WEIRD NEWS
Facebook Saved My Life
In New Hampshire, 61-year-old Leslie Kahn found herself trapped in her own swimming pool after the ladder broke, so she turned to the loving arms of Facebook for rescue! She told reporters, "I had one foot on (the ladder), and when I put my other foot on it, it went down. And I cracked my knee." She didn't have the upper-body strength to pull herself out, nobody else was home, and her phone was inside. With few other options, Kahn used a pool pole to drag the chair her iPad was on toward her and posted in a community Facebook page, asking for help. She said she labeled the post "911" to get people's attention. A woman who lived nearby showed up, followed by police and a neighbor. Her rescuers put a step ladder in the pool and Ms. Kahn climbed right out with her sense of humor intact. She says, "People keep saying, 'I bet you can laugh about it now.' I was laughing about it then. What else can you do!" (WBZ-TV News)
No Toilet? No Wife!
A judge in India has ruled a woman can divorce her husband because he refused to install a toilet in their home! The judge said that forced outdoor defecation is a form of torture and that the woman, who is in her 20s, has a right to a toilet. The judgment noted that women in Indian villages often "wait until sunset to answer nature's call. This is not only physical cruelty but a violation of the modesty of a woman." It can also be dangerous after dark. Outdoor defecation in India is a major health threat that has prompted a government campaign to ensure an indoor toilet in every household by 2019. The woman's husband said an indoor toilet was not an issue when the couple married five years ago. But the woman's lawyer said he refused repeated demands, prompting her to file for divorce two years ago. The judge noted that people spend money "buying tobacco, liquor and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of our family." Calls to install toilets have been met with resistance in India by people who consider them unnecessary and expensive. And here's a fun fact: About 564 million people, half the population of India, defecate in the open, producing some 100,000 tons of feces daily that can cause disease. Diarrhea kills about 400 Indian children under 5 each day. (Times of India)
Ump Abuse
There's a new kind of protest going on in America. Major League Baseball umpires wore white wristbands during games over the weekend, protesting "abusive player behavior" after Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined but not suspended for his recent verbal tirade against ump Angel Hernandez, in which he called him a bad umpire who "just needs to go away." The World Umpires Association issued a statement saying: "The Office of the Commissioner's lenient treatment to abusive player behavior sends the wrong message. It's open season on umpires, and that's bad for the game. Enough is enough. Umpires will wear the wristbands until our concerns are taken seriously." Meanwhile, Kinsler said, "I really don't think too deeply into it. I hope they wear the white wristbands for the rest of their careers. I don't care. I said what I felt and what I thought. If they take offense to that, that's their problem." The MLB had no comment. (Newser)
Barry & Joe: The Cartoon Series?
Remember Barack Obama and Joe Biden? Well, they're coming back - as a cartoon. Well, maybe. Filmmaker and commercial director Adam Reid has launched a Kickstarter to produce Barry & Joe: The Animated Series. The "adult animated sci-fi sitcom" features Obama and Biden traveling back in time into their younger bodies to team up against President Trump and the Russians and save the future. They're aided in their quest by astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, obviously. Reid, who admits Barry & Joe is "just leftist fan fiction meant to give solace to those who need some hope and healing," has a dream cast of Jordan Peele as Obama and Chris Pratt as Biden. He's trying to raise $100,000 by the end of August to produce a pilot. He's more than a quarter of the way there. (NBC News)
Democrats Get Killed in Fundraising
Despite enormous grassroots momentum and a historically unpopular president, the Democratic Party still can't get it together and is badly trailing Republicans in fundraising. The Democratic National Committee announced that it had raised just $3.8 million in July, its worst number in that month since 2007. By comparison, the Republican National Committee took in $10.2 million. Through the first seven months of the year the RNC raised $86.5 million to the DNC's $42 million. The Republicans also have $40 million more cash on hand. Blame for the DNC's fundraising problems can be attributed to many factors. The party is attempting to build a small-donor network but is competing for dollars with several smaller progressive groups that have been thriving in the Trump era, including Indivisible and Swing Left. There are also ideological battles raging between the progressive and moderates wings of the party over such issues as universal health care and abortion rights. (The Hill)
Why the Foo Fighters Are Still the Coolest Rock Band Ever
Not sure what Kurt Cobain would have thought of it but it may go down as the greatest prank ever pulled on an audience in rock n roll history. At the Summer Sonic Music Festival in Tokyo, the Foo Fighters took the stage and performed a few of their own songs. Then lead singer Dave Grohl told the audience: "Ladies and gentleman, would you please welcome our new best friend, Rick Astley!" Grohl told the crowd that they had just met Astley, who was also on the festival bill, for the first time a few minutes earlier. The British singer then joined the band on stage and the band played the intro to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." But at the last moment, Astley began singing the lyrics to his own "Never Gonna Give You Up" instead of the grunge classic. Believe it or not, the crowd seemed to love the mash-up. The Foo Fighters actually have a bit of history with Rick Astley. In 2015, they blasted "Never Gonna Give You Up" repeatedly from a flatbed truck aimed at Westboro Baptist Church protesters in Kansas City. (Variety)
What the What?
