News Weird News Compilation

[Evo]

I'm always finding weird things in the news and thought it might be fun if we all shared odd stories we came across. Please feel free to post odd, funny or unusual stories in this thread.

Turns out that Zoobyshoe beat me in posting about this in another thread, so he will officially be known as the starter of this thread.

Here's one where a man appears to have a painting that is not painted by a famous author, but is suing the famous author for saying it's not his and a judge is actually letting it go to court even though the famous author has proof it wasn't painted by him. (only in the US).

Artist sued for $5M over painting he insists he didn’t paint

OK, Peter Doig may have tried LSD a few times when he was growing up in Canada during the 1970s. But he knows, he said, when a painting is or isn’t his.

So when Doig — whose eerie, magical landscapes have made him one of the world’s most popular artists — was sent a photograph of a canvas he said he didn’t recognize, he disavowed it.

“This case is a scam, and I’m being forced to jump through hoops to prove my whereabouts over 40 years ago,” he said.

To Doig’s surprise — and the astonishment of others in the art world — a federal judge in Chicago has set the case for trial next month in U.S. District Court.

Art-law experts say they can’t recall anything like it, certainly not for a major artist like Doig.

continued...
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/artist-sued-for-5m-over-painting-he-insists-he-didnt-paint/

 

[zoobyshoe]

Even though I beat you in posting about the artist in Random Thoughts, I'll play your little game. Here's some weird news:

WEATHERFORD, Texas — Authorities say several inmates at a Texas jail broke out of a holding cell to help save an armed guard after they saw him lose consciousness...

http://nypost.com/2016/07/10/inmates-break-out-of-jail-cell-to-save-guard/

 

[Borg]

http://nypost.com/2016/07/10/inmates-break-out-of-jail-cell-to-save-guard/

Let's hope that's counted as good behavior.

 

[Sophia]

In the local news in my area there's a report of couple of dogs who were damaging cars for months.
Several owners of cars reported someone damaged them and tore tires. After looking at recordings from cameras, police saw it was done by a couple of dogs. The bigger dark one bit and scratched the parked cars for no apparent reason, while smaller white dog was watching out for humans who could catch them.
This behaviour lasted for a few months. The police and public tried to catch them, but were not successful for a long time. Finally, the black one was caught and put into shelter. Soon after that, the white one came voluntarily and let himself be caught, too.
Both dogs are peaceful and show no signs of aggression to humans.
The newspaper is looking for someone to adopt them both because they have strong bonds with each other.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A woman in Birmingham, England, is heading to jail for two weeks because she had sex so loud that it annoyed her neighbors.

... This isn’t the first time loud sex has led to legal trouble. Last year, an unidentified woman on a Virgin Airlines flight to Las Vegas was restrained and later questioned by authorities when the plane crew busted up a loud, mile-high tryst with another passenger in the restroom.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/01/gemma-wale-woman-jailed-loud-sex_n_7484020.html

You just don't go on a Virgin aircraft and do that sort of thing.

 

[OmCheeto]

July 10, 2016
"A caller reported that a man, who had come inside a local convenience store, was suffering from a stab wound he received earlier while walking and playing Pokémon Go on his phone. Officers responded to the store, where the 22-year-old man had come into buy chips and beer, as well as find a Pokémon. The man was able to give a description of his attacker, who allegedly stabbed the victim as they passed each other near 19th Avenue and Filbert Street. The victim refused medical treatment and continued his Pokémon hunt. The incident is under investigation." [ref]

 

[George Jones]

Former boxer fights bear near Sudbury Ontario

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-man-punches-black-bear-1.3663954

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Man's TripAdvisor style review of his jail cell is surprisingly positive
http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/tripadvisor-jail-cell-review/

 

[Astronuc]

Former Fox News analyst who said he was CIA agent gets 33 months in prison

Wayne Simmons was a professional football player, a drug trafficker, a nightclub doorman, a Fox News guest analyst and an intelligence adviser in Afghanistan.

