Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
As consumers appear to lose their collective minds on "Black Friday" including 100 people in Canada who camped out overnight to get a free chicken sandwich every week for a year, we bring you a round-up of some other news items, stories and events which you may have missed
- There has been outrage, riots and accusations of cheating in Zimbabwe as the 42 year old, unemployed, toothless, bald and gurning winner of the "4th Annual Mister Ugly" pageant has been deemed too heart-throbbingly handsome to come first
- The opposite of political correctness gone haywire? In Georgia Sheriff Mike Jolley has been equally praised and criticised for erecting a sign outside the department building reading "Warning: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say: Merry Christmas, God Bless America and In God We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you. Leave!"
- An animal rights group in America is suing the Baton Rouge Amusement Park for routinely allowing a chimpanzee to smoke cigarettes, drink coca-cola and eat chocolate & sweets which are all thrown at it by members of the public
- Oh the delicious irony! Karl Jensen has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after he was caught on CCTV using a fishing rod to smuggle a McMuffin into Wormwood Scrubs, along with drugs, a knife and alcohol
- The cost of crime... Bungling burglars in Germany have caused in excess of E50,000 damage to an apartment block after trying to break into an ATM with a stolen digger and ended up collapsing a wall, leaving 6 apartments open to the elements
- Researchers from University of North Carolina have sequenced the genome of tardigrade and found it contains 17.5% foreign DNA making the water-dwelling, eight-legged micro-animal the toughest creature on Earth, which also happens to be the only animal known to be able to survive the tough conditions of outer space
- Fair Warning: Don't click the link if you're in any way squeamish! In a bizarre million-to-one accident in Lincolnshire, a very unfortunate Jack Russell named Basil (Fawlty?) got his manhood speared by a stick! Though successfully removed by the vet, it's still a mystery how he got it up there in the first place>
- It's an asteroid! It's fragments of a planet! No! It's an alien megastructure! While astronomers have known since 2011 that something was blocking the view from earth of "the dimming star" named KIC 8462852, no one was quite sure what. It's now understood to be a swarm of comets
- If you think you're having a bad week, spare a thought for Alexander Bernstein who missed Thanksgiving with his family and spent 29 days in jail after police mistook home-made soap for cocaine! He is now suing for in excess of $150,000 in damages
- Finally, as we edge ever closer to the potentially cringe-worthy alcohol-induced antics of the Christmas party season, it may be a relief for some to know that scientists believe around 2% of us are cursed with a "drunk & disorderly gene" which could go a long way in explaining that awkward kiss with a colleague, inappropriate dancing or heated exchange with the boss!