Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Hey Missus

The cynic in me wonders which country will be the first to subsidise 10 year olds to "stare at the sky for a bit" and slash the research budget in the process.

Nice find though, makes you wonder what the proper boffins were up to. Probably blowing up another caravan for Brainiac maybe...

Britain. Looking at all the cuts they're doing...
Then America. Blame the religious right-wingnuts.

[ganbaru]

Pilot’s spilt coffee on United Air Lines flight triggers hijacking alert
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1857924/

[Tiberium Wolf]

Saudi Arabia 'detains' Israeli vulture for spying

I guess some ppl simply have a lot of time to waste to come up crazy stories. The again it's middle east.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

Saudi Arabia 'detains' Israeli vulture for spying

I guess some ppl simply have a lot of time to waste to come up crazy stories. The again it's middle east.

First it was Egypt and the "Jewish" whales, not Saudi Arabia and "Israeli" vulture. WTF!?

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne

First it was Egypt and the "Jewish" whales, not Saudi Arabia and "Israeli" vulture. WTF!?

Honestly, this doesn't surprise me. Saudis have a long history of weird shenanigans. Just look at how desperately they censor everything Arresting an Israeli vulture doesn't sound like anything new to me, tho imagining a group of Saudi soldiers trying to catch the vulture makes me LOL

[ganbaru]

Publisher changes N-word to ‘slave’ in new edition of Huck Finn
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1858319/
Who's next after Mark Twain's work ? Hemingway's ?

Offensive videos cost U.S. carrier captain his command
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1856820/
The fact than he made those video made me doubt of his jugement...

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Publisher changes N-word to ‘slave’ in new edition of Huck Finn
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1858319/
Who's next after Mark Twain's work ? Hemingway's ?

This is DUMB AS HELL... and the perpetrator's rationale reeks. You don't rewrite Shakespeare (or anyone else), you ANNOTATE and FOOTNOTE. You don't touch the work. There's been a few instances in the last decade of uninformed idiots being offended by Twain's books (and one has to blame the teacher somewhat for not providing context). But rewriting the past to make someone feel more "comfortable" is always an ominous trend.

The last few paragraphs made me laugh (in an unpleasant way):

Originally Posted by from article

Published in the U.S. in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the fourth most banned book in schools, according to Banned in the U.S.A. by Herbert N. Foerstal, a retired college librarian who has written several books on constitutional freedom of speech issues.
...
In addition to replacing the racial slur, Gribben changes the villain in Tom Sawyer from “Injun Joe” to “Indian Joe” and “half-breed” becomes “half-blood.”

The 'scholar' is a well-meaning 'witchburner'...

Offensive videos cost U.S. carrier captain his command
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1856820/
The fact than he made those video made me doubt of his jugement...

That captain should be "discharged with dishonor" and the crew should sue him into oblivion. Just sayin...

[Xellos-_^]

http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber...tion-list.html

2. Impressions Edited by Jack Booth et al.
3. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
6. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
8. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
9. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
10. The Witches by Roald Dahl
11. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
12. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
13. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
14. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
15. Blubber by Judy Blume
16. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
17. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
18. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
19. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
20. Christine by Stephen King
21. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
22. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
23. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
24. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
25. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
26. Night Chills by Dean Koontz
27. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
28. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
31. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
32. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
33. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
34. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
35. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
36. Cujo by Stephen King
37. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
38. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
39. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
40. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
41. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
42. I Have to Go by Robert Munsch
43. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
44. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
45. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
46. My House by Nikki Giovanni
47. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
48. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
49. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
50. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
51. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz

i think i am going to go buy these books in support.

i highlighted the ones i read in English class. What the hell is wrong with my Brother Sam is dead?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

i think i am going to go buy these books in support.

i highlighted the ones i read in English class. What the hell is wrong with my Brother Sam is dead?

The "soccer moms", "concerned citizens", and other idiots of the 'witchburning classes' have been very busy.

[SaintessHeart]

Banning books in favour of writing in Ingsoc isn't new. Back in the early 19th century, there is this idiot named Thomas Bowdler who rewrote Shakespeare's work from scratch without all the naughty bits. Yes, he even took out the prostitute in King Henry!

He'd probably had alot of problem with 12th Night because of the part between Sir Toby and Sir Andrew discussing "huswives" (not sic, but Shakespearean spelling) and Sir Andrew's long hair and skinny body, I don't know how people are actually rewrite the part of "take you between the legs and spin you a flaxstaff" - the editors would probably have better luck with summarising the entire scene into two words : furniture sex.

The technical term for writing and editing in favour of "political correctness" is known as expurgating, however after Bowdler had his hand in it, it was subsequently known as "bowdlerisation". In the modern era, it is termed as "correctness" : I would say the more accurate word/phrase would be "Newspeaking in Ingsoc".

So what is next, they are going to censor Kingshaw for shouting "Fuck you. Fuck you all." from the top of the castle?

[JMvS]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

i think i am going to go buy these books in support.

i highlighted the ones i read in English class. What the hell is wrong with my Brother Sam is dead?

I must say I am extremely puzzled at #24...

Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, seriously???

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JMvS

I must say I am extremely puzzled at #24...

Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, seriously???

Well, because the wolf is male and it dressed in Grandma's clothes.

[MeoTwister5]

Little red riding hood has been alluded to child predation.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

So what is next, they are going to censor Kingshaw for shouting "Fuck you. Fuck you all." from the top of the castle?

Try getting past the former guvnah of Kallifurniah:

[Asuras]

A YouTube video of Ted Williams, a homeless Columbus, Ohio, man with a golden radio voice, has gone viral over the last two days. Williams has exploded into an overnight sensation. And a possible sports announcer.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...films/1?csp=hf

[Azumanga Davo]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

Saudi Arabia 'detains' Israeli vulture for spying

I guess some ppl simply have a lot of time to waste to come up crazy stories. The again it's middle east.

Wonder how they worked it out. Did they confiscate it's passport or something? Silly.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

i think i am going to go buy these books in support.

i highlighted the ones i read in English class. What the hell is wrong with my Brother Sam is dead?

I don't by books for supporting them agains idiots but... if the book seem interesting.

[FDW]

Originally Posted by Asuras

A YouTube video of Ted Williams, a homeless Columbus, Ohio, man with a golden radio voice, has gone viral over the last two days. Williams has exploded into an overnight sensation. And a possible sports announcer.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...films/1?csp=hf

Such a nice story with a good ending.

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne

First it was Egypt and the "Jewish" whales, not Saudi Arabia and "Israeli" vulture. WTF!?

the Egyptians did not make any claim about Jewish whales.
thats a shameful and baseless accusation.

it was sharks

[ganbaru]

Internet fans rally behind velvet-voiced homeless man
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1859338/