Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[JMvS]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Little red riding hood has been alluded to child predation.

Wasn't that the point of the story? Or did child predator and wolf friend associations find it too offensive?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JMvS

Wasn't that the point of the story? Or did child predator and wolf friend associations find it too offensive?

Well the possible reasons I can think of are :

1. The wolf is a crossdresser.
2. LRRH is a victim of child predation.
3. LRRH is visiting her grandma in the middle of the forest without her parents, and she is less than 10 years old, citing parental irresponsibility.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by FDW

Such a nice story with a good ending.

Definitely, that would've been pretty tripping hearing him like that on the side of the road. Good for him for getting his life together.

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

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

it was sharks

That is one of the funniest things I've ever heard

[Tiberium Wolf]

Iran detains American woman over 'spy device' in teeth

Maybe they confused Armenian with American!? But still... "spying technology or a microphone" in her teeth? WTH?

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

That is one of the funniest things I've ever heard

Yeah, OK, typo. Sorry, all right?

[MrTerrorist]

Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn

Morale of the story: Don't screw with Huckleberry Finn

[ganbaru]

God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...7052OC20110106
Would it mean than God is supposed to be the reaction than caused the Big Bang ?

Russian hockey team kicked off flight after celebrating World Junior win
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1859778/

[Tsuyoshi]

Galileo was rehabilitated and the Church now also accepts evolution as a scientific theory and sees no reason why God could not have used a natural evolutionary process in the forming of the human species.

So, what about Adam and Eve? I thought that was the whole story behind the origin of the human race, or was I mistaken?

[JMvS]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn

Morale of the story: Don't screw with Huckleberry Finn

Actually, the censored edition is no less deprecating than the original!

Continued use of the term slave should be banned as it is highly insulting toward peoples of slavic heritage!

This charged world must be replaced in both texts and ordinarly language with the following more neutral expression of 'freedom challenged'.

/mode troll off

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...7052OC20110106
Would it mean than God is supposed to be the reaction than caused the Big Bang ?

Frankly, it means they failed astrophyics and cosmology 101 because they don't grasp the basic mathematics of multi-dimensional space-time... but we knew that. Thought experiment: modeling space-time as latitude/longitude, what is south of the South Pole?

I won't deny that 'reality as modeled' (model-dependent reality) will always be a bit short of the actual personal experience no matter how perfectly the model predicts reality. However, that actual personal experience is completely unrelated to the doctrines we're pummeled with by institutions like his.

[Kaijo]

Proof guys have it better than girls?

Sega brings awkward fun to the restroom!

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Frankly, it means they failed astrophyics and cosmology 101 because they don't grasp the basic mathematics of multi-dimensional space-time... but we knew that. Thought experiment: modeling space-time as latitude/longitude, what is south of the South Pole?

Wouldn't it be easier to say that they failed maths?

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Proof guys have it better than girls?

Sega brings awkward fun to the restroom!

Well, last year they did this.

[FDW]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Proof guys have it better than girls?

Sega brings awkward fun to the restroom!

This reminds of the time I came with an idea for a sex game peripheral for the Nintendo Wii. It went nowhere of course, but still…

[Kaijo]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn

Morale of the story: Don't screw with Huckleberry Finn

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 3

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Proof guys have it better than girls?

Sega brings awkward fun to the restroom!

I agree with the author of the article, it's a really weird but seemingly brilliant idea if you give it more thought.

Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne

Yeah, OK, typo. Sorry, all right?

Definitely not laughing at you, those Saudi agents on the other hand...

[ganbaru]

Accidental ‘butt diallers’ hang up 911 emergency responders
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1862441/

[ZephyrLeanne]

Prince Charles won't waive the rules in his model village


http://news.scotsman.com/news/Prince...the.6684334.jp

By Martyn McLaughlin
WELCOME to your dream home, but please, if you must insist on installing a satellite dish, kindly keep it hidden from view, and ensure your house sign errs on the side of discretion. This is, after all, a neighbourhood fit for royalty.


• Picture perfect: drawings of what Knockroon in Ayrshire, commissioned by Prince Charles, will look like.

Prospective residents of Prince Charles's bold new community in Scotland will be forced to abide by a dizzying series of rules devised to preserve the architectural purity of his vision.

Under fresh plans for Knockroon in Ayrshire, seen by Scotland on Sunday, households must accede to a series of planning regulations laid down by the prince's architectural charity.

Intricate detail of the architecture and streetscapes of the new village, near Cumnock, is outlined in a 35-page manifesto drawn up by the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.

