Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Saleh]

Can you outsource God?

Originally Posted by Global Post

BANGALORE — It is dawn in Kerala, a palm frond of a state in India’s South West. As the sun’s first rays hit the church steeple, a Holy Mass is being conducted in the local Malayalam language.

Only, the prayer is dedicated to a newborn by his Catholic family half a world away in the United States.

Requests for these so-called Mass Intentions, or prayers offered for a specific reason, pour into India from the United States, Canada and Europe, where there is a huge shortage of priests.

This outsourcing to faraway India is a quaint practice that has been called “religious outsourcing."

...

Outsourcing, a practice where tasks are sent to cheaper, more efficient locations, has been a sore point for Westerners especially in these economically depressed times.

For the last decade, India has particularly benefitted from the outsourcing of a multitude of tasks such as writing software code, providing customer service, reading x-rays and filing tax returns.

With religious outsourcing, Westerners request Indian churches to hold Holy Mass in memory of a dead family member, or thanksgiving for a child’s college admission, to celebrate a wedding anniversary or even for unusual causes such as the well-being of their favorite sports stars.

...

The requests come to the churches and the local clergy through the Vatican, through clergymen in overseas churches and even through religious bodies. In these days of digital communication, requests have speeded up through email.

Western labor unions have criticized such outsourcing as commoditizing spirituality.

The Indian church stoutly defends the practice. “Offering mass intentions on behalf of Westerners are not a business, it is a custom that benefits both sides,” said Father Paul Thelakkat, spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala’s Cochin town.

...

[Shadow Kira01]

Cambodia bans planned 'Miss Landmine' pageant

I do know that the situation of Cambodia's landmines are very serious and deadly but was there actually a beauty contest known as "Miss Landmine"? That may be a good way for the unfortunate individuals to cheer up but it will no doubt affect the image of the nation in the international stage. Thus, the Cambodian government is now banning the beauty contest.

[mg1942]

Unemployed graduate sues US college

Trina Thompson claims a college in New York should refund her tuition because she has been unable to find a job.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08022009...ned_182607.htm

[Xellos-_^]

now she will never get a job. no one is going to hire her after this.

[Anh_Minh]

Maybe she could get a job as an assistant to an ambulance chaser or something.

[FateAnomaly]

Well, its worth a try. Once in a while, a silly lawsuit will succeed.

[Saleh]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

Well, its worth a try. Once in a while, a silly lawsuit will succeed.

Only if they have a very good lawyer. Every once in a while it can be healthy for education sector to face the consequences for advertising something they can't offer.

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

now she will never get a job. no one is going to hire her after this.

Then she will sue the company for discrimination. They can't say that they are not hiring her because of her frivolous lawsuit against her alma mater.

Church Challenges Atheists With Bus Ads Of Its Own

In the beginning, an Indiana atheist group bought ad space on the sides of 25 CTA buses to promote the message that it was man who created God.

Now, two months later, a South Side church is running ads of its own on the same number of buses but with a competing message: "God is still God whether you believe it or not...just believe."

The New Life Covenant Oakwood Church spent $5,000 to buy the space for a month, according to the Sun-Times, the same amount that the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign spent on its ads in June.

New Life pastor John Hannah told the Sun-Times the message was selected from a contest among the church's 7,000 members.

"We wanted to represent our city and the Christian community," Hannah said. "I felt like the atheists, to come in and say there probably isn't a God, that's an attack against our faith. We wanted to be loud just as they were loud."

[FateAnomaly]

And the winner is... the bus company.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

And the winner is... the bus company.

I totally agree. It is usually those who loudly espouse their faiths end up looking stupid and becoming poorer.

[Mystique]

Puppy survives swallowing an arrow

Story

[Saleh]

Cat survives washing machine tumble

Garbage Collector Fired for Collecting Garbage Gets Job Back

Often the reasons that bosses give for firing employees are pure garbage. But sadly, in the case of one German man who found a used child's bed in the trash, it was true. But now a court has said the company must give the trash collector his job back.

On Thursday, a labor court in the southwestern German city of Mannheim ruled that a garbage collector who took a child's travel bed home after finding it in the trash was unlawfully fired. He must now be reinstated. The court found that his dismissal without notice was unwarranted, despite the fact that he did not follow company policy on objects found in the garbage.

In the decision, which was delivered by Judge Sima Maali-Faggin, the company must now re-employ the 29-year-old father of two, who had been working for the company for nine years, where he was primarily responsible for sorting recycled paper.

