Weird News of the World Thread - Part 2

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I like to think there is a group of Scottish gentleman that are enjoying a single-malt 20 year Scotch while indulging on a large amount of recently liberated breakfast bars

 

[Victarion]

The bookface is telling me that Kim Davis (yes that Kim Davis) has been offered a 500K role in an interracial adult entertainment film.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The Lord's blessings are bountiful. Many people extend that 15 minutes with a sex tape

 

[blueharvest]

The bookface is telling me that Kim Davis (yes that Kim Davis) has been offered a 500K role in an interracial adult entertainment film.

That was her plan all along. Or not. Who knows?

 

[KevanG]

Who wants to go kayak across a lake in a pumpkin?

About 40 pumpkin paddlers hit the waters of Lake Pesaquid near Windsor, N.S. Sunday afternoon for the 17th annual pumpkin regatta.

The Windsor West Hants Pumpkin Society says the poor growing season might have contributed to fewer participants than in past years.

Dana Taylor, the society's president, says the challenge is simple — try to get across the lake.

"It's a bunch of people looking to have a bunch of fun," he said. "I keep watching for them to flip over as they start, that's the fun part."

Taylor says the giant gourds come from growers across the region, with school groups, businesses and even the Department of National Defence represented.

This year, unlike many previous years, there were no motorized pumpkins.

Taylor says he's still waiting for the day when someone figures out how to build a wind-propelled pumpkin.

This is a thing around where I live. Really.

 

[C. Lee]

Taylor says he's still waiting for the day when someone figures out how to build a wind-propelled pumpkin.

All it tales is tacos.....lots of tacos.

 

[Teelie]

Playboy to eliminate nude photos from the magazine

I placed this here because holy **** is it weird. Playboy? Without nudity? I would have figured they would go out of business before covering up the skin.

Though I do agree their reasoning is sound. They are very tame and reserved considering the ease of finding more risque stuff online these days.

Soon "I read it for the articles" will be more believable.

The iconic men's magazine Playboy says it is planning to drop fully nude female photography from its pages.

In a letter to readers, the magazine predicted that everyone would be asking why, so it answered, "Playboy has been a friend to nudity, and nudity has been a friend to Playboy, for decades. The short answer is: times change."

Like so many other magazines, Playboy is reacting to the Internet revolution. In Playboy's case, it is about the ubiquity of online pornography.

"You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. It's just passé at this juncture," Playboy's chief executive Scott Flanders told The New York Times, which first reported the news on Monday night.

His comments sent shock waves through the magazine industry. Playboy, founded by Hugh Hefner, has been a controversial part of American popular culture since its debut in 1953.

"Yes, we're taking a risk by going non-nude," the magazine said, "but this is a company—like all great companies—that has risk in its DNA."

Playboy has a circulation of around 800,000 -- way down from its pre-Internet glory days when it boasted a circulation of many millions.

By eliminating the nude photos, the magazine hopes to appeal to a broader and younger audience both in print and online.

The change will take effect in February when Playboy publishes its March issue.

But the magazine will continue to show women in what it calls provocative poses -- like Maxim, Esquire, GQ and other publications.

Another competitor is Vice, an outlet that began as a print magazine and has since evolved into a multimedia juggernaut valued at more than $2 billion. Both Playboy and Vice target young men living in urban areas. "The difference between us and Vice," Flanders told the Times, "is that we're going after the guy with a job."

After the announcement on Monday night, commenters on social media pointed out that the removal of nude photos may boost the magazine's other features.

"The Playboy Interview has long been one of the greatest columns in the magazine world," Politico media reporter Alex Weprin tweeted. "In some ways the rest of the magazine held it back."

CNN Money

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

That is how civilizations end, let me tell you.

 

[Teelie]

TNT Wedding Favors Caused Evacuation At Denver Airport

Because having bombs clearly labeled as TNT with a fuse is not just something seen in cartoons.

DENVER (AP) — A wedding gift was no joke to TSA agents checking bags in a screening room at Denver International Airport.

An agent watching an X-ray monitor spotted wax and fuses inside a checked bag at the airport.

TSA said the bride and groom's names both start with a "T," so their wedding souvenirs were labeled TNT.

The incident happened Sept. 22.

TSA wrote issued a statement on Instagram that there was a 20-minute evacuation while bomb specialists checked the bag.

They determined that while the wax and fuses were on bottles that said TNT, inside was just bath salts. The bottles were wedding favors for guests.

