News of the Weird

[InsaneApache]

Thirteen-month-old Imad Aleeyan, who has six teeth, was found chewing on the head of the 12 inch snake by his mother, who alerted the neighbourhood with her screams.

"I was making his milk and I looked over and saw he had a snake in his mouth," said his mother, Ghadir Aleeyan who lives in the Arab Israeli town of Shefa'Amr, 9 miles east of the port city of Haifa.

"I started to scream. I couldn't believe my eyes," she told AFP. "I nearly died of fright."

Her screams brought the rest of the family – and the neighbourhood – running.

"We rushed in and found the baby with a snake in his mouth, chewing it. It was really scary, just horrible," the boy's aunt, Yasmin Shahin, said.

A neighbour who had rushed to see what was going on yanked the half-dead reptile out of the boys mouth and killed it, she said.

"When he pulled it out, Imad started crying," she said, describing the snake's head as "very badly chewed" when it emerged from the boys mouth.

They immediately checked the child for any bite marks but found none, with doctors at Rambam hospital in Haifa confirming he was unharmed.

"Doctors at the hospital told us the snake was really poisonous but that we were very lucky because they release less venom in the winter," she said.

Dr Boaz Shacham, an expert on amphibians and reptiles, told AFP that from looking at images of the smashed-up serpent online, it appeared to be a coin-marked snake (hemorrhois nummifer), a non-venomous species which resembles a viper.

Such snakes grow up to three feet in length, he said suggesting it was a "very young" specimen.

"It probably didn't bite the child because of the cold," said Dr Shacham who is the head of the herpetology collection at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"They are not really active in winter."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...off-snake.html

[Lemur]

Starship captain evicted by divorce



When British nightclub DJ Tony Alleyne rebuilt his apartment to resemble a spaceship from "Star Trek," he couldn't have foreseen the day when he'd have to boldly go ... someplace else.

The British tabloid The Sun reports that Alleyne's apartment, in the English town of Hinckley, is actually owned by the wife he's been separated from since 1994. Now she wants to sell, meaning he'll have to leave the space-themed home behind.

"To say I'm gutted is an understatement. It is my life's work," Alleyne told the Sun. "I admit there were tears."

He says it would cost at least 100,000 British pounds (more than $150,000 American) to redo the theme in a new apartment.

When msnbc TV reported on the apartment back in 2006, Alleyne was about to file for bankruptcy over the money spent on renovations, and said he had hoped to start a business transforming homes for other "Star Trek" fans.

Msnbc TV did another segment on Alleyne in 2007 when he was apparently also hoping to sell the tricked-out home, which includes a mock transporter.

[Lemur]

US Military bids farewell to "Birth Control Glasses"



The standard-issue spectacles, S9s, most widely known as “Birth Control Glasses,” or BCGs, are soon to become a thing of the past.

In the coming months, recruits from all branches of service will be issued 5As, a more modern, hipster-chic pair of glasses. While the 5As are inarguably more aesthetically pleasing, they offer very little help as a contraceptive. [...]

Birth Control Glasses, labeled lovingly so because they’re so ugly you don’t stand a chance of finding a partner while wearing them, have always been the great equalizer. Even the most Handsome Harry and Sexy Sally are humbled by their wear. At boot camp, there are many things that break down individual identity and reinforce a unit mentality, but the BCGs do this exceptionally well. Recruits forced to wear them share the bond of constantly thinking, “I look like an idiot in these things.” Meanwhile, all the other recruits are thinking, “Look at those idiots,” [...]

As with any good eulogy, let us remember the legacy of the BCGs with a poem. Unfortunately my Robert Frost book of poems is loaned out, so here’s a haiku:

Too thick frames appear
Taking their place on my face
Women are repulsed

[Vladimir]

Farewell my good friend.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Vero wife upset at hubby's request to 'use the bed' with another woman

Marian Searchwell's husband said his wife grew enraged after he decided to bring home a "female visitor."

"Specifically, Searchwell began yelling at (her husband)," an Indian River County Sheriff's deputy wrote in a recently released arrest affidavit.

The husband said Searchwell -- his wife of five months -- grabbed his neck during the 10:10 p.m. Jan. 26 incident, leaving abrasions.

...

The affidavit did not state why Searchwell's husband and his "female visitor" wanted to use the bed.

Typical uses for beds include sleeping, napping, slumbering, dozing, snoozing, getting 40 winks or some shuteye. They also can be employed by children as a make-shift trampoline, or modified with the addition of wheels for use in a so-called bed race.

In any case, the affidavit did not state whether Searchwell's husband and his "female visitor" were afforded use of the bed. Nor did the affidavit state whether the bed was a twin, full, queen, king, bunk, Murphy or a rollaway.

