WEIRD NEWS
People Hating the New Snapchat
Snapchat released a new update last week which it totally changed the look of the popular messaging app - and apparently everyone hates it. One user said, "It's "worse than the f---ing Black Plague," on a Change.org petition aiming to revert the app to its previous version, signed a whopping 725,000 times, and rapidly counting, as of this broadcast. The petition claims the "annoying" update - which sees Chat and Stories feeds combined into a new Friends feed - makes the app "more difficult" to use and "defeats the original purposes Snapchat has had for the past years." But a Snap rep said, "Updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to, but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in." (Guardian)
Cheddar Markle
Paul Nehlen is vying for Paul Ryan's Wisconsin House seat, but he won't have Twitter to help him in his quest. The man described by the Washington Post as a "fringe challenger" who lost to Ryan 16% to 84% in 2016 had his account permanently suspended in a move he called "the epitome of interfering with a federal election" and a "brazen [act] of censorship," and an attempt to "suppress right-wing political speech." He's also demanding a Congressional investigation. So what right-wing political speech was he trying to convey? He tweeted an image of Prince Harry alongside fiancée Meghan Markle, whose face was replaced with that of Cheddar Man, the 10,000-year-old Brit whose DNA recently revealed he had "dark to black skin." Nehlen's caption: "Honey does this tie make my face look pale?" Nehlen has a history of anti-Semitic and inflammatory tweets and has bemoaned the Cheddar Man study as a way of "disappearing whites or dispossessing whites of their homelands." (Washington Post)
Maybe This is Not the Year for a Hawaiian Vacation
Bad news for the Aloha State. It seems Hawaii, the place many call paradise, has about 88,000 cesspools filled with untreated human waste, and the seeping sewage is posing a genuine threat to beaches, coral reefs, and drinking water! Specifically, health authorities are worried about rising nitrate levels in groundwater, which are approaching or already exceeding the legal limit in parts of the state. So why the cesspools? Much of Hawaii is mountainous, making it difficult and expensive to lay sewer lines. As a result, many homes have long pumped their sewage into cesspools, a solution becoming increasingly troublesome as the population grows. The state has outlawed the creation of new cesspools, but replacing those already in existence would cost an estimated $1.75 billion. Lawmakers are reaching out to engineers for help. (Wall Street Journal)
Ultimate Beauty?
A shocking new report that won't make ladies happy says makeup giant Ulta repackaged returned cosmetics and placed the items back on store shelves! A lawsuit filed last week says: "Every customer who has purchased cosmetics at Ulta since this practice began was put at risk of unwittingly purchasing used, unsanitary cosmetics." Kimberley Laura Smith-Brown of Los Angeles alleges she stocked up on dozens of items from Ulta's Sherman Oaks location over the past six months or so - and then saw whispers on social media that her stash may not have been as pristine as she thought. A Twitter user who said she was an ex-Ulta employee claimed that when she worked there, her manager would instruct employees to clean returned items with cotton swabs and alcohol, seal them back up, then slip them back on the shelves. Other supposed Ulta employees both refuted and supported her claims. A second lawsuit was filed last week in Illinois' Cook County Circuit Court, with plaintiff Meghan DeVries alleging Ulta managers are given a "quota" of how many returned items can be listed as "damaged," per a release. The lawyer in that class action says used cosmetics can contain harmful bacteria like E. coli and even the herpes simplex virus. (Los Angeles Times)
The Spinal Fluid Gang
Time was when street gangs just sold drugs. In Pakistan, police have arrested four people accused of stealing spinal fluid from women, and then trying to sell it on the black market. The suspects told women they had to provide blood samples to qualify for financial assistance from the Punjab government, but extracted spinal fluid instead. The gang is thought to have stolen spinal fluid from over 12 women, including a teenager. The authorities became aware of the scheme after a man noticed that his 17-year-old daughter felt weak after the procedure. One member "went around posing as an employee of the District Headquarters Hospital, telling his victims they would need to provide blood samples in order to qualify for the Punjab government's dowry fund". Pakistan made the sale of human organs illegal in 2010, but experts say the country is still a hot spot for organ trafficking. (BBC)
Women Not Liking Trump So Much
President Donald Trump's approval rating among women has fallen to 29 percent, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC poll. In particular, the president's approval rating among white women, who voted for him in droves, has fallen considerably. Additionally, 22 percent of white women without college degrees (the subgroup with whom Trump performed best) said Trump's actions "have mainly hurt them and their family." The president's decline appears to coincide with his unsuccessful effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which, as the foremost example of Barack Obama's legacy, has continued to irritate much of his devoted Republican base. Nor has Trump fared too well on the economy, despite his repeated reassurances in recent weeks that the rising of the stock market is indicative of the economy's overall health. And 65 percent of these women report that they don't believe Trump is the "stable genius" he claims to be. (Second Nexus)
What the What?