Huffington Post

 

[Teelie]

6 N.Y. church members arrested after teen dies in assault

Where exactly does counseling at a church result in beating someone to the point they die of their injuries? Or in the case of the brother, result in being hospitalized in serious condition.

The word "cult" is being thrown around although that's pointless. This group became isolated and avoided contact with anyone not into their particular brand of belief (something readily apparent on the broader scale when you compare the major religions of the world distrusting one another) and I believe that is what led them to this point.

There was no outside influence to keep them from spiraling in this direction.

A counseling session on the spiritual state of two brothers turned physical at Word of Life Christian Church in New Hartford, New York, resulting in the death of a young man and serious injuries to his brother, New Hartford Police Chief Michael Inserra said Wednesday.

Their parents, Bruce T. Leonard, 65, and Deborah R. Leonard, 59, each face one count of first-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony. The Leonards were each ordered held on $100,000 bail at arraignment Wednesday. Four other church members were charged with second-degree assault, also a felony.

Family members took Lucas Leonard, 19, by car Monday afternoon to a hospital in nearby Utica. New Hartford police said Leonard was injured during an assault and was pronounced dead Monday at the hospital.

Leonard's 17-year-old brother, Christopher, was hospitalized in serious condition after suffering blunt force trauma injuries also, police said.

The assaults occurred after a Sunday night service at the church, which is located about 250 miles north of New York City. The congregation held what Inserra called a "counseling session" for the two brothers.

But the session became violent, the police chief said.

"Both brothers were continually subjected to physical punishment over the course of several hours in the hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness," he said.

On Monday, Lucas Leonard was taken to the hospital after church members found he wasn't breathing, Inserra said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

An autopsy showed Leonard suffered multiple contusions from blunt force trauma to the torso and extremities, Inserra said.

"It was determined that the combination of injuries and the duration of assault contributed to his death," Inserra said, adding that the cause of death was pending further examination.

Police were originally called to the hospital and told that Leonard had been shot. Inserra said the shooting report was unfounded. Police learned of the assaults after interviewing church members.

Authorities found several children in the church and called in child protective services.

'I don't believe there was any intent'

Don Gerace, attorney for Bruce Leonard, has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client, whom he said has no criminal history and has lived in the community more than two decades. Leonard has been a church member for eight years.

"In the state of New York he is charged with manslaughter in the first degree, which requires intent to cause serious bodily injury and I do not believe there was any intent," Gerace said.

Deborah Leonard's attorney, Devin Garramone, said his client had a stent put in due to a heart condition and requires constant medical attention.

"I cannot imagine my client had anything to do with these injuries, especially in the condition she is in," he said.

Bail for the other four church members was set Wednesday at $50,000 each.

Inserra identified them as as Joseph Irwin, David Morey, Linda Morey and Sarah Ferguson.

'Quite a shock'

A former Word of Life church member, who asked not to be identified, said she used to babysit the teenage brothers. The allegations are shocking, she said.

The church, which began in 1984, has about five families, or about 35 members, including children, according to the former member. She described the congregation as a "makeshift family" that had been together for 25 years.

"We weren't originally isolated from the community," she said.

Over time, there was friction between the church and a neighboring community, she said.

"We put up the hedges," she said.

"Then the neighbors got angry because they couldn't see what's going on anymore."

But the ex-member denied reports the church is a cult.

"I realize this situation makes it look like this," she said, "but if you listen to the teachings, they are accurate to the Bible."

Responding to a reporter's question, Inserra said he had no information about whether the group is a cult.

Utica School District has employed Bruce Leonard as a teaching assistant since 2007, Proctor High School principal Steven Falchi told CNN. He has been at Proctor High School in Utica since 2010, Falchi said.

Leonard works with a certified teacher and other teaching assistants in the special education department, Falchi said. He works with "severely and profoundly disabled students," Falchi said.

"We were very shocked to learn the news," said Falchi, adding he was not aware of previous complaints or disciplinary action against Leonard. "He was a hard worker and was exceptionally compassionate about his work with our students. It came as quite a shock."

Lucas Leonard and his younger brother were home-schooled, according to Ronald Wheelock, superintendent for Sauquoit Valley Central School District.

The school district's involvement with the teens was limited, with the parents sending the district curriculum proposals at the beginning of the year, Wheelock said.

