News of the Weird

[Jo Dawn]

Well, of course it does. Do people think Child's Play is FICTION??

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by Raph's Girl

That's just it... it really DOES sound like it's saying "Kill James?"

It sounds closer to "Kell James," "Tell James," or "Ghell James" to me. At least it's more audible than "Who wants to Die" in "FRRMM MRRRMRfff {crackle} Pottyfffff poofffff" in the talking book or "Rip Elmo's Fur out" in "{Crackle, crackle, crackle} FRRRRMRRUMM REFFFF GRFFF KRFFFFF NRRRRR PFFFTR {crackle}" in the singing Elmo that was recalled for Lead paint anyway.

[Ra]

Not really weird news, but I think it didn't really deserve it's own thread.

Two would-be armed robbers have had an unlucky run-in with 50 bikers, who stopped them after they tried to hold up a western Sydney club last night.

The pair, armed with machetes, threatened staff at the club on Terrene Street at Regent's Park about 9:00pm (AEDT).

About 50 members of the Southern Cross Cruiser motorcycle club were meeting there and caught one of the men in the car park.

They held him down until police came and arrested him.

The president of the club, who goes by the nickname Jester, says the robbers did not realise his group was there.

"I asked one of the guys in the foyer - I think it was either the security or one of the managers there - if there was a back entrance out of the bar and he said, 'Yeah, round by the roller door out the front,' so we ran around the roller door out the front," he said.

"This guy opened up the roller door and we crash-tackled him in the doorway, so in the heat of the moment, I just grabbed him and threw him to the ground."

Police say the second man was found at Auburn a short time later.

One man is under police guard at Westmead Hospital with minor injuries and the other man is helping with inquiries.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...28/2175003.htm

[Raph's Girl]

This first one is in weird news cuz um it's in Yahoo's Oddly Enough thread....actually they all are...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080305/od_nm/vermont_dc_1

Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported.

The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."

Vermont, home to maple syrup and picture-postcard views, is known for its liberal politics.

State lawmakers have passed nonbinding resolutions to end the war in Iraq and impeach Bush and Cheney, and several towns have also passed resolutions of impeachment. None of them have caught on in Washington.

Bush has never visited the state as president, though he has spent vacations at his family compound in nearby Maine.

Roughly 12,000 people live in Brattleboro, located on the Connecticut River in the state's southeastern corner. Nearby Marlboro has a population of roughly 1,000.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080304...eligionoffbeat

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

Moses: "Duuuude....this bush talked to me....and it was burning with all these funky colours man....."
Pharoah: "......"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/...speedway_ashes

Big George Helms had tickets for last weekend's NASCAR race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but died before he got to use them. He still made it to the track, though.

At 6-foot-5 and 400 pounds, Helms wouldn't have been able to fit into a race car. But after his death from a heart attack Dec. 28, loved ones decided to try to fulfill the 54-year-old's dream of participating in a NASCAR race, and arranged for the former logger's ashes to be driven around the track.

"His friends came up to us during the memorial service and asked us if they could take his ashes to the NASCAR race," said Helms' mother, Dixie Helms. "I said 'He'd love that.'"

Driver Mike Harmon taped Helms' urn to the fire extinguisher of his Nationwide Series car during practice last Friday. He told ESPN he could hear someone squealing when he went through a couple of turns.

"I swear I did," Harmon said. "I heard a noise I've never heard before. It happened just one time, through Turns 1 and 2."

Mara Brodeur, a friend who accompanied the urn to Las Vegas, called Helms' family afterward to describe how it went.

"It put tears in my eyes," said Helms' younger brother, Allen.

And Helms will be at the track's next race, in spirit anyway. His friends spread some of his ashes at the speedway before returning the rest to his mother.

That's it...when I die I want my ashes spread on a Nascar track!

[Mr. Snackpants]

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index...t=newsmichigan

A woman died after a sting ray leaped out of the water and hit her while she was riding a boat. The impact alone killed her. That's just terrible luck and is not funny. But our crappy local news station put up the following headline when talking about this story..."Pigeon Woman killed by Stingray". What a terrible headline. We were laughing so hard. I didn't even know there was a town here in Michigan called Pigeon. "Pigeon Woman.....wtf?"

