News of the Weird - this just in!

[lindosfan1]

A retired prison guard in the US has eaten his 25,000th Big Mac.

It has been 39 years to the day since Don Gorske ate his first nine.

At a ceremony in his honour at a McDonald's in his hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, he said he would continue to eat Big Macs "until I die".

Mr Gorske, 57, appeared in the 2004 documentary film Super Size Me, which looks at the impact of a daily diet of McDonald's food. He is thin and his cholesterol is said to be low.

"When I was 19 years old I had eaten my first 1,000 Big Macs and I was kind of like, I thought how long before I hit 10,000?" he said before eating the world record 25,000th burger on Tuesday.

"Then it was like boy, by the time I hit 25,000 I will be old and retired. Well wouldn't you know, I'm not super old, I am 50-something, but I am retired and stuff, but you don't dream of living so long as to reach a milestone like that."

Blender burger?

Mr Gorske says he eats a Big Mac in 16 bites and keeps track of his consumption on calendars.

Every week he buys six on Monday and eight on Thursday and keeps them in his fridge or freezer until he is ready to eat them, he says.

He said his wife told him the end will come "when she has to put them in a blender".

Doctors have said they do not recommend Mr Gorske's diet.

[Nereus]

Arrest after 16-hour mobile phone call

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/of ... hone-call/

Call it revenge of the train passengers.

There was relief all round when a passenger on train from California to Oregon was arrested for disorderly conduct after a marathan 16-hour mobile phone conversation.

When other passengers were trying to get a little sleep, Lakesha Beard, from Oregon, was talking...and talking, and talking.

Amtrak staff called police after fed-up passengers started complaining about the length of the call and how loudly the woman was talking.

According to local press reports, Ms Beard involved in a "verbal altercation" when asked to be quiet during the trip.

Disgruntled fellow passengers said Ms Beard refused to stop talking even after staff made repeated announcements for travellers not use mobile phones.

Ms Beard told Portland's KATU News that she felt "disrespected" by the incident.

But perhaps her fellow passengers felt the same when they were trying to get some beauty sleep...

[PeteC]

↑ What that article doesn't mention is that she decided to park her butt in a special "quiet" car where it's well posted that phones and loud noises not permitted. Pete

[Nereus]

↑ What that article doesn't mention is that she decided to park her butt in a special "quiet" car where it's well posted that phones and loud noises not permitted. Pete

Open the link and take a look at the size of the BUTT!!!!

[Nereus]

Man walks into a station...

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/br ... a-station/

Security cameras have captured a man trying to board a train in Wales with his pony.

Images show the man leading the large, white pony along a station platform, and then waiting patiently for a train.

Arriva Train Wales said the man and his four-legged companion left after he was declined access to the service.

Large animals are not permitted on trains.

Arriva Train Wales staff said on Wednesday the bizarre incident was captured on security cameras at a rail station in Wrexham, northern Wales.

The train the man attempted to board on Saturday evening was bound for Holyhead in Anglesey, northwest Wales, which is the home of Prince William and his new wife.

Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which can prosecute over animal abuse, said it would study the footage.

............................................................

Maybe he should have just stuck with the sheep.

[Big Boy]

They actually featured this story on Breakfast TV this morning. They reported that he was sold a ticket, and was only stopped from boarding by the train's guard.

[pharvey]

Was wondering what had happened to Jamie......

[Nereus]

White tiger a real toy story

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/of ... toy-story/


A police helicopter was scrambled and a British golf course cleared after a white tiger was spotted in a field by members of the public - only to turn out to be a stuffed toy.

At 4pm, Hampshire police received several calls reporting sightings of the tiger in a field near Hedge End, Southampton.

One person had viewed the "tiger" through the zoom lens of their camera and when a police officer arrived at the scene, they confirmed the sighting.

The police support helicopter was scrambled and specialist staff from nearby Marwell Zoo were called in to advise and potentially tranquillise the wild animal.

A local golf course was evacuated and plans were put in place to close the nearby M27 motorway if necessary in case the tiger moved in that direction.

But as police officers carefully approached the dangerous animal they realised it was not moving and the helicopter crew, using thermal imaging equipment, realised there was no heat source coming from it.

A spokeswoman for the force said: "After a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah, the officer realised the tiger was not moving and the air support using their cameras realised there was a lack of heat source.