Not a mainline church

The Rev. Abraham Esper of St. Patrick's-St. Anthony's Church in Chadwicks told CNN that Word of Life was not a "mainline" church and members had little interaction with neighbors.

"It's very closed in," he said of the nearby church, adding that the only contact came during rummage sales and flea markets outside Word of Life.

Esper said there was "very loud and very disruptive" noise at the church some afternoons and nights, including the beat of drums and barking dogs.

"You couldn't concentrate," he said.

Esper said a locked gate obscures a parking lot behind Word of Life church.

Longtime resident Lynn Laventure, whose parents live across the street, said the 20 or so church members kept to themselves and "never disturbed anybody."

"It makes me wonder what is going on if this is a church and it's of God," she said. "There is such thing as a child having to have a punishment if something was wrong ... but not a beating. We would have never in a million years guessed anything was ... wrong."

CNN

 

[Teelie]

X-rated sounds blast out of Target store's speakers

I have not personally heard the sounds to know whether they qualify as "x-rated" but given there was an apology over the intercom system and this isn't the first time a Target has moaned and groaned apparently. It happened earlier in July at another location too.

What some Target shoppers thought was a Halloween prank turned out to be sounds from an apparent X-rated audio track being played over the store's public address system.

Chris Minor told CNN affiliate KPIX that he captured the moans and groans from the apparent porn audio on cellphone video Wednesday at a Target in San Jose, California.

"I thought it may have been Halloween related, maybe an employee playing games, but this was rated-X material, which made me feel very uncomfortable," Minor said.

His video shows baffled shoppers -- including mothers with babies -- with one woman saying "that's terrible."

"I felt violated, and my body said wait a minute, this ain't right. So I was uneasy," said Minor.

Minor told the affiliate that the Westgate Mall store apologized over the PA system, but then the sounds started up again.

KPIX received a statement from Target saying they are "actively reviewing the situation with the team to better understand what happened, and to help ensure this doesn't happen again."

A Target in San Luis Obispo, California, was briefly evacuated in July after a similar explicit audio incident.

CNN

 

[Teelie]

Get that tank off my lawn: Impulse buy forces house move

Buy a tank. Drive it on the road. Dare anyone to get road rage and try to pull something.

London (CNN)A British man has taken online impulse buys to a new extreme -- winning a seven-ton army tank on an auction website.

The military monster has even forced him to move house.

Jeff Woolmer paid $14,000 on Witham Specialist Vehicles' website for the ex-Canadian military vehicle. To accommodate the tank he has had to move out of his flat near Bristol, in western England, to find a place with more parking space.

"I was living in a two-bedroom flat at the time, with an ensuite parking system. Unfortunately, tank parking permits were a no-go, so I had to buy a new house," he told CNN.

The tank was Woolmer's first buy of this kind. His interest was sparked by a conversation with colleagues at The Bloodhound Project, which aims to design and build a car that will break the 1,000mph barrier.

"It all started with a bit of office banter really. We were joking about how you can buy anything, including military vehicles, online these days. Then I got home one Monday and placed a bid on this tank," he said.

"I didn't hear anything back on Tuesday, so I'd pretty much given up hope.

"I was pretty surprised on the Friday when I got a call at work telling me that I had just bought a tank."

He told CNN that he has paperwork which dates the CVRT Scorpion tank back to 1989, where it started life in the British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada. In its more active days, Woolmer says the tank was deployed in Egypt.

"Right now my tank is in real need of some love and care. The battery needs to be replaced and the inside is a bit grimy and greasy." he said.

"But I'm hoping to get it up and running in the next few weeks and there's even the potential to get it road legal."

Perhaps surprisingly, it is possible to drive tanks on roads in the UK, providing you have the correct paperwork. Earlier this year a petition was delivered to the BBC headquarters in London by tank, calling for Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson to be reinstated. Though Woolmer joked that paperwork is not always necessary when you own a tank.

"You can drive it anywhere really. Who's going to stop you?"

CNN

 

[Teelie]

Is the Australian accent due to booze, mate?

Probably not but it is still funny, and about as factual as those chain letters and "mysteries nobody knows the answer to" that occasionally show up in email Facebook posts.

Does "slip a shrimp on the barbie" have a connection to the "bottle-o"?

Fair dinkum, says an Australian researcher.

Dean Frenkel, a lecturer in public speaking at Melbourne's Victoria University, claims that the well-known Australian accent -- the native voice of Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett and Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan -- gets its distinctive twang from alcohol.