In Surrey, England, 25-year-old Mounkadir Mustapha was smuggling a supply of heroin "where the sun don't shine" when he was arrested and kept under round-the-clock observation by police waiting for him to pass his stash. He actually held everything in for NINE DAYS until he just couldn't hold it any longer. He was ultimately sentenced to three years and five months after pleading guilty to supplying heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis. (Metro)
In New Hampshire, 61-year-old Leslie Kahn found herself trapped in her own swimming pool after the ladder broke, so she turned to the loving arms of Facebook for rescue! She told reporters, "I had one foot on (the ladder), and when I put my other foot on it, it went down. And I cracked my knee." She didn't have the upper-body strength to pull herself out, nobody else was home, and her phone was inside. With few other options, Kahn used a pool pole to drag the chair her iPad was on toward her and posted in a community Facebook page, asking for help. She said she labeled the post "911" to get people's attention. A woman who lived nearby showed up, followed by police and a neighbor. Her rescuers put a step ladder in the pool and Ms. Kahn climbed right out with her sense of humor intact. She says, "People keep saying, 'I bet you can laugh about it now.' I was laughing about it then. What else can you do!" (WBZ-TV News)
No Toilet? No Wife!
A judge in India has ruled a woman can divorce her husband because he refused to install a toilet in their home! The judge said that forced outdoor defecation is a form of torture and that the woman, who is in her 20s, has a right to a toilet. The judgment noted that women in Indian villages often "wait until sunset to answer nature's call. This is not only physical cruelty but a violation of the modesty of a woman." It can also be dangerous after dark. Outdoor defecation in India is a major health threat that has prompted a government campaign to ensure an indoor toilet in every household by 2019. The woman's husband said an indoor toilet was not an issue when the couple married five years ago. But the woman's lawyer said he refused repeated demands, prompting her to file for divorce two years ago. The judge noted that people spend money "buying tobacco, liquor and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of our family." Calls to install toilets have been met with resistance in India by people who consider them unnecessary and expensive. And here's a fun fact: About 564 million people, half the population of India, defecate in the open, producing some 100,000 tons of feces daily that can cause disease. Diarrhea kills about 400 Indian children under 5 each day. (Times of India)
Ump Abuse
There's a new kind of protest going on in America. Major League Baseball umpires wore white wristbands during games over the weekend, protesting "abusive player behavior" after Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined but not suspended for his recent verbal tirade against ump Angel Hernandez, in which he called him a bad umpire who "just needs to go away." The World Umpires Association issued a statement saying: "The Office of the Commissioner's lenient treatment to abusive player behavior sends the wrong message. It's open season on umpires, and that's bad for the game. Enough is enough. Umpires will wear the wristbands until our concerns are taken seriously." Meanwhile, Kinsler said, "I really don't think too deeply into it. I hope they wear the white wristbands for the rest of their careers. I don't care. I said what I felt and what I thought. If they take offense to that, that's their problem." The MLB had no comment. (Newser)
Barry & Joe: The Cartoon Series?
Remember Barack Obama and Joe Biden? Well, they're coming back - as a cartoon. Well, maybe. Filmmaker and commercial director Adam Reid has launched a Kickstarter to produce Barry & Joe: The Animated Series. The "adult animated sci-fi sitcom" features Obama and Biden traveling back in time into their younger bodies to team up against President Trump and the Russians and save the future. They're aided in their quest by astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, obviously. Reid, who admits Barry & Joe is "just leftist fan fiction meant to give solace to those who need some hope and healing," has a dream cast of Jordan Peele as Obama and Chris Pratt as Biden. He's trying to raise $100,000 by the end of August to produce a pilot. He's more than a quarter of the way there. (NBC News)
Democrats Get Killed in Fundraising
Despite enormous grassroots momentum and a historically unpopular president, the Democratic Party still can't get it together and is badly trailing Republicans in fundraising. The Democratic National Committee announced that it had raised just $3.8 million in July, its worst number in that month since 2007. By comparison, the Republican National Committee took in $10.2 million. Through the first seven months of the year the RNC raised $86.5 million to the DNC's $42 million. The Republicans also have $40 million more cash on hand. Blame for the DNC's fundraising problems can be attributed to many factors. The party is attempting to build a small-donor network but is competing for dollars with several smaller progressive groups that have been thriving in the Trump era, including Indivisible and Swing Left. There are also ideological battles raging between the progressive and moderates wings of the party over such issues as universal health care and abortion rights. (The Hill)
Why the Foo Fighters Are Still the Coolest Rock Band Ever
Not sure what Kurt Cobain would have thought of it but it may go down as the greatest prank ever pulled on an audience in rock n roll history. At the Summer Sonic Music Festival in Tokyo, the Foo Fighters took the stage and performed a few of their own songs. Then lead singer Dave Grohl told the audience: "Ladies and gentleman, would you please welcome our new best friend, Rick Astley!" Grohl told the crowd that they had just met Astley, who was also on the festival bill, for the first time a few minutes earlier. The British singer then joined the band on stage and the band played the intro to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." But at the last moment, Astley began singing the lyrics to his own "Never Gonna Give You Up" instead of the grunge classic. Believe it or not, the crowd seemed to love the mash-up. The Foo Fighters actually have a bit of history with Rick Astley. In 2015, they blasted "Never Gonna Give You Up" repeatedly from a flatbed truck aimed at Westboro Baptist Church protesters in Kansas City. (Variety)
What the What?
In Surrey, England, 25-year-old Mounkadir Mustapha was smuggling a supply of heroin "where the sun don't shine" when he was arrested and kept under round-the-clock observation by police waiting for him to pass his stash. He actually held everything in for NINE DAYS until he just couldn't hold it any longer. He was ultimately sentenced to three years and five months after pleading guilty to supplying heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis. (Metro)
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