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Snackpants

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index...t=newsmichigan

A woman died after a sting ray leaped out of the water and hit her while she was riding a boat. The impact alone killed her. That's just terrible luck and is not funny.

Crikey mate!! Those Sting Rays are plotting world wide domination!! First Steve Irwin and now a bird woman from Michigan!!

And incidentally...Pigeon, Michigan. Population 1207...er oops 1206
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon%2C_Michigan

[Revan]

^ I saw that. Isn't that crazy. An animal expert said these rays can fly out of the water for distances as far as 15 feet!

[Raph's Girl]

Local news decided to be morbid today and showed footage of the dead Ray on the boat. Poor thing was all bloodied up.

[Leonardo Mystic]

This one kind of tickled me which is the reason I'm posting it. All that's missing is a swimming pool sized glass of milk.

14 tons of spilled Oreo cookies snarl Ill. traffic
Monday, May 19, 2008 9:00 AM EDT
The Associated Press


MORRIS, Ill. (AP) — Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway.

Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney says the truck's driver was traveling from Chicago to Morris on Interstate 80 around 4 a.m. Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the median.

"The boxes came out of the trailer and boxes were ripped open," he said.

The crash about 50 miles southwest of Chicago remains under investigation.

Mahoney says no charges have been filed but both lanes of traffic remain closed while authorities remove the cookies.

[Raph's Girl]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1234193.ece

Airport guards stopped a man boarding a plane — for wearing a Transformers T-shirt showing a cartoon gun.

Brad Jayakody, 30, was shocked when he was told to change his top if he wanted to catch his flight from Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

IT consultant Brad — on a British Airways trip with four colleagues to Dusseldorf, Germany — asked to see the security chief.

He thought the boss would "see sense" — but he backed up the decision and threatened him with ARREST. Aussie-born Brad said: "My mate set off the alarms and was searched.

"But then the guy told me to stop and said ‘you cannot get on the plane because there is a gun on your T-shirt’."

The top has the Transformers film character Optimus Prime on the front.

Brad, of Bayswater, West London, added: "It’s a cartoon robot with a gun as an arm. What was I going to do, use the shirt to pretend I have a gun?

"I was flabbergasted. I thought the supervisor would come over and see sense, but he didn’t. After I changed he said if I changed back I would be arrested."

A spokesman for Heathrow operator BAA said: "If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it.

"We are investigating what happened to see if it came under this category."

Last year Gatwick guards made a woman hand over a beef sandwich before boarding and last week a PhD student was stopped for wearing a gun-shaped charm necklace at an airport in Canada.

WTF?

[Leonardo Mystic]

Airport security is getting ridiculous. I do understand they're only doing their job to protect passengers, but it's getting way out of hand. They're seeing things that aren't even there.

So what's next? Someone's going to be threatened with arrest for wearing a TMNT shirt? I'm certain they'll probably see it as "OMG! Weapons! They're going to skewer people! Eleventyhundred!111!!11!"

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by Leonardo Mystic

So what's next? Someone's going to be threatened with arrest for wearing a TMNT shirt? I'm certain they'll probably see it as "OMG! Weapons! They're going to skewer people! Eleventyhundred!111!!11!"

Next time I go to an airport Im gonna wear the Raphael shirt I have where he's throwing a sai in the air....just to see what happens.

[Machias Banshee]

Thank you, political correctness...

It's ridiculous, but that's how people are getting these days...

[Cure]

Originally Posted by Raph's Girl

Next time I go to an airport Im gonna wear the Raphael shirt I have where he's throwing a sai in the air....just to see what happens.

I hope you miss your flight and get arrested for intentionally egging them on after knowing that it could cause trouble.

[Ra]

"Oh noes! It's a Transformers shirt! Run away!! D: "

For a race of intelligent beings, we aren't really that intelligent as a whole, are we?

[Aelia]

I'm tempted to sew together all the t-shirts I own that could be seen as offensive into one shirt, go to my local airport, and maybe dance around the place to see if the fashion police- I mean the SECURITY GUARDS will stop me.

[Drtooth]

source

Brandon Inge angles for a lucrative pillow endorsement
By 'Duk
We've heard about players getting hurt while sneezing, while sleepwalking through a nightmare about spiders and after kicking an iron bar stool.

