Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 219

Feb 15, 2012 2:25 AM CST

Dead Priests Hired Own Hit Men

Colombian pair made pact after one diagnosed with AIDS, prosecutors say

(Newser) - A pair of Colombian priests found shot dead in a car last year decided to commit suicide by hit man after one of them was diagnosed with AIDS, prosecutors say. Police initially suspected robbery when the priests' bodies were found, but investigators managed to trace two of the alleged assassins...

Male Couple
Kisses for
50 Hours

world record

Feb 14, 2012 1:34 PM CST

Male Couple Kisses for 50 Hours

Thai couple breaks world record for longest kiss

(Newser) - A male couple in Thailand spent more than two days kissing to break the Guinness World Record for longest kiss. The competition began Sunday in Pattaya, and ended, fittingly enough, today on Valentine's Day. Couples had to stay in a space measuring one square meter, could only take water...

Our No. 1 Gift to German Language in '11: 'Shitstorm'

experts declare

Feb 13, 2012 1:24 PM CST

Our No. 1 Gift to German Language in '11: 'Shitstorm'

Yep, really. A jury of German language experts picked it

(Newser) - Germans are better off because of America's pottymouth, at least according to a group of language experts who have named the biggest English contribution to the German language in 2011: "shitstorm." Yep, the "Anglicism of the Year" is a word that the experts say "fills...

Pastor's Daughter
Accidentally Shot
in Head at Church

Feb 13, 2012 10:21 AM CST

Pastor's Daughter Accidentally Shot in Head at Church

Moises Zambrana was showing gun to Hannah Kelley's boyfriend

(Newser) - A Florida pastor's daughter is in critical condition after being accidentally shot in the head after church services yesterday. Church member Moises Zambrana was showing a 9mm handgun to two other men in a closet (ostensibly for safety?) at Grace Connection Church. But it accidentally went off as Zambrana...

Ram, Doe to Marry in China

Feb 13, 2012 9:49 AM CST

Ram, Doe to Marry in China

Zoologists caution against over-analyzing the interspecies bond

(Newser) - A ram and a deer living in a southwestern Chinese zoo who have formed an "unconventional relationship" are set to be "married" on Valentine's Day, reports the BBC . The zoo tried to separate the animals in November, but found that the ram acted violently toward other sheep—...

Judge Orders Man
to Take Wife on Date

Judge Orders Man to Take Wife on Date

Joseph Bray ordered to take his wife bowling, to Red Lobster

(Newser) - Let the punishment fit the crime? A Florida man who appeared in court this week on a domestic violence charge was ordered by the judge to ... take his wife on a date. The charge apparently grew out of an argument Joseph Bray had with his wife—whose birthday he failed...

Is Millionaire Who Adopted Girlfriend Committing Incest?

Feb 12, 2012 2:51 PM CST

Is Millionaire Who Adopted Girlfriend Committing Incest?

And should John Goodman be prosecuted for it, Terry L. Turnipseed wonders

(Newser) - When Florida millionaire John Goodman adopted 42-year-old girlfriend Heather Laruso Hutchins, he may have successfully protected his assets. But did he set himself up to be criminally charged with incest? Incest is, after all, defined as sexual relations between close relatives—even adopted ones, Terry L. Turnipseed explains on Slate...

15 Oddball US Town Names

Feb 12, 2012 1:43 PM CST

15 Oddball US Town Names

One-way ticket to Toad Suck, please

(Newser) - There are so many towns in the great expanse of the United States that a few of them are bound to have absurd names. ( The little Irish town of Effin isn't the only spot struggling with a name that makes us say, "Huh?") BuzzFeed runs down...

For Icelandic Lovers,
an Incest Database

For Icelandic Lovers, an Incest Database

Íslendingabók tells Icelanders if they're related to their dates

(Newser) - An Icelander's pre-date checklist: Put on a nice shirt, buy some flowers … run date's name through incest database? It sounds crazy, but with Iceland's population at just 300,000, the risk of accidentally romancing a relative is high. Íslendingabók, or the Book of Icelanders,...

Your Cat's Poop May Be Blowing Your Mind

Feb 12, 2012 7:49 AM CST

Your Cat's Poop May Be Blowing Your Mind

Jaroslav Felgr's quest to study Toxoplasma gondii

(Newser) - Jaroslav Flegr has a theory: Cat poop is rewiring the human brain, including his own. The Prague-based biologist has been pursuing the theory since the early '90s, but he's only recently beginning to garner scientific respect, with some of the biggest names in neurobiology backing him up, the...

