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Curious Times No. 260
September 3, 2004

JUST AS YOU THOUGHT - YOUR BOSS IS PROBABLY A PSYCHO
If you have a job you already know this, but new research proves that people with psychopathic tendencies are all around us, and those who do not turn violent tend to rise to positions of power thanks to their ruthless, narcissistic personalities. Professor Robert Hare of the University of British Columbia calls them “corporate psychopaths,” and his study concludes that probably one in a hundred people fall into this category and often succeed in management and finance. They will not usually be violent, says Dr. Hare, but tend to be manipulative, arrogant, callous, impatient, impulsive, unreliable, and superficially charming, personality traits which are shared with those who end up as sadistic killers. “Wherever you find money, prestige and power you will find them,” concluded Dr. Hare. (BBC)

YOUR DOG LIVES BETTER THAN HALF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN
They used to say “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” Now it’s more like “create some stupid way for bored people to pamper their dumb animals and you’ll get rich quick!” One of the latest (and lamest) trends which is making someone a doghouse full of money is bottled water for your pet. “Petrafresh” is bottled water which, the inventor claims, is “specially formulated for dogs, cats, rabbits, gerbils, iguanas, pot-bellied pigs and even fish.” Yeah, right! Dog Yoga has also become popular, especially with the stressed out pooches in large urban centres, where dogs and their owners can stretch and breathe together before heading back into the city to defecate on the sidewalks. You can also now buy sunglasses specifically for your dog, which keep out “100% of UV light and foreign objects”. And finally, dog and cat owners can now implant their pets with a microchip so that you won’t have to plaster your neighbourhood with “lost” signs the next time your pet tries to escape from your tiny apartment. (BBC)

THE REAL CHALLENGE IS COLLECTING ENOUGH EMPTIES FOR THE FLIGHT TO SWEDEN
While the steroid-pumped athletes and corrupt judges of the Olympics continue to tarnish the thrill of competitive sports, there’s still a chance to witness competition in its purest form at the Football World Cup for the Homeless taking place in Sweden. The tournament pits the homeless of 28 different nations to see who will reign supreme as the World Football champions. Last year he Austrians took the glory, but this year they’ll face a stiff-challenge from strong teams out of Brazil, France, Japan and the U.S. (won’t they be surprised to find that football is played with a soccer ball!) Organizer Berhard Wolf says that the tournament has been designed both to highlight the problem of homelessness and also to help the homeless overcome their problems,and he claims that last years event was a huge success with 31 of the 141 players now holding regular jobs. ”It is... pure therapy for those taking part,” says Wolf, “because football has a magic effect.” (BBC)

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I’M GETTING SORE JUST WRITING ABOUT IT
While the rest of us slobs probably can’t even finish one complete push-up, a nine-year-old Russian boy has gone ahead and broken the world record by doing 9,263 push-ups in six and a half hours. Pasha Guseinov averaged 1425 push-ups an hour during which he was only allowed a five minute break to rest and use the washroom. The boy now hopes his feat will bring corporate sponsorship for future record attempts so that he can help support his family. “I want to become stronger, so that I can protect those who are weak,” he added. (Ananova)

WITH CELEBRITY SPONSORSHIP FROM DRACULA
Russian scientists have figured out a way to make chocolate biscuits and yogurt drinks entirely out of blood, and believe they are within six months of mass producing the new food items for delivery to your local supermarket. Ludmilla Antipova and Alexei Nikolaichik of Voronezh State Academy in Russia began their experimental recipes about 12 years ago when they learned that the meat plant in their town was discarding up to seven tons of blood daily. Realizing that they were sitting on a gold mine of cheap, fat-free protein they got to work on turning the blood into tasty treats. And now they’re done. The chocolate filling in their biscuits is made from cow blood cells and their yogurt drink is a mixture of plasma and bacteria. The can also make a coffee substitute out of cow’s blood. They claim that their blood-based foods taste just as good as the real thing, and hope to make a fortune selling blood to the processed food industry, as it is up to five times cheaper to manufacture than dairy products. Blood also contains virtually no fat and is loaded with iron and protein. (Telegraph)

BLISS IS IGNORANCE
Surprising results from experiments carried out at the New South Wales School of Psychology has found that people who are in a bad mood exhibit all-around better thinking skills than people who are happy. Two separate experiments seemed to show that people in bad moods make better eyewitnesses to events and are more effective at creating persuasive arguments. Among the many benefits of being in a bad mood are more reliable memory, better judgment, superior critical thinking and communication skills. “The results showed that eyewitness accounts of people in a negative mood are more likely to be accurate compared to those in a positive mood state,” said Professor Forgas, adding that “It shows that our recollection of past events are more likely to be contaminated by irrelevant information when we are in a positive mood. A positive mood is likely to trigger less careful thinking strategies.” (medicalnewstoday.com)