Saturday, July 12, 2008
Thai woman's laugh hits 110 decibels
Jittarat Wongsomboon of Thailand takes part in a Ripley's International Laughing Contest in the Thai resort town of Pattaya July 5, 2008. Jittarat, 55, won the contest on Saturday after laughing continuously for 12 minutes and 26 seconds and hit a peak volume of 110 decibels.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Tragic story of world's heaviest woman
After years of gorging on burgers, French fries and chocolate chip cookies Renee Williams tipped the scales at 64 stone. She was just 29 years old.
The mother of two, who weighed almost half a ton, was bedridden and knew her only chance of survival was to beg doctors for a gastric bypass to reduce the size of her stomach.
Before her death she let cameras into her home in Austin, Texas, to raise awareness of the dangers of obesity.
She said: "I'm not the average overweight person and never have been. My stomach has always been flat and my waist is really small compared to my weight.
"I have to be helped with everything. I can brush my own teeth and comb my own hair but a lot of people who are this weight cannot move around at all."
Renee battled with her weight since childhood but convinced herself her obesity was due to a genetic problem.
She said: "There are times when I have to force myself to eat because I know it's been a while since I've eaten something."
By the age of 12 she weighed 21 stone and was classified as morbidly obese and by the age of 29 was six times the size of a healthy woman of the same age.
Renee married at the age of 15 and weighed more than 30 stone by the time she gave birth to oldest daughter Mirina a year later.
Five years later her weight had soared to 35 stone, but it didn't stop there. At the age of 24, Renee's weight had ballooned so much she had to weigh herself on industrial strength scales at a local garage.
She said: "I was finally able to get the courage up and I asked my mum and sister to go with me.
"The numbers are on this little display not near the scale so I stepped on it but had my sister go and cover up the numbers with her hand because I refused to have anyone else know what I weighed."
In 2003 Renee was left bedridden after a drunk driver smashed into her car crushing her left leg. Unable to control her appetite, she got bigger and bigger and piled on another 28 stone. Renee didn't move from her bed for four years and developed weeping sores all over her skin.
"I can't turn over. My skin has become so fragile when I move my legs too much I feel it rip open," she said.
"You cannot miss it when somebody looks at you and immediately turns to their friend." Although the 840lb mum insisted romance was never been a problem she admitted showing her daughters affection was.
She said: "I want my kids to be able to hug and kiss me. They can't get their arms around me so I settle for a hug around my arm.
"I used to go to the school and see my older daughter in a play. I can't do any of that anymore. I have to see it on video.
"What's kept me going all these years is my daughters. I can't leave my daughters here for something that can be corrected.
"I used to be scared of not knowing what was going to happen to my daughters. I'm afraid of them not having their mum but I'm doing something now that I'm hoping will change that."
Renee's daughter Mirina, 13, said: "I don't know why my mum ate. They told me this has been going on since she was a child. She used to hide food in her closet.
"She ate everything. There was nothing that she didn't like. Her eating habits were getting worse and worse. She wouldn't stop until her stomach started hurting.
"She'd go to McDonalds and get eight burgers from the dollar menu and eat all those."
Renee's sister Lois Quinones added: "I don't know what was going on with her psychologically. She really did want to eat all the time because she didn't feel full.
"After her accident she was a different person. She was bedridden at 26 and I think she used food to comfort a lot of that isolation, loneliness and knowing that was her future."
When doctors gave Renee less than a year to live she knew a gastric bypass was her only chance at life but was turned down by 12 hospitals across America because of her size.
The determined mum chose to take matters into her own hands and launched an online appeal for help.
She said: "One day my heart is just going to stop beating. It's going to say I'm tired of pulling this body around. That's it."
Surgeons at Houston's Renaissance Hospital heard Renee's appeal and admitted her for the operation.
Renee was the largest person ever to have the surgery and had to be carried from her bed to an ambulance by eight men.
The operation was a success and within two weeks Renee had lost four stone. Tragically however Renee suffered a huge heart attack two weeks later and died on March 4, 2007.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Woman Prefers Company Of Dogs
A retiree living on a small pension left her family to devote her time to looking after abandoned pets, leading a financially strapped and difficult life. The Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily reported the story of the 58-year-old woman and her dogs.
Fang Jiangxue began to adopt stray animals five years ago when she rescued a skinny homeless cat from the streets of Wuhan in Central China where she lives. Once she asked a friend to look after the cat while she went on a trip, and the cat hardly ate anything during those nine days. This touched Fang's heart and made her determined to save more animal lives.
Fang now only rescues abandoned pet dogs. She has lived in nine different places with her adopted canines to avoid annoyed neighbors complaining about her. Fang's husband couldn't stand the hardship and chose to live separately from her. The woman loved the dogs so much that she even missed her mother's funeral in another city looking after these animals.
The woman rents 13 rooms in a rundown area to shelter the currently more than 120 dogs, one third of which were picked up by herself and the rest found in streets and brought in by others.
