Weird News of the World Thread - Part 1

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

This Is the First Weekend in America With No Saturday Morning Cartoons

Saturday morning American broadcast TV was once animation's home field. Filling a cereal bowl with artificially colored sugar pebbles and staring at the tube was every kid's weekend plan. Not any more: For the first time in 50-plus years, you won't find any animation on broadcast this morning. It's the end of an era.

Yes, The CW, the final holdout in Saturday morning animation, ran its last batch of Vortexx cartoons last weekend. This week, where you once saw shows like Cubix, Sonic X, Dragon Ball Z and Kai, Digimon Fusion, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, you'll instead find "One Magnificent Morning," a block of live-action educational programming.

It's the end of an era, but it's been a long time coming: NBC ditched Saturday morning cartoons in 1992, CBS followed suit not long after, and ABC lost its animated weekend mornings in 2004. The CW, a lower-tier broadcast network, was the last holdout in a game that the Big 3 left long ago.

What killed Saturday morning cartoons? Cable, streaming, and the FCC. In the 1990s, the FCC began more strictly enforcing its rule requiring broadcast networks to provide a minimum of three hours of "educational" programming every week. Networks afraid of messing with their prime-time slots found it easiest to cram this required programming in the weekend morning slot. The actual educational content of this live-action programming is sometimes debatable, but it meets the letter of the law.

But more importantly, with hundreds of cable and satellite channels to choose from that don't have to abide the FCC's guidelines, kids these days can get their animation fix any day of the week. With the rise of cable and satellite, advertisers no longer had to cram all their kid-aimed commercials into the four-hour Saturday morning block. When the money left Saturday mornings, so did the cartoons.

Add in mobile streaming from Netflix, Hulu, and the like, and you'll realize that the spoiled brats we're raising today don't even need to dash to the TV in time to catch the opening credits. They can just watch whatever, whenever. Sheesh.

Still, there's something a little hollow about the notion that we woke up this morning to an America bereft of broadcast 'toons. I guess we all had to grow up sometime.

http://www.reddit.com/r/lewronggeneration/comments/2hnluw/so_saturday_morning_cartoons_are_dead/

That is crazy, I have fond memories of waking up early on Saturday to watch cartoons. What's everyone's favorite cartoon that you used to look forward to?

 

[Docker2.0]

That's messed up. The sad thing is kids these days are seem to actually be dumber than when Saturday morning cartoons came on. Scary times we live in.

 

[blksuperman2]

Man, that's sad news. But on the flip side I didn't grow up w/ having Cartoon Network available and Nickelodeon only had 2 or 3 cartoons at the time.

 

[DarkSentinel]

What is this blasphemy?!

Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, Histeria! (which was actually educational)...I weep for our children

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Man, that's sad news. But on the flip side I didn't grow up w/ having Cartoon Network available and Nickelodeon only had 2 or 3 cartoons at the time.

That's more than the 1 cartoon Nick has now *cough* Spongebob

 

[sabetoonth]

Since there's still the baby back at home, I'm going to have to make Saturday morning cartoon runs for him. Cannot let him be deprived.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Thieves Cut Off Horses' Tails at Stable

In a bizarre act of theft at a Norwegian riding school, thieves made off with the tails of five beautiful horses and $15,000 worth of equestrian gear on Thursday, the New York Daily News reports.

The theft happened in the middle of the night on Thursday, and a spokesperson for the riding school described the incident as "animal abuse." Yeah, because the horses won't be as pretty anymore, sure!!

Via The Local:

"It is an assault and animal abuse. We cannot understand how anyone could do something like this. It almost seems like someone wants to strike at us. We just don't understand how another human being can make themselves do anything like it. It is pure devilry."

The riding school in Indre Østfold is working with police in an investigation to find the culprits. According to this article in The Star, stolen horsehair can be used for arts and crafts, violin bows, or to make fake manes and tails for show horses.

http://www.thelocal.no/20141002/burglars-in-norway-steals-horses-tails

That's pretty bizarre

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

USPS Worker Allegedly Struck Person With Truck, Laughed Hysterically

A postal worker in Bellevue, Wash. allegedly went on a hysterical rampage on Friday morning that resulted in hitting a town resident with her truck not once, not twice, but three times, all while laughing hysterically.

The USPS worker was reportedly yelling obscenities at someone outside of a local elementary school when a town resident looked on, horrified. When the unidentified person attempted to photograph the scene, the postal worker then took matters one step further and drove her truck into the person's legs. When the resident nearly fell, the postal worker did it again, and then one more time for good measure.

