From the BBC came this offbeat item:

A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing.

He attacked a trend of giving children bizarre names, citing several examples.

Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed.

One mother wanted to name her child O.crnia using text language, but was later persuaded to use Oceania, he said.

‘Social handicap’

The ruling, in the city of New Plymouth on the North Island, was handed down in February but only made public now.

The name issue emerged during a custody hearing for the young girl - who had refused to tell her friends her name and went simply by “K”.

“The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name,” Judge Murfitt wrote.

“It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.”

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii’s name has now been changed and the custody case resolved, court officials said.

New Zealand does not allow names that would cause offence or that are longer than 100 characters, Registrar-General Brian Clarke said.

Officials often tried to talk parents out of particularly unusual choices that could embarrass their offspring, the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

The only place in the world where a multibillionaire is a pauper….

Values like these remind me of the Chinese Hell Bank Notes (shudder…)

Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note

In January, the bank introduced a Z$10m note

Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover the cost of a loaf of bread.

Some Zimbabweans are already calling for higher denominations in a country where the official annual inflation rate has exceeded 2,200,000%.

Independent economists believe the real rate is many times higher.

Zimbabwe’s meltdown has left at least 80% of the population in poverty, facing mass shortages of basic goods.

The country’s central bank has introduced several new notes already this year in response to the hyperinflation.

In January, a Z$10 million note was issued, followed by a Z$50 million. By June the denominations had reached tens of billions.

Daily bread

In a notice in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, central bank governor Gideon Gono said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would introduce the new notes - known as special agro-cheques - to help consumers.

“This new $100 billion special agro-cheque will go into circulation on Monday,” the notice said.

But Zimbabwe residents say the latest note is already worthless, and does not even cover their daily lunch.

“Nowadays, for my expenses a day, I need about Z$500 billion,” one resident said.

“So Z$100 billion can’t do anything because for me to go home I need Z$250 billion, so this [note] is worthless.”

Zimbabwe was once one of the richest countries in Africa.

But it has descended into economic chaos in recent years, with many international observers blaming the policies of President Robert Mugabe.

In this picture provided by the netizen, A Naughty Lion, the dome of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is wrongly printed in the bottom of the note. [Photo: leotown.blog.sohu.com]

A Chinese internet user has found a regrettable printing mistake in the recently-issued special 10-yuan banknotes emblazoned with Olympic patterns, sohu.com reports.

In his online blog, the netizen – who identifies himself as A Naughty Lion - said the dome of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest was separated from the main structure and wrongly printed in the bottom of the note.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, a landmark building in the south Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, is outlined on top of the banknotes with the Beijing Olympic logo printed on.

The notes, also featuring the newly-built National Stadium or the Bird’s Nest below the prayer hall, were sold out in no time after hitting counters on Tuesday.

The Chinese central bank issued 6 million Olympic notes to commemorate the upcoming Games. But the price of the notes shot up after the publication in a spate of questions over the less-than-expected quantity.

The notes have been priced at more than 5,000 yuan by some online retailers, more than 500 times its par value.

(CRI July 12, 2008)

From the NST came this offbeat item:

A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported.
“The only thing different about me is that I can’t breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers don’t,” the magazine quoted him as saying.

It said the girl is Beatie’s first child, and he had given birth naturally, not by Caesarean section.

Beatie, who sports a beard, was dubbed the ‘pregnant man’ after appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s television talkshow to discuss his pregnancy.

“I feel it’s not a male or female desire to have a child. It’s a human need. I’m a person and I have the right to have a biological child,” he told the chat show queen.

Beatie’s unusual situation first became public when he wrote an article in the leading US gay magazine The Advocate in March, entitled “Labor of Love.”

“To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual,” he wrote, explaining that his wife was unable to have a child after undergoing a hysterectomy.

So he chose to become pregnant by artificial insemination, he said.

“Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns,” Beatie wrote, adding the couple had experienced opposition from health care professionals, friends and family.

One doctor refused to treat the couple, after consulting an ethics board.

“How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible. Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am,” Beatie wrote.

Was at Dataran Merdeka this afternoon to witness the lighting of the Olympic Flame for the Malaysian Leg of the Olympic Torch Run.

The weather was kind and warm and the crowd was just overwhelming. People packed the field and I have to jostled my way through.

When the small band comprising of City Hall personnel played the National Anthem at the beginning of the ceremony, I felt a gigantic swell of pride and patriotism coursing through my veins. The last time I sang the National Anthem was decades ago when I was still in school.

I managed to make my way to the front and snapped some shots for posterity.

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