Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Anh_Minh]

They should have known. Had it been a real ninja, they wouldn't have seen him.

[Jill Valentine]

a woman who was talking online for year or less she thought it was guy named david but it was a woman pretending to be a guy, after that her husband found out and murdered her O.o

[Slice of Life]

Nine-year-old named "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii" sues parents because ... well you can probably guess why.

Seriously, some people need their reproduction license to be permanently withdrawn.

A nine-year-old girl whose parents named her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii was put into court guardianship in New Zealand so that her name could be changed.

A family court judge, Rob Murfitt, gave the order after hearing that the child was embarrassed about her name and had refused to reveal it to friends. "She told people her name was K because she feared being mocked and teased," the child's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

The judge criticised parents who give their offspring bizarre names, saying it exposed children to ridicule among their peers.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment that this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily," he said.

He said the child had a better insight about the situation than her parents, who had apparently not given any thought to the implications of their actions. [...]

[Anh_Minh]

Oh, come on. It strengthen the character! And teaches either fighting or running skills, either of which can come in handy.

<- Plans to name his firstborn "R2-D2".

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by lovely angel

a woman who was talking online for year or less she thought it was guy named david but it was a woman pretending to be a guy, after that her husband found out and murdered her O.o

It isn't a news story without a link to a news story reference. What you've got there is an "Internet boogeyman rumor" without it.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Do they really think the earth is flat?

By Brendan O'Neill

On 24 Dec 1968, the crew of Nasa's Apollo 8 mission took a photo now known as Earthrise. To many, this beautiful blue sphere viewed from the moon's orbit is a perfect visual summary of why it is right to strive to go into space.

Not to everybody though. There are people who say they think this image is fake — part of a worldwide conspiracy by space agencies, governments and scientists. On the Internet and in small meeting rooms in Britain and the US, flat-earth believers get together to challenge the "conspiracy" that the Earth is round.

"People are definitely prejudiced against flat-earthers," says Mr John Davis, a flat-earth theorist based in Tennessee. "Many use the term 'flat-earther' as a term of abuse, and with connotations that imply blind faith, ignorance or even anti-intellectualism."

You must be joking
Mr Davis, a 25-year-old computer scientist originally from Canada, first became interested in flat-earth theory after "coming across some literature from the Flat Earth Society a few years ago".

"I came to realise how much we take at face value," he says. "We humans seem to be pleased with just accepting what we are told, no matter how much it goes against our senses."

Mr Davis now believes "the Earth is flat and horizontally infinite — it stretches horizontally forever. And it is at least 9,000km deep."

Mr James McIntyre, a British-based moderator of a Flat Earth Society discussion website, has a slightly different take. "The Earth is, more or less, a disc," he states. "Obviously it isn't perfectly flat thanks to geological phenomena like hills and valleys. It is around 24,900 miles (40,072km) in diameter."

Mr McIntyre, who describes himself as having been "raised a globularist in the British state school system", says the reactions of his friends and family to his new beliefs vary from "sheer incredulity to the conviction that it's all just an elaborate joke".

What about all the photos from space that show, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the Earth is round? "The space agencies of the world are involved in an international conspiracy to dupe the public for vast profit," he says.

Modern phenomenon
Ms Christine Garwood, author of Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea, is not surprised that flat-earthers simply write off the evidence that our planet is globular. "Flat-earth theory is one of the ultimate conspiracy theories," she says.

Perhaps one of the most surprising things in Ms Garwood's book is her revelation that flat-earth theory is a relatively modern phenomenon. She says it is an "historic fallacy" that everyone from ancient times to the Dark Ages believed the earth to be flat, and were only disabused of this "mad idea" once Christopher Columbus successfully sailed to America without "falling off the edge of the world".

In fact, she says, people have known since at least the 4th century BC that the earth is round, and the pseudo-scientific conviction that we actually live on a disc didn't emerge until Victorian times. With the rise of scientific rationalism, which seemed to undermine Biblical authority, some 19th century Christian thinkers in England decided to launch an attack on established science.

And the spirit of these attacks lives on to the present day. The flat-earth myth remains the outlandish king in the realm of the conspiracy theorist.

And while we all respect a degree of scepticism towards the authorities, says Ms Garwood, the flat-earthers show things can go too far. "It is always good to question 'how we know what we know', but it is also good to have the ability to accept compelling evidence — such as the photographs of Earth from space."

- BBC NEWS

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Do they really think the earth is flat?

