Thursday, 31 May 2018

Pompeii's Unluckiest Man Excavated, Internet Gives Him Second Life


The remains of a man trying to escape the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago were found in Pompeii, Italy, this week, and the photographs have become a meme.

Why would people do this? Because the internet is a bad place.

Archaeologists believe the man was fleeing to safety, having managed to escape the first volcanic eruption, but was subsequently crushed by a large stone in the process. They believe the stone was a door jamb, according to USA Today.

Additionally, archaeologists believe the man was around 35-years-old and suffering from a bone infection. His head has not yet been found.

As for what people are saying about this ancient marvel on Twitter, well, we’ll let you read for yourself: 

If the poor guy hadn’t already been dead, we’d have said these memes would’ve surely done the job.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pompeii-discovery-death-meme_us_5b0eac1be4b0568a8810735a ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Wednesday, 30 May 2018

No, Do Not Roast Marshmallows Over Hawaii’s Erupting Volcano, Says USGS

Lava s’mores aren’t such a hot idea.

On Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Twitter account took a break from posting updates about Hawaii’s Kilauea volcanic eruption to respond to a silly question about snacks.

“Is it safe to roast marshmallows over volcanic vents?” asked Twitter user Jay Furr, who was presumably joking. “Assuming you had a long enough stick, that is? Or would the resulting marshmallows be poisonous?”

“Erm,” the USGS replied. “We’re going to have to say no, that’s not safe. (Please don’t try!)”

Not only does the idea of cooking over scorching molten rocks seem extremely unsafe, the USGS said that the marshmallows wouldn’t even taste good if the vents were emitting hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide. The agency also noted that if you add sulfuric acid to sugar, “you get a pretty spectacular reaction.”

And in case you were curious as to what this “spectacular reaction” would look like, here’s a sample:

Yum.

Thankfully, there have no reports of fools toasting confections over a giant rock that spews fire since the agency answered the user’s question.

Thanks for your good work, USGS.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/roasting-marshmallows-hawaii-volcano_us_5b0d9babe4b0802d69cf003 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Military Report: UFOs May Have Attempted Rendezvous With Giant Undersea Object

New details are emerging about a UFO sighting recorded by the U.S. military in the waters off the coast of California 14 years ago.

The 2004 incident involving the “Tic Tac” UFO, named because it was a fast-moving white object that resembled one of the mints, was first revealed late last year by The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

KLAS, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, obtained a copy of a report “prepared by and for the military” in 2009 that details multiple interactions with anomalous aerial vehicles (AAVs) over two weeks in late 2004. The report also discussed the high speed and advanced cloaking capabilities that allowed the AAVs to evade observation and detection. 

“The AAVs would descend ‘very rapidly’ from approximately 60,000 feet down to approximately 50 feet in a matter of seconds,” the report noted. 

Pilots indicated there may have been something in the water as well. One pilot detailed a disturbance up to the size of a football field: 

“The disturbance appeared to be 50 to 100 meters in diameter and close to round. It was the only area and type of whitewater activity that could be seen and reminded him of images of something rapidly submerging from the surface like a submarine or a ship sinking.”

The disturbed area also resembled shoal water around “a barely submerged reef or island,” but as the pilot flew away, he could see that the disturbance had cleared and seas calmed. Although he never made visual contact with whatever caused the disturbance, the report stated that it may have been caused by an AAV, which was unseen due to cloaking “or invisible to the human eye.”

Another pilot described a disturbance beneath the water of an AAV that “looked like frothy waves and foam almost as if the water was boiling.” 

A submarine in the vicinity did not detect anything unusual underwater. If an object was indeed in the Pacific Ocean, “it would represent a highly advanced capability given the advanced capability of our sensors.” 

One aircrew reporting on the events received “a high level of ridicule” about the incident, the report noted. 

The military did not confirm nor deny any of the details in the report and had little to say about other recent footage, including a video released in March of a 2015 encounter. 

The videos of the “Tic Tac” UFO caused a sensation when they were first released last year as the Times reported on a secret Pentagon UFO program that has now concluded with no evidence of alien life visiting the Earth. However, Luis Elizondo, the former military intelligence official who led the program, indicated that there was more information the public had not yet seen.   

“My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone,” he told CNN last December.

Other possible explanations include advanced capabilities by the U.S. military or foreign governments that have not yet been made public.

KLAS has posted the entire military report online here.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ufo-undersea-object_us_5b0cfd34e4b0fdb2aa5637d3 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Tuesday, 29 May 2018

You're Not Emotionally Prepared For These Racing Corgis


We know it’s Memorial Day weekend and you’d rather be lying on a beach with a glass of rosé in hand — but take off your sunglasses for just a moment and look at these damn corgis.

Lots of of fluffy-butted corgis gathered on the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California, on Sunday for the first-ever SoCal Corgi Nationals.

They came, they ran, and they looked extremely cute doing it!! 

One corgi owner told ABC7 that he trained his dog with a “tennis ball to get him into shape.” Another used hot dogs.

“I’m going to be on the end and he knows I have the hot dogs. We’re allowed to use treats,” said owner Nicole Yau to the outlet.

LOOK AT THEIR LITTLE BODIES.

We don’t deserve them.

A corgi named Roi went home with the title of winner.

All other corgis went home and likely took naps. Or at least Fitz did.

Ugh, long live corgis.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youre-not-emotionally-prepared-for-these-corgis-racing_us_5b0c3 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Monday, 28 May 2018

Mystery 'Wolf-Like' Animal Reportedly Shot In Montana, Baffles Wildlife Officials

Montana wildlife officials are puzzled by the carcass of wolflike animal they say a rancher shot and killed on his property near the town of Denton.

“The animal came within several hundred yards of the rancher’s livestock,” the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Thursday. “He shot it and reported it as required by law. The animal was a young, non-lactating female and a canid, a member of the dog family, which includes dogs, foxes, coyotes and wolves.”

The animal did not appear to fit the profile of either a wolf or a domestic dog. In a video posted to social media, a spokesman said authorities suspect the animal is a wolf-dog hybrid, but can’t be sure yet.

The department has sent DNA samples out for testing at an Oregon lab, but it could be weeks to months before results come back.

“We have no idea what this was until we get a DNA report back,” department spokesman Bruce Auchly told the Great Falls Tribune.

On Saturday, enigmatic performance artist Zardulu retweeted a story about the creature. Zardulu has previously claimed responsibility for numerous viral videos and news stories, including a “toilet iguana” in Miami, a three-eyed fish found in Brooklyn and New York’s infamous “pizza rat.”

HuffPost asked Zardulu via Twitter if she had anything to do with the wolflike animal in Montana.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try try again,” she replied in a direct message, followed by a winky face.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department did not immediately reply to a query on whether the creature could be a hoax.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/montana-wolf-like-animal-mystery_us_5b04533de4b003dc7e4708af ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Cat Seen Clinging To Van Roof In Viral Video Is Alive And Well

If you’ve been concerned about the fate of that cat seen clinging for dear life to the roof of a van speeding down a highway in Ohama, Nebraska, have no fear.

Rebel, the fluffy gray and white feline in the May 18 clip, is safe and sound. He appeared with owner Michelle Criger in a video that KETV reporter Chinh Doan posted to Twitter Wednesday. Rebel, who doesn’t appear to be a big fan of the camera, had no injuries from the high ordeal, Doan added in another tweet.

Criger told KETV that she and her boyfriend were driving for about two miles before people in a passing car noticed Rebel gripping the vehicle’s roof on the interstate.

Ronda Rankin, one of the passengers in that passing car, shot a video of the incident that went massively viral this week, appearing in numerous local and national news outlets. The clip shows Rebel meowing and holding onto the roof while Rankin’s daughter can be heard saying, “That’s a cat.”

“We were going 60 miles an hour,” Rankin told Inside Edition in the video above. “There was nothing on that roof for that cat to hold onto. So I have no idea how it was staying up there.”

Rankin yelled to the Criger to alert her there was a cat on the van roof.

Criger and her boyfriend were then able to bring Rebel to safety. She told KETV that she’s thankful Rankin and her family alerted her to what was happening. She added that now, before driving off, she always checks underneath the van and on top to make sure Rebel isn’t in any dangerous predicaments.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cat-van-roof-highway-safe-rebel_us_5b09b231e4b0568a880bf7c2 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Saturday, 26 May 2018

Weird Father's Day Gifts Your Dad Doesn't Know He Wants (But He Does)

As a dad, I take Father’s Day seriously ― but not the gifts.

