Bizarre News

[ThunderTitan]

Six hours is a long time...

Not if you've been in jail for a while...

[ThunderTitan]

Moose attack: http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/12/05/bo ... hanks-wow/

Boy attacked by moose "feigns death," thanks WoW

A Norwegian news site is reporting that a young boy and his sister were attacked by a moose (same thing happened to my sister once), and the boy reportedly "taunted' the moose away from his sister, and then feigned death, causing the moose to lose aggro and leave. "Just like you learn in level 30 in World of Warcraft," the boy is reportedly quoted as saying.

Cynic that I am, I find it hard believing any of this is true at all-- maybe one of our Norwegian readers (and I know we have them, because I met two at BlizzCon) can let us know whether "Nettavisen" is to be trusted as a source or not. But even if it is true, I'm just as hesitant to jump to praise WoW for supposedly helping as I am to condemn it for supposedly hurting.

Still, I'm glad the kid came out of it OK, and if WoW is to thank, all the better. Now if only he'd been able to control his DPS in the first place, he'd never have aggroed at all.

[asandir]

Hindu gods summoned to Indian court: report

Two popular Hindu gods have been summoned to a court in India as witnesses in a property dispute, the Press Trust of India reported.

A judge in the eastern state of Jharkhand issued notices to the revered Ram, the most worshipped incarnation of one of the deities in the Hindu trinity, and to the monkey god Hanuman.

Court officers went to the temple at the heart of the property dispute to deliver the summons but found no one willing to accept the orders on behalf of the gods, the report said.

The temple, dedicated to Ram and Hanuman, was initially given by the province's king in the 1920s to the family of Manmohan Pathak, who has said he is the temple's rightful owner, the report said.

But local worshipper Puran Chandra Halder successfully petitioned for the temple to be declared public property in 1987.

A spate of appeals followed, with Halder adding the gods' names to his petition.

[winterfate]

@TT:

@stefan: *scratches head*

Ohkay....so...uh....did the gods ever go to court?

[asandir]

I'm really unsure about that bit ....

[asandir]

not bizarre per se, but I thought it interesting:

Aussies not happy with US fast food, language: survey

Most Australians are not happy with the influence American fast food and language have on Australian culture, according to new research to be released later today.

The findings are included in the second part of a research project into Australian attitudes towards the US.

The US Studies Centre at Sydney University surveyed 1,200 people. The first part of the research was released earlier this year and dealt with US foreign policy.

This second part looks at domestic issues.

It found an overwhelming majority of Australians have very positive views towards American science and technology and art and literature.

But 85 per cent say they think poorly of America's gun control laws and more than 60 per cent think the US has a problem with social equality and race relations.

More than two-thirds of Australians are not pleased with the influence of American fast food on Australian culture, and about half dislike the influence of American language.

However, most Australians also say they like American TV, sport, clothes and music.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Yeah, I won't comment on the above post. I don't want to be modded.

Vick sentenced to 23 months for dogfighting

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) -- Michael Vick, once one of the highest paid players in the National Football League, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively.


MIchael Vick began serving his sentence before he knew what it would be.

1 of 3 Vick's stunning downfall from NFL superstar to disgraced dogfighting defendant culminated Monday in a 90-minute sentencing hearing in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

Vick was dressed in a black-and-white striped prison suit and apologized to the court and his family, The Associated Press reported.

"You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you," responded U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, according to the AP.

Vick acknowledged he used "poor judgment" and added, "I'm willing to deal with the consequences and accept responsibility for my actions," the AP reported.

Vick, 27, faced a maximum of five years in prison. Federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of 12 to 18 months.

Animal rights protesters lined up outside the courthouse. Some carried signs with photographs of dogs, while others read "Dogs deserve justice," and "Report dog fighters."

In his August plea agreement, Vick admitted bankrolling the "Bad Newz Kennels" dogfighting operation on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County in southeastern Virginia.

Vick also admitted providing money for bets on the fights but said he never shared in any winnings.

According to court documents, dogs that failed to show enough fighting spirit or lost matches were executed. Some dogs died by electrocution and others by hanging or drowning.

Co-defendants told prosecutors that Vick assisted in executing the dogs, and that they "executed approximately eight dogs."

After initially denying any involvement, Vick acknowledged participating in killing to dogs in his plea agreement with prosecutors.

The suspended Atlanta Falcons star quarterback publicly apologized for his role in the dogfighting operation and unexpectedly turned himself in on November 19 to begin serving his prison term early. He has been held in a state jail in Warsaw, Virginia.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Purnell Peace, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, to 18 months in prison. Quanis Phillips, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 21 months.

A third co-defendant, Tony Taylor of Hampton, Virginia will be sentenced Friday. He was the first to plead guilty.

