Category: Strange News

From Wired News: Furthermore:

Santa Claus can add this kid to his “naughty” list: An Arkansas boy who got wind of the Christmas gift his mother bought him allegedly assaulted her and threatened her with decapitation. The 13-year-old demanded that the present be returned and the cash handed over to him, then backed up his demands by picking up a butcher knife with an 8-inch blade and threatening to use it to cut off his mom’s head, police said. “He said that all would have been well if she had just bought him the correct present,” said the officer who arrested the troubled teenager. Somebody’s getting a stocking full of coal.

From Wired News: Furthermore —

What are giant African rats good for, anyway? In Mozambique, the critters are doing a bang-up job detecting deadly land mines, which have killed and injured an unknown number of people since the country’s civil war ended more than a decade ago. Unlike mine-detecting canines, which are prone to boredom on the job, rats seem to enjoy sniffing out land mines. Plus, they happily accept cheap rewards, like bananas and peanuts, and can perform monotonous tasks for long periods. They also work single-mindedly and can be deployed in large numbers due to their small size and light weight. “It is a stereotype, but rats have proved to work better (than men) and pose little danger,” commented a delegate to a conference on the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which banned land mines.

Which reminds me. Did you hear the National Institutes of Health have decided not to use lab rats any longer? They’re going to use lawyers instead. For three reasons. One, there are more lawyers than rats. Two, the lab technicians sometimes grew attached to the rats. And, three, there are some things rats won’t do.

(With apologies to lawyers, including especially those I love.)

This from BoingBoing, which has an image of the x-ray:

Jesus was spotted inside the mouth of a devout Christian in Phoenix, Arizona. Magically, Jesus’s presence was only revealed by a dental x-ray. Perhaps the man has been eating too many grilled cheese sandwiches. Link

First loaves (the grilled cheese sandwich), now fishes:

KINGSTON, Ontario – An eastern Ontario man is hoping to make a bit of money by auctioning a fish stick he says looks like Jesus.

Fred Whan, who has kept the fish stick in his freezer since burning it at dinner a year ago, decided Tuesday that it was time to thaw it out so he could sell it on eBay.

A Florida woman recently sold a decade-old grilled cheese sandwich with the toasty visage of what’s purported to be the Virgin Mary for $28,000, according to the eBay Web site.

From Canadian Press via AZCentral. Click image to enlarge.

An Oregon man who got tired of speeders racing past his house planted a faux sheriff’s cruiser in his yard to encourage motorists to ease off the gas pedal. Rick Pyburn’s plywood cop car façade seems to be doing the trick. “Once I placed that on the highway, it was amazing,” he said. “The traffic immediately slowed down.” Pyburn said lead-footed (and cold-hearted) drivers had become dangerous, running over five of his chickens. “People hit ’em and just keep on going,” he said. The county sheriff’s office said it doesn’t mind the crime-fighting help, and the entrepreneurial Pyburn says he plans to market an upgraded model made of a waterproof composite.

Wired News Furthermore

But, of course, this begs the main question: Why were Pyburn’s chickens crossing the road?

Three days shy of her 57th birthday, a New York woman this week became the oldest American ever to give birth to twins. Aleta St. James, a motivational speaker, said she had always wanted children, but her career kept her too busy. Three years ago she decided the time had come. She tried to get pregnant naturally, then underwent $25,000 worth of fertility treatments. Finally, she was successfully implanted with a donor egg fertilized by an ex-boyfriend. St. James, the sister of Guardian Angels leader Curtis Sliwa, brushed aside the suggestion it was unwise to have children so late in life. “What you lack in energy,” she said, “you make up for in wisdom.”

— The Week Magazine

Wisdom? She’s entitled to her choice, of course, but wise?

Red Ted teaches history:

I am also grading homework, including one poor student who when asked “Should Andrew Jackson be on the U.S. money?” responded by cutting and pasting some 200 words from his official biography on the White House web site. At least the student changed the plagarized material, if only by deleting about every 4th sentence.

PORTAGE, Wis. – A woman has been arrested for digging up her dead boyfriend’s ashes from a cemetery more than 10 years ago and drinking the beer that was buried with him, possibly out of spite for his family, authorities say.

AP via Anchorage Daily News

Via Dave Barry

Update: NewMexiKen now realizes the crime was committed 10 years ago and the beer was consumed when reasonably fresh.

From The Week Newsletter:

A California library was chagrined to discover that its new $40,000 mosaic of famous people in history misspells 11 names, including “Eistein,” “Shakespere,” and “Van Gough.” The city of Livermore quickly voted to spend $6,000 to have artist Maria Alquilar fix her mistakes, but she refused, saying that spelling was not important to the spirit of the work. “There seems to be so much hatred within certain people,” she said. “They continuously look for a scapegoat. I guess I am the sacrificial goat.”

No, just ignorant.

In a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle a writer suggeested:

Rather than accept any blame or offer any apology, Alquilar responded that “the people are into humanities and are into (William) Blake’s concept of enlightenment — they are not looking at the words. In their mind, the words register correctly.”

The City Council, having already spent $40,000 on the project, voted to spend $6,000 more — plus expenses — to fly Alquilar back from Florida to fix it.

I think the City Council has available a simple solution to save precious money: Upon completion of the work, issue a check for $6, not $6,000. In my mind, the numbers register correctly.

