Abaddon's Weird News of the World!

[madviking]

let me borrow uncle bob's plutonium!

 

[Formaldehyde]

The assignment should have been to bring a totally safe element to class, which is actually quite difficult to do. Most elements can react in extremely negative ways given the proper conditions. Even aluminum can create extremely exothermic reactions in the presence of common chemicals:


Link to video.


Link to video.

Even an inert element like helium could kill someone if it displaced enough air in their immediate vicinity, or they tried to breath it long enough. Diamonds would be relatively safe, but what if someone grabbed and swallowed it? It could cause a large amount of damage to their alimentary canal.

It is a small wonder that school children these days are allowed to bring anything to class with them. Even their own clothes could catch fire and threaten the safety of themselves and others.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Serbian village afraid of now homeless vampire.

For the people in a tiny Serbian village there is nothing sexy or romantic about a vampire. In fact, they are terrified that one of the most feared vampires of the area has been roused back to life.

Rather than 'Twilight's' Edward, the people of Zorazje fear that Sava Savanovic is lurking in their forested mountains of western Serbia.

They believe that he is on the move because the home he occupied for so long, a former water mill, recently collapsed. Savanovic is believed to be looking for a new home.

"People are very worried. Everybody knows the legend of this vampire and the thought that he is now homeless and looking for somewhere else and possibly other victims is terrifying people," Miodrag Vujetic, local municipal assembly member, told ABC News. "We are all frightened."

Vujetic said villagers "are all taking precautions by having holy crosses and icons placed above the entrance to the house, rubbing our hands with garlic, and having a hawthorn stake or thorn."

"I understand that people who live elsewhere in Serbia are laughing at our fears, but here most people have no doubt that vampires exist," he says.

According to legend, Savanovic would kill and drink the blood of the peasants who came to grind their grain at his watermill on the Rogacica River. Tour groups from around the Balkans would come to see the mill. But even tourism had its limits.

"We were welcoming tourists, but only during the day. Nobody ever overnighted there," said Slobodan Jagodic, whose family owned the mill for over 60 years.

"We were too scared to repair it, not to disturb Sava Savanovic," says Jagodic. "It's even worse now that it collapsed due to lack of repair."

 

[madviking]

The assignment should have been to bring a totally safe element to class, which is actually quite difficult to do. Most elements can react in extremely negative ways given the proper conditions. Even aluminum can create extremely exothermic reactions in the presence of common chemicals:


Link to video.


Link to video.

Even an inert element like helium could kill someone if it displaced enough air in their immediate vicinity, or they tried to breath it long enough. Diamonds would be relatively safe, but what if someone grabbed and swallowed it? It could cause a large amount of damage to their alimentary canal.

It is a small wonder that school children these days are allowed to bring anything to class with them. Even their own clothes could catch fire and threaten the safety of themselves and others.

No, I know, I'm a chemist chemical engineer.

 

[GamezRule]

No, I know, I'm a chemist chemical engineer student.

ftfy.

 

[Formaldehyde]

LA teacher accused of feeding elementary school children his semen over the course of five years:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles Unified School District hopes to settle 189 legal actions by late January in a case involving a former elementary teacher accused of lewd acts with students that were so shocking, they prompted the district to remove all employees at the school while it did a thorough investigation.
The number of claimants stemming from the case is unprecedented in the nation's second-largest school district, where lawsuits allege officials did nothing to protect children from the Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of feeding students semen-laced cookies in what he called "tasting games."

Former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso is overseeing the mediation process that involves 16 law firms representing 126 students and 63 parents and guardians, said the district's general counsel, David Holmquist.

Two lawyers representing 26 of the 189 students and parents announced Wednesday they were not participating in the mediation and were instead filing separate lawsuits. Lawyers Martha Escutia and John Manly filed four lawsuits this week, bringing the total number of suits against the district in the case to eight. They said they plan to file 22 more as soon as they can.

The litigation stems from the January arrest of former Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewdness for allegedly feeding students semen-laced cookies over five years.

