Bizarre News

[ThunderTitan]

Ah... diferentiating laws based on social position. Such an egalitarian thing to do.

[Kalah]

The thing is, you see, that we've had an increasing number of threats etc. directed against our government officials lately. I think they used this case to set an example, which is a pretty silly thing to do, IMO being as this was more a form of democratic protest (one that should be punished, no doubt, but mildly) than an actual threat to the person's safety. Had there been any doubt at all whether the minister's safety had been in jeopardy, then I'd see the point. In this case, however, what was thrown at the minister was a soft cream cake with a nice marzipan lid. Yummy.

* It should be noted that the minister herself has had nothing to do with the case against the demonstrator and that she has had bothing to do with it since; the police arrested the man and filed charges without her testimony.

[Gaidal Cain]

Ah... diferentiating laws based on social position. Such an egalitarian thing to do.

Except that it isn't really. It's differenting between attacking a "normal" person, and attacking an official (I'd think many countries has separate laws for attacking policemen, for example).

[DaemianLucifer]

But theres also a big difference between a regular asault and preventing a goverment employee to do his duty,which this guy was charged for.

[asandir]

I know people who would be happy to be assaulted with a cake! In fact one of our politicians (a fat guy and then some) got hit with a beauty and then started to taste some from off his face .... pretty funny stuff

Santas face job risks being cheery: survey
Saying "ho,ho, ho" is practically a Christmas miracle, given the job woes that shopping mall and store Santas face each day, an US survey says.

Santas get sneezed upon up to 10 times a day, fend off children pulling their beards and mop up after children who frequently wet their laps, the survey of hundreds of men who work as seasonal Santa Claus characters says.

A third of all Santas reported having been wet on by a child, the survey says.

Nearly 90 per cent of Santas say children pull their beard everyday to see if it was real and nearly half say children try to pull their glasses off every day as well, the survey found.

More than 60 per cent of Santas say they are sneezed or coughed upon up to 10 times each day, and three-quarters say they have up to 10 children cry while sitting on their laps every day, it says.

Santas can suffer back strain from lifting children, exposure to contagious illnesses and overheating in their heavy Santa suits, head of the Santa association, Timothy Connaghan, said.

"There is more to it than just sitting in a chair. There is more to it than just a red suit," Mr Connaghan said, who has worked as a Santa for 38 years.

"Children can really put the wear and tear on you."

More than three-quarters of the children say they have been good during the year, but only half the Santas believe the children are telling the truth, the survey says.

[DaemianLucifer]

So what?They do it only one month every year and they complain?What about the rest that have normal jobs the whole year?Those ingratefull chubby whiners

[asandir]

I guess that's one way to look at it ....

[Caradoc]

Playing Santa does have its rewards. There's the adoring eyes of the little ones, toy talk with those a little older, and the occasional hot thirteen year old sitting in your lap.

[Corribus]

Playing Santa does have its rewards. There's the adoring eyes of the little ones, toy talk with those a little older, and the occasional hot thirteen year old sitting in your lap.

Nice....

[DaemianLucifer]

So,if your nick starts with a C youre a pedophile?

[Angelspit]

So,if your nick starts with a C youre a pedophile?

Let's not get into that, shall we?

[Elvin]

Poor santas at the mercy of little children...They don't stand a chance!

[asandir]

So,if your nick starts with a C youre a pedophile?

Let's not get into that, shall we?

but nice post anyway Caradoc

Computer beats world chess champion in epic battle
The world's leading chess computer, Deep Fritz, has roundly beat its human counterpart, the Russian world chess champion, Vladimir Kramnik, in a six game encounter in Germany.

Deep Fritz won by four points to two after taking the last game in 47 moves in a battle lasting almost five hours.

Of the six games, Deep Fritz won two and four ended in draws.

Kramnik, 31, who received $US500,000 for playing the mighty machine could have walked away with double that sum if he had won.

But the world champion had acknowledged even before the opening moves that Deep Fritz was "the clear favourite".

In October 2002, Kramnik had held Deep Fritz to a draw after eight games but the chess software has since been updated, becoming vastly more powerful.

and

Flatulent passenger grounds US flight
It may be one problem US airline security officials never envisioned - a passenger lighting matches in flight to mask odours from her flatulence.

The woman's actions resulted in an emergency landing in Nashville of an American Airlines flight bound for Dallas from Washington DC, a spokeswoman for Nashville's airport, Lynne Lowrance, says.

Other passengers reported the odour of burnt matches, but the woman was not forthcoming when asked about it, Ms Lowrance says.

"Of course, she was scared and embarrassed but all the passengers had to disembark, all the luggage had to be searched, a canine team was brought in, and about three hours were consumed in sorting out the situation," she said.

The woman was not allowed back on the flight and barred from flying on American Airlines, Ms Lowrance says.

"Since there was no malice involved and the incident was accidental, she was not charged with anything," she said.

Passengers are permitted four books of paper safety matches on a plane but cannot light them during flight, Ms Lowrance says.

"I've had calls from people all over the country about this and I don't have the answer to this problem," she said.

and just for good measure

'French Spiderman' arrested atop Mexican skyscraper
A French daredevil climber, famed for scaling some of the world's tallest buildings without ropes, made it to the top of a Mexico City skyscraper, only to be arrested by police waiting on the roof.