Via The Seattle Times:

The resident staggered back and the driver struck the resident's leg two more times.

According to the resident, the postal worker was "laughing hysterically" as she drove forward.

The postal worker was then taken into custody and questioned by officials. No reports on the unidentified person's injuries have been released.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today...rical-postal-worker-struck-victim-with-truck/

Haven't heard about too many postal workers going off the deep end like this as of late

 

[Anubis]

Thieves Cut Off Horses' Tails at Stable

http://www.thelocal.no/20141002/burglars-in-norway-steals-horses-tails

That's pretty bizarre

They're making a stew.

 

[Duran Man]

Thieves Cut Off Horses' Tails at Stable

http://www.thelocal.no/20141002/burglars-in-norway-steals-horses-tails

That's pretty bizarre

Damn kids need to quit horsing around.


But seriously, those poor horses.

 

[Mike_D202]

This Is the First Weekend in America With No Saturday Morning Cartoons

http://www.reddit.com/r/lewronggeneration/comments/2hnluw/so_saturday_morning_cartoons_are_dead/

That is crazy, I have fond memories of waking up early on Saturday to watch cartoons. What's everyone's favorite cartoon that you used to look forward to?

What about the cartoon network?

 

[KevanG]

They mean any previously scheduled cartoons on the usual networks which used to run Saturday Morning cartoons as part of the weekly lineup. Any networks dedicated to cartoons or whatnot don't count.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

What about the cartoon network?

It's just broadcast networks like ABC, NBC etc. There are still tons of cartoons on TV though

 

[Godzilla2000]

Mom Burglarizes Cars At School, Claims She's Looking For ISIS: Police

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...isis_n_5934472.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

 

[redmarvel]

What about the cartoon network?

What about PBS?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Chef Allegedly Dismembers and Cooks Girlfriend in Murder-Suicide

Brisbane police believe an Australian chef murdered his girlfriend, then chopped up her body and cooked it on his stove before committing suicide by cutting his own throat.

Cops visited the suburban apartment that Marcus Volke, 28, shared with his girlfriend, Mayang Prasetyo, after receiving reports of a rotting meat smell, "like off dog food," emanating from the building. Detectives say Volke fled from them, leaping over a balcony, and then slit his own throat in a nearby alley. His body was discovered in a trash bin, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reported.

Inside the apartment, police found some parts of Prasetyo's dismembered body in a pot on the stove, boiled in "a chemical stew," and others in trash bags, according to the Brisbane Times.

Residents of the apartment complex say the couple had just moved in recently, and had been arguing loudly a week before Volke's suicide.

Prasetyo, originally from Indonesia, reportedly met Volke while they were both working as chefs on a cruise ship.

A later Courier-Mail story includes further salacious details, alleging that the couple had actually been married, that Volke had been to the hospital claiming Prasetyo had cut his hand, and that Pratsetyo was actually a trans woman and a high-end sex worker.

"Mayang Prasetyo was charging up to $500 an hour for her services, marketing herself online as a 'top high-class Asian shemale,'" the News Corp. tabloid reported, although it's not clear that had anything to do with her killing.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...080803355?nk=2d8af6004636963cb7ce3fa5733b0e40

That is a pretty ****ed up

 

[Guts]

Chainsaw-tossing thieves in high speed police chase

[YT]-bfQijDR-JY[/YT]

DULUTH, Ga. -- A high speed police chase between two thieves and a Duluth officer had the sergeant dodging chainsaws in the middle of North Road in Duluth.

Duluth Police are working to enhance the video to get a better look at the faces of the two men caught on camera throwing stolen chainsaws at a police car.

They were seen leaving Howard Brother's hardware around 1:30 a.m. on Monday. An officer heard the store's alarm and investigated.


A high speed police chase between two thieves and a Duluth officer had the Sergeant dodging chainsaws in the middle of North road in Duluth.

He chased the minivan to North Berkeley Lake Road. They drove on the road side of the roadway across Pleasant Hill Road and tossed the three chainsaws and a weed-eater.

The chase ended after about three minutes. The two men stopped at the end of Seagull Drive and abandoned the vehicle. They ran off in to the woods.

Police found nine weed-eaters and two more chainsaws in the back of the van. Some of it had been taken from a Tucker, Ga. hardware store in addition to Howard Brother's Hardware. The van had been reported stolen a few days earlier in DeKalb County.

The total cost of the merchandise stolen is almost $19,000. One of those chainsaws whacked the patrol car causing about $3,000 in damage.