Despite reproaches and not being recognized for her charitable work, the hardest part for Fang is how to feed the 120 dogs enough food with her pension of merely 700 yuan a month as it costs her 4,000 yuan monthly to keep those animals.
So the woman collects leftovers from a restaurant to feed her fidos, and gets a free meal for herself every day. Occasionally some animal lovers donate food and money to her.
Even though the dogs are kept in the packed rented rooms because Fang cannot afford a better accommodation, she believes her place is much better for them than being abused on streets and starving to death.
However, the future for the woman and her dogs has become even more uncertain as the area where she lives is soon to be demolished to build new properties.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
100 Year Old Woman Glides into Record
One-hundred-year old Peggy McAlpine paraglides off a 2,500-foot (762-meter) mountain peak in Kyrenia, northern Cyprus Oct. 31, 2007. The self confessed "daredevil" leaped into record books on Wednesday by paragliding off the mountain peak. The jump was to mark McAlpine's 100th birthday, which she had celebrated the day before when she received a congratulatory telegram from the Queen.
Friday, October 26, 2007
'Oldest' Elephant A Grouchy Old Woman
We've all seen it – an elderly relative plonking themselves down in a chair, followed by the phrase: 'Ooh, my knees are playing up.'
Well, spare a thought for Vatsala, an elephant in her nineties, whose carers say is a real grumpy old woman.
She's got no teeth, dotes on youngsters but gets grouchy when her arthritis flares up.
'She is just like a pensioner,' says Sanjeev Gupta of the Panna Tiger Reserve in India, where Vatsala lives.
'She is kind with the calves but is the first to give them a ticking off when they over-step the mark.'
The gentle giant came to the Madhya Pradesh sanctuary in 1971. She had already lost her teeth by then – meaning she was at least 50.
Her carers want to prove she is older than an 86-year-old elephant which holds the world record. Vatsala lives out her retirement being pampered, eating chopped grass and bamboo.
But, like most grandmothers, she's got a sweet tooth and loves sugar cane juice most.
Mr Gupta added: 'Vatsala is given extra respect. She always gets her own way.'
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Chinese Woman Car Kissing Contest
A 27-year-old Chinese woman won the chance to buy a car for the equivalent of 6p by kissing it for more than 24 hours.
A shopping mall in Beijing invited people to kiss six Chevrolet cars with the one lasting the longest being given the chance to buy the car for just one yuan.
The cars, parked in the lobby of the Xizhimen Jiamao Shopping Centre, had plastic nipples attached to them, reports the Beijing News.
Participants had to kiss the nipples without touching the car. They were allowed a ten minute break every seven hours.
More than 400 people applied to take part in the game, but only 120 were selected, since each car had only 20 nipples.
After 24 hours, there were still 28 participants left so the mall introduced new rules requiring them to stand on one foot with their hand behind their back.
The final winner was Zhang Cunying who was so tired by the end of the ordeal that she could not stand up unaided.
She said: "I was learning dancing, so the body flexibility helped a lot. But the main winning factor was my faith."
Monday, October 01, 2007
Woman Gives Birth to own Grandchildren
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A 51-year-old surrogate mother for her daughter has given birth to her own twin grandchildren in northeastern Brazil, the delivery hospital said.
Claudia Michelle, left, looks at her twins Victor Gabriel and Antonio Bento, as her mother Rosinete Palmeira Serrao rests in a bed at the Santa Joana hospital in Recife, Brazil, Thursday, September 27, 2007.
Rosinete Palmeira Serrao, a government health worker, gave birth to twin boys by Caesarean section on Thursday at the Santa Joana Hospital in the city of Recife, the hospital said in a statement on its website.
Hospital officials were not available for comment on Sunday, but press reports said the grandmother and twins were discharged on Saturday in excellent health. The Caesarean section was performed about two weeks ahead of time because Serrao was having trouble sleeping, the statement said.
Serrao decided to serve as a surrogate mother after four years of failed attempts at pregnancy by her 27-year-old daughter, Claudia Michelle de Brito.
Brazilian law stipulates that only close relatives can serve as surrogate mothers. De Brito is an only child and none of her cousins volunteered, so Serrao agreed to receive four embryos from her daughter.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Age No Barrier for Man 24 and Woman 82
Reinaldo Waveqche (L), aged 24, kisses his new wife Adelfa Marta Volpes, aged 82, after they got married in the city of Santa Fe, 490 km (305 miles) north of Buenos Aires, September 28, 2007. The couple, who had been living together since he was 15, will spend their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A 24-YEAR-OLD man who married an 82-year-old woman in Argentina on Friday insists it is a union based on "great love" rather than money.
Reinaldo Waveqche, who has lived with his elderly lover, Adelfa Volpes, since the age of 15, said he preferred "mature women".
Ms Volpes, a retiree who is single and has no children, said their age difference had never mattered to either of them.
"I am very pleased," she said.
