Catholic priest allegedly bites fellow priest's ear off during fight

Father Thomas Henry Byrne

It's a holy war!

An 80-year-old Catholic priest bit off another priest's ear and socked him in the face over a parking spot in Australia, according to Perth Now.

Father Thomas Henry Byrne appeared in court Friday after he allegedly started the violent brawl when 81-year-old Father Thomas Joseph Cameron Smith wouldn't give up his parking space. After a brief scuffle, Byrne reportedly told Smith to pick up an item on the ground.

The item was Smith's ear, according to the Daily Mail, though it took him a while to figure out what it was.

Smith wrapped the flesh in a tea towel and drove to a local hospital, where staffed phoned him an ambulance. He was taken to surgery, while cops went to arrest Byrne on a charge of grievous bodily harm. Byrne had a black eye when he showed up in court on Friday, according to the Independent.

An East Perth magistrate ordered that Byrne not go within 30 feet of Smith, who lives in the same apartment complex.
Culled from HUFF POST

'Biblical' Virgin Mary sighted in Utah

Virgin Mary sightings hve been reported in Utah Utah, where a man claims he found the image of the Holy Mother and baby Jesus in a piece of wood.

Dean Hansen made the extraordinary discovery about six weeks ago when he and his uncle, Lee Taylor, were in central Utah cutting up pinyon pine wood for tent posts and firewood, KSTU-TV reported.

“When we first saw it, we were like ‘wow,’” Hansen told the station.

Hansen is keeping the 3-inch-thick circle in a safe place while he decides whether or not to put it on display.

Luckily, for true believers, there are still plenty of other sightings to check out, such as the one reported last month at one lucky New Jersey car wash where the Virgin Mother herself allegedly appeared in a cloud of smoke.

The blessed virgin also showed up in a tree trunk in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., this past summer as well as one in New York City.
Culled fro HUFF POST

Anti-Islam filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley jailed for one year

A US man behind an anti-Muslim film that led to mass protests in the Middle East has been sentenced to a year in jail for probation violations.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was sentenced by a judge in California after admitting four violations which stem from a 2010 conviction for fraud.

None of the charges was connected with the content of the controversial film, Innocence of Muslims.

Dozens of people died in the Middle East in protests over the film.

US District Judge Christina Snyder said Nakoula, 55, must spend 12 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.

Prosecutors had been seeking a two-year sentence.

After the 2010 conviction, Nakoula had served most of a 21-month jail sentence for using more than a dozen aliases and opening about 60 bank accounts to conduct a cheque fraud scheme, prosecutors said.

The Los Angeles Times said that it was while he was in prison that he read the Koran, looking for ways to criticise Islam.

On his release he was barred from using computers or the internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.

Nakoula, who was arrested in September, also goes by the name of Sam Bacile, Nicola Bacily and Mark Basseley Yousseff and is believed to be an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian.

US authorities have said they believe Nakoula was the person behind the controversial film, but have not said whether he was the person who posted it on the internet.

Muslims around the world took to the streets in protest, outraged by the film's portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
Culled from BBC

23yr-old man arrested for flashing his breast implants at fellow customers in a shopping plaza

Owens


A Pennsylvania man was arrested yesterday after flashing his breast implants at fellow Walmart shoppers.

Jeremy Owens, 23, was busted following the bizarre incident at the retailer in Lackawanna County. Owens was apprehended after he left the store and boarded a municipal bus, from which he had to be forcibly removed by cops.

After being cuffed and placed in a cruiser, Owens banged his head against the vehicle’s window, apparently cutting himself in the process. Which then allowed Owens (seen at right) to allegedly spit blood at officers.

Owens, who calls himself “Jamie,” was jailed for aggravated assault, drug possession, and making terroristic threats. But apparently not indecent exposure.

Yesterday’s collar came two weeks after Owens was busted for lying to cops about the purported knifepoint abduction of a female friend. Owens was also nabbed in March following a disturbance at a doughnut shop (he was accused of spitting on two female customers).
Culled from THE SMOKING GUN

Female caregiver arrested for sexual assualt on bedridden 106-yr-old woman

Watson


An in-home caregiver sexually assaulted a 106-year-old woman who was bedridden, according to Florida police.