"Our forefathers regularly got drunk together and through their frequent interactions unknowingly added an alcoholic slur to our national speech patterns," wrote Frenkel in The (Melbourne) Age. "For the past two centuries, from generation to generation, drunken Aussie-speak continues to be taught by sober parents to their children."

Frenkel was trying to make a point about Australians' speaking skills, which he mostly deplored.

"Poor communication is evident among all sectors of Australian society and the annual cost to Australia may amount to billions of dollars," he wrote.

But other experts disagree. Linguist David J. Peterson, who's created languages for such shows as "Game of Thrones," dismissed Frenkel's idea as "garbage."

And to many Australians, Frenkel's theory was as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip.

"Not since Winston Churchill described the Aussie accent as 'the most brutal maltreatment that has ever been inflicted on the mother-tongue of the great English-speaking nations,' has someone swung so low," wrote Jenni Ryall in Mashable.

Ryall spoke with experts who questioned Frenkel's idea.

"I personally find it laughable that Frenkel thinks that there was a critical mass of constantly drunk people — new mothers included — that would enable children to essentially learn inebriated English," said one of them, linguist Aidan Wilson.

Others preferred a different theory, more related to the Australian environment than its alcohol consumption -- or, for that matter, its mix of native peoples with those from England, Ireland and Germany.

Asked why Australia has a distinctive accent and slang -- called "strine" by the locals -- Australian author Kathy Lette attributed it to the ever-ferocious species of Oz.

"As anyone who has lived in Australia knows," Lette wrote in the UK Telegraph, "the reason we mumble is because if you open your mouth too wide, a fly or mosquito will buzz right in and bite you."

CNN

 

[Teelie]

'Don't exclude my child': Sign protests nuts, gluten, dairy in Halloween candy

I figure this is one of two things: An overzealous parent who didn't think too hard or someone's idea of a joke. My guess is a joke. Because 99% of all candy is going to have at least one if not all of those things in it.

Bright orange signs that demand the distribution of Halloween treats without nuts, gluten or dairy are alarming some Connecticut homeowners who'd planned to give candy to trick-or-treating children.

"Attention parents: My son has severe allergies and comes home every year devastated that he can't eat any candy he's collected at your homes while trick-or-treating," reads the sign, which was posted this week on a number of telephone poles in New Britain, Connecticut. "Don't exclude my child or any other child from the fun."

The sign, which mostly uses capital letters, urges "responsible parenting" that forbids giving kids "candy containing nuts of any kind, gluten or dairy." Instead, it encourages "tasty and allergy-[conscious] suggestions" that include carrot sticks; Necco Wafers, Smarties, Life Savers and Brach's Lemon Drops candy; and raisins, "but stay away from [Raisinets]!"

RELATED: What's up with teal pumpkins? They could save kids' lives this Halloween

News of the sign went viral Thursday, when more than 1.8 million people on the photo-sharing website Imgur viewed a related picture titled, "So ... beggars can be choosers?"

As of early Thursday evening, the identity of the person who posted the sign hasn't been verified, thus it isn't clear if the source is serious or perhaps teasing parents of children with dietary restrictions.

In the meantime, New Britain residents offered mixed reactions to the sign's allergy-related request.

"I think it's a good idea," Jennifer Dreher told NBC News' Connecticut affiliate. "It's nice that whoever that family is that they're kind of making the neighborhood aware of their son's allergies."

Other neighbors, like Dave Keating, didn't plan on changing his snack strategy. "I tend to think that children will not come to a house that is serving broccoli and celery," Keating said. "I think Halloween is an excuse to get away from that. So, I think they will favor those that have sugar."

Craig Johnson saw the benefit of some healthy snacks, but the drawback of others. "You can give out apples, fruit," he said. "Oranges would be fine. My wife would probably like to give out something wholesome and nutritious, but certainly not a vegetable."

Some neighbors worried that veggies might wind up scattered on lawns, according to NBC Connecticut's Jennifer Joas.

Regardless of snack type, parents are reminded to inspect all treats before their kids — or they themselves — dig in.

Today

 

[Teelie]

Cops, prosecutors botched Casey Anthony evidence

Does no one else even read this thread?

This is definitely a weird story but somewhat understandable since apparently no one at the sheriff's office at the time knew Firefox was a browser? If they had they might have found the much more damning evidence that likely would have changed the outcome of the trial.

