Weird News of the World Thread - Part 1

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Concert Stampede Kills 33 in Guinea

After a rap concert on the beach in Conakry, Guinea ended Tuesday night, at least 33 people were reported dead after a stampede occurred. Over 700 people had attended the concert and were asked to leave through a single gated exit.

The Associated Press reports that bodies were brought to the nearby Donka Hospital, where hospital workers struggled to handle the intake. The president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, announced a national week of mourning and closed all beaches in the capital "until further notice."

Via the AP:

The victims included children as young as 10, and most bodies brought to an overflowing morgue in the capital were still dressed in bathing suits and swim trunks. Some had bled from their mouths after their small bodies were trampled, causing internal bleeding.

The concert had been a celebration of the end of Ramadan and featured rap artists Instinct Killers and Banlieuzart.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_GUINEA_STAMPEDE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Well that's a horrible way to end a holiday. How is it these folks couldn't manage to get out without trampling people?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Study Finds Heavy Drinking Definitely Does... Something to You

According to a newly released decades-long study of thousands of Americans found that people who qualify as heavy drinkers... well, it said something about them, I'm fairly sure of that.

It was... ah yes. Here it is. The Wall Street Journal reports that researchers followed thousands of Americans, for decades. What did they find? Well, let me check here.... Okay. So the people that were "heavy drinkers" at some point, well, they found out that later, down the road... something. They had more fun? Haha, good guess! Is it true? Maybe! Let's check here... ah, no. Okay. They had way more memory problems, down the road.

"Does it matter if you were a heavy drinker in your 20s as opposed to your 40s? We can't tell from this study," said Iain Lang, the lead author. "That's important to look at in future research."

Does it matter, if you were a heavy drinker if your 20s? Who knows? Could there be problems, down the road? Health issues—even mental issues? Memory problems? We may never know. There's never been any research in this field, to my knowledge. One thing we can say for sure is that you are "rolling the dice" with your health, heavily drinking. Or might it be good for you? Could heavy drinking turn out to improve your health, somehow? We may never know, until science tackles this question "head-on." What did or did not happen in the past, with regards to drinking? We may never know.

What day is it.

(Warning: joke embedded above )

http://online.wsj.com/articles/heavy-drinkers-are-prone-to-memory-problems-in-old-age-1406671251

Probably why my memory isn't what it used to be

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Ten Dead, 150 Trapped After Mudslide in India

A landslide in Malin, a town in India's Pune district, killed at least ten people and trapped at least 150 more underneath layers of mud up to 15 feet deep.

At around 5 a.m. local time, heavy rain collapsed a hill in the area, burying more than 40 houses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many residents were asleep and presumably trapped in their homes, and local official Suresh Jadhav believes the death count is likely to rise.

The Hindustan Times reports that 30 ambulances and other machinery are headed to the village. Prabhakar Deshmukh of the National Disaster Response Force told the Associated Press that a team of 150 responders was slowed by the mud and continuing rain in the Ambegaon area where Malin is situated:

"It's surrounded by hills and the area is very remote and rural, so it's taking us time to get there," he said.

Jadhav told the WSJ rescuers have pulled three survivors out of the mud as of Wednesday afternoon local time.

What a horrible tragedy, I couldn't even imagine living in an area where I would have to be worried about that

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UCLA Campus Flooded After Water Main Breaks

Some students and motorists became stranded after a 102-year-old water main broke near the UCLA campus. A geyser has erupted in the middle of Sunset Boulevard, flooding surrounding streets with rapid water and mud. NBC Los Angeles is reporting that the water is knee-deep in some areas of the campus.

"People are standing in the water almost out of a sense of amusement," Brian Humphrey from the Los Angeles Fire Department told KTLA. "It doesn't take much more than an ankle depth of water to sweep somebody into harm's way, so we're hoping to get UCLA campus officials to move people here away...from this very dramatic cascade of water."

CBS News reports that it's still unclear what caused the water main to break. The flooding comes as California faces extreme drought—the state just imposed a $500 a day fine for water conservation infractions.

Update: The Los Angeles Times reports that the main has been shut off and that between eight and 10 million gallons of water flooded the area.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...Sunset-Boulevard-Westwood-UCLA-269129191.html

Don't be surprised when this happens more often around the country since almost all of these water mains are freaking ancient

 

[redmarvel]

Japanese artist arrested after 3D-printing her vagina

Last year, Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi rowed a kayak modeled from a 3d-print of her own vagina across Tokyo's Tama River in an effort to break down taboos about female genitalia in Japan.

