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JOHN Brumby has weighed into the 'Midgets' Cup' controversy, saying the Cranbourne event was hurtful to small people. Mr Brumby said today he realised people had different views about the race but he thinks it should not have happened, the Herald Sun reports. "What occurred may well be humorous to many people but I think the test is whether it's hurtful to people and what occurred is quite hurtful to a number of people,'' he said. “So I think it's tacky.'' But one of the dwarf "jockeys" involved in a race at a country cup that has triggered a furore, angering racegoers and the Racing Minister says it was “all in good fun”. Professional entertainer Jeremy Hallam said this morning he thought if anyone should be going into bat for dwarves, it should be dwarves themselves. The 50 "Midgets' Cup" held at the Cranbourne Cup has angered racegoers and Racing Minister Rob Hulls, who has described the event as "an embarrassment. Three punters piggy-backed the dwarfs, wearing racing colours, in the race which saw one dwarf fall and crash headlong into the turf, but was unhurt. Champion jockey Damien Oliver and racing officials also say people should "lighten up". Thousands of racegoers watched the race at Sunday's Cranbourne meeting. Mr Hallam said he was surprised at the uproar. “I think there was nothing wrong with it. It was all in good fun. The people were involved for a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, which is what we were there for,” he told Neil Mitchell's program on Radio 3AW this morning. “It wasn’t too over the top. I didn’t see it as degrading, because it was taken professionally, so I don’t see any problem with it.” “We were all told about the gig … and we could have put our objections up, but we were all fine with it because we are entertainers and we’ve done a lot of work like this before.” He said the entire performance was “handled professionally”. But he was open-minded about whether people were now too politically correct to see the funny side of the performance. “Everyone has their own sense of humour … each to their own I guess,” Mr Hallam said. But Mr Hallam was adamant about his own limits, when asked if there was anything he wouldn’t do for entertainment. “Definitely wouldn’t be tossed. Definitely not. But apart from that, as long it’s professional and I can see the funny side in things and not just taking the piss, then definitely.” In fact, Mr Hallam took his performing so seriously, he had established a company hiring out dwarves for entertainment. While he was taken aback at the reaction, "then again I’ve been in my fair share (of controversy) … when I was the dwarf in the Jagermeister shot pouring thing last year.” During that controversy, Mr Hallam, found himself at the centre of a storm over promoting binge drinking after he strode topless along a St Kilda bar handing out free shots of Jagermeister. Photos of that incident sparked equal measures of anger and applause. The stunt was sanctioned by the Racing Victoria Limited marketing department. But Mr Hulls said the race was an embarrassment and would do nothing to promote the racing industry. He said he was puzzled by what it hoped to achieve. "At a time when racing should be fighting hard for that discretionary dollar and fighting hard to get young people back to the track, this type of event does nothing to promote the industry as vital, modern or innovative," Mr Hulls said. Meredith Tripp, former president of Short Statured People of Australia, said events that made fun of short people made it harder for them to get through life without being subject to ridicule. "For a big corporate group, seeing some sort of comical side to such an event is unfortunate," Ms Tripp said. "We hope to it make easier for short-statured people to participate in society without being bullied or laughed at or stared at. But things like this set us back a little bit." Dozens of racing fans who contacted the Herald Sun yesterday were outraged by the midgets' race. But RVL boss Rob Hines said it was just a "bit of fun". Mr Hines said he was not at Cranbourne, but saw the stunt on YouTube. He said RVL had canvassed the support of the Victorian Jockeys Association, including Oliver. "The little guys were dressed up in jockey silks and that was the purpose of it. They were basically jockeys on punters," Mr Hines said. "We would be very surprised if any of the jockeys on the day had any issue with it. "From what I gather they all thought it was a bit of fun. "It was done as a bit of fun, that's all it was. If we have offended anyone then we apologise to those people." Oliver said he thought the race was "hilarious" and added "people should lighten up". Victorian Jockeys Association chief Des O'Keeffe said he had concerns when the race was first mooted. "It had potential for a shemozzle," he said. Mr O'Keeffe said he wondered if there would be any upside to the stunt. "I had an awful feeling about it, but the feedback from my members was that they were not offended," he said. "But I can understand if some people were - it was very odd." Cranbourne Racing Club chief Neil Bainbridge said the club received no complaints on the day. "I'm surprised to hear of any negative feedback. It was never put on to be distasteful to anyone," he said. Mr Bainbridge said the event was an RVL initiative staged in conjunction with his club. Source Midget Cup Racing Video