"Reinaldo is marvellous: very good, kind and educated. The age difference has never been important for us."
Surrounded by family, friends and media, the couple made their vows in a civil ceremony because the octogenarian said she would feel "ridiculous" in a church wedding.
Mr Waveqche said their relationship, which began after the death of his mother, was based on respect and love.
Ms Volpes, a friend of his late mother, had offered him a home when he was "only a boy", he said.
She said there had been an instant connection from the moment he moved in at 15, but it did not turn into romance until he turned 18. She confirmed that she instigated the romance.
Mr Waveqche, who is unemployed, and Ms Volpes will spend their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Russian Woman Gives Birth to 17lb Child
A Siberian woman who gave birth to her 12th child - doing more than her fair share to stem Russia's population decline - was stunned to find that little Nadia weighed in at a massive 17.1 lb (7.75kg).
Nadia was delivered by caesarean section in the local maternity hospital in the Altai region on September 17, joining eight sisters and three brothers, a local reporter said.
"We were all simply in shock," said Nadia's mother, Tatyana Barabanova, 43. "What did the father say? He couldn't say a thing - he just stood there blinking."
"I ate everything, we don't have the money for special foods so I just ate potatoes, noodles and tomatoes," she told the reporter, adding that all her previous babies had weighed more than 5 kg.
The Guinness World Records lists a 10.2 kg baby boy born in Italy in 1955, and a 10.8 kg baby boy who was born in the United States in 1879 but died 11 hours later.
The average weight for most healthy newborn babies is around 7.06 lb, according to World Health Organisation figures.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Top 10 Cities of the World With The Most Beautiful Women
A survey was taken around the world and the results were determined by: 1) Quality of women, 2) Amount of Women per men ratio and 3) Ease of talking to women.
This city has women more beautiful riding past on bicycles than other cities. Dutch girls are amazing in so many ways, they're trendy, as well as cool, they're fun, and they are exceptionally beautiful. They're the kind of girls that you just want to date for a very long time.
Israel has some of the best looking women in the world. Perhaps it is something about those green eyes that are just particularly attractive.
The exquisite taste of France but with the convenient location of Canada, Montreal is truly one of the world's best cities filled with beautiful women. So many universities and colleges and so many women with fashion sense and a desire to take care of their bodies. One of the best parts is that the women all speak French commonly known as the language of love.
Mother Russia is home to some of the world's finest women. It's not only the regularity of tall, blonde hair, blue eyed women that make it so great, it's also the amazing level of friendliness that you will find.
How much can be said about L.A. girls, well I think you will find upon arrival that so much can be said you'll find yourself at a lack of words. The women of L.A. are on a level unlike most any other kind you may have ever seen. All the beautiful people from across the United States flock to this mecca, this is where the cool people come to live, to work, & to try to "make it".
Bulgaria is a land of no drug laws, cheap vodka, mechanical bulls on the beach, waterslide and some of the most uninhibited natural beauties in the world. This land has cafes with inflatable furniture, thongs and g-strings everywhere you turn your head, see through pants on every corner and topless sunbathing on every beach. What's more, these women retain a certain level of class and sophistication and take great care of their bodies. The most important part of Bulgaria is the charm and beauty that you will find in these stunning women.
Buenos Aires is a city unlike any other. The women of Buenos Aires are beautiful, natural women who are comfortable in their amazing bodies. Nearly every women in Buenos Aires is a model waiting to be found. The parties are legendary and the clubs and events are overloaded with beautiful, approachable, and fun women.
Copenhagen's women are probably some of the most approachable you will ever meet. Also, these women are much more liberated sexually than most other cities throughout the world. They are all over, working in all places and always ready to head to the local bar for a drink or two. The environment runs at a much slower pace and the women enjoy a wide variety of situations.
It seems like every woman in Stockholm is amazingly beautiful. Also, these women know how to party and enjoy each other. Per capita the women of Stockholm were the most beautiful. These women were also extremely educated and friendly. These women make you feel good in every way. Sweden is a must visit on a future vacation!
Source:-MMOABC
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Twins Marry Same Woman
BADAUN (UP): Twins are known to have the same habits and likings, but being close to the extent of falling in love with the same woman and marrying her is something unheard of, except for the people of Palia Gujar village in Uttar Pradesh.
Twins Kunwarpal and Chandrapal Singh from Dataganj tehsil in Badaun, who have earned the nicknames Ram and Shyam or just 'jodi' because of their closeness, married Madhubala, a resident of a neighbouring village, after both of them fell in love with her.
The unusual union notwithstanding, their family, which includes seven children, lives happily, said villagers.
While their eldest son is pursuing a bachelor's degree in science, the youngest is just five years old.
In school records, the names of both the twins have been mentioned in the column for the father's name.
People recounted several instances when the brothers fought tooth and nail to remain together.
The brothers, both post-graduates, even quit their jobs in Delhi which forced them to live separately, and returned to their village to farm their land to remain together.
