Strange But True Category
Weird, offbeat and bizarre news from around the world. Funny, strange & odd news stories that make you wince, laugh and fear for humanity.
Mars And Earth As Seen From Mars
Mars And Earth As Seen From Mars:
THE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera would make a great backyard telescope for viewing Mars, and we can also use it at Mars to view other planets.
This is an image of Earth and the moon, acquired on October 3, 2007, by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Wave…
Posted: 4th, March 2008 | In: Photojournalism, Strange But True | Comment
How To Not Crash An A320 Plane
ON 1st March 1st 2008, a A320 is approaching Hamburg airport.
Posted: 3rd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (2)
Call The Police Cones Hotline
COPS are on the hunt for Masum Ahmed.
Two traffic cones have gone missing from Burnham, Bucks. Ahmed is in the frame.
In Anorak’s experience, detection should not be too tricky, even for the police. A cone is often used as a makeshift hat, an oversized nose or, in moments of drink-fuelled high jinx, a massive phallus. And ultimately a receptacle for vomit.
Says Mr Ahmed: “I took two cones as a practical joke as we have problems parking but I didn’t think it would go this far.”
Police have arrived at Mr Ahmed’s home. They are searching his house.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 3rd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Polish Builder Falls Foul Of System Abuse
TO Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital where a Polish builder is cleaning up.
He is discovered. On his knees. Naked. A Henry The Hoover looking up with his big appealing eyes and welcoming, come hither smile.
The builder says he is vacuuming his underwear – “a common practise in Poland”.
He is sacked. The victim of a cultural misunderstanding.
The builder should respect our own customs and ignore Henry is favour of bicycles, fences and pavements – like any normal, decent Briton, like him and him and him and…
Posted: 3rd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True, Tabloids | Comments (2)
Breaking News On That UK Earthquake
BREAKING News On That UK Earthquake…
Click the image for the full horror…
The BBC’s Shaky Coverage Of That UK Earthquake
Posted: 3rd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (2)
Waterboarding As A Motivational Business Tool
TO the Salty Lake Tribune for a tale of waterboarding in the workplace:
A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe.
In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees’ faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle “because it resulted in increased revenues for the company.”
Prosper president Dave Ellis responded that the allegations amount to “sensationalized” versions of events that have gone uncorroborated by Hudgens’ former coworkers.
“They just roll their eyes and say, ‘This is ridiculous . . . That’s not how it went down,’ ” Ellis said.
The suit claims that Hudgens’ team leader, Joshua Christopherson, asked for volunteers in May for “a new motivational exercise,” which he did not describe. Hudgens, who was 26 at the time, volunteered in order to “prove his loyalty and determination,” the suit claims.
Christopherson led the sales team to the top of a hill near the office and told Hudgens to lie down with his head downhill, the suit claims. Christopherson then told the rest of the team to hold Hudgens by the arms and legs.
Christopherson poured water from a gallon jug over Hudgens’ mouth and nostrils – like the interrogation strategy known as “waterboarding” – and told the team members to hold Hudgens down as he struggled, the suit alleges.
“At the conclusion of his abusive demonstration, Christopherson told the team that he wanted them to work as hard on making sales as Chad had worked to breathe while he was being waterboarded,” the suit alleges.
Pass the yard of ale…
Posted: 2nd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (3)
Steger’s Microscopic Photos Of Squashed Gnats
VOLKER Steger has propduced a series of microscopic photos of smashed gnats…
Posted: 2nd, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment
Sarah Head Gives Birth To Child Almost Her Own Size
“WOMAN Gives Birth To Child Nearly Her Own Size,” runs the headline above a shot of Stacey Herald.
Women may well wince. But it is not the baby that is gargantuan, rather Mrs Head who is smaller than most.
“I’m 28 1/2 inches, head to heel,” says Sarah Herald, holding her 18-inch daughter Makaia, who is expected to grow to average height.
Says she: “If I laid down, I looked like a snail. That’s how big my belly was. I looked like an Idaho potato with arms and legs.”
(Nicole Richie’s daughter weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz at birth…)
Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Man Shoots Himself To Get Out Of Work Drugs Test
IN America, a man has been shot:
Franklin County Deputies respond to a drive-by shooting but soon find out that is just a story to get a man out of work. At first, the man claimed he was jogging when he was shot by someone in a black car. But, deputies soon found out that wasn’t the truth.
Franklin County Deputies responded to Lourdes Medical Center for the drive-by report.The man, Daniel Kuch, said he was on the Pasco-Kahlotus highway, 3 miles north of Pasco, when he was shot. He claimed he was shot in the right shoulder by a passing car but soon detectives found out that just didn’t make sense. Kuch says he had actually planned the shooting as a way to get time off work and avoid a drug test. Kuch had his friend shoot him to create the injury so that he would be able to be out of work long enough to get any drugs out of his system.
The drugs are not working…
Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment
Mark Boyle’s Asylum Walk Stopped By Language Barrier
MARK Boyle is a man on a mission.
