[roddy32]

I thought it would be fun to share oddball news stories. If you find one that you like, post it here.

Please use the quote tags and post a link so we are not accused of anything illegal.

[roddy32]

I used to take my Cocker Spaniel to a bar with me back in my drinking days but I think this guy needs to stop drinking BEFORE he goes to the bar.

Quote

Man arrives at bar with pet alligator; cops called
AP
Fri Nov 14, 5:33 pm ET

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Heard the one about the guy who walked into a bar with an alligator?

At Johnny's Saloon in Orange County, it was more than a joke early Saturday when a man arrived with his 3-foot pet gator on a leash.

By the time police and animal control officers arrived at Johnny's, the gator was in the man's vehicle in the parking lot. Officers followed him home, where another alligator was found, animal control spokesman Ryan Drabek said.

Both alligators were impounded and were being held Wednesday pending an investigation by the Department of Fish and Game, Drabek said.

Alligators are not native to California and it is illegal to keep them as pets.

A woman who answered the telephone at Johnny's Wednesday night declined to comment.

http://news.yahoo.co...d_bar_alligator

[jasper the rasper]

Victory for the bent bananas.

The laws which the European Union have passed in the past few years have been truly legendary BUT there is hope for us yet, well the ones who like bent cucumbers and bananas anyway.

Quote

EU slices up 'ugly fruit' rules
The European Commission has scrapped controversial rules that prevent oddly-sized or misshapen fruit and vegetables being sold in Europe.
The EU's agriculture commissioner called it "a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot".
Marketing standards for 26 types of produce were scrapped, in a drive to cut bureaucracy.
The rules were introduced to ensure common EU standards, but are regarded by critics as examples of Euro-madness.
Some 20% of produce is rejected by shops across the EU because it fails to meet the current requirements.

'Good news'

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, said Wednesday's vote by the EU's fruit and vegetable management committee was "a concrete example of our drive to cut unnecessary red tape".
"We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators," she said.

The 26 types are: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocadoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons and witloof/chicory.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/7723808.stm

[Earthling Series #6]

Quote

Avatar Strays, Real Guy Suffers Consequences

By Raphael G. Satter
AP
11/16/08 4:00 AM PT

A case in England is highlighting just how blurry the lines have grown between the metaverse and real life. A woman who discovered her husband's avatar cuddling with another avatar has filed for divorce. The pair met online in a chat room.

http://www.linuxinsi...tory/65175.html

[roddy32]

I think it is time for those people to shut the computer off and get some help. LOL

[bigc73542]

The digital age, Isn't it grand

[roddy32]

Quote

Mass. woman's 1 cent debt paid in full
Wed Nov 19, 9:03 pm ET

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – A 74-year-old blind woman's 1 cent debt to a Massachusetts city has been settled. People from across the country called Attleboro City Hall on Tuesday offering to pay the 1 cent balance owed by Eileen Wilbur for an overdue water and sewer bill.

Antonio Viveiros, a former city councilor who does not know Wilbur, wrote a check for one penny. He says he was "irked" by the fact that the federal government can spend billions for bailouts, yet a senior citizen was threatened with a lien on her home over 1 cent.

Wilbur's daughter first noticed the letter that warned of a lien and a $48 penalty if the overdue bill was not paid by Dec. 10.

Mayor Kevin Dumas says the whole situation was blown out of proportion.

http://news.yahoo.co.../odd_penny_bill

[roddy32]

Quote

Full-size cardboard figure causes NJ bank standoff

Fri Nov 28, 8:07 am ET

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – A standoff at a New Jersey bank is over after police learned a "person" seen inside was actually a full-size cardboard figure.

Officers went to the PNC Bank in Montgomery Township on Thursday night after an alarm went off. They saw what they thought was at least one person through the windows of the bank, which had its blinds drawn.

The area was sealed off and three nearby apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution. Meanwhile, authorities used bullhorns and made telephone calls in a bid to make contact with whoever might be in the bank.

After repeatedly failing to get a response, a SWAT team entered the building and discovered the cardboard figure.

It was not immediately clear what set off the bank alarm.

http://news.yahoo.co...staken_standoff

[roddy32]

I have heard of people getting hurt on Black Friday when the stores open but this was the first fatality I had heard of. This story even made my local news in Kansas even though it happened 1600 miles east of me.