Taquita Lashay Watson, 29, of Pensacola, was arrested at about 2 p.m. Monday after investigators learned she used "a sexual instrument" on the woman whom she'd been assigned to care for over the past three months, according to a Pensacola Police report.

Cops are investigating whether Watson victimized any other patients.

She has worked as a caretaker for eight years, The Smoking Gun reported. In another police report obtained by the site, the Oct. 26 crime is described in gruesome detail:

Watson allegedly "took a [sex toy] and a jar of Vaseline from her pocketbook ... pulled [the victim's] pants and diaper down and told her that this 'would make her feel good.'" She reportedly assaulted the woman despite her screams and pleas to stop.

The victim waited for days until Watson left and called police. She was given a sexual assault examination, which revealed that she had "obvious signs of trauma" to her vagina, according to the police report.

Watson charged with sexual assault and held in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Culled froM HUFF POST

UK government spends $16,000 on a dead snake

Britain's foreign office spent 10,000 pounds ($16,100) to re-stuff the corpse of a giant 120-year-old snake, at a time when government departments are being told to rein in spending.

In response to a freedom of information (FOI) request from political blog Guido Fawkes, the foreign office said the 20 foot anaconda — called Albert — had been in poor condition and required "essential maintenance".

"Albert the anaconda was allegedly presented by a bishop, in what is now Guyana, to the colonial secretary in the 19th century", the foreign office said.

The huge reptile hangs in a foreign office library and is regarded as a departmental asset in a country whose former empire once ruled over vast swathes of the planet.


A spokesman for the foreign office recoiled at the suggestion that reviving Albert's looks might not be essential work for a government whose prime minister warned voters just last month to brace for "painful decisions" on the economy.

"It is quite a bit of money, but he is a very big snake. We will not be constricted, nor will we scale back, in our dedication to preserve this historic national treasure".

Culled from TIMES OF INDIA

Koshik - the elephant that speaks Korean language

Koshik


An Asian elephant called Koshik has astounded scientists with his Korean language skills.

Researchers report that the mammal has learnt to imitate human speech and can say five words in Korean: hello, no, sit down, lie down and good.

The zoo animal places the tip of his trunk into his mouth to transform his natural low rumble into a convincing impression of a human voice.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

Koshik's vocal abilities mean that elephants now join a growing list of animals that are able to mimic man, from parrots and mynah birds to more unusual animals such as sea lions or the recently reported case of a human-sounding beluga whale.The study's lead author Dr Angela Stoeger, from the University of Vienna in Austria, said she first came across Koshik after videos of the elephant, who belongs to Everland Zoo in South Korea, were posted on YouTube.

After making contact with the zoo, she went to South Korea to record the animal so she could study its unusual vocal talent.

Dr Stoeger said: "We asked native Korean speakers, who had never experienced the elephant before, to write down what they understood when we played back recordings from Koshik.

"We found a high agreement of the overall meaning."

Dr Stoeger and her colleagues found that Koshik's calls correlated to five Korean words: "annyeong" (hello); "anja" (sit down); "aniya" (no); "nuwo" (lie down) and "choah" (good).

"Human speech has two important aspects, one is pitch (how high or low a sound is) and one is timbre (the musical quality of a voice), and Koshik is matching both of these aspects," Dr Stoeger told the BBC.

Usually, elephants produce much deeper sounds, sometimes of such a low frequency that they are outside the range of human hearing, and these calls can boom many miles away.

While Koshik was capable of producing these more typical elephant noises, he needed the help of his trunk to morph these into something far more human. The researchers said this was behaviour they had not seen before.
Culled from BBC

How Nigerian policemen stripped motor cyclist naked in public

Photo culled from PUNCH NEWSPAPERS


Barely a few days after a middle aged woman, Queen Akindelenian swore an affidavit at the Ogun State High Court, Sango Ota, alleging that a Nigerian policeman identified as Mr Shadrach had forcefully inserted a metal object in her vagina during interrogation, Some policemen have again taken the enforcement of Law to the extreme on Wednesday as they allegedly beat an unidentified motor cyclist and stripped him naked in Akoka area of Lagos State.

An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the victim was caught while riding at the junction of University Road and St. Finbarr’s College Road in Akoka.

