Weird News of the World Thread

[GENERAL RAAM582]

That reminds me of a video we had to watch during work once about work safety.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Chinese toilets are not to be messed with apparently

 

[Teelie]

Chinese toilets are not to be messed with apparently

Nope. They don't take **** from just anybody.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Paris Bridge Partially Collapses Under Weight of "Love Locks"

Lovebird visitors to the Pont des Arts, a footbridge in Paris, typically mark the occasion by fixing a padlock to its handrail and tossing the key into the Seine to symbolize their eternal devotion. Yesterday evening, police evacuated the bridge after a 2.4-meter section of railing collapsed under the weight of their adoration.

From the Agency France-Presse:

"The bridge was immediately evacuated and closed," local police told AFP.

An architect and local officials rushed to the site and a barrier put in place to stop further access. Police said the bridge would be re-opened by Monday.

The locks started appearing in 2008, and authorities and activists alike have asked visitors to cease the practice since then, citing concerns about weight and aesthetics. The Paris city government warned about the potential for collapse in 2010:

Frequent inspections are carried out in search of segments of bent grating that must be removed and replaced. Two railings were replaced in July and one in August. Is the Passerelle des Arts to become a victim of the lovebirds who wish to solemnise their enduring love?

Perhaps the collapse will serve as a warning to NYC visitors, who recently began attaching love locks to the Brooklyn Bridge. Said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nicole Garcia last month:

"When a minor component such as a hand railing is impacted by the number or weight of the locks, these custom elements of this national landmark must be removed and a replacement must be newly fabricated, further increasing costs."

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/08/paris-locks-of-love-bridge-evacuated-due-to-partial-collapse/

I remember seeing it in Now You See Me

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Man Hurt After Elevator Suddenly Flies Up 31 Floors, Slams Into Roof

[YT]66DT84nNU2s#t[/YT]

A man was injured after an elevator he was riding in traveled up 31 floors in 15 seconds while he desperately pushed buttons in an attempt to stop it.

This surveillance video posted to YouTube shows Jose Vergara Acevedo entering the elevator on the first floor of a new apartment complex in Santiago, Chile. Before the doors even closed, the elevator began its rapid ascent, eventually slamming into the ceiling.

The elevator stayed at the top floor, where emergency personnel were able to rescue Acevedo. He's currently in stable condition in intensive care after suffering leg and head injuries, and reportedly may not be able to walk again because of damage to his spine.

http://myfox8.com/2014/06/08/man-in...es-30-floors-in-15-seconds-crashes-into-roof/

Man that would freak me out, really sucks that he got so messed up from an elevator ride too. That's just not something any rational person could expect

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Three Inmates Make Brazen Escape from Canadian Jail via Helicopter

Around 8 p.m. last night, three inmates at the Orsainville Detention Centre outside of Quebec City fled the jail as they were whisked away by a green helicopter that had touched down on the property. This counts as the second time this kind of escape has happened in Canada in only two years.

Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre, and Serge Pomerleau were awaiting trial on drug-related charges, as well as charges of murder and gangsterism. The three men are reported to have ties to Hells Angels.

How is it possible that the men were able to flee so easily? Apparently, minimal security at the jail played a big part.

Via CBC News:

A spokesman for the union of prison guards, Mathieu Lavoie, said he's not surprised they were able to get away. He said security at the Orsainville detention centre is minimal, with only a few layers of barbed wire protecting the courtyard.

Lavoie also added that there aren't enough resources or guards at the facility to take on a helicopter potentially helmed by armed men.

Investigators suspect that the helicopter dropped the inmates in the nearby woods, as a way to draw attention away from them and the getaway helicopter. Police ask that if you encounter any of the three men below, to not approach them, but to contact police immediately.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ILBREAK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I'm positive KevanG had something to do with this t:

 

[squeekness]

Man Hurt After Elevator Suddenly Flies Up 31 Floors, Slams Into Roof

[YT]66DT84nNU2s#t[/YT]



http://myfox8.com/2014/06/08/man-in...es-30-floors-in-15-seconds-crashes-into-roof/

Man that would freak me out, really sucks that he got so messed up from an elevator ride too. That's just not something any rational person could expect

I have nightmares about elevators falling, not going up like that.

 

[KevanG]

Three Inmates Make Brazen Escape from Canadian Jail via Helicopter

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ILBREAK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I'm positive KevanG had something to do with this t:

If the RCMP can't prove anything then neither can you.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

2-Year-Old Boy Killed By Falling Dolphin Statue in San Francisco

A 2-year-old boy visiting San Francisco with his family from Utah was killed after a dolphin statue outside a store in the city's Fisherman's Wharf fell on him. Police are investigating whether the store, Majestic Collection Art Gallery, was in violation for having the statue on a busy walkway.

