First off, from Germany we have the story of a dentist who decided he was done waiting for payment from a woman, and forced his way into her house, tied her up and forcibly removed the dental bridges he had put in.  Just chew on that one for a bit.  Apparently he was chomping at the bit to get his money.  The woman was a tad shaken by her brush with the man.  I’m done.

Then it’s off to Iowa where someone in the college editor’s office will most certainly be taking some heat for this gaffe:

A calendar entry for Feb. 16, 2009, was supposed to read “Black History Lunch and Learn.” Instead, it says “Black History Linch and Learn.”

Apparently after giving away 10000 copies of this handbook, the best resolution is to print up a sticker to cover up the offending word.  Um, ya.

Moving on, good news for old folks.  A company in Japan has announced a wearable device that amounts to a personal airbag.  It inflates in .1 seconds when it detects the individual falling backwards and is supposed to prevent injury.  It’s apparently targeted at elderly eplieptic patients, who probably fall down a lot.  Two things come to mind though:  it only protects you if you fall backwards, and from the video it looks like you probably can’t get back up one you are flat on your back with that thing underneath you.  A much more practical solution would be to completely encase our elderly relatives in an inflatable sumo suit so that they can be completely protected from any injury.  Of course they can then also then be part of fun backyard games:  “Don’t let Grandma touch the ground!”, or a humane version of the old chestnut: “Let’s kick the old folks!”.

“Dad, can we take Grandma to the park?”

“Sure Bobby.”

“Awesome, let’s roll her down the big hill!”

(chuckling) “Of course, you scamp!  Now go on, don’t leave grandma waiting.”

“Oh, sure Dad!  Um, can you get her down off the roof of the garage?”

“Sure thing Bobby!  Get me my poking stick…”

There’s absolutely no downside to this that I can see.