Stupid People Doing Stupid Things Thread - Part 3

[Teelie]

Trump says “closing that Internet” is a good way to fight terrorism

Donald Trump opened his mouth. Therefore whatever came out goes straight into here.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he wants to talk to Bill Gates about "closing that Internet up in some way" in order to prevent Islamic terrorist group ISIS from recruiting kids.

Speaking at a Pearl Harbor Day rally in South Carolina yesterday, Trump said, "We have kids that are watching the Internet and they want to be masterminds... they're young, they're impressionable, they go over there, and they want to join ISIS."

Clearly, the Internet is to blame. Trump continued (see video here, Internet-related comments beginning at 22:53):

We're losing a lot of people because of the Internet and we have to do something. We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them, maybe in certain areas closing that Internet up in some way.

Somebody will say, 'oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people… we've got to maybe do something with the Internet because they are recruiting by the thousands, they are leaving our country and then when they come back, we take them back.

Naturally, Trump didn't offer any explanation of how the US could close the Internet to terrorists but not to law-abiding people. After his brief Internet comments he moved on to discuss the couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, speculating that the wife was able to radicalize her husband because he "couldn't get women."

Technology executives don't seem eager to help Trump figure out how to "close that Internet," but Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos yesterday suggested sending Trump into outer space.

Trump was busy yesterday, also saying that Muslims should be banned from entering the US, drawing condemnation from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Trump isn't the only US politician who wants to close parts of the Internet. US Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) argued last month that we should shut down websites and social media networks used by ISIS and other terrorist groups. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton wants tech companies to help prevent terrorist use of encrypted communications, while President Obama on Sunday said he wants "high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."

Ars Technica

 

[Teelie]

Fans Allegedly Denied Entry Temporarily to Qualcomm Stadium for Wearing Turbans

Turbans? Why that sounds a lot like Taliban, and they are brown people and they aren't Christians? Must be Muslims! And they're terrorists!

I really hope this story turns out to be either a lie or an incredibly unfortunate misunderstanding but somehow I believe it is probably true if only because there really are people who think that way. Thanks Trump!

(just getting started early incase Trump wins against all odds and sanity)

A group of four Denver Broncos fans alleged that a security guard at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego prevented them from entering the stadium last weekend until they removed their turbans.

Verinder Malhi, who was part of the group, discussed the alleged incident with Kristen Keogh of ABC 10 News in San Diego.

"Three of my buddies, they had turbans on, and it was like, 'You guys got to take the turbans off,'" Malhi said. "It's bad. I mean, this is embarrassing for me, because we are Americans at the end of the day. And we are not supposed to be afraid of fellow Americans."

Keogh noted that there was another incident during the game between the Broncos and Chargers when "a fearful fan called San Diego police about Malhi and his friends" and that a tailgater at the game captured a picture of a bomb-sniffing dog inspecting Malhi's vehicle.

"Everybody's kind of confusing us with the turbans, because what you see on TV is mostly the terrorists. They wear turbans," Malhi said. "But our turbans is different. Our faith is different. Our beliefs are different."

Keogh's report concluded by noting San Diego city officials are looking into the alleged incident but that the security guard is not a city employee.

Bleacher Report

 

[Teelie]

North Carolina citizenry defeat pernicious Big Solar plan to suck up the Sun

Blast those solar panels stealing away all that sun energy!

If I didn't know better I would have said this was either an Onion article or a discarded plot from Futurama.

That one bolded paragraph alone...

The citizens of Woodland, N.C. have spoken loud and clear: They don't want none of them highfalutin solar panels in their good town. They scare off the kids. "All the young people are going to move out," warned Bobby Mann, a local resident concerned about the future of his burg. Worse, Mann said, the solar panels would suck up all the energy from the Sun.

Another resident—a retired science teacher, no less—expressed concern that a proposed solar farm would block photosynthesis, and prevent nearby plants from growing. Jane Mann then went on to add that there seemed to have been a lot of cancer deaths in the area, and that no one could tell her solar panels didn't cause cancer. “I want information," Mann said. "Enough is enough."

