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Great moments in fatherhood:
Aussie mum Fiona Darroch, 57, has discovered that she has hundreds of siblings across the world after a DNA test revealed her OB-GYN godfather was actually her biological father - and a prolific sperm donor. She accidentally came across the discovery six years ago while looking for books her godfather, Dr Norman Walker, had written.
Dr Walker had communicated with her when she was a child and had given her war medals and photographs. This included a driver licence he had given when he was 16. When she compared the licence with pics of her own daughter, they were eerily similar, so Fiona quizzed her mother. Mum then fessed up that she had used a sperm donor but thought it had been sperm from a medical student. DNA testing revealed that the donor was the doctor who had in fact delivered her. Dr Walker had been using his own sperm at a time when fertility treatment was taboo and sperm donations were rare. Woman who were artificially inseminated were not given details and were apparently unaware Dr Walker was the donor.
Dr Walker had killed himself in 1977 but left behind an extended family. It is estimated that he used his own sperm for over 15 years and that according to DNA tests an projections there are siblings in the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and Australia, estimated at between 200-300.
Gallery:
Fiona Darroch’s daughter and Dr Walker
Dr Walker’s driver licence
Source:
7 news
22 September 2020
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Got crabs:
A family camping on Christmas Island off Western Australia’s far north-west coast, were ready to enjoy their barbeque meal when besieged by crabs that was reminiscent of the attacks in Starship Troopers.
Apparently the crabs, known as robber crabs and coconut crabs grow up to a metre in length and have a strong sense of smell. Apparently also they look fearsome but are harmless, and are known to steal from campsites.
Bad luck if you thought they could go into the pot. They are a protected species and can’t be eaten.
Gallery:
This kid has guts.
A crab climbed onto the table seeking food.
Source:
News.com
22 September 2020
Which gives me an opportunity to post a crab joke in very poor taste . . .
The day after he had lost his wife scuba diving, two grim-faced policemen paid Mr. Smith a visit.
"We're sorry to disturb you at this hour, Mr. Smith, but we have some information concerning your wife. Actually, we have some bad news, some pretty good news and some really great news. Which would you like to hear first?"
Fearing the worst, Mr Smith asked for the bad news first.
"We're sorry to inform you, sir," the policeman said, "we found your wife's body in the San Francisco Bay this morning."
"Oh, my God!" said a distraught Mr. Smith. "What's the good news?"
"When we pulled her up," said the policeman, "she had two five-pound lobsters and a dozen crabs on her."
"What?" a confused Mr Smith exclaimed. "So, what's the great news?"
The officer replied, "We're going to pull her up again tomorrow."
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Will Power:
Remember the joke I posted a day or two ago as part of the story about the barrister with the yellow Lamborghini? The joke went that a Native American named One-Man-Bucket explained that it was short for One-Man-Pouring-a-Bucket-of-Water-Over-Two-Dogs, the first thing his mother had seen when she emerged from the teepee with her new baby. He said that the one to feel sorry for was his twin brother, who had been born ten seconds before him. When asked whether his brother was called Two-Dogs-Fighting, One-Man-Bucket responds "Two-Dogs-Fighting? Two-Dogs-Fighting? Wow, he would have given his right arm to be called Two-Dogs-Fighting."
Now let me give you the other side of that coin: What happens in some places when you are born second.
Martin Janson was born a few minutes after his brother Alistair, meaning that Alistair becomes the 25th Earl of Sutherland and inherits Dunrobin Castle, with its 120,000 Scottish acres.
Dunrobin Castle
But he gets other assets under the Will of his late mother, right? Well, yes, but . . . .
Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, died last December, aged 98, leaving an estate worth £18 million.
Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland
She inherited Dunrobin Castle from her uncle in 1955, and she and Alistair restored it to its former glory after years of institutional use as a boys’ boarding school. It was then opened to the public.
But what about the other assets?
Three days before she died, the Countess changed her Will using Farrer & Co, the Queen’s solicitors.
Lady Annabel Bainton, the sister of Alistair and Martin, was bequeathed £3.5 million and she left £25,000 to each of her grandchildren, £10,000 to each of her great-grandchildren, and £5,000 both to Alistair’s current wife, Gillian, and to his first wife, Eileen.
Martin has been left £250,000.
It’s enough to make a body want to pack up, flash two fingers and settle in Los Angeles.
All I can say is, some people already in LA had better be wary if suits from Farrer & Co head through the front door of Buckingham Place with their briefcases.
Source:
Daily Mail Australia
22 September 2020
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Mark Chapman denied parole:
Meanwhile John Lennon’s killer, Mark Chapman. Has been denied parole an 11th time
Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment after shooting Lennon four times in December 1980 and first became eligible for parole in 2000. A transcript of the parole hearing has revealed that the board rejected Chapman's release on the grounds it 'would be incompatible with the welfare of society'. He will have to wait 2 years before applying again. He is now aged 65.
During the hearing, Chapman said he killed Lennon, 40, for 'glory' and admitted he deserves the death penalty.
'I just want to reiterate that I'm sorry for my crime,' he said. 'I have no excuse. This was for self-glory. I think it's the worst crime that there could be to do something to someone that's innocent.'
Chapman added: 'He (Lennon) was extremely famous. I didn't kill him because of his character or the kind of man he was. He was a family man. He was an icon. He was someone that spoke of things that now we can speak of and it's great.'
The killer apologised to Lennon's family, revealing he thinks about the murder 'all the time'.
He said: 'I assassinated him, to use your word earlier, because he was very, very, very famous and that's the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking self-glory, very selfish.
'I want to add that and emphasise that greatly. It was an extremely selfish act. I'm sorry for the pain that I caused to her (Ono). I think about it all of the time.'
Chapman, who was 25 when he murdered Lennon, said now he is older, he can see it was a 'despicable act' and 'pretty creepy'.
Chapman is married and his wife, 69, lives near the prison. In his meeting with the parole board, he described being deeply religious and a 'devoted Christian'.
He has not had an infraction behind bars since 1994, the board was told. Chapman is a clerk and a porter in a restricted block of the prison, where he was placed for his own safety, and wakes each day at 6.30am.
Asked if justice had been served, Chapman said 'I deserve zero, nothing,' adding he should have been given the death penalty following the killing.
He said: 'When you knowingly plot someone's murder and know it's wrong and you do it for yourself, that's a death penalty right there in my opinion.
'Some people disagree with me, but everybody gets a second chance now.'
He added: 'The view on the death penalty for me is a little up and down at times but for me I deserve that. I know I'm speaking for myself. I know what I did. I know who was in those shoes at that time.
'I know my thoughts. They were not thinking of him at all, his wife, his child, the fans, nobody. I was just thinking of me. That deserves a death penalty.
'He was a human being and I knew I was going to kill him. That alone says you deserve nothing and if the law and you choose to leave me in here for the rest of my life, I have no complaint whatsoever.' In its decision, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision board said it found Chapman's statement that 'infamy brings you glory' disturbing.
It commended his 'personal growth and productive use of time' but said his 'selfish actions stole the chance for future fans to experience the words of inspiration that this artist provide for millions of people. Your violent act caused devastation to not only family and former band members, but the world'.
Source:
The Daily Mail
22 September 2020
By the way:
2018 mugshot
I have a problem with a rationale that refuses parole (after 40 years) on the basis that Chapman deprived the world of Lennon’s “words of inspiration.” I’m not familiar with the parole process but should “what might have been” be a factor? Would Chapman have been out on parole if had killed Ringo instead? Something to ponder.
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