JOKE: Washing the Dog

The young boy struggled to put the extra-large box of laundry detergent up on the checkout. Making conversation, the clerk asked if he had a lot of laundry to do. 

"Nope," said the boy, "I'm just going to wash my dog." 

"Oh, but son, you shouldn't use laundry detergent to wash your dog. It might make him sick. It might even kill him!" The boy said nothing, but looked unconvinced. A week later the same boy came back to the same checker. She asked him how his dog was. 

"Oh, he died," said the boy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I told you not to use laundry detergent on him." 

"Oh, it wasn't the detergent that killed him." Said the boy. 

"Oh, really? Well, then; what was it?"

"I'm betting it was the spin cycle!" 

JOKE: A man decided to take up golf

A man decided to take up golf, so he signed up for lessons with the local pro.

The pro showed him the proper stance and grip and swing and then said, "Now just hit the ball toward the flag on the first green." The novice teed up and smacked a beauty, straight down the fairway, onto the green, stopping inches from the hole.

"Now what?" the man asked the shocked pro.

"Uh, you're supposed to hit the ball into the cup."

"Oh, great!" said the beginner in a disgusted tone. "Now you tell me!"

DESPICABLE: Mother accused of unhooking terminal son's IV, injecting herself

A Vancouver, Wash., woman, visiting her terminally ill child at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, was arrested over the weekend on charges she stole drugs from her son's intravenous line and injected herself.

Karen Remsing, who turned 42 on Sunday, is charged with child endangerment, reckless endangerment, theft, criminal mischief, and committing prohibitive acts including possession of the prescription medication.

Pittsburgh police said Ms. Remsing temporarily disconnected a tube that had been providing a sedative to the boy, 15.

She used syringes, stolen from a hospital tray, to siphon the drug, which she allegedly injected into herself, police said.

The charges include the suspect's reconnection of the I.V., which left an air bubble in the tube that further threatened the boy's life, police said.

Ms. Remsing is being held in the Allegheny County Jail on $75,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing set for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in Municipal Court.

10-year-old 'Romanian' girl gives birth to healthy baby in Spain

The hospital in the southern town of Jerez where the girl gave birth

A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said yesterday. The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region's social affairs minister.

Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health. Her department declined to give further details, such as the sex of baby. Spanish newspapers said the mother is of Romanian origin.

The daily Diario de Jerez quoted medical staffers who treated the girl as saying they were told by her mother that giving birth at such a young age is common in their country. The mother was admitted to a 'minimum care' ward at the hospital and gave birth naturally to the 6.3lb baby.

The mother appeared to tell hospital staff her daughter 'lived with her boyfriend' back in Romania. Medical experts warn that because young girls are still growing themselves, they are at higher risk during pregnancy. Studies have shown that teenage girls are more likely to give birth to premature babies and their infants have a higher chance of dying by age one.

Worst Job in the World? Indian Toilet Cleaners

Hundreds of Indian workers employed to manually clean non-flush toilets have protested in Delhi against their working conditions. They say that the authorities have failed to act despite declaring such work illegal, and should issue an apology for decades of discrimination. Government figures suggest that about 300,000 low-caste Dalits are still employed in such work.

They are estimated on average to earn less than $4 (�2.50) a month. The demonstrators began their protests a month ago by criss-crossing the country to highlight their demands. Manual "scavenging" - removing human excreta from dry or non-flush toilets - is a centuries-old practice in India.

It is mainly carried out by the Dalits, formerly known as the untouchables, who are at the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system. They go from house to house every morning to collect night soil, a euphemism for human faeces. Although manual scavenging is prohibited by law, some government departments still have such workers. These include the railways ministry, which employs people to clean railway tracks as most trains have open-discharge toilets.

Government figures show there are more than 300,000 manual scavengers in India, but unofficial estimates put the number at more than one million. The organizers of the protest say they want the government to completely eradicate the practice and rehabilitate those engaged in it. They say that there will be a countrywide protest from November if the government fails to meet their demands.