The project, financed completely through crowdfunding, raised more than a few eyebrows among those living in the conservative country — but it wasn't until the artist started distributing data that would allow others to 3D-print her own genitalia that the authorities got involved.

According to The Guardian, Igarashi was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday and detained on the suspicion of breaking Japanese obscenity laws, which do not permit the display of either male or female genitals.

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcom...st-arrested-after-3d-printing-her-vagina.html

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Man Dies After Crashing Car Into Bee-Infested Abandoned House

A 54-year-old man died yesterday after crashing his car into an long-abandoned home in St. Charles, Michigan. Responders arrived to the scene quickly, but their efforts were deterred by an angry swarm of bees that had apparently been living in the house.

Said Saginaw County Sheriff Lieutenant Randy Pfau:

The house, we're being told, has not been occupied for many years. There were just large swarms of bees within the home. It was so infested, they couldn't get to him.

A beekeeper was called in for assistance, and rescuers pulled the car away from the house with a tow strap, but it was later determined the man had died at the scene, MILive.com reports. Pfau said he believed the crash was related to a medical emergency. It's unclear whether the bees played a role in the man's death.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2014/07/st_charles_man_dead_after_vehi.html

That's a hell of a way to leave ones mortal coil. I kinda hope I go out in some crazy ass story like that

 

[Duran Man]

Unbeelievable.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Giraffe Dies After Hitting Its Head on Low Highway Bridge

A giraffe being driven down a highway in South Africa died on Thursday after its head collided with a low bridge. Witnesses described the horrific scene and posted pictures of the giraffe taken just before the accident to Twitter.

One witness, Pabi Moloi, told Mashable about the scene leading up to the accident:

"My cousin and I were driving in Pretoria on a busy highway when I spotted a pair of giraffes in the back of a truck.

I whipped out my phone to take pictures of this, since it isn't a very common thing to see in the city. As I was getting shots the truck went under a bridge and suddenly one of the giraffes hit its head HARD on the concrete.

The sound was so loud that my cousin, who was driving, asked me if there was someone shooting because she thought she'd heard a gunshot!"

...

That sound of a skull being hit and the force with which it threw the giraffes head forward is something I won't easily forget."

A local SPCA spokesman confirmed to News 24 that the incident was under investigation. "The SABS has published a code for wildlife transport, and it would appear that the open transport with the giraffes' head sticking out is not acceptable," Rick Allen of the Tshwana SPCA said.

"Their heads were above the vehicle which meant that one of them cracked their head one the bridge," he added to NBC News. "That's something we are very concerned about and we will be looking at a prosecution under animal cruelty legislation."

http://mashable.com/2014/07/31/giraffe-dies-highway-bridge/

They must not have learned one of the most important lessons taught to us by the Hangover 3

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Vegan's "ILVTOFU" License Plate Deemed Too Vulgar for Tennessee DMV

A vegan PETA employee says the Tennessee Department of Motor vehicles denied her vanity license plate request "due to vulgarity." Its message? "I love tofu"—"I love to F. U," if you're nasty.

Whitney Calk, who works in marketing at PETA's Murfreesboro office, told the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal she just wanted to "spread a pro-vegan message" with her "ILVTOFU" plate. Give Calk credit for being great at her marketing job: The spread of the DNJ story has made the war on tofu license plates a Thing this week, even though her plate was actually denied back in 2011.

As we reported back then, Florida, Virginia, and Colorado, have also denied similar vanity plates.

Calk told the DNJ that people on social media have suggested alternatives to ILVTOFU, including "TOFULVR," but never applied for another custom plate because she didn't want to "compromise what was written."

Haha stupid hippie

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Swedish Woman Finds IKEA Bags Filled With 80 Human Skeletons

A woman who lifted up a tarp inside a church in southern Sweden was shocked to discover a stash of plastic IKEA bags filled with human bones, The Local reports.

"There were loads of skulls and bones stuffed into Ikea bags. I counted up to 80," said Kicki Karlén of Kläckeberga, who wrote up her gruesome discovery on her blog.

She was furious to discover the bones had been sitting there since 2009, when they were pulled from under the floorboards during a remodel to install a wheelchair access ramp.

"Our mission was to document and rebury the bones, which may be as much as 500 years old. But the reburial was delayed and I have no idea why," archaeologist Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay, who worked on the excavation five years ago, told the Local.

Papmehl-Dufay said he didn't know anything about the bones being stored in Ikea bags, but in his professional opinion, they "aren't actually that bad. They'd be great for stopping the moulding process. But it can't be that good to have them in the basement for so long."

