Unusual News
Ohio Keeps Prisoner Alive So That He Can Be Executed
Prison officials in Ohio prevented convicted killer Lawrence Reynolds from taking his own life, and are now nursing him back to health so they can execute him. Reynolds took an overdose of prescription drugs just prior to his execution date. After... read more
Montgomery and Stockton Tie for Most Obese Cities, Colorado Dominates Least Obese
Americans could stand to lose a few pounds in parts of Alabama and California, while Colorado has demonstrated itself to be quite lean when it comes to obesity. Gallup and Healthways teamed up to examine body mass index data and figure out which p... read more
Gospel Label Delayed Album Release Because God Did Not Approve
Gospel recording label Habakkuk Music delayed payment of a $30,000 advance to singer Isaiah D. Thomas because God had not told company executives when to proceed. Thomas is now suing Habakkuk and its owner, April Washington-Essex, who reportedly i... read more
First Commercial Brain-Operated Computer
Disabled people trapped within their bodies now can communicate with the outside world via the first commercially available brain-operated computer. The Intendix, developed by Guger Technologies, allows those suffering from locked-in syndrome or s... read more
Detroit Settles Perfume Allergy Case for $100,000
Susan McBride, a civil servant in Detroit, won a $100,000 settlement from the city after officials failed to accommodate her allergy to perfume. McBride complained to superiors about a coworker’s perfume, claiming the smell made it difficult for h... read more
Swiss Vote on Providing Lawyers for Animals
Switzerland is big on animal rights, so much so that voters today cast their ballots on whether the government should provide lawyers to animals that have been abused. Backers of the measure, which received 144,000 signatures to get on the ballot,... read more
Venus de Milo Snow Sculpture Forced to Wear Bikini in New Jersey
Breasts, even those made of snow and shaped in the figure of famous artwork, were too much for one New Jersey community to handle. Rahway, New Jersey, police told Maria Conneran and her family that the snow woman they built in their front yard, wh... read more
Israel Calls Off West Bank Raid after Leak on Facebook
Facebook is not the place to post classified information about cross-boarder raids if you’re in Israel’s military. Using his cell phone, a soldier recently wrote on his Facebook page about his unit’s plans to slip into Palestinian territory, and m... read more
Court Rules Zombies Allowed to Roam the Streets
Zombies in Minnesota have had their day in court, and won. A group dressed up as the undead to protest “mindless” consumerism at a July 2006 festival in Minneapolis were arrested by local police for disorderly conduct, resulting in a two-night sta... read more
Overdue Since 1921, Next Solar Storm Could Disrupt Much of World
When the last massive solar storm struck earth, modern civilization was without the electronic- and wireless-based communications that are now so critical to day-to-day living. Researchers recently conducted a simulation to see how countries might... read more
Iceberg the Size of Luxembourg Could Threaten Marine Life
Described as a once in a half century event by scientists, an enormous iceberg smashed into a peninsula of ice in Antarctica, causing the protruding ice shelf to break off and become an iceberg the size of Luxembourg. The now free-floating iceberg... read more
Fortune Cookies to Promote 2010 Census
Efforts by the U.S. Census Bureau to encourage Americans to participate in this year’s national headcount include paying a fortune cookie company to print promotional messages on those tiny slips of wonder that come with plates of fried rice. For ... read more
Bank Sues Employees Who Demand Bonuses
Prior the Wall Street collapse of 2008, Commerzbank of Germany informed employees of how much they could expect their bonuses to be at the end of the year, which amounted to $500 million in total. But Commerzbank’s profits nosedived after the fina... read more
Eric Cartman Accused of Stealing Weapons Meant for Afghan Police
Has South Park’s bad boy Eric Cartman pulled off his ultimate stunt? According to an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee into the not-so-funny antics of security contractor Xe (formerly Blackwater) in Afghanistan, the company has ... read more
First Robot Theme Park to Break Ground in South Korea
All robots all the time will be the attraction at a new theme park opening in South Korea. Robot Land in Inchon is set to become the world’s first entertainment venue of its kind, when it opens in 2012 and begins pulling in nearly three million vi... read more
Children No Longer Forbidden From Being Noisy in Berlin
Germans really like their peace and quiet. In a country with an official quiet time at night and all day on Sundays, noisy children have been the source of hundreds of complaints each year from people living near kindergartens and children’s playg... read more