Unusual News
Pagans Given Worship Site at Air Force Academy
As part of its effort to make the school more tolerant of different beliefs, the U.S. Air Force Academy has agreed to recognize an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers. The academy superintendent, Lie... read more
Google Street View Captures Crime in Action
Authorities in Canada have been reluctant to embrace Google’s street-view cameras, out of concern over privacy rights violations. But law enforcement in Vancouver was aided last year by the cameras when one of them captured a property owner illega... read more
You Can Tell a Democrat or Republican by His or Her Face
Who says you can’t tell a (partisan) book by its cover. Two researchers from Tufts University
argue that Republicans and Democrats can be distinguished by certain facial characteristics. In one study, participants were able to accurately choose D... read more
Convicted of Dancing in Honor of Thomas Jefferson
Dancing is not considered a form of free speech, at least not when it’s being done at the Jefferson Memorial. After being arrested for gyrating along with some friends at the monument in April 2008, Mary Brook Oberwetter, 28, filed a lawsuit again... read more
Human Sacrifice Still Alive in Uganda
Human sacrifice is on the increase in Uganda and children are the main victims. According to a BBC investigation, the problem may be more common than authorities have acknowledged. The head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce believes ... read more
Convicted Terrorist Murderer Sues to Protect His Reputation
Film directors aren’t the only ones who insist on final cut. From his prison cell, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal, is suing a French film company making a documentary about the terrorist who was the most famous of his kind back in... read more
Six Republicans Vote Against Deficit Bill They Sponsored
Congress often is loath to make tough fiscal decisions that may spur anger from constituents, which is why a plan was devised to create a special bipartisan commission that would craft a solution to reduce the nation’s ballooning deficit. But when... read more
Iowa Hotel Clerk Fired for not Having Midwest Girl Look
Being compared to Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t go over well with Heartland Inns of America. The hotel chain fired clerk Brenna Lewis because she was considered too masculine looking and lacked “the Midwestern girl look.” Lewis sued her former employer,... read more
How to Defend the Earth from Flying Objects
In order to protect the earth from devastating collisions with objects from outer space, scientists must first know what’s out there—which may take longer than anticipated unless the federal government appropriates more money. This finding is one ... read more
First Movie Made by Chimpanzees to be Shown on BBC-TV
British television is set to make history on January 27 when it airs the first movie filmed entirely by chimpanzees. The film is the product of an 18-month research project by primatologist Betsy Herrelko, who filmed her 11 subjects through “Chimp... read more
Loser of Romanian Election Claims He was Defeated by Negative Energy Waves
Mircea Geoana, candidate for president of Romania and former Romanian ambassador to the United States, has accused his rival, incumbent Traian Basescu, of employing a parapsychologist who directed a “negative energy attack” against Geoana. Geoana ... read more
Supreme Court Decision Shakes up 2012 Presidential Race; Poll Shows New Leaders
The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right of “personhood” for corporations and unions, and allowing them unlimited spending in elections appears to have had an immediate effect on the next presidential contest in 2012.
Previous pol... read more
First Live Tweet from Outer Space—For Real This Time
An American astronaut orbiting high above the earth has posted the first ever message to Twitter—for real, this time. Thanks to the installation of new software aboard the International Space Station, astronaut T.J. Creamer managed to post a messa... read more
World’s Oldest Light Bulb Still in Use after 108 Years
In this age of energy efficiency, it is comforting to know that the world’s longest burning light bulb has been around since just after the turn of the century—the 20th century that is. At the Livermore-Pleasanton fire station No. 6 in Northern Ca... read more
Atlanta Beats Out Burlington, Vermont, as Gayest City in U.S.
Using what it calls a “completely unscientific but accurate statistical equation,” the Advocate
magazine has compiled a list of the 15 gayest cities in the United States. The point of the ranking is to show how homosexuals are continuing to becom... read more
Winning Wildlife Photographer Disqualified for Using Trained Wolf
Photographer José Luis Rodríguez has been stripped of his award as Wildlife Photographer of the Year, presented by the Natural History Museum of London and BBC Wildlife Magazine, after judges concluded Rodríguez used a trained wolf for his winning... read more