Covering factors ranging from walls and railings through to street "furniture", the Knockroon Design Code is presented as an "exemplar of design" for "Ayrshire, Scotland, and beyond" which will "create a beautiful place".

However, leading architectural organisations have warned the plans are too "prescriptive" in laying down the law for features as seemingly trivial as benches, with one body condemning the foundation's decision to "slavishly copy" traditional designs rather than consider a more contemporary vision. Government design champions, Architecture + Design Scotland, says it would prefer a "variety" of "architectural expression".

The genesis of the community, branded the "Scottish Poundbury" - a planned village in Dorset, set on land owned by the Prince's Duchy of Cornwall - took shape four years ago when he was the dealbreaker in the purchase of Dumfries House, an 18th-century Palladian mansion near Cumnock.

The Prince's Charitable Foundation helped buy the stately home from the Marquess of Bute to avoid a public sale, and, as part of the deal, Charles promised a new green walkable neighbourhood.

The first bricks are likely to be laid as soon as March by developers Hope Homes and Ecofirst, subject to the scheme receiving final planning consent, and the newdesign code will provide a framework of what is acceptable over the next 25 years as Knockroon gradually takes shape.

In the code, the foundation envisages a community which will be "both familiar and distinctive," drawing on the finest precedents of urban design and architecture in Ayrshire and the west of Scotland.

"Knockroon," it declares, "will be an exemplar of design quality and sustainable development for east Ayrshire, Scotland, and beyond in terms of urban extensions or new neighbourhoods."

At its heart will be Adam Square, named after the brothers who designed Dumfries House.

The civic space - comprising a single supermarket, shops, offices, and housing - will be influenced by the traditional Scottish tollbooth market square.

It is, though, the future residents of Knockroon's 770 homes who should pay the greatest attention to the code. For while they will be given allotments on the Dumfries House estate, the good life in Knockroon will have a series of restrictions as the foundation lays down stipulations for the "urban ingredients" of households and gardens.

They include: garden gates must be made to an approved design from painted timber, mild steel, or wrought iron; the lettering on house name signs should be no higher than eight centimetres; individual satellite dishes will be banned in favour of "discrete" communal dishes linked to underground cabling; and hedges must be uniform in colour and species. Even on communal streets, nothing is being left to chance. The foundation rules that street name signs should be in the Baskerville typeface; tree trunks should be no closer than 900 millimetres from road kerbs; and benches must be of a predetermined traditional cast-iron design.

Hank Dittmar, chief executive officer of the foundation, said it is a "firm advocate" of community engagement, and believes the design code will be embraced by those who make a new life in Knockroon.

"The Foundation is delighted to have been involved with the design of Knockroon," he said. "It is fantastic that the vision will hopefully soon become a reality. The masterplan and design code draw upon Scottish urban design and architecture whilst advocating sustainable travel and proposing the use of low carbon technologies."

The Scottish Civic Trust - a charity that seeks to protect and enhance the built environment - welcomed the publication of the design code, but it also stressed new and old could comfortably sit side by side.

Pointing to the blueprints for Adam Square as an example, the heritage watchdog - directed by John Pelan - wrote: "We welcome the identification of ‘character areas' and their defining features, and the precedents from the surrounding area to illustrate these definitions. We do, however, feel a contemporary interpretation of these traditional forms would be most appropriate, rather than slavishly copying traditional architecture."

It added: "From this point of view, we feel that in places the design code is rather prescriptive, and there is a concern that it could stifle contemporary design solutions."

Similarly, Architecture + Design Scotland, the executive body which aims to champion excellence in architecture, has criticised "very prescriptive" guidance for street designs and building frontages.

Instead, it too believes there should be a "variety of architectural expression."

It adds it "would advise against any particular style being replicated to the extent that individual developments did not display their own character and identity."

The decision whether to grant full planning consent to the first phase will be taken next week at a meeting of East Ayrshire Council's southern local planning committee.

I did not know Prince Charles was a communist.

As in, those houses, already, look like something taken out of a mid-lower Victoran (the era, not the Australian state)/pre-Industrial Revolution house - but mashed together with communistic rules and as though they came out of early communist Russia.

Honestly, I think Australia, NZ, and Canada really need to call for a republic once Prince Charles ascends. And Northern Ireland to join Ireland (it actually would have done better in Ireland - even the current Ireland - at least it would have gotten more funding from the Dail than it's getting from Westminster now, and it would at least have more space to develop R&D - and possibly prevented Ireland from going the way it is. Why? In NI, the Fianna Fail party, the ruling party in the Republic (of Ireland) does not exist in NI, rather it is Sinn Fein ruling with the DUP and seems to be a better financial steward.)

