Hundreds of marijuana users jubilate as Colorado State becomes first to allow sales for recreational use

As a group they're not known for their get up and go, but hundreds of marijuana users stood in line before dawn as Colorado entered history as the first state in America to license the sale of the drug for recreational use today.
More than 200 customers stood in the snow before the doors of 3D Cannabis Centre, Denver opened at 8am and the first sale was made.
For some it was the continuation of the party that had started at midnight when, firing up bongs and cheering in a cloud of marijuana smoke, partiers celebrated as midnight passed and Colorado's Prohibition on Marijuana officially came to an end.

The line started in pre-dawn and grew far down the street before the Lodo Wellness Center, a pot dispensary in Denver, Colorado on January 1

Customers sniff marijuana samples at the Denver Discreet Dispensary in Denver, Colorado, in January 1, 2014

In downtown Denver close to 600 supporters of Amendment 64 did so with an ‘End of Prohibition Party,’ - one of several that took place across the city - echoing scenes of the 1933 festivities that marked the end of alcohol prohibition in America.
Flapper girls danced, a swing band played and hundreds of balloons tumbled from the ceiling as, at midnight, a banner declaring: ‘Cannabis Prohibition is Over!' unfurled to roars from the crowd.

 

Smoking marijuana in public remains illegal but, according to organizers David Maddenka, Executive Editor of The Hemp Connoisseur magazine and Brett Mouser, Founder and CEO of Mahatma Extreme Concentrates, this was a private party.
Back in 1933 the once forbidden liquor was consumed hungrily and excessively in newly legitimate Speak Easys.

Customers stand in line shortly after the opening of 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver at 8am on Wednesday

It may be harder to raise a toast with a spliff, bong or vaporizer but all were in evidence and the party balloons, and some of the guests, floated in air thick with the scent of weed.
'Cigarette girls' handed out free vaporizers - the electric cigarette of the cannabis world.
Police in the eight Colorado towns allowing recreational pot sales were stepping up patrols to dispensaries in case of unruly crowds
Denver International Airport placed signs on doors warning fliers they can't take the drug home in their suitcases. 

Cheri Hackett, center, co-owner of the Botana Care marijuana store celebrates just before opening her doors to customers for the first time in Northglenn, Colorado January 1, 2014

Around 200 customers wait outside 3D Cannabis Center on January 1 to purchase newly legalized recreational marijuana in Denver, Colo., where promptly at 8:00 a.m.

People wait in line to be among the first to legally buy recreational marijuana at the Botana Care store in Northglenn

Sean Azzariti, a former Marine who served in the Iraq war and has post-traumatic stress disorder, smiles as he makes a cash transaction, the first to buy retail marijuana at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, on Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Darren Austin and son Tyler of Decatur, Georgia wait outside the Denver Discreet Dispensary to purchase marijuana in Denver, Colorado

As Mr Maddenka urged his guests to celebrate the end of prohibition, 80 years after the end of prohibition, across town delivery trucks filled with marijuana laced edibles, drinks and concentrate, unloaded their goods at the 3D Cannabis Center where the first official sale took place this morning.
Speaking to MailOnline 3D Cannabis Centre owner, Toni Fox explained: ‘It’s a rush to make sure that the product is there on the shelves to sell when we open our doors at 8am.

‘Some of the licenses were so late to come through that people are literally in the kitchen baking up batches of truffles and cookies to ship to arrive with us before dawn.’

Mrs Fox and her staff had spent New Year’s Eve tagging each of the 1200 or so plants grown at her facility with the Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags now mandatory under state law.

‘This is brand new territory to us,’ she admitted. ‘But when my husband and I started this dispensary three and a half years ago this day was always the goal.’

High times: Bill Chengelis, (left), and Chloe Villano enjoy a smoke just before midnight. 'Prohibition of the 21st Century,' as many are calling it, is happening in Colorado as the state allows the recreational sale of marijuana on January 1, 2014

Partygoers take turns smoking concentrated marijuana from a pipe during a Prohibition-era themed New Year's Eve party

Police in the eight Colorado towns allowing recreational pot sales were stepping up patrols to dispensaries in case of unruly crowds

Partygoers celebrate the start of a new year during a Prohibition-era themed New Year's Eve party celebrating the start of retail pot sales, at a bar in Denver

The State Marijuana Enforcement Division mailed out licenses to 136 marijuana stores on Monday – 102 of them in Denver.

As well as the stores, 31 producers of marijuana infused products and 178 marijuana cultivation facilities have been licensed by the state.

All of the newly licensed dispensaries are already providers of medicinal marijuana and no businesses catering only for recreational users can start for the first year of this new system.

Colorado has more than 500 medical marijuana dispensaries but only 160 applied to sell recreational pot.
According to Mike Elliott, 32, Executive Director of the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, the city and state licensing process ‘is difficult and cumbersome.’
The first official customer to buy marijuana from a Denver dispensary on January 1 was  Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Sean Azzariti, 32.
The former Marine suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition not protected under Colorado’s existing laws covering the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Mr Azzariti was also the face of the Yes on 64 Campaign.
Marcus Tvert, Co-Director of Yes on 64 and the Marijuana Policy Project, said there was nothing cynical in the decision to have Mr Azzariti as the face of the campaign or the first person through the doors of the dispensary.