Peace, Phillips and Taylor entered plea agreements last summer under which they agreed to testify against Vick, prompting the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback to enter his own plea agreement a few days later.

Vick agreed to pay more than $928,000 for the care of some 54 pit bulls seized from his property.

Prosecutors also have disclosed the extent of Vick's financial ruin. According to court documents, the Atlanta Falcons are attempting to recoup bonus money from his 10-year, $130 million football contract, Vick is in default on a $1.3 million bank loan for a wine store, and two other banks have filed suits seeking repayment of a $4.5 million in loans and lines of credit.


Vick's home in the Atlanta area is on the market for $4.5 million, prosecutors said in court papers. The Virginia home where the dogfighting operation was based, assessed at nearly $750,000, is on the auction block, according to reports published over the weekend.

Vick's attorneys last month requested a jury trial on the state charges. It is set to begin in April.

I only wish it were more. Maybe if we're lucky, he'll get shanked in prison.

[Elvin]

The bastard..

[Veldrynus]

Poor Vick...

[asandir]

I hope there was a dog named Vick for that statement Vel

Man freed after 100hrs trapped in freezing toilet

A retired Scottish school teacher is recovering after spending nearly four days trapped inside a men's toilet with no food or mobile phone.

David Leggat was locked inside the bathroom at a lawn bowling club near the Scottish city of Aberdeen after the door jammed and the handle on the outside fell off.

The local Evening Express newspaper reported that the 55-year-old kept warm by dipping his feet in hot water but only managed to get about three hours' sleep a night in the freezing temperatures.

He was rescued when the cleaner at the club, which is little used in winter, turned up to collect her cleaning equipment.

Mr Leggat said a survival course he had once done had helped him endure his captivity.

The cleaning lady said he looked shaken and grey when he emerged. Mr Leggat was stoical.

"At least there was a toilet to use," he said. "The only thing I regret is not getting trapped behind the bar."

[asandir]

What The Hell???

'Mathlete' smashes human calculation record: museum

The world's fastest human calculator has broken his own record for working out a 200-digit number using nothing but brain power to produce the answer in just over 70 seconds.

Alexis Lemaire, a 27-year-old Frenchman, correctly calculated the 13th root of a random 200-digit number from a possible 393 trillion answers.

The so-called 'mathlete' produced the answer of 2,407,899,893,032,210 in 70.2 seconds, beating his previous record of 72.4 seconds, at London's Science Museum.

A computer was used to produce a random 200-digit number before he sat down to calculate the answer in his head.

Mr Lemaire, who attends the University of Reims in northern France, began demonstrating his prowess by finding the 13th root of a random 100-digit number, but gave up trying to improve his performance when he calculated an answer in under four seconds in 2004.

Like an athlete, he trains his brain daily for the far harder task of finding the 13th root of 200-digit numbers.

[winterfate]

Ow! My head! It throbs just thinking of the insane amount of calculations that guy has to be doing to complete such a thing in barely over a minute!

[asandir]

I'd think it is safe to say that guy doesn't get out much either ....

Greek police threaten 'illegally parked' parrot

Greek traffic police are threatening to fine Coco the parrot - or rather his owner - with "illegal parking" for letting the bird perch in the road outside his pet shop, press reports said.

Every morning, Lambros Mihalopoulos puts Coco out on a perch on the road just off the narrow pavement outside his shop in Patras, in west Greece.

Over the years he has become something of a local landmark, exchanging pleasantries with passers-by.

But traffic police have said they will fine Mihalopoulos 60 euros ($99) for illegal occupation of the road because he refuses to pay for the space that Coco's perch occupies.

And Coco and Mihalopoulos are repeat offenders: two years ago, the pet shop owner had to pay a fine over the same issue.

Since the story first broke, however, the town's mayor has said he will try to find a solution to the dispute.

[Elvin]

We are awesome

[ThunderTitan]

Oh yeah... he most certainly should have used the special parrot parking space they have...

[asandir]

"special" is the word you're looking for elvin

Naked NZ man led astray by text message

A New Zealand woman who sent a naked man to the wrong house on the promise of a good time has been charged with misusing a telephone, local media reported on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old woman sent the man an enticing text message offering him an early Christmas present in the shape of two friendly women and suggested he take off his clothes to save time, the Manawatu Standard reported.

The 31-year-old man wasted no time in arriving at the house and took off his clothes and threw them through the window before entering.

But it was the wrong house and the householder did not see the funny side. The police were called and the man arrested for being unlawfully on a property.

The woman, who sent the tempting but deliberately wayward message, was also tracked down and charged for misusing a phone.

