A souvenir shop in the city of Siena, Italy, sold toys and decorative items assembled with real bullets that could be used by anyone with basic knowledge of guns.

The 25,000 AK-47 bullets were discovered during a control operation by the Siena Financial Guard. Most of them were used to assemble children’s toys like tanks, guns and attack planes, which were sold for €10 each. Further investigation revealed the Chinese owner of the shop got his lethal merchandise from a warehouse in Florence, which was also owned by a Chinese citizen. It’s suspected the raw material for the so-called toys was shipped over from mainland China, where it was probably obtained at no cost at all, from military deposits.

Upon inspecting this hidden arsenal, Italian authorities discovered it was live ammunition that could easily have been used by practically anyone familiar with guns. Even more disturbing is that the Kalshnikov cartridges had steel bullets, which made them a lot more dangerous than the lead ones used by Italian armed forces. Just think what could have happened if a child accidentally dropped or slammed one of these bullet toys on a hard surface.

Apart from toys assembled from live ammo, the shop also sold real Ak-47 rifles, Chinese military caps, and even bullet-pierced metal helmets.

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Living on a prayer gets a whole new meaning when 16 vicars jump on all kinds of thrill-rides and compete for the title of “Extreme Vicar“.

A roller-coaster is probably one of the last place you’d expect to see a robe wearing vicar, but 16 of them actually spent last weekend braving a number of grueling rides and Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, during an audition for a special religious service entitled “Extreme Easter”. Some of them asked the Lord to give them courage by clasping their hands,  raising them towards the Heavens and even reading from the Bible during the rides.

Extreme Easter will address the problem of dwindling church goers in Britain, by offering people the chance to worship at two of the most popular attractions in the UK. Sounds a little odd, but you know what they say, the Lord works in mysterious ways…

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Ayapaneco is a language that has been spoken in Mexico for hundreds of years, but it’s now in danger of becoming extinct as the last two speakers refuse to to talk to each other.

After surviving the Spanish invasion, numerous natural disasters and famine, the old language of Ayapaneco could soon become only a memory as the last two remaining speakers grow old, and seeing there aren’t any young Mexicans eager to learn a dying tongue. 75-year-old Manuel Segovia and 69-year-old Isidro Velazquez live only 500 meters apart in the village of Ayapa, but the don’t get a long very well. Some of the locals say it’s because of an old feud, but most of them think it’s just because they don’t have very much in common. Velazquez is a little irritable, while Segovia is more stoic and doesn’t get out of the house much.

Manuel Segovia, who claims he has no animosity towards his neighbor, used to speak in Ayapaneco with his late brother, who passed away about 10 years ago, and now uses it with his wife and son, who can understand him but can only speak a few words themselves. Together with the National Indigenous Language Institute, he has tried to hold classes for young people willing to learn Ayapaneco. He even bought notebooks and pencils himself, but even though the classes started out full, pupils would just stop coming.

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Award-winning cake designer Michelle Wibowo has created a giant Corgi-shaped cake in celebration of the upcoming royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

120 eggs, 20 kg of dry dog food (liver, chicken and beef), 30 kg of wholemeal flour, 25 cloves of garlic and fish oil were used to create a 68-kg-heavy cake shaped like a Corgi, which was recently acknowledged by Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest dog-friendly cake. Michelle Wibowo spent 111 hours, over a period of three weeks, working on the canine-shaped creation, and said the intricate details of the Corgi’s fur took the longest to do, 16 consecutive hours to be exact.

The nearly six-foot-long, 4-foot-high and three-foot-wide was unveiled on April 15, in London, close to Tower Bridge, where commuters stopped and stared at the largest Corgi they had ever seen. Three real representatives of the breed got to sample the delicious artwork before pieces were handed out to other canines on the premises, who were more than happy to act cannibalistic for once.

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Crazy English is a non-traditional Chinese method of learning English, which encourages students to practice by shouting English words at organized rallies and even on top of buildings.

According to Li Yang, the creator of this unusual learning program, Crazy English can best be described with the quote “To shout out loud, you learn”. He claims the traditional way of learning English in China is ineffective, and that in order to overcome their shyness and master the language, people have to shout out the words in public. It’s no secret that his revolutionary technique has long been criticized by many traditional Chinese people, because it goes against the ancient Oriental virtues of restraint modesty and moderation, but Li stood by his unusual methods despite all the opposition, and has so far lectured to tens of millions of people.

As a child, Li was very shy and showed no aptitudes for foreign languages. He was so shy that he was afraid to talk to people, and wouldn’t even go to the cinema by himself. Once he was electrocuted during physical therapy, but was to shy to even mention it to anyone. The years went by, but Li’s sistuation didn’t change very much. He got into the Engineering Mechanics Department of Lanzhou University, but failed all of his 13 exams, including English. Determined to make a change, the young student began preparing for the College English Test level 4, a standardized English test for college students.