Kayson Shelton was playing outside his hotel last Friday when he climbed onto the large dolphin statue outside the store. According to police, he wrapped his arms and legs around the statue, causing it to tip over and fall on him. His six-year-old sister attempted to stop the fall, but the statue was too heavy.

At first, according to police, the boy did not appear to be seriously hurt—he was taken to the hospital with a bloody nose. But soon after that, Capt. Joe McFadden of the San Francisco Police Department told the San Francisco Chronicle, "he went from bad to worse and was transferred to the emergency room." He died four hours after the accident, apparently from internal injuries.

To maintain safe traffic flow, the city's port authority requires stores to adhere to a blue-line system that designates where they can place displays. Reuters reports that the store has been ticketed and that it has been told before to remove the statue.

"Last summer, San Francisco was the host city for the America's Cup, and this specific business was warned about their dolphin being outside the blue line," Gordon Shyy, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, said. "This business was warned this was a problem and a violation of that code."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/10/us-usa-california-accident-idUSKBN0EL03920140610

What a bizarre and tragic accident, RIP little guy

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Illinois Bans the Microbeads in Soap That Are Ruining the Great Lakes

Some years ago, soap companies began putting plastic exfoliating beads into body wash in hopes of greater profits and smoother skin. Since then, billions of plastic beads have polluted our waterways and poisoned fish. Illinois has become now the first state to take a stand against the beads.

The Illinois bill, signed into law Sunday, will ban the manufacture of products with the microbeads by the end of 2018 and the sale of them by the end of 2019. New York and California legislatures have considered similar state bans.

The plastic beads—found in face washes and toothpastes as well as body wash—soak up toxins in the water, which are then absorbed by fish who mistakenly eat the beads for food. And the beads almost impossible to remove because they're so small; filtering them out means filtering out plankton, too.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140608/NEWS/140609214

I had no idea they are such a problem

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

14-Year-Old Kids "Hack" Into ATM Using Default Security Code

A couple of crafty 14-year-old kids from Winnipeg figured out how to get past the security on a a Bank of Montreal ATM. Crazy as it might sound, the "hack" didn't require any advanced computer hacking at all—these kids just looked up the ATM manual on the internet.

The Edmonton Journal reports that Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon went online to look up the operator's manual for the BMO ATM sitting at their local grocery store, and were able to switch the cash machine over to administrator mode by simply entering one of the default system passwords.

Luckily for the bank, the teens weren't trying to rob the ATM or install malicious card skimming software. Instead, they reported the compromised ATM to employees at a local BMO branch. The extent of the damage they did was changing the ATM's welcome screen to read "Go away. This ATM has been hacked." According to the Edmonton Journal, Hewlett and Turon cooperated with the bank, but BMO hasn't responded more broadly to inquiries about security.

The conclusion of this story makes it more amusing than terrifying, but it could have easily ended in lots of people getting ripped off. This kind of passcode idiocy persists not just in ATMs but for security systems of all kinds. If you're using a default password anywhere, you're basically asking for a rough time down the line.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/year+olds+hack+using+manual+found+online/9921271/story.html

Well at least they weren't jerks about it. Using a default password anywhere is just about the stupidest thing you can do

 

[Doctor Evo]

Illinois Bans the Microbeads in Soap That Are Ruining the Great Lakes

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140608/NEWS/140609214

I had no idea they are such a problem

Yeah, it's actually a huge issue. Frankly, I'm surprised we hadn't seen/heard more about this. I'm also a bit surprised that this sort of effect was largely unforeseen.

 

[Teelie]

I'm sure it could be foreseen but no one in any position to stop it was notified of the potential issue (or they were bribed to look the other way).

 

[Teelie]

Officials: Man dismembered, ate woman's body

The headline is slightly misleading. He didn't eat her entire body, only an undisclosed portion of it.

Still pretty sick though.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man has been charged with dismembering the body of a woman and eating part of her corpse, officials said Tuesday.

Gregory S. Hale, 37, was arrested at his home Sunday and is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, Coffee County District Attorney Mickey Layne told The Associated Press.

Hale confessed to killing the woman, according to the arrest warrant, which identified the woman as Lisa Marie Hyder. Hale told authorities he beheaded Hyder and cut off her hands and feet and placed the body parts in plastic buckets, according to the warrant. It says Hale buried the torso in a burn pile at the residence.

Hale also admitted to "eating part of the victim," according to the warrant.

Layne said a neighbor told police he'd had a conversation with Hale and had reason to believe a homicide had been committed.

Hale is being held in jail on $1.5 million bond. His attorney did not immediately return a call to The AP.

The Tullahoma News reported that Hyder was 36.

Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves told the newspaper that Hyder has an ex-husband and children living in the area. Graves said she apparently became acquainted with Hale, but there is no evidence that they were in a relationship or that she was living with him.