He stated that the man was plying the route oblivious that plain-clothes policemen had laid ambush in a van with registration number NPF9544B, in the area.

The eyewitness said immediately the policemen saw the okada rider, they pounced on him, beat him up and later asked him to take all his clothes off.

Recently, a popular newspaper reported that an okada rider died after he was hit with a baton by a policeman who insisted the victim violated the traffic law at Agege area of Lagos.

A month earlier, it was also reported that a driver of the State ambulance service, died after a policemen allegedly hit him in the head at Surulere area of Lagos for plying a road that has been designated as out of bound to commercial motorcycles.

When contacted on Thursday, the police spokesperson in the state, Ngozi Braide, neither picked her call nor responded to a text message sent to her phone.

Unbelievable!! Jewish porn star preaches to congregation in church, says porn is not a sin

Jeremy

Ron Jeremy joined Pastor Craig Gross in the pulpit last week. Jeremy who was born as Ron Hyatt, was invited by Pastor Gross to share his thoughts about God during the pastor's sermon on Sunday at his church in Hudsonville, Michigan.

Gross is the founder of XXXChurch.com, which is a Christian organization for people with an addiction to pornography.

"A lot of porn stars believe in God. In fact the majority do” Jeremy said. “I do not think there is a problem with my lifestyle as long as you are honest. I want people to know that you can be an adult film star and still believe in God. We don’t just play ‘hide the bacon’ and then go home and believe in atheism,” Jeremy added.

His goal is to stop the taboo of watching porn. “I want to see happy and healthy people watching porn.”

Before working in the porn industry, Jeremy has earned a master’s degree in special education. Although his name will always be associated with pornography, Jeremy has left the adult film industry after starring in thousands of titles. These days Jeremy travels the country performing stand-up comedy.
Culled fro MY JEWISH TIMES

Voodoo 'trafficker' bags 20yrs in jail for forcing teenage Nigerian girls into prostitution

Osolase


A 'HIV' positive man who carried out "juju" witchcraft on teenage girls he trafficked from Nigeria to Europe for prostitution has been jailed for 20 years.

Osezua Osolase, 42, from Gravesend, Kent preyed on poverty-stricken orphans with the promise of a better life, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Judge Adele Williams told him he was devoid of conscience and compassion.

Osolase was found guilty of five counts of trafficking, one of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.

The jury was told in a six-week trial which ended on Friday that West African "juju rituals" were used to instil terror into Osolase's three vulnerable victims, one aged just 14.
'Exploitation and degradation'

The judge said the recycling worker, who has HIV, put his victims "in fear" to force their obedience and secure their silence.

"You were dealing in exploitation and manipulation and degradation," she told Osolase.

"You are undoubtedly a very, very dishonest man. You are arrogant and manipulative, you are devoid of conscience, devoid of any compassion to your victims."

The judge said Osolase treated the girls as objects to be sold as sex slaves. The fact that he raped one girl knowing he had HIV was a "seriously aggravating" feature.

Osolase took the girls to his home in Gravesend before sending them to work as prostitutes in mainland Europe

It was recommended that Osolase be deported once he has served his sentence.

The court had heard girls were trafficked into the UK and taken to Osolase's home in Gravesend before being sent to work as prostitutes in mainland Europe.

One of the girls described the Juju ceremony performed on her in Nigeria. During the ritual, samples of blood were extracted from the girl and her head hair and pubic hair were also cut.

She was then told to swear an oath of silence.

Osolase was stopped at Stansted airport in April 2011 attempting to board a plane.

Anthony Orchard QC, defending, said Osolase disclosed that he had HIV voluntarily to police.

"Mr Osolase acknowledges and regrets the consequences of his actions in relation to taking the girls out of the UK, and he has to bear the consequences of those actions," Mr Orchard told the court.
Culled from BBC

Man with 'bionic' leg to climb Chicago skyscraper

Zac Vawter, left answering questions from a computer engineer



A 31 yr old man, Zac Vawter will put this "bionic" leg to the test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

Zac, a software engineer who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident recently is ready with a research subject- helping test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts.

He will put this "bionic" leg to the test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

If all goes well, he'll make history with the bionic leg's public debut. A team of researchers from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will be cheering him on and noting the leg's performance.