My kids know that I don’t wear ties, don’t need cufflinks and have no interest in shirts that make fun of my grumpiness.

Dads spend all year providing for their kids, so usually all they want on Father’s Day is something that will make them laugh and let them know that their kids understand them as people, not just parents.

As a public service, HuffPost Weird News is offering our annual Weird Father’s Day Gift Guide to help kids find a gift that only their dad will appreciate.

Whether that means a shark hat or an app that lets Dad stare at his sperm is up to you.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/weird-fathers-day-gifts-2018_us_5b05bf18e4b05f0fc84438f6 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Fish Market Buys Freedom For Fred The 70-Pound Octopus

A 70-pound octopus named Fred not only has eight arms, but possibly nine lives.

Last week, a fish market in Morro Bay, California saved Fred from being served up for someone’s supper,

Giovanni DeGarimore, owner of Giovanni’s Fish Market, makes his living selling fish and other forms of seafood. But he recently decided against selling octopus products after learning about how intelligent the animals are.

DeGarimore told the San Luis Obispo Tribune he met a friendly octopus while diving in Fiji.

“Essentially, we played a game of hide-and-seek for 15 minutes under the ocean,” he said.

On May 14, DeGarimore’s dock manager told him a local crab fisherman was selling a 70-pound octopus, putting DeGarimore in an awkward position. He said he no longer wanted to financially reward those who capture octopuses, but also didn’t want to cut up such “a beautiful animal.”

So DeGarimore bit the bullet and purchased the octopus for what he says was a couple of hundred dollars.

The octopus was named Fred and spent a few days at the fish market before being released in a safe place.

A spokesperson for the fish market told local news station KSBW TV that the decision to spare the Fred’s life was personal for DeGarimore.

“He’s an avid diver and lover of the ocean, and though Gio makes his livelihood on selling seafood, he felt conflicted when it came to these magnificent and arguably sentient beings,” the spokesperson said.

Comparative psychologist and octopus expert Jennifer Mather spoke to Scientific American at length about octopus intelligence in 2009. 

“I would say intelligence means learning information and using the information that you’ve learned,” she said, explaining that this is an ability researchers have observed in octopuses.

She added that octopuses engage in play and have distinct personalities. The complex environment of tropical reefs likely helped spur their intelligence, according to Mather.

“There’s such a huge variety of situations, lots of kinds of prey, lots of predators, and if you are not armored, you’d better be smart,” she said. “The octopus has gone the smart route.”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fred-octopus-fish-market-saved-freed_us_5b084751e4b0802d69cb158 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

'Star Wars' Burlesque Show Storms West Coast With Sexy Stormtroopers

A group of Australian burlesque dancers are performing a truly stripped-down version of “Star Wars” ― emphasis on the strip.

The appropriately titled “The Empire Strips Back — A Burlesque Parody” will be storming California starting May 31, hot on the heels of the release of the new “Star Wars” film “Solo.”  



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/empire-strips-back-burlesque-star-wars_us_5b02f18de4b0463cdba4c ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Judge Orders 30-Year-Old Man To Move Out Of His Parents' House Already

Two parents in New York will finally get to know what empty nest syndrome feels like.

On Tuesday, Michael Rotondo, 30, was ordered by State Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood to move out of his parents’ house after living there rent free for eight years, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports.

Christina and Mark Rotondo of Camillus, near Syracuse, sent their son numerous eviction notices and even gave him $1,100 to help him find a new place, WSTM, a local news channel, reports.

Despite being taken to court, Michael Rotondo still didn’t get the hint.

While in court, Rotondo refused to directly speak to his parents and argued with Greenwood for a half an hour that he was entitled to an additional six months before eviction, citing a legal case he found on the internet that appeared to back his claim.

Greenwood reportedly praised Rotondo’s legal argument but sided with his parents and ordered him to move out, calling his demand for six more months “outrageous.”

Rotondo fired back, calling the judge’s order “outrageous.”

He plans to appeal the decision, according to ABC News.

“I’m not bothering them by living here,” Rotondo said in an interview with “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “It’s little to no cost to them, and considering how much they’ve harassed me, I think it’s the least that they should be required to do, which is just let me hang here a bit longer and use their hot water and electricity.”

In filings to the Supreme Court of New York State, Rotondo’s parents sent him five written notices that date back to February, one of which asks him to remove his broken car from their property.

In another note, obtained by WSTM, the parents offer him $1,100 “so you can find a place to stay” and suggest that for money, he could get a job or sell some of his belongings like his stereo and weapons.

“There are jobs available even for those with a poor work history like you,” the letter reads. “Get one — you have to work!”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judge-orders-30-year-old-move-out-parents-house_us_5b057303e4b0 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Walking Definition Of An Entitled Millennial Swears He's Not An Entitled Millennial


This is more bonkers than paying $19 for smashed avocado on toast.

Michael Rotondo, the 30-year-old man who was court-ordered to move out of his parents’ home, spoke with Brooke Baldwin of CNN on Wednesday ― and their chat went way off the rails.

Toward the end of the interview, Baldwin told Rotondo that many people reacted to his story by saying millennials are entitled, and asked him what he thought of that criticism.

“I would say that I’m really not a member of that demographic,” Rotondo said. “I’m a very conservative person. The millennials that they are speaking to are very liberal in their ideology...”

“But you’re 30, so technically, I think you are part of the millennial generation,” Baldwin replied.

“You’re right ... but when people speak to the millennials and their general nature as a millennial, they speak to more liberal leanings, in my opinion. Do you disagree?”

“I think a millennial is a millennial is a millennial, based upon the year that you were born,” Baldwin said, though she added that Rotondo had the right to say he doesn’t feel that he fits the stereotype.

On that awkward note, Baldwin then attempted to end the interview, but Rotondo abruptly interrupted:

“I’m a millennial.”

After the interview, Baldwin responded like this:

“So that … was one of the most surreal interviews we’ve taken part of here in the last little while,” Baldwin said. “But I genuinely wish him and his parents luck.”

So … anyone need a roommate?



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/definition-of-entitled-millenial_us_5b05ca98e4b05f0fc844440a ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Rescue Cat Has Hilarious Wide-Eyed Expression After Scan Confirms She Is Pregnant

An adorable rescue cat called Ulla made the most endearing face after a veterinarian discovered she was pregnant.

Soon after a scan confirmed Ulla was expecting a litter of four or five kittens, the 1-year-old tabby turned towards a camera with this expression:

The Dyrenes Venner animal shelter in Nuuk, Greenland, shared the amusing photographs to Facebook last week. They are now going viral on Reddit.

Ulla was brought to the shelter in mid-April after being found living alone on the streets, reports The Dodo. She’d previously been in the organization’s care as a tiny kitten.

Last week, staff spotted she was putting on weight and booked her in for a veterinarian checkup. “It was pretty amazing,” shelter board member Tone Frank told TODAY. “I’ve never seen a cat get an ultrasound. We saw little kittens in her tummy.”

The shelter did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment. But according to TODAY, Ulla has since been adopted by a family and is waiting to give birth any day now.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pregnant-cat-expression_us_5b06934be4b07c4ea1055699 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Weirdest Promposals Of 2018 Include Teen Who Faked His Own Birth

The Promposal is as much of a spring tradition as Opening Day, the Kentucky Derby or Peeps.

As a result, many teens go to great lengths to make a promposal that will not only garner a “yes” from their potential date, but also go viral on the internet.

This year, a lot of promposals leaned straight to the weird side, as the Inside Edition video above demonstrates.

Our candidate for the weirdest? The guy who faked his own birth so he could tell his potential date, “I was born to take you to prom.”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2018-weirdest-promposals_us_5b0709a6e4b05f0fc84630da ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Amazon Admits Alexa Device Eavesdropped On Portland Family

Amazon’s Alexa device has a lot of good qualities, but one bad one: It eavesdrops.

A couple in Portland, Oregon, was shocked to discover Alexa recorded a private conversation in their home and then sent it to a random person on their contact list.

Danielle, who asked her last name not be identified, told KIRO TV the revelation brought to life a fear that she and her husband had when they first installed the devices to handle their home’s heat, lights and security system.

“My husband and I would joke and say ‘I’d bet these devices are listening to what we’re saying,’” she said.

Things took a chilling turn into Big Brother territory about two weeks ago when the couple got a phone call from an employee of Danielle’s husband.