Treat It Like Garbage

The story goes like this: In December 2008, Mehmet G. found a child's bed in the garbage while on the job. He took it to his car, and once he finished work, he took it home, where he lives with his wife and two daughters, one 18-months-old and the other 5-years-old. His employer viewed the act as theft and fired him without notice.

In its decision, the court found that: "In objective terms, taking the child's bed away did qualify as theft and, as such, provided ... a valid reason for the firing." But the court ultimately voted in favor of the plaintiff in the belief that the punishment did not fit the crime.

...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Saleh

Cat survives washing machine tumble

What if it is a catgirl?

Originally Posted by Saleh

Garbage Collector Fired for Collecting Garbage Gets Job Back

That is the silliest case I have ever heard in the court. Anything that has gone to the trash should be considered unwanted by the owner, and in this case, it is important to sort out your trash before throwing anything away.

The reason for firing the employee is pure garbage. He should have just been given a review of verbal warning.

[Hanime]

I dunno if anyone's posted this yet but in my area a couple of weeks back there was a puppy that was flushed down the toilet by a 4 year old boy claiming the puppy "needed a bath" or something. I was reading about it on the internet and I read that they had to put cameras down the toilet to check if the puppy was okay, and it turns out it was still alive! I thought it was rather amazing seem although the puppy was super young.

Here's the story if you wanna read it!


- Hanime! n_n

[Shadow Kira01]

Fukuoka teacher reprimanded for slapping 41 students who failed to follow excursion rules

He reportedly told them: “You think we can have gym class today under these kinds of circumstances?” before running down the line slapping each of the students once on their cheeks with his open hand. None of the kids were injured in the incident.

I wonder if the teacher was smoking cannabis prior to the event..

[Patriot's Blade]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

Fukuoka teacher reprimanded for slapping 41 students who failed to follow excursion rules



I wonder if the teacher was smoking cannabis prior to the event..

maybe he's a real life GTO but still retains his young old days memories!

[npcomplete]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

Fukuoka teacher reprimanded for slapping 41 students who failed to follow excursion rules



I wonder if the teacher was smoking cannabis prior to the event..

You'd think the broken rules were something very serious when it turns out to be:

The school in Jonan Ward had set a rule before the excursion on April 24 that the students were only allowed to eat snacks distributed by the teachers, but many students were found to have eaten other snacks brought to school.

[LynnieS]

Luxury resort offers $19 room

A luxury resort in San Diego is offering rooms for $19 a night — if you don't mind sleeping in a tent.

Unfortunately, other things hotel visitors usually get like a bed and toilet paper(!) are not included in the package - although the sight of a tent(!!) in a hotel room would be fun to see.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

Luxury resort offers $19 room Unfortunately, other things hotel visitors usually get like a bed and toilet paper(!) are not included in the package - although the sight of a tent(!!) in a hotel room would be fun to see.

Wait, they take the bed out and put a tent in the room? Now call me crazy, but doesn't that mean it's actually costing them more than it would if they just left the bed in the room? After all, they need to pay their employees to take out the bed and put up the tent, as well as put the bed back in afterwards. Now if they had say a wing at the hotel they were planning on refurnishing and were doing this as a way to keep the room in use while it was unfurnished, that would make sense. Doing it thsi way, however, makes absolutely no sense. Somehow, I doubt this promotion is going to be much of a success.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Wait, they take the bed out and put a tent in the room? Now call me crazy, but doesn't that mean it's actually costing them more than it would if they just left the bed in the room? After all, they need to pay their employees to take out the bed and put up the tent, as well as put the bed back in afterwards. Now if they had say a wing at the hotel they were planning on refurnishing and were doing this as a way to keep the room in use while it was unfurnished, that would make sense. Doing it thsi way, however, makes absolutely no sense. Somehow, I doubt this promotion is going to be much of a success.

No, not really. The cost of getting people to move the bed is meaningless anyway, IMHO, esp. since people are going to get paid no matter what they do. Unless they lay employees off, that is. They pay for the bed move, but don't pay for the room cleaning that they do daily, which saves on laundry costs.

The main thing is that this is just a PR stunt, and a short-term promo should help raise the place's profile. I just want to see the actual tent in the room, though. It's not like it'll rain with the ceiling there, and they don't need the tent to keep people warm at night. And the lack of toilet paper is just ridiculous; one-ply TP is ridiculously cheap, and they aren't buying the stuff by the roll also.

[ganbaru]

Actualy, by removing the bed they are saving money; cleaning the bedroom take less time and you don't have to pay for the cleaning of the bedding. And place like this usualy are changing the bed at every few year.