Weird News Stories

[Pidesco]

 

Mostly so I can post random news bits without the effort of finding the appropriate threads

 

Tenn. judge changes infant's name from "Messiah"

 

 

 

Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the name change last week,according to WBIR-TV. The boy's parents were in court because they could not agree on the child's last name, but when the judge heard the boy's first name, she ordered it changed, too.

 

 

 

The judge should have changed the kid's name to "A Very Naughty Boy". The ruling would have written itself.

[ShadySands]

How A Creep Hacked A Baby Monitor To Say Lewd Things To A 2-Year-Old

 

 

 

ABC News reports that a Houston couple heard an unfamiliar voice talking to their sleeping 2-year-old daughter on Saturday night and realized that a stranger had taken control of their camera-enabled monitor. And he wasn't a very nice stranger:

[Keyrock]

First Lady Michelle Obama Will release a rap album

 

 

In news you probably couldn’t make up even with 100 monkeys on 100 typewriters, First Lady Michelle Obama is releasing a hip-hop album. And Samantha Sheffield, wife of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, is organizing a fight club.

 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Obama hasn’t recorded renditions of “Jump Around” or “Ruff Ryders Anthem”. Instead, as Politico points out, she’s teamed with the Partnership for a Healthier America and Hip Hop Public Health (yes, that’s a real thing) to release Songs for a Healthier America, featuring a who’s who of R&B and rap names touting the benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise.

 

The 19-track effort features cuts from Reverend Run of Run DMC (on a song that features the phrase “Finding Exercise Energy Thresholds”), Doug E. Fresh, Jordin Sparks, Ashanti, and Blink-182′s Travis Barker and Matisyahu as Salad Bar (!) Aside from organizing the album, Obama will appear in music videos set to be distributed to schools nationwide.

 

For a low fat taste, head here to watch the video for “Everybody”, featuring Sparks, Doug E. Fresh, and Dr. Oz. More videos will be previewed in the coming weeks.

 

Songs for a Healthier America Tracklist:

01. Everybody (ft. Jordin Sparks, Doug E Fresh, Ryan Beatty, Artie Green, Dr Oz and the Hip Hop Doc)

02. U R What You Eat (feat. Salad Bar (Matisyahu, Ariana Grande, Travis Barker))

03. Let’s Move (ft. Doug E Fresh, Artie Green, Chauncey Hawkins, Easy AD)

04. Just Believe (ft. Ashanti, Gerry Gunn, Artie Green, Robbie Nova, Chauncey Hawkins)

05. Veggie Luv (ft. Monifah and J Rome)

06. Hip Hop FEET (Finding Exercise Energy Thresholds) (ft. DMC, Artie Green, and Chauncey Hawkins)

07. Stronger (ft. Shayna Steele, Jeremy Jordan, Our Time, Nils Lofgren)

08. Give Myself a Try (ft. Ryan Beatty)

09. Jump Up (It’s a Good Day) Let’s Move version (ft. Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could)

10. Hip Hop LEAN (ft. Artie Green)

11. Pass the Rock (ft. Iman Schumpert and Artie Green)

12. Good Living (ft. Ashton Jones)

13. Beautiful (ft. Daisy Grant and Artie Green)

14. Change the Game (ft. The Happiness Club and Naledge)

15. Wanna Jump (Let’s Move) (ft. Paul Burch and WPA Ballclub)

16. Mother May I? (ft. Amelia Robinson)

17. We Like Vegetables (ft. Los Barkers!)

18. Get Up Sit Up (ft. Ian James and Ricky Baitz)

19. One Step Forward (ft. Samite)

Word up.  Raise the roof, Michelle.

 

[Gfted1]

Not weird but no other thread to put it:

 

Pentagon to extend benefits to same-sex military couples.
 

[Walsingham]

I just had the most terrifying realisation.

 

Somewhere on this planet a man or woman, or possibly a bunch of them, are worrying about how to launch or re-brand a breakfast cereal. This is their life. Their experiences, their UNIVERSE hangs on some campaign of utter nonsense. But that's not the terrifying thing.

