Giant Jesus in Poland

A statue of Jesus Christ that its builders say will be the largest in the world is fast rising from a Polish cabbage field and local officials hope it will become a beacon for tourists.

The builders expect to attach the arms, head and crown to the robed torso in coming days, weather and cranes permitting, completing a project conceived by local Catholic priest Sylwester Zawadzki and paid for by private donations.

Standing on an artificial mound, the plaster and fibre glass statue will stand some 52 metres (57 yards) when completed, taller than the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms that gazes over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Polish officials say.

The actual statue will measure 33 metres — Zawadzki has said this reflects the fact that Jesus died at 33, according to Christian tradition — and weigh 440 tonnes.

“I’m happy because this project will bring publicity to our town, not only in Poland but also from the global media. Other countries are showing a lot of interest,” said Dariusz Bekisz, mayor of Swiebodzin, a town of about 21,000 people in western Poland some 100 km (60 miles) from the German border.

“More people will visit Swiebodzin and leave their money. Some will come for spiritual reasons, others out of curiosity,” he said, adding no public money had been used in the project.

“The priest, Father Zawadzki, is a man of action who always, throughout his life, has built and created… In the future we’re going to have to think about bringing the carnival to Swiebodzin too, just as in Rio,” he joked.

SCEPTICISM

Zawadzki is avoiding media for the time-being and Polish church leaders could not immediately be reached for comment. But the editor of Poland’s Catholic Information Agency (KAI) sounded a sceptical note.

“Everybody has a right to do what they want. Swiebodzin’s Jesus project doesn’t touch my religious sensitivity. These kinds of monuments don’t have much to do with spirituality,” editor Tomasz Krolak said.

“People should think more about building within themselves rather than making big monuments.”

Local townspeople seemed bemused by the whole affair.

“Building Jesus is an interesting idea, but I’m afraid we can’t beat Rio. I don’t treat this 100 percent seriously,” said local resident Piotr Pinio.

Others thought the money could have been put to better use.

“There are far more important aims to which we could put the money — sick children, for example, orphanages, old people. Do we really have to build a big Jesus statue to make people believe,” said Mieczyslawa Hundert.

Poland remains one of the most religiously observant countries in Europe and its churches are regularly packed on Sundays, especially in the countryside and smaller towns. (Writing by Gareth Jones, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: Yahoo News

Chinese Teen sells his kidney for an iPad 2

A Chinese teenager was so desperate to acquire the new iPad 2 that he sold one of his kidneys for just £2,000 to pay for it, according to reports.

The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname, “Zheng”, confessed to his mother that he had sold the kidney after spotting an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor.

“I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn’t have the money,” the boy told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong, “When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay RMB20,000 to buy a kidney.” After negotiations, the boy travelled north to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital which discharged him after three days, paying a total of RMB22,000 for the organ.

Trading organs online is a common practice in China, despite repeated attempts by China’s government to stamp out the practice. Last year Japanese television reported that a group of “transplant tourists” had paid £50,000 to receive new kidneys in China.

According to official statistics more than a million people in China need a transplant every year, but fewer than 10,000 receive organs, driving an almost unstoppable black-market organ trade that enriches brokers, doctors and corrupt government officials.

World’s Most Expensive Golf Course

Dutch Docklands, a player in the world of floating technologies, (or making land where there was no land), has announced plans to build a $500 million floating golf course off the Maldives coast. While there are plenty of golf courses that claim to be “on” the water, this one would quite literally be atop the Indian Ocean.

The concept is a series of man-made islands with one or more holes on each, linked by transparent undersea tunnels. Golfers walk or ride through these submerged pathways, taking in the seafloor sights while pondering which iron to use next. And the clubhouse? You’ll have to take an elevator to the sea bottom to get to it. At half a billion dollars, it will be by far the most expensive golf course ever built.

Pakistan bans 'monkey crotch', 'Jesus Christ' and obscene words in text messages

Pakistan's telecommunications agency has issued a list of words that it considers obscene or offensive, telling mobile phone companies to block text messages that contain them. Only on msnbc.com Captain: Wagner responsible for Natalie Wood death Dying and disabled in Honduras, in pursuit of lobster to sell to U.S. Pakistan's list of banned words met with ridicule Feds consider launching Sandusky investigation Who pays most for electricity?

Berlusconi’s next act: Love song CD The economy may be killing your sex life The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) deemed 586 Urdu words and 1,109 English words offensive or pornographic, according to reports in local media. Some are expletives or sexual words while others are medical terms, but some entries have left many scratching their heads. Pakistan's list of banned words met with ridicule Included in the list are words such as "intercourse," "condom" and "breast," as well as seemingly ordinary words like "period," "hostage" and "flatulence." Among the more bizarre are "monkey crotch," "wuutang" and "Jesus Christ." Pakistan's Express Tribune published more of the words on its website.

Meant to control spam

The letter, dated Nov. 14, was leaked to Pakistani media and an unverified copy has been published on scribd.com. The PTA instructed mobile phone companies to begin screening text messages by Nov. 21.

According to the letter, the PTA says blocking the texts is meant to control spamming, which it defines as "the transmission of harmful, fraudulent, misleading, illegal or unsolicited messages in bulk to any person without express permission of the recipient."

Mobile phone companies Telenor Pakistan and Ufone confirmed to BBC News that they had received the memo and the "dictionary."

A spokesman for the PTA, meanwhile, told The Guardian newspaper that the move was in response to complaints from customers who said they were receiving offensive text messages. "Nobody would like this happening to their young boy or girl," Mohammad Younis said. Pakistanis have been reacting to the news on Twitter, sometimes wondering what the words and expressions mean.

Texting mistake lands would-be drug buyer in jail

CHICAGO — Text messages about buying drugs mistakenly sent to a Nebraska state trooper led to the arrest of a 23-year-old man on marijuana possession and other drug charges, police said on Tuesday.

The Nebraska State Patrol said that one of its troopers started getting text messages last week from a person who was looking to buy drugs. The trooper continued to correspond through text messages until a meeting place was set up.

The trooper, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived at the agreed upon location and arrested 23-year-old Aaron Sartin of Kearney, Nebraska, police said.

He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges were pending.

Man in 'I'm A Drunk' T-shirt arrested for DWI

A man wearing a T-shirt reading "I'm A Drunk" crashed into a police car early Thursday on Long Island and is being charged with driving while intoxicated, police said.

Kevin Daly, of Coram, N.Y., was driving a 2000 Saturn on County Road 83 at about 1:45 a.m. when he hit the patrol car. Read the original story at NBCNewYork.com The entire message on his T-shirt reads "I'm Not An Alcoholic, I'm A Drunk. Alcoholics Go to Meetings." The officer, who is assigned to the Suffolk County Police Department's alcohol fatality enforcement team, was treated for minor injuries. Coram, 22, was not hurt. He was set to be arraigned later Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.