Some people should just be slapped across the head and told, "NO!". I mean this is something you can test for yourself. Even if you assume that everything you read or watch is part of some elaberate conspiracy and can't be trusted, you can observe the earth being round. Phases of the moon? The fact that you can fly around the world by going in the same general direction and arrive back at your starting point? Willfully ignorant indeed.

[escimo]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Do they really think the earth is flat?

I think this would have been more fitting to the "A laugh a day" topic. Oh dear god.

[james0246]

What is even funnier is there application for joining the Flat Earth Society:

...But we also cannot take the risk of simply letting anyone in that feels so inclined. Followers of Efimovich's teachings are always eager to infiltrate our group and undermine what we are trying to accomplish. So, to deal both with the painstakingly time-consuming task of interviewing each individual applicant separately, and to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of those wishing to be a member of the Flat Earth Society, we have developed an easier way to screen applicants, and get them out and working in as short a time as possible...

I have no idea why the Flatlanders dislike Rasputin (Efimovich) so much, but I was suprised that they are "overwhelmed by the sheer number" of people wishing to join their group.

And some of their questions:

Favorite Jellybean Flavor:
Favorite Radioactive Isotope:
Favorite Mineral:
Favorite Eastern European Nation:
Favorite Presidential Cabinet Member

are just prescious.

[Vexx]

Guys.. .the WHOLE POINT of the Flat Earth Society is to pretend to be completely dead serious about it. Its as flaming serious as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Reporters are routinely "taken in" by this every few years.... some of the best contributions come from scientists in their spare time.

Its also an entertaining diversion to take the axiom "Earth as flat" and develop an entire set of consistent physics to support that.

[james0246]

^LOL, I thought that was obvious (especially after I posted some of their material). I still love how they hate Rasputin . I did not know that real news organizations "bought" into their stories, though. I always thought that those blurbs were fan-made.

[escimo]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Guys.. .the WHOLE POINT of the Flat Earth Society is to pretend to be completely dead serious about it. Its as flaming serious as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Reporters are routinely "taken in" by this every few years.... some of the best contributions come from scientists in their spare time.

Its also an entertaining diversion to take the axiom "Earth as flat" and develop an entire set of consistent physics to support that.

Now you tell me, I already applied for membership.

[Green²]

Originally Posted by james3wk

And some of their questions:

are just prescious.

Cheat sheet:

Favorite Jellybean Flavor: Red
Favorite Radioactive Isotope: Newclear power
Favorite Mineral: Mineral Spirits
Favorite Eastern European Nation: Canada
Favorite Presidential Cabinet Member: Ronald Reagan

[Tripfag]

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/...egg_farm25549/

Abbey cites pressure from PETA over treatment of chickens

A day after the animal rights organization PETA called for a boycott of Mepkin Abbey eggs, and nearly a year after the group first complained to the abbey about egg production there, Abbot Stan Gumula announced Thursday that the monastery would phase out the business.
Cassandra Curbelo, left, with PETA from Norfolk, Va., waves to passing motorist as she and Jeffrey Cohen from Charleston protest against Mepkin Abbey and their treatment of chickens in front of the Piggly Wiggly on Meeting Street Thursday. The abbey released a statement that they will phase out egg production.

Cassandra Curbelo, left, with PETA from Norfolk, Va., waves to passing motorist as she and Jeffrey Cohen from Charleston protest against Mepkin Abbey and their treatment of chickens in front of the Piggly Wiggly on Meeting Street Thursday. The abbey released a statement that they will phase out egg production.

A statement issued by the abbey referred to the months of campaigning by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"While the monks are sad to give up work that has sustained them for many years, a hard and honorable work of which they are proud, the pressure from PETA has made it difficult for them to live their quiet life of prayer, work and sacred reading," the release stated. "The monks have also found it difficult to extend hospitality, which is their hallmark, under such conditions."

PETA was unaware of the abbey's announcement early Thursday as about a dozen sign-toting protesters gathered at Meeting and Columbus streets in front of the Piggly Wiggly, which sells the abbey's eggs. When news of the decision reached them, several expressed approval.

"I'm thrilled to hear about it," protester Stewart David said. The monks should sell bread or beer or jam instead, he said, products that don't harm animals.

The dispute between PETA and the 59-year-old Mepkin Abbey began in February when an animal-rights activist went undercover at the monastery near Moncks Corner, capturing the egg operation on film. PETA posted video on its Web site and complained that the monks were abusing thousands of chickens by keeping them caged, forcing them to molt and "debeaking" them.