The message: “Unplug your Alexa devices right now. You’re being hacked.” 

After the devices were unplugged, the caller told the couple how he received the audio files.

“At first, my husband was, like, ‘no you didn’t!’ And the (recipient of the message) said ‘You sat there talking about hardwood floors,’” Danielle told the station. “And we said, ‘oh gosh, you really did hear us.’”

The couple then contacted Amazon and finally spoke with an Alexa representative that investigated the issue.

The representative “said ‘our engineers went through your logs, and they saw exactly what you told us, they saw exactly what you said happened, and we’re sorry,’” she said. “He apologized like 15 times in a matter of 30 minutes and he said we really appreciate you bringing this to our attention. This is something we need to fix!”

Amazon told CNET.com the eavesdropping occurred after Alexa mistakenly heard the wake word and then mistakenly heard a command to call someone, followed by a third misheard confirmation:

“Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like ‘Alexa.’ Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a “send message” request. At which point, Alexa said out loud “To whom?” At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list. “Alexa then asked out loud, ”[contact name], right?” Alexa then interpreted background conversation as “right”. As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.”

See KIRO’s report below:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alexa-eavesdropping-portland-familiy_us_5b0727cae4b0fdb2aa51b23 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Man Discovers Handgun Impaled In Front Bumper Of Car

This brings new meaning to the term “gunning your engine.”

A driver on Interstate 5 in Washington state’s South Puget Sound area discovered something shocking when he stopped for gas: a handgun lodged barrel-first in the front bumper.

The driver was heading down the freeway when a black object came flying through the air and hit his Honda, according to a tweet from state trooper Guy Gill, a spokesman for that district.

There didn’t seem to be serious damage, so the driver thought nothing of it and drove another 18 miles before stopping for gas, Gill said.

Troopers handed the gun over to the Lakewood, Washington, police department.

No injuries were reported, and local station KING TV said it was unknown whether the gun was thrown, dropped from an overpass, or kicked up by a passing vehicle.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/handgun-impaled-car-bumper_us_5b073b16e4b0fdb2aa51d109 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

A Bag Of Wet Socks Is Apparently Living In The White House Press Briefing Room

A mysterious bag of socks ― of an unknown degree of dampness ― has been reportedly wandering around the White House press briefing room.

Saagar Enjeti, whose Twitter handle is @esaagar, is a White House correspondent for The Daily Caller, and he tweeted an image of the socks on May 17. 

The socks appeared dirty and enclosed in a plastic baggy.

Five days later, Enjeti was back in the briefing room and shared another snapshot of the socks. While the location of the socks in the room had shifted the second time around, they remained sealed what appeared to be the original bag.

Enjeti’s third spotting of the socks came a full week after the first, on May 24. The formerly “wet” socks were reportedly now “crusty.” 

The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on the sock saga. 

Social media, however, has offered all the comments about the socks:

Enjeti told HuffPost via a Twitter direct message he had “absolutely no clue” who the socks belonged to, but that he did notice them on a day when it was pouring rain ― which would likely explain the wetness. 

He also told us that “nobody who sits or stands around that area” of the briefing room “has any idea either” of where the socks came from.

“I’m not at the White House today because POTUS is traveling, but I will check on them Monday and tweet an update,” said Enjeti.

Clearly, this is a developing story. 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wet-socks-bag-white-house-press-room_us_5b080ceae4b0568a880aaad ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Woman Allegedly Blows Up Pee Sample In A 7-Eleven Microwave


Urine trouble now!

A woman in Aurora, Colorado, has been cited for property damage after she allegedly used a 7-Eleven microwave to heat up a white plastic bottle filled with urine on Thursday morning.

The bottle blew up in the process, and the pee ended up dripping out of the microwave, according to Denver NBC affiliate KUSA.

When the bottle exploded, 26-year-old Angelique Sanchez allegedly left the convenience store. 

As you might expect, the on-duty clerk was pissed.

She told police she threatened to call law enforcement if Sanchez didn’t clean up the mess, according to KOAA, the NBC affiliate in Pueblo.

According to the police report, Sanchez did come back and wiped up the microwave, but she apparently just took napkins and wiped the substance on the floor before walking out again.

That’s when police were called.

Responding officers found Sanchez at a nearby clinic where she was due to take a urinalysis test for a potential employer, according to the Associated Press.

When confronted, Sanchez reportedly told the police officer that “she had cleaned up the mess and did not understand the problem,” according to a police report obtained by KUSA.

“When I reminded her that urine blew up where people prepare their food, she told me it was not real urine,” the officer wrote in the report.

Sanchez was cited for damaging the $500 microwave and she was not allowed to take her drug test that day.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/angelique-sanchez-urine-7-eleven-microwave_us_5aefcf64e4b0c4f19 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Stormy Daniels Finds A Crunchy New Way to Chip Away At Trump

Porn star Stormy Daniels is chipping away at President Donald Trump ― in more ways than one.

According to an upcoming Penthouse interview, people are showing up at strip clubs where Daniels (aka Stephanie Clifford) is dancing and paying her to stomp on Cheetos.

Clifford said she was at a strip club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when a large number of gay men came to her with bags of Cheetos in hand and offered her $20 if she would stomp on the orange puffs, according to a sneak preview of the interview given to the Daily Beast.

A true capitalist, Clifford, who claims to have had an affair with Trump in 2006, took the money and smashed up Cheetos scattered on the stage into orange powder with her high-heeled shoes.

Don’t get the connection? Many people believe the snack food resembles Trump’s skin tone. Comedian Patton Oswalt has described the president as a “racist scrotum dipped in Cheeto dust.”

That’s not the only titillating Trump tidbit in the interview:

Clifford also told Penthouse that Trump’s comb-over is his real hair but that, in intimate moments, it moves “kind of like a drunken cockatoo.”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stormy-daniels-cheetos-stomping_us_5af11c55e4b0c4f1932609fe ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

We Try Stink Bug-Flavored Jelly Bellys So You Don't Have To

Chew on this: There are two new flavors of Jelly Belly candies guaranteed to raise a stink.

As part of its BeanBoozled game, which pairs delicious jelly beans with identical-looking but awful-tasting twins, the Jelly Belly company has come with two new designed-to-be-disgusting flavors: stink bug and dirty dishwater. 

The candies are paired with sweeter beans ― toasted marshmallow and birthday cake ― the idea being that people might get lucky and eat a flavor that isn’t so gross.

Since consuming bad-tasting jelly beans is one of those ongoing problems facing humanity, HuffPost Weird News decided to put the foul-sounding beans to the test. 

As you can see from these two videos, the stink bug and dirty dishwater candies were hard to stomach.

The first video shows us sampling just the stink bug flavor.

We try both flavors in this one.

Although neither flavor is great, we did end up brushing our teeth for about 25 minutes each to get the aftertaste out of our mouths ― so at least our dentist is happy.

Owen Moye contributed to this report.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stinkbug-jelly-belly-flavor_us_5b048f8ee4b0784cd2af49e5 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Publix Censors Teen's 'Summa Cum Laude' Graduation Cake


A cake celebrating a South Carolina teen’s high school graduation turned into a not-so-sweet surprise when a Publix supermarket censored the inscription “summa cum laude.”

The grad’s mom, Cara Koscinski, said she ordered a cake online from her local Publix for a graduation party for her 18-year-old son, Jacob. The store allows customers to customize cake orders with a personalized inscription.   

Koscinski said she ordered a cake the the words: “Congrats Jacob! Summa Cum Laude Class of 2018.”

Instead, supermarket bakers wrote: “Congrats Jacob! Summa - - - Laude Class of 2018.” 

Incredulous, Koscinski shared pictures of the censored cake on Facebook. “I seriously couldn’t make this crap up!!!!” she wrote. “Funny ― not funny.”

The Washington Post, which did a deeper dive on the Publix website, reported that the online box where customers enter cake inscriptions is extremely temperamental, and filters “profane/special characters.” “Cum,” despite its use as a preposition meaning “with” in the Latin phrase summa cum laude ― “with the highest distinction” ― was rendered profane.

Koscinski told the newspaper that she “explained that Summa Cum Laude was a Latin term for high academic honor and was not profane” in the “special instructions” box on the Publix website, and included a link that defined the phrase.

She said she was busy with party preparations and didn’t notice the cake’s messed up message until it was time for dessert. The dashed-out message, she said, was humiliating for her teenage son.