In downtown Denver close to 600 supporters of Amendment 64 celebrated with an 'End of Prohibition Party'

Decadent: Errin Reaume, (center), says she'll be enjoying recreational smoke in her home to celebrate the legal selling of the drug in Colorado

Brady Candler, 25, lights up. Smoking marijuana in public remains illegal

Thousands celebrated as midnight passed and Colorado's Prohibition on Marijuana officially came to an end

A bartender serves drinks during a Prohibition-era themed New Year's Eve party

It was not, he said, any attempt to ennoble the drug at a moment when Colorado is under such scrutiny. Nor, he said, was it a conscious effort to in some way deflect critics' concerns that many of the new customers will be kids simply wanting to get baked.

He said: ‘It really was just a matter of highlighting him and pointing up the fact that there are going to be lots of people who benefit from this, not just people wanting to relax and get high but people who want to use it for therapeutic reasons that weren’t covered and protected under medicinal marijuana legislation.’
Customers of all ages and tastes were represented in the lines in front of Denver's dispensaries.
Twenty four year old Aaron Flores from Texas traveled to Denver with family but admitted he had extended his stay to make the most of Colorado's new marijuana laws.
He said: 'It's awesome. You don't see anything like this in Texas. In Texas it’s not even decriminalized.
'You can lose financial aid and your chance for a place in college if you get caught just in possession in Texas.
'I can’t see anything changing in Texas for, like, ten years.'
Mr Flores said he planned to buy edibles and spend the rest of the day on the couch, 'just chilling.'
Jen Rog, 34, also stood in line though she said, she didn't care if there wasn't 'a scrap of cannabis left' by the time she and her husband Ray and one-year-old son Everett made it through the doors at 3D Cannabis Centre.
At the opposite end of the using spectrum from Mr Flores, Mrs Rog moved from New York to Denver this summer – a move motivated entirely by the imminent enforcement of Amendment 64.
A marijuana activist for the past decade she said: 'It's hard to get progress in New York. When I had a kid it changed the way I saw things.

Face of change: For Sean Azzariti, 32, a former Marine and veteran of two tours of Iraq, today is the culmination of a fight which has been both deeply personal and highly public

Final preparations: Employees of 3D Cannabis Center package retail marijuana ahead of 'Green Wednesday'

'I just didn't want him growing up in an environment where it wasn't tolerated.
'I have a red card, I'm registered for medicinal marijuana so this doesn't change my situation but I was so emotional on the drive here and just waiting here in line I feel emotional.'
She explained: 'Prohibition has hurt society so much, it's caused violence and ripped family's apart and criminalized people.
'This is such an incredible day. I hope it's just the beginning.'
As far as Mr Tvert is concerned: ‘Making marijuana legal for adults is not an experiment.
‘Marijuana prohibition is the true experiment and the results have been abysmal.’

He added: ‘Colorado is going to prove that regulating marijuana works, and it won’t be long before more states follow our lead.’
Speaking shortly before the first legal sale Mr Tvert predicted that a series of states would follow Colorado's lead.
He said: ' We expect the first to be Alaska - local activists have gathered more signatures than they need for the ballot and we expect come August it will be the third state to legalize marijuana.'
Mr Tvert went onto reveal that initiatives in Oregon may come to fruition if not next year than in 2016.
He added that Colorado is supporting ballots in six further states: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Nevada.
More than half of all American states have marijuana legislature in process. The most likely to pass that legislature next are, according to Mr Tvert, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont.
According to Mr Tvert: 'Today there will be people around the country buying marijuana but only in Colorado will they be buying it places like this, legally, safely and not from the black market.'
But amid the celebration, the partying and the optimistic talk of change rolling out nation - even world - wide, City of Denver Council President Mary Beth Susman sounded a note of caution.

Get high responsibly: The authorities in Denver are keen to spell out the exact laws after the historic change

Ms Susman voted against Amendment 64 though she favours decriminalization of marijuana.
She said: ‘I hope that with this the drug will become something not too exotic and special in time.
There’s lots of reasons to come to Colorado, not just pot.

‘And if the bad seems to outweigh the good then we have the authority to stop the sale.’

Thirty-three cities and areas in Colorado have opted out of Amendment 64 and voted to ban the sale of recreational pot in their communities.

Ms Susman said: ‘We have the same right to make tougher laws or to stop sale if we feel we need to.'

But however measured Ms Susman may be as Amendnent 64 makes history of cannabis prohibition in Colorado, this morning her words were destined to be lost in a fug of revelry.

For marijuana's many advocates here, January 1st has been a long time coming and now that it has finally arrived it's a high point they are determined to enjoy.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

legendary martial arts fighter snapped his leg in front of shocked spectators (VIDEO)

One of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time suffered a horrific injury in front of millions of fans Saturday night after he broke his leg during a championship fight that was being broadcast live around the world. 

Anderson Silva, 38, snapped his left leg when his opponent Chris Weidman blocked his kick with his knee. 

Pictures show Silva's shin buckling as it smashes against Weidman's knee.

Although the injury happened too quickly to be seen by most naked eyes in Las Vegas, the sound of Silva's cracking shin could be heard at cageside. Thousands of fans cringed when the replay was shown on the arena's big screens. 

Horrific: This is the moment Chris Weidman, left, broke Anderson Silva's leg when he blocked Silva's kick with his knee. Experts fear the injury could end Silva's career

Unnatural: Silva's leg buckled at a horrible angle and broke after coming in contact with Weidman's knee

Agony: Silva falls to the canvas in pain after his leg broke in his fight with Weidman

A moment later, Silva collapsed to the mat.

