Weird News Stories
Post weird news stories from around the world here.

Naturally, I'll start.

A bad word? Text message someone an article with the word "gay" in the title from the New York Times' mobile website, and they may be a bit confused as to what you're sending them. That's because the service replaces every instance of "gay" in a headline with the word "beep". My friend Al sent a message to me on New Years Eve containing a link to Frank Rich's recent column about Rick Warren, and it arrived with the headline "You're Likable Enough, 'beep' People." Subsequent attempts using different articles turned up the same results. Click image, as it appeared on my iPhone above, to enlarge. Now while I wouldn't be surprised if Rick Warren thought of me as a "beep" person, I'd expect better from the New York Times. I would demand that they change it. I've sent a feedback email to the paper. Will let you know what I hear. [source]

...Seriously, what? Coming from the NYT, that seems ridiculous. I'm thinking it's probably just a case of poorly thought out censorship, but I'm still amazed.

Quote:

Two German children - aged five and six - have been stopped by police from eloping to Africa to tie the knot in the sun, reports say. The budding lovebirds, identified as Mika and Anna-Lena, packed bathing costumes, sunglasses and a lilo and headed for the airport. They even had the presence of mind to invite along an official witness - Anna-Lena's seven-year-old sister. The three got as far as Hanover railway station before police intervened. The young couple were "very much in love" and had decided to get married in Africa "where it is warm", police spokesman Holger Jureczko told the AFP news agency.

More at the BBC

This made me laugh. They were travelling without passports or money.

Quote:

Might As Well Reserve Him a Death-Row Cell Right Now: According to a November sheriff's department report, an 11-year-old, Fort Pierce, Fla., boy hit his mother with a saw during an argument, lacerating her skull, and then, as she threatened to call police, offered her a $5 bribe not to. The mother said the kid had previously threatened to cut his 19-year-old pregnant sister's abdomen, "to give her a C-section," and once tried to use hair spray and a cigarette lighter to torch the family's cat. [Scripps TCPalm (Stuart, Fla.), 11-13-08]

Wow this kid is like seriously psycho, I'm not even kidding this kid is one of the future muderers of america. Wowza.

Ech. He's also eleven, which means it's too early to diagnose him with anything but sociopathic tendencies. The "might as well reserve him a death-row cell right now" bit is, well, a bit much. The real question, though, is why the child hasn't been removed from that home given his past history of threats and abuse. I'm not saying the family is ever 100% responsible for creating a monster, but I think in a case like this, it's at least worth removing him from the family and hoping for an improvement. The alternative is he only gets worse.

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka “Joe the Plumber,” is currently in Israel covering the war for the conservative site PJTV.com. When asked what he has learned from his new experiences as a journalist, Wurzelbacher said that he believes the media shouldn’t be allowed to do “reporting” on wars. from vetvoice.com & thinkprogress.org

It goes on and on with his quotes and everything, but this is the weird news thread. Joe the Plumber as an international correspondent- hell, Joe the Plumber knowing there's a country outside of the US of A- seems weird to me.

"When new moms feel anxious and lost about how to deal with their new babies, Hello Kitty can make them more relaxed and reduce their sense of discomfort while giving birth," said Tsai. Hello Kitty Hospital! In Taiwan!

Not going to lie, I think that themed hospitals are a brilliant marketing idea.

...But Hello Kitty? For new moms, not little kids? Especially during labor? Maybe if they were using Hello Kitty as a punching bag.

I just hope they don't have a psychiatric ward because giant Hello Kitty faces everywhere wouldn't be conducive to ones mental health.

Sometimes, words just don't suffice. Alternate universe, much?

Told McDonald’s was out of Chicken McNuggets after paying for a 10-piece meal, a local woman called 911. Three times. “This is an emergency, If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one,” Latreasa L. Goodman told police. “This is an emergency.”

srsly