"The tiger then rolled over in the down draft and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.

"This incident will definitely be the highlight of our day. The CCTV footage convinced us all we were dealing with a real tiger.

"It's not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it just goes to show the diverse type of incident we are called to deal with."

[Nereus]

Texas legislature acts to make state safe for "noodling"

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/of ... -noodling/

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas may still have problems like a multi-billion dollar budget deficit and public schools facing major spending cuts, but its legislature has moved to make the Lone Star State safe for "noodling."

Noodling, the time-honored Southern practice of catching catfish by hand, has been illegal in Texas, and noodlers were subject to a fine of up to $500.

However, lawmakers from east Texas, the part of the state most steeped in Southern culture, have long claimed it is wrong to ban what is also called by some "Hillbilly Hand Fishing."

"I personally don't noodle, but I would defend to the death your right to do so," State Senator Bob Deuell, who represents the east Texas community of Greenville, told lawmakers, who on Thursday approved legislation to make the practice legal.

Marty Jenkins, who runs the web site "Catfish Grabbers dot Com," says noodling is an age-old Southern tradition.

"It can be a family sport. We get out there and laugh at each other, see who can get the fish out of the water, see who can get the fish without losing it," he said.

Jenkins says 17 states currently allow noodling, which he says turns fishing into a thrill sport.

"You don't know if anything's in that hole at all, you run your hands down into that hole and all of a sudden a fish comes out and bites you, and you have to try to bring it out with your hand."

The Flathead Catfish, the fish most commonly noodled, is known as one of the most vicious game fish in the United States.

"The fish will bite your hand to tell you, 'hey, get out of my hole,'" Jenkins said. "You can try to grab hold of the jaw of the fish if you're quick enough."

Most states ban the practice because they think it's cruel, Jenkins said, but he contends it's no more cruel than catching a fish with a fishhook.

State Senator Deuell said: "It's a Southern tradition, it's done in a lot of states, I've seen people do it,"

"They seem to enjoy it, and we want to afford that enjoyment to Texans who want to participate."

The bill now goes to Governor Rick Perry -- whose position on noodling is not known -- for his consideration

[hhfarang]

Noodling was practiced regularly by lots of folks near where I grew up (though I never tried it). I occasionally read or heard about someone being drowned when they stuck their arm into the mouth of a catfish the weighed much more than they did...

Terry, maybe you should construct and stock a "noodling pond" at the lodge. Maybe some here would like to try their luck at this type of fishing...

Looks like fun, huh?

[pharvey]

New Zealand man 'blown up like a balloon' by compressed air

A New Zealand truck driver has said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.
A New Zealand truck driver has said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced highly pressurised air into his body.
Steven McCormack was standing on his truck's foot plate when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck's brakes.
He fell hard onto the brass fitting, which pierced his left buttock and started pumping air into his body.
"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot," he told local media from his hospital bed in the town of Whakatane, on North Island's east coast.
"I was blowing up like a football," he said. "I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon."
Mr McCormack's workmates heard his screams and ran to him, quickly releasing a safety valve to stop the air flow, said Robbie Petersen, co-owner of the trucking company.
He was rushed to the hospital with terrible swelling and fluid in one lung. Doctors said the air had separated fat from muscle in McCormack's body, but had not entered his bloodstream.
Mr McCormack, 48, said his skin felt "like a pork roast" - crackling on the outside but soft underneath.
A hospital spokesman confirmed details of the freak accident, which she said could have killed Mr McCormack.
"It's fair to say he's lucky to be alive, it was a potentially life-threatening situation."

[Big Boy]

The UK has revealed some of the more bizarre excuses used when investigated for benefit fraud:

– "I had no idea my wife was working! I never noticed her leaving the house twice a day in a fluorescent jacket and a Stop Children sign."

– "My wallet was stolen so someone must have been using my identity, I haven't been working".

– "I didn't know I was still on benefit."

– "I didn't declare my savings because I didn't save them, they were given to me."

– "He lives in a caravan in the drive, we're not together."

– "He does come here every night and leave in the morning and although he has no other address I don't regard him as living here."

– "It wasn't me working, it was my identical twin.

– "I wasn't aware my wife was working because her hours of work coincided with the times I spent in the garden shed."

[sandman67]

Hate Group Bitchfight!!!!