Referee Herb Dean waved off the fight when Silva fell back, clutching his leg with both hands. Silva left the octagon strapped to a stretcher with a brace on his leg, screaming in pain. 

Experts fear the injury could be the end of Silva's career as a fighter. Many are already saying it is the end of an era in UFC fighting, where Silva held the middleweight title belt for six years - the longest reign in the history of the sport. 

UFC orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steven Sanders said Sunday that Silva had broken his tibia and fibula in the lower part of his left leg. 

He underwent emergency surgery in which Dr Sanders repairs the broken tibia and stabilized the fibula. 

Recovery could take more than six months. 

'Following Saturday evening's UFC 168 main event, former champion Anderson Silva was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital where he underwent surgery to repair a broken left leg. The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC's orthopedic surgeon, inserted an intramedullary rod into Anderson's left tibia,' UFC said in a statement. 

Silva's leg can be seen here, bent at an odd angle. He was carried off the mat in a stretcher, still screaming in pain 

'The broken fibula was stabilized and does not require a separate surgery. Anderson will remain in the hospital for a short while, but no additional surgery is scheduled at this time.

'Recovery time for such injuries may vary between three and six months. Anderson is deeply touched by the outpouring of support from his fans and the entire MMA community. There has been no immediate decision about his future, and he would kindly ask for privacy at this time as he deals with his injury and prepares to return home to recover.'

The Brazilian was bidding for revenge after losing his UFC middleweight title when he was knocked out by the undefeated American in July.

But after suffering a torrid first session, his leg broke as he aimed a kick at the champion, forcing a premature end to the much-hyped clash in Las Vegas.

Weidman was dignified in his celebration, kneeling beside his stricken opponent as he writhed on the canvas.

'I knew coming into the fight that what he could hurt me most with was the leg kicks,' Weidman said.

'We trained checking the kick a lot. The idea is to pull your leg and for their shin to land at the knee. That's exactly what I did, and I felt his leg go right away.'

He added: 'There's no real excitement in a fight finishing like that, because you never want to see anyone get hurt like that.'

Weidman paid tribute to his opponent, who he has beaten twice in a row now, saying 'He's still known as the greatest fighter of all time.'

Thousands of fan from his homeland - including retired football star Ronaldo - filled the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was also in the crowd.

Roy Jones Jnr, who had hoped to face Silva in a boxing match, had been in the former champion's dressing room before the fight.

Unlike before their first meeting, the boxers touched gloves before the opening round and, after a tentative start during which Silva kept his hands held high, Weidman landed a front kick before executing a takedown.

The challenger recovered quickly before knees were exchanged on the cage wall. But Weidman regained control, dropping Silva with a huge right hand before attempting to finish the job.

Silva fought off his repeated flurries but remained on his back at the halfway stage, taking an elbow and a succession of hard blows.

But by the end of the session, it was Weidman who was bleeding by the nose despite dominating the round.

What happened next will linger long in the memory.

Silva later told his corner he cracked his shin bone with his first kick before breaking it with his next attempt.

Weidman, who will fight Vitor Belfort in the second defence of his title next year, revealed he injured his knee during the fight.

Still champion: Weidman celebrates after retaining his middleweight title when Silva broke his leg

'It's knee on shin, so when he goes to kick, you put your knee on his shin,' he added. 'It has happened in sparring and guys take a minute off and walk around, and at least it stops them from kicking you.

'To break someone's leg, I've never done that before. I didn't want to see Anderson get hurt like that.'

Earlier, Ronda Rousey was taken past the first round for the first time in her career but still submitted Miesha Tate with her signature armbar in the third session. There were also impressive victories for Travis Browne against Josh Barnett, for Jim Miller against Fabricio Camoes and for Dustin Poirier over Diego Brandao.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Pregnant women pay to touch five-legged cow's extra hoof so they can give birth to a boy

Raj Pratap's three-year-old male calf called Raju has a fifth hoof which is believed to be lucky

A five-legged cow has been hailed a miracle because when pregnant women touch its fifth hoof they give birth to baby boys. 

Raj Pratap's three-year-old male calf, called Raju, has become famous in Raipur, India, since a woman with four daughters touched the animal's fifth hoof and begged for her next child to be a boy.

When she gave birth to a twin boys in February this year, word soon spread that the calf's fifth leg - a very rare condition which affects just one in every five million cows - was 'lucky'.

Since news got out about the fifth leg, Mr Pratap, a cattle herder, has been swamped by pregnant women who pay to touch the hoof - with 30 women so far stumping up around 500 rupees, around £5, for the privilege.

Amazingly, all 30 women have given birth to boys and Mr Pratap is so confident of his 'miracle calf' that he offers refunds if the baby born is a girl.

 

This week, on Monday (Dec 23) the cow celebrated its 33rd baby boy after a woman who touched its 'magical hoof' gave birth to triplets....all of them boys.

Mr Pratap said: "All births have been positive and have resulted in a son - and this week a woman gave birth to triplets, all of them boys.

'I don't know why this has happened to us but Raju has a gift and I want to share it with the whole world.

This week the cow celebrated its 33rd baby boy after a woman who touched its 'magical hoof'

'Some day I dream of taking Raju to Europe or America and making every couple there happy.'