ORLANDO, Fla. -

For weeks, Casey Anthony sat at her murder trial with her defense team anxiously waiting for prosecutors to drop a bombshell: computer evidence, the state would argue, showing Anthony researched how to kill with poison and suffocation on the same afternoon her daughter, Caylee, was killed by poison and suffocation.

But the bombshell never exploded.

"We were waiting for the state to bring it up," defense attorney Jose Baez told Local 6. "And when they didn't, we were kind of shocked."

Baez first revealed the evidence in his book, "Presumed Guilty," but blamed Anthony’s father, George Anthony, for the computer activity. Baez suggested George Anthony was considering suicide after Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool.

But a Local 6 investigation has uncovered evidence indicating it was most likely Casey doing the search.

And, in a stunning lapse, prosecutors -- relying on woefully incomplete information from the Orange County Sheriff's Office -- never even saw the potentially damning computer browser evidence, until Local 6 revealed it to them last week.

How damning is it?

Consider what they appear to show happening online the afternoon of Monday, June 16, 2008, the day Caylee died:

At 2:49 p.m., after George Anthony said he had left for work and while Casey Anthony’s cellphone is pinging a tower nearest the home, the Anthony family's desktop computer is activated by someone using a password-protected account Casey Anthony used;
At 2:51 p.m., on a browser primarily Casey Anthony used, a Google search for the term "fool-proof suffocation," misspelling the last word as "suffication";
Five seconds later, the user clicks on an article that criticizes pro-suicide websites that include advice on "foolproof" ways to die. "Poison yourself and then follow it up with suffocation" by placing "a plastic bag over the head," the writer quotes others as advising;
At 2:52 p.m., the browser records activity on MySpace, a website Casey Anthony used frequently and George Anthony did not.


"I really believed that (prosecutors) were going to sandbag us with it," said Baez.

After all, poison, suffocation and plastic bags were exactly what the state claimed Casey Anthony used to murder Caylee and dispose of her body; poisoning her with chloroform, suffocating her with duct tape, then placing her body in two plastic bags.

After Local 6 described the findings to him last week, trial prosecutor Jeff Ashton said, "It's just a shame we didn't have it. This certainly would have put the accidental death claim in serious question."

Ashton retired after the trial, wrote a book on the case and, in January, will become state attorney, unseating his former boss in this year's election.

Click Orlando
Rest of the story at the link above.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I read it!

 

[KevanG]

Me too.

 

[Mike_D202]

So, why wasn't this brought up during the trial? Ignorance?

 

[Teelie]

In a word: Yes.

 

[KevanG]

A quick five second search using the OS search function would have found it. People were just morons.

 

[Teelie]

12-foot, 800-pound alligator caught at Texas shopping center

Took a forklift to remove him.

SUGAR LAND, Texas -- Authorities captured a rather large alligator behind a Sugar Land shopping center Saturday morning, reports CBS affiliate KHOU in Houston.

Alligator trapper Christy Krobroth told KTRK the creature probably just got lost and wandered into the parking lot. A forklift was required to remove it.

Whitney Morrow, owner of Whitney Morrow Hairdressing, was one of a few business owners who posted a photo to Facebook of the gator behind her salon.

I feel bad, but after this guy told me he hated his haircut, I had to have him thrown out of the salon.(Seriously, this is behind my salon!)

Posted by Whitney Morrow Hairdressing on Saturday, November 7, 2015

Another business owner in the shopping center said on Facebook the animal was 50 years old, weighed 800 pounds, was 12 feet long and blind in one eye.

Missed the roll he did but you can hear his heavy breathing, the guy had to cover his eye so he doesn't cheat when he hits the pinata! Lol!

Posted by Beatrice Valdez-House on Saturday, November 7, 2015

Police helped haul the gator off the property and relocate it to Brazos Bend State Park.

CBS News

 

[Teelie]

Will the real monkey who snapped those famous selfies please stand up?

More monkey business from PETA.

How much more bizarre could a lawsuit get in which the plaintiff is a monkey who is suing a nature photographer and a publisher for copyright infringement?

Answer: a lot more.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a primatologist named Antje Engelhardt are demanding that a San Francisco federal court declare a macaque monkey named Naruto the rights holder of a few famous selfies the monkey allegedly took in the Tangkoko Reserve on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2011. The monkey, the named plaintiff in the case, is suing a publisher and David Slater, the British nature photographer whose camera was swiped by an ape while the photographer was on a jungle shoot. Slater has published a book with the pictures the monkey took of himself, and the monkey is seeking damages for copyright infringement.

