Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 168

IRS: Yeah, Our
$60K Star Trek
Parody Was
a Bad Idea

Mar 23, 2013 7:39 AM CDT

IRS: Yeah, Our $60K Star Trek Parody Was a Bad Idea

Agency spent big bucks on 'training' film for employees

(Newser) - "There is no mistaking that this video did not reflect the best stewardship of resources." So says the IRS in regard to a five-minute Star Trek parody made by employees in 2010 that cost about $60,000, reports AP . Congress got wind of it, and the agency offered...

Guy Gets
Banned From
Every Library
on Earth

Guy Gets Banned From Every Library on Earth

Man was 'not trying to conceal' his lewd behavior: criminal complaint

(Newser) - Let's hope he's not a big reader. A 20-year-old man has been barred from "all the libraries on the face of the earth" for some rather inappropriate alleged behavior at one of them. Tyree S. Carter reportedly masturbated in a Wisconsin library one morning earlier this month;...

The 'Secret' of US Prisons: Teens Thrown in Solitary

Mar 22, 2013 5:45 PM CDT

The 'Secret' of US Prisons: Teens Thrown in Solitary

Juveniles are protected there, but suffer psychologically

(Newser) - When juveniles are kept in adult jails and prisons, many are placed in solitary confinement for their own safety—but that can amount to psychological torture, experts tell NBC News . Imprisoned kids talk "about being in a cell alone, the size of a parking space, the size of an...

Killer 'Inspired by Saw
Film' Gets 30 Years

Mar 22, 2013 2:44 PM CDT

Killer 'Inspired by Saw Film' Gets 30 Years

Homeless man knifed victim 17 times: judge

(Newser) - Can Hollywood share the blame for this one? A judge in Britain sentenced a homeless man to at least 30 years yesterday for perpetrating a grisly killing inspired by Saw VI, the Daily Mail reports. The court found that Matthew Tinling, 25, knifed his victim 17 times and tried to...

Choking Driver Causes Huge Fireball Over Walmart

Mar 22, 2013 1:46 PM CDT

Choking Driver Causes Huge Fireball Over Walmart

Crashes into propane tank

(Newser) - Police say man who choked on his food while driving caused a chain reaction that led to a fireball exploding over a Walmart in southwestern New Mexico. The Deming Headlight reports 61-year-old Robert Sheppard told police he was eating as he drove Saturday in front of the Walmart Superstore in...

Woman Removes Teeth Thanks to Very Strong Tea

Woman Loses Teeth Due to
Very Strong Tea

Mar 22, 2013 1:10 PM CDT

Woman Loses Teeth Due to Very Strong Tea

Her daily pitcher made with 150 bags caused big problems

(Newser) - Tea: It's good for you , but only if you don't drink too much of it. And by "too much of it," we mean a pitcher made with 100 to 150 tea bags. That's how much a Detroit woman drank each day, and doctors eventually realized...

3-Inch Knife Removed From
Man's Back—After 3 Years

Mar 22, 2013 9:03 AM CDT

3-Inch Knife Removed From Man's Back—After 3 Years

Doctors missed blade in Billy McNeely's back after he was stabbed in 2010

(Newser) - Billy McNeely had been bothered by back pains and a persistent itch for three years, but when he scratched it Monday night, he felt something hard and sharp. His girlfriend poked around and discovered why—it was a knife blade, inside his back. McNeely hightailed it to the emergency room,...

Punxsutawney
Phil Faces
Execution
Threat

Mar 22, 2013 7:13 AM CDT

Punxsutawney Phil Faces Execution Threat

Prosecutor furious over groundhog's 'misrepresentation of spring'

(Newser) - Punxsutawney Phil could be in serious trouble. He didn't see his shadow this year , meaning spring should come early. But the season has shown no signs of arriving as of yet in Ohio's Butler County, and a prosecutor there has "indicted" Phil, charging him with "misrepresentation...

Pretoria Hunt for Missing
Snake Goes High-Tech

Mar 21, 2013 7:18 PM CDT

Pretoria Hunt for Missing Snake Goes High-Tech

Zoo using infra-red cameras to find dangerous black mamba

(Newser) - The Pretoria Zoo says it is turning to technology with infra-red cameras to search for a 6.5-foot-long black mamba snake that escaped from its enclosure a week ago. Zookeepers in South Africa's capital think the snake probably is in the roof of a service building behind its terrarium,...

Montana Set to
Let Residents
Eat Roadkill

Mar 21, 2013 12:01 PM CDT

Montana Set to Let Residents Eat Roadkill

Elk, deer, antelope, and moose carcasses would be fair game

(Newser) - Elk, deer, antelope, and moose: If Montanans can scrape it up off the road, they can have it for dinner. State lawmakers are poised to say just that after the state Senate gave its initial support yesterday to a bill that would allow people to salvage roadkill for food. The...