In India boys are 'more valued' than girls as they have 'greater earning potential' to support the family.

The parents of a bride are still expected to provide the groom with a dowry of cash, jewellery and other luxury items before the wedding ceremony can go ahead - despite it being outlawed in India since 1961.

One woman, who gave birth to a boy in October this year but asked not to be named, said: 'It is a gift from god - touching Raju's fifth leg has blessed me with a boy.

'My whole family is so happy that I now have a beautiful son.'

Cows are considered sacred by Hindus who believe one of their most important gods Lord Krishna to have been a cattle herder. 

Across India they are allowed to roam the streets of towns and cities and it is forbidden to move them, even if they are obstructing traffic.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

71yr-old ex-convict caught raping 7-yr-old pupil in Ondo State, Nigeria

                                                              The rape suspect and the victim

The people of Akure,  Ondo State capital were shocked last week when, a 71-year- old night guard/hunter, Alhaji Ganiyu Kolawole lured a 7-year-old girl, Taye Juliana  with a biscuit into his ramshackle room and raped her in broad day light.

Sources said the suspect who is cooling his feet in the custody of the State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, had, within the space of two years after returning from jail for rape, raped no fewer than five children in the area.Sources said the suspect who is cooling his feet in the custody of the State Command of Nigeria 

Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, had, within the space of two years after returning from jail for rape, raped no fewer than five children in the area.

Parents of  his victims, mostly illiterates, reportedly kept it to themselves without reporting to security 

operatives not wanting to send him back to jail. Taye, a primary one pupil of St. PaulAnnexPrimary School, Oba-Ile, in Akure was defiled at the residence of the suspect at Mission Road, Ayetoro Street, Oba-Ile.

It was gathered that the suspect who lives alone has turned his  dilapidated house where he committed the ungodly act into a destroying  hurt for small girls.

A native of Benue state, the suspect threatened to deal with parents of his victims if they mention his sinful exploits to the police.  He was even said to have settled them with bush meat.

Many of his neighbours described him as a terror in the area stating that they relate with him in fear.

It was gathered that the unsuspecting girl who left home that ill-fated day without breakfast, was told by the mother to come during break for her food. Reports said when she was returning home, the suspect lured her into his house with a promise to give her biscuit and cold water.

Giving a graphic account of how the incident took place,the image maker of the NSCDC, Kayode Balogun stated that the suspect acted the script with another accomplice,now at large, by asking the girl what she wanted and promised to give her not only cold water but biscuits.  Balogun said that while the girl was still trying to think about what the Alhaji had promised her, the other accomplice reportedly pushed her inside the house while the Alhaji carried her and covered her mouth when she started shouting.

It was learnt that after the Alhaji was through with defiling the girl, he cleaned her up with a cloth as she was bleeding. “When Alhaji was interviewed, he said the girl approached him to buy her biscuit as she was hungry and he did. He denied raping her. During investigation, it was discovered that the suspect is a serial rapist who had been jailed before for raping another girl in the community.

“When officers of the corps went to the house of the accused (Oba-Ile) for investigation,inhabitants of the area testified that the man was fond of raping children, and had been jailed before for raping a particular girl in that area.  So, after the matter was reported to the agency, the  girl was taken to GeneralHospital where it was confirmed she had been raped.”

Crime Guard gathered that the girl whose father died few years ago lives with her mother in a one-room apartment in Oba-ile area of the state.

Narrating her own side of the ugly incident, mother of Taye, Mrs Mary Mike who is into laundry business said, “That day, I had no money  to feed my four children.

I told them to come back to the house during their break period when I would have made some Eba for them. I was sitting in front of the house waiting for my children to come back when one of my neighbours  from the market said she saw my daughter coming out from the house of the man.

“By the time I got to the man’s house, I did not find my girl. I then rushed to her school where I met her and her teacher who was asking her question. My daughter was crying and was pointing at her private part and by the time we checked her private part, she was bleeding. I asked her what happened and she said a man carried her inside his house and slept on top of her.

“I started crying and people said I should report it to the Civil Defense who would not compromise.  It was the officers of the Civil Defense that followed me to his house where he was arrested.”

Mrs Mike said that her husband who is a friend to the suspect died two years ago,adding that he was also a hunter who usually go hunting with the suspect when he was alive.  She further said she decided to report the matter because the suspect has been committing the crime and those concerned have, out of fear, failed to inform security operatives noting that this will not only check the hunter’s excesses but make him stop committing the heinous crime against little girls in the area.

Culled from VANGUARD

Doctors perform emergency C-section on 10-MONTH pregnant woman only to discover her womb was empty all along

Doctors performed a caesarean section on a 'heavily pregnant woman whose womb was empty (stock picture)

Doctors performed an emergency C-section on a 'heavily pregnant' woman who was 'in labor'- only to find that her womb was empty, it was reported on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old woman had been accompanied by midwives from Cabo Frio, south-east Brazil, since the beginning of her pregnancy and arrived at the hospital claiming sharp pains.

She reportedly arrived at the town's women's hospital with a large belly and proof of her pre-natal treatment, which showed she was 41 weeks' pregnant.

When doctors were unable to detect the baby's heartbeat, they rushed her to into the operating room for a caesarean, according to the hospital's director, Rosalice Almeida.