A story from Jason Kottke —

Last week, I saw a guy almost get hit by a van while crossing the street. He was pissed and understandably so. He was in the crosswalk with the walk signal and the guy in the van was super aggressive in trying to get through; the guy actually had to run out of the way to avoid being knocked down. The guy was so pissed that when the van finally stopped to let him pass, he reached through the window and beat the driver on the head with his cell phone. As a sympathetic pedestrian, I almost went over there to help him.

Pregnant woman complains nearby jackhammer noise may harm her unborn child. What’s interesting is that the photo of her shows her pregnant and smoking.

Link via Life or Something Like It.

Here’s why. (Background from NewMexiKen here).

Especially don’t miss this postage stamp.

What can happen when you leave children Home Alone.

From Functional Ambivalent:

Cuban rancher Raul Hernandez has done something impressive: He’s proven the resiliency of the human spirit and the comic impotence of Communism at the same time.

I give you: Patio Cows.

Standing about 23 to 28 inches tall, the mini cows can be kept in a small area and they feed on simple grasses and weeds, Hernandez says.

“They are patio cows, easy to work,” the 74-year-old says, smiling under the broad hat he wears to keep off the tropical sun. “They give up less meat, but they can deliver four or five liters (quarts) of top quality milk to a family.”

Hernandez bred the cows as a hobby in his retirement, showing an inventive, entrepreneurial spirit. On the other hand, his invention — homegrown milk — is a technology that industrialized societies abandoned 150 years ago.

Still, I’m looking forward to seeing people in the streets, walking their cows.

Follow the link to see a photo.

Notice at the official Kinsey Institute web site:

The Kinsey Institute is NOT involved in a study about IQ; we have no reason to believe that IQ changes after childbirth. This story is circulating through emails, and is not true. The Kinsey Institute has not been, and is not involved in this ‘study.’ But thanks for checking!

And here is the diclaimer from the original source:

The Hoosier Gazette is a satirical newspaper published by The Hoosier Gazette

The Hoosier Gazette uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

From CNN.com —

A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver’s trigger.

Jerry Allen Bradford, 37, was charged with felony animal cruelty, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. He was being treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to his wrist.

Bradford said he decided to shoot the 3-month-old shepherd-mix dogs in the head because he couldn’t find them a home, according to the sheriff’s office.

On Monday, Bradford was holding two puppies — one in his arms and another in his left hand — when the dog in his hand wiggled and put its paw on the trigger of the .38-caliber revolver. The gun then discharged, the sheriff’s report said.

NewMexiKen waited at a stoplight yesterday next to a VW GTI. In the back seat were two young ‘uns — boys about four and six. Neither was in a car seat. Neither had a seat belt on.

This offense shouldn’t be a traffic violation. It should be an arrest for child abuse.

From the Hoosier Gazette:

A five-year study run by Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction proves what many in the scientific community have always suspected: having children significantly lowers the IQ of both male and female parents.

Researchers at the Kinsey Institute began their study in 1999 by giving 200 married couples who were planning on starting families within the next four years Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests. By 2003, all but 27 of these couples had conceived.

Another IQ test was given to each set of parents successful in conceiving and birthing a baby six months after their child was born. These results were compared to the previous intelligence tests.

In every single one of the 173 cases, both parents scored at least twelve points lower on the second IQ test, with the majority of parents losing twenty or more IQ points.

1. Scented candles
2. Cheap cologne
3. Bath salts
4. Decorative plates
5. Tight fitting clothing
6. Cuddly soft toys
7. Artificial flowers
8. Socks
9. Boxed handkerchiefs
10. Novelty mugs

NewMexiKen likes mugs.

Link via Functional Ambivalent.

From Dwight Perry at Sideline Chatter:

A rabbit that picked the wrong pile of dead branches as a hiding place last week exacted its revenge on the Devizes Cricket Club in Wiltshire, England.

Minutes after a club cleanup crew lit the pile ablaze, the rabbit came scurrying out and high-tailed it for alternate shelter — in this case, the club’s storage shed.

Just one problem: The critter had been set afire, too. As a result, the flames spread rabbitly into the outbuilding, destroying it as well as lawnmowers and other tools worth $100,000 by the time two fire engines arrived.

“The firemen were certainly concerned about the rabbit,” club chairman John Bedbrook told Reuters. “They felt sorry for it.”

Fire officials, saying the remains were too badly charred, nonetheless suspect this rabbit had four unlucky feet.

From CNN Money:

Warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale, bulk seller of products to help save you money in life, is offering a way to save money in death, too.

The Issaquah, Wash.-based No. 1 wholesale club operator is testing six models of steel caskets at two of its locations in the Chicago area. …

The suggested retail price for each casket is $799.99 …

But you have to buy them in packs of four.

From Boing Boing, a tool you can use.

Remember Koko, the gorilla who can use sign language? Well, as CNN reports, she had a toothache:

When Koko the gorilla used the American Sign Language gesture for pain and pointed to her mouth, 12 specialists, including three dentists, sprang into action.

The result? Her first full medical examination in about 20 years, an extracted tooth and a clean bill of health.

Koko is 33.

A Pennsylvania man who answered honestly when his doctor asked if he drank alcohol—six to ten beers a day, replied Keith Emerich—had his driver’s license suspended when the doctor reported him to the Department of Transportation. Emerich, 44, argued that he doesn’t drink and drive, and said that at 250 pounds he can drink six beers in two hours and maintain a legal blood-alcohol level. “I’m just a regular Joe Six-pack,” he said.

Source: The Week Newsletter