People recalled that when Kunwarpal was once arrested and sent to jail due to some dispute, Chandrapal started fighting with police in an attempt to accompany his brother to prison.
Police eventually freed Kunwarpal to help them remain together, they said.
Neighbours, who can barely differentiate between the two because of their close resemblance despite seeing them every day, said the closeness they share is unique and they could perhaps be one of a kind.
Source:- Timesofindia
Monday, September 03, 2007
Wins Buffalo Wing Eating Contest
A 7st 7lb woman ate 173 chicken wings in 12 minutes to win a US competitive eating contest.
Sonya Thomas, known in competitive eating circles as Black Widow, munched her way past dozens of beefy rivals at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.
"That's 2.35kgs of wings," said Brian Kahle, spokesman for the annual event in Buffalo, New York.
Ms Thomas, 40, originally from South Korea but now living in Alexandria, Virginia, also held the festival's previous record of 161 wings in 12 minutes, set in 2004.
"She's the crowd favourite," Mr Kahle said. "It was 12 huge guys and her."
Ms Thomas has set numerous records in competitive eating events, including 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes, 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes, 11-pounds of cheesecake in nine minutes and 44 lobsters in 12 minutes.
She is ranked number five by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Pregnant Women Wye Five Births is Mischievous
Picture: Super pregnant Jiaoyubei
Last night at the hospital
Wealth "five births," sheRecently, readers have been concerned about the Songyuan "super pregnant woman" pregnant five twin thing is a fake!
Mi invited the media to recognize the "false pregnancy"
Yesterday afternoon, when the news media as "super-women" inside Jiaoyubei worried about the safety of five births, but in Songyuan Jiaoyubei quietly invited to a hotel in Changchun TV "City Express" Changchun journalists and Puji hospital named Li president herself have face-to-face about five births is false.
Subsequent to the live reporter to a telephone, Lee confirmed the matter and said that her husband is Jiaoyubei and cars rushed to the hospital by Changchun.
-- Lies Record
1. "Hospitals can not find proof"
Reporters received "super pregnant women," the news clues, the first reaction is a matter of credibility. In Jiaoyubei home, the reporters look at the first hospital checks proved that, Jiaoyubei said no, her family also said to have disappeared.Qiao said to reporters following the "China and the United States hospital" to verify, a doctor said, had really come to a pregnant woman, and have found multiple births, but a long time, other things do not remember it.
2. "Personally neighbors, stop"
To further verify the reporter visited the village and Jiaoyubei villagers.They said long ago that Joe roared though, "five twin" thing also spread in the village, there will be no mistake.
Jiaoyubei neighbor, 61-year-old Ma Granny said, a few days before her own neighbors Jiaoyubei the belly, pregnancy is really about.
Reporter provide clues to the news media Songyuan a reporter said that she had personally touch Jiaoyubei belly, I feel really pregnant.
-- Many doubt
1. Pregnant women from jumping through the window
Yesterday, the province went to the media early Jiaoyubei home in the early to persuade her to the hospital for an examination to be qualified production.During Qiao also said to the problem and do not hesitate, when after all the attention, has hastily jumped out from the windows, disappeared.
2. Medical prevarication
"Jiaoyubei pregnant five births," the first article of the issue, including this newspaper, the province has more than media attention Joe's physical condition, and frequently consult the experts, Qiao Shi many production should be brought to the attention of (Joe During this period there have been vomiting), whose family also hope Joe Yu Changchun, the wave energy to the hospital for examination and expectant.
But Jiaoyubei hesitation on the matter has been volatile: the evening of June 12, Changchun Puji Hospital Songyuan Lee and his entourage arrived, to mobilize Joe Changchun, Joe agreed to the vehicle until the next day to long.But on the road, she changed his mind, saying that Beijing wanted to check, then returned to the Songyuan. Yesterday morning, said Jiaoyubei willing to Changchun, and take the initiative with the premier.
Not believe "infertility"
At noon yesterday, reporters Jiaoyubei home to see her mother-in-law, mother and other family members.It is understood, 13:30 Xu, their families locate and saw controlled television cabinets left few footprints vague - Jiaoyubei from jumping through the window and her husband had left home, family comparing them to every place possible, no fruit.15:30 XU, Jiaoyubei daughter-in-law's mother-in-law for fear of an accident, ended up.
According to reports, although the pregnancy thing is a fake, but Jiaoyubei I like the physical condition nearly four months pregnant person 20:40 XU, the reporter again went to Jiaoyubei home, will tell their families, her mother-in-law and cousin surprised his face: "impossible! Absolutely not! We watched her in the stomach a big change every day! "
Lee introduced, and later with his counterparts in the hospital Xiezhulin Jiaoyubei second home is not easy to find her, but Jiaoyubei beside the toilet, not out on the toilet outside Xiezhulin constantly advised her out Quanzhaoquanzhao, Jiaoyubei suddenly pulling out clothes Xiezhulin crying aloud, subsequently, Also kneeling on the ground crying, then Jiaoyubei couples to tell the truth.