British Cop Chases
Suspect: Himself

British Cop Chases Suspect: Himself

Security camera confusion leads to hilarious pursuit

(Newser) - For 20 minutes, an undercover British police officer intrepidly tracked a suspicious person in an area recently hit with a spate of burglaries. Unfortunately, the officer was chasing himself. How? An operator watching the street via security camera alerted the plain-clothes officer of a suspicious person in the area—not...

Earth's Oldest Living Thing Is...

Giant seagrass, called 'Posidonia oceanic,' likely at least 100K years old

(Newser) - The 43,000-year-old Tasmanian plant once identified as the planet's oldest living thing turns out to be a relative youngin'. At up to 200,000 years old, patches of giant seagrass in the Mediterranean have taken the top slot. Australian scientists sequenced the DNA of the Posidonia oceanic to...

Angry Dad
Shoots
Daughter's
Laptop

Feb 10, 2012 12:59 PM CST

Angry Dad Shoots Daughter's Laptop

Tommy Jordan punished daughter for criticizing parents on Facebook

(Newser) - YouTube's star of the day, for better or worse: A North Carolina dad named Tommy Jordan who posted a video of himself repeatedly shooting his daughter's laptop after she criticized her parents in a Facebook post, notes Mashable . “That right there is your laptop,” he says....

Get Engaged
at Pizza Hut ...
for $10K

happy valentine's day?

Feb 10, 2012 10:40 AM CST

Get Engaged at Pizza Hut ... for $10K

Posh package even comes with a $10 dinner box

(Newser) - If you're more interested in being memorable than romantic, and happen to have a significant other that you'd like to spend the rest of your life with, you may want to propose to her ... at Pizza Hut. Because for a mere $10,010, the Hut promises to show...

UK Fugitive Since 1993 Became Missouri Cable Guy

Feb 10, 2012 10:08 AM CST

UK Fugitive Since 1993 Became Missouri Cable Guy

'Fast Eddie' Maher, alleged thief, caught after 19 years

(Newser) - Nearly two decades ago in England, one "Fast Eddie" Maher allegedly stole an armored car packed with $1.6 million in coins and bills. Now Edward John Maher has finally been caught—in a Missouri town, where he was working as a cable guy, the Kansas City Star reports....

Frisbees Are OK
on LA Beaches

UPDATED

Feb 9, 2012 5:04 PM CST

Frisbees Are OK on LA Beaches

As are footballs; just try to use a little common sense

(Newser) - After a media flurry, the LA county supervisor would like to clarify: It's fine to toss around a Frisbee or a football on local beaches—"as long as you do it responsibly." Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky writes at his blog that county officials were "baffled" that an...

Telecommute or Shower? 12% Pick Telecommute

survey says

Feb 9, 2012 1:23 PM CST

Telecommute or Shower? 12% Pick Telecommute

Perhaps more disturbingly, 5% choose telecommuting over their spouse

(Newser) - Apparently telecommuting is very important to some people. So important, in fact, that a new survey shows 5% of people would get a divorce in exchange for the chance to work from home. Other than marriage, what else are people willing to give up in order to telecommute? LiveScience reports...

Kids Battle Millionaire Dad's Adoption of Girlfriend, 42

Feb 9, 2012 10:10 AM CST

Kids Battle Millionaire Dad's Adoption of Girlfriend, 42

John Goodman defrauded court, blindsided teens' mom: court filing

(Newser) - The wily multimillionaire who recently adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend —in what experts say is an attempt to shield his assets from the family of a young man he is accused of killing while driving drunk—faces a new opponent in court: his teenage kids. A guardian acting on their...

Teacher
Febrezes
'Stinky'
Student

Feb 9, 2012 2:11 AM CST

Teacher Febrezes 'Stinky' Student

Newfoundland boy sprayed for smelling fishy

(Newser) - A teacher in a Newfoundland fishing village put a student out in the hallway for a period and sprayed him with Febreze—for smelling fishy. The mother of 10-year-old Christian Robertson said he was teased by other students after having fried fish for lunch, and then bullied by his teacher....

Nuns Fight Next-Door Strip Club

Feb 9, 2012 1:45 AM CST