“It was unbelievable. I ordered the special graduation edition cake. I can’t believe I’m the first one to ever write ‘Summa Cum Laude’ on a cake,” Koscinski told the Post.

Publix offered to make another cake, but Koscinski said she declined because Jacob would “only graduate once.” She said the store refunded $70 for the cake and gave her a store gift card. 

Koscinski told HuffPost that she and her son “think it’s overwhelming and crazy.”

“But we are laughing about it,” she said, adding that she’ll “probably avoid” Publix “for now.”

Publix told HuffPost in a statement that satisfying customers is the “top priority” of the chain, which has locations in the Southeast.

“You can feel confident that this situation has been addressed, and the appropriate business areas and leaders are involved,” the statement said.

HuffPost spoke to Jeanne Neumann, a professor in the classics department at Davidson College, who shared this saucy tidbit about cakes and Latin over email: “A cake celebrating the end of a war of a simpler time might have proclaimed Gladii Omnes in vaginas recondantur! (May all swords be sheathed! (or) All swords should be put in their sheaths).” Neumann noted that “vagina” in Latin means “sheath for a sword.”

That might have passed the Publix censors, but what about words that might not have?

“The commands ‘tell me’ (dic) and ‘do it’ (fac) sound a bit like ‘dick’ and ‘fuck’ when pronounced. Just a bit, but enough to get students laughing,” said Neumann. 

This article has been updated to include a statement from Publix and comment from Neumann.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/publix-censors-teens-summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake_us_5b042ef ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Power Outage Triggers 'Extreme Zombie Activity' Alert In Florida City

Residents of Lake Worth, Florida, received an alarming message during a power outage over the weekend: Watch out for zombies. 

A bulletin sent to city residents at 1:41 a.m. on Sunday warned of “power outage and zombie alert” and “extreme zombie activity.” 

City officials were soon scrambling to issue a strange assurance. 

“We are looking into the reports that the system mentioned zombies,” city public information officer Ben Kerr told Lake Worth Live. “I want to reiterate that Lake Worth does not have any zombie activity currently and apologize for the system message.”

In addition to Lake Worth, the message also referenced Terminus, a location in “The Walking Dead.” 

City officials told WPBF, the ABC station in West Palm Beach, that an alert is automatically sent during power outages. In this case, however, the message may have been hacked. They are checking the rest of messages in the system to see if any others were altered.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-extreme-zombie-activity_us_5b03b07ae4b0463cdba56768 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Conspiracy Theory Believers Are The Most Skeptical And The Most Gullible People

The shower isn’t just a place to sing. Separated from our cellphones, standing under running water often allows people’s minds to run free.

Reddit has an entire “Shower Thoughts” subreddit dedicated to “the miniature epiphanies you have that highlight the oddities within the familiar.” In honor of those weird, wonderful and sometimes profound musings, here are 25 of the best posts from the last week:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reddit-shower-thoughts-april-22-2018_us_5ad9da1de4b029ebe023495 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Declassified Military Video Shows Fast-Moving UFO Tracked By Navy Fighter Pilots

A newly declassified video obtained by a research company shows a fast-moving UFO off the East Coast as it was tracked by two U.S. Navy pilots in 2015. 

It’s unclear what the object is, and the pilots are heard laughing and shouting as they attempt to track it. 

“Wow! What is that, man?” one of the pilots says in the video. “Look at that flying!”

The footage was released late last week by To The Stars Academy Of Arts And Science, a private research and media firm, which also provided analysis of the clip.

The company said: 

“This footage was captured by a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet using the Raytheon ATFLIR Pod that was being operated by a highly trained aerial observer and weapons system operator whom the government has spent millions of dollars to train.”

The organization notes that the object has no wings or tail, and leaves no exhaust plume. 

To The Stars Academy Of Arts And Science was founded by Tom DeLonge, the rock star formerly of Blink 182 and currently in the band Angels & Airwaves. Other co-founders include Jim Semivan, formerly a senior intelligence member of the CIA, and Hal Puthoff, who has advised NASA and the Defense Department.

Navy Times said the Defense Department had no comment on the video. 

Last year, The New York Times revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon UFO program that ran from 2007 until it was reportedly shut down in 2012. 

The report included similar footage of unknown fast-moving objects tracked by pilots. 

“My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone,” Luis Elizondo, who ran the program, told CNN in December. 

Elizondo is also now part of the TTS Academy. 

“These are just three videos now that have come out that everybody’s looking at,” Elizondo told CNN Monday. “But there is far more compelling evidence that I was privy to that ― you know, I think you’re looking at the tip of the iceberg.”

The new video has led to calls for a more concerted effort to track and study UFOs. 

“Is it possible that America has been technologically leap-frogged by Russia or China?” Chris Mellon, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence in the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post on Friday. “Or, as many people wondered after the videos were first published by the New York Times in December, might they be evidence of some alien civilization?” 

He serves as an adviser to To The Stars Academy Of Arts And Science. 

“Unfortunately, we have no idea, because we aren’t even seeking answers,” he wrote. 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/declassified-ufo-video_us_5aa775a5e4b087e5aaed4be5 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Missouri Third-Graders Selling AR-15 Raffle Tickets For Their Baseball Team


Children in a Missouri town are selling raffle tickets offering an AR-15 assault-style rifle as the prize to raise money for their baseball team. The rifle is the same type of weapon used last week in the Florida school shooting that killed 17 people.

The raffle was launched before the shooting, but Levi Patterson, the coach of the team in Neosho for boys 9 and younger, told The Kansas City Star he plans to continue with the fundraiser.

Patterson said he decided to “turn it into a positive thing” after “getting the hate” in the form of angry Facebook posts after the raffle was first reported.

The weapon was donated as a prize by a team father and co-founder of Neosho gun manufacturer Black Rain Ordnance Inc., which is currently pitching a Spec15 AR pistol on its Facebook page.

“Are you all tone deaf?” a Facebook user asked in a since-deleted post on Patterson’s Facebook page. “AR15 kills seventeen so you raffle a gun for child sports? Lord, people wake the hell up.”

There was also some criticism on Twitter:

Patterson said “our hearts break” for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. But he added that gun raffles “have been going on for years. Evil has and will always exist.”

Patterson said none of the children on his team will be forced to sell raffle tickets for the weapon if they’re uncomfortable doing so.

“I just think they have feelings to this specific type of gun [that are] different than people around here do,” he told the Star.

Patterson said supportive donations have been pouring in as well.

Kansas Republican Tyler Tannahill, who is running for a congressional seat, and Missouri GOP U.S. Senate candidate Austin Peterson have also been criticized for each offering an AR-15 giveaway to draw attention to their campaigns, KMOV-TV reported.

Another gun raffle in Michigan has been cancelled, the Detroit Free Press reported. The raffle, which was to raise money for the football team of South Lyon High School, also featured an AR-15.

“Due to the recent tragic events, the South Lyon Football Booster Organization has decided to cancel their second annual Wild Game Dinner. The sensitivity of the issue coupled with the untimely tragedy has led to the decision,” said a statement on the team’s website. “At no point did the Booster club intend to offend those sensitive to the topic of firearms.”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/neosho-baseball-team-features-ar-15-raffle_us_5a8a02f2e4b00bc49 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Women Are Tying The Knot With Trees For A Very Good Reason

You may now kiss the branch, er, bride.

A group of women in Oaxaca, Mexico, recently had a marriage ceremony that was truly “tree-mendous”: All the grooms were trees. The blushing brides are all activists.

The mass marriage was meant to draw attention to illegal logging, a serious problem in Mexico, where a third of the land area is covered by forest, U.K.’s Metro reports.

Tree bride Dolores Leycigi said the ceremony was a serious statement about the planet’s future.

“Marrying a tree is a way of protesting, to say that we need to stop exterminating Mother Earth every day, every minute, every second,” she tells Ruptly, a news agency, in the video above.

The marriages aren’t legally binding, but tree bride Andrea Tanat said getting hitched with a tree still requires a serious commitment.

“I thought it was very interesting that we have a commitment, not only with this tree, but with all of nature,” she says to Ruptly. “I thought about how much we’ve already damaged nature, so I decided to come and get married.”

You can see photos of the ceremony below. 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tree-wedding-oaxaca_us_5a96ea14e4b07dffeb6f2904 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Airline Passenger Arrested After Allegedly Harassing Woman And Peeing On Seat


A Colorado man is facing federal charges after he allegedly harassed a female airline passenger and then urinated on the seat in front of him.