After the emotional stability, Jiaoyubei it beside the side of the stomach things out to: actually three quilts, a dozen pieces of clothes, sweaters, garment, cotton cushion, hats and other articles, a full 20."Using the Club, took a July 8 kilograms." (During the process anyone see)
Lee said that the reasons lie Jiaoyubei her first pregnancy, are carrying one pair of twins, but not the abortion care.Six seven months ago, her pregnant again, a check to the hospital, doctors said may triplets or quadruplets.More than three months ago may, Jiaoyubei parents back in the road, abortion Once off guard again, then are catching up with her husband Joe De-Fu Liu hit by a car, also the banner of the leg plate.Think of the husband is home only son, Joe afraid of the abortion issue are against him, hiding down. Half a month after Joe pregnant again.Then she suddenly come up with an idea is to use clothing, and other small pad to put up an stomachs, and then drove on, not to see her husband, and after a big belly, and then things out to.Thus, from time to time, Jiaoyubei deeper stomach filled, things will one day big belly up.Jiaoyubei said, in fact, they now have three months pregnant.
Lee said later Jiaoyubei 30 relatives and the media more than 20 reporters to the scene, Jiaoyubei things that make a big, cried and said Hingis, to River.Also borrowed the money to give a few thousand Puji Hospital, said beetles trips to the hospital, the hospital that I am sorry.
Another question out.
Jiaoyubei big scare in the stomach, her husband De-Fu Liu died after his pregnant daughter-in-law do not know is false.Moreover, a pregnant daughter-in-law told the media Multiple births are also his.
De-Fu Liu said, Puji Hospital yesterday morning imminent drove them home, the girl said before he Rafah to locate the true facts, the duo an anxious, from the rear window to jump out of hiding.
Puji hospital ambulance carrying Jiaoyubei couples enter Changchun suddenly stopped, has been in the back with an interview with the cars parked in the side, but it Jiaoyubei agitatedly shouted Nobody imagined.When they reached the hospital, Jiaoyubei couples rushed out of the hospital into the wards for their good, the door was locked up, in addition to her husband, Jiaoyubei refused to see people.
Until 23 o'clock yesterday, the reporter Jiaoyubei husband to his door, he said: "I really do not know that after this matter, since she knows pregnant multiple births, I dare not touch her at night are very far away."
Jiaoyubei husband said his wife 17 years old this year, is a snake (when she was interviewed by this 23-year-old Joe)."Last year, our 18 month-end marriage, she married shortly Wye pregnant, then I had a car accident, in the days when she had to take care of my side. Well, I support the disease, to support the family, I came to Songyuan urban wage, probably during this period, she abortion, but who has been her fear I was stimulated injury, so I have to hide it from. "De-Fu Liu said.
Note: Dr. Puji Hospital told reporters that the second abortion Joe, her husband of accident, the leg is also the banner plate.
He did not recall whether to accompany his wife went to the hospital?
"You know how his wife is pregnant with twin 5? Do check to the hospital? "When reporters asked about these issues, De-Fu Liu has said he does not recall whether to accompany his wife went to a hospital," I only remember that once accompanied his wife to the streets Maifan packs, get a woman, the wife of the elderly the clock, said his wife are carrying five births. know the news, I also accompany his wife to the bazaar done a skirt. "
De-Fu Liu said he was thinking is that if the five births, the family is unable, he would like to through the media publicity caused concern in society, it was able to lend them a helping hand."I am very giant, but I have to understand my wife, she is good for me, if I did not understand her, she finished ..."
Until 0:00 a.m. today, hospital superintendent and personnel from the hospital, husband and wife duo stay in the hospital this morning inspection will be done.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Woman faces charges for kissing painting
MARSEILLE, France - A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday.
Police said they arrested the woman after she kissed the work on Thursday. She is to be tried in a court in the southern city of Avignon on Aug. 16 for "damage to a work of art," judicial officials said.
The painting, which is worth an estimated $2 million, was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. It is part of an exhibition slated to run at the museum through Sept. 30. Officials did not provide further details on the painting.
Twombly is known for his abstract paintings combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines and the use of graffiti, letters and words.
Born in Lexington, Va., in 1928, Twombly has lived in Italy for nearly a half- century. He won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2001.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
3 girls in tubs successful in 60km crossing
NIIGATA -- Three women completed the 60-kilometer crossing from Sado to Honshu in tub boats Saturday, following in the footsteps of a mythical figure who traversed the straits to see her lover on the mainland.
Kanako Takahashi, 26, Miho Hamada, 25 and Miki Takano, 27, each rowed a tub boat across the Sado Straits to make the first successful crossing in the craft for 40 years; the third overall, but the first ever to be completed solo.
"My arms and hands are really hurting, but I'm so glad it was successful," Hamada said.