The skeletons were meant to be reburied shortly after they were first dug up, but the situation became complicated after the county said they couldn't be moved from church grounds.

Apparently, they've been in IKEA purgatory ever since.

Seems like that would be something one wouldn't easily forget about

 

[KevanG]

Yeah, that's not terrifying or anything.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I wonder what's in these IKEA AAHHHHH!! At least that's how I would have reacted

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

California Mudslides Leave Thousands Stranded, One Dead

Major thunderstorms in Southern California have caused mudslides that are "the worst we've had since at least 1969," according to resident Michael Scully. At least 2,500 people have been stranded since Sunday, and one person has died.

According to CNN, the entire town of Forest Falls has been cut off by the mudslides. About 500 adults and children are trapped at a church camp in the area. San Bernardino Fire Capt. Kyle Hauducoeur says, "Most roads are impassable due to mudflow. There is no other way out of there. It's basically like a dead-end slot canyon."

From CNN:

...elsewhere in San Bernardino County, one person was found dead inside a vehicle that was swept off the road and into a creek by floodwater, county fire department spokesman Chris Prater said.

And 1,500 people in the nearby community of Glen Oak were stranded due to flash flooding, said Dennis Mathisen of Cal Fire.

"Try to imagine the bands of rains from a hurricane—that's what we're getting," Hauducoeur said, adding that some roads were covered with eight feet of rocks. "The difference (is) it's hitting mountains. What was a dry riverbed could become a river 6 feet deep, 20 feet wide."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/us/california-mudslides/index.html

I just reported on one of these in India that was pretty bad. These things can happen anywhere and can cause untold devestation

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Mother Learns of Son's Death Only After Smelling His Decomposing Body

It wasn't until Kimberly Tutko noticed an odor coming from the third floor of her home that she says she learned of her 8-year-old son's death, the AP reports.

Jarrod Nicholas Tutko Sr., 38, showed his wife the body of Jarrod Jr. on Friday. The mom, after pulling back a sheet, realized the boy had been dead for days, according to PennLive.com.

"I said to him 'Why didn't you say anything?'" Kimberly Tutko told PennLive.com. "He said he was too afraid to say anything because of other kids in the house." The media outlet was allowed to walk through the family home in Harrisburg, PA., taking pictures of the boy's squalid, feces-covered bedroom, where he allegedly died.

Jarrod Jr., who had autism and Fragile X Syndrome, lived on the third floor of the home and was cared for by his father. There were five other children in the home, all of whom have been removed by the county. Kimberly Tutko said she primarily took care of their daughter, who is blind and bedridden.

It's not clear how Jarrod Jr. died, but an autopsy will be conducted next week.

Jarrod Tutko was charged with concealing the death of a child, abuse of a corpse, and endangering the welfare of children. His bail is set at $500,000.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHILDS_BODY_FOUND?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

What a horrible story

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

State of Emergency Declared in Ohio After Toxins Were Found in Water

The AP reports that Ohio governor John Kasich has declared a state of emergency in Toledo, Ohio, after tests showed the presence of a toxin in the city's water supply. About 400,000 people have been warned not to drink the water.

According to Toledo News Now, chemists found two sample readings for microcystin when testing water at Toledo's Collins Park Water Treatment Plant. The AP notes that the toxin may have come from algae on Lake Erie.

Residents of Toledo and the neighboring suburb Lucas County, which receives water from the city of Toledo, are being told not to use or boil the city's water. Toledo leaders are reportedly setting up water distribution centers, as many stores in Toledo have already sold out of bottled water.

The AP reports that the emergency order will "allow the state to begin bringing water into the Toledo area." From the AP:

Toledo's mayor says it's too early to know how long the water advisory will stay in place. More tests are being done and results are expected later.

http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/26178506/breaking-urgent-notice

Don't hear about things like that very often

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

In North Carolina, Praying Before You Eat Could Get You 15 Percent Off

You may stare in judgement at those diners praying over their meal before they eat, but in North Carolina, religious folks are to be rewarded come bill time.

Mary's Gourmet Diner, a restaurant in Winston-Salem, N.C., is getting attention for its policy of giving praying customers fifteen percent off their bill. Owner Mary Haglund told The Blaze that workers have been offering the discount sporadically for about four years. "For me, every plate of food is a gift. And I never take that for granted and when I see someone in a restaurant honoring their gratefulness at my table . . . it touches my heart," she said.