USA Today

 

[Sundancer]

 

[KevanG]

If the husband is that stupid then it must be true love.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

 

[Teelie]

I hope none of you believe that is a legitimate article.

 

[KevanG]

I've known people that stupid so I was willing to believe it

 

[Teelie]

This wild tale of movie viewership gone wickedly awry wasn't an actual news story. It was instead a humor piece presented to the public at large on 4 May 2010 by the Brazilian satirical news site Sensacionalista, a publication whose slogan translates as "The newspaper exempt from truth."

Snopes

 

[cherokeesam]

Snopes

I was gonna say, that sounded like a joke from The Onion or something.

 

[Teelie]

I knew it wasn't The Onion but it definitely came from someone like them.

 

[Sundancer]

I got it from Facebook.

 

[KevanG]

It's satire but I like it too much not to post.

http://nationalreport.net/solar-panels-drain-suns-energy-experts-say/

Solar Panels Drain the Sun’s Energy, Experts Say

​

<National Report>This week, a scientific research facility in Wyoming made a startling discovery that is certain to change the way millions of Americans look at the environmentalism movement, after they found conclusive evidence that solar panels not only convert the sun’s energy into usable energy, but that they are also draining the sun of its own energy, possibly with catastrophic consequences far worse than global warming.
Scientists at the Wyoming Institute of Technology, a privately-owned think tank located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, discovered that energy radiated from the sun isn’t merely captured in solar panels, but that energy is directly physically drawn from the sun by those panels, in a process they refer to as “forced photovoltaic drainage.”
“Put into laymen’s terms, the solar panels capture the sun’s energy, but pull on the sun over time, forcing more energy to be released than the sun is actually producing,” WIT claims in a scientific white paper published on Wednesday. “Imagine a waterfall, dumping water. But you aren’t catching the water in buckets, but rather sucking it in with a vacuum cleaner. Eventually, you’re going to suck in so much water that you drain the river above that waterfall completely.”

WIT is adamant that there’s no immediate danger, however. “Currently, solar panels are an energy niche, and do not pose a serious risk to the sun. But if we converted our grids to solar energy in a big way, with panels on domestic homes and commercial businesses, and paving our parking lots with panels, we’d start seeing very serious problems over time. If every home in the world had solar panels on their roofs, global temperatures would drop by as much as thirty degrees over twenty years, and the sun could die out within three hundred to four hundred years.”
The study was commissioned in August 2011 by the Halliburton corporation, who wanted to learn if the energy giant should start manufacturing and selling solar panels domestically and internationally. Halliburton’s executives wanted to know more about the sustainability of solar energy and how photovoltaic technology might evolve over the next ten years. But based on the findings of WIT’s research in the field, Halliburton revealed on Friday that they will not be entering the solar energy market.
“Solar panels destroying the sun could potentially be the worst man-made climate disaster in the history of the world, and Halliburton will not be taking part in that,” the company stated in a press release issued Friday morning. “It’s obvious, based on the findings of this neutral scientific research group, that humans needs to become more dependent on fossil fuels like oil and coal, not less. Because these so-called `green technologies’ are far more dangerous to the Earth than any hydrofracking operation or deep-water drilling station. What good is clean air when our very sun is no longer functional?”

- See more at: http://nationalreport.net/solar-panels-drain-suns-energy-experts-say/#sthash.mIlcjxcA.dpuf

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Strippers Accused of Drugging Men With Molly, Robbing Them of $200,000

Four strippers were arrested in New York today for allegedly drugging several men and charging their credit cards with purchases totaling $200,000 dollars.

The Associated Press reports that Roselyn Keo, Karina Pasucci, Marsi Rosen, and Samantha Barbash (above) were charged with crimes including grand larceny, conspiracy, and forgery. Carmine Vitolo, manager of RoadHouse, a gentlemen's club in Queens, was charged with conspiracy, grand larceny, and tampering with physical evidence.

Among the quintet's alleged victims is Zyad Younan, a cardiologist who was sued by the Manhattan strip club Scores for $135,000 in unpaid bills in April. Younan maintained at the time that he either drugged or not present when the contested charges were placed on his card, and his attorney claimed victory after the arrests:

"Today's indictment exposes a pattern of fraud that contributed to erroneous media reports. We were always confident that law enforcement's efforts would expose that my client was preyed upon by this ring and not responsible for charges to his credit card."

Three other men allegedly lost a total of $55,000.

The New York Times and the New York Daily News report that the dancers' tactics involved giving the men molly, ketamine, and cocaine, taking them into private rooms, and running up charges on their cards. Reprehensible fraud or Bieberesque night out on the town? You decide.

These ladies are giving a bad name to strippers, most are just trying to get through college and med school