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne

Prince Charles won't waive the rules in his model village


http://news.scotsman.com/news/Prince...the.6684334.jp




I did not know Prince Charles was a communist.

As in, those houses, already, look like something taken out of a mid-lower Victoran (the era, not the Australian state)/pre-Industrial Revolution house - but mashed together with communistic rules and as though they came out of early communist Russia.

Honestly, I think Australia, NZ, and Canada really need to call for a republic once Prince Charles ascends. And Northern Ireland to join Ireland (it actually would have done better in Ireland - even the current Ireland - at least it would have gotten more funding from the Dail than it's getting from Westminster now, and it would at least have more space to develop R&D - and possibly prevented Ireland from going the way it is. Why? In NI, the Fianna Fail party, the ruling party in the Republic (of Ireland) does not exist in NI, rather it is Sinn Fein ruling with the DUP and seems to be a better financial steward.)

You know what would make that scenery more beautiful?

An orphanage built on one end, and a Grammar School built on another. Every morning, you'll see kids going to school and back in the background of the houses.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

You know what would make that scenery more beautiful?

An orphanage built on one end, and a Grammar School built on another. Every morning, you'll see kids going to school and back in the background of the houses.

Look, at least you don't have a loony prince that doesn't even take up residence in your country.

For us, (and Northern Irish, Scots, Australians and Canadians), every time we hear PRINCE CHARLES, we shudder. That old man is not even older than LKY, yet he makes LKY look youthful. Freaky.


Elsewhere.

Sex twits caught stalking Premier

Heath Aston

January 9, 2011
EXCLUSIVE

KRISTINA KENEALLY is being targeted by cyber perverts, and police have been called in to track down several online stalkers harassing her.

At least two men have been visited at home in the past fortnight by police attached to the Premier's personal security unit and warned to stop posting menacing and sexually explicit messages for her on social media forums such as Twitter.


The Sun-Herald has learnt that police are taking the online harassment very seriously after several incidents last year in which agitated people turned up at events where Ms Keneally was to appear.

They believe there is a link between people crashing functions to get near the Premier and her online followers.

Police have coached her on using Twitter so that she no longer says where she will be on a particular day.

Ms Keneally, who has 11,844 Twitter followers, has been advised to tweet ''retrospectively'', mentioning locations and events by name only after she has left.

Last year she used to regularly tweet sensitive information such as when she was taking her two sons to watch a Sydney FC match.

The Premier's office declined to comment specifically on the harassment but confirmed that a number of individuals - all men - had been blocked from posting comments on Ms Keneally's Twitter page and that police were involved.

Sources described the harassment as ''celebrity-style stalking of a sexual nature''.

Federal MP Malcolm Turnbull, a veteran tweeter, said he had never received sexually suggestive comments but said all politicians were used to a percentage of ''idiotic and gratuitous'' posts.

''One of the problems with anonymous social media is that some people feel liberated to say things knowing there is no consequences,'' he said.

Mr Turnbull said his tweeting had evolved from federal Environment Minister Tony Burke's style of mundane personal observations to focusing on larger issues.

Ms Keneally, who was once such a prolific tweeter that her staff would fire off updates on her behalf while she was in Question Time, has not tweeted at all since December 17.

All the sexually explicit messages have been erased from her Twitter page but a search of comments already this year reveal Ms Keneally is also a target of non-sexual abuse.

A tweeter called Ozriotgrrl posted: ''seriously, u & all of yr MPs are useless, corrupt & wasting all our time & cash ('cept Verity). JUST GO NOW! JUST GO NOW! GO!!!''

Someone called dvdk said: '' … Reopen the parliament so we get a real inquiry. 79 days Keneally, 79 days!'' Others, such as BeauGiles, were kinder, saying ''Oh @KKeneally your voice is so dreamy.''

Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell, who has just 5998 followers, has discovered the pitfalls of social media.

In October The Sun-Herald revealed Mr O'Farrell had appeared to promote pornography by saving as a ''favourite'' a web link to images of nudity and sex scenes. He blamed his ''chunky fingers''.

He also referred to Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a ''ranga'' in an open reply to a radio journalist that he thought was private.

Despite the online gaffes, he has said he will continue tweeting into the state election campaign and if he becomes premier in March.

Someone tell me why are politicians so popular that they're getting stalked...?

[ganbaru]

Canada ranks last in freedom of information: study
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1863083/