Word spread about the discount when Jordan Smith, a customer on a business trip, stopped by for breakfast on July 30 and posted her "praying in public" discounted receipt to Facebook. The Florida-based Christian radio station Z88.3 posted that same receipt to its Facebook page, and now this praying-in-public thing seems to really be catching on.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...iscount-that-is-capturing-a-lot-of-attention/

I wonder if they specify what deity you have to pray to? Like if someone is giving thanks to Satan or Krishna they still get it right?

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

^^
You may give it away with Satan when you sacrifice your goat in the middle of the restaurant

 

[Marvolo]

In North Carolina, Praying Before You Eat Could Get You 15 Percent Off

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...iscount-that-is-capturing-a-lot-of-attention/

I wonder if they specify what deity you have to pray to? Like if someone is giving thanks to Satan or Krishna they still get it right?

Lol write on the restaurant's copy of the receipt "See, Satan does answer prayers!"

 

[KevanG]

What if you were falling asleep for a minute and then just woke up when your food arrived, think it would count?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Today in "New and Awful Things About Being Poor"

In addition to all of the fun "food stamps" and free nights in jail, here is another thing to look forward to as a reward for being poor: having your limbs amputated.

I for one am sick and tired of shiftless poor people getting everything for free, such as unnecessary amputations. But what can you do? A rather disturbing new study by UCLA researchers found that diabetic adults in poor zip codes in Los Angeles had rates of amputation that were seven times higher than diabetic adults in rich zip codes. The LA Times reports that the disparities in amputation are probably due to "difficulties patients in those neighborhoods had in getting access to primary care, and hurdles they faced in understanding how to manage their condition." It would appear so, yes!

The cost of being poor: your foot. (Also the cost of high fructose corn syrup. If you have to shop at a bodega just eat nuts and eggs and crap like that!)

Also today in "Depressing news about poor people in Los Angeles": there is a huge increase in the percentage of old women in the skid row homeless population.

Sorry, grandma. We had to take the foot. Then we had to put you on the street. There's only your years of delicious pies to blame.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-diabetes-amputations-20140804-story.html

I can def see how hard it would be to manage something like diabetes while living on the street

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Police Believe Champion Powerboat Racer Faked His Death In Boat Crash

The official story goes like this: Last month, a pontoon boat carrying two men crashed off of Longport, N.J. One swam to shore safely; the other, 44-year-Andrew Biddle, has not been found and was reported missing. But local police now believe that Biddle faked the accident in an attempt to escape prosecution on a series of complaints that he scammed boat buyers.

On Friday, the Press of Atlantic City reported on a flyer distributed by Egg Harbor Township police. It alleges that the accident was staged by Biddle, who is believed to be "alive and well and on the run."

The flyer, circulated to law enforcement agencies, calls Biddle a "current U.S. and European offshore boat racing champion and has contacts throughout the country and abroad and could be anywhere."

So who is Biddle? Along with business parter Tracy Blumenstein, he is one half of team Livorsi Marine and Team Pro Boat, which captured the 2012 and 2013 U.S. championships in P1 SuperStock, a small offshore powerboat racing series They also hold a world speed record certified by UIM, the international governing body for powerboating.

Biddle and Blumenstein also own Professional Boat Sales in Egg Harbor, and it's there that they've run into some serious legal trouble. The Philadelphia Inquirer sums up some of the things that Biddle would theoretically be on the run from:

A number of criminal complaints this year against Biddle and Blumenstein, provided by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, allege they conned customers.

In May 2013, according to one record, they sold a boat and trailer for $17,000, plus taxes and fees, through the company and never provided the owner of the property with compensation. Another filing states that in 2012, Biddle sold a motor as new even though it had been used for more than 150 hours.

The pair are also accused of failing to provide a pontoon boat to a man who paid a $20,000 deposit for it in March 2013.

Blumenstein was arrested in February at the Atlantic City Boat Show, following a months-long investigation, in the alleged "fraudulent sale of a boat," and charged with issuing bad checks totaling $33,000, police announced at the time.

Egg Harbor detective Ray Theriault, who signed the seven complaints totaling nine charges against Biddle, is the one who circulated the flyer alleging that he faked his death. Theriault said he was "proceeding with the investigation as we would if [Biddle] hadn't been reported missing."

Biddle's boat allegedly crashed around 11:30 p.m. on July 20, according to the man who swam ashore, later identified as 23-year-old Justin Belz, another P1 SuperStock racer. Belz told police Biddle had been driving and struck rocks near the inlet to Great Egg Harbor, just a few miles down the shore from Atlantic City.

