News of the Weird / Plus, June 16, 2015
News of the Weird / Plus
June 16, 2015 (Part 2) [weird stuff that made me excited (frightened) (ROTFL) (appalled) last week, some of which will appear in News of the Weird soon] [Part 1 on Monday, Part 2 on Tuesday]
Rehab Will Be Difficult: Laquanda Newby, 25, left her kids (age 1 and 6) locked in a hot car for, at least, more than an hour while she went into the Henrico County (Va.) Courthouse . . to plead guilty to earlier leaving her children locked in a hot car. WTVR-TV (Richmond)
Why You Need a Lawyer: Luis Cruz. 46, arrested in Springfield, Mass., pleaded for pre-trial release, promising show up for trial . . but, the judge, noting Cruz’s 52-page rap sheet demurred. “But, Yr Honor,” said court-appointed lawyer Anna Levine, there are no charges whatsoever for skipping court! “It’s a 52-page record for showing up!” The Republican (Springfield)
Because They Can: The “typical” U.S. hospital, researchers say, writes out patient bills 3.4 times higher than the “actual” cost of services, but a Johns Hopkins study ID’d 50 hospitals that charge more than 10x the cost. Well, sure, many patients only pay the insurance price, and some tear-jerking patients get comp’ed in, but if the hospital can get 10x, it will, or 9x, or 8x, or 7x, or 6x, or 5x, or 4x . . .. Washington Post
The F State: (1) Patrick Lanier failed to move product--a live shark he wanted $100 for on the sidewalk in front of the Publix supermarket in Fort Lauderdale. (2) A truck hauling sharks for amusement park tanks crashed near Daytona. (3) A Fort Lauderdale homeowner called a plumber to come get the iguana out of her toilet. (Bonus: Plumber was the one letting out the bloodcurdling scream.) WSVN-TV (Miami) /// MyNews13 (Orlando) /// WSVN-TV
Aussie researchers at Queensland University of Technology found some previously undiscovered marsupial species in which the males screw themselves to death in coital frenzy, and hypothesize that it’s all a female plot. (That is, the ladies are wise about food supply and orchestrate their mating to make sure they eat, creating mega-competition among males, elevating their stress level to defcon-5, and they die.) Queensland University of Technology press release via Washington Post
Ewwwwwwww! Was it really necessary, when reporting the medical case of Mr. He of Dongyang, China, with 420 kidney stones, to run a photo of a pan full of kidney stones? (Bonus: And tell us that the Guinness World Record for kidney-stone removal is [ewwwwwwwww!] 172,155.) (Suspicion Confirmed: Doctors speculated that Mr. He’s problem might have been too much tofu.) BBC News
Seemingly, Japanese entrepreneurs and engineers are working very hard to save society from pesky face-to-face interpersonal relationships. Behold the Hugvie, which resembles the little fellow E.T. as a pillow but with no facial or bodily details . . and with a slot you can stick your cell phone into. The ideas is that you can hug, or hump, or whatever, the Hugvie while your love interest talks to you (and on the subject of “talk,” the Japanese already have a workaround, with pre-recorded intimacy modules). (In other news, the Japanese government is worried that latest numbers show as many as a fourth of 30-and-older’s are virgins. Well, duh.) Phys.org /// Daily Telegraph (London)
June 16, 2015 (Part 2) [weird stuff that made me excited (frightened) (ROTFL) (appalled) last week, some of which will appear in News of the Weird soon] [Part 1 on Monday, Part 2 on Tuesday]
Rehab Will Be Difficult: Laquanda Newby, 25, left her kids (age 1 and 6) locked in a hot car for, at least, more than an hour while she went into the Henrico County (Va.) Courthouse . . to plead guilty to earlier leaving her children locked in a hot car. WTVR-TV (Richmond)
Why You Need a Lawyer: Luis Cruz. 46, arrested in Springfield, Mass., pleaded for pre-trial release, promising show up for trial . . but, the judge, noting Cruz’s 52-page rap sheet demurred. “But, Yr Honor,” said court-appointed lawyer Anna Levine, there are no charges whatsoever for skipping court! “It’s a 52-page record for showing up!” The Republican (Springfield)
