Unusual News
Couple Sues Tennessee Restaurant after Son Hospitalized by “Mega Death Hot Sauce”
Tim and Mary Katharine Gann of Cleveland, Tennessee, are suing the restaurant chain Steak’n Shake for serving their son Caleb a bowl of chili mixed with Blair’s Mega Death Hot Sauce. Caleb’s parents claim their son suffered a “severe physical re... read more
Oregon County to Stop Prosecuting Arrests for Heroin, Shoplifting, Hit and Run, Prostitution
Lacking the resources to prosecute due to budget cuts, District Attorney Mike Schrunk of Multnomah County, Oregon, says his office will no longer go after low-level drug offenders and thieves as well as other violators of the law.
People wil... read more
FBI Demands Return of Spy Device Student Found on His Car
Yasir Afifi made quite the discovery when he took his car in for an oil change in Santa Clara, California. Attached to the bottom of his vehicle was a special tracking device from the FBI which did not tell the Muslim-American he was under surveil... read more
Postal Workers Union Ballots Lost in Mail
The American Postal Workers Union, which represents employees of the U.S. Postal Service and is the world’s largest postal union, is taking longer than usual this year to choose their national officers. The election is conducted by mail, natural... read more
Marines Refuse to Share Portable Toilets with Stewart and Colbert Rallies
When fans of Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert descend on Washington, DC, for joint October 30 rallies on the National Mall, they will find plenty of portable toilets in the area but no way to access them. That’s because the U.S. ... read more
Border Fence is Good for the Environment: Leo Banks
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club might want to take a second look at the use of fences and barriers along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, writes journalist Leo Banks. The Sierra Club has been opposed to border fences, but the use ... read more
Philippines Bill Criminalizes Improper Singing of National Anthem
The national anthem of the Philippines should be sung one way and one way only, according to some lawmakers. The country’s national legislature is considering a bill that would criminalize the “improper” singing of the national anthem, “Lupang H... read more
Ban on Texting while Driving Leads to More Crashes, Not Less
Anti-texting laws don’t work, says the Highway Loss Data Institute, a research group funded by the automobile insurance industry. After reviewing accident reports from four states that outlawed sending text messages while driving, the institute ... read more
Nickels and Pre-1982 Pennies are Worth More than Their Face Value
Thanks to rises in metal prices in recent years, nickels and some pennies are worth more than their face value. Nickels, which have been made up of 25% nickel and 75% copper since 1946, are today worth 5.9 cents apiece. But the real deal is with... read more
Congress Passes Bill to Force Government Agencies to Use Plain Language in Public Documents
Jargon needs to go, says Congress, which adopted legislation this week requiring the federal government to use clear language in public documents.
Sponsored in the Senate by Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), the Plain Wr... read more
Mexican City Aims to be First to Use Widespread Eye Scanning Technology
The future is now in León, Mexico, which plans to become the first city to rely on iris and face-scanning technologies for everything from crime fighting to banking. The city of approximately one million citizens has contracted with Global Rainm... read more
Germany Finally Pays Off War Debt…From World War I
More than 90 years since the conclusion of fighting, Germany on October 3 will finally pay off the last of its reparations that were imposed by the Allies after World War I ended.
The 1919 Treaty of Versailles set the reparations, which went... read more
Gettysburg Battle Monument May be Moved after Repeated Hits from Bad Drivers
Park officials in Pennsylvania are toying with the idea of moving a monument dedicated to the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg because motorists keep crashing into it. The memorial, known as the 74th Pennsylvania Monument, is situated only 10 feet from... read more
Most Americans Wish U.S. was Like Sweden
Americans really want to live like they’re in Sweden, even if they don’t realize it.
Researchers from Harvard and Duke Universities surveyed a group of Americans on the subject of income inequality and found people’s preferred model of wealt... read more
Texas Board of Education Attacks Non-Existent Pro-Islamic Textbooks
In an effort to remove what’s not really there, the Texas Board of Education wants to rid “pro-Islamic bias” from school textbooks that don’t contain such material.
“There’s a lot of people that think that, and I think rightfully so, that th... read more
Blondes, God and the Meaning of Life
To commemorate its 10th anniversary in existence, the search engine Ask Jeeves, which is now known as Ask.com, has produced a top 10 of “unanswerables,” based on the frequency that visitors to the website have asked certain questions. After sort... read more