It’s Black Suit Tuesday in Turkey.
Category: Strange News
More
It comes back to me now about how the people of Wyoming feel about Coloradans. Wash Park Prophet has an item on a proposal to eliminate semis on I-70 west of Denver. Key part of the plan: “The cross-country stuff can go on Interstate 80 across Wyoming or Interstate 40 across New Mexico.”
It seems a local IHOP in Quincy, Mass., was asking to hold your ID while you dined. And I get ticked when the hair cutting place wants my telephone number.
A Quinnipiac University poll asked people to rate their feelings concerning 20 politicans on a scale of 0-100.
Bottom three:
18) Sen. Bill Frist – 41.5
19) Sen. Harry Reid – 41.2
20) Sen. John Kerry – 39.6
Top three:
1) Rudolph Giuliani – 64.2
2) Sen. Barack Obama 58.8
3) Sen. John McCain 57.7
Well, except for Obama, those could be NewMexiKen’s bottom five. The full list is in a comment.
Did you hear about the cannibal restaurant? Missionaries were $10. Explorers were $15. Politicians were $100. When asked why the politicians were so much more, the cannibal chef replied, “Did you ever try to clean one?”
Canadian man on trial for putting baby in freezer
A Canadian man who could not figure out how to deal with his girlfriend’s feverish 10-month-old daughter put the baby into a freezer to cool her down, a local newspaper reported on Friday.
Derrick Hardy faces charges of criminal negligence and assaulting the infant, who was rescued when her mother came home, the Charlottetown Guardian said.
It’s hard to believe anyone is actually this stupid but it appears (from reading the rest of the article) that the guy was doing everything he could think of to reduce the baby’s fever. He was right about that.
Worst Travel Day of the Year
(CBS/AP) RAMSEY, N.J. Some wild turkeys, it appears, were trying to get out of New Jersey before Thanksgiving.
NJ Transit officials reported seeing a dozen or so wild turkeys waiting on a Ramsey train station platform Wednesday. The line continues to Mahwah and Suffern, N.Y.
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit, said the sighting wasn’t a joke.
“For a moment, it looked like the turkeys were waiting for the next outbound train,” he said “Clearly, they’re trying to catch a train and escape their fate.”
I’d Been Wondering What to Get The Sweeties for Christmas
Open up your very own pretend play tattoo parlor. This easy-to-use tattoo maker kit includes an electronic tattoo pen and funky stencils. Using soft, safe pulsating action, the tattoo pen creates realistic, washable designs with dramatic effects. Requires two AA batteries (not included).
Amazon.com: GR8 TaT2 Maker: Toys & Games
$14.99
4-2-3-9
Ohio State’s magical 42-39 victory over Michigan also turned out to be lucky for players of the Ohio Lottery.
The numbers 4-2-3-9 were drawn in Saturday night’s Pick 4 game with the lottery paying winnings of $2.19 million on wagers of $347,867.50.
Poll worker charged with assaulting voter
A poll worker at the United Auto Workers hall on Fern Valley Road was arrested after he was accused of assaulting a voter, said Lt. Col. Carl Yates, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriffs’ Office.
The worker, whose name has not been released, has been charged with interfering with an election and fourth-degree assault, said Yates, who had not other details.
Paula McCraney, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk, said the poll worker was accused of choking and pushing the voter out of the door. Election officials called the police and when an officer arrived, the voter wanted to file charges, McCraney said.
“That about tops off the day,” McCraney said.
As this is in the Louisville, Kentucky, area I’m glad to know Functional Ambivalent voted earlier.
Stick to the script
Not just Kerry, but now New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He comes on stage at the Latin Grammy Awards and welcomes the audience with “Hasta la vista.”
Which pretty much translates as “See ya’ later.”
Got the Munchies Instead
“Pro-marijuana activists in Nevada gathered 6,000 signatures on petitions for a ballot initiative but then forgot to file the petitions.”
— Chicago Sun-Times via “The Edge” in The Oregonian
First posted here a year ago.
What Did You Say Your Middle Name Was Again?
