strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Man Butt-Dials 911 While Discussing Murder Plans
Man Butt-Dials 911 While Discussing Murder Plans
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 26, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Man Butt-Dials 911 While Discussing Murder Plans

Scott Simon charged with first-degree murder after Waffle House dispute

(Newser) - You know that person at the top of your contact list, the one most likely to get an unintended call from your butt? Well, if you're the murderous type, make sure that number isn't 911. This lesson comes too late for Scott Simon, who unintentionally dialed 911 while...

How Smoking Ban Increases Bowling Shoes Lawsuits

Bowlers go outside to smoke, then fall; but New York state is on the case

(Newser) - It has to be the granddaddy of unintended effects of New York state's 10-year-old ban on indoor smoking: more lawsuits from clumsy bowlers. As the Albany Times-Union explains, bowling centers have seen a spike in lawsuits in recent years from bowlers who step outside for a smoke while wearing...

Burglar Swipes Baby&#39;s Ashes
 Burglar Swipes Baby's Ashes 
May 24, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Burglar Swipes Baby's Ashes

'Silver-looking' box contained remains of child who died at birth

(Newser) - We get it, burglars. You like shiny things. But some things are off-limits no matter how shiny, and one of those definitely should have been the small box containing the ashes of Caleb Ean Hughey, who died at birth in 2008. The Hughey family came home Monday to find that...

Venezuela's Shopping List: 39M Rolls of TP

Also toothpaste, soap

(Newser) - It always sucks running out of toilet paper, especially when you're a country of almost 30 million people. Thanks to various international sanctions, Venezuela sometimes runs low on basic necessities, and right now, that very much includes toilet paper , which has a habit of disappearing from shelves the second...

Guy Buried by 1.5K Pounds of Pineapples, Survives

NJ man never even lost consciousness

(Newser) - A Jersey City, NJ, warehouse worker somehow survived—and never even lost consciousness—after being buried by 1,500 pounds of pineapples yesterday. The 39-year-old was in stable condition last night, the Star-Ledger reports. Other than calling it an "industrial accident," the paper had no further details on...

Tree Falls, 35% of Vietnam Loses Power

Clumsy crane operator plunges country into darkness

(Newser) - One mistake by a clumsy crane operator caused a 10-hour blackout over about a third of Vietnam, exposing the fragility of the nation's power grid. State electricity company EVN said in a statement today that the blackout occurred yesterday after the crane operator knocked a tree down onto the...

Guy Finds $100K Comic in Wall of Old House

Action Comics #1 up for auction

(Newser) - David Gonzalez bought an abandoned home in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, for about $10,000, planning to remodel it. But he ended up getting more than he bargained for—more than 10 times more, it seems. In the walls of the house, amid the newspapers used as insulation, Gonzalez found a...

Vatican Denies Pope Performed Exorcism
 Vatican: This Is Not an Exorcism
May 22, 2013 5:20 AM CDT

Vatican: This Is Not an Exorcism

Exorcists insist pontiff cast out man's demons

(Newser) - Pope Francis was merely praying in a video that some claim shows him performing an exorcism on a Mexican pilgrim, the Vatican says. In the video—broadcast on a TV station owned by the Italian Bishops' Conference—the man convulses and then goes limp after the stern-faced pontiff places his...

Freedom Goat Runs for Her Life, Snarls Traffic

Eludes Jersey cops for two hours, but will she escape slaughterhouse?

(Newser) - It's hard not to root for the goat in this one: One believed to have escaped en route to a slaughterhouse snarled the morning commute along one of the busiest roadways in northern New Jersey today, leading police on a nearly two-hour chase. The small female eluded five Jersey...

For $1.2K, Club Will Let You Peep Into Ladies' Bathroom

Scotland police investigating

(Newser) - Be careful if you're a woman at Glasgow's Shimmy Club and find yourself having to use the restroom: It's installed with a two-way mirror, and clubgoers who want a look are charged as much as $1,200 to peep in. After complaints, Scotland's police force launched...