Michael Allen Haag, of Boulder, was arrested Thursday night after his plane, Frontier Airlines flight 9864, landed in Charleston, South Carolina.

He has been charged with a felony count of interfering with a flight crew and a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure, according to the Charleston Post & Courier.

An FBI affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun states that Haag was drinking double vodka and tonics during the flight.

Assigned a middle seat, Haag allegedly told a woman sitting next to him he was going to meet up with an old girlfriend in South Carolina and was “physically excited.”

The woman told authorities Haag asked her lots of personal questions and kept staring at her chest and legs.

At some point, Haag allegedly started touching a woman seated on the other side of him, prompting her to yell “stop touching me” and summon a flight attendant.

Haag was then moved to a seat in the last row, which he shared with a third woman, identified by Denver station KDVR as Emily.

She told the station flight attendants told her she “might want to get up just in case he tries to touch you.”

When Emily took out her phone to snap a picture of the man to show her girlfriends, things got gross.

“While I have my phone out trying to take a discreet photo, he starts to pee and urinate on the seat in front of him,” she said.

CBS Denver posted a photo that allegedly shows Haag urinating in his seat and hitting the back of the seat in front of him.

“And I scream, he’s f***ing peeing. He’s peeing. Oh my god. And the flight attendant doesn’t even acknowledge him at first. Acknowledges me and says you need to calm down and stop cursing,” she told KDVR.

For all her trouble, Emily says the airline only offered to waive her bag fees and give her a $200 voucher.

“I think they handled it extremely poorly,” she told the station. “Someone should have sat with him.”

Frontier Airlines did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, but airline spokesman Richard Oliver released a statement after the incident to CBS Denver.

“The safety and security of our passengers is our top priority at Frontier,” he said. “We have been made aware of this situation and are working with the appropriate authorities.”

Haag was booked Friday at the Charleston County jail but released on his own recognizance later in the day, according to the Post & Courier.

If convicted, he could spend 20 years behind bars.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-allen-haag-peeing-on-flight_us_5b02f8c4e4b0a046186e8b87 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Squirrel Who Lost Paws In Trap Gets Prosthetic Wheels


Life is rolling a little easier for Karamel the squirrel these days despite getting his front limbs caught in a trap.

Karamel’s paws were surgically removed after the tragedy, which happened near Batman, Turkey, according to the Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah.

Although squirrels without all their limbs have a slim chance of survival in the wild, Karamel is getting a hand from a group of animal-loving scientists at Istanbul Aydın University.

Orthopedists at the university built Karamel a set of prosthetic wheels to replace the missing front paws, according to CBS News. 

Karamel is believed to be the first squirrel to be given prosthetics.

Although he is still adjusting to his new life, the doctors who operated on him say he has now recovered and is able to feed himself, according to the Evening Standard.

The medics said they are “very happy to be at the ‘walking phase’” of his recovery. 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/karamel-squirrel-prosthetic-wheels_us_5ac519e4e4b09ef3b243058d ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

This Optical Illusion Will Blow The Color Right Out Of Your Eyeballs

The latest optical illusion to sweep the internet isn’t about a dress, a wall or a street. It’s just a mess of colors ― or so it seems. 

But stare at the center of the image below long enough, and you might not be so sure there are any colors there at all: 

The vanishing colors are an illusion known as Troxler’s fading, or the Troxler effect, named for Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler. In 1804, the Swiss doctor/philosopher realized that “rigidly fixating one’s gaze on some element in the visual field can cause surrounding stationary images to seem to slowly disappear or fade,” the Illusions Index noted. 

In this case, your mind essentially clears out the colors and replaces them with white space. 

You can read a fuller explanation, and see a demonstration using a Cheshire Cat, here. 

 

(h/t Digg and reddit)



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/color-fade-illusion-troxler_us_5acc4fd7e4b09d0a1196d2b3 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

KFC Says 'FCK' In Full-Page Ad Apologizing For Chicken Shortage

KFC took out full-page advertisements in United Kingdom newspapers on Friday to apologize for the fast-food chain’s chicken shortage this week. The tongue-in-cheek ads featuring an empty chicken bucket emblazoned with FCK immediately won fans for clever humor. But it’s unclear whether the campaign will placate customers.

The fowl shortage, which KFC attributed to delivery issues, forced the chain to close more than half of its 900 British restaurants this week. Angry customers called the police, and even ― gasp ― went to Burger King. The company said 811 KFCs in the U.K. were open as of Friday afternoon.

The advertisement running in The Sun and Metro newspapers, produced in partnership with ad agency Mother London, features a photo of the FCK bucket, with copy that reads:

“We’re sorry. A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It’s not ideal. Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who travelled out of their way to find we were closed. And endless thanks to our KFC team members and our franchise partners for working tirelessly to improve the situation. It’s been a hell of a week, but we’re making progress, and every day more and more fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants. Thank you for bearing with us.”

A website link at the bottom of the ad lists restaurants that have been supplied chicken, with the banner: “The chicken crossed the road, just not to our restaurants ...”

A KFC UK spokesperson told HuffPost the “tongue-in-cheek rearrangement” of the brand’s letters was the company’s “first thought when we realized the impact of our closed restaurants on customers in the UK.”

“We wanted to say sorry to our customers and thank our team members and franchise partners for all their hard work reopening our restaurants,” the spokesperson said.   

As for the ad, people on social media could not stop raving about it:

Now ... who’s hungry?

This article has been updated to include comment from a KFC spokesperson. 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kfc-says-fck-in-full-page-ad-apologizing-for-chicken-shortage_u ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

These Are The Mother's Day Gifts Your Weird Mom Really Wants

Mother’s Day can be a mother of a day when it comes to gift shopping.

Sure, you could go for generic items, like flowers, brunch or perfume, but that just sends Mom a message: You’re a cookie-cutter generic female.

We know that’s not the case: Your mom is one of a kind. How else could she create a weirdo like you? (That’s meant to be a compliment.)

So show Mom you know you appreciate her wacky side by giving her a gift on Mother’s Day that reflects it. 

HuffPost Weird News is here to lend a hand with the following strange gift suggestions. You don’t have to thank us now.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/weird-mothers-day-gifts_us_5aebc5c3e4b0ab5c3d63a1d6 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

It's Always 420 In These Ridiculous Marijuana Stock Photos

For some people, 420 is a twice-a-day occurrence, while others celebrate April 20 as a pot-themed holiday.

But in stock photos, it’s always 420.

The staged images are meant to represent marijuana culture, but they often rely on old stereotypes of pot smokers. Many show the type of hippie typically only seen in 1960s sitcoms like “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Other pot pics try to be ironic by showing older folks puffing away on joints (forgetting that many seniors tried weed back when sitcoms like “The Beverly Hillbillies” were popular).

Not able to celebrate 420? You can always partake in these:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marijuana-stock-photos-420_us_5ad7c797e4b0e4d0715cff0a ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Hopefully We Don't Need To Tell You That Condom Snorting Is A Bad Idea

An activity that was the subject of “condom-nation” five years ago is supposedly making a comeback: snorting condoms up one’s nose.

The “condom snorting challenge,” as it is called, requires participants to video themselves snorting an unrolled condom up one nostril and then pull it through the mouth.

Although the activity was first reported back in 2013, it’s apparently returned unlike other bizarre but forgotten internet fads from that era like planking, Tebowing, owling and Vadering.

Stephen Enriquez, an education specialist in Texas, told San Antonio station KABB that condom snorting is coming back because the extreme activity can help teenagers make a name for themselves on social media.

“Because these days our teens are doing everything for likes, views and subscribers,” Enriquez said. “As graphic as it is, we have to show parents because teens are going online looking for challenges and recreating them.”

In an article for Forbes, Bruce Y. Lee, associate professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, warns there are numerous reasons why people should turn up their noses at condom snorting.

These include risks like damaging the inner lining of the nose, getting an infection or choking if the condom gets stuck in the throat.

All of these add up to one burning question for Lee.

“Welcome to 2018,” he said. “Who knew that teens would need to be told not to use condoms?” 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/condom-snorting-teens-video_us_5ac26705e4b09712fec3387b ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Oregon's New Travel Video May Inspire Acid Trips More Than Vacations

A new Oregon travel video seems to suggest a visit to the Beaver State is more like a psychedelic acid trip.

