Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
EP brings you a brief round-up of some of the news items which were perhaps as surprising as they were enlightening
- "It was all the fish's fault”, a Wisconsin man with nine drunk-driving convictions told officers when he was stopped for driving erratically. According to a police incident report, John Przybyla had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, but when a deputy asked the 75-year-old how much he had had to drink, Przybyla claimed he had only eaten beer-battered fish.
- Bringing a whole new (literal) meaning to the expression "burning through money" in China one company is burning scrap banknotes to generate electricity
- Ben Chudley, 28, of Portsmouth, popped the question on Facebook by spelling out "will you marry me" with a GPS tracking app's map function. He said he enjoys using his GPS running app to create "Urban Pictionary" drawings and messages while out running and he decided to use the app to ask girlfriend Olivia Abdul for her hand in marriage. She happily accepted the proposal.
- A British chef has created the world's healthiest Christmas dinner- a three-course festive feast with fewer calories than a single bowl of mixed nuts. Gurpareet Bains' Guilt-Free Gala contains a total of just 930 calories, more than two-thirds less than the classic lunch.
- A hallucinogenic fungi has been found growing in the Queen’s garden at Buckingham Palace after being discovered by gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh. Later he commented: “That was a surprise but it shows just how varied the species are. I won’t be eating any of that, though, no. My idea of hard drugs is Nurofen.”
- A clothes shop in Beijing has caused an outcry after putting up a sign banning Chinese customers which reads: "Chinese not admitted, except for staff". By way of explanation, one of the shop's employees says some Chinese customers are "too annoying" and that "Chinese women often try lots of clothes but end up buying nothing."
- Using toy guns, a 12-year-old boy and his 13-year-old accomplice tried to rob a bank in Israel but fled without any cash after apparently losing their nerve.
- North Korea has ordered people who share the name of leader Kim Jong Un to change their names. North Korea imposed similar bans on the use of the names of its two former leaders, Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, as part of propaganda drives to build cults of personality around them.
- GOOD DEED FEED! Two years ago Pittsburgh Detective Jack Mook, 45, grew suspicious when two young boys who used to frequent the boxing gym at which he volunteered stopped showing up for training. Determined to make sure all was well, he went in search of the youngsters and was devastated to find them living in squalor with their drug-addicted parents. There and then he took the brothers into his own care, bringing them into the centre of his hitherto bachelor lifestyle. Earlier this week the kind-hearted policeman officially adopted the young boys as his own sons
- For Hitler is was stuffed baby pigeon, Gaddafi could always be tempted by Italian pastries & pasta and Malawi’s long-time leader Hastings Banda ate dried mopane worms (the caterpillar of the emperor moth) as a snack! The list of the favourite dishes of the World's Dictators makes for an interesting, if not particularly useful read