What Simmons , 62, was not, according to all available evidence, was a CIA agent. In federal court in Virginia Friday, just before he was sentenced to 33 months in prison, he apologized for lying about his security clearance, his criminal history and his finances.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-former-fox-news-analyst-prison-20160715-story.html

Some cable expert analysts aren't experts. They just play them on cable TV news shows.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...bc-cable-experts-repeat25-20141225-story.html

 

[zoobyshoe]

Burglary suspect kept stolen brain beneath porch and used it to get high, police say:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ath-porch-and-used-it-to-get-high-police-say/

 

[EnumaElish]

Car crashes into swimming people in road accident

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ca...est-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101962&NewsCatID=341

 

[OmCheeto]

Gay sex workers get massive boost in business thanks to RNC
July 22, 2016, Cleveland​

I'm guessing that maybe they'll have the convention in Las Vegas, next time.
Cause, well, you know, what happens in Vegas...

 

[CuriousLearner]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/

 

[1oldman2]

Not sure if this is news, however it is "Weird"
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07/23/kerry-air-conditioners-as-big-threat-as-isis.html

 

[StevieTNZ]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11680404&ref=NZH_FBpage

What the heck is it?!

 

[Evo]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11680404&ref=NZH_FBpage

What the heck is it?!

Wow, that is the WEIRDEST thing I've ever seen in the sky.

 

[1oldman2]

It appears to be a rocket launch, whatever it is I'm pretty sure its one of ours. cool video.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11680404&ref=NZH_FBpage

What the heck is it?!

It looks like a distant rocket launch where either the sun isn't far below the horizon or there's a lot of moonlight, and the exhaust includes water or something similar which gives a vapour (or ice) trail. As the booster rises, the air pressure decreases and the trail becomes wider.

Edit: Looking at the clip again, the sky seems lighter towards the horizon on the right, which would suggest that the light comes from the sun just below the horizon.

Of course the date and time of the clip would make it easy to identify the launch. I think most of the recent night-time ones have been SpaceX.

Do you remember the missile test off the California coast last year? Scared a lot of people in LA and around there.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Do you remember the missile test off the California coast last year? Scared a lot of people in LA and around there.

Yeah, it looks almost identical to the trident missile that they launched here, unannounced, and which scared the crap outa me.

 

[davenn]

It appears to be a rocket launch, whatever it is I'm pretty sure its one of ours. cool video.

yes, a sort of common visual occurrence
there's a number of videos on youtube over the last few years of similar trails from rocket launches

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Of course the date and time of the clip would make it easy to identify the launch. I think most of the recent night-time ones have been SpaceX.

As launches normally head east and it was heading towards the light horizon, I Googled for "pre-dawn launch". I see that it matches the Atlas 5 launch of MUOS-4 on Sept 2nd 2015, for which there are various videos, and I also found some news articles which came to the same conclusion.

 

[Astronuc]

I don't know if this qualifies as weird, or just an example of stupidity.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tigers-kill-one-injure-one-china-wildlife-park-073520104.html
Tigers kill one, injure one in China wildlife park

Tigers at a wildlife park in Beijing killed one woman and injured another after the pair left their vehicle following an argument, Chinese media reported on Sunday.

The attack took place at Beijing Badaling Wildlife World Saturday, Chinanews.com reported, when one of the women left the vehicle following an altercation.

A video shows the passenger exiting the passenger side and walking around the car to the driver's side. The driver opens the door, then a tiger grabs the woman passenger from behind and takes off with her. The driver then goes after the tiger!

There is a reason one is supposed to stay in the car when visiting a tiger exhibit where the tigers are roaming freely.

 

[davenn]

As launches normally head east and it was heading towards the light horizon, I Googled for "pre-dawn launch". I see that it matches the Atlas 5 launch of MUOS-4 on Sept 2nd 2015, for which there are various videos, and I also found some news articles which came to the same conclusion.

don't forget about the ones that go west from California

there's been several of those as test rockets from vandenberg air force base
Dave

 

[Monsterboy]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/magazine/the-mixed-up-brothers-of-bogota.html

It was like staring through a mirror, and on the other side of the mirror, there’s a parallel universe

.

You might have read this already but it's weird enough for me to put it here.

 

[MarneMath]

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/n...hat-includes-teaching-spanish-updated-8619707

Teacher who doesn't speak spanish denied job that requires speaking spanish. Her solution: sue the school for discrimination.

 

[OmCheeto]

hmmm... I never thought about this side effect:

In a first, Oregon State Fair to feature marijuana plants
July 27, 2016

Morse said the plants will have ribbons just like any other prize-winning crop. The plants will come to the fair having already been judged by a panel of marijuana growers, including Ed Rosenthal, a well-known author and cannabis expert.