Lead researcher Levi Hargrove says the climb will be the bionic leg's first test in the public eye. "SkyRise Chicago" is a fundraiser for the institute with about 2,700 people climbing the Willis Tower stairs.

Culled from FOX NEWS

61-yr-old man to sue 7-yr-old girl for luring him into sexual assault

Thompson


A 61-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl says he now wants to sue the child, the Hartlepool Mail reported yesterday.

In July, John Thompson of Hartlepool, England, pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge, but told the court that his victim instigated the encounter.

Thompson received an 8-month suspended sentence. He was also ordered to undergo treatment and banned from contact with anyone under the age of 16.

The former brewery employee claimed that the young child "flirted" with him before pushing him down and forcing her tongue into his mouth, according to the Sun.

"I knew it was wrong," Thompson reportedly said in a police interview, "but somehow our mouths became open. I could not push her off.”

In court, he admitted to reciprocating and kissing the girl back.

Judge Gillian Matthews noted that Thompson was "potentially high risk" to young girls, but said that suspending his sentence was the only way he could receive treatment, according to the Sun.

“You are a man of good character," Matthews told Thompson, "and that is an important feature in the sentencing assessment, and also you have pleaded guilty.”

However, Thompson is now saying he only pleaded guilty due to bad legal advice, the Daily Mail reports, and is threatening to sue the child who made the allegations.

Child protection officials have called Thompson's claims of innocence "outrageous"

“It is absolutely unacceptable for a 61-year-old man to claim that a 7-year-old girl made sexual advances to him that he could not prevent," children's charity Kidscape said in a statement.
Culled from HUFF POST

Former Italian Prime Minister sentenced to 4yrs in prison for tax fraud

Berlusconi


Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud.

Mr Berlusconi and others were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control.

The former prime minister is expected to appeal against the verdict.

He has faced a number of trials connected to his business affairs, but has either been cleared or cases have run beyond the judicial time limit.

In the case for which he was sentenced on Friday, prosecutors alleged that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights was skimmed off to create illegal slush funds, reducing tax liabilities for Mediaset, one of Mr Berlusconi's companies.

The court handed Mr Berlusconi a longer sentence than the three years and eight months requested by prosecutors.

It also banned Mr Berlusconi from holding public office, though the ban would only take effect if the sentence is upheld by a higher court, Italian news agency Ansa reported.

Mr Berlusconi has dominated Italian politics for most of the last 20 years.

He was forced to resign as the prime minister of a centre-right coalition last November, and recently said he had no plans to stand again in elections due next year.

The trial began six years ago, and has been subject to repeated delays.

Culled from BBC

Obama Endorses Same-Sex Marriage Initiatives In 3 States

President Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed state ballot initiatives to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, Maryland and Maine as he sought to galvanize gay and lesbian enthusiasm for his re-election bid.

Statements issued by the Obama campaign in those three states urging voters to approve the gay-marriage measures on their respective Nov. 6 ballots came five months after Obama became the first U.S. president to express support for the right of same-sex couples to wed.

With polls showing Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney running neck and neck, the outcome of the race is likely to hinge largely on the Election Day turnout of their core constituencies, and both candidates are doing the utmost to motivate their supporters.

For Obama, the gay and lesbian community is seen as a loyal and potentially pivotal voting bloc, along with larger demographic groups such as Hispanics and single, young women.

"While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect," according to a statement in Seattle by Paul Bell, press secretary for Obama's campaign in Washington and Oregon.

The state goes on to explicitly urge a yes vote for Washington state Referendum 74, which would allow same-sex couples to marry.

Nearly identical endorsement statements were issued in support of similar initiatives on the Nov. 6 ballot in Maine and Maryland.

Six states and the District of Columbia have already extended marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples, all brought about by court rulings and legislative action.

Maine, which rejected gay marriage in a 2009 referendum by 53 percent to 47 percent, could become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage solely by popular vote.

In Washington state and Maryland, whose legislatures passed laws expanding marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples earlier this year, citizens will vote on whether to let those statutes stand.

Opponents of gay marriage hope Minnesota will become the latest state to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as exclusively a union between a man and a woman - effectively banning same-sex nuptials.

