Weird News of the World Thread - Part 1

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Kidd: I check on the weird news and technology threads often. Thanks for all the posts!

Glad ya dig em. I kind of fell off on the tech thread, don't have as much free time as I used to have. If you find any good stories feel free to post them.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Convicted Ex-Congressman Dies in Tractor Accident

The Associated Press is reporting that former Ohio representative and convicted bribe-taker James Traficant has died, apparently from injuries he received this week "after a vintage tractor flipped over on him as he tried to park it inside a barn." He was 73.

For almost 20 years, the flamboyant Traficant represented Ohio's 17th district as a Democrat, famous for eccentricities like his strange pompadour (which he often joked was cut with a weed-whacker) and the congressional catch-phrase of "Beam me up," which he used to end his speeches on the House floor.

In 2002, Traficant was expelled from Congress after being convicted of 10 different felony corruption charges, including racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. Traficant served seven years in federal prison, winning 15% of the vote in 2002 when he ran for his former office from his cell as an independent candidate.

Traficant has been in the hospital since Tuesday, when police say his 1943 Ford tractor "hit a steel blade and flipped over," trapping the ex-congressman underneath.

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

That is quite a weird way to leave this mortal coil

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Daughter Maintains Innocence in Breaking Bad Bitcoin Murder Trial

Kuntal Patel, 37, is currently on trial in the UK for the attempted murder of her mother, whom she allegedly poisoned with abrin after seeing a similar stunt on Breaking Bad. The ricin-esque substance was purchased with bitcoin on a dark web site and delivered to a friend's home, disguised in a candle.

Patel allegedly dosed her mother Meena's Diet Coke in December 2013 after Meena abused her and forbade her from marrying her boyfriend, Niraj Kakad. From The Guardian:

Taking to the witness box for the first time on Monday, Patel dabbed tears away from her eyes with a handkerchief as she told how her mother slapped her and called her a "f***ed-up-brain girl."

Patel, a graphic designer, said that when she told her mother Kakad had described her as controlling, she erupted in fury and beat her. She said: "I think for her that was a sign of him being disrespectful to her."

Patel said her mother "started slapping" her "on and off."

Kuntal pled guilty to attempting to acquire a biological agent or toxin last year, the BBC reports, but denies using the poison on her mother. She told police she intended to poison herself out of depression stemming from the abuse, but changed her mind and threw the abrin away. Somehow, it made its way into Meena's drink, who ingested it but survived.

Previously, the court heard that Patel had written, "I wish I was dead or my mum dies I hate her so much," in an email to a friend about the abuse—which also included shouting, curfews and and constant check-ins, and beatings that left brusies on Patel's arm, she said.

According to the Daily Mail, Patel referred to the man who sold her the poison as "Heisenberg." When asked in court what effect the poison took in the Breaking Bad episode, she said, "Just a painless death - that was in the programme."

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/29/breaking-bad-murder-plot-accused-evidence

Walt would have made it himself so there was no evidence trail

 

[DarkSentinel]

5 People Dead in Utah; Cause Unknown

Five people -- including two children -- were found dead in a Utah residence on Saturday with no hint of the reason for their death.

Tragic, yet it sounds like the beginning of an episode of Supernatural. I mean, damn. This is a weird one if I ever saw one.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Ya that is most definitely a weird one DS

 

[Teelie]

My first thought when I read it was carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

My first thought was some kind of cult suicide thing

 

[Teelie]

No signs of trauma or violence means something either inhaled or ingested so that is a possiblity, ala "don't drink the Kool-Aid" but I'm doubtful it's that. Someone who knew them would surely have said they were acting strangely or out of character had they been in a cult.

 

[KevanG]

Where was Sawyer about then?

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Thai Government Builds Robot Snob to Expose Non-Authentic Thai Food

Despite being thrown out in a military coup in May, the Thai government is still working on an important initiative (no, not piecing the country back together): they will be unveiling a high-tech robot that tells you if the Thai food you're eating is actually authentic cuisine or not.

The government-sponsored robot was the idea of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. She was reporetedly inspired by New York City's restaurant grading scale, which clearly details the eateries in Gotham that are lacking in necessary hygiene. The robot, which is helmed by the cutely named Thai Delicious Committee, will use complex science to determine whether Thai dishes at a range of restaurants in Thailand are up to a certain standard.

Via the New York Times:

The machine evaluates food by measuring its conductivity at different voltages. Readings from 10 sensors are combined to produce the chemical signature.

"We wanted the cheapest and easiest approach to measure food," said Sirapat Pratontep, a British-trained expert in nanotechnology who led the development of the machine. "You just put in the food and you get a rating."

The chemical signature for each Thai staple was determined by paying citizens "a few dollars" to sample the same dish from a number of restaurants. The highest rated of the bunch was then given the official chemical stamp as that dish's standard.

