Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 169

Viagra's Hidden
Uses: Diet Pill,
Cancer Fighter?

Viagra's Hidden Uses: Diet Pill, Cancer Fighter?

In mice, drug shows potential beyond ED

(Newser) - Viagra may have a future well beyond erectile dysfunction. Someday, we could perhaps see it prescribed for weight loss—or even to combat cancer, in combination with green tea. Scientists know that mice have lower rates of obesity, despite fatty diets, when they're on the drug. Now, researchers in...

New Workout
Trend Uses ...
High Heels

Feb 1, 2013 2:45 PM CST

New Workout Trend Uses ... High Heels

Wall Street Journal says 'heel hop' is catching on

(Newser) - It might seem a little more logical for women to slip off their heels to do some dancing, but the Wall Street Journal says a new fitness trend requires precisely the opposite. Called things like "heel hop" or "stiletto fitness," the classes are offered in a handful...

County Clerk
Issues Epic 6-Page
Dress Code

Feb 1, 2013 1:33 PM CST

County Clerk Issues Epic 6-Page Dress Code

Employees bewildered by detailed doc

(Newser) - One Florida county clerk has some very specific ideas about how his 160 employees should dress. Osceola County boss Armando Ramirez has issued an incredibly detailed six-page dress code prohibiting everything from ankle-high boots (when worn with dresses and skirts, that is) to sequins to stirrup pants, the Orlando Sentinel...

Pastor Sorry After Tip Snub
Costs Waitress Her Job

Feb 1, 2013 12:59 PM CST

Pastor Sorry After Tip Snub Costs Waitress Her Job

Applebee's fires server who posted receipt online

(Newser) - A St. Louis pastor tells the Smoking Gun she is "heartbroken" over the brouhaha that erupted online this week over a tip she refused to leave. It was a "lapse in my character and judgment," Alois Bell says of the incident that resulted in an Applebee's...

Court: Iceland Teen Can Use Her Own Name

Iceland Teen Can Use
'Unapproved' Name

says court

Feb 1, 2013 5:00 AM CST

Iceland Teen Can Use 'Unapproved' Name

'Blaer,' meaning 'light breeze,' wasn't on list of OK names

(Newser) - An Icelandic 15-year-old whose name had been, for all official purposes, just "Girl," has won a lawsuit to keep her given name. Iceland's government had held that she couldn't use the name Blaer because it wasn't on the country's approved-name list, which rules out...

Internet
Saves This
'Gay' Dog

Jan 31, 2013 1:57 PM CST

Internet Saves This 'Gay' Dog

Facebook campaign goes viral, prevents euthanasia

(Newser) - The Internet came together to save a dog after his owner dumped him at a Tennessee shelter ... because he thought the dog was gay. A picture of the bulldog, who was in danger of being euthanized, was posted to Facebook in an attempt to find an adopter. "He hunched...

Homeland Security Tip:
Fend Off Shooter
With Scissors

Jan 31, 2013 8:21 AM CST

Homeland Security Tip: Fend Off Shooter With Scissors

Video provides advice on protection in a mass shooting

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security has released a video advising Americans on how to deal with a mass shooting—and some of its tips have the New York Post scratching its head. For instance, the video suggests that "if you are caught out in the open and cannot conceal...

Artist Hides
$12K Check
in Gallery

Jan 30, 2013 10:29 AM CST

Artist Hides $12K Check in Gallery

Find it, and reap the riches

(Newser) - This is one way to fund the arts. A British artist has hidden a check in the amount of about $12,600 in an art gallery in the town of Milton Keynes, with the "To" line blank. Find it by March 1, and your name will be inserted, reports...

Giant Sinkhole
Eats Buildings
in China

Jan 30, 2013 9:30 AM CST

Giant Sinkhole Eats Buildings in China

No injuries, but deep hole is still growing

(Newser) - This brings new meaning to the phrase "shop 'til you drop." Five stores and one building were swallowed by a giant sinkhole in Guangzhou, China, yesterday, and the collapse was caught on video, reports the Christian Science Monitor . All of the approximately 300 people inside were evacuated...

America's Most Fascinating Nickel Set to Fetch Millions

Jan 29, 2013 3:44 PM CST

America's Most Fascinating Nickel Set to Fetch Millions

Liberty Head was illegally cast, deemed fake. Now it's for sale

(Newser) - A humble five-cent coin with a storied past is headed to auction a century after it was mysteriously minted, and bidding is expected to top $2 million. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five known to exist, but it's the coin's back story that adds...