Forklift Driver Survives Plunge Into Soy Sauce

Gaping hole opens in warehouse floor

(Newser) - It's still unclear what caused a warehouse floor to collapse in New Jersey yesterday, ABC 7 notes, but it seems a forklift may have saved its driver's life. As Danny Rodriguez was operating the vehicle, a hole opened below him and he fell—apparently into a mix of...

NC Woman Tries to Poison Family Over Cheese: Cops

Tiara Drake doused cheese with chemicals, say police

(Newser) - Today, in really stupid reasons to end up in jail: A North Carolina woman is charged with trying to poison five family members after one of them refused to share some cheese with her. A statement from the Nash County Sheriff's Office said 24-year-old Tiara Drake wanted some of...

Teen Faked Own Kidnapping Over Bad Grade: Cops

Aftab Aslam, 19, didn't want to tell parents he was failing English: police

(Newser) - A 19-year-old college student was flunking English again, so he did what any struggling student fearful of mom and dad's wrath would do: faked his own kidnapping, police say. Aftab Aslam's parents got a text saying the Georgia Gwinnett College student had been kidnapped; if they called police,...

Rapist May Be Sentenced— Even Though He's Dead

Former cop Anthony Orban killed himself following conviction

(Newser) - A former police detective was convicted of kidnapping and rape last year—but before he could be sentenced, he committed suicide. But he's not off the hook: A California judge could still sentence Anthony Orban despite his death. "The only reason he is not here is because he...

James Bond's Missing Watch Reappears... at Flea Market

Goes for $38; set to auction for up to $91K

(Newser) - James Bond's wristwatch played a starring role alongside Sean Connery in the 1965 film Thunderball, but after the movie, it went MIA. Now it has finally made a reappearance—after a buyer found it at a British equivalent of a flea market, Sky News reports. The anonymous buyer paid...

Guy Mad at Neighbor&#39;s Tall Grass Torches House: Cops
Guy Mad at Neighbor's Tall Grass Torches House: Cops
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 19, 2013 11:17 AM CDT

Guy Mad at Neighbor's Tall Grass Torches House: Cops

Georgian faces arson charges after dispute gets a little out of hand

(Newser) - There's probably all kinds of good ways to resolve an argument with a neighbor about mowing the lawn, but none involve two cans of gas and a match. That's what 58-year-old Phillip Roger Bennett used to set his neighbor's house ablaze, say police in Cartersville, Ga. Luckily,...

Americans Don&#39;t Like Hipsters

 Americans Don't 
 Like Hipsters 
in case you missed it
May 18, 2013 7:00 AM CDT

Americans Don't Like Hipsters

Only 10% think they are one: poll

(Newser) - Some groundbreaking research in the study of American society this week: New polling by Public Policy Polling has found just 16% of Americans have a favorable opinion of hipsters, while 42% view them unfavorably. The study does not define what, exactly, it considers a hipster to be. Other revelations:
  • Only
...

Coming Soon: Caffeine-Infused ...Toothbrush?

Colgate applies for chemical-releasing brush patent

(Newser) - Who needs a morning coffee when your toothbrush releases a dose of caffeine? Colgate has applied for a patent on a brush that could do just that. The application describes "a toothbrush that releases a chemical into the mouth during use," but it won't stop at caffeine,...

Virginia Man Wins $500K in Lottery ... for 3rd Time

Not to mention a $25K win

(Newser) - Melvyn Wilson won $500,000 in the Virginia lottery in 2004, so it was a surprise when he won $25,000 five months later. Six months after that, he scratched off a card to win $1 million. He retired shortly afterward, but the money keeps coming in for the 72-year-old...

Pilot's Bathroom Break Forces Landing

Door jammed so he couldn't get back inside cockpit

(Newser) - A sillier reason to ground a plane than a woman singing Whitney Houston songs ? How about the pilot locking himself out of the cockpit? An Air India flight was forced to divert and land after a pilot went for a bathroom break ... and couldn't get back to his...

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