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Just as I like to save jokes I've heard or seen, I also like to keep track of Odd News items. Each week, I'll try to post some of the funniest and oddest stories of the week as well as digging back onto my old computer (1997 - Windows 95) and posting some of the odd news from that period. In the future, I'll add links at the bottom of the page for previous weeks. Many are from the web. If you run into one whose link has expired, please let me know so I can remove it. (The link, not the item.) Those that are from the printed media will include a newspaper/magazine name as well as the original publish date. Inventor of teen repellent seeks controls LONDON (AFP) - The British inventor of a controversial device which disperses young people by emitting a high-pitched noise which only they can hear called Wednesday for legislation to regulate its use. Self-confessed "mad inventor" Howard Stapleton developed the Mosquito after his 15-year-old daughter was harassed by youths hanging around a local shop. Clothes make the dead man. MADRID, Spain - A burglar who broke into a funeral home in Spain tried to fool police by playing dead, but two things gave him away. First, he breathed. Second, he wore grungy clothes rather than the Sunday best generally favoured by those settling in for an eternal rest. Climate change unrelated to sun. Scientists have produced further compelling evidence showing that modern-day climate change is not caused by changes in the Sun's activity. The research contradicts a favoured theory of climate "sceptics", that changes in cosmic rays coming to Earth determine cloudiness and temperature. Of course they didn't explain why other planets are also experiencing 'global warming'. Why are these whankers so binary? (Could it possibly be a combination of reasons?) No more baby weddings in Arkansas? LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over. A law that mistakenly allowed anyone even toddlers to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks. Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any age with permission. Eleven year old smarter than Smithsonian ALLEGAN, Mich. - Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian? On a winter break trip with his family to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, the 11-year-old southwestern Michigan boy noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, mistakenly identified the Precambrian as an era. Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Kenton was the first to point out the error. McCain roasts Letterman NEW YORK (AFP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain poked fun at politicians and his host in an appearance late Tuesday on the "Late Show with David Letterman." "We spent three million dollars to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that's a paternity issue or a criminal issue," McCain quipped, saying Republicans lost the 2006 election due to runaway spending. Birth month can affect vision The time of year a baby is born influences whether he or she will need glasses later in life, according to a new study. Dr. Yossi Mandel studied more than 276,000 people in Israel from 2000 to 2004 as they entered the military. All had been born in that country, so they would have experienced similar natural light levels before and near birth. Surprised Shoppers Get Jury Summonses LIMA, Ohio (AP) ? A judge who ran out of prospective jurors in a child rape trial sent sheriff's deputies to a Wal-Mart, a supermarket and a mall to issue jury summonses to surprised shoppers. Three deputies questioned mall walkers and shoppers whether they were Allen County, Ohio residents and registered voters, and then issued summonses on the spot if answers to both questions were 'yes,' sheriff's Sgt. Brian Winegardner said. Craigslist Burglars Busted A week after dozens of people ransacked an Oregon home in response to a Craigslist ad offering its contents for free, police have arrested a couple for orchestrating the online hoax as part of a bid to cover up an earlier burglary at the property. Senators Hubby arrested for $150 oral sex Okay. If it were a politician, it would no longer be considered odd. But a politician's spouse? Robber requests call back when shop has no money. Stupid is as stupid does. Animator Vs. Animation A fight to the death. Or at least to the File - Exit. An inventor for our time The top eleven products marketed by Ron Popeil. She opened it then slammed it shut & stormed back in the house. A little later she came out of her house again went to the mail box and again, opened it, slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house she went. As the man was getting ready to edge the lawn, here she came out again, marched to the mail box, opened it and then slammed it closed harder than ever. Puzzled by her actions the man asked her, "Is something wrong?" To which she replied, "There certainly is!" My stupid computer keeps saying, "YOU'VE GOT MAIL!" Kidnapped teen actually ran away - Kidnapper freed One of those (thankfully) rare cases of a teen lying about being abducted. But being the doubting Thomas I am, I am curious why she said she wasn't pressured into the confession. ? ? Yes, I'm biased. Canadian Government comes down on beer drinkers. First they issue a request for a Japanese apology on "comfort