These comments were reported not in The Onion, but rather by the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. They came during a Woodland Town Council meeting in which Strata Solar Company sought to rezone an area northeast of the town, off of US Highway 258, to build a solar farm. The council not only rejected the proposal, it went a step further, voting for a complete moratorium on solar farms.

That seemed to please the residents evidently tired of Big Solar's relentless intrusion into their community. One resident, Mary Hobbs, said her home was surrounded by solar farms and has lost its value. That led Ars to the satellite view of Woodland on Google Maps, to see if we could verify the veracity of Hobbs' claims. This publication will not look the other way as Big Solar attempts to railroad the good citizens of small-town America. Alas, when we looked at the satellite view we didn't see any sign of solar farms as we perused the verdant fields and woods of the aptly named Woodland.

Ars Technica

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

What in the actual f***?

 

[Marvolo]

Im emberassed for my state. Lord help us.

Here is some less soul crushing stupidity to lighten the mood:

Too Shy To Pee In A Public Bathroom? Urine Luck

The Privi-Pee aims to make your fear of peeing in public go down the drain.

If you're a guy who freezes up when you're shoulder-to-shoulder with a stranger at a public urinal, the Privi-Pee may one day be your No. 1 solution.

This device, not yet commercially released, is designed to help men hide their goodies as they do their business.

Online bathroom retailer Plumbworld unveiled the Privi-Pee prototype after a company survey reflected the anxiety some have over public toilets.

However, if these images look strange to you, please note that this device is still in its planning stages. And while many people agree that bathroom anxiety can be a serious issue, the company is not ruling out selling this product as a novelty item, too.

"We’re not sure when we’ll sell them yet, but we’re thinking about it being some sort of funny novelty product," Thomas Mulrooney, a Plumbworld marketing assistant, told The Huffington Post via email.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/too-...-bathroom-urine-luck_5660b7abe4b079b2818de98f

 

[Teelie]

Neglected boy shut in room with heater on dies of hyperthermia

I don't know why so many people are so ****ing stupid to get on meth. How many damned times must you be told stories like this before it sinks in?

BTW, this is hyperthermia, not hypothermia incase you misread it. Heat death, not cold death.

A 2-year-old boy died in a home used as a methamphetamine lab after his parents left him alone in his room with a heater turned on - and didn't check on him, police in Missouri said.

Braydon Barnes was put in his crib on a Friday and left unattended with a space heater on for more than 38 hours, St. Charles police said.

Both parents Kathleen Peacock and Lucas Barnes told police they had used methamphetamine recently. They told officers they had been manufacturing in the home the week preceding their son's death.

The two were home all weekend as Braydon was shut in his room.

Peacock, who is currently pregnant, told police she heard Braydon make noises and knew that she should check on him but didn't.

The space heater has no thermostat and does not turn off automatically.

It wasn't until Sunday morning that the parents checked in on the boy, and found Braydon had died.

Paramedics said the child had been dead for some time.

Autopsy results revealed that Braydon was generally malnourished and thin. His cause of death was hyperthermia due to the extreme heat, which would have "caused extreme discomfort and difficulty breathing as he died."

Both parents are facing criminal charges of child abuse that resulted in death, and of manufacturing a controlled substance in a residence where a child resides.

The living conditions inside the house were so poor, police declared it uninhabitable and have condemned the house.

CNN

 

[KevanG]

North Carolina citizenry defeat pernicious Big Solar plan to suck up the Sun

Blast those solar panels stealing away all that sun energy!

If I didn't know better I would have said this was either an Onion article or a discarded plot from Futurama.

I thought about posting it but I thought it was too insane to be true.

 

[Teelie]

I read another article clarifying the truth behind this one. Regardless of the nutty conspiracy claims it turns out the real reason for the solar panels was a financial issue. Couldn't afford it. That still doesn't explain the otherwise stupid claims made surrounding it however.

