Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

But a ''real'' tank might be more likely to damage tha pavement, no ?

Not if it is properly driven on the road.

Or it could fire its main gun, but the mounted .50 HMGs should be enough to shred any saloon car apart.

[AnimeFan188]

"Ukraine's Environment Minister Mykola Zlochevsky vowed on Wednesday to free
all bears kept in restaurants for entertainment purposes and often forced to drink
alcohol, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday."

See:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43999740...d_news-europe/

[Xellos-_^]

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i083333D22.DTL

[Vexx]

I have a radium-glow wristwatch and an alarm clock from the 1950s.... only 4998 more of them and I can make a home-fission reactor, eh?

[Haak]

And all this controversy about the Iranians gaining nuclear warheads. We haven't been paying enough attention to the Swedish!

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Haak

And all this controversy about the Iranians gaining nuclear warheads. We haven't been paying enough attention to the Swedish!

Attack of the Radioactive Swedish Meatballs

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by Haak

And all this controversy about the Iranians gaining nuclear warheads. We haven't been paying enough attention to the Swedish!

I'll bet that was their diabolical plan all along!

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i083333D22.DTL

I belive than a young US teenager did something like that at least 10 years ago.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

I belive than a young US teenager did something like that at least 10 years ago.

I think I read about him in "The Age of Stupid". He went around collecting radium so he could build a nuclear breeder reactor, until a FBI investigator chanced upon his house. His mother was evacuated, he is jailed, and his neighbourhood became a Superdump cleanup operation.

The book praised him for his resourcefulness, and honestly speaking, I respect any person (especially kids who started messing around at a young age, e.g Kevin Mitnick) who dares to do that for the sake of discovery and experimentation; rarely do I see anyone else these days who is willing to source for materials to experiment with.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I think I read about him in "The Age of Stupid". He went around collecting radium so he could build a nuclear breeder reactor, until a FBI investigator chanced upon his house. His mother was evacuated, he is jailed, and his neighbourhood became a Superdump cleanup operation.

The book praised him for his resourcefulness, and honestly speaking, I respect any person (especially kids who started messing around at a young age, e.g Kevin Mitnick) who dares to do that for the sake of discovery and experimentation; rarely do I see anyone else these days who is willing to source for materials to experiment with.

Because the materials are either licensed or it's illegal to do experiments unless you're working for Big Corp

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi

Because the materials are either licensed or it's illegal to do experiments unless you're working for Big Corp

That isn't an issue. When you think hard enough, look sharp enough, you can find what you want. I stole petrol from cars to make napalm back when I was younger, and that was the only out-of-the-way thing I did in my entire life so far.

I got his name. It's David Hahn.

From Wikipedia :

Hahn diligently amassed this radioactive material by collecting small amounts from household products, such as americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium (as neutron moderator) from gunsights. His "reactor" was a large, bored-out block of lead, and he used lithium from $1,000 worth of purchased batteries to purify the thorium ash using a Bunsen burner.

Talk about tenacity - this guy would have made a great NEST operative.

[ganbaru]

Mysterious orange goo washes up in Alaska village
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-04-20-34-37

[SaintessHeart]

Well here is something interesting :

S&P's and Moody's face Italian raids

When fiscal policies don't work, blame the analysts.

[MrTerrorist]

Killer plant 'eats' blue tit at Somerset nursery

Despite what the title says, the Tit is a bird.

[ganbaru]

New York's 'Rent Too Damn High' candidate faces eviction
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-05-08-21-10

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

New York's 'Rent Too Damn High' candidate faces eviction
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-05-08-21-10

......what a touch of Irony

[ganbaru]

Wild donkeys to be taken from Hawaii to California
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-05-16-59-17

[Haak]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Mysterious orange goo washes up in Alaska village
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-04-20-34-37

Soon the aliens will start invading...

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Haak

Soon the aliens will start invading...

I wouldn't be against them taking Sarah Palin with them back to their planet...

[SaintessHeart]

Don’t panic: Why S&P’s downgrade means nothing

Interestingly enough, not much. Washington is still useless. The stock market will continue the correction that began two weeks ago. And Treasury bonds, strangely enough, will remain a safe haven for investors.

Downgrade the bonds! Downgrade the bonds! *sarcastic*