Watercooler Stories

Church members get matching tattoos

DORAL, Fla., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A group of Florida church members hit a South Beach shop for matching tattoos, but the design they got -- 666 -- wouldn't appeal to some Christians.

Members of the Growing in Grace congregation in Doral say 666 is a symbol for their prophet and church leader, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, who calls himself the Antichrist, the Miami Herald reported. About 30 members of the flock went for the tattoo.

In Christian circles, 666 is considered a sign of Satan.

"This (tattoo) is backing up what I truly believe," Alvaro Albarracin, told the newspaper. "It's like a brand. It's like a sign."

Critics say Growing Grace is a cult and the tattoo outing just shows how much power the church's leader has over its members. But members of the church said DeJesus brings them spiritual fulfillment.

DeJesus' church was small 20 years ago, but now it's a worldwide empire -- with 200 pastors, 287 radio shows, 335 education centers and a Spanish-language TV network, the Herald said.

British equality group violates own rules

LONDON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission, which fights for gender equality in the workplace, appears to be violating its own rules.

The EOC plans to ask 40,000 British public authorities in April to pay attention to gender equality in their hiring procedures, but the organization staff is just 18 percent male, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Commissioner Amanda Ariss said the discrepancy is the result of a limited marketplace, not gender discrimination.

She said the group is actively pursuing more male employees, but low staff turnover and a lack of male recruits make such an effort difficult.

"It's true. We have more women than men," she said. "We're well aware of the issue and we've put a lot of effort into trying to attract more men."

Court says NYC must pay for sex change

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A New York judge is ordering city taxpayers to pay for a 21-year-old man's sex-change operation, the New York Post reports.

"I don't think it's hit me yet. The consequences are so far reaching," Mariah Lopez told newspaper after her victory in Manhattan Family Court.

Judge Sheldon Rand said the city's Administration for Children's Services must pay for all "necessary" care for children in its care. Lopez was in ACS care when her legal battle began.

She suffers from a diagnosed gender-identity disorder and surgery is the recognized treatment, the judge said in a ruling that will be released Thursday, the Post reported.

"This court has recognized that gender-identity disorder is a real condition and there is a real solution to it and people don't have to suffer from it," Rand wrote.

Lopez told the court the surgery would cost between $15,000 and $20,000.

The city plans to appeal, a lawyer told the newspaper.

Sharpton, Thurmond linked through slavery

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is amused after learning his relatives were once slaves owned by relatives of late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.

The New York Daily News said Sharpton was in disbelief when he learned that his great-grandfather's family was once owned by a distant relative of the late senator.

"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," Sharpton said. "But nothing -- nothing -- could prepare me for this."

The link was made by genealogists, who used historical documents to prove that Coleman Sharpton -- along with a woman and two children thought to be his family -- were owned by Julia Thurmond.

The late senator's great-great-grandfather was Julia Thurmond's grandfather.

Sharpton managed to joke about his genealogical link to Thurmond, who was for many years a strong proponent of racial segregation.

"Maybe, I'm the revenge of Coleman," he told the Daily News.

After Thurmond's death in 2003 at age 100 it was disclosed the man who ran for president as a "DIxiecrat" in 1948 on a segregation platform, had fathered a daughter, Essie Mae Washington Williams, with his family's black maid when he was 22.