A Sado tale tells of a woman called Omitsu paddling one of the island's famous tub boats from Sado to Kashiwazaki, where her fisherman lover Gosaku lived. The Sado Tourism Association planned the three women's crossing, which began at about 10 a.m. Friday in Sado.
Takahashi, Hamada and Takano, all clad in traditional garments, set off in their 1.9-meter tubs at about 10 a.m. Friday, provisioned with food, water and a bucket to use as a toilet. They arrived in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, at around 10 a.m. Saturday. Two fishing boats accompanied the women to ensure their safety.
There were fears that the approaching typhoon Man-yi could hinder their journey, but the worst weather the women encountered on their 24-hour paddle was light rain. Waves were only about 40 to 50 centimeters high.
In 1966 and again in 1967 there were successful crossings of the strait in tub boats, but on each occasion three people had taken turns in paddling them.
"Having made the crossing alone, now I know how Omitsu must have felt about Gosaku," Takahashi saidWednesday, June 27, 2007
Man ban on the beach keeps the pests at bay
Italy has opened its first women-only beach, away from the prying eyes and wandering hands of the country’s notoriously lascivious men.
The beach at the resort of Riccione, on the Adriatic coast, is also closed to children, with mothers encouraged to leave their offspring with their father or grandparents.
Signs at the entrance to Beach 134 say “No Men”. One sign depicts a macho-looking man in a bathing costume apparently ready with his next chat-up line. But he has a diagonal line across his torso, in a manner similar to signs saying “No Dogs”. Ironically, dogs are allowed on the “Pink Beach”.
“This is not a lesbian beach,” Fausto Ravaglia, the businessman behind the idea to ban men, said. “It is simply for women to be themselves.”
Cinzia Donati, 43, a housewife from Milan, agreed. “I’ve left my husband and son behind — and I feel I’ve arrived in paradise,” she said. The beach was “a really classy place, beautifully clean and well organised. It’s perfect for us women. We are so much better off on our own.”
Mrs Donati said that it was “wonderful to relax, read or doze without hearing some child shouting ‘Mamma, Mamma’ six hundred times — and without men ogling you all the time. Men think they are indispensable, but they are not”.
Mr Ravaglia’s daughter, Francesca, 22, who runs the Pink Beach, said: “Life is still quite tough for women in Italy. Men give us no peace.” She said that at Riccione, “no one stares at you to see if you’ve got cellulite. You don’t have to tie yourself up in a beach sarong to disguise your imperfections. Men are so critical. We can’t all be Miss Italy”.
There is a beauty queen on the beach. Marta Magnani, the winner of the Miss Muretto pageant at Alassio in Liguria, offers beauty tips. The beach also offers lessons in deportment, keep-fit classes, manicures, pedicures, and cookery lessons from Roberta Brescia, the 30-year-old chef, who also prepares the “ladies’ lunches” at the beach cafe.
The fitness instructors are all women, as is the beach DJ. The only men tolerated are a hairdresser and the lifeguard. “You need a man to save women in the sea,” Mr Ravaglia said. “It’s a question of muscles”.
La Stampa said that the “beach harem” reflected a growing demand for female rights in Italy, a country that was still largely a bastion of male chauvinism. “My husband won’t even let me go dancing in the evening,” Mrs Donati said. “Sometimes you just want to meet other women and talk, gossip, exchange ideas. Here I am allowed to be myself.”
“This is an oasis of female apartheid,” said Alice Ghresta, 24, a surveyor. “They should put a eunuch at the entrance, like in a real harem.”
Mr Ravaglia said that as far as he was aware, the beach did not breach Italian laws on sexual discrimination
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Astronaut Sunita Williams Sets the Record Straight, and Long
Call it a great leap forward for women in space.
After six years of people, three of whom have been women, living in space aboard the International Space Station, the female time-in-space endurance record set 11 years ago has been broken.
And it was broken in a single flight.
Image to right: Astronaut Sunita L. Williams, Expedition 15 flight engineer, wearing squat harness pads, poses for a photo while using the Interim Resistive Exercise Device (IRED) equipment in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams set a new record this morning at 12:47 CDT for the longest duration spaceflight by a woman. At that time, Williams surpassed Shannon Lucid’s mark of 188 days, 4 hours set in 1996.
Williams began her record-setting flight when she launched with the crew of STS-116 in December 2006. The Massachusetts native remained on board the station as a member of the Expedition 14 crew and then joined the Expedition 15 crew in April. Her spaceflight will come to a close when she returns to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis with the STS-117 crew.
Although this is only her first spaceflight, Williams also became the record-holder for most hours outside a spacecraft by a female by completing four spacewalks during Expedition 14 with a total time of 29 hours, 17 minutes.
“It was very exciting to watch her spacewalks and to watch her accumulate more spacewalk time than any other female in the universe,” said Lucid, who set the previous female space duration record while flying aboard the Russian Mir Space Station. “These [long-term] flights are providing the needed confidence so that some day in the near future we can depart low-Earth orbit and head on out to Mars.”
