WEIRD NEWS
Not Your Everyday Toilet Clog
It may be the most unusual and most expensive toilet clog of all time. Swiss officials say 500-euro bank notes worth $120,000 were found stuffed in a toilet serving a vault containing safe deposit boxes at Geneva's USB bank. A few days later, 500-euro notes, which "had probably been cut with scissors," were found clogging toilets at three nearby restaurants. An employee at a pizzeria where a bathroom flooded as a result of the money being stuffed in a toilet and sink said, "We couldn't stop laughing." "Tax evasion is the most likely theory," adds the manager of a nearby cafe. A lawyer representing the two people apparently responsible compensated the restaurants for thousands of dollars in plumbing repairs, prompting the withdrawal of a complaint. Unlike in the US, there is no law against destroying bank notes in Switzerland, but police are trying to trace the money anyway. Prosecutors say, "We're trying to find out where the notes came from and whether a crime has been committed." (Bloomberg)
How Is It Possible?
Randy Potter left his Kansas home on the morning of January 17 and was never seen alive again. After an eight-month search, during which his family even hired a private investigator, the missing man was finally found - and his family, their lawyer, and the aforementioned PI believe he was dead in his truck in a Kansas City International Airport parking lot the entire time. Police were called to KCI after someone reported a foul odor coming from the truck. They found a decomposed body inside later identified as Potter. Officials say he appears to have committed suicide but his family wants answers. They visited the airport looking for Potter within a week of reporting him missing, and airport authorities assured them security officers would find his vehicle if it was parked there. They left his license plate number and a description of his vehicle, yet no one checked the truck, which was parked in a lot accessible via a short shuttle ride from the airport terminals, until the odor was reported. "How is it possible, in America?" Potter's wife said at a press conference. "A truck sitting there for eight months? He could have been found a lot sooner if everybody had done their job." A city spokesperson says the city and its Aviation Department are "working ... to determine the facts involved." Potter was 53. (Kansas City Star)
Work Out Much?
Work out much? If you live in Colorado, chances are that you do! The mile-high state is home to not one, but three of the 10 US cities with the highest rates of exercise in the country. California also counts three cities on the top 10 list, based on the percentage of people who said they'd exercised for at least 30 minutes on three or more days in the previous week. This data was taken from a poll of 350,000 adults in 189 US metro areas in 2015 and 2016, reports Live Science. The 10 cities with the highest exercise rates:
Boulder, CO: 70%
Fort Collins, CO: 68%
San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles–Arroyo Grande, CA: 67%
Greeley, CO: 65%
Santa Rosa, CA: 62%
Honolulu, HI: 61%
Hilton Head Island–Bluffton–Beaufort, SC: 61%
Anchorage, AK: 61%
Clarksville, TN–KY: 61%
Chico, CA: 61%
(Live Science)
Trump Jr. Dumps Secret Service
Looks like world-wide fame isn't quite what Donald Trump Jr. thought it would be. He's so desperate for his privacy back that he's given up his Secret Service protection! It's not clear whether his wife, Vanessa, and five children are also giving up their protections (though Fox News says Vanessa is). This will actually come as a relief to the Secret Service, which has been stretched thin by the big job of protecting President Trump's large extended family. The New York Daily News notes both Trump Jr. and brother Eric have traveled to places like Dubai and Vancouver with their security detail, which some have criticized as a burden on taxpayers. One source, however, tells CNN that Trump Jr. giving up his protections is a "huge risk" and "stupid decision," while an ex-member of former President Obama's detail tells the Washington Post the move is "shocking" and "negligent." The Secret Service is required to protect the president's immediate family, unless it's told not to. Meanwhile the agency is staying mum. (New York Times)
They're Snakes - Not Toys, Dummy!
After getting bitten for the second time in his life, Arizona's Victor Pratt says he's finally learned his lesson. Pratt, 48, was holding a birthday party for his kid at home in Coolidge when he picked up a rattlesnake and began playing with it. He said, "When the kids saw it, I grabbed it. I showed them how to catch it and I was playing with it like little kids do." After posing for several photos, Pratt lost his grip on the snake's head and the reptile bit him on the neck and face. The snakebite veteran had the presence of mind to ask friends to rush him to the hospital. "I said, 'We gotta go now,' because I knew what was going to happen," said Pratt. He was intubated and sedated for five days. Doctors say had Pratt not gotten to the hospital when he did, he could have been dead within 30 minutes. Now he says, "Ain't gonna play with snakes no more." (FOX 10)
Who Knew Avril Lavigne and Bruno Mars Were So Dangerous?
