News Weird News Compilation

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The discussion revolves around sharing unusual and funny news stories. One highlighted case involves artist Peter Doig, who is being sued for $5 million by a man claiming a painting is his, despite Doig's insistence that he did not create it. Another story features inmates in Texas who broke out of their cell to save an unconscious guard, raising questions about their behavior. Additionally, a couple of dogs in the UK were caught damaging cars, leading to their eventual capture and a search for adoptive homes. The thread showcases a variety of bizarre incidents, emphasizing the oddities found in everyday news.
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  • #452
New constellation: astro-bird
potw1941a.jpg
 
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  • #454
Tghu Verd said:
Stranger uses bank transfers to return man's lost wallet

Ingenious use of micro-payments, I'd say!

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/1...o-return-mans-lost-wallet/6601571255550/?sl=3
I am impressed even more by the determined kindness of the Stranger. One's wallet contains much of a modern person's identity and 'pocket money' in the form of rf chips and magnetic strips along with government issued licenses and ID cards.

We likely have the technology and ability to embed or otherwise secure an rf "wallet" in/on a person; something I expect to experience within my (age-limited) lifetime depending on social acceptance and the odd miniaturization technique.
 
  • #456
Turning down my brain activity now!
 
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  • #457
BillTre said:
Turning down my brain activity now!
Thinking hard about how to do this.

I'm doomed if I can't figure it out soon!
 
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  • #459
berkeman said:
This is worse than Flying Sharks! :woot:
... the more as many people seem to have already drawn consequences from this.
 
  • #460
Ibix said:
Thinking hard about how to do this.

I'm doomed if I can't figure it out soon!
Do like I did, and change the subject to "people":

OP; "Can anyone solve my impossibly hard thermodynamics problem?"​
Om; "I worked on your problem for a bit yesterday, but nearing the end, I think I suffered a minor stroke. ... {blah, blah, blah} ... ps. Do you know Dave?"​
OP; ":olduhh: Which Dave?"​
etc, etc, etc...​
{paraphrased for brevity}​

It's possible I may have used the following information, in pursuit of my survival:

“Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas.”​
--- Henry Thomas Buckle​
 
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  • #461
Yesterdays local paper had a couple of zingers that made me laugh for hours. The title of the first one says it all (can't give the link to the local paper - its behind a paywall - but it has gone viral so is freely available elsewhere and I can give a link to one of those). The title was 'QLD mum busted after son takes her drug stash to school for 'Show & Tell'. Here is the link: https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/qld-mum-busted-after-son-takes-her-drug-stash-to-school-for-show-tell/news-story/f859bba8a138a0636feda70d014e8204

The second one involves a bit of background. There are extinction rebellion protests going on here in Brisbane at the present where the protesters do things like glue themselves to a main road in the middle of the city. Its dangerous and on that count a solution that respects their right to protest and safety concerns needs to be found.

Most people however get really mad and say they should not be allowed to protest which I personally, and deeply, disagree with. We are a free democratic country and freedom of speech is one of its fundamental tenets. Anyway the protesters would meet at the Brisbane City Council Library before conducting their protests. So the council decided, wrongly IMHO, to ban them from the Library.

One of the councilmen from the greens party was very outspoken about the issue and the council meeting broke into this whole climate change skeptic vs alarmist 'discussion'. Totally unproductive of course and they decided to ban one of the very pro climate change councilmen. Again I personally on free speech grounds opposed that and was quite vocal in my reply online.

One person said - OK - what would you do then. I thought about it and, half tongue in cheek, said - well let's get the pro climate change person to write a paper paper briefing the council on climate change and have it peer reviewed by Professor Peter Ridd who is a known climate change skeptic - you can look him up - his story is an interesting one about academic freedom.

I personally thought it would have been great fun to see happen, and couldn't stop laughing thinking about it, but what surprised me was the number of people that agreed. I hasten to say this in no way diminishes the public danger issues of people gluing themselves to the road - that needs resolution in some way that still respects the right to protest.

Thanks
Bill
 
  • #463
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  • #465
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  • #466
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  • #470
https://www.kptv.com/general/two-arkansas-chemistry-professors-arrested-for-allegedly-making-meth/article_1be7e6dd-a490-5c4b-8725-25a6f01a49d2.html
 
  • #471
bhobba said:
Yesterdays local paper had a couple of zingers that made me laugh for hours. The title of the first one says it all (can't give the link to the local paper - its behind a paywall - but it has gone viral so is freely available elsewhere and I can give a link to one of those). The title was 'QLD mum busted after son takes her drug stash to school for 'Show & Tell'. Here is the link: https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/qld-mum-busted-after-son-takes-her-drug-stash-to-school-for-show-tell/news-story/f859bba8a138a0636feda70d014e8204

The second one involves a bit of background. There are extinction rebellion protests going on here in Brisbane at the present where the protesters do things like glue themselves to a main road in the middle of the city. Its dangerous and on that count a solution that respects their right to protest and safety concerns needs to be found.
Glue themselves to the road?