The anime-style video shows children riding giant rabbits, frogs reading newspapers and caterpillars bicycling through the forest. Oh, and the clouds all look like humpback whales.

The video is part of a $5 million campaign to boost state tourism, according to Travel Oregon director of global communications Linea Gagliano.

“We felt like the only way to convey the incredible feeling of being in Oregon is through animation,” Gagliano told the Statesman Journal. “It creates much more of that wonder you feel when you travel someplace new.”

The video title, “Only Slightly Exaggerated,” suggests that fantastic sights like these are commonplace, though The Oregonian newspaper, in a buzz-killing article, begs to differ: 

“In Oregon, it must be noted, frogs cannot and do not sit in chairs, nor do they read. Please, don’t come to Oregon looking for frogs who care about the news. “Later in the video, an elephant-sized rabbit bounds through a field of tulips, carrying children on its back. The tulips are accurate but do not attempt to ride the rabbits.”

 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-video-only-slightly-exaggerated_us_5aa7ff19e4b0e872b4bf5 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Monday, 21 May 2018

'The Early Worm Dies'

The shower isn’t just a place to sing. Separated from our cellphones, standing under running water often allows people’s minds to run free.

Reddit has an entire “Shower Thoughts” subreddit dedicated to “the miniature epiphanies you have that highlight the oddities within the familiar.” In honor of those weird, wonderful and sometimes profound musings, here are 25 of the best posts from the last week:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reddit-shower-thoughts-2018-march-final_us_5abe2292e4b0f112dc9b ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Motorcyclist's Horrifying Brush With Death Caught On Video

A frightening traffic collision was caught on video in Plano, Texas, by a motorcyclist who had no time to react and filmed himself riding straight into the wreck. 

No one was seriously injured in the Saturday incident, including motorcyclist Malik Elizee, who was recording his ride with a GoPro camera.

Elizee said a car ran a red light. His footage shows the vehicle slamming into an SUV, which turns over on its side and hits another vehicle:

“No one left in an ambulance, myself included,” Elizee wrote on YouTube. “I was wearing most of my gear (was only going up the road so only had on regular jeans and boots), gloves and jacket saved me what would’ve been some serious sliding damage.”

Amazingly, even the motorcycle was largely OK. The frame sliders were destroyed, but they served their purpose and saved most of the bike. 

“Other than some broken plastic and mirror, the damage isn’t too serious,” he wrote. “Still can start up and ride, I actually rode it home.” 

He told WFAA-TV, the Dallas ABC station, that it’s the third time he’s been hit in two years of riding. 

He called the latest incident a “reality check” but added that he’s not ready to hang up his helmet.

“I don’t think I’m ready to give it up,” he said.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/motorcycle-helmet-cam_us_5ac2e704e4b09712fec39c91 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Just When 2018 Couldn’t Get Weirder, Duchess Kate’s Fingers Became A Story

In a story published on Monday about the Duchess of Cambridge, The Daily Mail asked: “Why are Kate’s fingers all the SAME length?”

And the people responded, pointing out the newspaper’s own story included pictures that clearly showed her fingers weren’t the same length. 

The heat from the two-page article even sparked a Twitter Moment: 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kate-middleton-finger-length_us_5aa639e7e4b07047bec7f833 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

14 Worms Removed From Oregon Woman's Eye


Abby Beckley was working on an Alaskan fishing boat back in 2016 when she discovered something fishy in her left eye.

Actually, it wasn’t fish, it was worms ― 14 of them.

The 28-year-old Oregon resident felt a prick under her eyelid and figured it was just a stray lash. But after a week, she decided to see what was causing the irritation.

“I put my fingers in there in kind of a picking motion and I pulled out a worm,” Beckley told BuzzFeed. “I looked at my finger and it was moving and I was shocked.”

It gets grosser. She pulled out about six more of the tiny worms over the next few days.

Fearing a serious problem, Beckley got in contact with Dr. Erin Bonura, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor at Oregon Health & Science University. 

“Her boyfriend’s dad is a physician and he said, ’My son’s girlfriend has worms in her eye. What should we do?’” Bonura told OregonLive.com.

Doctors who examined Beckley’s eye weren’t sure what they were seeing. “It’s very uncommon to have worms in the eye,” Bonura said.

She consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which identified the worms as Thelazia gulosa, a parasite typically found on cow eyeballs.

Richard Bradbury, team lead of the Parasitology Reference Diagnostic Laboratory at the CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, told CBS News that 14 worms were removed from Beckley’s eye over a 20-day period. 

“They weren’t able to remove them all at once. They had to remove them as they became present and visible,” Bradbury said.

All of the worms pulled from Beckley’s eye were less than a half-inch long. Although the worms cause eye irritation, Bradbury said there’s likely no permanent damage.

“It’s just really gross and very psychologically disturbing to see multiple small worms crawling across the surface of your eye,” Bradbury said.

Doctors believe Beckley was infected when a fly landed on her eye while she was traveling through cattle fields in southern Oregon, according to USA Today.

This is only the 11th case of a human being infected in North America. 

Previous cases of similar eye worm infections have been found predominantly in Europe and Asia and in rural communities with close proximity to animals and with poor living standards, the researchers told the New York Post.

A study on Beckley’s eye worm infection appears in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine And Hygiene.

Meanwhile, Beckley said she wants to get the word out about what she went through.

“If this happens to anyone else, I just want them to know that I’m OK,” Beckley told BuzzFeed.

CORRECTION: The headline in a previous version of this story incorrectly indicated doctors removed the worms from Beckley’s eye. She removed most of them herself.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eye-worms-parasite_us_5a831561e4b0892a0353bd73 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

RNC Sells Trump-Themed Pet Leash In Honor Of National Puppy Day


The Republican National Committee attempted to cash in on National Puppy Day on Friday by hawking a “Make America Great Again” pet leash:

The RNC linked to a page on President Donald Trump’s official website, from which visitors could buy the pet accessory for $16.

“Your faithful companion will thank you when you take him or her for a walk with our MAGA Pet leash,” the product listing stated. “Whether it’s a walk in the park or just around the block, you’ll make your walk great again with this functional and fashionable leash.”

But many animal lovers were not enamored with the Trump-themed leash:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-pet-leash-maga-rnc_us_5ab60f4ce4b0decad04a03bb ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Australian Woman Discovers Message In A Bottle Sent In 1886


Hope they weren’t expecting a quick reply.

An Australian woman happened upon what experts believe is the oldest message in a bottle ever found, dating back to 1886.

Tonya Illman of Perth said she walking along the beach on Wedge Island in January when she spied the old glass bottle and picked it up. She thought the bottle ― which apparently once contained gin ― “might look nice on display” in her home, NPR reported, quoting from a website owned by her husband, Kym Illman.

Illman said when she got back to her car, she handed the bottle to her son’s girlfriend, Bree Del Borrello. She noticed the bottle had no lid or cap, but there was something that looked like a cigarette inside.

It turned out to be a neatly rolled, damp note wrapped in string. After the paper dried, they discovered the note was written in German, according to the account on the website.

Using basic German language skills and Google Translate, Kym Illman figured out the person who dispatched the bottle wanted to know where and when it was found.

“I could easily make out the day and month, June 12, but the year was harder to decipher,” he said on the website. “We had to wait a week before we had confirmation it was 1886.”

The Western Australian Museum in Perth helped the Illmans determine the bottle had been thrown overboard from the German sailing ship Paula as it crossed the Indian Ocean, nearly 600 miles from the Australian coast, according to The Guardian.

Ross Anderson, the museum’s assistant curator of maritime archaeology, also determined the bottle was part of an experiment by German ships ― conducted from 1864 to 1933 ― that attempted to track ocean currents by tossing thousands of bottles into the sea. Each one contained a note giving the name of the ship, its coordinates when a bottle was tossed into the sea and the date.

The notes asked that those who found them contact either the German Naval Observatory in Hamburg or the nearest German Consulate with information on where the bottles washed ashore.

The handwriting on the note found by Tonya Illman matched that in the captain’s log for the Paula. And an entry in the log for June 12, 1886, mentioned a bottle having been thrown overboard.

The previous record for oldest-known message in a bottle was for one discovered in April 2015 at Amrum Island, Germany, 108 years and 133 days after it was tossed into the North Sea by the British Marine Biological Society.