Searchwell, of the 400 block of 43rd Avenue Southwest in Vero Beach, was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.

CR

[Hosakawa Tito]

NSW firm seeks brothel sex inspector

Applicants were required to be unmarried and preferably single, to be willing to have protected sexual intercourse with prostitutes and to provide sworn evidence in court.

Unlike those dang laws that restrain the cops, they are required to do "quality control" sampling of the hookers. What a gig!

[Sasaki Kojiro]

A TEAM of Russian scientists successfully drilled down to an "alien" lake deep below the ice in Antarctica that was hidden for an estimated 20 million years, the Ria Novosti news agency reported today.
"Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3768m and reached the surface of the sub-glacial lake," the report quoted an unnamed scientific source as saying.

Scientists hope Lake Vostok could reveal new forms of life, and teams from the US and the UK also are drilling down to other hidden lakes on frozen continent.
The Russian team has not been heard from for more than a week, raising fears for its safety.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/ru...#ixzz1lf0QjsCx

[Montmorency]

Tekeli-li...

Tekeli-li...

[CountArach]

I'm guessing they found a Stargate.

[Montmorency]

The Russian team has not been heard from for more than a week, raising fears for its safety.

Just a notice: That "has" is Sasaki's responsibility. In the link, the article says "had".

Shame on you for deceiving us, Sasaki. I got my hopes up for nothing.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Well, I haven't heard from them in more than a week.

[InsaneApache]

It's either Supermans fortress of solitude of the Octosquid invasion nerve center.

I bet the lakes made of vodka, hence not freezing and the scientists not being seen for a week.

[Ronin]

It's either Supermans fortress of solitude of the Octosquid invasion nerve center.

I bet the lakes made of vodka, hence not freezing and the scientists not being seen for a week.

they are probably all sitting around in a circle....performing blood tests on each other.

[Lemur]

Tekeli-li...

Tekeli-li...

Man, I wish they would make that film.

[Andres]

Official Presidential Candidate: The Naked Cowboy.

"I know what it takes to run a successful business," he said. "Plus, it's obvious I have nothing to hide."

If I were an American, I'd know who to vote for

[Gregoshi]

Official Presidential Candidate: The Naked Cowboy.



If I were an American, I'd know who to vote for

He also knows how to buck (naked) the system.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Beer money flashing offers lead to knife attack. Beer makes their clothes fall off. Must be beer-nuts.

[Hosakawa Tito]

With Fall of the Samurai coming up, what a timely find. Japanese Fart Scrolls.

[aimlesswanderer]

Why is it that the classy paintings like this aren't as ubiquitous as the world famous tsunami painting? This has real artistic merit and should be worth tens of millions at least.

[Gregoshi]

With Fall of the Samurai coming up, what a timely find. Japanese Fart Scrolls.

A Divine Wind indeed.

I've got an idea for a new TWS2 unit - the Yari Asifartu...

[Tellos Athenaios]

What could possibly go wrong?

Quality journalism bastion Playboy has teamed up with boffins at Virgin Galactic to create the one thing missing in the universe - a Playboy Club in space.
(...)

Billionaire playboys and regular folks who will work on the station will get there by rocket, but cargo for the club will "arrive by machine gun". Presumably to add a frisson of fear to the general merriment aboard the station, Playboy reckons shooting supplies in cargo bullets from Earth could be a good idea.

“We might create guns big enough to shoot things into space," futurist Thomas Frey said. “Humans couldn’t withstand those g-forces, but it would be ideal for supplies.”

Again, you have to give a nod to some Star Trek inspiration when Playboy tells you that the restaurant will have "organic printers" to make food, with "vats of organic material" attached - mmm, appetising.

[Vladimir]

Apparently, idiots advance evolution:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/sc...-patterns.html

No, not the NYT itself, but close.

[Ronin]

I said Mom, not bomb!

'I said 'mom' not 'bomb!'' Southwest Airlines pilot causes panic as he wishes happy birthday to air traffic controller's mother

ohhh good grief.

[Vladimir]

From the same page:

Yes, I kissed the Costa Concordia captain. I think we'd have ended up in bed... but the ship crashed

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1nmtRCzTd

[Cute Wolf]

http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/20...kes-on-bikers/

[Lemur]

http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/20...kes-on-bikers/

It's a funny story, but doing some Google-fu, I can't find a single news outlet that's reporting this. Just blogs. They way it is written, the quotes and details, makes me suspect this is a fabrication, or the product of a comedy news site. Nothing as slick as The Onion, but maybe one of the second-string comedy sites. When I have more time I will try to run this thing to earth.

-edit-

Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. Parody site. Never heard of 'em, but this is pretty funny, so I might need to put them on rotation.

