Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JokerD

81-year-old fights off Hong Kong teen muggers

This is either a case of a gang of noobs or a bad as* grandpa

He might have been another of Bruce Lee's schoolmates training under Yip Man, or probably is another of the old kung-fu masters of 1950s Hong Kong.

Or he simply groped the girls and threw the other guys into confusion and bashed them.

[ChainLegacy]

The dude's out for some morning exercise at 4 AM. He's definitely a badass.

[SaintessHeart]

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - While Hollywood scrambles to figure out ways to exploit the death of Osama bin Laden on screen, the first movie that could actually benefit from the news is likely to be the final Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which comes out on July 15.

While distributor Warner Bros has never pushed the comparison, the entire Potter saga -- both the books and the movies -- have an inevitable subtext, colored by the events of 9/11.

While the first volume in J.K. Rowling's seven-book series was originally published in England in 1997, the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," was released in November 2001, just months after 9/11.

It set up the ongoing conflict between Harry, the young, orphaned wizard, who gradually discovers his powers, and the malignant force of evil, Lord Voldemort, who is bent on destroying him. First referred to only as "He Who Must Not Be Named," Voldemort is introduced as something of a formless boogie-man -- not unlike the mysterious Osama -- but then, over the course of the series, takes on more and more of a physical presence until in the last volume he and Harry go head-to-head in a final, cataclysmic battle.

For a generation of kids who grew up reading Rowling's books and watching Hollywood's big-screen adaptations in the shadows of 9/11, there have been inevitable echoes of the real world in Harry's sometimes reluctant quest to defeat Voldemort.

Back in 2004, a poster on mugglenet.com made some of it explicit, comparing the Death Eaters to Al Queda and noting of that "just as Voldemort was shaped by his mother's death and his father's abandonment, Osama was shaped by his personal struggle between Western pleasures and Islamic discipline."

And just as Harry is known in the books as "the anointed one," a number of President Obama's critics like Rush Limbaugh have frequently dismissed the president by disparagingly referring to him as "the anointed one" as well -- though on Monday, even Limbaugh had praise for how Obama orchestrated Osama's demise.

Mild spoiler ahead, so stop reading if you don't know the outcome of the final book...

Meanwhile, in the wake of bin Laden's death in a mansion near Islamabad, a meme has already popped up on the web, noting the weird coincidence that Osama and Voldemort both died on the same day, May 1. But true Potter fans have been quick to point out that's not quite true: When Harry and Voldemort actually finally come face-to-face in the Battle of Hogwarts, in the books' chronology the date is really May 2, 1998.

Of course, even without an end to bin Laden, the final Potter movie is already on track to be one of the biggest movies of the summer. The franchise has already grossed more than $6.3 billion at the worldwide box office.

But bin Laden's death is now likely to give the movie an extra emotional resonance for the Potter generation, and that could translate into an even bigger box office bonanza.

Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden



Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

^This...

My dead snail pet probably will also get on the news if it died on May 1st

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden



Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

Yeah, that was reaching way too hard. The protagonist being an anointed/chosen one is so very common it's practically a cliche by now, and Voldemort and Bin Laden is just cast off the same villain mold, not really that identical at all. The date is also coincidental. If anything, a closer parallel can be seen between Voldemort and Hitler, what's with their obsession with 'blood purity' and the fact that they're actually not fitting with their ideal. The 1st of May date fits, too.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden

Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

Obviously, this is the work of a madman trying to get more money by filling up the newspaper columns. And the dates are coming out of said madman's ass. If the movie came out months after 9/11, then the producers must've been working on the movie long before the incident even happened.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden



Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

Oh, come on. The book rocked. Especially the part where Harry Potter led a team of young wizards to hunt down Voldemort who's hiding in a mansion in Pakistan. (OK, I may be a bit confused on the details. It's been a while since I read it.)

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Oh, come on. The book rocked. Especially the part where Harry Potter led a team of young wizards to hunt down Voldemort who's hiding in a mansion in Pakistan. (OK, I may be a bit confused on the details. It's been a while since I read it.)

Since when did Voldemort lived in Pakistan??

Arrests made in theft of $500,000 elk antlers at NRA

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) -- Two men were arrested for allegedly stealing two sets of elk antlers with a combined value of more than $500,000 from an exhibitor at the National Rifle Association's annual convention over the weekend, authorities said on Tuesday.

The vendor told police the antlers -- one rack appraised at $500,000, the other at $15,000 -- had been taken from his booth at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Sunday while he was waiting to pack his truck at a loading dock, police said in a statement.

Other police officers at the convention in Pittsburgh had detained the two men with the antlers, police said. The vendor, an elk hunter who runs a guide service in Rexburg, Idaho, identified the antlers and they were returned to him, according to police.

According to a scoring system that values antlers based on their size and shape, the more expensive antlers had a score of 522 and the other set had a score of 486, rendering both sets very unusual, according to what the victim told police.

Brenda Hartkopf, executive secretary of the Minnesota Elk Breeders Association, said antlers of more than 500 points would be "extremely valuable."

"Those are very rare sets because there's not a lot of them out there," she said.

However, she added that there are no set prices on elk products. "The value is in the eye of the beholder," she said.

Stephen Christopher Lee, 44, of Cumberland, Maryland, and Gary Curtis Felts, 49, of Jopps, Maryland, were arrested and charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Both men worked for a Maryland-based exposition services company.