Despite the scientific evidence that the bottle and note found in Australia are legitimate, The Brisbane Times interviewed a few people who suspect the whole matter is just an elaborate publicity stunt by Kym Illman. Owner of Messages On Hold, an audio advertising company, he’s known for aggressively marketing his projects.

Illman denied making up the story, though he acknowledged to a radio host the coincidence of his wife’s discovery and his company’s name was remarkable but fortuitous, according to the newspaper.

The bottle will be on display at the Western Australian Museum for the next two years, according to The Australian newspaper.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oldest-message-in-bottle_us_5aa036d9e4b0e9381c14d579 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

27 Awe-Inspiring Photos Of Average-Sized Humans Next To Huge Machines

When looking at something as massive as a space shuttle or ocean liner, it can be hard to fathom that they came into being thanks to the work of many, comparatively small, human hands. 

Keep scrolling to see some gargantuan machines made throughout history with the relatively tiny people who helped to build them.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/27-really-big-machines_us_5ab5161ae4b008c9e5f6bc71 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Champion Glutton Matt Stonie Eats 125 Cupcakes -- With Sprinkles

Never invite this man to your kid’s birthday party.

Competitive eater Matt “Megatoad” Stonie consumed 125 cupcakes in one sitting in a YouTube video he posted Monday.

The former Nathan’s hot dog-eating champ, ranked third by Major League Eating, showed off his voracious sweet tooth by Hoovering down more than 12,000 calories worth of bakery treats in 8 minutes and 55.15 seconds.

He ate the first 50 in about two minutes, and struggled from there. “I was stuck in the tornado of sugar,” he said in a viral video of the stunt:

Stonie noted that he has excelled in other sweet challenges, eating 85 MoonPies and 255 Peeps in minutes.

A doughnut-downing feat showed there were no holes in his glutton game. And now we know: He’s no cupcake when it comes to cupcakes.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/matt-stonie-cupcakes_us_5ae88870e4b04aa23f273db7 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Texas Town's '0.5K' Fun Run Is A Cakewalk Even For The Lazy

Finally, a fun run that’s really fun ― or at least really short.

On May 5, the town of Boerne, Texas, plans to hold its first ever “Boerne 0.5K” run.

That decimal point is no typo: This run isn’t the typical five kilometers. It’s only half a kilometer ― about a third of a mile.

“Very, very conveniently,” the race starts at one local brewery and ends at another “exactly” half a kilometer away, organizer Jay Milton told KSAT, a station in nearby San Antonio. At least close enough, he added, “that we can lie and say that it is exact.”

Participants not only get a free beer at the start and end of the race, but there is a doughnut and coffee station about 150 meters into the course ― right next to the smoking section, NPR noted.

If walking about 1,640 feet is too strenuous, VIPs can pay an extra $25 and be transported across the finish line in a 1963 Volkswagen bus, according to CBS Houston.

Organizers promise bigger medals for those VIPs “because you are even more important!” according to NPR.

Although the run seems designed for people who don’t actually like any kind of physical movement, so many participants raced to sign up that organizers are no longer accepting entries.

The money raised from the event will go to Blessings in a Backpack, a charity that provides food for underprivileged children over the weekend, when they’re not in school to receive lunch.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boerne-texas-05k-run_us_5ae367dbe4b02baed1ba2ad2 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Sunday, 20 May 2018

'Memes Are Like Inside Jokes Between Millions Of People'

The shower isn’t just a place to sing. Separated from our cellphones, standing under running water often allows people’s minds to run free. Reddit has an entire “Shower Thoughts” subreddit dedicated to “the miniature epiphanies you have that highlight the oddities within the familiar.” In honor of those weird, wonderful and sometimes profound musings, here are 25 of the best posts from the last week:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reddit-shower-thoughts-march-2018-second-part_us_5ab4e967e4b008 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Possibly Tipsy Man Loves Cheap Costco Beer So Much, He Made A Commercial For It

If the first rule of advertising is to know your audience, then Randy Colpek is a real-life Don Draper.

Colpek is such a fan of Kirkland Signature Light — a budget beer sold only at Costco — that he took it upon himself to attempt his own commercial for the beverage. The end result was uploaded to YouTube.

The “ad,” such as it is, is actually a series of “outtakes” where (a possibly intoxicated) Colpek breaks through a bunch of empty beer cases a la the Kool-Aid Man and attempts a slogan extolling the virtues of the brew.

Some sample slogans:

“Kirkland Light: It’s 11 a.m. somewhere.” “Kirkland Light: Available in 48-packs where you buy your pants!” “Kirkland Light: Give me a Kirkland, a coozy and a floozy!” “Kirkland Light: Got a drinking problem? Now you got a drinking solution!” “Kirkland Light: Life is like beer. Drink it in and piss it out!”

Colpek, who works as a carpenter near Santa Cruz, California, admits the commercial is supposed to be funny, but says his appreciation of the beer is apparently real. He told Reddit users he drinks about 18 cans a day.

He said it’s more about quantity than quality.

“To be honest all cheap beer is pretty much the same,” he told HuffPost by email. “I always get the cashier saying ‘Looks like someone is having a party,’ but Costco cut down on that shame.”

Colpek made the video last summer, but it started to go viral after he posted it on Reddit earlier this week.

So far, Costco hasn’t commented on Colpek’s free advertising, but he’s looking at the situation philosophically — at least, we think?

“I don’t pick up my tools without a beer and I don’t pick up a beer without my tools,” he told HuffPost.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/randy-colpek-costco-beer_us_5ac529b7e4b09ef3b2431f59 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Shark Snags Australian Fisherman's Line, Takes Him For A Wild Ride


A man in Australia was taken for a wild ride after a shark snagged his line while he was fishing from a kayak off the coast of Balnarring in Victoria this weekend.

After the 34-year-old man, identified by an Australian news outlet as Brett Palmer, hooked the shark, a struggle ensued.

In an attempt to break free from the line, the powerful shark pulled Palmer into the water. Fortunately, he didn’t become bait. His friends, who were fishing in a boat nearby, came to the rescue and pulled him out of the water, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Palmer later docked his boat on the shore and continued fishing with his friends on their vessel. When he returned for his kayak hours later, it was gone.

The kayak had floated out to sea and a massive search-and-rescue effort was launched after people reported seeing it ― filled with fishing gear but without an occupant ― half a mile from shore at Cliff’s Beach in Western Port Bay.

After receiving the reports, the Water Police, a police Air Wing helicopter, the Coast Guard and marine rescue volunteers launched a search for the supposedly missing fisherman, the Herald Sun reported.

According to police, Palmer failed to report that his kayak was missing.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/australia-fisherman-kayak-shark_us_5a88f257e4b00bc49f44e92f ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Artist's Neon Signs Showcase The Worst Parts Of Each Social Media Platform

Each social media platform has a different focus, be it Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter. Each platform also has something uniquely annoying about it, and that’s the focus of a digital artist in southeast Michigan.

Mike Campau has created a series called “Antisocial” that depicts the top social media platforms as Vegas-style neon signs.

Each sign is in an empty parking lot, which is supposed to symbolize how each person’s post is both isolated but also in an area that can be seen by many.

The signs, which Campau created digitally, showcase the most irritating aspects of each platform. For instance, the sign for Facebook points out that it’s “the place to go & make everyone think your life is great!”

He’s also harsh on LinkedIn, which he describes as “People I don’t really know endorse me for the things I don’t really do.”

Although Campau makes fun of social media, he insists he’s not a hater.

“I don’t think all social media is terrible. In fact, I gain quite a bit of inspiration from fellow artists,” he told LinkedIn contributor Stephen Blakeman. “I’m exposed to different points of view, I can keep in touch with old friends, make new friends and I can stay current with what is happening around the world. All of which are great things and something that couldn’t have happened 10 years ago.”

You can see Campau’s cheeky takes on social media below or at his Instagram page: 

 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-campau-neon-social-media-signs_us_5acd2458e4b09212968c936e ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Sweden Just Made A Startling Confession About Its Famous Meatballs

Sweden’s famed meatballs aren’t Swedish after all.

The nation’s official Twitter account made the startling confession on Tuesday, saying the tasty treat ― great for a snack, a meal or a shopping break in Ikea ― is actually from 1,600 miles away: 

The tweet was met with a mixture of surprise and outright disbelief, but one Internet sleuth found evidence from an old cookbook that backed the claim: 

The Sweden.se Twitter feed is run by the Swedish Institute, a public agency that promotes the nation. The organization has more information about how the meatballs are prepared and served as well as a recipe on its website.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/swedish-meatballs-are-from-turkey_us_5ae9370ae4b022f71a02fc5d ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Fake Shadow-Boxer Helps Single Japanese Women Feel Safer At Home


TOKYO (Reuters) - Behind the apartment’s curtain, a tough guy is boxing, throwing left and right hooks and jabs, and lunging forward, enough to make any passing criminal think twice before breaking in.