Because They Can: The “typical” U.S. hospital, researchers say, writes out patient bills 3.4 times higher than the “actual” cost of services, but a Johns Hopkins study ID’d 50 hospitals that charge more than 10x the cost. Well, sure, many patients only pay the insurance price, and some tear-jerking patients get comp’ed in, but if the hospital can get 10x, it will, or 9x, or 8x, or 7x, or 6x, or 5x, or 4x . . .. Washington Post
The F State: (1) Patrick Lanier failed to move product--a live shark he wanted $100 for on the sidewalk in front of the Publix supermarket in Fort Lauderdale. (2) A truck hauling sharks for amusement park tanks crashed near Daytona. (3) A Fort Lauderdale homeowner called a plumber to come get the iguana out of her toilet. (Bonus: Plumber was the one letting out the bloodcurdling scream.) WSVN-TV (Miami) /// MyNews13 (Orlando) /// WSVN-TV
Aussie researchers at Queensland University of Technology found some previously undiscovered marsupial species in which the males screw themselves to death in coital frenzy, and hypothesize that it’s all a female plot. (That is, the ladies are wise about food supply and orchestrate their mating to make sure they eat, creating mega-competition among males, elevating their stress level to defcon-5, and they die.) Queensland University of Technology press release via Washington Post
Ewwwwwwww! Was it really necessary, when reporting the medical case of Mr. He of Dongyang, China, with 420 kidney stones, to run a photo of a pan full of kidney stones? (Bonus: And tell us that the Guinness World Record for kidney-stone removal is [ewwwwwwwww!] 172,155.) (Suspicion Confirmed: Doctors speculated that Mr. He’s problem might have been too much tofu.) BBC News
Seemingly, Japanese entrepreneurs and engineers are working very hard to save society from pesky face-to-face interpersonal relationships. Behold the Hugvie, which resembles the little fellow E.T. as a pillow but with no facial or bodily details . . and with a slot you can stick your cell phone into. The ideas is that you can hug, or hump, or whatever, the Hugvie while your love interest talks to you (and on the subject of “talk,” the Japanese already have a workaround, with pre-recorded intimacy modules). (In other news, the Japanese government is worried that latest numbers show as many as a fourth of 30-and-older’s are virgins. Well, duh.) Phys.org /// Daily Telegraph (London)
Comments
Rehab - no rehab, remove the children
52-page record for showing up - I love it. Should've been released.
Hospitals - with all the governmental control of medicine, why don't they tell doctors/hospitals that they have to charge the same amount to everyone, whatever the insurance company or uninsured? Instead they foist the Obamacare boondoggle on us.
Marsupials - sounds like a lot of people today, who can't help having sex with students, interns, cleaning lady, etc. Even if they lose their job and family.
Tofu - the stuff will kill ya.
Japanese - the robots will save them.
52-page record for showing up - I love it. Should've been released.
Hospitals - with all the governmental control of medicine, why don't they tell doctors/hospitals that they have to charge the same amount to everyone, whatever the insurance company or uninsured? Instead they foist the Obamacare boondoggle on us.
Marsupials - sounds like a lot of people today, who can't help having sex with students, interns, cleaning lady, etc. Even if they lose their job and family.
Tofu - the stuff will kill ya.
Japanese - the robots will save them.
Posted by RobK on 06/16/15 at 11:49 AM
NOTW plus. Todays edition just fills me with joy about all the wonderful, weird, strange, crazy ,wild stupid things that surround us. After listing to the various wing nut, aspiring to be presidential candidates babbling on about things they know nothing about WU provides some sort of sanity and calm. At least most of WU news is true to some extent.
Posted by Gator Guy on 06/17/15 at 08:03 PM
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