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Sole Sánchez, a Spanish politician from Menorca, Spain, has recently been accused of sexism over a poster showing her boobs being groped from behind by a man.

Sánchez, a candidate of the Democratic Party, decided to use her best physical assets in the election for the town council of Ciutadella, so she and her colleagues opted for a poster in which she displays her breasts being groped from behind by a man, accompanied by the slogan “Dos Grandes Argumentos”, which translates as Two Big Arguments. They’re big alright, and I’m sure they would have won her the ballots of male voters, but the opposition had something to say about the matter.

The Esquerra de Menorca party denounced Sole Sánchez to the Institut de la Dona (Institute of Women) and claimed sexist use of her body. he defended herself by saying no one is more feminist than her, but everyone has the right to use their body as they see fit, and if all the opposition can do is just sit and watch, that is their problem. She was forced to withdraw her posters, including some in which she appeared in clad underwear with her hands and feet tied in a sadomasochistic way. Read More »

Gabi Jones, a 25-year old woman from Colorado, suffers from a rare medical condition that causes her to have orgasms every time she feasts on foods she likes.

Doctors have diagnosed Gabi’s strange case as persistent genital arousal disorder, which causes her to have orgasms without any sexual arousal. The young woman experienced her first food orgasm in her late teen years, while enjoying a frozen treat at an ice-cream parlour. Although it happened years ago, Gabi remembers she loved the smooth texture of the ice-cream on her tongue, when she felt a tingle in the genital area.” Then the pressure kept building until suddenly it swept through my body. I felt light-headed and flushed.” she says, adding that even though she was stunned by what had happened, she had no doubt it was an orgasm.

All of Gabi’s friends thought she was making things up, but every time she ate rich, creamy desserts, she felt that tingling between her legs. Some women would have felt a little worried, but this food-lover went out and got herself an ice-cream maker so she could enjoy knee-trembling orgasms any time she wanted. Gabi Jones has put on 209 pounds in the last five years and now weighs 490 pounds, but she is perfectly happy with her figure.

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Cooperative Style, a teenage rock band from Kazan, Russia, is the world’s first group to play a series of live concerts using only Apple iPads and iPhones as musical instruments.

Instead of using traditional instruments, the teenagers download apps for drums, keyboards and guitars and play their Apple gadgets on stage, through a downloaded mixing desk. They play covers and hits by rock legends like Nirvana, and say their audiences really like their original performances. Ruslan Halikov, the iPhone guitarist of Cooperative Style says it’s a lot harder to play a virtual guitar that it is a real one, not to mention rock and roll poses don’t look cool at all. Still, the public seems to like what they do.

While these guys may be the first to play Apple’s cash cows in live gigs, the iPhone and iPad have long been used to make music by amateur groups, and some of their performances are really very good. You can find loads of videos on YouTube.

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Lisa Dillon, a fashion student at the Bath Spa University has designed a delicious-looking pair of Jimmy Cheese shoes, made of cheese and bread.

The stinky footwear is part of an entire collection of cheese shoes and accessories commissioned by Pilgrims CHoice Cheddar and will be displayed during the 2011 Royal Bath & West Show, from 1 to 4 June at the Bath & West Showground at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The event plans to promote the region’s delicious cheese.

For this particular pair of cheese shoes, Lisa Dillon used West Country cheddar and bread. A block of cheddar was sculpted to make the heels, and a stale cheese sandwich was used as part of the platform sole. The front of the shoe was also moulded from cheddar and more cheese was melted to create the embellished design.

While I’m sure not many models would wear Jimmy Cheese, for fear of stinky feet, they look like a nice breakfast treat to me.

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Vanessa Stallbaum and Marco Stepniak love trains so much they decided to integrate two old mail cars in the design of their new house.

The German couple met on a train, and their first vacation was a four-day train ride from Berlin to Kazakhstan, so when Marco told his girlfriend he wanted to build their house around two train cars, she immediately agreed. 34-year-old Stepniak got the crazy idea 15 years ago, when he attended a youth club, close to his home town of Herten. It was set up in two old train cars and he remembers thinking someone could actually live in them.

Two new train cars like the two wanted to use for their new house, cost around €500,000 ($725,000), but they were lucky enough to find an online ad for two second-hand mail cars from Switzerland. Built between 1974 and 1975, the two railway antiques were in remarkably good condition, and they cost only €20,000 ($29,000). Unfortunately, transporting them from Switzerland to Germany actually cost more than the cars themselves €26,000 ($37,600), but  Vanessa and Marco spared no expense in order to realize their dream.