One-time pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne has been named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet. Cybersecurity firm McAfee said Tuesday that Lavigne, whose last album came out in 2013, was the celebrity most likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. Searches for Lavigne have a 14.51% chance of landing on a web page with the potential for online threats, a number that increases to 22% if users type her name and search for free MP3s. Bruno Mars was second in his debut on the list at 13.43% per a press release, followed closely behind by Carly Rae Jepsen. Zayn Malik (No. 4), Celine Dion (No. 5), Calvin Harris (No. 6), Justin Bieber (No. 7), Sean "Diddy" Combs (No. 8), Katy Perry (No. 9), and Beyonce (No. 10) rounded out the top 10 list. It's a dubious step up for Lavigne, who was ranked No. 2 in 2013. So why did Lavigne score so high? McAfee believes it's due to renewed interest after the artist said she's working on a new album, a feature story on her by E! Online, and an internet conspiracy that she has been replaced by an impostor. Lavigne is the first female musician to take the No. 1 spot and replaced Amy Schumer, named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet in 2016. (Newser)
Bye-Bye Old British Snow
Britain is set to lose its longest-lasting patch of snow this weekend for the first time in over a decade-an event which has happened only six times in the past 300 years. The small patch of white ice at Garbh Choire Mor on Braeriach in the Scottish Cairngorms, nicknamed the Sphinx, may be gone as soon as this weekend. All of the snow in Britain has melted only six times in the past 300 years-in 1933, 1953, 1959, 1996, 2003 and 2006. Iain Cameron, 44, monitors snow patches across Britain as a hobby and his findings are published by the Royal Meteorological Society. He says, "We'll just have to wait until next year to see them again." (Metro)
What the What?
Not quite sure how, but a man working out in Germany got what police called a "very sensitive part" of his body stuck inside a 5.5-pound weight plate. Firefighters spent three hours using a grinder and a vibrating saw to free the guy's "frankfurter" from the center of the disc. The Worms Fire Department urged other gym goers to "not imitate such actions." Authorities didn't make clear how the man ended up with the weight wrapped around his manhood, and the incident prompted plenty of speculation on social media. (Huffington Post)
It may be the most unusual and most expensive toilet clog of all time. Swiss officials say 500-euro bank notes worth $120,000 were found stuffed in a toilet serving a vault containing safe deposit boxes at Geneva's USB bank. A few days later, 500-euro notes, which "had probably been cut with scissors," were found clogging toilets at three nearby restaurants. An employee at a pizzeria where a bathroom flooded as a result of the money being stuffed in a toilet and sink said, "We couldn't stop laughing." "Tax evasion is the most likely theory," adds the manager of a nearby cafe. A lawyer representing the two people apparently responsible compensated the restaurants for thousands of dollars in plumbing repairs, prompting the withdrawal of a complaint. Unlike in the US, there is no law against destroying bank notes in Switzerland, but police are trying to trace the money anyway. Prosecutors say, "We're trying to find out where the notes came from and whether a crime has been committed." (Bloomberg)
How Is It Possible?
Randy Potter left his Kansas home on the morning of January 17 and was never seen alive again. After an eight-month search, during which his family even hired a private investigator, the missing man was finally found - and his family, their lawyer, and the aforementioned PI believe he was dead in his truck in a Kansas City International Airport parking lot the entire time. Police were called to KCI after someone reported a foul odor coming from the truck. They found a decomposed body inside later identified as Potter. Officials say he appears to have committed suicide but his family wants answers. They visited the airport looking for Potter within a week of reporting him missing, and airport authorities assured them security officers would find his vehicle if it was parked there. They left his license plate number and a description of his vehicle, yet no one checked the truck, which was parked in a lot accessible via a short shuttle ride from the airport terminals, until the odor was reported. "How is it possible, in America?" Potter's wife said at a press conference. "A truck sitting there for eight months? He could have been found a lot sooner if everybody had done their job." A city spokesperson says the city and its Aviation Department are "working ... to determine the facts involved." Potter was 53. (Kansas City Star)
Work Out Much?