Freakonomics author Steven D. Levitt:
All of these clippings were from The Dallas News, from February 2006 to the present. The articles had two things in common: (1) all of them were stories reporting on crimes, and (2) the perpetrator’s middle name was “Wayne.”
I have to say I was stunned by the number of examples she sent me:
Eric Wayne Kelley—sex charges
Nathan Wayne Green—kidnapping and beating, homicide
Ronald Wayne Spencer, Jr.—triple homicide
David Wayne Rhodes—10 years for practicing nursing without a license
Larry Wayne King—homicide
Paul Wayne Mitchell—Theft
Michael Wayne Hills—theft
Jeremy Wayne Hopkins—homicide
Garry Wayne Carriker—knowingly having unprotected sex when HIV positive
Bruce Wayne Potts—homicide
Joshua Wayne Jones—assault of officer
Billy Wayne Sinclair—homicide
Billy Wayne Boyer—assault
Billy Wayne Miller—attempted murder and robbery
Kenneth Wayne Downs—sex assault
Jerry Wayne Lucas—attempted homicide
Tony Wayne Swinnie—aggravated assault of grandmother in front of her grandchildren, robbery
Larry Wayne Dacy—home invasion
Richard Wayne Miles—police standoff
Charles Wayne Thomas—homicideMaybe you could assemble a list this impressive for some other middle name, but I doubt it. Of course, these folks are following the path set for them by the notorious Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Sex-With-Corpse Scheme Busted
Woman’s obituary photo spurred Wisconsin trio’s grave robbery attempt. Details from The Smoking Gun.
One guy I can understand — there’s plenty of crazy people out there — but three guys. Now that’s strange.
The power of chocolate
Tuesday Mars offers two-million dark chocolate M&Ms as reward for finding Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”
Thursday painting found.
Coincidence, I think not.
Adding injury to injury
Denise Jack got a good news-bad news phone call from an insurance company yesterday regarding her blue 1993 Nissan Pathfinder, which was buried by an avalanche in Upper Manhattan last year and has been sitting beneath the mountain of dirt on Riverside Drive ever since.
The good news was that after more than a year of waiting and frustration, her sport utility vehicle would soon be dug out.
The bad news was that she would have pay to have the S.U.V. — or the presumably flattened hunk of metal, glass and rubber that was once her car — towed away.
The car, one of several, was buried May 12, 2005, when a wall collapsed. The car owners were told by the insurer for the building whose wall collapsed that they couldn’t be paid until the cars were unburied and vehicle identification numbers verified, etc.
I hope world cultures wasn’t on the Bar Exam
Law student #1: So where you going after the test?
Law student #2: I’m going to East Africa for 2 months. Last time I was there, they made me an honorary Maori tribesman.
Law student #1: Wow, you’ve gotta be the first gay, white honorary Maori tribesman ever.
Law student #2: Yeah, or at least one of the first 5.
–Bar exam line, Javits Center
The Maori live in New Zealand, not Africa.
NASA Can’t Find Original Space Tapes
Maybe they’re with the Ark of the Covenant in that big warehouse.
The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” a NASA spokesman said on Monday.
…Armstrong’s famous space walk, seen by millions of viewers on July 20, 1969, is among transmissions that NASA has failed to turn up in a year of searching, spokesman Grey Hautaloma said.
“We haven’t seen them for quite a while. We’ve been looking for over a year and they haven’t turned up,” Hautaloma said. (AOL News)
Early bird special
Norm Coleman Sr., the father of Minnesota’s junior senator, was cited for lewd and disorderly conduct Tuesday after police officers reported finding him engaged in a sex act in a car near a pizzeria on E. 7th St. in St. Paul.
A police report said officers were called to Savoy Inn at 7:40 p.m. to investigate a report that two people were having sex in a car. The police report stated a woman, Patrizia Marie Schrag, 38, also was cited for lewd and disorderly conduct.
The elder Coleman, 81, raised his son in New York City. He has since moved to Minnesota, and public records indicate he lives in St. Paul.
Sen. Coleman issued a statement after learning of the citation against his father.
“I love my father dearly,” the senator said. “I do not condone his actions or behavior, and I am deeply disturbed by what I have learned. He clearly has some issues that need to be dealt with, and I will encourage him to seek the necessary help.”
