Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Urzu 7]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...6pLid%3D168082

A two year-old toddler who was pronounced dead, sat up on his coffin during his funeral and asked his father for a drink of water before laying lifeless in the coffin once again, according to Brazilian news sources.

Kelvin Santos was declared dead after he stopped breathing due to complications with pneumonia at Aberlardo Santos Hospital in the northern Brazilian city of Belem. The family held an open-casket wake later that day.

An hour before his funeral, the boy apparently sat back up and asked his father for a drink of water.

The entire family thought they had witnessed a miracle and that Kelvin had in fact come back to life. But a few seconds later, the little boy's body fell back in the casket and the family couldn't wake him up again.

The boy was rushed back to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a second time.

"Dead people don't just wake up and talk," said Antonio Santos, the boy's father according to The Daily Mail. "I'm determined to find out the truth."

A similar case occurred in Argentina earlier this year. Except this one had a happy ending.

Analia Bouter fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead. Her baby daughter, born three months premature, was pronounced a stillborn on April 3rd in a hospital in the city of Resistencia. The baby was put in a coffin and sent to a morgue.

Twelve hours later her parents were able to open the coffin to say their goodbyes. Instead, they found their baby was trembling.

"I moved the coverings aside and saw the tiny hand, with all five fingers, and I touched her hand and then uncovered her face," said the mother in to TeleNoticias, an international news channel, according to The Associated Press. "That's where I heard a tiny little cry. I told myself I was imagining it – it was my imagination. And then I stepped back and saw her waking up. It was as if she was saying `Mama, you came for me!'

A morgue worker picked her up and confirmed the baby was alive.

The family plans on suing the Hospital Perrando in the city of Resistencia for malpractice.

This has to be very painful for all those who love the child.

[GDB]

Vampire Graves found near Black Sea

I'm not sure which part of this story is more ridiculous. The fact that an iron pike in the chest of two corpses is such big news, or the fact that it starts talking about "modern vampires" as if they were just another group of people like everyone else.

[Urzu 7]

Did they find glitter in the coffins?

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Did they find glitter in the coffins?

I thought vampires burn up when killed too.

[Ithekro]

If I recall the stake was so they could not get up. It was not to kill them as they are undead.

[SaintessHeart]

China rate cut sparks fears of grim May data

A retired debt-collector (legal one) once told me : never lend money you can't get back, and never encourage people to borrow money from you because most of them wouldn't pay you back; if they had prudently watched their finances, they wouldn't need to borrow so much from you.

If a normal citizen of a humble society is able to comprehend this, why aren't the big banks and government happily encouraging others to borrow from them without recourse?

[ganbaru]

Thief steals US flag from man in chicken suit
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-07-10-16-49

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Origin (EA) boss says Steam sales cheapen intellectual property

/blink

HAHAHA... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...



Oh, god I'm dying here.

That guy is the biggest moron ever.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Mr Hat and Clogs

That guy is the biggest moron ever.

Didn't you know? If it doesn't sell for full price, and then have all of its $247 of DLC (consisting of such masterpieces as alternate color pieces of clothing, accessories, and early unlocks for things you can do in game already) purchased, you're degrading the IP and should be arrested for stealing!

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Won't someone please think of the big publishers! Please think of the publishers!


I'm just going to keep this quote "just don't look for 75 percent off going-out-of-business sales." handy for when/if Origin goes tits up because they are morons.

(unfortunately I think it'll end up coming to EA making all their titles Origin exclusive before they let Origin die, which will probably keep Origin alive like some horribly beaten dead horse.)


Oh, you forgot having to pay for content you already should have access to!

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Mr Hat and Clogs

Origin (EA) boss says Steam sales cheapen intellectual property

/blink

HAHAHA... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Oh, god I'm dying here.

That guy is the biggest moron ever.

He and the other mouthpieces of EA/Origin often produce comedy fodder for the likes of Penny Arcade, GU Comics, and other gaming comics. He's the same kind of idiot we see over at the MPAA/RIAA cabal...

What we need are more reporters like the old Sam Donaldson who almost *never* let balderdash go unchallenged. For him there was never a "we aren't doing a Q&A" - he'd just yell out the challenge to an assertion.

[mangamuscle]

American 'illegals' in Mexico

According to the last Mexican census (2010), more than 738,000 people born in the United States now live in Mexico.

[Ithekro]

I wonder how many were shipped home with their parents and how many are living there to escape American justice...or just taxes.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

I wonder how many were shipped home with their parents and how many are living there to escape American justice...or just taxes.

