura as vice President. Machado Ventura is a seventy eight year old Communist hard liner and most people expected Raul Castro to choose a communist leader from the younger generation to become his vice President.

The end of Fidel Castro's reign is a huge occassion in todays world, one that many will be following to see what happens to Cuba, my opinion is that Rauls appointment will mean that Fidel will still have a huge input in to how things are run. Time will show how Cuba will progress through this transition and if it will have a positive affect.

Fat Nations

In the last fifty years the western nations of this world have grown fat, by this I mean the people who live in these rich countries. The western nations in my view are fat nations.

Look at the Americans and British and you will see that the average waist size of both man and woman has grown beyond reasonable measure. This growth has been the product of too many advances in technology.

Long ago you could see many a teenager playing football on the local park after their day at school, now the parks are a desolate place where no one treads and its all because of the personal computer.

Long ago you could see housewives hand washing clothes and crockery but now they put them in machines that do it for them.

Long ago you could see men walking to the shops for their daily newspaper but now it is all done by car.

Time has moved forward and so has the luxuries we enjoy in life, but these luxuries have made the average person very lazy, so lazy in fact that they cannot even make their own dinner and put ready meals in the microwave or even buy takeaways two or three times a week.

I believe the problem in todays society is that we are so used to getting what we want without lifting a finger, so much so that we dont have "time" to mow the lawn or spend thirty minutes kicking a ball around with our children when the truth is we are lazy. What makes matters worse is that we are the role models of our youth and if we show them how easy it can be to kick back and let technology do the work for us then they will become even bigger and lazier than we are now.

VVIDE Totally Rubbish

I got a blog review recently on a fairly new blog called Blogbadly and found that the person doing the review was not too keen on many parts of my little blog, in fact I got 5 thumbs downs, but the funny part is that I was REALLY happy with the review.

Why was I happy?

Well the person who completed the review did so with a certain type of humour that really made the review funny and also they did give me many pointers in improving my blog which I will be completing over the next few days.

To be totally honest the bad blog review didn't bother me because the review did not say anything bad about the content other than it is on such varied topics, it even said that "Visiting this blog is like reaching into a mystery box." because of my stories.

Overall Consensus

Blogbadly gets no thumbs down from me, it has given me some ideas on improving this blog which will help some of you wonderful readers and has given me a laugh at the same time.

Blog Badly

To read my Bad Blog Review
To put your blog forward for a Bad Blog Review Click here

A Testicle Too Far

A thirty seven year old man from Liverpool, England was left holding his own testicle after it was torn from his body in what I can only describe as crazy circumstances.

The man in question was at a house party close to where he lived and had enjoyed a great night when he ex girlfriend who is thirteen years his junior (24) came up to him with amorous advances. The gentleman declined the advances and his ex girlfriend went in to a rage grabbing his genitals and pulling hard, this caused the mans trousers and underpants to be torn off.....and also his left testicle.

After realising that she had torn off the mans left testicle the ex girlfriend then tried to swallow it...yes swallow it... before choking on it and spitting it back out, a friend then grabbed the left testicle of the ex girlfriend and gave it back to the man who it belonged too.

After going to hospital the left testicle was unfortunately not in a condition to be reattached. The ex girlfriend has been jailed for two and a half years for her actions.

What a crazy story.....but actually true.....how can someone tear off an ex partners testicle and TRY TO SWALLOW IT!!!!

Sub prime mortgage crisis

The economic woes hitting the U.S started due to its sub prime mortgage crisis but has moved further a field and hit financial markets all over the world, but many people do not understand why this is. First you have to understand the sub prime mortgage process compared to the traditional one seen elsewhere to better appreciate its failings.

Traditional Mortgage Model

Under the traditional model the bank grants a home owner a mortgage and lends them the money (dependant on circumstances) and the home owner pays the bank their monthly fee with interest to pay off the mortgage. The banks make all checks on circumstances before lending the money in this model.

Sub Prime Mortgage Model

Under the sub prime model in the United States the bank sells mortgage bonds to those who wish to purchase them then they grant a home owner a mortgage and lend them the money via a home appraiser, the home owner then makes payments back to the bank via a mortgage broker. The bank then uses a rating agency to determine the amount of money a bondholder should get and makes a payment to the bondholder. All the checks made in this model are done by independant companies, not the bank itself.

The Sub prime model grew rapidly due to the Mortgage bond market which flourished. As you can imagine the banks were making alot of money, because of this they started pushing mortgage brokers to sell more Sub prime mortgages.