She told Brazil's Globo G1 website: ‘She'd done her whole pre-natal and was already overdue.

 

‘Because the doctors couldn't pick up the heartbeat, they decided there wasn't time to request an ultrasound.

‘They did the surgery then had the great shock of not finding any baby at all.’

The operation took place at this hospital in south-east Brazil

The woman's husband, 23, told doctor's this was the second 'pregnancy' his wife had in a year.

Last year she claimed she got pregnant only to go the hospital and lose the child, but she never showed him a death certificate.

The case was registered as a phantom, or false pregnancy. 

Last December, in a different case, Layane Santos said she received pre-natal treatment during her entire pregnancy

The rare condition occurs when a non-pregnant woman convinces herself she is pregnant, often even exhibiting all the classic symptoms of pregnancy.

She was released from the hospital and referred to psychiatric care.

This follows a case in December last year when another Brazilian woman accused a hospital of stealing her baby from her womb after she woke up for a C-section to be told her pregnancy had been ‘psychological’.

Layane Santos, 19, claimed she was in her 38th week of pregnancy when she was rushed to a maternity hospital in Sao Paulo, south east Brazil, with abdominal pain and blood loss.

She had received pre-natal treatment during her entire pregnancy, with nurses recording the growing size of her baby and even measuring the foetal heart beats.

According to Ultimo Segundo, Ms Santos, a kitchen assistant, even had an ultra-sound scans in the final week of her pregnancy, which showed she was carrying a baby girl who weighed 7lbs and measured 42cm.

She and her husband Lourival Alves, 28, had already named their daughter Sofia, and had moved to a larger house and had spent pounds £2,000 on clothes and furniture for their first child, according to Brazil's Tribunal Hoje newspaper.

DESPERATE WOMEN WILLING TO DEFY LOGIC AND MEDICAL EXPERTS

Women suffering from phantom pregnancy will experience symptoms including nausea and weight gain

The first thing a woman with a phantom pregnancy will probably do is visit her GP or antenatal clinic complaining of all the usual symptoms and minor discomforts of early pregnancy such as absence of periods; breast enlargement; nausea and vomiting; weight gain and abdominal distension. 

If a urine sample is tested at this stage it will rule out a pregnancy, but a woman suffering from a true pseudocyesis will continue to insist that she is pregnant, regardless of medical opinion.

While the incidence of true pseudocyesis is extremely rare, the most 'at risk' group of women are those in their late thirties or early forties who desperately want a child and have been trying to conceive for many years. 

These women will normally be quite stable emotionally but will have a tendency to become very emotional over the whole question of pregnancy.

Pseudocyesis can also occur in some women who have lost a pregnancy or a baby and, while it is probably an emotional reaction to their trauma, there is also evidence to suggest that a temporary hormonal imbalance may be a contributory factor.

The treatment of a woman who is suffering from a true pseudocyesis requires very careful and sympathetic consideration, often with the help of a supportive partner or family network.

Despite the existence of positive medical proof that she is not pregnant, the woman suffering from a phantom pregnancy may remain convinced of her pregnancy for some time, which is one of the reasons why follow-up counselling may have to be arranged for her.

Very severe emotional disturbance may follow in a woman who finally comes to the realisation that she has been suffering from a false pregnancy. 

Nobody has yet come up with an explanation as to why a very small percentage of women actually exhibit all the classic symptoms of pregnancy such as weight gain, breast enlargement and abdominal distension when they are not pregnant at all. 

The fact that a woman actually looks pregnant makes the job of her GP even more difficult when he has to try to explain to her that all her urine samples are testing negative for pregnancy.

Phantom pregnancy or pseudocyesis cannot just be dealt with from a medical or gynaecological perspective without taking due consideration of the severe underlying emotional distress and turmoil which has led to the diagnosis of such a condition in the first place.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Male transgender prisoner is moved from women's jail 'because he kept having sex with female inmates' while waiting for sex-change op

Pre-op: Paris Green, who was born Peter Laing, has been moved from Scotland's only women's prison after he allegedly had sex with fellow inmates

A pre-op transsexual locked up in a women's jail for a savage torture-killing has been moved to a different prison after claims he was having sex with female inmates.

Murderer Paris Green, 22, who was previously known as Peter Laing, was allowed to serve his 18-year sentence in Cornton Vale women’s prison, in Stirling, because he says he is transgendered.

But today it emerged he has been moved amid suspicions that he was involved in casual-sex relationships with other convicts there. 

Green was sent to the prison only five weeks ago after he was found guilty, alongside Kevin McDonagh, 23, and Dean Smith, 20, of the murder of Robert Shankland in March this year.

The trio had invited Mr Shankland, 45, to a party in Green's flat in the central Scotland town of Glenrothes. There he was tied up, beaten and tortured for hours before finally being murdered.

Despite a campaign by Mr Shankland's parents, Mary and Ian Bell, Green was told he could serve his sentence in a women's prison prior to taxpayer-funded gender realignment surgery.

Now after his dalliances with fellow convicts at Cornton Vale, he is to be kept in the women's section of Edinburgh's Saughton jail.

Mrs Bell, 69, said yesterday: 'It doesn't make any difference where he is to me. He's in the women's bit of the jail and he's still a man.

'There's no point in campaigning because it's not going to get us anywhere. There's not much we can do now.'

 

Mrs Bell added she was not prejudiced against transgender individuals.