The coast guard conducted an 18-hour search that covered more than 60 miles and included helicopters and the help of private boaters, but no trace of Biddle was found.

"We have no proof Biddle is dead at this point," Theriault said when asked by the Press about the flyer.

The flyer was never meant to be made public, so Egg Harbor police are keeping mum on the department's official position on Biddle. But they did put out a brief statement confirming that Biddle staging the boating accident "to avoid prosecution" was "a scenario [that] must be considered."

http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-03/news/52360776_1_powerboat-boat-and-trailer-pontoon-boat

Sneaky bastard

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

A Framed Printout of a 4chan Screenshot Just Went for $90,000 on Ebay

Someone trying to prove a point about the nature and value of art—or about the remarkably steady birth rate of suckers (still approximately one per minute!)—has printed out a screenshot of a 4chan post and sold it on eBay for nearly six figures.

"Art used to be something to cherish / Now literally anything could be art / This post is art," reads the musing of some anonymous deep thinker from one of 4chan's messageboards.

The "piece" was listed on eBay last week for $500, and reached a top bid of $90,900 by the time it closed on August 1.

"This auction is for a One of a Kind work of art by Anonymous. This work is untitled. This item will be shipped in a frame for convenience. This artwork will be sold with no refunds accepted," wrote the seller, Xhacker02.

As with anything 4chan related, it'd be gullible to discount the possibility that bidders were just doing it for the lulz, but the winning bidder has a long history of positive eBay feedback, so it's possible they intend to pay.

Meanwhile, someone created a metacommentary on the original message by auctioning a printout of Xhackero2's eBay auction. Bidding had reached $50,100 before it was pulled.

Is "Artwork By Anonymous" actually art? No. Maybe? I don't know. But that's not the point. The point is how much someone is willing to pay for it.

http://www.cnet.com/news/4chan-screenshot-sells-for-90k-on-ebay/

What does art mean to you and how do you define it?

 

[Alex_Spider]

Lawsuit: CSUN Scientist Fired After Soft Tissue Found On Dinosaur Fossil

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Attorneys for a California State University, Northridge scientist who was terminated from his job after discovering soft tissue on a triceratops fossil have filed a lawsuit against the university.
While at the Hell Creek Formation excavation site in Montana, researcher Mark Armitage discovered what he believed to be the largest triceratops horn ever unearthed at the site, according to attorney Brad Dacus of Pacific Justice Institute.
Upon examination of the horn under a high-powered microscope back at CSUN, Dacus says Armitage was “fascinated” to find soft tissue on the sample – a discovery Bacus said stunned members of the school’s biology department and even some students “because it indicates that dinosaurs roamed the earth only thousands of years in the past rather than going extinct 60 million years ago.”
“Since some creationists, like [Armitage], believe that the triceratops bones are only 4,000 years old at most, [Armitage's] work vindicated his view that these dinosaurs roamed the planet relatively recently,” according to the complaint filed July 22 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit against the CSUN board of trustees cites discrimination for perceived religious views.
Armitage’s findings were eventually published in July 2013 in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
According to court documents, shortly after the original soft tissue discovery, a CSUN official told Armitage, “We are not going to tolerate your religion in this department!”
Armitage, a published scientist of over 30 years, was subsequently let go after CSUN abruptly claimed his appointment at the university of 38 months had been temporary, and claimed a lack of funding for his position, according to attorneys.
“Terminating an employee because of their religious views is completely inappropriate and illegal,” Dacus said in a statement. “But doing so in an attempt to silence scientific speech at a public university is even more alarming. This should be a wakeup call and warning to the entire world of academia.”
CSUN spokesperson Carmen Ramos Chandler told CBSLA Armitage was a a temporary hire between 2010-2013 and worked as an electron microscopy technician. She could not comment on the lawsuit as university officials had not yet received the complaint.
The discovery is the latest in several recent – and controversial – soft tissue finds by archaeologists: researchers last November claimed the controversial discovery of purported 68-million-year-old soft tissue from the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex can be explained by iron in the dinosaur’s body, which they say preserved the tissue before it could decay.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/07/24/scientist-alleges-csun-fired-him-for-discovery-of-soft-tissue-on-dinosaur-fossil/

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Creationist are idiots and findings like that are most likely either bs or an anomaly

 

[MangleBoP]

Creationist are idiots and findings like that are most likely either bs or an anomaly

You know who else was an atheist? Hitler.