After his arrest, investigators found several hundred photos of children participating in Berndt's "tasting games," which involved blindfolding children with cockroaches on their faces, biting into cookies laced with a milky-white substance and being spoon-fed a similar liquid. Investigators said the substance appeared to be Berndt's semen.

In an unprecedented move, the district removed all employees at the school while it investigated how Berndt's alleged actions went undetected for so long. The employees were allowed to return to the school, or others, this semester.

The district has assigned 16 psychiatric social workers to Miramonte and surrounding schools, where former students may be located, and has several support programs for parents, said Pia Escudero, director of school mental health and crisis counseling. Attendance at the school is 97 percent.

 

[Formaldehyde]

"Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly wrong.”

Activists Missing After Declaring “War on Leather” at Motorcycle Rally

Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside several fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials.

“Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly wrong.”

The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activist groups, “growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats,” decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it…ergo, they should stop.”

According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960′s era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began.

“They peed on me!!!” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’, and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!”
“I…I was trying to show my outrage at a man with a heavy leather jacket, and he…he didn’t even care. I called him a murderer, and all he said was, ‘You can’t prove that.’ Next thing I know he forced me to ride on the back of his motorcycle all day, and would not let me off, because his girl friend was out of town and I was almost a woman.”

Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads.”
Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations.

“That’s preposterous,” said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.”

When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.

 

[Agent327]

Definite lol.

 

[Optical]

Novak Djokovic has bought the entire world supply of donkey cheese.

Some might think this is udderly asinine - but it's true.

Novak Djokovic, the champion Serbian tennis player, has bought the world's entire supply of donkey cheese.

Pule is a Serbian delicacy made with donkey's milk. It is said to be the world's most expensive cheese, which makes Djokovic's bill all the more exorbitant.

The crumbly, white cheese sells for €1000 ($1550) a kg, but it's unclear exactly how much the world number one has bought.

Djokovic is behind a new chain of restaurants set to open in his home country and he wanted to shore up enough to guarantee continued supply.

Pule has just one producer, a farm about an hour west of Belgrade, and each kilogram requires 25 litres of donkey milk.

 

[DroopyTofu]

Some might think this is udderly asinine - but it's true.

That's gotta be intentional.

 

[Optical]

Y'know, I didn't actually spot that the first time.

 

[Lord Baal]

Y'know, I didn't actually spot that the first time.

Nor did I.

 

[Agent327]

I did... a bit predictable. News headline makers do it all the time. News with a pun is such fun.

 

[Quintillus]

Man eats 28 raw eggs and dies

A 20-year-old man in Tunisia died after eating 28 raw eggs in a bet with friends.

The man reportedly ate more than two dozen eggs in one sitting after friends dared him to do it. Shortly after swallowing the raw eggs, the man complained of severe stomach pains and was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

As a commenter on one of the articles noted, this may be Darwin Award worthy.

 

[Lord Baal]

Man eats 28 raw eggs and dies



As a commenter on one of the articles noted, this may be Darwin Award worthy.

That's a winner for sure.

 

[Yeekim]

That's a winner for sure.

Why? As noted in the article, cause of death has not been established. Could be totally unrelated.

Afaik Darwin awards are given for people who do things which most of us would immediately realize are extremely dangerous, not merely... unconventional. I for one would not have guessed one could die from eating 28 raw eggs. Possible salmonella infection and/or indigestion is the worst result I'd fear...

An average egg is something like 50 grams. 28 eggs - 1,4 kg or ~50 ounces. There are restaurants which regularly offer steaks of that size.
(edit: and apparently, even larger).

 

[madviking]

He probably died of turboSalmonella.

 

[Lord Baal]

Why? As noted in the article, cause of death has not been established. Could be totally unrelated.

Afaik Darwin awards are given for people who do things which most of us would immediately realize are extremely dangerous, not merely... unconventional. I for one would not have guessed one could die from eating 28 raw eggs. Possible salmonella infection and/or indigestion is the worst result I'd fear...

An average egg is something like 50 grams. 28 eggs - 1,4 kg or ~50 ounces. There are restaurants which regularly offer steaks of that size.
(edit: and apparently, even larger).