Happy Valentine's Day - and if you happen to be flying into McCarran airport in Las Vegas, be sure to get a marriage license why you wait for your bags. The Clark County Marriage License Bureau has set up a temporary kiosk in the baggage terminal for would-be husbands and wives to obtain their marriage certificate. Clark County is the wedding capitol of the world, issuing the most marriage licenses throughout the year in the U.S. -- amounting to almost 80,000 a year on average. Roses are attached to marriage license applications waiting to be filled out - and it only costs you $77. Fox News did witness one couple signing up for their license. Christie Estrada and Hector Castaneda from Bishop, Texas came across the outpost as they were retrieving their luggage. Castaneda said, "We were just walking, we were going to get a taxi and we saw the sign. It saved us a lot of time so we can go gamble." (FOX News)
Snapchat released a new update last week which it totally changed the look of the popular messaging app - and apparently everyone hates it. One user said, "It's "worse than the f---ing Black Plague," on a Change.org petition aiming to revert the app to its previous version, signed a whopping 725,000 times, and rapidly counting, as of this broadcast. The petition claims the "annoying" update - which sees Chat and Stories feeds combined into a new Friends feed - makes the app "more difficult" to use and "defeats the original purposes Snapchat has had for the past years." But a Snap rep said, "Updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to, but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in." (Guardian)
Cheddar Markle
Paul Nehlen is vying for Paul Ryan's Wisconsin House seat, but he won't have Twitter to help him in his quest. The man described by the Washington Post as a "fringe challenger" who lost to Ryan 16% to 84% in 2016 had his account permanently suspended in a move he called "the epitome of interfering with a federal election" and a "brazen [act] of censorship," and an attempt to "suppress right-wing political speech." He's also demanding a Congressional investigation. So what right-wing political speech was he trying to convey? He tweeted an image of Prince Harry alongside fiancée Meghan Markle, whose face was replaced with that of Cheddar Man, the 10,000-year-old Brit whose DNA recently revealed he had "dark to black skin." Nehlen's caption: "Honey does this tie make my face look pale?" Nehlen has a history of anti-Semitic and inflammatory tweets and has bemoaned the Cheddar Man study as a way of "disappearing whites or dispossessing whites of their homelands." (Washington Post)
Maybe This is Not the Year for a Hawaiian Vacation
Bad news for the Aloha State. It seems Hawaii, the place many call paradise, has about 88,000 cesspools filled with untreated human waste, and the seeping sewage is posing a genuine threat to beaches, coral reefs, and drinking water! Specifically, health authorities are worried about rising nitrate levels in groundwater, which are approaching or already exceeding the legal limit in parts of the state. So why the cesspools? Much of Hawaii is mountainous, making it difficult and expensive to lay sewer lines. As a result, many homes have long pumped their sewage into cesspools, a solution becoming increasingly troublesome as the population grows. The state has outlawed the creation of new cesspools, but replacing those already in existence would cost an estimated $1.75 billion. Lawmakers are reaching out to engineers for help. (Wall Street Journal)
Ultimate Beauty?
A shocking new report that won't make ladies happy says makeup giant Ulta repackaged returned cosmetics and placed the items back on store shelves! A lawsuit filed last week says: "Every customer who has purchased cosmetics at Ulta since this practice began was put at risk of unwittingly purchasing used, unsanitary cosmetics." Kimberley Laura Smith-Brown of Los Angeles alleges she stocked up on dozens of items from Ulta's Sherman Oaks location over the past six months or so - and then saw whispers on social media that her stash may not have been as pristine as she thought. A Twitter user who said she was an ex-Ulta employee claimed that when she worked there, her manager would instruct employees to clean returned items with cotton swabs and alcohol, seal them back up, then slip them back on the shelves. Other supposed Ulta employees both refuted and supported her claims. A second lawsuit was filed last week in Illinois' Cook County Circuit Court, with plaintiff Meghan DeVries alleging Ulta managers are given a "quota" of how many returned items can be listed as "damaged," per a release. The lawyer in that class action says used cosmetics can contain harmful bacteria like E. coli and even the herpes simplex virus. (Los Angeles Times)
The Spinal Fluid Gang
Time was when street gangs just sold drugs. In Pakistan, police have arrested four people accused of stealing spinal fluid from women, and then trying to sell it on the black market. The suspects told women they had to provide blood samples to qualify for financial assistance from the Punjab government, but extracted spinal fluid instead. The gang is thought to have stolen spinal fluid from over 12 women, including a teenager. The authorities became aware of the scheme after a man noticed that his 17-year-old daughter felt weak after the procedure. One member "went around posing as an employee of the District Headquarters Hospital, telling his victims they would need to provide blood samples in order to qualify for the Punjab government's dowry fund". Pakistan made the sale of human organs illegal in 2010, but experts say the country is still a hot spot for organ trafficking. (BBC)
Women Not Liking Trump So Much
President Donald Trump's approval rating among women has fallen to 29 percent, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC poll. In particular, the president's approval rating among white women, who voted for him in droves, has fallen considerably. Additionally, 22 percent of white women without college degrees (the subgroup with whom Trump performed best) said Trump's actions "have mainly hurt them and their family." The president's decline appears to coincide with his unsuccessful effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which, as the foremost example of Barack Obama's legacy, has continued to irritate much of his devoted Republican base. Nor has Trump fared too well on the economy, despite his repeated reassurances in recent weeks that the rising of the stock market is indicative of the economy's overall health. And 65 percent of these women report that they don't believe Trump is the "stable genius" he claims to be. (Second Nexus)
What the What?
Happy Valentine's Day - and if you happen to be flying into McCarran airport in Las Vegas, be sure to get a marriage license why you wait for your bags. The Clark County Marriage License Bureau has set up a temporary kiosk in the baggage terminal for would-be husbands and wives to obtain their marriage certificate. Clark County is the wedding capitol of the world, issuing the most marriage licenses throughout the year in the U.S. -- amounting to almost 80,000 a year on average. Roses are attached to marriage license applications waiting to be filled out - and it only costs you $77. Fox News did witness one couple signing up for their license. Christie Estrada and Hector Castaneda from Bishop, Texas came across the outpost as they were retrieving their luggage. Castaneda said, "We were just walking, we were going to get a taxi and we saw the sign. It saved us a lot of time so we can go gamble." (FOX News)
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