Mr Shankland's Stepfather 79-year-old Mr Bell, said: 'The law's a farce. It doesn't give society any protection.'

Dangerous liaisons: Murderer Paris Green, 22, who was previously known as Peter Laing, was allowed to serve his 18-year sentence in Cornton Vale women's prison, in Stirling, because he says he is transgendered

Sources at Cornton Row told the Daily Record that prison warders had warned Green and his partners there that their behaviour was not acceptable.

One Scottish Prisons Service source said: 'It was claimed that there were ­inappropriate incidents with women in ­Cornton Vale. This was put to the prisoner and then there was a transfer agreed.'

A second source told the Record: 'He was warned several times about his behaviour.'

Utterly depraved': Kevin McDonagh, 23, left, and Dean Smith, 20, right, helped lure Mr Shankland to Green's flat in the central Scotland town of Glenrothes where, together with Green, they tortured him to death

Over a bag of chips: During the attack, Mr Shankland, pictured here, was tied up with bedding, battered, kicked and attacked with a rolling pin. He died as a result of either suffocation or blunt force injuries

The behaviour of the three murderers who subjected Mr Shankland to hours of torture in Green's flat was described by a judge as 'utterly depraved'.

During the attack, Mr Shankland was tied up with bedding, battered, kicked and attacked with a rolling pin. He died as a result of either suffocation or blunt force injuries.

Green's friend Maggie Shields told the trial at the High Court in Glasgow that she visited the flat and learned about the death - before recalling how the trio boasted about the beating.

Miss Shields went on to say the violence had erupted after a row about buying a bag of chips.

As he lay dying, the killers ate ham sandwiches paid for with the proceeds of selling their victim's mobile phone.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Horror in Myjava as Slovakian waterway turns to 'blood' overnight like River Nile did during the time of Moses

Rumours were rife in a Slovakian town this week when a river running through turned bright red.
The river in Myjava, a small municipality on the border to the Czech Republic, had changed colour over night and turned into 'blood'.

Riverrun: Residents in the small town of Myjava in Slovakia awoke to a river red as blood

Police have been called in to investigate the matter, but it is believed to be a faulty filtering system from a slaughterhouse upstream.

Roman Podbrezova, 65, had gone for a morning walk when he saw the drastic change to the river which runs through the centre of the town.
‘I just could not believe my eyes,’ he said. ‘The river was dark red. It was like something from a horror film. Blood cascading through the centre of town.’

Another local said: ‘This is really creepy. Yesterday evening I walked past here and it was its normal colour.
‘Now it looks like someone slaughtered 1,000 virgins or something. I'm not superstitious, and we've never had any serial killers or anything like that here, but this isn't normal.

'Slaughter of 1,00 virgins': Locals feared the colour change was an result of mass murder or 'evil', although the most likely explanation is that of a broken filtration system at a nearby slaughterhouse

Police spokesman Elena Antalova said: ‘We are checking the source of the blood and what caused it.
‘At the moment we are thinking it could have come from dead fish or maybe someone washed a barrel containing blood in the river.
‘It seems it came from the drains directly above the museum,’ she said.
The waste from a slaughterhouse higher up the River Myjava is usually pumped into a retaining pool where it is filtered before being released into the river.

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Unbelievable!! Goat confronts rapist in court after she was raped in the bush (VIDEO)

A man who was jailed for 10 years for having sex with a female goat came face-to-face with his victim in a Kenyan court. 
The goat watched quietly from the corner of the court room in Malindi while Katana Kitsao Gona, 28, was jailed for bestiality. 
According to Jimmy Kimaru, chief prosecutor, Gona was caught sexually assaulting the goat in a bush
in Dabaso, Kilifi county, on November 25. 

 Victim: A goat came face-to-face with her sex attacker in court - 28-year-old Katana Kitsao Gona

The goat had been tied to graze by its owner, Sarah Kadenge, for the afternoon. 
But when a passer-by went to relieve himself in the bush he was shocked to discover Gona
having sex with the animal.

 

The man reported what he had seen to the goat's owner who cornered Gona and took him to Watamu Police Station. 
Following a medical examination carried out by Munga Gambo, a veterinary officer from Malindi, it was confirmed that the goat had been sexually abused. 

Caught: Katana Kitsao Gona, 28, was jailed for bestiality after having sex with a goat

Justice: The goat was presented in court as its sex attacker was jailed for bestiality 

Gona, who pleaded guilty, told the court his wife is disabled and depends on him daily.
Despite this, the judge jailed him for a record 10 years for 'defiling' the animal.
Culled from DAILY MAIL

Incredible!! Nigerian fisherman survived for 60 hours in an air pocket after his boat capsized in Atlantic ocean ( VIDEO)

A video has captured the astonishing moment a fisherman was rescued after three days trapped 30 metres underwater in the Atlantic ocean.
Harrison Okene, a 29-year-old ship's cook, was the only known survivor from the boat of 12 men, which capsized on May 26, 20 miles off the coast of Nigeria.
The footage shows the moment Mr Okene, who was left fighting to breathe inside a four-foot high bubble of air, reaches out a hand and touches one of the team of divers, letting them know he is still alive.
'He's alive! He's alive!' a member of the dive team can be heard saying in the incredible footage
It had been feared - and assumed - that all aboard had perished.