 

[Teelie]

USPS Worker Allegedly Struck Person With Truck, Laughed Hysterically

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today...rical-postal-worker-struck-victim-with-truck/

Haven't heard about too many postal workers going off the deep end like this as of late

Come to think of it, I haven't either. When is the last time a postal worker was in the news for "going postal?"

Chef Allegedly Dismembers and Cooks Girlfriend in Murder-Suicide

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...080803355?nk=2d8af6004636963cb7ce3fa5733b0e40

That is a pretty ****ed up

Everything about that is ****ed up if it's even half true.

 

[KevanG]

Chainsaw-tossing thieves in high speed police chase

[YT]-bfQijDR-JY[/YT]

There are some news articles with titles you can't just make up.

 

[terry78]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/10/06/aunt-jemima-lawsuit/16799923/

Aunt Jemima descendants want 2 billion.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

That's a lot of back pay. I guess that whole buying her own freedom with the money for her likeness isn't going to hold up too well if they go to court. Something tells me it will get settled out of court for a large undisclosed amount

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

New Jersey Couple Says W Hotels Are a Great Place to Pick Up Hookers

Recent allegations in a lawsuit against the W Hotel chain claim hotel employees run their lobbies like brothels, regularly arranging for prostitutes for their guests.

The allegations were contained in a change-of-venue filing by Anna Burgese, a New Jersey woman who was attacked at a Miami W last summer, when a group of prostitutes mistook her for a rival hooker.

Most of the evidence in the case is currently under wraps: lawyers for Starwood Hotels and Resorts (the parent company of the W) successfully lobbied the court to seal video surveillance and hotel personnel files.

But according to the change-of-venue filings—which were not sealed—Burgese and her husband paid undercover agents to visit W Hotels across the country, where employees were allegedly happy to help their guests get laid. According to Philly.com:

"Starwood and W Hotel employees enticed the agents by sending them provocative pictures of prostitutes able to service them at W Hotels. . . . At one such W Hotel, a prostitute used the concierge desk to charge her cellphones and store her purse."

The filing also claimed that the W Hotel provides its guests with free condoms and sexual lubricant, and that its website advertises sex toys.

A manager at the Times Square New York W allegedly told undercover agents, "We manage [prostitution], we let it happen." He then allegedly directed agents to a hotel security guard who offered them a steady stream of strumpets, "like items off a menu."

Oral arguments in the case reportedly begin next month.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-10-...els-resorts-worldwide-inc#bcq3ZVjOFvpyGwuh.99

Talk about service with a smile

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

No One Can Figure Out How a Dead Baby Bear Got Dumped in Central Park

In a scene straight out of Law & Order: Special Bears Unit, an early-morning dog-walker reportedly discovered an itty bitty bear cub with an "unspecified trauma to its body" in Central Park Monday.

For several hours, detectives with the Police Department's Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad pored over grass and bushes near the bustling central drive, searching for clues as they began piecing together a timeline of the bear's final hours. One officer said it appeared to have been dragged into the bushes.

Investigators currently have no idea where the bear came from—the Central Park Zoo claims it doesn't currently keep black bears and Central Park is surrounded by miles of city streets. [It is not, however, uncommon for New Yorkers to keep dangerous animals in their tiny apartments.]

The bear will reportedly be necropsied in Albany before a cause of death can be determined. The animal autopsy will likely be conducted by a dry, sarcastic, seen-it-all female medical examiner who discovers crucial DNA evidence just in time for trial around the 45-minute mark.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/n...dead-in-central-park.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Well that is freaking weird

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Man Killed by 800,000 Bees Hiding in the Attic

An Arizona man died and another was injured when a swarm of 800,000 angry bees escaped an attic and began attacking them.

According to KGUN9, the men—both landscapers—were working on a Douglas, AZ home when the bees attacked. One man was killed and another was transported to a nearby hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Beekeepers that later examined the home said the bees had maintained a hive there for at least ten years.

It's the second major bee attack in Arizona in the last month—about 10,000 bees swarmed into a Surprise, AZ couple's home in September, forcing firefighters to douse the house in foam.

"This (outdoor) heater had been blown over and was lying through the bushes down in there," said Dan Norlin told KPHO. "I got it up and along with it came about 10,000 bees."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/swarm-of-800000-bees-kills-landscaper-in-arizona/

Death by enourmous angry swarm of bees is one hell of a way to leave this rock

 

[bullets]

Yeah , that's downright horrific.