Work out much? If you live in Colorado, chances are that you do! The mile-high state is home to not one, but three of the 10 US cities with the highest rates of exercise in the country. California also counts three cities on the top 10 list, based on the percentage of people who said they'd exercised for at least 30 minutes on three or more days in the previous week. This data was taken from a poll of 350,000 adults in 189 US metro areas in 2015 and 2016, reports Live Science. The 10 cities with the highest exercise rates:
Boulder, CO: 70%
Fort Collins, CO: 68%
San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles–Arroyo Grande, CA: 67%
Greeley, CO: 65%
Santa Rosa, CA: 62%
Honolulu, HI: 61%
Hilton Head Island–Bluffton–Beaufort, SC: 61%
Anchorage, AK: 61%
Clarksville, TN–KY: 61%
Chico, CA: 61%
(Live Science)
Trump Jr. Dumps Secret Service
Looks like world-wide fame isn't quite what Donald Trump Jr. thought it would be. He's so desperate for his privacy back that he's given up his Secret Service protection! It's not clear whether his wife, Vanessa, and five children are also giving up their protections (though Fox News says Vanessa is). This will actually come as a relief to the Secret Service, which has been stretched thin by the big job of protecting President Trump's large extended family. The New York Daily News notes both Trump Jr. and brother Eric have traveled to places like Dubai and Vancouver with their security detail, which some have criticized as a burden on taxpayers. One source, however, tells CNN that Trump Jr. giving up his protections is a "huge risk" and "stupid decision," while an ex-member of former President Obama's detail tells the Washington Post the move is "shocking" and "negligent." The Secret Service is required to protect the president's immediate family, unless it's told not to. Meanwhile the agency is staying mum. (New York Times)
They're Snakes - Not Toys, Dummy!
After getting bitten for the second time in his life, Arizona's Victor Pratt says he's finally learned his lesson. Pratt, 48, was holding a birthday party for his kid at home in Coolidge when he picked up a rattlesnake and began playing with it. He said, "When the kids saw it, I grabbed it. I showed them how to catch it and I was playing with it like little kids do." After posing for several photos, Pratt lost his grip on the snake's head and the reptile bit him on the neck and face. The snakebite veteran had the presence of mind to ask friends to rush him to the hospital. "I said, 'We gotta go now,' because I knew what was going to happen," said Pratt. He was intubated and sedated for five days. Doctors say had Pratt not gotten to the hospital when he did, he could have been dead within 30 minutes. Now he says, "Ain't gonna play with snakes no more." (FOX 10)
Who Knew Avril Lavigne and Bruno Mars Were So Dangerous?
One-time pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne has been named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet. Cybersecurity firm McAfee said Tuesday that Lavigne, whose last album came out in 2013, was the celebrity most likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. Searches for Lavigne have a 14.51% chance of landing on a web page with the potential for online threats, a number that increases to 22% if users type her name and search for free MP3s. Bruno Mars was second in his debut on the list at 13.43% per a press release, followed closely behind by Carly Rae Jepsen. Zayn Malik (No. 4), Celine Dion (No. 5), Calvin Harris (No. 6), Justin Bieber (No. 7), Sean "Diddy" Combs (No. 8), Katy Perry (No. 9), and Beyonce (No. 10) rounded out the top 10 list. It's a dubious step up for Lavigne, who was ranked No. 2 in 2013. So why did Lavigne score so high? McAfee believes it's due to renewed interest after the artist said she's working on a new album, a feature story on her by E! Online, and an internet conspiracy that she has been replaced by an impostor. Lavigne is the first female musician to take the No. 1 spot and replaced Amy Schumer, named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet in 2016. (Newser)
Bye-Bye Old British Snow
Britain is set to lose its longest-lasting patch of snow this weekend for the first time in over a decade-an event which has happened only six times in the past 300 years. The small patch of white ice at Garbh Choire Mor on Braeriach in the Scottish Cairngorms, nicknamed the Sphinx, may be gone as soon as this weekend. All of the snow in Britain has melted only six times in the past 300 years-in 1933, 1953, 1959, 1996, 2003 and 2006. Iain Cameron, 44, monitors snow patches across Britain as a hobby and his findings are published by the Royal Meteorological Society. He says, "We'll just have to wait until next year to see them again." (Metro)
What the What?
Not quite sure how, but a man working out in Germany got what police called a "very sensitive part" of his body stuck inside a 5.5-pound weight plate. Firefighters spent three hours using a grinder and a vibrating saw to free the guy's "frankfurter" from the center of the disc. The Worms Fire Department urged other gym goers to "not imitate such actions." Authorities didn't make clear how the man ended up with the weight wrapped around his manhood, and the incident prompted plenty of speculation on social media. (Huffington Post)
Comments
Post a Comment