It's kind of tough getting a new angle on the tired old format of the exercise video, but yet again, our friends in Japan have succeeded where few dared to tread. Exercise yourself to superhero powers! Complete with bonus sinister laughing masked man in tights!

We weren't really into dolls when we were young, and should we ever get pregnant and then lose the baby at a late stage, or have a stillbirth or a cot death, we're pretty sure we still wouldn't be into dolls.

But if we were to change our mind, it's comforting to know that Footprints Reborn Nursery will make an exact replica doll of our dead baby that we can carry around with us. To, ah, aid the healing process, and doubtless speed up our divorce/confinement to a mental asylum.

"It may be a few months or it may be many years since you lost your precious angel. Here at Footprints Nursery we truly understand your pain as we also have been there.

...At Footprints Nursey we have on offer a very special product, We will custom make you a memorial baby to your needs, Whether it is from your precious angels photo or in the case of a miscarriage then it would be to what you dreamed your special little one would have looked like."

Dead baby dolls are available from $125 and upwards. And they say you can't put a price on happiness.

it's a funny old world [Footprints Nursery]

Or maybe not.

Well here's an interesting take on women's self defence strategies:

"Women should wear chastity belts to prevent rape, incest and other sex crimes, a prominent Islamic cleric in northern Malaysia was quoted as saying Friday. Abu Hassan Din Al Hafiz, speaking in the northern state of Terengganu, said chastity belts could protect women from a growing number of sex crimes in Malaysia, The Star newspaper reported.

'The best way to avert sex perpetrators is to wear protection,' Abu Hassan told a crowd of followers. My intention is not to offend women but to safeguard them from sex maniacs.'"

Perhaps they should cut off their tits and wear ball gags, too. We're just covering all the bases here.

[Malaysia now crossed off list of 'must do' places
[via]

We admit it must be pretty tough to be washing your dog, when its ear falls off because it had been cut off by the dog groomer and then glued back on.

So we have a lot of sympathy for Anni Sheriffius, of Pierce County, Wash:

"[Anni] said she was trying to wash off what she thought was dirt on her dog Jasmine's ear when the ear fell off. Sheriffius rushed her dog to the veterinarian to learn that the dog's ear had been cut off by a dog groomer and super-glued back on.

'And I saw the ear float away, and it freaked me out,' Sheriffius said. Jasmine, a shi tzu, had to undergo treatment for an infection.

Sheriffius said she still has the ear in a plastic bag, and has been crying for weeks at the thought of someone hurting her dog."

Well yeah, we feel your pain Anni dear, but maybe we should put down the plastic bag and give the ear a decent burial now. It's time for closure.

[ouch!]