 

[Teelie]

Bumbling would-be UK bomber asked Twitter followers for target suggestions
Once again, encryption was not used to cover tracks in any way.

The Force Stupid is strong with this one.

A would-be UK bomber and his wife have been found guilty by the Old Bailey court of plotting to carry out an explosion in London to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2005 suicide attacks that took place in the same city. Both have been sentenced to life imprisonment: a minimum of 27 years for Mohammed Rehman, and a minimum of 25 years for his ex-wife Sana Ahmed Khan.

A report by The Guardian explains the case: "Mohammed Rehman, 25, who secretly wed Sana Ahmed Khan, 24, intended to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 atrocities with blasts that would have inflicted mass casualties in either Westfield shopping centre, west London, or the London Underground."

Remarkably, Rehman took to Twitter to ask for advice on which of those two targets he should choose: "Westfield shopping centre or London underground?" Rehman asked. "Any advice would be appreciated greatly." The post carried a link to an al-Qaida press release about the 2005 London bombings. Sky News reports that Rehman's Twitter name was "Silent Bomber," with the handle @InService2Godd. As if that weren't enough, his Twitter bio read: "Learn how to make powerful explosives from the comfort of ones' bedroom." The Twitter account has since been suspended.

Sky News says Rehman was also openly searching for information about the London bombings and information on how to make bombs: "The same day [as his tweet asking for target suggestions], he trawled YouTube for London bombings and Shehzad Tanweer—one of the 7/7 bombers who he referred to as his 'beloved predecessor.' As well as buying bomb making equipment Rehman searched online for instructions to make explosives and researched violent and extreme Islamic ideology."

Curiously, Rehman seems to have expended no effort to hide his online searches for information about how to create explosives, or his plans to carry out an attack. It doesn't appear that Rehman or his wife used encryption to hide their preparations from prying eyes.

Information about this latest (failed) terrorist bombing undermines further the repeated claim that the world is "going dark" for the intelligence agencies, and that strong encryption poses a threat to society. Once again, all the information that the security services needed to stop the plot was publicly available; fortunately, in this case it was spotted and acted upon.

The Guardian's coverage reveals another interesting aspect: "The plot was one of seven that David Cameron has been briefed about by security officials as being inspired by Isis and foiled in the last year or so. The prime minister referenced the multiple attempts linked to Isis to cause mass casualty attacks as part of his justification for military action against targets in Syria."

So we now know that at least one of those seven "plots" was conducted not by a well-organised and ruthless band of terrorists, but by a lone, bumbling idiot. Perhaps some of the other six plots were similarly unimpressive, which raises the question: is the threat to UK society really so great that we must give up fundamental freedoms by allowing the UK government to bring in extreme legislation like the Snooper's Charter?

Ars Technica

 

[Marvolo]

I posted this in the politics section, but it qualifies for this thread as well.


A Female Lawmaker Defends Public Breastfeeding. Her Male Colleague Threatens To Grab Nipples.

State Rep. Amanda Bouldin (D) wrote a post on the social media website expressing her opposition to a proposed bill in New Hampshire that would make it a misdemeanor for women to expose their nipples in the state. Bouldin wrote an open Facebook message to the sponsor of the bill, State Rep. Josh Moore (R), saying that he should scrap the bill or at least exempt new mothers who are breastfeeding.

"The very least you could do," Bouldin wrote, "is protect a mother's right to FEED her child."

The bill already does exempt breastfeeding mothers -- an oversight Bouldin acknowledged Wednesday in an email to The Huffington Post. But her comment on Facebook prompted Moore and another one of her male colleagues to snap back at her.

"If it's a woman's natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that," Moore wrote, "than you should have no problem with a mans inclantion [sic] to stare at it and grab it. After all... It's ALL relative and natural, right?"