The entire program cost the government roughly $300,000, the robot itself comprising $100,000 of their budget. But the standardization process is sure to be wildly flawed: as any cook knows, variety is the spice of life. And bad Thai food is mostly served abroad anyway.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/w...egion=pocket-region&WT.nav=pocket-region&_r=0

That is a pretty hilarious use of government resources

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Louisiana Restaurant Offers 10 Percent Discount for Gun-Toting Customers

As any American looking to eat out on a budget, I'm not one to pass up a great deal, and this one is arguably better than the McDonald's value menu: Bring your gun to Bergeron's Restaurant in Port Allen, La. and get 10 percent off your order for making the owner feel "safer." "I just need to see a weapon. I need you to be carrying a gun," Kevin Cox told NBC33.

Cox first started offering this deal to police officers who visited his restaurant (to "thank" them), but recently extended the discount to all his customers who come in packing heat.

"My friends and relatives would come in with their guns on their holster. I felt good about that. It made me feel safer that they were there with their gun so why not include all good citizens with the officers too," Cox told WAFB.

The head of this Trip Advisor four-and-half-star-rated restaurant also thinks that the recent spate of retail stores deciding to ban their customers from bringing their guns with them to shop is just bad customer service.

"I keep hearing so much about people banning guns," Cox told NBC33. "Target's banning guns and these people are banning guns. Don't they realize that that's where people with guns are going to go? I want to take the opposite approach. How can I make my place safer?"

One customer, Steve Moore, is happy with the promotion. He told WAFB, "I think it protects the restaurant. It discourages people from breaking in. If they think someone may have a gun and it's concealed, you'll think twice about coming in and robbing somebody."

Cox told NBC33 that he's averaging around 15 to 20 discounts a day.

http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/port-allen-restaurant-off

Because we all know when everyone carries a weapon we are ALL safer

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: That $55,000 Kickstarter Potato Salad Party Actually Happened

Back in July, Zack Brown asked Kickstarter for $10 to make potato salad ("I don't know what kind yet") He ended up with $55,000, and his modest project sparked a debate between people who found it harmless and fun and those who say it reveals a privileged internet class with too much money and not a clue how to spend it.

In the rush to decide whether Brown's project was a noble one, everyone quickly forgot that he had obligated himself to throw a big, expensive, potato salad party. Unlike many other well-funded Kickstarter projects, Brown actually delivered: PotatoStock happened Saturday in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

The "huge" finished product featured live music, food trucks, and beer, plus more than 3,000 pounds of potatoes, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Over the summer, critics of the project argued Brown should just make his original batch of potato salad and donate the excess thousands of dollars to charity, but Kickstarter policy stopped him from doing that.

But Brown found a loophole that allowed him to turn Potato Salad into more than another Dumb Internet Thing: He raised more than $20,000 in corporate donations outside of the original campaign, and plans to donate that money, along with all proceeds from PotatoStock, to charities working against hunger and homelessness.

He expects that his original Kickstarter supporters will received their promised backer rewards, including t-shirts and a potato salad recipe book, by December.

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/09/potatostock_2014_zack_brown_ho.html

Awesome story if you ask me

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Yes it is.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Winemaker Dies After Falling Into Vat of Beguiling Spanish Red

A 25-year-old wine specialist died Monday after she was overcome by fumes from a fermentation tank, causing her to lose her balance and fall into the vat.

Nivea Perez's body was discovered by her uncle, famous winemaker Raul Perez, at his warehouse in the Spanish village of Salas de los Barrios. Emergency workers said she was observing the fermentation process when she slipped and fell, and must have been too intoxicated by the fumes to pull herself out before she suffocated.

The New York Times raved in 2013 about the "beguiling" reds of the Bierzo region, with particular attention to the "great purity and definition" of Raul Perez's wines. Nivea had been working in the family winery for two years, since graduating college with a chemistry degree, according to The Drinks Business.

Aside from her career in viniculture, Perez was the secretary of the Socialist Youth of Bierzo, who suspended their campaign activities for a day in her honor.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rial-cellar-overcome-fumes-loses-balance.html

Who knew wine making was such dangerous business?

 

[Teelie]

I've never heard of someone literally getting drunk off the air from fumes like this and then falling to their death. Truly strange.

 

[Teelie]

Report: Four teens arrested in golf club massacre of 920 chickens

It's weird and stupid news but the weirdness takes the cake.

According to a report from The Associated Press, four teens have been arrested in the massacre of 920 chickens.

The four teens, ranging in age from 15-18 years old, are alleged to have killed the chickens with a golf club at a Foster Farms facility in Caruthers, California.

According to a press release from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, authorities believe that the teens pulled back a section of the fence and entered the chicken ranch. Once inside the facility, the teens utilized a golf club to slaughter hundreds of the birds.