The abbey responded by stating that its operation was fully compliant with standard egg-farming practices and that beaks are already trimmed, a common practice to avoid injury and cannibalism, before the birds come to the monastery.

In a letter sent to PETA in March, Gumula invited the group to submit suggestions for improving the egg operation.

"When we receive your recommendations, we will deliberately, carefully and scientifically consider each one of them so that we can determine which, if any, we can implement immediately, which may take some time to implement and which may not be workable," Gumula wrote. In the meantime, he said, the abbey is following the guidelines of the United Egg Producers, an industry trade group.

God, I hate PETA.

[OtseisRagnarok]

Well, PETA is full of hypocrites. We need meat to survive. Dead animals help me by making me happy.
If they can't understand, it's their problem. Let me kill all the chickens I want.

[Vexx]

PETA is more full of stupid than anything else. There are *legitimate* complaints about factory-farming: even if you ignore the mistreatment of the animals - the resulting food product is far less quality than it would be by making just a few changes. It sounds like the abbey was trying to go about it the right way -- but not fast enough for PETA morons.

I'm very interested in seeing animals are treated well and when its time to eat them - that they be killed humanely.... we are where we are on the food chain. Sometimes I'm even vegetarian... for a few days at a time, because meat is hard on the gut and you only have to see one case of colon cancer to know you should control your intake.

But these PETA idiots often can't even tell which building to lock themselves to (personally witnessed that) and they often can't carry on a coherent conversation (news article comments and personal conversations with picketers). They often hurt the very animals they claim to be protecting. Their groundforces are idiots and they hurt the legitimate activities of sane animal treatment activists.

[Mystique]

I see 'norfolk', but I presume this isn't a UK thing.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an animal rights organization. Based in the United States, and with two million members and supporters[1] there and elsewhere, PETA says it is the largest animal rights group in the world.[2]

Founded in 1980 and based in Norfolk, Virginia, the organization is a nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporation with 187 employees, funded almost exclusively by its members.[3][2] Outside the U.S., there are affiliated offices in Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Republic of China (Taiwan), and the United Kingdom.

To be hoenst, i doubt any of us here have heard of PETA before, since we have the RSPCA, who have succeeded in jailing some really cruel people who abuse their pets, but they don't actually interfere with the eating of them, hell we got country bumpkins who stll wanna a fox hunt in rural parts of the UK, and while that was taken to parliament, still didn't hear anything about PETA tho...
For 28 years old, they seem to cause a lot of trouble over there....

PETA's slogan is "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment."[2] In support of that position, it focuses on four core issues: factory farming,[8] fur farming, animal testing, and animals in entertainment. It also campaigns against fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, abuse of chained, backyard dogs, cock fighting, bullfighting and the consumption of meat. It aims to inform the public of its position through advertisements, undercover investigations, animal rescue, and lobbying.

Just for reference since you guys tend to post news about American things, without any BG, I was wondering why some of you guys are so annoyed....

So technically by the sounds of things, they're all meant to be vegan, cockcroach loving (since they're pests), rat embracing, crop killing bugs friendly (also pests) people then?
(aparently also, they're known as "People for the Eating of Tasty Animals", i guessing it's a sarcasm thing that) *laughs*

[Vexx]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...re-idiots.html

Yes, just in case it wasn't already apparent - science confirms that most people shouldn't be allowed near computers.

(caveat: years of exposure to inane Windows pop up messages which do not give users any *useful* choices... well.)

Something Terrible Has Happened. Click "YES" to continue.

[WanderingKnight]

I already talked about this in the relevant Slashdot thread, but there's a problem with how computers are viewed by the non-savvy population. I believe that's a very important problem with society in general. Of course, me being "part" of the tech-savvy group, I will always give relevance to these things, but it's very important nonetheless, and it's becoming more and more important with each passing day.

Another thing regular users are not aware of is of the true value of data--and that's also related with how people interpret error messages.

[Samatarou]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Some people should just be slapped across the head and told, "NO!". I mean this is something you can test for yourself.
... you can observe the earth being round. Phases of the moon? The fact that you can fly around the world by going in the same general direction and arrive back at your starting point? Willfully ignorant indeed.

But what do phases of the moon tell us about the shape of the Earth?
As for going round the world until you reach your starting point, it's easy, just fly in a big circle!
I think the only convincing thing really for an earth-dweller is how things gradually appear/disappear over the horizon, but you need a big flat area to be able to observe such a thing, like watching ships out at sea. I think that was what made people originally conclude the Earth might be round.