Link via Atrios, who points out it was during daylight. Hey, the man is 81, he doesn’t like to drive after dark.
Chimp playing Ms. PacMan
And no doubt scoring better than I would.
States Ban Hunting of Live Animals over the Internet
Louisiana has joined 21 other states in banning Internet hunting, the practice of using a mouse click to kill animals on a distant game farm.
The cyber-shooting idea was the brainchild of Texan John Lockwood, who started the web site Live-Shot.com.
The idea was this: Hunters sign up on the web site and pay some $1,500 or more. They schedule a session, then log on at their appointed time to watch a feeding station on the computer screen. The animal that was ordered–from wild hogs to antelope–is in the area, and when it approaches the food, the hunter moves on-screen crosshairs into place. A click of the mouse fires a rifle to kill the animal.
The armchair hunter’s trophy animal would then be mounted and shipped for display.
You know what it means, of course, that 22 states have banned internet hunting? It means 28 have not. Click/Bang!
Carnegie rolls over
New restrictions on library access mean homeless children can no longer borrow books from the Porter County library system.
The move also restricts borrowing for adults staying in a variety of Porter County residential shelters.
Update June 22: The library board rescinded this policy.
And ate it all up!
WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It was a real-life version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears — only in reverse — when a woman came home to find a young bear eating oatmeal in her kitchen.
The bear apparently entered through an open sliding glass door, broke a ceramic food container and started eating, West Vancouver police Sgt. Paul Skelton said.
Gives new meaning to that old saying
High Alert and Lowered Eyes
There’s a bunch of hungry gators in Florida according to a report in today’s New York Times:
While alligator attacks are not everyday occurrences in the state — only 17 fatal attacks have been reported since 1948 — three women have been killed by alligators in the past week, prompting concern among residents, visitors and state wildlife officials.
The women were 23, 28 and 43.
Power Is Shut Off Over One Cent
FLINT, Mich. – It was just a penny, but to Consumers Energy it was enough to cut off power in a local home. Jacqueline Williams, 41, of Flint had an electricity bill of $1,662.08 and paid all of it, except for one cent. That wasn’t enough for the power company, which blacked her out for seven hours Wednesday.
The CMS Energy Corp. subsidiary told Williams the power would not be turned on until the penny was received.
“I went down there, paid my penny and got a receipt,” Williams told The Flint Journal.
Shortly after, the electricity was turned back on.
Size matters
Among the crowing, slurs and insults being flung around in Mexico’s election race, campaign ads in this country are even competing over which candidate has the greatest manhood.
From television spots to interviews with presidential hopefuls, you could be forgiven for wondering if the only thing that counts in this election race is size.
“We know why we are with Roberto. It’s because he has big ones,” says a farmer in a TV spot to promote Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, candidate Roberto Madrazo, running in third place in opinion polls.
A radio ad for ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon, ranked second in polls, says the conservative is the one who could spur job creation because “he’s got balls.”
And Madrazo himself recently took a dig at leftist front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s manliness after the leftist opted not to take part in a live election debate on Tuesday. “He didn’t have the guts, he didn’t have the manhood to be in the debate,” Madrazo told a reporter.
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Bring out your dead
A 53-year-old German woman who was driving her dead mother across country to save on mortuary transportation costs was fined by police for disturbing a dead person’s peace.
“You’re not allowed to transport dead people in your private car,” said Ralf Schomisch, police spokesman in Koblenz, where the car was found after a tip-off from a mortuary.
“The corpse was on the back seat without a seat belt, which in this case didn’t really matter….”
Maybe if the woman had buckled her mother in.
A controversial television seance airing on Monday will claim it has reached the spirit of John Lennon, but viewers will have to pay $9.95 to find out what the peace-loving Beatle has to say.
The special, being carried on pay-TV service In Demand, was organized by the producers of a 2003 attempt to channel the late Princess Diana. That show failed to find Diana and received reviews that could have sunk the Titanic but it is estimated to have grossed close to $8 million.
I’m thinking all he’d be saying is, “Give peace a chance.”