But we had never heard of a pillow-lifting injury in baseball — that is, until Detroit Tigers' everyman Brandon Inge reported an overstuffed owie on Wednesday, earning a feather-paved (and probably overdue) path to the injury list.

The details, from the Free Press:


"It was the stupidest, most freakish thing," Inge said Wednesday, explaining why he had just been placed on the 15-day DL with the pulled side muscle (oblique) he suffered 3 1/2 weeks ago.

"I have a 3-year-old son who sleeps in the bed with my wife and me," Inge said. "I was trying to push the pillow down behind his head (two nights ago), and when I did ... I repopped (the strained muscle).

"You take swings in baseball, and it's not as bad as pushing a pillow down."

Upon hearing this story, manager Jim Leyland said, "That's a first."


It definitely is a first, but I think anyone who's getting up there in age — like myself and Mr. Inge — can relate to feeling a little pain in the obliques or lower back when doing random things.

Heck, while formatting this blog, I threw my back out three different times. I'm guessing a few people probably did while reading it, too. It's a dangerous world out there.

Didn't think it was worthy for its own thread, so here ya go.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by Aelia

I'm tempted to sew together all the t-shirts I own that could be seen as offensive into one shirt, go to my local airport, and maybe dance around the place to see if the fashion police- I mean the SECURITY GUARDS will stop me.

This is news to me, that you can't wear "threatening" clothing when boarding a plane. I wore my Transformers shirt when I went to Atlanta from Palm Beach. Nothing.. On my way back, I wore an old Willow shirt, that had picture of Bad Mardigan weilding his sword on his horse. No problem. And better yet, my flight mate brought on board his video game which had lots of killing going on, and no one said a thing. Seems like the airport security mentioned in the report had a bug up their nose or something. But then again, I also hear of alot of problems with the airlines lately, but I have yet to encounter any of them. I still get pretty good price quotes when I fly, ends up being way cheaper than if I were to drive.

[Buslady]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080705/...LHXB2vlhus0NUE

BEND, Ore. - A man has taken flight in a lawn chair hoisted by more than 150 large helium-filled party balloons in a bid to ride the wind from the central Oregon town of Bend all the way to Idaho.
ADVERTISEMENT


Kent Couch was wearing a parachute Saturday morning as he kissed his wife and kids goodbye, patted his dog and took off at sunrise from his gas station.

This is Couch's third lawn chair flight in as many years.

He hopes to do better than last year, when he flew 193 miles before running low on helium and had to land in the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon.

[Raph's Girl]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...tory?track=rss

Pringles, Procter & Gamble Co.'s salty snack stacked in a tube, are not potato chips, a London judge ruled Friday in a tax dispute.

Pringles don't fulfill the legal definition of "potato crisp," the British term for "chip," allowing them to be sold tax-free in Britain, Justice Nicholas Warren at the High Court in London ruled.

Under the law, most food is exempt from Britain's 17.5% sales tax. Even so, the national tax office claimed that Pringles were covered by an exception for products such as potato chips, sticks or puffs "and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch."

Procter & Gamble's lawyers argued at a May hearing that Pringles didn't look like a chip, didn't feel like a chip and didn't taste like a chip, according to the judgment. They also maintain that the snack isn't made like a chip because it is cooked from baked dough, not potato slices.

Potato chips "give a sharply crunchy sensation under the tooth and have to be broken down into jagged pieces when chewed," the Cincinnati-based company's lawyers argued. "It is totally different with a Pringle, indeed a Pringle is designed to melt down on the tongue."

Warren agreed. Pringles aren't "made from the potato" for the purposes of the tax exemption, he said. He didn't say what Pringles are, other than that they're tax-exempt.

The British tax office said in an e-mailed statement that it would consider the judgment "with a view to deciding whether to appeal."

In a similar case in April, the British government was told by Europe's highest court, the European Court of Justice, to entirely refund to Marks & Spencer Group more than 20 years of sales duty charged on chocolate-covered tea cakes.

Wait...so in the UK potato chips are tax exempt??? We should have that law here...course here Pringles POTATO chips would still be considered to be potato chips. Cuz if they aren't potato chips then it's false advertising.