News of the Weird

[Lemur]

-deletia-

[Tellos Athenaios]

Apple Faith

In a recent BBC documentary, Secrets of the Superbrands (BBC iPlayer), the neuroscientists ran an MRI scan on the brain of Alex Brooks, the editor of World of Apple, who claims that the Jobsian cult is "definitely" on his mind 24 hours a day. They discovered that photos of things like the iPhone and the iPad make certain parts of his brain all tingly.

"We see quite an amount of changes in the brain when he's actually looking at Apple products, which is quite fascinating," explained professor Gemma Calvert, a neuroscientist at the University of Warwick. "There's much more activity in the visual cortex, an enhanced visual attention, if you like, to Apple products." Much the same thing occurs, she explained, when holy imagery is shown to religious zealots.

"This suggests that the big tech brands have harnessed, or exploit, the brain areas that have evolved to process religion,” she chillingly elaborated.

[Gregoshi]

Apple Faith

Ugh. Didn't we learn a long time ago that apples and religion don't mix?

[Hosakawa Tito]

Hehehe, and his God is $$$. Tingly ingreed indeed.

[Veho Nex]

Tiger on the loose!

[Lemur]

I see Crazed Rabbit has been using the federal government, as this hare-raising tale will tell.

USDA fines Missouri family $90k for selling a few rabbits without a license

It started out as a hobby, a way for the Dollarhite family in Nixa, Mo., to teach a teenage son responsibility. Like a lemonade stand.

But now, selling a few hundred rabbits over two years has provoked the heavy hand of the federal government to the tune of a $90,643 fine. The fine was levied more than a year after authorities contacted family members, prompting them to immediately halt their part-time business and liquidate their equipment. [...]

John and Judy Dollarhite began selling rabbit meat by the pound in 2006, and as pets to neighbors and friends in 2008.

Raised on the three-acre lot on which their home sits, the rabbits were heralded by local experts for their quality and kept in pristine condition.

When a local pet store asked them to supply their pet rabbits, the Dollarhites had no idea they would be running afoul of an obscure federal regulation that prohibits selling more than $500 worth of rabbits to a pet store without a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under the law, pet stores are exempt from regulation.

But by selling to pet stores for resale, the humble Dollarhites became “wholesale breeders of pet animals,” said Dave Sacks, a spokesman for USDA who defended the fine, even while admitting it “looks curious” to the average person.

That’s especially so since the Dollarhites face no accusation they mistreated any animals. Instead, they committed what’s called in regulatory parlance a “paperwork violation” under the Animal Welfare Act, a 1966 law intended to prevent the abuse of animals.

The fine is part of a campaign to step up enforcement of the law that has included levying fines on magicians who use rabbits in magic hat tricks.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Severed head of genital disease saint for sale in Ireland. They really have a patron saint for this?

[InsaneApache]

A New Zealand truck driver who fell on a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock has survived being blown up like a balloon.

Steven McCormack had fallen between the cab and the trailer of his truck, breaking the air hose.

The nozzle pierced his buttock and began pumping air into his body, which expanded dramatically.

As he screamed, Mr McCormack's colleagues turned the air off and lay him on his side, saving his life.

The accident happened at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday.

Mr McCormack, who is 48, is still in hospital in the nearest town, Whakatane.

He said that doctors had told him they were surprised that his skin had not burst, as the compressed air - pumping into his body at 100lb/sq in - had separated fat from muscle.
Continue reading the main story
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Start Quote

I was blowing up like a football... I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon”
Steven McCormack

"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot.

"I was blowing up like a football... it felt like I had the bends, like in diving. I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon," he told the local newspaper, the Whakatane Beacon.

He said his skin feels "like a pork roast", hard and crackly on the outside but soft underneath.

He credits his colleagues, especially Jason Wenham who lay him on his side, with saving his life.

Mr Wenham, Ross Hustler and Robbie Petersen had lifted Mr McCormack off the brass nozzle which was still stuck in his body, and packed ice around his swollen neck until an ambulance arrived.

Doctors inserted a tube into his lungs to drain the fluid and cleared the wound in his buttock using what felt to him like a drill.

"That was the most painful part," he said.

"It's fair to say he's lucky to be alive, it was a potentially life-threatening situation," a hospital spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

Mr McCormack confided that the air was gradually escaping his body in the way that air usually does.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13537084

[Gregoshi]

That must have been a pain in the derriere.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Never ceases to amaze me the stupid things some people will do to get attention.

[naut]

Planking is awesome. Although 2 people have died because of it.

[Ronin]

Planking is awesome. Although 2 people have died because of it.

even more awesome....

good entertainment and clears up the gene pool.

[Gregoshi]

even more awesome....

good entertainment and clears up the gene pool.

Good one.

And now, the pun: The things people will do when they are bored.

[InsaneApache]

Good one.

And now, the pun: The things people will do when they are bored.

I'm not going to take that lying down.

[HoreTore]

9-year old american girl meets grumpy norwegian software support.

And tells her to switch from Hannah Montana to NOFX..... A shame they only show a few of the emails they got. The full emails can be found here.

[Gregoshi]

Good one.

And now, the pun: The things people will do when they are bored stiff.

There, fixed it.

[edyzmedieval]

even more awesome....

good entertainment and clears up the gene pool.

Thank you for the laugh.

[InsaneApache]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13577478

:)

[Hosakawa Tito]

Magic Penis Killing. Sounds like magic penis envy to me. I'm sure Devastatin' Dave could tell us a story or two.

[Gregoshi]

Magic Penis Killing. Sounds like magic penis envy to me...

I have fears of being terrorized by a snail, so I can relate to the accused.

[Samurai Waki]

Magic Penis Killing. Sounds like magic penis envy to me. I'm sure Devastatin' Dave could tell us a story or two.

Had to put this one up on Facebook.

[naut]

"They also accused his wife of turning into a snail and terrorising the community."

BAHAHAHA!

[Ronin]

Counter protest to the westboro church at arlington includes...the KKK?

Someone go check if hell is getting chilly.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Counter protest to the westboro church at arlington includes...the KKK?

Someone go check if hell is getting chilly.

Some people aren't fond of chocolate ice cream, others don't care for neopolitan. Hate comes in all flavors.
---------------------------------------------

My little pony. Can't wait to see the bull-riding competition.

[InsaneApache]

I like a good penis lopping story me.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13594762

[TheLastDays]

"We are treating him so that he can urinate normally without the penis."

Ouch...

Well how in the world is his severed penis evidence for his attempted rape?

[Banquo's Ghost]

Ouch...

Well how in the world is his severed penis evidence for his attempted rape?

If he hadn't had it out and about, it might have been more tricky for her to cut it off.

[Gregoshi]

Well how in the world is his severed penis evidence for his attempted rape?

That's called hard evidence.

[Veho Nex]

That's called hard evidence.

But I doubt it would stand up in court.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I must say, that's pretty stiff punishment.