 

The really terrifying thing is that they probably think it all makes perfect sense, and are happy enough doing it.

[Raithe]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/15/living/literally-definition/index.html

 

The definition of literally is no longer the literal definition of literally.

It now includes "Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling."

 

So now "literally" means literally and figuratively, two things that are completely opposite. That... that seems like it's going to be problematic.

[Malcador]

Contronym is a new word I learned as a result of that

[Walsingham]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/15/living/literally-definition/index.html

 

The definition of literally is no longer the literal definition of literally.

It now includes "Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling."

 

So now "literally" means literally and figuratively, two things that are completely opposite. That... that seems like it's going to be problematic.

 

I've been training myself to use the word 'emphatically'.

[ShadySands]

Solar panels going back up on the White House

 

The White House began installing solar panels this week  on the first family’s residence, finally making good on a pledge President Obama made almost three years ago.

 

The installation follows a speech Obama made in June on tackling the causes of climate change and dealing with its effects. Administration officials announced in October 2010 that solar panels would be installed in the White House as part of an initiative to make government buildings more energy efficient, but the work was repeatedly delayed.

 

Environmentalists and solar energy companies welcomed the news.

 

“Solar is fast becoming America’s most popular home improvement, and we are very pleased to see the first family follow the American people’s lead. Support for solar energy is one issue that rises above the political fray,” said a statement from Sungevity, an Oakland-based solar company.

 

Sungevity was part of a coalition of solar businesses and environmental groups that petitioned the administration in early 2010 to bring back solar power to the White House.  President Carter had solar panels installed there, but President Reagan had them taken down in 1986.

[Gorth]

I just had the most terrifying realisation.

 

Somewhere on this planet a man or woman, or possibly a bunch of them, are worrying about how to launch or re-brand a breakfast cereal. This is their life. Their experiences, their UNIVERSE hangs on some campaign of utter nonsense. But that's not the terrifying thing.

 

The really terrifying thing is that they probably think it all makes perfect sense, and are happy enough doing it.

Hush, you are giving away my plans for the next "cereal killer"!

 

Watch this space for the official announcement of Gorth Flakes (t)

[Walsingham]

 

Solar panels going back up on the White House

 

“Solar is fast becoming America’s most popular home improvement,

 

 

Not that gonking fast if it took three years.

[Raithe]

BBC - British Library Wi-Fi blocks "Violent" Hamlet.

 

Heh, once again highlighting how wonderfully well network filters put in place to stop children accessing pornography work, the British Library stopped users accessing online versions of Hamlet due to the text containing "violent content".

Edited August 16, 2013 by Raithe

[Walsingham]

 

 

Solar panels going back up on the White House

 

“Solar is fast becoming America’s most popular home improvement,

 

 

Not that gonking fast if it took three years.

 

 

Just for the record, I think I got the swearword "gonk" from that square robot with two feet in the jawa sandcrawler.

[Guard Dog]

If you still don't think cops are out of control then how about this. a three year old has been cited for "Anti-Social Behavior" which is apparently a crime in not-so-jolly olde England: http://t.now.msn.com/caidence-leadbitter-3-cited-for-anti-social-behavior-by-police

 

Of course in the US we have crime fighting ninjas to take care of dangerous criminal like three year old girls: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/16/ninja-arrested-after-lurking-in-neighbors-bushes-says-he-was-trying-to-help-cops-fight-crime/

[samm]

Well, the police acted completely correct, obviously - such clearly anti-social rascals are a threat to society by threatening our very foundations of bushes and grass, apparently, and anyway, you wouldn't want your English Garden trampled, on a regular basis, by dangerously aggressive three year olds, would you?

[Raithe]

If we get 'em early enough we can make sure they have manners, politeness, and general courtesy pounded into them....

[Raithe]

Not exactly news per se.. but weirdly entertaining 

io9 - Creepy psychological technique

 

 

Want to change someone's mind while pretending to encourage them? All you need to do is set a high standard for something and give them a little time. Even if they reach your standards, they've already self-sabotaged.