German Artist Poses 1,250 Garden Gnomes Giving Hitler Salute In Town Square. A German artist is posing 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in an installation that he calls a protest of lingering fascist tendencies in German society. Artist Ottmar Hoerl posed the gnomes in the historic central marketplace of Straubing, a town in southeastern Germany, on Wednesday. The exhibit called "dance with the devil" is to run through Oct. 19. Most of gnomes are black plastic, but about 20 are painted shiny gold. Displaying Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany but a court ruled earlier this year that Hoerl's gnomes were clearly satire and thus allowed. Hoerl says: "the fascist idea, the striving to manipulate people or dictate to people ... is latently dangerous and remains present in our society." Source
A German man who mooned at a train got his trousers caught in a carriage door and ended up being dragged half naked out of the station. The 22-year-old journalism student shoved his backside against the window of a low-slung double-decker train after staff forced him off in Lauenbrueck for travelling without a ticket. A police spokesman in the northern city of Bremen said: "It's a miracle he wasn't badly hurt. This sort of thing can end up killing you." The man somehow managed to keep his legs from the train wheels as he was dragged along, dangling by his trousers, for about 200 metres, reports Metro. His ordeal ended when a passenger pulled the emergency brake. Rescues services were called in, causing rail services between Bremen and Hamburg to be suspended for over an hour, delaying 23 trains. The man - unharmed except for cuts and bruises - now faces charges of dangerous interference in rail transport, insulting the train staff, and may face sizeable a compensation claim for the delays he caused. "He was full of remorse when I talked to him," the police spokesman added. "And he advised others not to try the same thing." Source
A farmer in the United States has cut two of the characters from Family Guy, the cult animated comedy, into a maze on his property. Stewie and Brian form the centrepiece of this year's seven acre "Corn Maize" at Connors Farm in Danvers, Massachusetts. Bob Connors, the owner of the farm, has even approached Seth MacFarlane in the hope of persuading the Family Guy creator to pay a visit. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with him. I’d love to have him do the voices here on our busy weekend," he told the Boston Globe. The makers of Family Guy, a sharp comedy about an average American family with a talking dog, posed no objections to the use of its characters in the maze. The programme is shown on the Fox Network in the US, and BBC3 in Britain. “They waived the rights and all that," Mr Connors added. “We have to run everything by them, but they’ve been great." While corn, tomatoes and other crops are still grown on the farm, it boosts its income with an annual maze and other activities to attract families, including hayrides and fruit picking. This year's effort, which is only open until the end of the month, features the Griffin family's highly intelligent but misanthropic baby, Stewie, pointing up in anger at his friend Brian, the erudite family pet. Source
This Isn't The Food Pyramid: Feds Say Food Stamps Were Exchanged For Viagra, Porn. Viagra and pornography are not staples on the government's food stamp list. But authorities said a Detroit store supplied them during a series of illegal deals. Federal prosecutors filed fraud charges this week against three people who worked at Jefferson's Liquor Palace. The alleged scheme worked this way: Food stamp recipients would get cash from the store in exchange for swiping larger amounts off their electronic cards. The store would then be reimbursed by the U.S. Agriculture Department. But in some transactions, confidential informants got more than cash. The government said the store provided Viagra, painkillers, liquor, and porn videos in exchange for swiping about $2,000 off food stamp cards. The government said overall fraud at the store topped $130,000 over 2 1/2 years. The store is closed. Source
A zoo in Gaza has got around animal import restrictions by dyeing stripes on donkeys to make 'zebras'. The owner of the Marah Land zoo in Gaza City said he had used masking tape and black hair dye, applied with a paint-brush, to disguise the white females. Mohammed Bargouthi said it would have cost him more than £25,000 to bring in a real zebra via smuggling tunnels. "The first time we used paint but it didn't look good," said Mr Bargouthi. "The children don't know, so they call them zebras and they are happy to see something new." All the real animals at the zoo, including monkeys and a tigress, had been smuggled under the border at great expense, he said. Two genuine zebras died of starvation earlier this year during the Israeli military offensive, he added. The animal restrictions are part of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, imposed in an attempt to reduce rocket attacks and weaken the leadership of Hamas. Source