You do realize the usa and mexico signed an extradition treaty back in 1978?. Maybe the extradition of many drug lords in recent years hasn't grabbed your attention. *sigh* I suppose I can't fight with the image of so many hollywood flicks where the bandits cross the border to evade justice, because if shown in a flick, it must be true -_-

[Ithekro]

I know of people that have "disappeared" into Mexico. It isn't about the extradition treaty. It is about finding someone and making sure he hasn't paid off the Federales enough to stay "disappeared".

[mangamuscle]

No señor, I wouild not recommend that. Back in the 20th century any federal was corrupt and would take a little money in exchange for keeping his lips sealed. In the 21st century there are two kind of federales, those not yet corrupted by drug lord money and those who have been. Corrupt federal officials serve bloodthirsty drug organizations and if you are running from usa authotiities for a dire yet non famous crime and have large amunts of money for bribes, they might choose to take all of your money and "cook you" so that you truly dissapear.

[Ithekro]

Well hopefully Senor Banker got his just desserts...even if he did take the money.

[ganbaru]

It might be too serious for this thread:
Mob attacks women at Egypt anti-sex assault rally
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-08-20-06-24

[Terrestrial Dream]

'Otaku' men find themselves much sought after

TOKYO —
Shukan Asahi (June 15) takes us to a “retro café” in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi where nine men and nine women are engaged in light banter. It looks like – and in fact is – a “konkatsu party,” a party for people in quest of a marriage partner.

This one’s a little different though. First, the talk is remarkably animated, with few of the awkward silences that generally bedevil these gatherings. Secondly, though the language is unmistakably Japanese, a Japanese eavesdropper – if we dare imagine such a thing – might have difficulty following the conversations. What’s “BL”? Or “fujoshi”?

BL means boys’ love and “fujoshi” are women who like manga and anime with BL themes. Are we oriented now? This is marriage-hunting among the otaku – those who, mostly with pride, shun as much as possible the physical, three-dimensional, living, breathing, sweating world and indulge instead their all-absorbing interest in manga, anime and computer games.

Otaku by now are so pervasive they are almost mainstream. The word is understood worldwide. Abroad they are “cool Japan” personified. And yet at home, not everyone takes to them. Cool they may be, but women looking for mates have tended to look elsewhere. Otaku themselves – the males at any rate – were notoriously skittish when it came to the opposite sex.

Not anymore, says Shukan Asahi. All of a sudden otaku men find themselves much sought after. One sign of changing times: organizers of the Nihonbashi café event report 30 applicants for every place available. Another: within two hours, five couples have formed and gone off on their own. That’s more than half, and better by far than the 30% rate typical of non-otaku konkatsu events.

Why are women, otaku and non-, lately reversing themselves on the desirability of otaku men as marriage partners? It all boils down, according to experts Shukan Asahi consults, to a shift in women’s aspirations. Once they demanded “the three highs” in a man: high academic background, high income, and high height – better a tall husband than a short one. That’s out now. In instead are “the three heis.” The character “hei” means average, mediocre, ordinary. The three heis are ordinary appearance, average income, and mediocre lifestyle.

It was the bursting of the economic bubble in the mid-1990s that deflated the three highs, and the 2008 Lehman Shock that inflated the three heis. The Lehman Shock brought Japan to the abyss of economic collapse. It was a shattering experience. High living suddenly came to seem like skating on ultra-thin ice. Better lower one’s sights, thought many women. A man with a modest salary is less likely to throw his money away. A plain appearance means other women will leave him alone. An unimposing lifestyle keeps a man content with the humdrum but after all satisfying pleasures of home and hearth.

Otaku men may be unimposing and unthreatening – but does their immersion in virtual and cartoon worlds leave them time and energy for husband- and fatherhood? It’s a point and a concern, women concede. Hardcore otaku might not fit the bill. “Otaku light” is what they hope for.

There is a hope for us all.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

'Otaku' men find themselves much sought after

There is a hope for us all.

I actually met my girlfriend of more than two years at an anime convention. Liked her cosplay, offered to send her photos via e-mail (it helps to have some photography skillz) then asked her to an anime club event.

I doesn't really surprise me that events for otaku seeking marraige partners have higher than average success rates. Some people go on about how socially awkward otaku are, but speaking as an anime fan, most of that awkwardness is because of the stigma - real or perceived - around my hobby. I can be very outgoing and talkative around other otaku.

That said,the woman probably are right to be concerned about the"time and energy" bit. I love my girlfriend but I've got to admit that balancing studies, love, and hobbies with sleep can be tricky at times.