“This is an unconscionable act,” Foster Farms spokesman Ira Brill told the New York Daily News. “This is the act of someone who is seriously sick.”

Citing Foster Farms officials, the sheriff’s office says that the chickens were valued at approximately $5,000.

Foster Farms had offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual/s behind the incident.

The AP notes that all four suspects have been charged with burglary and cruelty to animals.

Daily Digest

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Holy crap those are some psychos

 

[KevanG]

Murdering 900+ chickens? Holy **** those are some hardcore crazies. Don't let them the **** out of a psych ward or it'll be Halloween x4.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Hunger Games Stuntman Falls to Death Attempting Parkour Leap

Carlos Lopez, a Hollywood stuntman whose credits include the Hunger Games: Catching Fire, died in Lisbon, Portugal after a parkour move gone wrong: He fell to his death trying to leap from the fifth floor window of his hostel onto a balcony of the opposite building. Lopez, 25, was apparently traveling with his girlfriend, who witnessed the fall.

"I've never seen as much blood. I woke up with the noise, went to the window and saw the young man lying on the ground, on an interior patio we share with the hostel where it happened," the couple's neighbor, Natercia Gama, 77, told the UK's Mirror.

Local police confirmed to NBC News that Lopez attempted the jump around 4 a.m. Thursday local time. According to Lopez's IMDB page, he's done stunt work on a number of films and TV series, most recently in the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy The Nest, the Cinemax series Banshee, and Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...ies-parkour-accident-report-article-1.1962073

Dangerous stuff

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Legendary Rapper Big Pun's Mom Might Be Prolific Bank Robber

On Sept. 23, 63-year-old Gail Simpson was arrested for robbing a Wells Fargo branch in southwest Miami. But that Simpson is a prolific elderly bank robber—she's currently on probation stemming from a June conviction for felony attempted armed robbery—is not the most interesting thing about her. No, it's that she appears to be the mother of legendary rapper Big Pun.

That bit of information has hit rap gossip blogs today, with MediaTakeOut reporting it first in a "MTO SUPER WORLDWIDE CONFIRMED EXCLUSIVE". But the blog Necole *****ie did a bit more digging on the connection between Simpson and Big Pun's mother after receiving a tip that the two are the same person, pulling up a result from a background check website that links the names "Gail Simpson" and "Gail Tirado" (Pun's mom's known surname):

The unfortunate subtext of this story is that if Gail Simpson is indeed the alias of Pun's mother, she appears to have robbed banks twice this year because her family has squandered what was left of the deceased rapper's estate. (Fat Joe, rapper and close friend of Pun's, has been embroiled in a number of litigations with Pun's family over royalties.)

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/09/23/police-arrest-woman-accused-of-robbing-miami-bank/

 

[blksuperman2]

Hunger Games Stuntman Falls to Death Attempting Parkour Leaphttp://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1962073

Dangerous stuff

He attempted the jump @ 4am? My first thought is that he was intoxicated. Sad news either way.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Ya that's what I figured as well, parkour and booze don't mix people

 

[Farren]

I've never heard of someone literally getting drunk off the air from fumes like this and then falling to their death. Truly strange.

I'd never heard of this before but I did a little googling and it sounds like it probably wasn't intoxication from ethanol fumes but from carbon dioxide. Apparently CO2 is released during the process. That certainly could have caused her to pass out (I mean, pretty much any fumes that compete with your oxygen supply can do that.)

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2008/11/08/winemaking-fumes-can-kill.htm
http://www.news.com.au/world/europe...fumes-and-faints/story-fnh81p7g-1227077167460

Very sad. She was younger than me. I doubt there are any amateur distillers on these boards, but please stay safe!

 

[Docker2.0]

Louisiana Restaurant Offers 10 Percent Discount for Gun-Toting Customers

http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/port-allen-restaurant-off

Because we all know when everyone carries a weapon we are ALL safer

Well.......if you want your steak raw, I guess bringing your gun to kill it will take away half the work........

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

American BASE Jumper Dies in Swiss Alps After Misjudging Launch

An American BASE jumper died on Friday afternoon after attempting a BASE jump in the Swiss Alps, misjudging his launch, hitting a cliff, and falling hundreds of feet into a gorge.

The 44-year-old man had been preparing for a jump from the Sex Rouge peak in the Alps near Lake Geneva when he misjudged the launch, falling to his death from the 9,514-feet peak.

The man has not been identified for security reasons but authorities say he was from Dallas. He had been wearing a wing suit when he jumped; according to the AP, a wing suit allows base jumpers to "glide down rather than fall before engaging their parachute." The man's body has not been recovered yet due to poor weather conditions, the AP reports.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f87ec55d0c784bf3ace59df39b73d2ad/american-base-jumper-dies-swiss-alps

That is a horrible way to go