Office workers in the gleaming 23-story glass and steel skyscraper did double-takes as the long-haired climber hauled himself up past their windows in the upscale Santa Fe business district.

"I was in a meeting and suddenly I see this guy at the window. I thought he was a window cleaner, but he had nothing with him. Then he waved at me and kept on climbing," Carlos Saenz, an executive who works the 12th floor, said.

Alain Robert - dubbed "the French Spiderman" for climbing some 70 structures including the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge - made it to the top in just 30 minutes.

He was immediately arrested.

"I went to many jails all around the world. It's no big deal," Robert told Reuters, adding that he hoped the Mexican police would treat him nicely.

His lawyer says he should get off with a fine.

Robert, 44, tries to dodge the authorities before a climb by arriving unannounced at his building of choice and racing up before he can be stopped.

"I didn't know Mexico ... so I really wanted to climb something here," he said.

[DaemianLucifer]

Computer beats world chess champion in epic battle

Ummm...Why is this news??

[asandir]

because the ABC was lacking for stories?

[ThunderTitan]

Nintendo to Investigate Wii Strap Problem

More people have been losing their grip on the Wii remote and breaking the wrist strap apparently. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata (right) has acknowledged that there may be a problem and Nintendo is looking into it. He also said that Nintendo may raise its Wii sales target.

By now many of you have probably heard of (and maybe seen on YouTube) the various Wii incidents that new owners of the Nintendo console have experienced. Besides the fact that some people are actually complaining of "Wii ache" or soreness from swinging around the remote, the bigger problem is that the remote itself has a hard time staying in a person's hand, especially if that hand becomes extra sweaty during an exciting Wii gaming session.

In several cases, the Wii remote strap that holds the controller to the wrist has torn completely free sending the remote flying like a missile into walls, floors, and worse yet big screen televisions (sometimes cracking the screen as a result).

Today, according to an AP report, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata admitted that there may be a problem with the controller's strap.

"We are investigating," he said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo. "Some people are getting a lot more excited than we'd expected. We need to better communicate to people how to deal with Wii as a new form of entertainment."

Indeed, some people have been playing games like Wii Sports by swinging the remote with all their might, and although that's one way of playing, it's certainly not necessary to be successful at the game.

And some references: http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/



And Fargo's take on it:

Wii Will Rock You ... And Any Nearby Breakables

I got my doctorate. In Whuppin'. There I was at a Holiday dinner hosted by my wife's company, surrounded by 50-somethings who didn't know anything about that latest videogames. During the soup course, when I revealed what I do ("Is that a real job?"), the questions flew fast and heavy. Then a real-estate investor sitting next to me asks: "What's that new game thing that just came out? The one that people keep throwing at their TVs?"

Yep, that was the burning question: Nobody knew about the PS3's supercomputer-power, Microsoft's entrenchment into mainstream gaming, or how the next-generation systems are all working the online angle. They didn't even know what the new consoles were called. What have they heard about the next-gen systems? That people are breaking their TVs with them.

Nintendo has finally acknowledged that there might be an issue with the Wii controller flying out of overly enthusiastic hands during gameplay. Of course, for a couple weeks now the phenomenon has been well documented on websites like wiihaveaproblem.com. Personally, I agree with this Penny-Arcade comic -- you have to be playing at a pretty extraordinary level to work up a sweat and hurl that sucker hard enough to escape your grip, break the strap, and embed itself into some electronic equipment.

Then again, knowing my extended family, precautions are in order. Perhaps a rubber bungee from a U-Haul truck. Any ideas?

[DaemianLucifer]

"Some people are getting a lot more excited than we'd expected.

Yeah,who wouldve guessed that a bunch of kids(and people that have no life)that never leave their houses and play consoles all day would have so much energy building up inside them

[asandir]

it's pretty funny though! saw some of the clips, damn the baseball game!!

[asandir]

It's not a man's world for new gecko species
Scientists at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) are researching a new species of gecko that has recently been discovered in Darwin's northern suburbs.

The mourning gecko is unusual because of the way it reproduces - females can simulate sex to produce eggs.

MAGNT vertebrates curator Paul Horner says the female geckos can often survive very well in a world without men.

"It's not totally without men - a few of the populations over in South East Asia, where they originate from, do have men," he said.

"But these don't do as successfully at colonising as what the all female populations do."

[asandir]

Applicants wanted for condom testing
By New Zealand correspondent Peter Lewis

One of the world's biggest manufacturers of condoms is targeting New Zealand to test its new range of products because the people there are apparently among the most sexually active in the world.

While the idea of becoming a condom test pilot obviously will appeal to many New Zealanders, Durex - the company behind this unusual research and development program - takes the promotion of safe sex seriously.

Durex national manager Victoria Potter says New Zealanders pay a high price for being among the most sexually active in the world.

"We have very high rates of STIs [sexually transmitted infections], we have the third highest rate of unplanned pregnancy in the OECD countries, we have a lot of sexual partners and we are very much into casual sex," she said.

Past surveys suggest Kiwis are among the most sexually active in the world, among the highest in the world for sexual partners and one-night stands, as well as being relatively more adventurous when it to comes to experimenting in the bedroom.

Ms Potter says a select few will be chosen to try the company's new product range.

But apart from a few free condoms, the only reward for the select few will be the satisfaction of contributing to the science of sex.