WEIRD NEWS

Worst Jobs for a Happy Marriage

(Newser) Marriage can be tough no matter what you do, but it seems some jobs make it even harder. Jobs with low pay, lousy hours (think nights and weekends) and work environments that involve alcohol are among the usual factors according to a new report from 24/7 Wall St. Here are the eight worst jobs for marriage from its analysis: 

Casino gaming managers: divorce rate, 52.9%
Bartenders; 52.7%
Flight attendants; 50.5%
Gaming service workers (in casinos); 50.3%
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal, and plastic; 50.1%
Switchboard operators, including answering service; 49.7%
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal, and plastic; 49.6%
Telemarketers, 49.2%

Famous Lost Painting - Found Above Fireplace

A man's day out with his family resulted in the discovery of a 400-year-old painting of "perhaps one of the most famous gay men in history" by one of the most important painters in history. The story is only slightly less surprising because that man was Dr. Bendor Grosvenor of the BBC program Britain's Lost Masterpieces. Grosvenor and his family were visiting the historic Pollok House in Glasgow when he noticed the painting of George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham hanging above a fireplace. Grosvenor says he had a bit of a eureka moment and I thought: "My god, that looks like a Rubens." The portrait was painted by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens around 1625 but was believed to have been lost. Villiers was a minor noble elevated to duke by James I. Experts believe he was the king's lover, and a secret passageway connected the two men's bedrooms in one of James' residences. The restored portrait will be going on display in a Glasgow museum and art gallery this week. (Guardian)

Jared Kushner Decides to Use the Hillary Private Email Method 

While his father-in-law couldn't scream enough about the Hillary Clinton private email fiasco back during the campaign, it now seems that one Jared Kushner has used a private email account to message other members of the Trump administration regarding official matters. No less than four people "familiar with the correspondence" have corroborated the story and approximately two dozen emails have been seen and verified by Politico. The messages from Kushner's private email were in regards to events, media coverage, and other topics and were exchanged with Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Gary Cohn, and others. Abbe Lowell, Kushner's lawyer, admits the president's son-in-law has used a private email account for government business but says it was "fewer than 100 emails" during the first eight months of Trump's presidency. He says the emails from Kushner's personal account were "usually forwarded news articles or political commentary" and were typically in response to someone who emailed Kushner's personal address first. A representative for Kushner wouldn't discuss potential security measures in place for the private email account, but there's no evidence Kushner ever used it to discuss sensitive information. (Politico)

You Really Should Watch What You Eat

A woman thought to be the world's heaviest died yesterday, roughly eight months after being removed from her home in Egypt and taken to Mumbai via cargo plane. Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty was 37 and weighed in at 1,100 pounds before undergoing bariatric surgery in India. She reportedly dropped 660 pounds as a result although some members of her family disputed this claim. Whatever it was - it wasn't enough as a statement from the Abu Dhabi hospital where she has been receiving care since May described her cause of death as being from weight-related conditions including heart disease and kidney dysfunction. Aty's family said that prior to her leaving for treatment in Mumbai in February, she hadn't left her home in 25 years, and that her extreme weight had forced her to crawl instead of walk by age 11. It wasn't an easy endeavor to transport Aty to India, a trip that cost around $125,000 and required the aforementioned cargo plane and a custom-modified truck, which she was lowered into by crane. (Times of India)

Hero On the Bus

It could have been a horrific disaster. A bus with 22 people on board was moments away from plunging 300 feet over a cliff after the driver passed out on a road in the Austrian Alps. Fortunately, a quick-thinking 65-year-old passenger managed to leap forward and apply the brake after the 76-year-old driver collapsed. The vehicle crashed through a guardrail but came to a stop hanging partly over the edge. A local police spokesperson said, "We were a hair's breadth from catastrophe." He added that it was "incredible luck" that the French passenger, who had been sitting near the driver, was able to stop the bus in time. (BBC)

Mom, What's For Dinner?

Over in southern Russia, a suspected "cannibal family" has now admitted to killing and eating at least 30 people over an 18-year period. Police have found body parts including meat and skin throughout the house and pictures released by prosecutors, too gruesome to publish, show someone's head on a platter surrounded by oranges. Another shows a suspect with someone's severed hand in their mouth. Dmitry Bakshaev, 35, is one of the people identified as being involved and he is said to have told police he started eating humans in 1999-the year the head on a platter picture was taken. His 42-year-old wife, Natalia, has also been arrested after the discovery of the evidence at their home in Krasnodar. The pair are said to have used a drug to knock their victims before taking the home for dinner. (Metro)

What the What?

Back when I was in school we used to do head counts during field trips. Maybe Indiana University should consider reinstating the practice. a 19-year-old freshmen is fortunately doing well after he was trapped in a cave in southern Indiana for nearly three days. Lukas Cavar joined the Caving Club at IU on a "beginner's trip" last Sunday to Sullivan Cave, which is about 20 miles south of Bloomington. Somehow, he managed to get separated from the group, and when he reached the entrance to exit the cave, he realized the gate was padlocked. Not able to get a cell phone signal, he screamed for hours. He didn't have much food or any water, so he licked moisture from the cave walls to stay hydrated. He told officials he spent most of his time in the cave talking to himself, napping, and foraging for water. When members of the caving club finally figured out he was missing, they went back to the cave and rescued him. Cavar says he was relieved, and he felt lucky to be alive. He doesn't plan to go spelunking again anytime soon. (FOX 59)

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