In its first defense papers (PDF) to the lawsuit PETA has brought on behalf of the monkey, San Francisco-based publisher Blurb asserts that the "US Constitution and the Copyright Act contemplate copyright protection only for humans."

"This is a copyright case filed on behalf of a monkey," Blurb attorney Angela Dunning wrote US District Judge William Orrick III on Friday.

But even assuming a monkey could own a copyright, PETA is suing on behalf of the wrong monkey, Dunning wrote. The lawsuit names Naruto, described as a six-year-old male crested macaque monkey. But in Slater's Wildlife Personalities, he describes the monkey as a female.

PETA, Blurb's defense maintains, "does not claim to have been present when the photographs were taken, and the Complaint contains no other allegations from which one could plausibly infer that Naruto is, in fact, the monkey in the photographs."

Because of that, Naruto has no right to sue, Dunning wrote. "And without any alleged basis to find that Naruto took the Monkey Selfies, there is certainly no basis to find that he suffered any injury giving rise to Article III standing."

The attorney for Slater, meanwhile, began its Friday court filing (PDF) with a joke.

"A monkey, an animal-rights organization, and a primatologist walk into federal court to sue for infringement of the monkey's claimed copyright. What seems like the setup for a punchline is really happening," attorney Andrew Dhuey wrote. He added that "monkey see, monkey sue is not good law..."

Dhuey's short briefing paper said that "The only pertinent fact in this case is that Plaintiff is a monkey suing for copyright infringement."

The litigation comes a year after regulators from the US Copyright Office agreed with Wikipedia's conclusion that a monkey's selfies cannot be copyrighted. The office said works "produced by nature, animals, or plants" cannot be granted that protection.

The suit, however, demands a San Francisco judge to not only grant the copyright to the monkey, but it wants an order permitting PETA to "administer and protect Naruto's rights in the Monkey Selfies on the condition that all proceeds from the sale, licensing, and other commercial uses of the Monkey Selfies, including Defendants' disgorged profits, be used solely for the benefit of Naruto, his family, and his community, including the preservation of their habitat..."

Slater, meanwhile, says he's been granted copyright protection in the UK for the selfies and maintains he should have that right in the US, too.

Ars Technica

 

[Teelie]

$635 poop pills cure deadly gastrointestinal infection
Doses of the 30-capsule fecal transplant method cured up to 94% of patients.

Eat **** and live?

The country’s first stool bank, OpenBiome, is now selling capsules of fecal matter to treat life-threatening Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, infections.

The $635 pill-based therapy, a type of fecal transplant, is highly effective against the difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal infection, according to results of a pilot study. A single dose, which includes a whopping 30 pills, cured 70 percent of patients. A second dose bumped the success rate up to 94 percent. The treatment, currently being sold only to doctors, may offer an easier alternative to other effective fecal transplant routes, namely colonoscopies, nasal tubes, and enemas.

Scientists have known for years that fecal transplants in general are highly effective against C. diff infections, which can be extremely difficult to cure. The infection can cause severe, recurring diarrhea. It can be resistant to antibiotic treatments, and sometimes it turns deadly. In the US, C. diff causes more than 450,000 infections a year, leading to about 15,000 deaths.

C. diff infections sometimes take root while a patient is on antibiotics, which kills off and disrupts the patient's normal, healthy gut microbiome. In antibiotics’ wake, C. diff bacteria that usually reside quietly in the gut can run amok and produce toxins. Fecal transplants can stamp out the infection by replacing a patient’s disrupted gut microbial community with the gut microbes from a healthy patient, transferred via feces.

Besides pills, researchers and doctors have used a variety of methods to transplant fecal matter into the intestines of patients. And some researchers are also working on poop-less microbe mixes that could be taken in pill form.

Despite years of preliminary studies showing that fecal transplants can be safe and effective, experts are still struggling to monitor and standardize methods for administering prescription poop. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees fecal transplants, has not approved the new OpenBiome capsules. As the New York Times reports, the agency has decided not to take action for now due to a current lack of alternatives.

Ars Technica

 

[Marvolo]

Ive heard of that sort of treatment. It seems weird, but its not much different from pro biotics. You're putting good bacteria in the gut. And it sure beats the hell out of dying of some horrid infection.

 

[Teelie]

I remember it showing up in some doctor show a few years ago and though it does sound gross they only use the bacteria from that.