CAIRO — Conservative Egyptian lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity and one scholar has even called for the "exile" of anyone who imports or uses it. The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins — culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and broken. Gigimo advertises shipping to every Arab country. But the company did not answer e-mails and phone calls seeking comment on whether it had orders from Egypt or other parts of the Middle East. The drama started when a reporter from Radio Netherlands broadcast an Arabic translation of the Chinese advertisement of the product. That set off fears of conservative parliament members that Egyptian women might start ordering the kits. Sheik Sayed Askar, a member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood who is on the parliamentary committee on religious affairs, said the kit will make it easier for Egyptian women to give in to temptation. He demanded the government take responsibility for fighting the product to uphold Egyptian and Arab values. "It will be a mark of shame on the ruling party if it allowed this product to enter the market," he said in a notice posted on the Brotherhood's parliament Web site on Sept. 15. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest political opposition group, holds 88 of Egypt's 454 parliament seats. Prominent Egyptian religious scholar Abdel Moati Bayoumi said anyone who imports the artificial hymen should be punished. "This product encourages illicit sexual relations. Islamic culture forbids these relations except within the confines of marriage," Bayoumi said. "I think this should absolutely not be allowed to be exported because it brings more harm than benefits. Whoever does it (imports it) should be punished." In a country and a region where pre-marital sex is so taboo it can even lead to a woman's murder, the debate over the virginity-faking kit has revived Egypt's constant struggle to reconcile modern mores with more traditional beliefs — namely, that a woman is not a virgin unless she bleeds after the first time. "Bleeding is not the only signal that yes, she's a virgin," said Heba Kotb, an observant Muslim woman who hosts a sex talk show on TV in which she fields calls from all over the Middle East. Kotb noted that a medical procedure that reattaches a broken hymen by stitching is illegal in Egypt and can cost hundreds of dollars — prohibitively expensive for the poor. But many women still secretly seek it out in fear of punishment for pre-marital sex. Such punishment could include slayings at the hands of relatives, a practice more commonly referred to as honor killings and common in the more conservative tribal areas of the Middle East. The product is also causing a buzz on Egyptian blogs and news sites. "If this thing enters Egypt, the country is going to go to waste. God protect us," commented a reader on the Web site of Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabie. Marwa Rakha, an author and blogger who writes about dating issues, sees the product as a tool of empowerment for women in a macho Arab culture that restricts women's sexual urges but turns a blind eye to men gallivanting. "It sticks it in the face of every male hypocrite," she said. Source
NORTHERN Territory police were forced to arrest a grumpy crocodile and throw it in jail after it was discovered loitering in a town. Gunbalanya police were called out recently after the 2m female saltie turned up at Arrkuluk Camp the Northern Territory News reports. Police said they found it loitering near a fence, trying to look innocent. Brevet Sergeant Adam Russell said intrigued residents had gathered around to watch the arrest - but any dreams he had of nabbing the gnasher in style were promptly voted down. "I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style," he said. "But (the rangers) wouldn't let me." Instead she was bound and bundled into the back of an ute, and taken to the police cells. She was held in custody for three days until folks from a Top End croc farm came to pick her up. "We cut the ropes on her legs just so she could move around (in the cell) ... we couldn't have her tied up for all that time," he said. "We just hosed her down every couple of hours." He said the saltie was a fairly good prisoner, although she got grumpy with her curious audience. "She got a bit cranky when she was in the cells - started hissing when people came near." Source
A Swedish drinker is a picture of misery - after waking up to find a tattoo of a penis on his leg. Joel Stefansson, 27, from Umea in northern Sweden, had agreed to let a tattoo artist ink in any design he liked after an all night vodka session. "I thought I'd have something discreet and dignified but I got a six inch penis on my leg right next to my own one," said Joel. Now Joel is desperate to have the design removed, or at least reduced. "It's a bit larger than mine so the truth is going to be a bit of a let down to any women who get to see it," he confessed. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
Police raided the set of a film starring veteran Star Wars actor David Prowse after reports it was being used to shoot a porn movie. The Staffordshire bungalow location was instead found to house actors filming dialogue for The Kindness of Strangers. David Prowse, 74, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films, is starring in the action thriller, reports Metro. Neighbors had jumped to the wrong conclusion after seeing a camera and lighting equipment being taken into the bungalow in Newhall. One film crew member, who did not want to be named, said: "It was hilarious to see a bunch of policemen enter the bungalow expecting to see a porn film carrying on. "When the officers saw two dressed actors talking, they looked quite disappointed. The curtain twitchers certainly have a vivid imagination." Source