"We are doing it 4H style," he said. "You get a blue, purple or yellow ribbon. We are celebrating the plant as a farm crop from Oregon."

Fairgoers hoping for a sample will be disappointed, Morse said.

"We are not promoting the use of cannabis," he said. "We are there to show plants to people over 21 what award-winning cannabis plants look like."​

Older, and more funny than weird, news:

Marijuana shops now outnumber McDonald's and Starbucks in Oregon
11/08/2015

Since Oregon’s marijuana dispensaries opened for recreational retail sales on October 1 [2015], business has been good.​

 

[Evo]

Uhm...ok...

Psychiatric hospitals filling up with time travellers sent back to kill Donald Trump

Psychiatric facilities across the United States are at breaking point after the number of people claiming to be sent from the future to stop Donald Trump reached epidemic proportions.

http://newsthump.com/2016/03/03/psy...&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

 

[Borg]

Uhm...ok...

http://newsthump.com/2016/03/03/psy...&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

If only it were true. Based on the other stories on the politics tab, that looks like a UK version of The Onion.

Hillary Clinton’s emails mostly cat gifs and Harry Potter fanfic, confirms Russia

Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 private emails are mostly just animated cat pictures and Harry Potter fan fiction.

Putin, who was asked by Donald trump to hack Clinton’s server, released tens of thousands of mails this morning, more than 65% of which featured vines of fluffy animals falling off furniture, acting vaguely like people, or what she simply called ‘Random cutes!1 xoxox’.

 

[Evo]

Guess we've missed this one too.

End of the world? Doomsday believers predict the apocalypse is upon us]The end of the world was Scheduled today July 29th.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11683991

 

[Astronuc]

Guess we've missed this one too.

Good thing I got that reservation at Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the Universe. Thanks DNA!

 

[strangerep]

Tigers kill one, injure one in China wildlife park.

Heh, this reminds me of a large sign outside a local Lion Park here, carrying the warning:

Trespassers will be eaten.

I just figured out what's wrong with humans: intelligence is bounded above, but unbounded below.

 

[jack476]

Just go to Google and search "Florida man" and you will get all of the weird news you'll ever need.

Today, for instance: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...r-mistakes-krispy-kreme-donut-glaze-for-meth/

 

[DrGreg]

Guess we've missed this one too.

End of the world? Doomsday believers predict the apocalypse is upon us. The end of the world was Scheduled today July 29th.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11683991

Well, that was the last day you could "upgrade" to Windows 10 for free!

 

[Lord Anoobis]

I think it may have been in 1980 when I first encountered the end of the world at the age of five. It was supposed to be a result of a planetary alignment and the term "Jupiter Effect" was thrown about. Anyway, when the day arrived only two noteworthy events occurred. One was a particularly spectacular sunset. The other was the birth of a sceptic.

 

[Astronuc]

Roger Ailes Allegations Move From Sex to Surveillance
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/roger-ailes-allegations-move-sex-surveillance-203008699.html

Since sexual harassment claims forced Roger Ailes to step down last month, the drumbeat of allegations against the former Fox News chief has not subsided. Reports in recent days have accused Ailes of using company resources to spy on reporters he didn’t like, and suggested that Ailes may have been spying on his own staff.

 

[Astronuc]

Crispy? Mojave Desert solar plant kills 6,000 birds a year.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/756d24c1-628d-33a7-a3ff-81e0081ee1ae/this-mojave-desert-solar.html

One can see birds falling in wisps of smoke.

 

[Sophia]

Crispy? Mojave Desert solar plant kills 6,000 birds a year.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/756d24c1-628d-33a7-a3ff-81e0081ee1ae/this-mojave-desert-solar.html

One can see birds falling in wisps of smoke.

That's so terrible! :-(

 

[Sophia]

Local news, a report about a children's event "Farewell to summer holiday"

quote: "The event was so joyful that it was actually sad"

 

[OmCheeto]

Not sure if this counts as "news", but this sure struck me as weird:

'We need human interaction': meet the LA man who walks people for a living [The Guardian]

Chuck McCarthy recently auditioned as a homicidal biker for a TV show, but the actor is finding glimmers of fame, and possibly a business franchise, with another role: Los Angeles’s first people walker.

He walks humans for $7 a mile around the streets and park near his home, pioneering an alternative to dog walking that requires no leash, just an ability to walk, talk and, above all, listen.
...