Obama previously spoke out against the Minnesota measure.

In Washington state, where polls show the "yes" campaign for gay marriage running ahead of the opposition in a tightening race, campaign manager Zach Silk said in a statement that "having the president weight in on approving Referendum 74 puts an extra gust of wind in our sails."

A recent Washington Post poll found voters in Maryland likely to approve the state's gay marriage law in the November election.

Brian Ellner, co-founder of The Four 2012 campaign, which is fighting for gay marriage rights in Washington, Maryland, Maine and Minnesota, said Obama's support "has had a big impact on public opinion, especially among African-Americans," adding
that his endorsement could be decisive in a close election.
Culled from HUFF POST

Woman forced her 12yr-old daughter into heroin and marijuana addiction

Hill


An American woman from the city of Minnesota has admitted to using heroin and marijuana with her 12-year-old daughter so frequently that the girl had to be hospitalized for withdrawal, cops reported.

Rebecca Rachelle Hill, 37, of Maple Grove, Minn. was arrested October 14 for shoplifting from the Mall of America. Hill allegedly told police that her daughter "likes to do the same things that she does and that [her daughter] 'most likely' uses heroin because she does," according to arrest documents obtained by the Star Tribune.

Hill told cops she used heroin with her daughter three times a day over the course of two or three weeks and that she often took her daughter along when she shoplifted to finance her drug habit, police claim.

The girl tested positive for both heroin and marijuana when she was taken to a local hospital with withdrawal symptoms, medical records showed. She's now in the care of her father who has filed for sole custody.

Hill is charged with second-degree sale of a controlled substance, endangerment of a child and theft of a motor vehicle after cops said she borrowed a car from a relative and never gave it back.

Culled from HUFF POST

American man eats own finger after stripping naked and defecating In police car

Washington

A New Jersey man probably under the influence of hard drugs went haywire at the weekend when he stripped his clothes, defecated in the back of a police cruiser and later bit off and swallowed his finger.

Authorities say they found Jargget Washington, 29, nude and belligerent at a Jersey City intersection around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday night. He allegedly "tried pulling a driver out of a car," but the driver managed to fight back, according to the New York Daily News.

Police restrained Washington and transferred him to Jersey City Medical Center, where he became increasingly uncontrollable. Washington reportedly spat at officers and chewed on his own wrists, devouring his medical bracelet.

Following the evaluation, Washington -- still dressed in a hospital gown -- reportedly defecated in the back seat of a police car as authorities transported him to the Hudson County Jail, the Jersey Journal reports.

Once at the jail, Washington chewed off his own finger and swallowed it, according to CBS New York.

Washington's questionable snack prompted authorities to return him to the Jersey City Medical Center for re-evaluation.

Police suspect that Washington may have taken PCP, short for phencyclidine.
Culled from HUFFPOST

Behold the image of Blessed Virgin Mary seen in New jersy

Image captured on a camera phone by Alex Leiva


Alex Leiva was working at his job at Olden Avenue Car Wash on monday morning, cleaning up the parking lot and getting ready for the day, when he saw flashing lights and a cloud of smoke.

Thinking the car wash was on fire, Leiva ran toward the building. Then the smoke cleared — and he saw the image of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in the window of the car wash tunnel, he said.

Leiva grabbed his camera phone from his belt holster and started snapping photos, he said. He dropped the phone, and by the time he picked it up, the image was gone.

No condensation had formed on the car wash window before the sighting because the Virgin’s image appeared before any cars had been washed, according to nj1015.com.

Leiva’s boss William Savage, who owns the car wash, said when he got to the office at about 10 a.m. yesterday, Leiva ran up seemingly stunned.

“He was so excited he was having a hard time talking to me,” Savage said.

Savage said there are no lights in the area where Leiva saw the image and he has tried to take photos to see if he could get a similar image, but has had no luck.

“There is no way that he would be making the story up,” Savage said.

Alex Leiva, left, with his employer William Savage, owner of Olden Avenue Car Wash in Ewing.



Leiva said he is not very religious, but he and Savage said they believe that they saw an image of the Virgin Mary.
Vatican guidelines say a supernatural vision should be regarded as false if said viewer of the vision appears to have a “psychological disorder” or is looking for monetary gain from the vision.
The Virgin Mary made her last appearance in New Jersey back in July, according to 7online.com. A tree on Bergenline Road in West New York drew crowds of people with flowers, candles, and shrines.

