What is this world coming to?

From BBC: Sea lions massacred in Galapagos:

Ecuadorean officials are investigating the slaughter of 53 sea lions from the Galapagos Islands nature reserve, which were found with their heads caved in.

The dead animals included 13 pups, 25 youngsters, nine males and six females.

Galapagos National Park official Victor Carrion told AFP news agency that each was killed by "a strong blow from someone", though the motive is unknown.

They had not been injured in any other way, he said, discounting the notion they had been killed for their parts.

The animals were found in a state of decomposition on Pinta island, part of the archipelago which lies about 1,000km (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.

In 2001 poachers killed 35 male sea lions in the archipelago, removing their genitals and teeth.

Hayden Panettiere would so cry at this news.

Miracles DO happen!

From BBC: Deaf boy's cotton wool bud 'cure':

A boy who has been partially deaf for nine years was suddenly cured - when a cotton wool bud popped out of his ear.

Jerome Bartens was diagnosed as deaf in his right ear when he was just two and has struggled at school ever since.

But Jerome, now 11, was suddenly able to hear clearly again as he played with friends in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

He said he heard a popping sound, then found the tip of a cotton wool bud in his ear. His family believe Jerome must have put the bud in his ear as a toddler and the centimetre-long cotton tip came off the plastic stem.

Jerome's father Carsten, 45, said: "It was just incredible - his hearing returned to normal in an instant.

"He was cured as suddenly as he became deaf. I had always suspected Jerome had stuck something in his ear when he was little and that was causing the problem.

"But the doctors and hearing specialists said it was wax and he would probably grow out of it.

"I am amazed they didn't spot something as obvious as a cotton wool bud."

Jerome has kept the waxy bud as a souvenir of his nine years of silence on his right. His family believe that as he grew the bud has been forced out - and finally came out nine years later.

If there ever were a reason to sue, this is it.

Marijuana vending machines in US

From BBC: Marijuana vending machines in US:

Vending machines distributing the drug marijuana are to begin operating in the US state of California.

The machines can only be used by people who have been prescribed the drug for health reasons.

Patients will have to provide a prescription, and be fingerprinted and photographed before being allowed to use the facilities.

Once the users have been photographed, fingerprinted and have shown their prescription, they will be issued with a card which can be used in the machines, he told KWTX News 10 in the US.

"They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," he was quoted by KWTX News 10 as saying.

I predict mass migration to California.

Smartest isn't always best

From The Star: Maths prodigy's dad faces jail term for groping teens:

PETALING JAYA: The father of a maths prodigy Sufiah Farooq, who entered Oxford University at 13, is facing a minimum six-month jail term for sexually assaulting two underage girls.

Pakistan-born Farooq Yusof, 50, groped one of the two 15-year-olds while giving her tuition classes at her home, according to Britain’s Daily Mail. He is currently behind bars awaiting sentencing.

According to the daily, Farooq was arrested after touching the girl on the chest and attempting to kiss her while her parents were watching television in a room nearby.

Sufiah, whose mother is Malaysian-born chemist Halimahton, made history by becoming the youngest student to study Mathematics in Oxford in 1997.

She ran away from the university and her family after three years of studies claiming that she could not stand the pressure from her father to succeed and that it was a “living hell.”

Sufiah asked for foster care until she reached 18. She returned to Oxford in 2002 but did not complete her course.

She was married in 2004 at the age of 20 to a fellow Oxford trainee lawyer. They divorced 13 months later.

See? Just because she's really smart doesn't mean she's not screwed up.

Welcome to my world