Battle of the Hate Groups: KKK Takes on Westboro
By Caitlin Dickson May 31, 2011

Players: The Ku Klux Klan; Westboro Baptist Church.

Opening Serve: Monday's Memorial Day services attracted the attention of the Westboro Baptist Church, the Kansas group known for its angry, and now specifically court-allowed protests of American soldiers' funerals. The demonstrators, who carry signs bearing hateful messages such as "God hates fags" and "Jews killed Jesus" are not well-liked. Not even, apparently, by the Ku Klux Klan. Members of the Knights of the Southern Cross, a Virginia branch of the KKK, gathered outside Arlington Cemetery Monday to protest the protesters. The KKK group's leader, "Imperial Wizard" Dennis LaBonte told CNN, "It's the soldier that fought and died and gave them that right to free speech."

Return Volley: The demonstrating WBC members seemed pretty unfazed by the KKK's counter-protest. According to CNN, Abigail Phelps, daughter of the Church's founder Fred Phelps, said, "That's fine. They have no moral authority on anything. People like them say it's white power ... white supremacy. The Bible doesn't say anywhere that it's an abomination to be born of a certain gender or race."

What They Say the Fight's About: LaBonte and the KKK counter-protesters object to WBC's stance towards fallen soldiers. Phelps and WBC argue that the KKK, a white supremacy hate group, hardly has a right to criticize, as their platform doesn't even have biblical support.

What the Fight's Really About: It looks like what we have here are two nationally recognized hate groups fighting over who's brand of hatred is more justified. The answer: neither. It's both comforting and disturbing to know that even the KKK denounces the Westboro Baptist Church, but this might be one of the more spectacular pot-kettle cases in recent memory. Though LaBonte insists that the Knights of the Southern Cross "are not about hate," KKK history makes that a pretty tough sell.

Who's Winning Now: It's hard to declare anyone a winner here, but if we have to, it's LaBonte and Co. for grabbing publicity and recognizing the ridiculousness of Westboro's protests. Still, according to the Supreme Court, it is within the WBC's First Amendment rights to rally at as many soldiers' funerals as it wants--KKK disapproval isn't going to do much. Finally, let's not forget: the funeral protests may be largely offensive, but Westboro at least doesn't have any lynchings in its organizational history.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national ... ups/38297/



Comment: Americans....no sense of irony

[Nereus]

It's beer o'clock at Tesco

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/of ... -at-tesco/

It was an offer to good to miss - and that's why police were called to restore order outside a supermarket in Scotland when a pricing error slashed the price of cartons of beer.

The drama unfolded at a Tesco supermarket.

The deal should have sold three cartons of alcoholic drinks for £20 but when shoppers go to the till, the offer got even better. The price registered was just £11.

Police were called after heavy congestion was reported in the car park as customers rushed to get the deal, the BBC reported.

A spokesman said staff spotted the problem and prices were changed manually until it was fixed.

There were also problems at two other stores.

One customer told the BBC there was "bedlam" as people phoned friends, used social networking sites to spread the word and went back several times to get more beer.

Graham McKenzie tweeted: "Price glitch for beer has literally caused a stampede at the local Tesco. Tempers are flying in car park."

Rebecca Macdougall tweeted: "Was casually chatting to my dad about the beer situation at Tesco mention 3 crates for 11 quid and he sprints to the car."

[STEVE G]

Would-be terrorists searching the Internet for tips on how to build bombs were instead taught how to bake the perfect cupcake after an intervention by MI6, the Telegraph reported Friday.

Intelligence agency MI6 launched the cyber-operation against Jihadi magazine, "Inspire", in an attempt to hamper attempts by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) to attract "lone wolf" terrorists.

Surfers trying to download the English-speaking magazine's "Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom" feature were instead redirected to a site boasting recipes for "The Best Cupcakes in America".

The baking site, which is published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show, promises treats for "today's sweet-toothed hipsters" including the mojito cupcake, made using white rum and vanilla buttercream.

Meanwhile, the 67-page Inspire contains recipes showing how to make rudimentary pipe bombs using sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb.

The Jihadi magazine is produced by Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the leaders of AQAP, who has lived in Britain and the United States, and his US colleague Samir Khan.

Britain and the US both planned separately to disrupt the magazine on learning of its publication, but the US decided against action as they believed it was cutting off a source of intelligence, the British newspaper reported.
(AFP)