THE WEEK Oct 21, 2011

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Green scarf: the new dunce cap

Parents in the Chinese city of Xi'an were outraged this week over their children being publically humiliated in school. A primary school forced underachieving students to wear green scarves in a move the school said would encourage them to grow like green plants. The school quickly ended the program after several complaints. But if it were up to The Week, there are a few people who deserve to be greened.

Live news blunders

Famed singer Harry Belafonte should get a green neck after he was caught sleeping, or as he claims, "meditating", during a live news broadcast to discuss his new book. For analysis on this and other live TV news blunders, we turn to The Week’s Clark Cahill.

Medieval punishment

A couple in the US is facing assault charges after punishing their daughter for attending a party without permission. As punishment, the girl's stepfather, who is part of a group of renaissance enthusiasts, forced her to dress in armor and wield a wooden sword. The two battled for two hours until the girl collapsed from exhaustion. That's pretty outrageous punishment, but what if her parents had different hobbies?

Road kill diet

Reports surfaced this week about a man in the UK who has been eating a diet of road kill for the past 30 years. The man finds animals on the side of the road which have been killed by automobiles, takes them home and cooks them to eat. Is that so bad?

This wacky world!

Exotic animals were running wild in the American state of Ohio on Wednesday. After escaping a wild animal preserve, police were forced to shoot and kill more than 40 animals, including lions, tigers and bears. That sounds like the Wizard of Oz.

The deputy director of a cancer institute in Tianjin, China, blames the rising rate of breast cancer in the country on China's increasingly Western lifestyle, its opening-up policy and economic growth. That doesn't seem accurate.

Fishermen in the Gulf of California caught a shark with one eye in the center of its head. I wonder if it has powers like Cyclops from the X-Men.