Image to left: Astronaut Sunita Williams participates in the STS-116 mission's third planned spacewalk. Credit: NASA
During her stay on orbit, Williams has worked with experiments across a wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, physical sciences and Earth observation as well as education and technology demonstrations.
Some of these experiments give scientists critical insight into the effects of weightlessness on our bodies while others show ways to prevent effects we already know about like muscle and bone loss.
In addition to rigorous exercise, Williams also collected and stored her blood while in space to add to an ongoing study on nutrition, another key element of living in space for long stretches of time.
The results of this study may impact nutritional requirements and food systems developed for future ventures in space. “Her mission has been critically important to our overall space program,” said NASA Astronaut Eileen Collins, another female pioneer in spaceflight. Collins became the first woman to command a spaceflight mission during the STS-93 mission on Space Shuttle Columbia.
“She truly is a space marathoner who shows young women everywhere that there's a place in the space program for them.” If her stay in space concludes as scheduled, with her return on Atlantis on June 21, Williams will have flown a total of 194 days in space.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Two sets of sextuplets born just hours apart
This is the extraordinary moment doctors delivered one of new mother Jenny Masche's sextuplets, all born at just 30 weeks and 3lbs or less in weight.
Remarkably, their birth heralded the arrival of the second set of sextuplets in the United States within a day after a 24-year-old woman delivered six of the best late on Sunday in Minnesota after using fertility drugs.
This rare occurrence could become more common as more couples seek artificial methods of conception.
One of Jenny Masche's miraculous deliveries
Jenny sees one of her new arrivals for the first timeAbout 10 hours after the Minnesota births, 32-year-old Jenny Masche delivered by Caesarean section. Due to their premature birth the babies suffered acute heart failure but are now stable.
They will be named Bailey Elizabeth, Savannah Jane, Molli Grace, Cole Robert, Blake Nickolas and Grant William. The Masches have yet to decide who gets which.
The heart problems were due to the huge volume of blood that Jenny Masche was carrying in her body while pregnant, Doctor John Elliott said at a news conference at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Arizona.
The new mother is now stable and is expected to leave the hospital's intensive care unit later today.
Exhausted and wiping tears from his eyes, proud father Bryan Masche said: "I'm very thankful that we had the help of the best physicians, and the best doctors and the best medicine."
Monday, June 11, 2007
World's first twins born to two different women
Born minutes apart and with almost identical looks, there seems little to set Lauren and Hannah Bernaba apart from any other pair of newborn twins. But the girls are the world's first twins to be born on the same day to two different women.
First, biological mother Amy Bernaba gave birth to Lauren, weighing 7lb 10oz, then, half an hour later, surrogate mum Torry Keay delivered 7lb 3oz Hannah.
The double pregnancy happened after Mrs Bernaba and husband George had undergone IVF treatment for 12 years in an effort to conceive a baby brother or sister for their son Jeremy, now 15.
Eventually, doctors decided that 40-year- old Mrs Bernaba would almost certainly be unable to carry another baby because of a problem with her immune system.
So they tried an extremely unusual procedure, implanting eggs fertilised by Mr Bernaba's sperm into her womb and also into surrogate Mrs Keay's.
Mrs Keay became pregnant, and against all the odds so did Mrs Bernaba. Both women had straightforward pregnancies before giving birth on May 27 in neighbouring rooms in a Los Angeles hospital.
Mr Bernaba, who runs his own security business, saw Lauren delivered by Caesarean section before doctors told him Hannah was on the way.
He raced to watch her arrival and took photographs to show his wife.
Yesterday, the couple told of their joy as they settle in to life at home in Beverly Hills with the twins.
Mrs Bernaba said: "I feel so happy to have them. I can't stop smiling.
"All the strain and heartache I've been through in the past few years have definitely been worth it, just to have these very special twins."
Although the twins are not identical because they came from separate eggs, they look very alike and Mrs Bernaba said she is only now starting to tell them apart.
"They both have dark brown hair and big blue eyes, but Hannah has gold streaks in her hair and her eyebrows are slightly lighter.
"She is the lively one, while Lauren is more quiet and relaxed."
Mrs Bernaba was 24 when she gave birth to Jeremy, and the pregnancy "just happened". It was only two years later when the couple tried to conceive again that her complex fertility problems emerged.
The Bernabas spent thousands on 14 IVF attempts which resulted in only one pregnancy.
Tragically, an ultrasound scan at four months found the baby had not developed properly and had to be aborted.
Finally, Mrs Bernaba was treated by U.S. fertility doctor Dr Michael Vermesh, who has one of the world's highest IVF success rates at 50 per cent.
Dr Vermesh also produced an earlier world first when he helped a woman give birth using an embryo frozen 12 years before.
The Bernabas contacted mother-of-six Mrs Keay, 31, via a friend, and she immediately agreed to help. Mrs Keay, a hairdresser, lives in Lake Arrowhead, three hours away, with her husband Billie, who runs a construction company.
