UCLA Medical Center gave organ transplants to Japanese gangsters

John M. Glionna and Charles Ornstein for the LA Times:

UCLA Medical Center and its most accomplished liver surgeon provided a life-saving transplant to one of Japan's most powerful gang bosses, law enforcement sources told The Times.

In addition, the surgeon performed liver transplants at UCLA on three other men who are now barred from entering the United States because of their criminal records or suspected affiliation with Japanese organized crime groups, said a knowledgeable law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The four surgeries were done between 2000 and 2004 at a time of pronounced organ scarcity. In each of those years, more than 100 patients died awaiting liver transplants in the Greater Los Angeles region.

Adorable plush vegetables

Spotted at Sewing Stars.

"Day-glo" Toht custom figure

By Suckadelic.

The nest of Rotterdam

"Nest Rotterdam" hangs 50 meters above the street and was made by Benjamin Verdonck out of twigs, sand, polyurethane foam, and a few other materials. Official site.

Raid on Kosher Slaughterhouse Sparks Fears of Meat Shortage

"In a development with potential repercussions for consumers of kosher meat worldwide, the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse greatly curtailed production this past week after a raid by federal agents led to the arrest of hundreds of undocumented workers." Link. Via.

Health Partners' new mascot is a walking vial of urine

Official site. Read about it here. Via.

Colorful Lego spaceship

By Ed Diment.

Syria tried to hide its nuke facility by making it look like a ruined Byzantine fortress

Photo comparison here. Via.

"Fractal" drawers by Takeshi Miyakawa Design

Link. Via.

Bill Willingham originally intended that Peter Pan be the Adversary in Fables

I wanted the Adversary to be Peter Pan. Even when I was a kid, I couldn't understand why he was considered the good guy in these stories. Basically, he would come to our world and steal our kids. That just seemed pretty sinister. I thought, "Okay, we'll do a little turnaround on that, and make Peter Pan the evil Adversary, and that means that Captain Hook and his pirates were really were a crew that were going to Neverland and rescuing these kids, and they were painted as pirates only because Peter was doing the press releases." That was, I thought, a pretty good idea that we didn't get to do, because even though I carefully worked out that Pan was in public domain in America, he's still under copyright in England, because the Parliament did a special extension of copyright because all the income from Peter Pan books went to the Ormond Street Hospital for kids. So to keep the hospital having their income, they extended the copyright, and since we were going to sell Fables in England, we couldn't do it.

Read more of this interview (from August 2007) here. Via.

*Buy "Fables Covers: The Art of James Jean Vol. 1" at Amazon.

NASA wants to pay you $17,000 to stay in bed for 90 straight days

"The bed-rest experiment, to take place in the Human Test Subject Facility of Johnson Space Center, is designed to allow scientists to study some of the effects of microgravity on the human body." Read more here.

Procter & Gamble spends $300 million a month on advertising

Factoid found here.

350 injured in a horrific 60 vehicle pile-up on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway

Photos here. Via.

Plush Preying Mantis by Soto Softies

Flickr Link. Etsy Shop. Blog.

500lb man arraigned in parking lot because to big to enter courthouse

"A Long Island music shop owner accused of selling knockoff Gibson Les Paul guitars has been arraigned in a pickup truck in a courthouse parking lot after his lawyer said the 500-pound defendant couldn't walk into the courthouse." Link. Via.

Lockpicking Hamster

I've previously mentioned the upcoming benefit Dungeons & Dragons (With Girls!). As part of the benefit, you can donate money to buy your favorite adventurer special items. For example:

$15 Lockpicking Hamster

Cute and cuddly, hamsters have always made great companions and pets. And now you can buy one that's already been trained to pick nearly any lock you may stumble across! Unfortunately, they haven't been trained to detect traps, so please use with caution.
Hamsters can fit into even the smallest of gaps!

Click here to see the full item list.