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Most doctors claim tobacco smoke causes serious diseases, but at the Griya Balur clinic, in Indonesia, it’s used as a cure for cancer, autism or emphysema.

In most western countries, a clinic that uses tobacco as a remedy would have been closed down immediately, but in the city of Jakarta, it’s one of the busiest treatment centers. People suffering from serious illnesses, some ironically caused by years of smoking, come to Gryia Balur searching for miraculous cures associated with tobacco smoke. Its founder, Dr Gretha Zahar told AFP that she has treated over 60,000 people from all over the world, in the last ten years.

The treatment for cancer or emphysema sufferers includes blowing smoke from “divine cigarettes” infused with “nanotechnology”, through a tube, to remove cancer-causing “free radicals”. Smoke is blown into the mouth, nose and ears of the patients.  Zahar claims that smoking actually manipulates the mercury found in tobacco cigarettes, curing deadly diseases and even slowing down the aging process. On her website, she says her theories don’t need to be published in medical journals or subjected to clinical tests, and that she doesn’t have the financial resources to “fight Western medical scientists”.

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Slovak artist David Havetta has created a collection of unique sculptures from thousands of nicotine gum pieces he chewed himself, while trying to give up smoking.

The 65-year-old artist says he started smoking as a young boy, but decided to quit about 25 years ago, so he searched for alternatives to keep him busy and away from cigarettes. At one point he discovered nicotine gum, but had no idea it will eventually become the main medium of his unique art. During work, David started sticking the chewed up pieces of gum on a pen holder he had in his office until he formed one big lump. When he pressed his finger on it he noticed it was good, malleable material, so he decided to try and sculpt it, out of boredom.

Havetta’s first chewing gum artwork was the head of a woman, and he liked working with the material so much that he spent the next few months creating a body for it, as well. It took a lot of time and a total of 500 pieces of nicotine gum, but for the artist it was all worth it. Just so you realize how long it takes to make one of his nicotine gum sculptures, you should know David has only created a few dozens of them in the last twenty years. They include a horse, flowers and even an old table clock modeled after The Toilet of Venus by Diego Velasquez. They are all made of hundreds, sometimes thousands of pieces of gum.

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Adele Edwards, a 31-year-old woman from Bradenton, Flrida, has been eating foam from insode sofa cushions every day for the last 21 years.

The woman remembers she first felt the bizarre craving when she was just 10 years old. Her cousin had decided to chew a piece of sofa for fun, and something inside her head just kept telling her she should try it too. She liked the way it felt in her mouth and although she started out by just chewing on the bits of foam and spitting them out, it wasn’t long before she began swallowing them. Three years ago, Adele woke up in the middle of the night, feeling an excruciating pain in her stomach, and after trying to get up she collapsed by the side of the bed. An ambulance rushed her to the emergency room, where doctors diagnosed her with a serious blockage in her lower intestines. After six days of trying to clear remove the mass, medical staff was getting ready for surgery, but fortunately for miss Edwards, the strong laxatives she was given were finally able to push the blockage through her body. Doctors were shocked when they saw it was the size of a grapefruit and made of pure sofa.

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La Jenny Naturist Course, on France’s west coastline, is the only golf course in the world where nudity is not only allowed but a must.

US media has recently put together a top 10 of the world’s coolest golf courses and La Jenny Naturist course gathered the most number of votes. While it does boast breathtaking ocean views and impeccable playing conditions, many wondered how a small 6-hole course ended up claiming the number one spot. But the judges’ decision sounds pretty sensible when you learn players who want to tee it up at La Jenny are required to do it in the nude.

People willing to show off their…golfing skills must however follow a strict set of rules. First, nudity is not optional, you must take off all your clothes in order to be allowed on the green. Secondly, shyness has no place here, so players must show respect for the body and not try to hide their nudity. On the other hand, showing off isn’t allowed either so golfers blessed with big, long…chest hair shouldn’t parade it around for everyone to see. Read More »

Wanda Matthews, a 20-year-old woman from Greater Manchester, England, has an unusual passion for everything pink, which made her transform her house into a regular shrine dedicated to the popular colour.

Wanda has always had a thing for pink, but over the last three years things have really gotten out of control. She has converted her three-bedroom home into a giant version of a girl’s Barbie house, where everything from the walls, to the furniture and even the carpet is pink. And since she wears pink every day, the wardrobe is full of pink clothes, shoes and accessories.

Most people who know Wanda, have gotten used to her pink fetish, but those who walk into her house for the first time, usually start out a conversation with “wow, that’s a lot of pink”. But the pink-addicted mother-of-two doesn’t mind, she knows some people might think her love of everything pink is a little strange, but she just likes to surround herself with the girly colour.

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