Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Arbitres]

I'm not saying I like it or condone it - on the contrary, I was trying to say it was a harsh reality for those that experience it.

Discipline is important. But neither to that length or field. I can understand punishing a representative. Just not in sports. Especially when they failed to show North Korea was filled with Supermen.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Cold cereal might beat a hot breakfast



Why the heck does nobody listen to logical sense anymore?

The research was funded by the US Department of Agriculture and Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund

Bias much?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne

Bias much?

The cereal part is definitely bias......however if you look carefully most of the things said actually made much sense.

EDIT :

Publishers: “Making Videos of Our Games is Piracy”

Two top visual novel publishers have threatened anyone who posts gameplay videos of their games with legal action, claiming it is copyright infringement and akin to piracy.

Makers Visual Arts (having just released popular lolicon title Kudo Wafter) and Aquaplus (White Album) are warning players that uploading videos of their games to sites like NicoNico Douga constitutes copyright infringement and that they years in jail and huge fines for unauthorised distribution if they disobey company demands that they cease uploading.

A number of other game publishers have in recent months been grumbling of people redistributing footage of their games, and the problem is felt to be particularly acute for visual novel publishers – these titles are games in name only and a video essentially duplicates the entirety of the “play” experience, removing, it is argued, the need to actually buy the game as surely as if the game itself had been offered up for download.

The eroge industry in particular is especially sensitive here, as it is apparently already suffering massive piracy rates, although many of the complaints in this instance actually came from annoyed players reporting videos posted to NicoNico Douga.

On the other hand, allowing copyright holders to claim copyright violation over mere images of their games sets a rather dangerous precedent – critical videos and images of their products could become the grounds for suppression and even legal action designed to quash damaging information about games, such as bugs or inferior gameplay.

This may not be a problem in places with robust “fair use” legal doctrines like the US, but although Japan has similar statutes apparently no court has ever actually accepted a fair use plea, which when coupled with the spineless tendency of most Japanese to roll over for any institution suggests potential for abuse is rife.

Dear Aquaplus : as much as White Album is has a great storyline, Sony's DRM made it hard to pirate PS3 games. And doing this won't get your company into the Nikkei index.

The makers are not complaining, so why are the publishers making so much noise about "piracy" recently? Profit go down due to bad management and marketing? Or simply looking for an excuse to blame "gaijin" illegal seeders and downloaders next?

[MrTerrorist]

Okay, that's just stupid. It's almost like the story that Prince wanted royalties of all pictures of him in the internet.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

The cereal part is definitely bias......however if you look carefully most of the things said actually made much sense.

The part about skipping breakfast is correct but they gave no evidence to support the conclusion that cold cereal is superior to a hot breakfast, which they put as the headline...

[OMchan]

"Man charged after extracting tooth while driving"

Well that's different... ...

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by OMchan

"Man charged after extracting tooth while driving"

Well that's different... ...

Originally Posted by 'Man charged after extracting tooth while driving'

A 58-year-old man has been charged with careless driving.

I like how that's said to make it seem like that the person charged has no relation to the incident. That alone won't help, but when combined with the article, it sounds like a completely different subject

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

The part about skipping breakfast is correct but they gave no evidence to support the conclusion that cold cereal is superior to a hot breakfast, which they put as the headline...

That is why I ignored that part and bolded only the necessary ones.

McDonald’s Burns Customer’s Car for Complaining

A customer disgruntled at being denied a free gift with his McDonald’s meal had his car burnt to ashes by an even more disgruntled employee, so he “wouldn’t have to go back to the shop.”

The incident began when a 35-year-old man visited a branch of the fast food giant in Fukuoka.

After ordering his meal, he was perturbed to find no free gift had been included (this was probably either a free World Cup Coca Cola glass, a Pikachu or a small generic small plastic toy), and made this known to the store manager.

He would later phone in with repeated complaints about the employee responsible.

The manager apparently rebuked the offending employee, and later had him pay a visit to the customer’s home to make a grovelling apology in proper Japanese fashion. Even this did not settle matters with the aggrieved customer however.