Man Murdered After GPS Takes Him to Wrong House

Jan 29, 2013 9:31 AM CST

Man Murdered After GPS Takes Him to Wrong House

Phillip Walker Sailors thought it was a home invasion: lawyer

(Newser) - There are wacky GPS mistakes and then there are tragic ones. A Georgia man died after being shot in the head Saturday night after his GPS reportedly directed him to the wrong house. WSBTV reports that Rodrigo Abad Diaz, 22, was driving three passengers to a friend's house, where...

DA: Ex-49er
Savagely Beat Ex-Boyfriend Over Underwear

Jan 29, 2013 1:50 AM CST

DA: Ex-49er Savagely Beat Ex-Boyfriend Over Underwear

Kwame Harris charged with domestic violence

(Newser) - Former 49ers and Raiders offensive lineman Kwame Harris appears to have been outed as gay in spectacularly bad fashion, Deadspin reports. Harris has been charged with domestic violence and assault after allegedly beating up an ex-boyfriend in a dispute that started over food and ending up with Harris giving the...

Manholes Spout Fire
in Downtown Omaha

Jan 28, 2013 7:03 PM CST

Manholes Spout Fire in Downtown Omaha

Electrical fire causes underground explosions

(Newser) - Talk about pyrotechnics: Several manhole covers in downtown Omaha popped their lids and spouted fire last night after an electrical blaze caused underground explosions, Gawker reports. What's more, a local resident somehow snapped a photo of the moment. Omaha public workers were still trying to restore power downtown this...

Boy Survives 9 Weeks in Wild; Has Leeches All Over

Jan 28, 2013 6:37 PM CST

Boy Survives 9 Weeks in Wild; Has Leeches All Over

Matthew Allen, 18, had gangrene when hikers found him

(Newser) - An Australian teenager who wanted to "run away from his life" survived nearly 9 weeks in the bush near Sydney before being discovered by hikers, Perth Now reports. Matthew Allen, 18, was highly disoriented, partly blinded, covered in leeches, and suffering from gangrene when first responders winched him to...

North Koreans
Eating Their
Own Kids:
Reports

Jan 28, 2013 5:05 PM CST

North Koreans Eating Their Own Kids: Reports

Cannibalism on the rise amid food shortage, informants say

(Newser) - Rumors of cannibalism are emerging from North Korea during a food shortage that may have killed 10,000 people last year, Global Post reports. In one gruesome tale, authorities allegedly executed a father for killing and eating two of his kids: "While his wife was away on business he...

Woman Shoots Ex
Off Hood of Her Car

Jan 28, 2013 2:52 PM CST

Woman Shoots Ex Off Hood of Her Car

...where he'd clung angrily for 10 miles

(Newser) - What a way to end it: A Florida woman fatally shot the father of her three children after he had clung to the hood of her car for 10 miles, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Nikki McNeil, 33, reportedly got into a dispute with her ex, 36-year-old Lamar Tucker, when she dropped...

Guy Starts Robbery, Changes Mind, Gets Free Pizza

He breaks down, says family is hungry

(Newser) - A man who apparently summoned the courage to rob a Montana pizzeria changed his mind as the clerk started to hand him money, broke down crying, and ended up leaving with a pizza to feed his hungry family. Just after midnight one night this week, a man wearing a hooded...

Iran Rolls Out
'Finger-Chopping Machine'

Jan 27, 2013 5:54 PM CST

Iran Rolls Out 'Finger-Chopping Machine'

New device an attempt to quell protest: activist

(Newser) - After publicly hanging two muggers , Iran has released photos of an apparent finger-chopping machine used for punishing criminals. The four images show a convicted robber and adulterer losing a finger before he is sentenced to 99 lashes and three years in prison, according to state media. But he shows no...

School Cans Guy Over
Moose-Butchering Fantasy

School Cans Guy Over Moose-Butchering Fantasy

John DeWind claims he was just trying to be funny. He failed.

(Newser) - This may just be the weirdest story of the week: A Columbia University-trained educator was booted from his volunteer gig at a Brooklyn school because he emailed a female teacher ... about butchering a moose. John DeWind, 64, tells DNAinfo.com he was just trying to show the teacher an example...

Irish County:
Drinking and Driving
OK on Rural Roads

Irish County: Drinking and Driving OK on Rural Roads

By coincidence, Kerry politician who introduced measure is a pub owner

(Newser) - Ireland's scenic County Kerry wants police to lighten up on this drinking-and-driving thing. The Kerry council backed a measure this week to allow people in rural areas to be able to knock back "two or three" pints at the local pub and drive home worry-free, reports the Guardian...

strange stuff

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