Most people however get really mad and say they should not be allowed to protest which I personally, and deeply, disagree with. We are a free democratic country and freedom of speech is one of its fundamental tenets. Anyway the protesters would meet at the Brisbane City Council Library before conducting their protests. So the council decided, wrongly IMHO, to ban them from the Library.

One of the councilmen from the greens party was very outspoken about the issue and the council meeting broke into this whole climate change skeptic vs alarmist 'discussion'. Totally unproductive of course and they decided to ban one of the very pro climate change councilmen. Again I personally on free speech grounds opposed that and was quite vocal in my reply online.

One person said - OK - what would you do then. I thought about it and, half tongue in cheek, said - well let's get the pro climate change person to write a paper paper briefing the council on climate change and have it peer reviewed by Professor Peter Ridd who is a known climate change skeptic - you can look him up - his story is an interesting one about academic freedom.

I personally thought it would have been great fun to see happen, and couldn't stop laughing thinking about it, but what surprised me was the number of people that agreed. I hasten to say this in no way diminishes the public danger issues of people gluing themselves to the road - that needs resolution in some way that still respects the right to protest.

Thanks
Bill
Borg said:
I guess now she will have to limit her pictures to the edge of the Grand Canyon. :oldeyes:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/woman-selfie-cruise-royal-caribbean-intl-scli/index.html
Seeing more and more people falling to their death taking selfies. Darwin Award.
 
  • #472
Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone National Park Hot Pool

An Oregon man who died in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring and dissolved when he fell into the boiling, acidic water, was looking to soak in the water, park officials said in a report.
His sister filmed it, but refused to air it after he died. Go figure.
 
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  • #473
Evo said:
His sister filmed it, but refused to air it after he died. Go figure.
Definitely a Darwin Award.

I've preached for years: Kids, pay attention to your STEM classes! Friction keeps you on the road, plants are poisonous, and sulfur and water isn't good for life. One should gather those examples next time someone asks what school is good for!
 
  • #474
Evo said:
Glue themselves to the road?

Yes - that's what they literally did. They super-glued themselves to a main road in the center of Brisbane. Very, very dangerous of course and it takes a long time for police to free them. Despite my strong belief in free speech that obviously could not continue. Its not going on now because they passed special legislation in Parliament with very strong penalties - but if that deters them long term we will see. They then shifted to Melbourne where a mining conference was held. A reporter interviewed one of them saying it was a peaceful protest about mining and global warming. Fair enough - peaceful protests are all part of the democracy most of us enjoy. But the camera panned back and you could see protesters punching police including harassing the horses some were on. Bad move - 50 were arrested and charged. I don't know why they do it - surely they know its not a long term strategy that will work. Of course they bring up the suffragettes whose cause was not only valid but vital for a better society. They participated in similar 'violent' protests such as whipping Winston Churchill. Its an interesting discussion if such is a valid protest tactic when your cause is so obviously correct, but not really appropriate for this site. Personally I am not a fan - but its debatable.

Thanks
Bill
 
  • #475
fresh_42 said:
I've preached for years: Kids, pay attention to your STEM classes!

If they take them. One current affair host over here openly boasts she deliberately wanted to stay clear of STEM subjects even though you get bonus admission points to get into university if you take them. She did law, but it's a bit of a 'giggle' when she espouses her global warming skeptic views after deliberately avoiding studying any science.

Thanks
Bill
 
  • #476
First, I heard of this - rats in tiny little rat cars.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ined-rats-to-drive-tiny-cars-to-collect-food/Apparently it relaxes the rat driver. And they kept on driving even when the reward ( food ) at destination was removed - maybe going around in circles.

And then this.
WELL, Dogs can drive too.
Max did, though, keep going around in circles, for a whole hour. I guess that was fun enough.
An accident they say that he knocked the car into reverse.
My foot! He only stopped driving when he had to get out to pee.
https://nypost.com/2019/11/22/florida-dog-left-in-car-drives-in-circles-befuddling-cops/
 
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  • #477
256bits said:
Apparently it relaxes the rat driver. And they kept on driving even when the reward ( food ) at destination was removed

1574548454917.png
 
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  • #478
https://www.kptv.com/news/who-wants-to-help-clean-whale-bones-massive-whale-skeleton/article_9039dc70-0d5e-11ea-931f-43a329960d0c.html
NEWPORT, OR (KPTV) - The skeleton of a 78-foot blue whale was brought back to dry land this week. It will be preserved and eventually prepared for public display.