Mark Boyle pulls on his shoes, his socks and his sandals and sets off on long walk from Bristol to Porbander, Gandhi’s birthplace in India.
Mark Boyle will prove that you can rely on the kindness of strangers and for food and digs.
He carries with him no money.
Mark Boyle will be closely observed by aslym seekers, looking to skip the money-grabbing middle man and a lifetime of bonded labour, and those of looking for greener alternatives to air travel.
Mark Boyle gets to Calais, France. Mark Boyle speak no French. People mistake him for a begger – as if – or an asylum seeker.
Mark Boyle now plans to walk around the coast of Britain instead, learning French as he goes, so he can try again next year.
He will then, one images walk around Italy, learning Italian, Slovenia, learning Slovene, Hungary, learning Hungarian, Romania, learning Romanian and so on and on and on to India, with its 415 languages spoken…
Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (5)
Blind Man Driving Tractor Causes Accident
REASONS why blind people should be discouraged from driving, but not singled out for special attention: “A blind pensioner caused a crash on the A9 when he parked his tractor and trailer across the central reservation and fast lane of the dual carriageway.”
The BBC reports that Robert Simpson, 77, has admitted driving “carelessly”. He claims not to have known his eyesight was defective. Although he is registered as blind.
You see, yer honour, it as dark: “Simpson had been driving in the dark, without any lights, at an average speed of about 10mph.”
It is said he got lost on his way home to a nursing home in Auchterarder from a trip to Perth.
He is thought he had missed his turn-off and pulled in to the central reservation, leaving the trailer parked across the outside lane of the busy trunk road.
The case book runs:
The court was told that Mr Lawson was driving a Jaguar at about 60mph while overtaking in the outside lane. He suddenly became aware of the stationary trailer in the outside lane but managed to brake and miss it. Mr Alexander also managed to narrowly avoid it but the cars collided. They both came to rest in the central reservation with extensive damage. Other vehicles had to take evasive action, not just to avoid the trailer, but also the vehicles which had collided.
It is an unfortunate tale. And, sadly, one that Mr Simpson was unable to hear in court. Says his solicitor John Buchan said: “He has been unable to make it in. He has travel difficulties.”
A line that could that lends itself to –rattle-on-the-cymbal full stop.
Sentencing has been deferred…
Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Bruce Robben Flee And The Bikers
TO a Sydney bar. Two men are planning a robbery. They are carrying machetes. They are wearing balaclavas.
It is 8:50pm. The Regents Park Sporting Club is unsuspecting. They burst in. Everybody down!
But the robbers failed to notice 50 members of the Southern Cross Cruiser Club enjoying a drink in the nearby auditorium.
“Fifty of us jumped out of our seats and raced out to the main bar,” says club president Jerry “Jester” van Cornewal.
A villain sees them. He charges through the glass, leaps off a five-metre balcony and runs through a bowling green.
Another villain is caught. He is treated in hospital for minor injuries. The other man is arrested in streets nearby.
Posted: 29th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Bird Boy Found in Russia
TO Russia and meeting with social worker Galina Volskaya who has discovered a boy who can only communicate with birds.
Says Volskaya: “When you start talking to him, he chirps.”
In a two-bedroom apartment in Kirovsky, Volgograd, with bird mess littering the floor, the 7-year-old boy lives surrounded by bird cages.
Pravda reports that authorities believe the boy is suffering from Mowgli syndrome, after the Jungle Book character who is raised by wild animals.
Reports Pravda: “(his mother) had her own domestic birds and fed wild ones. (She) neither beat him nor left him without food. She just never talked to him. It was all the birds that communicated with the boy and taught him birds’ language.
“He just chirps and when realising that he is not understood, and starts to wave hands in the way birds winnow wings.”
And flies?
Posted: 28th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (12)
The Purple Nurple Says Look Away From The Screen
A stastic image. Via
Posted: 27th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (4)
The Nubrella Is This Year’s Bowler Hat And Brolly Combo
FOLLOWING on from the Mail’s news that plastic bags are dangerous and should not be placed on turtle’s heads, the Express showcases the Nubrella.
The paper says the makers of the “plastic bubble…claim it will let you sip your coffee or chat on your mobile while walking down the street on a wet and windy day”. It may be just what the City gent is looking for, a plasticated bowler hat and brolly combo.
That said, on wet and windy days it is often best to remain indoors. But if you must go out, and must buy a coffee, and must drink it while walking, the Nubrella could be just the thing.
It is all the work of former American tennis pro Alan Kaufman, who tells us: “We all know the problem with umbrellas is that they invert. That’s why I came up with the idea, because I saud umbrellas are not great in the wind.”
The mention of Kaufman’s sporting history may not be important, and readers should look forward to Cliff Richard wearing a Nubrella when he serenades a captive and damp crowd at Wimbledon this summer.
