One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge - even to ourselves - that we've been so credulous.

Carl Sagan
    --The Fine Art of Baloney Detection

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - If you can pluck a chicken in under 4.4 seconds or swallow 95 worms in half a minute, your chance of glory awaits in the ultimate achievers' book.

Keep bell-ringing till you are 101 years old or unhook 17 bras with one hand in under a minute and your place is assured in Guinness World Records.

Dutchman Niek Vermeulen makes his claim to fame with a collection of 3,240 airline sick bags. Malta has the world's lowest road accident rate. A Russian woman had 69 children.

"Not many people know that....

-- Switzerland's Jean Francois Vernetti has the world's largest collection of hotel "Do Not Disturb" signs

-- Thai medicine man Hoo Sateow boast the world's longest hair which he believes holds the key to his healing powers

-- The world's largest Santa gathering was in Bralanda, Sweden when 2,685 Father Christmases paraded down the main street, to the eternal confusion of the town's children

-- American Bernie Barker claims to be the world's oldest male stripper, starting at the age of 60 to get in shape after recovering from prostate cancer. " 

Ananova:

A German man is facing up to 10 years in a Turkish prison because his nine-year-old son picked up pebbles from a beach.

He was charged with smuggling archaeologically valuable national treasures and put in a cell with 14 criminals.

The man's wife said they explained to Turkish authorities that their nine-year-old son Philipp had unwittingly taken the stones from the beach for a school project.

              My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is

MY mind to me a kingdom is;


Such perfect joy therein I find


That it excels all other bliss


Which God or nature hath assigned.


Though much I want that most would have,


Yet still my mind forbids to crave.


 





No princely port, nor wealthy store,


No force to win a victory,


No wily wit to salve a sore,


No shape to win a loving eye;


To none of these I yield as thrall,--


For why? my mind doth serve for all.


 





I see that plenty suffers oft,


And hasty climbers soonest fall;


I see that such as are aloft


Mishap doth threaten most of all.


They get with toil and keep with fear;


Such cares my mind can never bear.


 





I press to bear no haughty sway,


I seek no more than may suffice,


I do no more than well I may,


Look, what I want my mind supplies.


Lo! thus I triumph like a king,


My mind content with anything.


 





I laugh not at another's loss,


Nor grudge not at another's gain;


No worldly waves my mind can toss;


I brook that is another's bane.


I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend,


I loathe not life, nor dread mine end.


 





My wealth is health and perfect ease,


A conscience clear my chief defence;


I never seek by bribes to please,


Nor by desert to give offence.


Thus do I live, thus will I die,--


Would all did so as well as I!


 


Sir Edward Dyer

Ananova:

Chlorine in the water on the P&O ship Oceana dyed the hair of nine passengers when they went for a swim.

As a "gesture of goodwill" the passengers were referred to the ship's beauty salon for corrective treatment.

95 passengers were struck by a mild gastro-intestinal illness during the voyage.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned commercials for feminine hygiene products and haemorrhoid ointments and other items deemed unappetising during meal times.

"Television and radio broadcasters' advertisements are not allowed to air commercials likely to disgust audiences, for example medicines for haemorrhoids and athlete's foot, sanitary napkins and other hygiene products."

Advertisers will also be banned from word-plays that corrupt the language to sell their products.

Ananova:

A German psychologist is specialising in treating chickens and is helping them deal with problems ranging from gender issues to neurosis..

She says one of her cases involved a hen named Lucie who always wanted to be a cock. "She was so dissatisfied she'd drive everybody out of her territory, even the cat."

Eventually, Lucie settled into her new role and even managed a crow.