Quote

Sought: Wal-Mart shoppers who trampled NY worker

By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writer Colleen Long, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 29, 7:11 am ET

NEW YORK – Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Much more here
http://news.yahoo.co.../wal_mart_death

[jasper the rasper]

10 things we didn't know last week

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ex.html#a044314

[jasper the rasper]

Quote

The art of the toilet in Japan

Duncan Bartlett discovers how, when it comes to lavatories, Japan is a step ahead of the rest of the world.

No country takes toilets quite so seriously as Japan.

Machines with heated seats, built-in bidets and a dynamic range of flushing options are almost ubiquitous in homes and public buildings.

A poem recently published by a stressed-out salary man captured their comforting appeal with haiku-like brevity. "The only warmth in my life is the toilet seat," he mourned.

But lavatories here can do much more than keep you warm. One even sends a tiny electrical charge through the user's buttocks to check their body-fat ratio.

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/7750870.stm

[roddy32]

LOL. I wonder about the people that do not want to be reminded how fat they are. LOL

[roddy32]

Quote

Deer gets revenge after hunter shoots him
Mon Dec 1, 8:13 pm ET

SEDALIA, Mo. – A hunter bagged a big buck on the second day of firearms season, but the kill caused him a lot of pain. Randy Goodman, 49, said he thought two well-placed shots with his .270-caliber rifle had killed the buck on Nov. 19. Goodman said the deer looked dead to him, but seconds later the nine-point, 240-pound animal came to life.

The buck rose up, knocked Goodman down and attacked him with his antlers in what the veteran hunter called "15 seconds of hell." The deer ran a short distance and went down, and died after Goodman fired two more shots.

Soon Goodman started feeling dizzy and noticed his vest was soaked in blood.

So he reached his truck and drove to a hospital, where he received seven staples in his scalp and was treated for a slight concussion and bruises.

___

Information from: The Sedalia Democrat, http://www.sedaliademocrat.com

http://news.yahoo.co..._attacks_hunter

[roddy32]

I can think of better things to do with food than throw it.

Quote

Man allegedly assaults girlfriend with burger
Thu Dec 4, 11:28 pm ET

VERO BEACH, Fla. – A Vero Beach man faces a domestic violence charge after authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend with a cheeseburger. An Indian River County Sheriff's Office arrest report said a 22-year-old man and his girlfriend got into an argument as they sat in a car in front of their home.

The report said the man would not let the woman out of the vehicle, so she threw his drink out of the car. In response, the man allegedly grabbed her arm and smashed the cheeseburger into her face. The pair got out of the car, and authorities say the man again took the McDonald's sandwich and put it on her face.

The man was released on $1,000 bond Wednesday.

___

Information from: Press-Journal, http://www.tcpalm.com/vero

http://news.yahoo.co...eburger_assault

[Fred Flintstone]

Assault with a deadly burger... heard it all now!!...

[jasper the rasper]

Now this story puts my biggest which was a small 5½Lb one to shame

Quote

Lebanese finds 'heaviest' potato

A farmer in southern Lebanon has dug up what might be the heaviest potato in the world.

"This giant weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)," Khalil Semhat told the AFP news agency at his farm near Tyre, 85 kilometres (50 miles) south of Beirut.

"I've been working the land since I was a boy, and it's the first time I've seen anything like it."

Mr Semhat, 56, said he had to ask for help from a friend to get the huge vegetable out of the ground.

Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.u...ast/7771042.stm

[roddy32]

I LOVE potato salad. You could make a BIG one with that.

[jasper the rasper]

I knew I had lost mine somewhere!!!!

Quote

'Oldest human brain' discovered

Archaeologists have found the remains of what could be Britain's oldest surviving human brain.

The team, excavating a York University site, discovered a skull containing a yellow substance which scans showed to be shrunken, but brain-shaped.

Brains consist of fatty tissue which microbes in the soil would absorb, so neurologists believe the find could be some kind of fossilised brain.

The skull was found in an area first farmed more than 2,000 years ago.

Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.u...lth/7777385.stm

[roddy32]

Yes that sounds like your's especially the shrunken part.

[jasper the rasper]

I don't keep it in a Petri dish though do I.