women" and now THIS. It's really sad. Scientists create zombie cockroaches. Scary and upsetting. Especially if you can't see the video. It's all/always about the money. Story No Longer Available. The former vice president pledged that 100 percent of his Kleiner Perkins salary will be donated to the Alliance for Climate Protection, his Palo Alto, Calif., nonprofit that advocates for stronger climate change policies. The donation does not include stock options. Typically, a tiny fraction of a venture capitalist's compensation is salary; the vast majority of wealth comes from sale of stock options when the companies the firm invests in are sold to the public. Yankee hating hawk attacks fan at Fenway BOSTON (AP)A 13-year-old girl touring Fenway Park on a school trip was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from her scalp Thursday. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but some observers saw an omen for a certain New York Yankees slugger in the attack at the home of the Boston Red Sox. The girl’s name is Alexa Rodriguez. Vince Jennetta, a teacher who chaperoned her class trip from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., told The Boston Globe that Alexa is a little shaken, but OK. And an UNHAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, too! WELLINGTON (AFP) - A New Zealand school is to ban children sharing birthday cake as the government introduces new guidelines to restrict unhealthy food being sold to pupils, a report said Friday. Oteha Valley School in Auckland has told parents not to allow their children to bring birthday cakes to school for friends to share, The New Zealand Herald reported Friday. Handshaking is safer for Brits than kissing LONDON (AFP) - Workers in Britain are "safer" to greet colleagues of the opposite sex with a handshake than a kiss, a common greeting in other parts of Europe, a study released Friday said. A survey of 1,200 workers by recruitment firm Office Angels said some became because so anxious while deciding whether to kiss or shake hands that one in eight forgot the name of the person they were greeting. "Goldilocks" found asleep at Washington home CENTRALIA, Wash. - A "Goldilocks" was found sleeping in a Chehalis home. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said when the family woke up Wednesday they found an 18-year-old stranger asleep in a bed. When they awoke the woman she said a friend named Jeremy had dropped her off and told her it would be OK to sleep there. While that was just right for her it was more than the family could bear. They don't know anyone named Jeremy. There was nothing taken from the home no missing porridge. Police gave the Olympia woman a ticket for trespassing. Empty handed bank robber gets arrested instead of rich (AP) A would-be bank robber came away empty-handed, but left behind something useful for police _ her photo identification. Police Commissioner William Dwyer said the woman was arrested on an attempted armed robbery charge less than an hour later. Man who complains about cat (how DARE he!) gets his just rewards (AP) RIDGEFIELD, Wash. - When a police officer went to the home of a Ridgefield man who had complained about a neighbor’s cat, the officer smelled marijuana. A drug task force returned with a search warrant last weekend and found 84 plants in a raid on the man’s home. Thief leaves important clue. His son HARRISON, Ohio - Police near Cincinnati have charged an Indiana man with theft based partly on what he left behind when he ran from police — his 12-year-old son. Earliest North Americans came from Asia This will be considered 'odd' to many of my white friends who think we all came from Europe. I'm still not sure why they don't believe we know our own roots. ? ? Man sentenced to jail AND marriage in the same court DURANT, Okla. - A man who had just received a 10-year prison term exchanged marriage vows with a woman in the same Durant, Oklahoma, courthouse before being led away in shackles. Forrest Lynn Foreman was sentenced to 10 years after pleading no contest to making methamphetamine, but he wanted to marry Amie Gayleene Lang before beginning his sentence. Prisoner rentry offices burglarized PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A program that works to help former Michigan prisoners make the transition back into society was dealt a setback when its offices were burglarized. Police say the thief or thieves broke into the People Organized Working Evolving Reaching office in Washtenaw County's Pittsfield Township sometime between March 31 and April 1. Papa Smurf not allowed in write-in campaign JUNEAU, Wis. - Someone just three apples tall, and imaginary, won't be part of the Dodge County's government in Wisconsin. Papa Smurf, the patriarch of the 1980s cartoon Smurf clan, was one of four write-in candidates in the county's 29th supervisory district seat. It's about time someone protested the protestors The captain and first officer of a ship being used to protest the annual seal hunt off Canada's east coast are facing charges following a confrontation with a coast guard vessel earlier this week, the federal government announced on Saturday. The Farley Mowat is owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-sealing group fronted by controversial environmentalist Paul Watson. I wish they had not chosen the name of one of my favorite authors! |