 

[Pepper Mint]

Not sure if this counts as "news", but this sure struck me as weird:

That isn't weird at all at least in my area.

 

[jtbell]

The world's oldest man is about to have his bar mitzvah at age 113. Better late than never!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37375629

 

[fresh_42]

The world's oldest man is about to have his bar mitzvah at age 113. Better late than never!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37375629

And I always thought it's mainly because of the gifts ...

"Albert Nimzicki: [Levinson has invited him to pray] I'm not Jewish.
Julius Levinson: Nobody's perfect."
(Independence Day, 1996)

 

[EnumaElish]

Headline says "weird." So.

The one weird trick?
Focus no more than 4 mirrors on anyone place in the air during standby. (When the focal point is the receiver – no dead birds. The potential danger is only during standby.)

“We have had zero bird fatalities since we implemented this solution in January, despite being in the standby position as well as flux on the receiver for most days since then,” he said. “This change appears to have fully corrected the problem.”

Since January’s mishap that delivered the Eureka moment for safe solar power tower development, no more dead birds at all. I did the math as of our conversation this week; a day or so short of 3 months with zero fatalities.

https://cleantechnica.com/2015/04/16/one-weird-trick-prevents-bird-deaths-solar-towers/

 

[Astronuc]

Loose moon balloon in Fuzhou, China
Not so weird, but more like bizarre.
World
Russians Marvel at Anti-Corruption Cop’s $131 Million Cash Pile
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/russians-marvel-anti-corruption-cop-155910331.html

Russia’s Investigative Committee posted a http://hsrd.yahoo.com/RV=1/RE=1475208371/RH=aHNyZC55YWhvby5jb20-/RB=/RU=aHR0cDovL3NsZWRjb20ucnUvdXBsb2FkL3NpdGUxL2RvY3VtZW50X25ld3MvRGVuZ2lfWmFoYXJjaGVua28tOTI2eDY5Ni5qcGcA/RS=%5EADApwxw.OFpaUDO3jTgFNxPS4TBsTM- of stacks of bills inside a safe after it seized 8.5 billion rubles ($131 million) in cash from a Moscow apartment. It said the money came from an apartment of Dmitry Zakharchenko, a police colonel who heads an anti-corruption unit within the Interior Ministry, providing an eye-opening example for Russians of the scale of alleged graft within the government system.

 

[Sophia]

A new road in my area
(Can't upload a picture, I'll try later)

 

[nsaspook]

Nothing is impossible with vodka.
https://www.rt.com/viral/360631-russian-teen-survives-fall/

All of this happened in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk at around 5pm local time. The teenager tried to impress the girl that was with him in the apartment. According to the police report, he climbed over the balcony fencing and swung off the handrails. His grip slipped and he fell.

The teenager landed on a parked Renault Logan that allegedly softened the blow. He was quickly transferred to a nearby emergency care facility.

 

[Borg]

Nothing is impossible with vodka.
https://www.rt.com/viral/360631-russian-teen-survives-fall/

[/PLAIN]
All of this happened in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk at around 5pm local time. The teenager tried to impress the girl that was with him in the apartment. According to the police report, he climbed over the balcony fencing and swung off the handrails. His grip slipped and he fell.

The teenager landed on a parked Renault Logan that allegedly softened the blow. He was quickly transferred to a nearby emergency care facility.

I'm sure that he left quite an impression on her (and the car).

 

[nsaspook]

I'm sure that he left quite an impression on her (and the car).

She made an impression on him in this one

Nothing is impossible with vodka.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/weird/drunk-survives-five-storey-fall-twice/story-e6frev20-1225697113693

"I have no idea why I jumped the first time but when I came back up and I heard my wife screaming angrily at me I thought it was best if I left the room again - out of the window."

 

[nsaspook]

http://offbeatoregon.com/H1006d_BiliousPills.html

As Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery worked its way across North America to Oregon’s Fort Clatsop, it left something behind that would prove invaluable to future historians:

Laxatives.

 

[Borg]

I'm guessing that inertia and basic aerodynamics isn't their strong suit.

Woman riding mattress on top of van in Virginia falls to her death

An investigation revealed that 20-year-old Sidney Zelaya Gonzalez of Culpeper was riding on an unsecured mattress on top of the van when the mattress came off, the statement said.