The mortgage brokers who wanted to make money and felt pressured by the banks started selling these sub prime mortgages to people in poor low income areas. They mis sold these mortgages to the lower income people by advising them that they could unlock some cash out of their property by refinancing but neglected to tell them that after two years the interest on these Sub prime mortgages would double.

After the two years were up many poor families found the interest doubled on their Sub prime mortgages and suddenly couldn't afford to make their mortgage repayments causing mass repossessions of properties.

The huge amount of repossesions hit the property market hard with a massive crash in property prices, this in turn has hit the United States building industry which represents 15% of the total US economy. Due to this slump in a large portion of the economy it has had a knock on affect across other industries, which in turn is affecting many economies across the globe.

Angels are crying

Given the world in which we live in, one where pain and suffering is a daily occurence I thought I would today post the lyrics to a song I heard that I thought would provoke people in to thinking about the world and the people around them. The group/person who the song is by is called Morandi and the song is called Angels.

People..stop fighting, angels are crying
We can be better, love is the answer
Search inside, are there anymore tears to cry ?
Don't you wonder why ?
Why you feel so alone all against the world
Search back time, when you used to sing along
To the music of your song
Song effect you can change, it's not too late
People..stop fighting, angels are crying

Some of you may have heard this song already and did not know all the lyrics. It is amazing to think that the power of song can really make you think deeply about life and the world, this song certainly did to me as I could relate to what the lyrics represent.

When I heard these lyrics they really had an impact on me and made me really think about the world and how there is much we could do by just being more loving and caring towards fellow man.

Man made to marry goat!

I came across a story from 2006 that had me laughing so much that I had to write a post about this historical peice of news.

In February 2006 a man from Sudan was caught having sexual relations with a goat by its owner. The owner woke up in the middle of the night and rushed outside to find another Sudanese man called Mr. Tombe mounted on his goat.

When the goat owner asked Mr. Tombe what he was doing Mr. Tombe fell off the back of the goat he was "riding". The goat owner then caught Mr. Tombe and tied him up.

Instead of ringing the police the goat owner decided to speak to the elders from where he lives, the elders said that Mr. Tombe had used the goat as his wife so as such he needs to pay the goat owner a dowry ($50) and take the goat as his wife....which is just what Mr. Tombe's did.

It also said in the article that nearly two weeks on man and goat were still together as far as the goat owner knew.

My World Vision

The world in which we live in has changed dramatically over the past one hundred years and I believe due to these vast changes the lives we live have changed dramatically to, but not always in a positive way.

I have a vision of the world, one that I know would never happen but one that I feel would make everyone a better person and the cultures we live in a more enjoyable place to live. As my vision is one that is quite large it may be difficult to translate in to words but here goes......

Individuals

As individuals we have forgotten what our life is all about, we are too preoccupied with work that we forget about the people around us and even forget about the joys of live we want ourselves.

I believe its time everyone took a step back and thought about their wants and needs and the wants and needs of those around them. It is also time to think of those less fortunate in our society and spend some time and/or money to help those less fortunate have a better standard of living.

Family Values

Long ago family values were important, all families would sit together for evening meals and the most important meal of the week, the Sunday roast. Today sees family values gone with families not working together as units anymore and being full of individuals who share a common home and come and go as they please without as much as a hello or goodbye.

I believe it is time for parents to take the "bull by the horns" so to speak in reinstate the family values that brings family members together. This could be something simple like a family meal every Sunday or a night out together every Wednesday to an activity that involves everyone to work together.

It is also time that people forget about religion or race when talking to someone else and just concentrate on the personality of the person they are talking to. Does it matter if someone is Sikh, Mulsim, Christian? No, what matters is their personality and if they are a good person. It doesn't matter what race or religion you are there are good and bad people in every race and religion.

Community

Once upon a time the comunity we live in was seen as a very important and integral part of everyday life. Everyone knew their neighbours, they would go round to each others house to borrow sugar or milk and would enjoy a cup of coffee and a good chat, these were also the days when people left their front doors unlocked and open without fear of something bad happening to them.

Today we see the community spirit gone, everyone is to preoccupied in their own lives to even bother to get to know their neighbours let alone enjoy a cup of coffee and a good conversation. What this is doing is alienating everyone from the society they live in. Is it not time that everyone embraced the people that live around them and bring back community spirit so everyone can enjoy each others company and work together to improve the areas they live in?

Business

Is it not time that the large businesses of the world that brain wash us daily with advertising started thinking about ploughing some of their millions of profit back in to the countries and communities that they are taking money from.