 

Welcome to another little guide to practical evil. Today, we'll show you how the "availability heuristic" can be used to destroy someone's life. A heuristic is a sort of mental rule of thumb that people use when they don't have time or desire to do exhaustive research. The availability heuristic shows that, lacking complete information, people will form an opinion based on information that comes easily to mind. For example, if there are a lot of financial scandals making headlines, people will say that there's an uptick of white-collar crime, even if the overall rate is the same. Ask if there are more words that have "w" as the first letter or "h" as the second letter, they'll say there are more words with w as the first letter because we're better at retrieving words based on their first letter than their second letter. It's the mental difficulty, or ease, that determines their opinion.

 

Naturally, psychologists figured out a way to turn this heuristic to evil. A team led by psychologist Norbert Schwarz decided to crush people's self-confidence by asking them to list a few example of themselves being assertive, and then asking them to rate whether or not they were an assertive person. It turned out the difference in whether a person thought they were assertive or passive lay in the amount of examples requested of them. Those who were asked to list six examples did so easily and generally thought they were assertive. Those who were asked to list twelve examples had to struggle, but eventually came up with twelve examples. They had twice the number of reasons to think of themselves as assertive, and but they considered themselves relatively meek. It wasn't the number of examples that they based their self-estimate on, it was the struggle to think of examples.

 

It turns out that this mind trickery works when people are evaluating anything. Ask a person to think of a lot of reasons to change jobs, propose to their significant other, or buy a house. Although they'll complete the list, they'll be less likely to think it's a good idea than someone who came up with only a few reasons but came up with them easily. People will think that if they have that much trouble thinking up reasons, it can't be a good idea. And bingo - instant villainous mind control.

[kgambit]

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/ohio-man-orders-empty-gun-safe-finds-300-100029959.html

 

 

An Ohio man expected the gun safe he ordered online to be empty, police said.    But instead, he found $425,000-worth of tightly wrapped marijuana bricks inside.

[Malcador]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2013/08/18/north-arctic-snowmobile.html

 

Stealth snowmobile under development.

[Keyrock]

Man Uses Samurai Sword To Break Down Door And Throws Knives At Family Members Over Can Of Shrimp

 

 

A Samurai sword-wielding, knife-throwing Volusia County man attacked his mother's boyfriend over a missing can of shrimp Saturday morning, an arrest report said.

 

Jayson Laughman, 34, of Deltona used a sword to break down a door and threw kitchen knives at family members after his mother's boyfriend accused him of taking a can of shrimp, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

They make canned shrimp?  Ewww!

 

Typical Florida.

[ShadySands]

Things you don't expect to hear together

 

Romanian princess and ****fighting

 

 

A Romanian princess who hosted ****fights with her husband on their Oregon ranch has been revealed as the concession hostess who served tacos and beer while they pitted roosters against one another. 

[Sargallath Abraxium]

...at least she had the sense ta serve beer wit' her taco...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[ShadySands]

Oldest man alive?

 

 

The year was 1890. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky premiered his Sleeping Beauty ballet in St. Petersburg. Vincent van Gogh ended his life, apparently by shooting himself. And Idaho and Wyoming became the 43rd and 44th states of the United States.

 

1890 is also the year Carmelo Flores Laura was born, or at least, that's what his family and the Bolivian government claim. The Bolivian man, who lives in the town of Frasquia, in the arid highlands of Bolivia, showed CNN government documents that seem to confirm he's 123 years old.

 

The documents include a birth certificate showing his birth date as July 16, 1890. There's also a national identity card with the same birth date. Several media outlets published stories about Flores calling him the oldest man alive.

 

But there appear to be several problems with this claim. 

[ShadySands]

Police seize painting of Vladimir Putin in a negligee

 

 

Police seized a painting of Russia's president and prime minister in women's underwear from a gallery in St Petersburg, saying the satirical display had broken unspecified laws.

 

 

Seems legit

[Raithe]

Hm.

 

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/266349-syrian-electronic-army-claims-to-hack-twitters-domain-information/

 

Apparently SEA are claiming to have hacked twitter following on from the New York Times..

 

Either way, I'd be careful if you log into twitter tonight folks..