Idaho Mystery:
Dogs Are
Vanishing

Mar 21, 2013 9:09 AM CDT

Idaho Mystery: Dogs Are Vanishing

Almost 40 missing since November, with one possibly used in ritual killing

(Newser) - It's not safe to be man's best friend right now in southern Idaho. Nearly 40 dogs have disappeared since November, KPVI reports, and authorities fear they're meeting grisly fates. "The dogs seem to vanish into thin air," animal shelter director Debbie Blackwood tells Reuters . The...

12-Acre Sinkhole
Plaguing Louisiana

Mar 21, 2013 8:45 AM CDT

12-Acre Sinkhole Plaguing Louisiana

Salt mine collapses, forcing residents to evacuate—7 months ago

(Newser) - Another sinkhole is plaguing the US, and this one is a monster: A 12-acre sinkhole in Louisiana forced Bayou Corne residents to evacuate seven months ago, with a fading chance they'll ever be able to return, reports Grist . The sinkhole, which originally measured nine acres, was created when a...

City to Workers:
Bring Your Own
... Toilet Paper?

Mar 19, 2013 5:14 PM CDT

City to Workers: Bring Your Own ... Toilet Paper?

Budget cuts got personal in Windsor, Missouri

(Newser) - Congratulations to the guys in the Public Works Department of tiny Windsor, Missouri: They can stop bringing their own toilet paper to work, reports KCTV via Raw Story . It seems an overzealous bean counter determined that the men were using way too much and cut them off entirely. The mayor...

Win 'Liberal Madness,'
Get Basketball From Newt

Mar 19, 2013 3:34 PM CDT

Win 'Liberal Madness,' Get Basketball From Newt

Republicans launch brackets to find 'worst liberal'

(Newser) - The National Republican Congressional Committee is out to find America's Worst Liberal with, what else, a set of March Madness-style brackets , reports the Hill . Your No. 1 seeds are President Obama (in the "Nanny Staters" camp), Joe Biden ("Obama Mouthpieces"), Nancy Pelosi ("Lefty Lapdogs"),...

Britain Flies 1M Euros
to Troops in Cyprus

Mar 19, 2013 2:26 PM CDT

Britain Flies 1M Euros to Troops in Cyprus

...in case the ATM machines stop working

(Newser) - How's this for a tangible sign of the banking mess in Cyprus: Britain's Royal Air Force is flying in a plane loaded with 1 million euros so its troops stationed there don't get stuck without cash, reports the Independent . The defense ministry made the move after the...

North Korean
Video Shows
Nuke Strike on
Washington

Mar 18, 2013 5:51 PM CDT

North Korean Video Shows Nuke Strike on Washington

White House is targeted, US Capitol explodes

(Newser) - Apparently New York in flames was not enough. Now a quasi-official North Korean news agency has posted a new video —this one of the US Capitol exploding, NBC News reports. Intercut with images of North Korean artillery and missiles, the video also shows a target homing in on the...

Earthquakes
Give Us Gold

study says

Mar 18, 2013 6:20 AM CDT

Earthquakes Give Us Gold

It precipitates as water turns to steam: researchers

(Newser) - Earthquakes can have a silver—or rather golden—lining. Some six miles underground, water can contain trace amounts of gold and silica. When an earthquake occurs, voids along a geological fault widen suddenly, pressure plummets, and the water held inside turns to steam. Meanwhile, the gold and silica in that...

2 Prisoners Make
'James Bond'
Helicopter
Escape

Mar 18, 2013 2:03 AM CDT

2 Prisoners Make 'James Bond' Helicopter Escape

Canadian police recapture both men

(Newser) - Two men made a daring daylight escape from a Canadian prison yesterday, using ropes dangling from a hijacked helicopter. A helicopter arrived at the prison near Montreal; as it hovered, "two of the inmates came out and appeared to attach themselves to cables that were attached to the helicopter,...

Kiwis Hot, Bothered
Over 'Porno'
Tourism Logo

Kiwis Hot, Bothered Over 'Porno' Tourism Logo

In New Zealand, the letter 'k' has never looked so salacious

(Newser) - It doesn't take much to get New Zealanders salivating, apparently: A new logo for a regional tourist campaign has caused a stir over its "pornographic" imagery, reports the Telegraph . The sexy symbol in question? A bisected letter "k" with the top arm curved to look like a...

Photons 'Entangle' Way
Faster Than Light Speed