He resolved that he had no choice but to set fire to the customer’s car, and to this end went to his house with a kerosene soaked blanket, threw it under his car and set it ablaze. The car was completely destroyed in the blaze, along with part of the customer’s roof.

Police soon arrested him on arson charges.

Admitting to his crime, he remarked that “I was scared of what my boss would say, so I figured if I burnt his car I wouldn’t have to go to the shop again.”

[Arbitres]

That's...

Utterly ridiculous.

So, instead of him getting fired by his boss (or so he feared), he set fire to someone's car who had an obvious disorder of bitching.

This is ridiculous. Reminds me of the hot coffee thing. if only I thought of that

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

That is why I ignored that part and bolded only the necessary ones.

McDonald’s Burns Customer’s Car for Complaining

Alas, there is proof of stupidity in the modern world.

OTOH, he could have just given him the damn toy.

[FateAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Harufox

Alas, there is proof of stupidity in the modern world.

OTOH, he could have just given him the damn toy.

This is messed up, both the customer and the employee.

They probably already given him the toy + vouchers and what not. It just that the customer refused to let the matter rest.

[MrTerrorist]

Ex-hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi held in US

Former hot dog speed-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi has been arrested at this year's event in New York.

The six-time champion, who did not compete in this year's event, was arrested as he tried to get on the stage after the competition.

Mr Kobayashi had refused to sign a contract with the speed-eating body Major League Eating and was barred from the event at Coney Island.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut won the contest for the fourth year running.

Mr Kobayashi, the thin Japanese contender who smashed all previous US records in 2001, jumped a barrier and tried to get up on the stage while the crowd chanted: "Let him eat!"

'Tsunami'

He briefly resisted police attempts to eject him from the stage, grabbing a barrier as they pulled him away.

The 32-year-old has been charged with resisting arrest, trespass and obstructing governmental administration.

Mr Kobayashi, nicknamed "The Tsunami", had written on his Japanese-languange blog that he didn't want to sign a contract that would prevent him from entering speed eating competitions run by other federations.

Mr Chestnut, 26, won this year's annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, winning a mustard yellow belt and the $20,000 first prize.

But his winning score of 58 hot dogs failed to beat his previous record of 68.

In a post-eat interview he reportedly said "if [Kobayashi] was a man he'd be up on stage", provoking Mr Kobayashi, who has been his main rival for the best part of a decade, the news agency Agence-France Presse reported.

The competition has become an Independence Day tradition.

I have to side with 'Tsunami' over the unfair contract the Major League Eating tried to make him sign. He has the right to join any eating contest he wants. But still, he didn't have to jump on stage and got himself arrested. He could have just walk away.

[FateAnomaly]

Maybe he is really hungry :P.

[MrTerrorist]

Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea

Okay, that's just mean. I feel sorry for Bieber. Sure, some people may not like his music but are those mean pranks really necessary?

[Haruka_Kitten]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea

Okay, that's just mean. I feel sorry for Bieber. Sure, some people may not like his music but are those mean pranks really necessary?

Oh god, please....can I have a day where I don't hear about Beiber?

[Mushi]

The Tsunami has been released.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070500906.html

What a farce that "contracts" have gotten mixed up in a hot dog eating contest. "Free Kobi" indeed.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea

Okay, that's just mean. I feel sorry for Bieber. Sure, some people may not like his music but are those mean pranks really necessary?

When you are popular, you get pranked. It depends on whether you take it in stride or not.

I would like to see him tour N.K if he had the courage to. But I doubt he had the wits to turn it into a charity event to support people in poor and hungry countries.

[Jinto]

In his case however, it is extremely polarizing. I suppose he has far more haters now than actual fans.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea

Okay, that's just mean. I feel sorry for Bieber. Sure, some people may not like his music but are those mean pranks really necessary?

Damn I think I need to get out more because I have no idea who this guy is. And well he seems like a singer so I hope he sings Kim this song when he gets there.

[Mr. DJ]

Mom puts son in 'extensive therapy' for reading manga