I am not asking that these companies give all their money away but they could look at the poorer parts of different countries and work with local governments to build special services for the people who live there to bring them together and promote happiness, health and education.

Local Council

I am sure everyone would love to see improvments to the city or town they live in, I would be very much surprised if someone said they were not interested at all. What I have noticed is that as time has gone by the councils and local governments of cities and towns across the globe have become more insular. They do not involve the people with whom they serve for decisions abiout community projects enough any more, yet this still increase taxes year on year.

I think its time for local government to come back down to street level and ask the people of the community they serve what they really want and need in the community, these may be simple things like career/educational support and play areas for the young to keep them off the streets and promote education instead of statues placed at every corner.

Governments of the World

It is time that the governments of the world stood united and worked together to bring peace and prosperity to the people they serve. Alot of the issues in todays society are bred from the actions of the governments around them.

Look at the recent issues between the United States and Iran, I am sure the situation was nothing like what it has ben portrayed. What these clashes do is bring resentment from the nationals of these countries against one another. Iranians will start disliking the American people more and the American people will start disliking the Iranian people more which will in turn promote terrorism against different countries and cultures.

Why can't the governments of this world set a good example to the people of their countries that peace and prosperity through diplomacy is the best foot forward in this world. To me the country that has taken these steps in the best possible way is Switzerland, a country that is and always has been neutral even through two world wars.

Snow Fall in Baghdad

To those who do not know much about Iraq besides Saddam Hussain, terrorism and the coalition forces stationed there then it won't mean much, but to others that know Iraq well it will be a huge surprise to find out that snow has fallen in Baghdad.

There are conflicting accounts from Baghdad residents about when the last snow fall was seen in the city as some have said that it was in the early years of the 1940's on the outskirts of the city while an eighty year old female resident of the city who has lived their all her live has said that she had never witnessed snow fall in Iraq before.

The only time snow fall is seen in Iraq is normally in the winter months and only on the peaks of high mountains in the northern Kurdish territories close to the Turkish border.

Due to snow being a new phenomenon it has been a wonderful change for the people of Baghdad who have only seen war for the past few years. Many families were waking up and rushing outside to see the snow flakes falling, to many it was a beautiful sight that brought delight and smiles. One resident from Baghdad was heard saying "This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God".

Hopefully this small token gesture from the environment of Mother Earth will build up some form of hope in the residents of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq that things will get better giving them the life they deserve.

Boeing Could Be Hacked By Passengers

Boeing has been ordered by America's FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to ensure that passengers cannot hack in to the flight system of Boeing's new jet the 787 Dreamliner.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reviewed the new aircrafts control system and believe it is so vunerable that a passenger could use a computer to hack in to its flight system and take control of the plane.

The 787 Dreamliner, which is a new Boeing plane, has already been hit by issues as it had to delay the launch of the plane by six months due to manufacturing problems. Although the Boeing plane has had a lot of issues it is still the fastest selling plane Boeing have ever created with orders of over eight hundred already taken.

Boeing have tried to play down the security issues by saying that it has been in constant talks with the Federal Aviation Administation. Boeing also went on to advise that they have already reached an agreement with the FAA through showing relevant documentation and demonstration of the planes systems to show it has the relevant safeguards.

What concerns me is the fact that the FAA actually had such strong doubts about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the first place. Could you imagine the devastation it would cause if a passenger could simply log on to their laptop in their economy seat and take control of the plane, it could be 9/11 all over again.

They dont make them like they used to

You may be wondering what this post will be about, well this is about the older generation of today and how they just don't make them like they used to. The older generations of today seem to be overlooked and left to get on with their twilight years but what many people seem to forget is what the older generation endured for the lives we live today.

Whether the older generation is from America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia or Algeria for that matter there is something about the older generation that I think makes them super humans compared to the youth of today.

Okay I am rambling and you are wondering where I am going with this post. Well the truth is the grandparents and great grandparents of today lived through wars like no other, and many acts of bravery that have never been replicated were done by the many grey haired old people we see every day.

Take the first world war...how many of you could honestly say you would sit in a wet trench with barrage after barrage of artillery rounds being catapulted towards your trench hour after hour before someone blows a whistle and tells you to climb over the top and start walking...yes walking...towards the enemy who are less than a hundred metres away and are firing at you with machine guns and rifles.

Then we come to the second world war...fought in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa....these men from all walks of life and many different cultures were put to arms and marched across countries to face the enemy on battlefields of all varieties seeing the type of battles that have never been replicated. These men put their life on the line for the good of their countries and did so without complaint.