Both the man and the woman escaped prosecution and were cautioned and put on good behaviour bonds.

[asandir]

Shark attacks swimming kangaroo, witness says

It sounds like a bizarre scenario for a Hollywood horror movie - two people who were on Torquay beach on Victoria's surf coast are insisting they saw a shark launch an attack on a kangaroo.

Daniel Hurst's walk along Torquay Beach off the Great Ocean Road last Saturday delivered a very unexpected surprise.

"Cricket had been cancelled so I just went for a stroll down the beach with the dogs, and with the girlfriend, Christy," he said.

"We were just walking along the beach as a kangaroo came out of the shrub on top of the sand dunes. It's pretty bushy up around that area.

"It just headed down towards the water and in it went."

Mr Hurst said he was surprised to see a roo in the surf, so he went to have a closer look. And then something even more surprising happened.

"There's a bit of a rip in that area, so it might make a bit of sense, the kangaroo could have been dragged out, but I could still see its head, and that's when the shark leapt out of the water on its side," he said.

"It just got its body out and that was about it. But [it was] clearly a shark."

"The kangaroo disappeared after that. I stayed around for a while, just very interested, and hoping the shark jumped again, but it never eventuated."

Mr Hurst said he told the Geelong Advertiser the shark was two to three metres long, but he thought it was more like two metres.

He says he's had a hard time convincing people to believe the story.

"Me and another guy were the only ones to see it," he said.

"My girlfriend was beside me and she missed it, which was unfortunate for her. And the other people down there, they all missed it as well - I talked to all of them and they were a bit unfortunate to miss it."

"But look, I'm OK with it. There's no dramas to me. If people want to believe it, they want to believe it. If they don't, they don't."

But a photo another person sent in to the local paper of a kangaroo swimming further west on the coast may back Mr Hurst's claims.

"With the kangaroo carcass being found, that pretty much backs it up, and with the other guy witnessing the shark as well," he said.

The Great Ocean Road Coast Committee found a kangaroo carcass on the beach on Tuesday but a spokeswoman said it didn't have any marks on it.

Matt Vincent, the director of Melbourne Zoo, isn't surprised by the reported sighting of a shark attacking a swimming kangaroo.

"Kangaroos can and will swim but it sounds like in this case the kangaroo may have been startled or felt threatened by something on shore and has taken to the water," he said.

"I think sharks are fairly inquisitive and if the kangaroo was distressed or creating vibrations in the ocean, sending out signals that the animal was in trouble, then a shark has probably taken interest in that."

[Omega_Destroyer]

Poor jerk. He's been unfairly ridiculed for drowning and electrocuting dogs. He's not really a bad guy. He just can't "say no." What an ass.

Michael Vick to judge: 'I am not the beast.'

(CNN) -- Disgraced former NFL star Michael Vick declared that "I am not the bad person or the beast I've been made out to be" in a letter to a judge asking for leniency.

"I have been talked about and ridiculed on a day to day basis by people who really don't know Michael Vick the human being. They only knew the football player which is unfair," Vick said in a handwritten letter released this week.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Vick on Monday to serve 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively.

Vick wrote the judge that he had accepted responsibility for his actions, would pay restitution and never again use "a single dollar that I have earned for anything but to help people." Read letters from Vick, his mom.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback said he grew up not knowing the severity of the crime of dogfighting and asked Hudson for "a second chance."

Brenda Vick Boddie said her son fell victim to friends who took advantage of Vick's inability to "say no."

"PLEASE Your HONOR give my baby Michael another chance. [H]e's never been in trouble with the law before, PLEASE! PLEASE! one more chance," she pleaded in her own handwritten letter.

Former Falcons teammate Warrick Dunn, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and two sporting legends -- former home-run king Hank Aaron and former two-time boxing heavyweight champion George Foreman -- also wrote letters on Vick's behalf.

[winterfate]

He deserves worse for doing that!

I say, off with his head!!



(Ok, so maybe that's TOO radical, but I'm sick and tired of people who abuse animals, especially dogs).

[asandir]

Pregnant Finnish woman broadcasts for baby's father

Most visitors take plenty of photographs and the odd souvenir home after a holiday.

But one Finnish woman will have lifelong memories of her stay on New Zealand's South Island.

Piia Makila met a man in a Dunedin bar in August this year and got on so well she is now four months pregnant.

She did not get his name however, so she decided to go on national television in New Zealand, from her home in Helsinki, to let him in on the surprise.

Ms Makila says she is not after money or sympathy, she simply wants to be able to tell her child some day she did everything to find the father.

"At least I tried and I am going to tell him or her anyway that you do have a father but I just don't know what his name is or where he is," she said.

She is hoping one day he will see the funny side of it too and contact them.