New Zealand, Land of the Bad-taste Baby Name?

They’re an odd lot the Kiwis, overtly polite, a little too enthusiastic and well, very brown-slack. New Zealand government officials have released a list of baby names put forward by parents that have been rejected by the registrar of births, deaths and marriages because they were too out-there or just down-right offensive, including “V8″ and “Mafia No Fear”.

 The list of 77 names reveals one child was set to be called “Anal” before the Department of Internal Affairs vetoed the proposal, while another child narrowly avoided being dubbed “.” or full stop.

Other names on the list included “4Real”, “Lucifer”, and “/”. In some cases, parents appeared to have lost any inspiration for coming up with a moniker for their offspring, wanting to call the latest addition to the family simply “2nd”, “3rd” or “5th”.

The inhabitants of the small southern nation are apparently a proud bunch, the registrar’s rules forbid a name that might imply a child holds an official rank or title, so “King”, “Duke” and “Princess” were among those that had been turned down, we love a good over-reach!

“Justice” was the most popular, having been rejected 62 times, although “Justus” and “Juztice” also failed to gain official approval. Surprisingly there where very few applications for offensive – possibly an oxymoron – hobbit names submitted :: Read the full article »»»»

CHINA! Authorities Arrest Hundreds Over RAT MEAT Scam

Chinese authorities have broken a major crime racket that passed off more than $AU1 million in rat as mutton. Police have arrested 900 suspects since January for selling and producing fake or tainted meat products, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

During the crackdown, police discovered one suspect, surnamed Wei, had used additives to spice up and sell rat, fox and mink meat at markets in Shanghai and Jiangsu province. Despite persistent efforts by police, “food safety crimes are still prominent, and new situations are emerging with new characteristics”.

Food safety and environmental pollution are chronic problems in China and public anxiety over cases of fake or toxic food often spreads quickly. In April, many consumers lost their appetite for poultry as an outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu virus spread in China :: Read the full article »»»»

Doctor Eglinton’s Long Life Beer

Australian beer drinkers will soon have the option of buying a beer with a much longer shelf life, a new type of malt barley, developed by Adelaide researchers and a Japanese brewer, can curb beers propensity of tasting stale when left on the shelf.

The new barley variety ‘SouthernStar’ is the results of collaboration between the University of Adelaide and Sapporo Breweries. Importantly this new barley is not genetically modified, it’s been produced using conventional – albeit high tech – breeding techniques, utilising data from the recently completed Barley Genome Project .

South Australian farmers are to begin commercial production of the barley this year. Commercial crops grown in 2013 will be harvested in November/December, processed into malt in the first half of 2014 and used for commercial beer production in the later part of 2014 :: Read the full article »»»»

REBLOG! How To Go From Tourist to Traveller

No one wants to be a tourist any more. Everyone wants to be a local. SMH Traveller Ute Junker dolls out some great advice on how to blend in. “If you really want to understand a city, you need to live in it.: Ms Junker says, “What I love most is the way I’ve become attuned to the rhythms of the neighbourhood

Going local requires a commitment, and not just fixing your own breakfast or making your own bed. If you want to live local, you need to devote a decent amount of time to your chosen city. I’d recommend 10 days as a minimum. It takes you the best part of a week to settle into the rhythm, to become a familiar face in the neighbourhood.

Ms junker also has some concise tips on securing an apartment – the essential ingredient in a tranquil fitting-in – know your neighbourhood, Reputable companies should supply plenty of information about the neighbourhood on their website :: Read Ms Junkers Full SMH Article »»»»

Instant Noodle Sales Top 100 BILLION

In Australia they’re the staple diet of teenagers – Instant Noodles – globally the sale of these 2-minute-wonders has topped 100 billion units a year. Five decades after the easy-to-cook food’s launch, sales climbed again last year with China, Indonesia and Japan rounding out the world’s top three consumers, according to the Japan-based World Instant Noodles Association :: Read the full article »»»»