Could be, but is unlikely. Eating 28 raw eggs sounds pretty dangerous to me, but maybe that's just because I know people who've been hospitalized by bad eggs.

 

[Quintillus]

I'm inclined to agree with Lord Baal. I'd expect to have a bad stomach ache if I ate a couple raw eggs - 28 sounds like more than enough to throw the digestive system into major distress. Needless to say, I won't be testing this theory and increasing the sample size.

 

[classical_hero]

http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/france-plans-to-teach-wolves-a-hard-lesson#.UR9dgfIqJzJ

Can you teach a wolf not to eat sheep?

The idea is being floated in France, where the return of the wolf has got farmers and environmentalists at each other's throats.

Under a proposed "National Wolf Plan," the government says it will conduct experiments into "educating" the canine carnivore, which is spreading stealthily in remote areas.

Rest assured, this scheme does not entail lecturing wolves about the cuteness of lambs or trying to convert them to vegetarianism.

Instead, it entails capturing individual wolves that are known to attack a local flock and then marking these bothersome predators before letting them go.

The theory is that the animal will be so traumatised by the experience that it will leave the sheep alone and instead hunt for deer, boar, rabbits and other wild animals.

But if the wolf remains a problem, the ID makes it easier to be singled out and shot.

"Eleven of France's regional parks have said they are willing to take part in the experiments," Ecology Minister Delphine Batho said this week, as the proposal met a mixed reception.

Once plentiful, the wolf officially died out in France in the 1930s, wiped out by farmers and hunters.

More than a half a century later, wolves began creeping back, crossing the border from Italy. In 1992, suspicions of the comeback were confirmed when a pair of wolves were spotted in the Mercantour park in the southeast of the country.

Around 250 wolves in France

Today, according to Eric Marboutin at the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS), there are around 250 wolves, 90 percent of them in the Alps, and scatterings of others in the east and southwest of France, including the eastern Pyrenees.

In 2011, a wolf was spotted for the first time in the Vosges, in eastern France, and last year, a wolf was photographed in a cornfield in the southwestern department (county) of Gers, the westernmost point of the species' advance.

The wolf is shielded by the Bern Convention on European wildlife, and in 2007 it joined other mammals on a list of species that in France are given special protection, except in specific cases where they pose a threat.

But flocks are under rising pressure as the wolves expand.

Two powerful groups -- the agricultural lobby and the environmental movement -- are fiercely at odds, despite efforts to forge consensus in a "National Wolf Group" that includes politicians.

Emotions flared last month in the upper house of the French parliament, where rural regions are strongly represented.

Senator Pierre Bernard-Reymond of the High Alps region blasted Parisians for what he said was their cosy image of an ancient predator.

"It's time to release a few wolfpacks in the Vincennes Park or the Luxembourg Gardens," he said -- a suggestion that was not adopted.

In 2008, 2,680 sheep were killed by wolves, according to an official count; this rose to 4,920 in 2011 and 5,848 in 2012, when the state paid out compensation of around two million euros ($2.7 million).

At present, 11 wolves are allowed to be shot each year. Anti-wolvers say that this restriction is far too inflexible.

Under the 2013-2017 plan, the figure would be adjusted in line with scientific estimates of what is a sustainable wolf population.

"The wolf is and will remain a species that is strictly protected," the ecology and agricultural ministries said in a joint statement.

"However, bearing in mind the healthy population dynamics of this species, it is possible to fine-tune the methods for managing it."

Capturing and marking a problem animal would mean that only the real culprits would be targeted. Or so it is hoped.

Jean-Jacques Blanchon of the pro-wolf Nicolas Hulot Foundation said wolf education had worked successfully in pilot experiments in the United States, "so we should make the effort to see what it can do for us."

Don't bother, retorted others.

"You might as well try to educate a shark," said Daniel Spagnou, a member of a commission probing the fraught relationship between wolves and mountain herdsmen.

"What a circus! Whatever next? Wolf-tamers?"