Picture of his now deleted post:

Another one of her male colleagues said:

"No disrespect, but your nipple would be the last one I would want to see," another male colleague added.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/new-hampshire-house-nipples-breastfeeding_568437bce4b0b958f65b19d6

 

[Victarion]

I'm surprised that would need defending.

 

[Marvolo]

I'm surprised that would need defending.

Exposed female nipples are dangerous.

 

[KevanG]

Another example of how insane sex is in America.

 

[Teelie]

I can see nipples without the urge to grab them. I'm not a baby although those two guys appearently are.

 

[Teelie]

Police: Blast Debris Kills Man in Bungled Condom Machine Robbery

I just ran across this story. It is so weird and incredibly stupid that I looked for verification and found a lot of reputable news sites reporting it so I am assuming it is true.

A man died after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police in Germany said Monday.

The 29-year-old man was taken to hospital on Christmas Day in the western town of Schoeppingen, near the Dutch border, by the two other men.

All three had fled the scene of the explosion in a car, leaving behind condoms and money scattered around the gutted vending machine.

The two men told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs, injuring his head. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police.

During questioning, police said, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine, and that their cohort was hit in the head by metal as he tried to take cover from the explosion.

NBC News

 

[Duran Man]

He should have worn a helmet.

 

[Victarion]

"blast debris"

 

[Asgard]

I like it when racists display their bigotry for the world to see. People are already finding out who they are already. Potential real life negative consequences coming their way.

 

[KevanG]

If you're going to be stupid enough to put it on a shirt then don't be such cowards to censor the word.

 

[Teelie]

At least they were brave (and stupid) enough to pose for the picture and then not even blur their faces.

 

[Silvermoon]

OK, before I post this story. First thing to note (as I know this area), the Shopko that this guy decided to rob is directly across the street from the police station (stupid move #1). Then, when he flees, he decides to head *north* on State Street, today of all days, right towards 1600 N (here's a map of the area) which had a police presence hanging out there already due to the fact that the (large) procession for Officer Barney's funeral would be traveling East on 1600 N from the freeway all the way to Orem City Cemetery at the East end of 1600N (so having to cross State Street) (stupid move #2).

Alleged robber crashes car near fallen officer's funeral procession

Alleged robber crashes car near fallen officer's funeral procession
By Natalie Crofts | Updated - Jan 25th, 2016 @ 6:57pm

OREM — Officers waiting to participate in a funeral procession for fallen police officer Doug Barney quickly responded to the report of a man fleeing from a robbery in Orem Monday afternoon.

A short pursuit reportedly took place after a man robbed a Shopko in Orem. The alleged robber crashed the vehicle he was driving into a light pole at 1600 North and State Street.

There were dozens of officers in the area waiting for Barney's funeral procession to pass on 1600 North on its way to the Orem City Cemetery. Officers quickly responded to the scene and the man who investigators believe robbed the Shopko was taken into custody after the crash.

Prior to crashing his car into a light pole, the man is believed to have caused another accident nearby on State Street. Details about the condition of the people involved in that accident have not yet been released.

More updates will be added to this article as they become available.

 

[KevanG]

He's special on every level ain't he?

 

[cronosred]

A 9/11 road trip movie starring Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor, Brian Cox as Marlon Brando, and Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson.



http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...ennes-michael-jackson-9-11-road-trip-sky-arts

 

[Marvolo]

Considering Jackson's pigment condition at that point in his life a white actor had to be cast so I don't see what's so stupid about this. Would you rather they had cast a black actor and cover him in white makeup or do you think they should have just ignored the fact that Jackson suffered from Vitiligo?

Just for reference, this is Jackson in 2001:

 

[Teelie]

I think in the case of Michael Jackson no matter who they cast it would bring controversy. His condition made it such you would need to have actors of different races playing him depending on the era of his life you are depicting.

A white actor gets accusations of white washing while a black actor in white face would equally get accusations of white facing.

The safest but still controversial way is to have him CG'd and no actor depict him.