What's in the News

Japanese!!  And we thought Chinese were silly!

Japanese fooled in poodle scam
April 26, 2007 - 8:59PM

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.

"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.

"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.

"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."

Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.

Who said Chinese and Japanese are so different? This story proves that the two cultures are not that dissimiliar.

Maybe I should try to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge (for cash or Japanese Hentai porn)

Senor

How in the name of Fenris, Grimnir and Hel do you mistake a sheep for a poodle?

How in the name of Fenris, Grimnir and Hel do you mistake a sheep for a poodle?

Well, yer gotta be Japanese, for starters!

So, I guess one might say the poor Japanese people had the wool pulled over their eyes? They probably looked somewhat sheepish when they found out.

lambs to the slaughter, yer might say!

OK, guys.  Time to stop with the horrible puns now.  Ewe've Ram-med home the point sufficiently.  Please go on the lam(b) immediately. 

Better poodles than sacrificial lamb.

Other than not eating dog food and not barking, aren't there a few other problems to keeping sheep as house pets?  Did they just tell them that these poodles are too dumb to housebreak? 

Yes...they obviously did not think of the RAMifications.

How to tell if your pet poodle is really a lamb

It has hooves instead of nails
It eats grass and houseplants instead of meat and dogfood
It bleats instead of barking
It's too mellow and stupid to housetrain instead of being too nervous and hyperactive
It has enough meat on it for more than one sandwich 

Those tricked should severely LAMBast the people who sold them the "poodles". It's a bleating outrage (a pun and a homophone, dear me...)

What the hell is going on around this country? First 14 stupid lawyers sue CNN and Cafferty for 1400RMB in Beijing (cheap lawyers). Now their suing for $1.3 billion in New York.

I come from the most litigious state in America. This is ridiculous. I'm waiting for the counter-suits.

Also, if this is successful, can we start suing the Chinese for rude remarks toward us foreigners? I'd like to sue that jackass who called my wife a traitor for marrying a foreigner.

We could sue the China Daily for the amount of outright racism against westerners it allows on its boards, the only remotely comparable hate I have ever seen on a western website is on the likes of stormfront.

Why first-borns have higher IQs

By Laura Mappas, April 21, 2008.

According to new research your older brother or sister really is smarter than you.

The new Dutch study shows that birth order affects intelligence, making the first-born the smartest, while a long list of other studies link personality, weight gain and even premature death to where you're positioned in the family lineage.

Here are some of the theories linked to birth order:

Intelligence
A number of studies have been conducted that suggest IQ scores decline according to birth order. Why this is the case still isn't clear, but a popular theory is that the extra one-on-one time, attention and patience parents give their first-borns, compared to children arriving later, gives them a intellectual head start.

Personality
A study from the University of California suggests first-borns are the achievers, more dominant, religious, conscientious and neurotic. They also earn more, are more responsible, anxious and organised, and they tend to stick to the rules.

Middle-borns on the other hand are rebellious, impulsive and open to new experiences. They perform more poorly academically and often procrastinate, but they are also the peacemakers.

And the lucky last-borns are the family favourite — they're often the joker, are warm, sociable, extrovert and creative. They are also the most likely to question authority.

Mortality
Later-borns are more likely to die prematurely. One possible explanation is that later-borns are also the bigger risk takers and that their adventurousness may at times put them in harm's way.

Eczema and asthma
Research shows that later-borns have a reduced risk of suffering from common childhood illnesses like eczema and asthma. One theory is that younger children are exposed to a wider range of infections by their older siblings and therefore have strengthened immune systems.

Sexual partners
Later-borns often have more sexual partners than first-borns. According to researchers, this finding suggests first-borns are more interested in finding a long-term mate, which is a reflection of the fact that they want to uphold the values of their parents, while the later-borns are more rebellious.

Weight
Later-borns are less likely to be overweight. It's not clear why this is, but one theory is that over-protection and over-feeding of the first-born may lead to obesity.


So now i know why i am super smart lol....

now I know why I'm neurotic and anal.

Bugalugs, anything about half brothers or sisters in relation to this study? It appears that the children have to be raised in the same household.