She was paid an undisclosed sum to act as surrogate.
She said: "I immediately knew I wanted to do it and Billie supported me. We have a big family and we love children and we felt so sorry for people who weren't as lucky as us.
"I was excited to be helping somebody and when we met Amy and George and saw what a lovely couple they were, we were even more convinced."
The two women, who are now close friends, had their prenatal appointments and scans together.
Doctors decided to induce Mrs Keay so she would give birth at a similar time to Mrs Bernaba's Caesarean delivery.
Mr Bernaba, 40, said: "It was really quick. They had just cleaned up Lauren and we were holding her, when they said Hannah was being born.
"They handed the baby straight to me, so I could take her to see her mum and her twin sister."
Mrs Bernaba said: "We are going to tell the girls exactly how they were born and make sure they know they're both as special as each other."
The idea of implanting a woman's embryos into the mother and a surrogate at the same time is still extremely rare.
There has been only one other set of twins born this way, Americans Connor and Cameron Payne, who were born to mother Kathy and surrogate Angel Willis 16 days apart last June.
Friday, May 25, 2007
60-Year-Old Woman Delivers Twin Boys
Frieda Birnbaum, 60, gave birth to twin boys Tuesday, becoming the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the United States.
The babies were delivered at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J., by caesarean section.
"Baby A" weighed 4 pounds, 11.4 ounces, and "Baby B" weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces.
Birnbaum said she felt great after delivering the two boys. "This is so wonderful, I feel so relaxed. It has been a great experience," she said.
Early Wednesday morning the boys were already breathing on their own and getting ready for a bottle feeding, doctors from the hospital said.
Mom rested well all night, and doctors described the morning as "a normal postpartum day one, without a hitch!"
Birnbaum, who is a psychologist, and her husband Ken, a Manhattan attorney, have three other children — a 6-year-old son, a 29-year-old daughter and a 33-year-old son.
The husband and wife of 38 years said they had not settled on the names, but were leaning toward Jake and Jared.
Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, director of prenatal diagnostics and therapeutics in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack University Medical Center, oversaw Birnbaum's pregnancy and delivered the twins. "This was a fabulous outcome. I'm extremely thrilled and delighted to have delivered a healthy mom and two healthy baby boys," he said. "They're doing very well." Before her noontime C-section, Birnbaum said she underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) last year in Cape Town, South Africa, so her youngest son, Ari, would have siblings closer to his age and because she wanted older women to be able to deliver children “without a stigma attached.” “My daughter feels I should be living in Florida having a good life,” said Birnbaum, of Saddle River, N.J. “I hope when she’s older, she’ll see this and understand she has choices. I don’t feel like I’m 60. I don’t know what 60 is meant to be.” Al-Khan said there is just no rulebook for handling a pregnancy such as this one. "This was high risk, definitely; there were no guidelines of what to do and what to look for in a pregnancy at the age to 60. Can the heart, or the kidneys withstand the pregnancy?" Al-Khan asked. "It becomes a little risky to take care of this pregnancy, because no one has the experience. You have to utilized your medical judgment." Birnbaum’s son Ari was also conceived by IVF in a procedure done in New York City. Dr. Manny Alvarez, the chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack University Medical Center and the health managing editor of FOXNews.com, delivered the boy. Birnbaum made the decision to have more children, preferably twins, one stormy day on a cruise ship after reading a magazine article about women having older children. She and her husband tried unsuccessfully to conceive again in New York and later made the decision to go to South Africa after researching medical centers that specialize in IVF for older women. Birnbaum said she previously had some of her eggs frozen, but declined to say whether those eggs were used to conceive the twins. The couple said they were overjoyed to learn they would be having twins. Birnbaum said she looks forward to dressing the boys in matching outfits. Although her eldest son worries she won’t have enough spare time to spend with his children, when he has them, that is, Birnbaum said she has more than enough energy to go around. Birnbaum said she wants her new twins, like her other children, to be happy, confident and healthy. There are no federal standards for age limits on IVF, but the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology in the U.S. recommends that women be under 50 years old if they are undergoing IVF with a donor egg, and under 44 if they are using their own eggs. Al-Khan went on to say that despite his early concerns about overseeing a pregnancy with a mother of this age, the pregnancy went very smoothly. “The question is what is old,” he said. “It’s asked over and over again. And that’s a question I don’t even know the answer to anymore.” Birnbaum doesn’t feel old and plans on sticking around for a while. “My father lived to 92 and my mother lived to 89,” she said. “I plan to be around for a long time.” While Birnbaum is the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the U.S., the oldest woman on record to give birth is Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, a Spanish woman who gave birth by cesarean section to twin boys on Dec. 29, 2006 — just seven days shy of her 67th birthday. Birnbaum hopes to inspire other women through her actions. She is planning on writing a book about her experience with Al-Khan.
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