'Biblical' Virgin Mary appears to a car wash attendant in New Jersy

History was revived on Monday at one lucky New Jersey car wash where the Virgin Mother herself allegedly appeared in a cloud of smoke. The holy mother's blessed outline materialized in front of Olden Avenue Car Wash attendant Alex Leiva as he was preparing for work at 9:30 a.m., nj1015.com reports.

It was a dramatic arrival for the revered figure, who was preceded by flashing lights and the cloud of smoke, according to Leiva.

As the worker ran toward the building in Ewing, the smoke cleared and the outline of Mary carrying baby Jesus formed in the window of the car wash tunnel, according to The Times of Trenton.

Leiva, who is a native of Honduras, was able to snap a few pictures of the apparition before it disappeared again. He sent the images to his family back home, and local ministers.

Dozens of Virgin Mother sightings are reported each year. (In July, for example, a sighting was reported in a tree trunk in West New York, New Jersey.) So many, in fact, that in May the Vatican actually published an English version of Church rules used to evaluate the various apparitions' authenticity.

According to the guidelines, the authenticity of the vision should be rejected if, for example, alleged viewer of the vision appears to be suffering from a “psychological disorder” or “evidence of a search for profit."

Leiva’s boss William Savage, said he believes his employee of 13 years. “There is no way that he would be making the story up,” Savage said, noting Mary has appeared before but has never stayed long enough to be photographed. Until now, of course.

Although the Olden Avenue Car Wash's Virgin Mary has since disappeared, there is a more permanently protected vision of her outlined in a window in a Georgia car wash, ABC News reports.

Greg and Debbie Sapp, who run the car wash in Jessup, first noticed the image after a window in their home cracked back in 2006. The Sapps consider the vision a miracle, the Sun Sentinel reports, and keep it carefully protected in a climate-controlled room.
Culled from HUFF POST

Sibblings claim to be having sex to cover up attempted theft

Robert and Amanda


Two siblings' alibi for allegedly trying to steal a TV was incest.

Police Robert and Amanda Larrivee, were caught trying to steal televisions from a Springfield, Mass. bar Sunday night, according to WGGB. A witness reported that the two entered the bathroom at Samuel's at the Basketball Hall of Fame around 9 p.m. and started "ripping the television off the wall."

A manager and another employee locked the Larrivees in the bathroom while they called police. When officers arrived, the pair reportedly claimed that they weren't stealing a TV, they were having sex, according to MassLive.com.

Incest is illegal in Massachusetts and punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Upon further investigation of the scene, cops found that the TV had indeed been forcibly removed from the bathroom wall, WWLP reported.

Amanda, 30, and Robert, 38, were charged with larceny. Robert Larrivee was also charged with threatening to commit a crime because he allegedly tried to beat up an arresting officer at the police station.
Culled from HUFF POST

Illegal butt injection: How 46 yr-old woman lost her limbs to quacks

Michelle Brown


Teased by her family and friends about her flat "pancake" booty, Apryl Michelle Brown had always been insecure about her backside. Once she got enough money, she told herself, she'd buy herself a better one. "I didn't know if I wanted to look like Janet Jackson or J. Lo," the Los Angeles cosmetologist, 46, says in an exclusive interview featured in the November issue of ESSENCE magazine. "I just wanted a new, bigger booty."


Tragically, her quest for curves cost her all her limbs and almost her life.

In 2004, Brown says she paid a "pumper," an unlicensed person, to inject industrial-grade silicone into her buttocks. Brown can't recall how much the woman actually charged — maybe $500, maybe $1,000 — but over time, she says, the area became intensely irritated and painful, and the skin blackened. By early 2006 she says the silicone had hardened, causing severe pain and infection, ultimately requiring her to have lifesaving amputation of her limbs last year.

Now adjusting to her new life with prosthetics, Brown shares her story — and her warning for others tempted to check out "pumping parties" — with writer Amy Elisa Keith in ESSENCE. "I was left here for a purpose," she says. "I have to get the word out so that nobody else makes this choice."
Culled from ESSENCE