But Anorak cannot help but think the Nubrella is tantamount to putting a plastic bag on your head, which is advisable for neither man nor turtle. Unless doing so is part of a prolonged cry for help, in which case the advice is to go for it…
Posted: 27th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True, Tabloids | Comments (6)
How To Unboil An Egg
M. Hervé explains how to unboil an egg:
… when an egg is cooked, the protein molecules unroll themselves, link up and enclose the water molecules. In order to ‘uncook’ the egg, you need to detach the protein molecules from each other. By adding a product like sodium borohydride, the egg becomes liquid within three hours. For those who want to try it at home, vitamin C also does the trick.
Posted: 26th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Three Silblings Born On Same Day
WHAT the odds?
Two siblings being born on the same day in different years was unlikely enough. But when Kim MacKriell had a third child delivered on the same day, she beat odds of more than 130,000 to one.
Ruby MacKriell was born last month on January 29. Her brother, Robin, was born on January 29, 1994, and her sister, Rebecca, on January 29, 1996.
According to statisticians at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, the chances of this happening are 7.5 in 1 million.
Unless you only have sex on certain days…
Posted: 26th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
The World’s Best Website Message
No Greek looks at the The World’s Best Website Message – possibly…
Posted: 24th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment
Apple Users Agree Not To Engage In Nuclear Or Biological Warfare
APPLE user agreement: “You will also agree that you will not use thse products for any puposes prohibited by the United States, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical , chermical or biologial weapons.”
Any plot to destroy mankind will invalidate your warranty…
Spotter: Ed
Posted: 24th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Dustin the Turkey Gets Douze Points
DUSTIN the Turkey has been chosen to represent Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision song contest. Dustin will be singing the song ‘Irelande Douze Pointe’.
He was voted for by the public after a two-and-a-half hour competition broadcast by the Irish television station RTE. Although it was a telephone and text message vote, there was some booing from the live studio audience when the result was announced.
Dustin will now take the hopes of the Irish nation to the final stages of the competition, which will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in May. If he wins the title it will be Ireland’s eighth victory.
Says Irish one-hit wonder Bob Geldof: “The mere fact that he is a turkey should give Ireland the edge.”
Posted: 24th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
The Musalman Handwritten Newspaper
CAN journalists shpell? “For centuries, handwriting was the definitive mark of social status, education and liberal values in India. Calligraphers mastered the swooping Urdu script in ivory-tower institutions and penned copies of the Koran for wealthy patrons. The pinnacle of a katib’s achievement meant a seat at court and a chance to earn the sultan’s ear.” – Scott Carney”
The Musalman is the only handwritten newspaper in Asia and has been operational since 1927. Here is their story.
Video – via Nag on the Lake
Posted: 23rd, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment
Dog Hides Car From Driver
CHARLES McCowan parked his pickup truck in front of a shop, leaving his 80-pound Boxer named Max in the passenger seat.
When he came out, the truck and Max were gone.
McCowan called police, assuming it had been stolen. When officers arrived, they found the truck across the street in a fast-food parking lot, but had no idea how it got there.
In security video shown Thursday on KCAL TV, the truck can be seen rolling backward out of the store lot, across the street, threading its way through traffic and out of view.
Police say after McCowan left the truck, Max knocked the vehicle out of gear and sent it rolling backward.
The car was not damaged…
Posted: 23rd, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comments (3)
Fouad Mortada’s Facebook Martyrdom
FOUAD Mortada is paying a heavy price for setting up a Facebook account in the name of King Mohammed of Morocco’s brother, Prince Moulay Rachid.
Despite an appeal to Prince Moulay Rachid for clemency, the court found 26-year-old Fouad Mortada guilty of falsifying data and imitating the prince without his consent. It also fined him 10,000 dirhams ($1,304), Mortada’s lawyer Ali Ammar said.
“The importance of the personality at the heart of this affair clearly influenced how the case was handled,” said Ammar.
It was just a joke, a gag,” Fouad was quoted as saying on www.helpfouad.com. “I regret my gesture and beg forgiveness from my whole family for the harm that I have caused them.”
Please forgive me. As a member of the Royal Family, I know no better and…
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Posted: 23rd, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment (1)
Beth Morgan And The Mile High Rise Club
UPSIDE down scandal Down Under: “A town planner has become embroiled in scandal after she allegedly demanded sex in exchange for approving millions of dollars of unlawful developments.”
Undercover corruption investigators exposed a series of liaisons between developers and Beth Morgan, a 32-year-old divorcée, who is said to have approved A$135 million (£63 million) of buildings in return for gifts and sexual favours.
In revelations that inspired the headline “Mile High Rise Club” in a popular tabloid, Ms Morgan has given testimony to the powerful Independent Commission against Corruption that she had affairs with three wealthy developers in Wollongong, an industrial city south of Sydney.
One developer denies an affair:
The two other developers have admitted to liaisons. Glen Tabak told the inquiry that Ms Morgan was possibly “on a mission for sex” and that he believed that she “wanted to be surrounded by successful people” by liaising with developers.
All four attended morning meetings of local bigwigs – known as “the table of knowledge” – at a Wollongong kebab shop…
Posted: 23rd, February 2008 | In: Strange But True | Comment