To help get it there, volunteers are needed to remove oil and fat from the whale bones that have been sitting in Yaquina Bay for several years.
 
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  • #482
You don't need a gun to do dangerous things:

https://www.vvng.com/motorist-on-i-15-stop-to-play-in-snow-on-the-runaway-truck-ramp-in-cajon-pass/ said:
Motorist on I-15 stop to play in snow on the runaway truck ramp in Cajon Pass

runaway-truck-ramp.png
​

CAJON PASS, Calif. (VVNG.com) — Saturday was another busy day for the California Highway Patrol as they received numerous calls reporting motorists stopping to play in the snow along the I-15 freeway in the cajon pass.

On Saturday, November 30, 2019, at 8:32 am, dispatch logged a call on the NB I-15, north of Oak Hill Road of several vehicles pulled over to the right shoulder and people playing in the snow.

At 12:23 pm a traffic hazard was reported on the southbound I-15 at the runaway truck ramp.

Victor Valley News Group member Shirley McConnell was traveling though the pass when she was flabbergasted by the hoards of people pulled over to play in the snow.

According to CHP incident logs, six vehicles were pulled over and twelve people were out of their vehicle and snowboarding on the truck ramp.

“People are out of their cars on the 15 freeway on cajon pass playing in the snow with their children. “They are on the truck runaway ramp. I hope a truck does not lose its brakes and need to use it. This is a shame,” stated McConnell.

snowplay-cajon-pass-12-1024x602.png

A similar problem was reported by motorists traveling northbound on the I-15 in the Mountain Pass area.

Thankfully no injuries were reported.
 
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  • #483
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212780184459436&set=gm.3011852048842944&type=3&theater said:
Something you don't see everyday, as it is a very rare thing to occur... Gearheads will brag about how their car can do burnouts... Trains can do a burnout too!

This obviously isn't supposed to happen... The engineer operating the locomotive that did this is in deep doo-doo with his bosses. Locomotives have things called "wheel-slip indicators" on them. His either didn't work, or he ignored it for whatever reason. But my goodness, if the thing didn't start rolling after moderate throttle, why throttle up and burn the rail?

rL6UWxSdlGP5RUklysAiz8eqYQ&_nc_ht=scontent.fymq2-1.jpg

Apparently, this is a real thing.
 
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  • #484
berkeman said:
An early front-runner for the 2020 Darwin Awards...

A man was shot to death by the handmade device he made to protect his home

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/01/us/maine-man-booby-trap/index.html

View attachment 253541
If you're curious, this sort of thing is illegal in the USA [well, at least many states within], so I would recommend against doing these sorts of things. Here is some background on the setting up booby-traps in your own home, from a legal perspective (USA):

 
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  • #485
Yeah, booby traps are bad news. I work part-time in EMS, and sometimes have to enter areas for wellfare checks or to try to find somebody who has called EMS for help. Getting shot or blown up on calls like that would be a bad thing...
 
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  • #486
Another trade war? U.S. is no longer trading with Wakanda.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it removed the fictional country of Wakanda from an online list of nations that have free trade agreements with the United States on Thursday.
 
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  • #488
I get this message in the above post.

Cannot load tweet. Disable your adblocker and tracking protection.[/color]

Uhmm, no thanks!
 
  • #490
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  • #491
OCR said:
Lol. . .

"Clean Cut"

.

I love those DUST 'shorts'.
 
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  • #492
nsaspook said:
I love those DUST 'shorts'.
Same for me. . . . 👍
.
 
  • #493
Tumbleweeds block WA highway, trapping people in their cars.
Screen Shot 2020-01-01 at 4.34.34 PM.png


Several vehicles and one semi truck slowed down because of low visibility and eventually came to a stop, Thorson said. Then they got covered in tumbleweeds, rendering them unable to proceed.
The piles of tumbleweeds were as high as 20 to 30 feet in some places, Thorson said, blocking SR 240 around mile post 10, about 20 miles west of Richland in the south-central part of the state.

Tumble weeds do their tumbling as a seed distribution technique. After the plants have grown and made seeds, they dry up and break off from their roots and roll around dropping their seeds in areas distant from the parental plant.
 
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  • #494
Yeah, my wife and I just saw that on our local news TV broadcast. We looked at each other like, "what?" o0)
 
  • #495
Sign of the Apocalypse?
 
  • #496
Reminded me of
 
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  • #498
 

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