More than 400 exhibitors and some 70,000 people attended the powerful gun lobby's three-day event in Pittsburgh, which ended Sunday.

They should have been glad that the NRA members handed the case over to the police instead of shooting them up with their own guns.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Since when did Voldemort lived in Pakistan??

Arrests made in theft of $500,000 elk antlers at NRA



They should have been glad that the NRA members handed the case over to the police instead of shooting them up with their own guns.

Some would think than such ''exibition '' would bemore secure than that...

[Vexx]

I don't know where else to put this... but..... state-of-the-art nekomimimode (cat ear mode):
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/89430.php
http://www.technewsdaily.com/japanes...by-brain-2636/

The ears are controlled by brain waves... Saintess, all you need now is an appropriate Azunyan or Kuroneko...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I don't know where else to put this... but..... state-of-the-art nekomimimode (cat ear mode):
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/89430.php
http://www.technewsdaily.com/japanes...by-brain-2636/

The ears are controlled by brain waves... Saintess, all you need now is an appropriate Azunyan or Kuroneko...

Great, now I have to rethink about my stand about not getting married. Damn you Vexx.

That is an interesting hairband to have. I wonder if their are puppy/fox/bunny ear versions. Besides I am sure Outfoxzero would be interested in that too.

Where can we get that anyway? When will it hit the market?

P.S The advert girl looks alot like Rie Tanaka (Neptune, Lacus, Suginitou, Mitsuru Kirijo, Neuroi-crushing butt Minna).

[ganbaru]

Rats threatening B.C. archipelago targeted for eradication
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2013573/

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Great, now I have to rethink about my stand about not getting married. Damn you Vexx.

That is an interesting hairband to have. I wonder if their are puppy/fox/bunny ear versions. Besides I am sure Outfoxzero would be interested in that too.

Where can we get that anyway? When will it hit the market?

P.S The advert girl looks alot like Rie Tanaka (Neptune, Lacus, Suginitou, Mitsuru Kirijo, Neuroi-crushing butt Minna).

Give in SaintessHeart. A real girl with Cat ears is much more better than an anime/manga girl.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Eerie links between Harry Potter, bin Laden

Biggest piece of sensationalist junk I have ever read. Gimme back my 5 minutes, Reuters!

Lol. I genuinly facepalmed when it said "just as Voldemort was shaped by his mother's death and his father's abandonment, Osama was shaped by his personal struggle between Western pleasures and Islamic discipline."

[MrTerrorist]

'SlutWalk' marches sparked by Toronto officer's remarks

I can't imagine saying that word with pride.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Haak

Lol. I genuinly facepalmed when it said "just as Voldemort was shaped by his mother's death and his father's abandonment, Osama was shaped by his personal struggle between Western pleasures and Islamic discipline."

Oh my aching head.... someone hunt this "journalist" down and slap him with a live barracuda.

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I don't know where else to put this... but..... state-of-the-art nekomimimode (cat ear mode):
http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/89430.php
http://www.technewsdaily.com/japanes...by-brain-2636/

The ears are controlled by brain waves... Saintess, all you need now is an appropriate Azunyan or Kuroneko...

Those actually look pretty cute and neat .

[SaintessHeart]

Muslim scholars pulled from Delta plane in Memphis

(Reuters) - Two Muslim scholars headed to a conference on American fears of Islam were pulled from a morning flight on Friday, and were later told that the pilot had refused to fly with them aboard.

Masudur Rahman, a professor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, and Mohamed Zaghloul, Imam at the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, were asked to deplane Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 5452 from Memphis to Charlotte. They were subjected to additional security checks after the plane had pushed back from the gate, Rahman told Reuters by telephone.

After additional screening, the two men were cleared by Delta representatives to re-board the plane, but were then told the pilot would not take them, Rahman said.

Rahman said both men had been cleared for check-in and boarding by airline and Transportation Security Administration officials during normal pre-flight procedures.

According to a TSA spokesman, the decision to remove the two passengers was made by the airline.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a regional partner operating as a Delta Connection, apologized for any inconvenience caused, but offered no further explanation.

The flight "returned to the gate to allow for additional screening of a passenger and the passenger's companion. We take security and safety very seriously, and the event is currently under investigation," an airline statement said.

The two men were headed to a North American Imams conference where they were scheduled to lead prayers. This year's conference is discussing Islamophobia or fears of Islam and discrimination against American Muslims.

Since the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan last week, U.S. government officials have warned that al Qaeda may attempt retaliatory attacks.

Rahman said Delta officials told them it was not passengers who were uncomfortable with the men's presence, but the pilot.

Given the men had been cleared by security, the pilot may not understand Muslim culture, the Islam religion or how they typically dress with their body fully covered, said Rahman.

"People are losing freedom," he said of the incident, which he said happens to other Muslim men and women traveling together.

Rahman and Zaghloul arrived nine hours late to the conference, he said.

I propose that the pilot be fed through the turbine while it is still spinning.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Muslim scholars pulled from Delta plane in Memphis



I propose that the pilot be fed through the turbine while it is still spinning.

Bad idea; it would damage a perfecly operational turbine.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Bad idea; it would damage a perfecly operational turbine.

I was referring to him substituting the chicken used for wind tunnel testing.