Saving grace: Mr Okene had been trapped in the air pocket for more than 60 hours when divers found him

 The diver's camera captured Mr Okene reaching out his hand to one of the team of divers, letting them know he is still alive

Lucky skipper: Mr Okene, the ship's cook, was the only survivor from the crew of 12

Of the 11 others aboard the tugboat when it sank in rough seas 10 have been found dead.
One remains missing, but search operations have since been called off.
Mr Okene squeezed into a compartment after the boat sank and settled upside-down.
Before closing the cabin door to stop the water coming in, he had seen three dead colleagues in the water.
Quick-thinking Mr Okene took two mattresses from the beds and sat on top of them, hoping to stay afloat. He was brought to the surface after 62 hours. 
'I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it's the end,' Mr Okene told Reuters at the time of his rescue. 
Although he could not see anything he said: 'I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them. The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound.'
After days soaking in the salt water parts of his skin began peeling away and he was gasping for water as he could not drink the seawater that he was trapped in.
South African divers came down to search for any survivors of the Jacson 4 on May 28 and they were stunned to find Mr Okene still alive.

Quick-thinking: Ship's cook Harrison Okene, 29, managed to survive for over two days underwater by floating on a mattress in an air bubble

Miraculous: Mr Okene was the only survivor from the Jascon-4 tugboat that capsized and sunk in the Gulf of Guinea in heavy seas

Paul McDonald, a member of the rescue crew, said at the time: 'All on board could not believe how cool he was when being rescued.
'The divers put a diving helmet and harness onto him. It was amazing to be part of this rescue.'
Mr Okene said: 'I hammered the side of the vessel hoping someone would hear me'.
He spent another 60 hours in a decompression chamber where his body pressure was returned to normal.
If he had been exposed immediately to the outside air he would have died.
Kurt Glaubitz, a Chevron spokesman, said the boat overturned while towing a Chevron oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea.
Culled from DAILY MAIL

French hostage escapes from terrorists' den after 11 months in captivity

The Nigerian police on Sunday in Kaduna, handed over a 63-year-old French man, Francis Collomp, who escaped from terrorists’ den to officials of the French embassy. in Kaduna.

Collomp’s abductors were suspected to be members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Bilads-Sudan.

He was seized in Rimi town of Katsina State 11 months ago.

The foreigner, an engineer with a French renewable energy firm, Vergnet company of France, was on a routine official assignment when he was kidnapped.

Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Olufemi Adenaike, who presented Collomp to journalists at the police headquarters on Sunday said, “The man escaped from the kidnappers yesterday (Saturday) through the bush at Dan Magaji village in Zaria, Kaduna State.  He saw an Okada man (commercial motorcyclists) and told him to take him to the nearest police station. This is how far I can go for security reasons.”

The CP, who handed him over to French embassy officials  who came to  the command headquarters in Kaduna, said  arrangements had been concluded to fly the man  back to France on Monday (today).

He further explained that the kidnappers took the French national  to Kano where he spent nine months before taking him back to Zaria where he spent another two months  before his escape yesterday.

Culled from PUNCH.

Cigarette-smoking toddler now addicted to food after months of special rehabilitation treatment

Toddler Aldi Rizal stunned the world when it was revealed he had a 40-a-day smoking habit at just two years old

At the age of two he shocked the world after being pictured chain-smoking cigarettes.
Two years on he's now a normal, cheeky five-year-old - and, while he's managed to kick the habit, he now has another addiction. Food.
Aldi Rizal became an international media sensation when he was discovered in a poor village in Sumatra, Indonesia, puffing on a cigarette while riding his tricycle.

Destructive: The youngster was discovered in a poor village in Sumatra, Indonesia, puffing on a cigarette while riding his tricycle

Now Aldi has picked up a new addiction - to food. His huge appetite has seen him gorge on junk food and fatty snacks

The outcry led to the Indonesian government launching a campaign to tackle the problem of children smoking and organising special rehabilitation treatment to help Aldi quit.
Aldi was taken for play therapy sessions in the capital Jakarta for two weeks to take his mind off his 40-a-day habit and learn to be a normal toddler for the first time.
A new documentary series revisits the family two years on to find out how Aldi is getting on and reveals he has managed to stay off the cigarettes, but is still dangerously unhealthy.

 

During his rehabilitation treatment, Aldi saw psychiatrists who encouraged his mother to keep him busy with playing and taught her about the dangers of smoking.
One of them - Dr Kak Seto - still sees Aldi and his family at regular intervals to ensure he is not falling back into old habits.
His mother Diane Rizal, 28, said: 'There are many people still offering Aldi cigarettes, but Aldi no. He says "I love Kak Seto. He would be sad if I started smoking again and made myself ill." 

Aldi's addiction to fatty foods sees him drinking three cans of condensed milk a day (he is pictured centre)

'At first when we were weaning Aldi off the cigarettes he would have terrible tantrums and I would call Dr Seto for help.
'But now he doesn't want them.'
However, Mrs Rizal is now worried about her son's weight, as he developed food cravings while quitting smoking, and now has a big appetite.
Mrs Rizal said the strong-willed little boy now demands food in the same way he used to beg for cigarettes, and the family struggles not to give in to his tantrums.
Mrs Rizal said: 'When Aldi first quit smoking he would demand a lot of toys.