Now you see that our older generation deserve respect yet people seem to forget about how brave these people are, just because they are old now doesn't mean that they do not have some amazing stories to tell about what they endured in their youth.

Russian fishermans Miracle

Imagine you have been out fishing in your boat when terrible weather comes and you are shipwrecked somewhere remote without communication and proper food sources and you are found after three months, it sounds like something out of a Hollywood film doesn't it.

On 10th October 2007 eleven Russian fisherman set out in two boats to catch a haul of fish in the remote region of the Kamchatka Peninsula (6,700 kilometres east of Moscow). After a huge storm erupted while they were fishing both boats were wrecked and washed up in a bay.

Since October 10th 2007 all eleven fishermen had been living in the wrecks of their boats to provice shelter and burning furniture from the boats to provide warmth. The food supplies they had were the fish they caught prior to becoming shipwrecked and also flour they found in an abandoned military base they found in the bay.

At the beginning of the new year with food supplies becoming dangerously low the fishermen decided to split in to two teams, one stayed at their make shift base in the wreckage of their boats while the other set out on foot to find help.

The team that set out on foot came across Russian soldiers after an ardeous trek, these soldiers raised the alarm and sent helicopters in to rescue the other half of the team still with the wreckage. This was on Friday January 4th 2008, 87 days after they first started out on Wednesday October 10th 2007.

After three months living in a remote region of Russia with no communication and very basic supplies all eleven fishermen not only survived, they also required no medical treatment

To me this is a wonderful story that shows just how people can work together during times of distress to beat the odds and survive.

Read the inital story on BBC news

Snow and its affects on a country

Having lived in the UK all my life and seen the ravaging effects that one centimetre of snow has on the country as it grinds every day life to a halt, but why is this the case when countries that are not classed among the richest and most powerful in the world see colder weather with greater amounts of snow and they keep on trucking (pardon the pun).

I have just spent the last two weeks in Bulgaria, a wonderful little country in south eastern Europe...its a country that has just joined Europe after escaping communism only 18 years ago and has an average salary of £100 a month...less than every full time UK resident earns in two days.

While spending my time in Bulgaria (which was wonderful by the way) I experienced snow that was up to 60 centimetres in depth and temperatures that went down to minus 31 degrees Celsius and I was shocked to see that this did not stop anyone carrying on their daily business.

Even with temperatures so low and snow past their knees the Bulgarians carried on as normal, driving and walking everywhere...how you may ask?

Well there is a wonderful thing called a tractor that has a snow plough put on the front, these wonderful vehicles drive round all the roads clearing it of snow so drivers can carry on their journeys as needed.

The pedestrians of Bulgaria also make their own little snow footpaths by following each others tracks. This is quite a funny vision to behold as you only see everyone from their knees upwards walking through thinks snow.

My point to all this is how can a country that is wonderful yet not powerful like Bulgaria manage to achieve so much when mother natures plays her hand while the UK cannot when they never even see such quantities of snow during such cold temperatures?

Protected Fishing Zones

I have noticed in the news that a few countries have been looking in to the possibilities of setting up protected fishing zones, these zones would mean that in specific areas companies will not be allowed to fish. The idea behind this is to improve depleted fishing stocks which have become reduced in certain waters over the past few decades.

While these countries are really trying to help the environment and improve the chances of our future children having the ability of fish on their dinner menus it does seem that other countries are battling against these protected fishing zones due to monetary reasons.

The government of Croatia has decided that from the 1st January 2008 (yesterday) they will impose a protected fishing zone of fifty seven thousand square kilometres in the Adriatic sea to improve depleted fishing stocks that it says have become dangerously reduced by Italy over fishing in the waters.

While this is a great idea and would help improve levels of fishing stock Italy, Slovenia and other countries are opposing the protected zone. Italy is opposing the zone due to economy reasons as Italy catches 200,000 tonnes of fish stock per year, Slovenia on the other hand is opposing the idea due to unresolved sea border disputes.

Even the European commission has played a part in Croatia's decision advising that it could affect Croatia's plan to join the EU if they stop EU countries fishing in their waters.

I believe there is a great need for countries to start reviewing plans for protected fishing zones so we can see an increase in fish stocks. The problem faced when looking at this is that EU countries can fish in each othes waters and if one country places a protected zone in its waters other countries contest it.

May be it is time that the EU flexed its muscles from Brussels and worked with member states to create special exclusion zones so these disputes do not surface.