WEIRD NEWS

So, What Does it Take to Get Blocked by Trump?

After six years of dedicated trolling of Donald Trump on Twitter, model Chrissy Teigen finally got herself blocked by the president - for a single five word phrase. Teigen was responding to Trump's complaint that "Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President." She responded: "lol no one likes you." And that did it. But Teigen appears proud of her new inability to follow Trump's tweets, and has been sharing the blocking notification. In a February interview with USA Today, Teigen called the president the "most vile person on this planet." (USA Today)

Perry Pranked...for 22 Minutes

Bad news for Rick Perry. Our new energy secretary spent 22 minutes on the phone with the man he thought was Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman discussing, among other things, a new biofuel made from pig manure and home-brewed alcohol. Unfortunately, those things aren't real - and neither was the phone call. It was made by Russian phone pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as the "Jerky Boys of Russia.". Perry also discussed issues such as America's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and cyberattacks on the power grid with the pranksters. Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes confirmed that Perry had been pranked by the duo. Their other victims include Elton John, who thought Vladimir Putin had invited him to a gay pride parade. (Washington Post)

Bad Butt Surgery Revenge

A Brazilian woman accused of carrying out illegal silicone implant procedures has been killed in a suspected revenge attack. Marcilene Soares Gama, 49, had been accused by clients of using industrial silicone for buttock enlargement. At the time of her death she faced court action over charges she pretended to be a doctor. Police in Rio de Janeiro are looking for a man caught on a surveillance camera entering her flat. Her body was found hours later on a nearby road. The man tied her hands behind her back, made her get in his car and shot her in the face before disposing of the body. She was arrested twice for pretending to be a doctor in Rio and in Sao Paulo, but was released and continued to practice despite facing a court case. Her family denied the charges and said she always warned clients of the risks associated with silicone implant procedures. (BBC)

Goodbye Adobe Flash!

You won't be getting too many more notices to update your Adobe Flash. The company has announced they're phasing it out and the general reaction is closer to good riddance. One IT expert said, "It has honestly made the web a worse place for more than a decade." Flash, designed to make it easier for people to watch videos, play games, and the like, will be gone by the end of 2020, according to an Adobe blog post. Flash has been long maligned for two big reasons - it's a security risk and it causes computers to crash - but Wired reports that the real reason Flash is going away is that it's just about obsolete now. Steve Jobs famously signaled the end when he banished Flash from iPhones in 2010, and now the big browsers are following suit. (CNET)

Love the NFL? Then Hope You Love CTE!

America's got a real dilemma. We sure love our football, but more and more research is showing you're crazy to play the game. A new study on 202 former football players found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE - a brain disease linked with repeated head blows - in nearly all of them. CTE was diagnosed in 177 former players or nearly 90% of brains studied. Many donors or their families contributed because of the players' repeated concussions and troubling symptoms before death. That includes 110 of 111 brains from former NFL players; 48 of 53 college players; nine of 14 semi-professional players, seven of eight Canadian Football league players, and three of 14 high school players. The disease was not found in brains from two younger players. The average age of death among all players studied was 66. There were 18 suicides among the 177 diagnosed. "There are many questions that remain unanswered," says lead author Dr. Ann McKee, a Boston University neuroscientist: "How common is this" in the general population and all football players? "How many years of football is too many?" and "What is the genetic risk? And she notes that some players do not have evidence of this disease despite long playing years. (JAMA)

Turns Out You Can Find God in a Strip Club

Think you can't find God in a strip club? Then you haven't been to Huntsville, Alabama where one church is setting up shop in a former strip club called Jimmy's Too. At one time, Jimmy's Too served up alcohol and topless dancers. Soon, coffee will replace the beer and bibles replace the dancing poles. Pastor Jason Parks said, "The owner of the building actually gave his life to Christ and decided to shut this club down." Pastor Parks and those with Refuge Church then bought the building and have big plans for the place. Parks said, "We're not about building big buildings. We're about doing big ministry, we're about loving big and we're about seeing big life." The church is already certified with the Food Bank of North Alabama as a food ministry. (WHNT)

What the What?

Demit Strato of New York recently took to Facebook to berate his local Starbucks for making his iced coffee with regular milk instead of soy milk, as he ordered it. In his post he wrote: "I've pooped 11 times since the A.M. My bottom hurts from all the wiping. Do you think I enjoy soy milk? ... I don't order soy milk because I'm bored and want my drink order to sound fancy. I order soy milk so that my bottom doesn't blast fire for 4 hours." For its part, Starbucks sent him a $50 gift card. (UPI)

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