'He would bang his head on the wall if he couldn't get what he wanted. That's why I get him cigarettes in the first place - because of his temper and his crying.
'Now I don't give him cigarettes, but he eats a lot. With so many people living in the house it's hard to stop him from getting food.'
Aldi also helps his mother and father Mohamed out on their market stall, where his bright bubbly character and cheekiness wins him lots of attention.
'I feel happy when people want to speak to him because the know him,' admitted Mrs Rizal. 

Aldi, with his mother, Diane, 28, and father Mohamed

'But I feel annoyed when they refer to him as 'the smoking kid'. It makes me feel like they are accusing me of being a bad parent.'
Mr and Mrs Rizal decided to take Aldi to a nutritionist for medical checks and now they've been given advice on how to put him on a healthier diet so he can start to lose some weight.
'Aldi is very overweight, his weight doesn't match his age,' said nutritionist Fransisca Dewi. 'His ideal weight is 17kg to 19kg. He's 24kg already.
'I think it is difficult for them. The mother says Aldi is a spoilt kid. If Diana wants to forbid him eating, it will be hard.
'She will need the cooperation from the entire household. One obvious thing is they let him have too much condensed milk. He drinks three cans a day and eats too many carbohydrates.'
Paediatric specialist Dr William Nawawi is also concerned that smoking at an early age has made Aldi more likely to suffer weight issues.
He explained: 'Nicotine can increase the endocrine hormone in the body. This condition can cause resistance to insulin.
'The blood will not be able to break glucose from food. This will make Aldi become bigger and bigger.'
Now, Aldi is back at home in his fishing village and is on a strict diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and smaller portions.
Mrs Rizal must also persuade Aldi's siblings and the rest of the family not to give in and provide him with junk food when she is not around.
Doctors hope that if Aldi can lose around half a stone to a stone, his weight will eventually even out as he starts to grow taller.
It is thought one-third of children in Indonesia try smoking before the age of ten. The Government has launched efforts to tackle the problem.
Culled from DAILY MAIL

Al Qaeda terrorists who paraded a man's head on a stick after decapitating him beg for 'understanding and forgiveness' after finding out they killed a Syria rebel

Error: Mohammed Fares, left, who was mistakenly decapitated by Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants

Militants linked to al-Qaeda have asked for forgiveness after they severed the head of the wrong man and displayed it in front of a crowd.
In a sickening video posted on YouTube, soldiers from the Syrian-based group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) were seen holding up the decapitated head of a soldier they believed was a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad.
But, after the footage was made public, the victim was recognised by an extremist as a fellow rebel fighter who had been wounded during a battle.

After an investigation the soldier was identified as Mohammed Fares, a commander of Ahrar al-Sham, a group who fight alongside the ISIS.
The militant group tried to explain their error by referring to a story in which the prophet Mohammed said Allah would forgive a man who killed a believer by mistake.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said ISIS fighters misunderstood comments Mr Fares made about the founding fathers of Shia Islam, Imams Ali and Hussein, according to The Daily Telegraph.
It is thought Mr Fares was injured while fighting pro-Assad forces for the control of military site Base 80 near Aleppo, before he was mistakenly executed.

Sickening: Soldiers then held the severed head up in front of a crowd in Aleppo

An ISIS spokesman, Oma al-Qahtani, confirmed Mr fares had been injured in fighting and had been captured by soldiers who believed he was fighting against them.
He has now said an investigation into the death would be carried out by the appropriate authorities.
The huge mistake has highlighted chaos within the rebel ranks in Syria, which Assad has taken advantage of in recent weeks during a push by his forces south-east of Aleppo. 

Violence: Free Syrian Army fighters carry a fellow fighter who was wounded during clashes near Base 80. Victim Mohammed Fares was injured during the same battle

Offensive: The advance into Base 80, a large military position which rebels have held since February, is part of a surge by Assad's forces who are exploiting weaknesses in the opposition

Loss: Soldiers carry the body of a fellow rebel who was killed near Aleppo International airport after clashing with Assad's forces

Culled from DAILY MAIL

Ohio governor delays execution of condemned killer who wants to donate organs

Ronald Phillips

Ohio's governor on Wednesday delayed a condemned child killer's execution to study the feasibility of allowing the man to donate his organs to ailing relatives.
Republican Gov. John Kasich rescheduled 40-year-old Ronald Phillips' lethal injection to July 2.
Phillips was sentenced to die for raping and killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993, and was scheduled for execution Thursday.
But Kasich said that while Phillips' crime was heinous, his willingness to donate organs and tissue could save another life and the state "should allow that to happen."
Phillips had been moved to Ohio's death house Wednesday, but a prisons spokeswoman said Phillips will be returned to death row to await the assessment's findings.
With his legal options effectively exhausted, Phillips made what prison officials called an unprecedented request Monday, to donate a kidney and his heart to his ailing mother and sister. Phillips' mother has kidney disease and his sister has a heart condition, his attorneys said.
Phillips indicated the request was not a delay tactic, but an attempt to make a final gesture for good.
State officials denied the request on Tuesday, saying a host of logistical and security issues made it unworkable. A spokeswoman said the department moved swiftly to evaluate the request but determined it was not equipped to accommodate pre- or post-execution organ donations. An earlier kidney donation may have been possible under prison medical policy, but Phillips never requested one, they said.
The state left it up to Phillips' family whether the organs will be harvested after his body is turned over to them Thursday. It wasn't clear whether the organs would still be viable at that point.
Culled from HUFF POST