The image is nothing more than a projected shadow but one that a Japanese apartment management company hopes will help protect and reassure women living by themselves.

Still in the prototype stage, “Man on the Curtain” uses a smartphone connected to a projector to throw a moving shadow of a man doing various energetic activities onto a curtain.

Customers can choose from a dozen different scenarios that show their man boxing, doing karate and even swinging a baseball bat.

To mix things up a bit, the man can calm down and do more mundane things like get dressed, chill out with a guitar or even do some vacuuming around the flat.

The system was developed for security at buildings run by Leopalace21 Corp,, said Keiichi Nakamura, manager of the firm’s advertising department.

Queries from the public prompted the company to think bigger and consider offering it for sale. But some people have had doubts about how effective it might be, said Nakamura.

In particular, criminals might sooner or later work out that a “man behind the curtain” who spends his whole time shadow boxing, actually means a woman is alone inside.

“If projecting a shadow makes a woman an easy target by showing criminals there’s nobody home, that would put the cart before the horse,” he said.

“So we’d like to commercialize it once we add variety, such as releasing a new video every day.”

 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shadow-boxing-security-japan_us_5ade165ee4b036e7aeb5408f ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Pets Are 'The 1 Percent' Of Animals

The shower isn’t just a place to sing. Separated from our cellphones, standing under running water often allows people’s minds to run free.

Reddit has an entire “Shower Thoughts” subreddit dedicated to “the miniature epiphanies you have that highlight the oddities within the familiar.” In honor of those weird, wonderful and sometimes profound musings, here are 25 of the best posts from the last week:



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reddit-shower-thoughts-april-27-2018_us_5ae2fe56e4b02baed1b95cd ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Military Officers Punished After Guardsman Appears To Re-Enlist Using Dinosaur Puppet


An airman in the Tennessee National Guard has been removed from her position and is facing administrative actions after she appeared to use a dinosaur hand puppet to take her re-enlistment oath.

Master Sgt. Robin Brown, a senior noncommissioned officer with the Tennessee Joint Public Affairs Office, appeared to re-enlist Friday for the Guard by holding a dinosaur puppet in her right hand as she took the oath, according to WKRN-TV.

The video of the oath has been viewed more than 2 million times, according to Stars & Stripes.

The ceremony was reportedly not an official re-enlistment, just something Brown created for her children, according to Air Force Times, which pointed out that in a screenshot of a conversation on an Air Force Facebook forum, someone claiming to be from the Tennessee Military Department said it was “not an official reenlistment.”

The person on the forum added that Brown “was trying to create something her younger children would enjoy.”

But senior officers weren’t pleased when a video of the ceremony went viral on Facebook. 

Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard, griped about the video on his own Facebook page, saying it mocked “a cherished and honorable occasion”:

This action goes against our very foundation. Tennessee National Guard leadership is aware and addressing the issue. ... This single act does not reflect the selfless dedication and professionalism shown everyday by the outstanding Airmen of our Air National Guard in their service to our great nation.

On Wednesday, Brown was removed from her post at the Tennessee Guard’s joint public affairs office, and she could be facing further administrative action, according to Military.com.

In addition, the colonel who administered the oath was immediately demoted to lieutenant colonel and retired, and another senior noncommissioned officer who recorded the oath was removed from his position as a unit first sergeant and officially reprimanded but will stay in the Tennessee Air National Guard.

Terry M. Haston, the adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard, apologized on Facebook, saying that “not taking this oath solemnly and with the utmost respect is firmly against the traditions and sanctity of our military family and will not be tolerated.” 



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/robin-brown-reenlist-dinosaur-puppet_us_5ad7b6b8e4b03c426daaf17 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Man Dressed As Elsa From 'Frozen' Pushes Police Wagon Out Of Snow

The police needed help and Jason Triplett wouldn’t let it go.

The 37-year-old attorney was dressed as Elsa from “Frozen” at a Boston bar Tuesday night when he saw a department wagon stuck in a snowbank.

So what’s a pretend Disney heroine to do? He went outside in the storm to push the cop vehicle out all on his own, earning viral celebrity and cheers from patrons at the South End’s Gallows pub, People reported.

The Boston Globe reported that Triplett purchased the getup last winter and put it on Tuesday to entertain his friends.

The video, shot by customer Christopher B. Haynes, has accrued more than a million views on Facebook, but Triplett believes his fame will be fleeting.

“Everyone will be over it by noon,” he told People. “But if this is my 15 minutes, I would like to leverage it to meet Adam Rippon.”

Magical.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-dressed-as-elsa-from-frozen-pushes-police-wagon-out-of-snow ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

Shout 'Dilly Dilly' At The Masters And You'll Be Thrown Out On Your Can

To combat disruptive fan behavior at golf tournaments, the Masters has banned spectators from yelling the Bud Light catch phrase “Dilly Dilly,” Bryce Ritchie of the golf site Bunkered.co.uk reported.

Ritchie wrote that someone working security for golf’s first major of the year, which begins Thursday, told him that personnel at host site Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia received a sheet of prohibited words and phrases that should result in a spectator’s immediate ejection if shouted. 

One of them is “Dilly! Dilly!” from Bud Light’s successful ad campaign that features a king and his subjects using the phrase as an affirmation or toast of sorts.

Security guards later confirmed to Golf.com that “Dilly Dilly” is indeed on the list.

For years, fans have yelled “baba booey,” “in the hole,” and other exclamations after players shoot. “Dilly Dilly” recently became part of the gallery lexicon. 

Of course, the beer brand turned the ban ― Masters’ officials did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment ― into a marketing opportunity. It sent 1,000 “Dilly Dilly” shirts to the tournament.

We’re thinking those will be plenty loud enough.

This story has been updated with confirmation of the ban by Golf.com.



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dilly-dilly-masters-bud-light_us_5ac4de0ee4b0ac473edc266d ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com

No, A Monkey Can't Copyright His Selfies, Federal Appeals Court Rules

A monkey can’t sue over copyright infringement of his selfies because he’s not human and therefore has no standing to do so, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

“We must determine whether a monkey may sue humans, corporations, and companies for damages and injunctive relief arising from claims of copyright infringement,” Judge Carlos Bea wrote in the opinion for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “We conclude that this monkey — and all animals, since they are not human — lacks statutory standing under the Copyright Act.”

The case involved a series of heart-melting snaps of Naruto, a grinning crested macaque, in 2011. British nature photographer David Slater set up a camera in an Indonesian forest, and Naruto somehow tripped the camera himself (Slater was not on the scene). Essentially, the photogenic animal took his own selfies, argued People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA sued Slater when he sold some of the photos in 2015. Always pushing the boundaries of animal rights, PETA argued that Naruto owned the rights to the photos, calling the images “original works of authorship.”

PETA’s initial lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that a monkey lacks standing to sue over copyright. (“Monkey see, monkey sue is not good law,” noted that ruling). But PETA appealed, arguing that the U.S. Copyright Act doesn’t specify that a work’s author must be human.

Both sides eventually reached a settlement, with Slater agreeing to donate 25 percent of future income from the Naruto photos to protect habitats where crested macaques live. But the 9th Circuit still decided to rule in the important case.

The court didn’t sound very happy with PETA, saying in a footnote that the organization “seems to employ Naruto as an unwitting pawn in its ideological goals.”

PETA didn’t seem particularly close to Naruto even though it sued Slater as a “next friend” of the monkey, the court noted. “We have no idea whether animals ... wish to own copyrights or open bank accounts to hold their royalties from sales of pictures,” wrote Judge N. Randy Smith in a concurring opinion.

PETA’s general counsel, Jeff Kerr, said in a statement that Naruto was discriminated against “simply because he’s a nonhuman animal.”

The court only ruled on Naruto’s standing concerning the Copyright Act, Kerr noted. He said that “nonhuman animals” still have a “constitutional right to bring a case to federal court when they’ve been wronged.”



Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/monkey-naruto-no-copyright-court_us_5ade8786e4b0b2e811328d58 ... and provided by video-cutter-online.com