[gaelic cowboy]

Zimbabwe 'sperm hunters' picking up male travellers

Friday March 23 2012 Irish Independent

GANGS of women in Zimbabwe have been picking up male travellers to have sexual intercourse and harvest their sperm, according to reports.

Susan Dhliwayo claims she pulled her car over recently to pick up a group of male hitchhikers and they refused to get in, because they feared they were going to be raped.


"Now, men fear women. They said: 'we can't go with you because we don't trust you'," 19-year-old Miss Dhliwayo recounted.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Local media have reported victims of the highway prowlers being drugged, subdued at gun or knife point – even with a live snake in one case – given a sexual stimulant and forced into repeated sex before being dumped on the roadside.


The sperm hunters first surfaced in the local press in 2009 but police have only arrested three women, found with a plastic bag of 31 used condoms in October. The attacks have continued since they were nabbed for allegedly violating 17 men.


"We do not have the exact number of confirmed cases," said national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena.


"These cases occurred mostly when the victims were hitchhiking and boarded private vehicles. We encourage people to use public transport."


The sperm's exact use is not clear but is thought to be intended for "juju" or traditional rituals to bring luck – anything from enhancing good fortune, boosting business or preventing a criminal from being detected.


It is also not known why the semen is taken forcibly from strangers.


"It's really an issue which is mind boggling," said University of Zimbabwe sociologist Watch Ruparanganda, who believes it is a lucrative business. "It's quite a big mystery. Obviously we know (it is) being used for rituals."


Ruparanganda said he was astonished to discover seven years ago that semen appeared to have become a tradable commodity, while doing research for his doctoral thesis among Harare street youth who told him that businessmen would take them to hotels, give them new clothes and ply them with booze.


They were then told to pick a prostitute and to hand over the used condom after sex.


"It just shows there's some big racket somewhere, some big guys driving everything, but they are in the background and using these ladies," said Ruparanganda.


The Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association criticised the practice.


"We believe that this is a form of witchcraft. So we are totally against the idea," said spokesman George Kandiyero.


"It has really frightened people," he said. "It has really brought in a bit of shock because normally it was the other way round, normally we know of men raping women, not women raping men."


A Zimbabwean women's rights group has criticised the spotlight shifting to male rape victims, and paid for a newspaper advert to deplore that violence against women in the country is not met with the same degree of shock.


The three women linked to the case, meanwhile, have stirred much attention and public anger. Audiences pack into the dreary courtrooms each time they appear in the dock, and one of their lawyers said they have received death threats.


No law in Zimbabwe criminalises rape by women so the trio, arrested with one man, face 17 counts of aggravated indecent assault, though no trial date has as yet been set.


Dumisani Mthombeni, a lawyer for two of the women and the man, complained that five months after their arrest, prosecutors have yet to produce DNA test results, a charge sheet or witness statements but nonetheless have "paraded (the women) on national television as female rapists".


"We have not been given anything – nothing," Mthombeni said. "We believe they don't want us to go to trial because they arrested the wrong people."


The case has triggered a mix of shock, intrigue and humour – such as one newspaper cartoon showing a nude hitchhiker hoping to be picked up by a female driver – but also fear among some men.


"Of course we are scared," said a 26-year-old hitchhiker on a highway south of Harare, adding he would not get into a car driven by a woman.


"Even if she's old, we can't."

ahem do I need to say anything

[Lemur]

Vodka company apologizes for ad that appears to make light of date rape



If you find yourself rushing to take down an ad that could be interpreted as making light of rape, you’re doing internet marketing wrong.

That’s the harsh lesson Belvedere Vodka is learning today. [...] A terrified woman being grabbed by a gleeful man with a catch phrase — “Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly” [...].

Judging from Topsy’s record of the posting time, it was taken down from both social media accounts within an hour. Of course deletion on the Internet is near impossible and many people captured screenshots, realizing how outrageous and retractable it was. This frat-boy humor was a terrible judgment call by someone in Belvedere’s marking department given the general unfunniness of rape jokes compounded by the sensitivity around the role alcohol plays in sexual assault.

[...] In Belvedere’s self description on Twitter, it urges consumers to “Trust Your Instincts.” Unfortunately, the instincts of the marketing person behind this ad were not the ones a company would want from the person in charge of being its social media voice to the world. Expect a firing before happy hour.

[rvg]

Vodka company apologizes for ad that appears to make light of date rape

The guy's grin really cracks me up. Full of anticipation and such.

[Lemur]

Most Unwanted Endorsement Ever: GO COWBOYS!

A convicted child sex offender was executed Wednesday for the beating death of a 10-month-old boy he was baby-sitting at a home in Dallas.

"God bless everybody. Continue to walk with God," the 47-year-old Hernandez said. Moments later, he shouted "Go Cowboys!" in honor of his favorite football team.