Unusual News
National Security Agency Declassifies Report on Secret Writing…From 1809
More than 200 hundred years after it was produced, a book on cryptology is finally being declassified by the U.S. government.
The National Security Agency (NSA) decided that the 1809 book, Cryptology: Instruction Book on the Art of Secret Wr... read more
Obama Issues Fewest Vetoes of Any President in 130 Years
The veto has not been a significant political weapon used by President Barack Obama during his two and a half years in office.
Obama has issued a total of just two vetoes since taking office, an average of one veto every 435 days. This avera... read more
KBR Made Illegal Campaign Contributions…to Lyndon Johnson in 1941
Long before KBR, a one-time subsidiary of Halliburton, got into trouble over its government contracts during the Iraq war, the firm was part of a tax controversy involving Lyndon Johnson before he became president of the United States.
In 19... read more
Policeman Jailed for Using Zimbabwean Dictator’s Toilet
Homicide detective Alois Mabhunu of Zimbabwe has spent the past two weeks in jail for using the private toilet of dictator Robert Mugabe at an international trade expo.
Mabhunu was on surveillance duty at the trade fair when he found himself... read more
Revenge of the Wrongly Foreclosed: Florida Sheriffs Threaten to Seize Bank of America Assets
Many homeowners across the United States have suffered the frustration of having Bank of America try to take away their home even when they were not behind on their mortgage payments and, in some cases, when they didn’t even have a mortgage with B... read more
Court Rules High School Coach Can’t be Fired for 18 Straight Losses
An Iowa appeals court has voted 2-1 to reinstate a high school football coach who was fired after his team posted consecutive winless seasons.
The Jesup Community School District terminated Bruce Wall’s contract after the 2008 season. He beg... read more
Federal Court Will Sell CD Copies of Health Care Reform Oral Arguments
A special CD will go on sale next week in Atlanta, Georgia. Producers are not expecting it to make the Billboard Top 100.
The CD will have on it the oral arguments pertaining to a legal challenge to the federal health care reform law by the ... read more
In a Thunderstorm, It’s Dangerous to Live Downwind from a City
Cities have a way of altering the intensity of storms as they pass overhead and move downwind, according to researchers at Purdue University.
After analyzing 10 years of data from storms around the Indianapolis area, Indiana’s state climatol... read more
U.S. Archivist Agrees to Release Pentagon Papers after 40 Years…Except for 11 Words
The National Archives has finally decided to declassify the Report of the OSD Vietnam Task Force—aka the Pentagon Papers—after excerpts of the document were first published 40 years ago by The New York Times.
But the 7,000-page edition will ... read more
Oregon District Where Every Member of Congress Divorces While in Office
Officials in Oregon may want to post a marital warning for candidates seeking to run for the state’s 5th congressional district seat. It seems being the officeholder pretty much guarantees a failed marriage.
In the 28-year history of 5th dis... read more
Justice Dept. Refuses to Pay for $750,000 Ferrari Destroyed by FBI Agent
The Department of Justice is refusing to reimburse $750,000 to the owner of a rare Ferrari that was damaged by an FBI agent.
Stolen in 2003 from a dealership in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, the 1995 Ferrari F50 was recovered by the FBI five years... read more
Republicans More Extreme than Democrats…When Grading Students
If you’re a college student, the odds are your professor will be a Democrat, and that’s good if you want to play it safe when it comes to grading.
A recent study found that Democratic professors are “more egalitarian” than Republican ones wi... read more
All 9 Federal Judges Drop out of Hawaii Rail Project Case
A legal challenge to Honolulu, Hawaii’s railway proposal has had a tough time getting a judge, due to the fact that all nine federal justices on the island recused themselves from hearing the case.
The High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project ... read more
18 Places Censored by Google Maps
Creators of the Web’s most popular map images website have obliged private and public requests to censor certain photos on Google Maps. Some are not surprising, such as those revealing (or not revealing) the location or makeup of military instal... read more
Dictator’s Daughter Sues Website for Saying Her Father is a Dictator
Lola Karimova-Tillayeva, the younger daughter of Uzbekistan’s dictator, is suing the French news website Rue89 for libel and for characterizing her father as an authoritarian ruler.
Rue89 ran a story which said Karimova-Tillayeva, who is Uzb... read more
Immigration Agent Sold Stolen Government Property…on eBay
Steven Kucan, a supervisor with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service in New York, stands accused of stealing $80,000 in government property, much of which he sold on eBay, for which he received at least $37,400.
A New Jersey... read more