Odd News...

[AngelsKiss]

Post your odd news here :)


Hence the Expression 'Nehi to a Grasshopper' (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041108/2004-11-08T132426Z_01_N08726953_RTRIDST_0_ODD-ODD-INDIA-PESTICIDES-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

Smart move if you ask me :D

Swarming Locusts: if You Can't Beat Them, Eat Them (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041108/2004-11-08T133701Z_01_N08448532_RTRIDST_0_ODD-ODD-CYPRUS-LOCUSTS-DC.html)

I would like to meet Padre Pistolas. I wonder what kinda heat he is carrying ;)

Parishioners Lock Church to Back Gun-Toting Priest (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041108/2004-11-08T132710Z_01_N0563022_RTRIDST_0_ODD-ODD-MEXICO-PRIEST-DC.html) :icon_mrgr

[AngelsKiss]

I wonder what those cops were doing or even thinking :)

Come Back Tomorrow, Cops Tell Bank Robber (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20041110/2004-11-10T133138Z_01_N09546994_RTRIDST_0_ODD-ODD-ROBBER-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

They classify this as odd news...but it makes my blood boil when I read it :( :icon_evil

Shack-Dwelling 'Boss' Exposes Scam (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20041111/2004-11-11T170243Z_01_L10254702_RTRIDST_0_ODD-SAFRICA-SCAM-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

I wonder what other miracle he can work?

Court to Rule on 'Miracle Babies' Case (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20041111/2004-11-11T165949Z_01_L10607976_RTRIDST_0_ODD-CRIME-BRITAIN-KENYA-BABIES-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

This is a very forgiving wife :)

Man Walks Free After Wife Forgives Murder Bid (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20041201/2004-12-01T141149Z_01_N01316287_RTRIDST_0_ODD-CRIME-FRANCE-PARDON-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

LISBON (Reuters) - An illness that medical officials are calling the "Strawberries with Sugar Virus" is sweeping Portuguese schools as children complain of symptoms similar to those suffered by characters in a television soap opera.

More than 300 children have complained of symptoms including rashes, breathing difficulties and dizziness at 14 schools in different parts of the country. Some schools have been forced to close.

Teens suffer soap opera virus (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060518/2006-05-18T135532Z_01_L18725409_RTRIDST_0_ODD-PORTUGAL-SCHOOLS-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

Here's your grenade -- you want fries with that?
Email this Story

May 22, 10:10 AM (ET)

YORK (Reuters) - Workers at a British factory making French fries were evacuated two days running last week after bomb parts turned up in potatoes imported from France and Belgium, the site of battles in World War One and Two.

The Scarborough plant, owned by Canada's McCain Foods, the world's largest producer of frozen fries, was emptied Friday after a worker spotted a shell tip among the potatoes as they were being cleaned for slicing.

"The police were called and the bomb squad advised a 100 meter exclusion zone should be set up," said a McCain spokesman.

Saturday, an entire hand grenade was discovered in the potatoes and the plant in northern England was evacuated again.

"The army took the device away and blew it up in a controlled explosion in a field nearby," a spokeswoman for the North Yorkshire police said.

The Scarborough plant was opened in 1969 and uses 1,400 tons of potatoes every week. Production is back to normal.

McCain's Whittlesey plant near Peterborough in eastern England has also been evacuated several times this year after World War Two ordnance was found in batches of potatoes.

"Occasionally during the use of imported potatoes from Belgium and northern France, ordnance debris from the First and Second World War is found," McCain said in a statement.


Here's your grenade -- you want fries with that? (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20060522/2006-05-22T141038Z_01_L22558524_RTRIDST_0_ODD-BRITAIN-POTATOES-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

You think they will do this some day in Jamaica? :)

Thousands of Indians to get color TVs -- for free

May 31, 9:52 AM (ET)

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - The government of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu said Tuesday it would float a global tender for color television sets that will be given free to tens of thousands of poor people.

New state Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said the 14-inch (35-cm) TV sets, which he had promised to people living below the poverty line in the run-up to local assembly elections this month, would be distributed from mid-September.

The 83-year-old leader, who wrested power from his opponent J. Jayalalithaa in the elections, also promised rice at 2 rupees ($0.43) per kg for the poor.

About 30 percent of India's more than one billion people live below the poverty line.

($1=46.20 Indian Rupee)

Thousands of Indians to get color TVs -- for free (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20060531/2006-05-31T135236Z_01_DEL197495_RTRIDST_0_ODD-INDIA-TELEVISIONS-DC.html)

[Manu]

Why is it that only AK posting here? She's the only one able to find odd news? Ramesh...aint this your neck of the woods? You too BCK!

[AngelsKiss]

What next?


Mona Lisa 'speaks'

May 31, 10:01 AM (ET)

By Toshi Maeda

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Mona Lisa's smile may always remain a mystery, but it is now possible to hear what her voice would have sounded like, thanks to a Japanese acoustics expert.

Dr Matsumi Suzuki, who generally uses his skills to help with criminal investigations, measured the face and hands of Leonardo da Vinci's famous 16th century portrait to estimate her height and create a model of her skull.

"Once we have that, we can create a voice very similar to that of the person concerned," Suzuki told Reuters in an interview at his Tokyo office last week. "We have recreated the voices of a lot of famous people that were very close to the real thing and have been used in film dubbing."

The chart of any individual's voice, known as a voice print, is unique to that person and Suzuki says he believes he has achieved 90 percent accuracy in recreating the quality of the enigmatic woman's speaking tone.

"I am the Mona Lisa. My true identity is shrouded in mystery," the portrait proclaims on a Web site at http://promotion.msn.co.jp/davinci/voice.htm

"In Mona Lisa's case, the lower part of her face is quite wide and her chin is pointed," Suzuki explained. "The extra volume means a relatively low voice, while the pointed chin adds mid-pitch tones," he added.

The scientists brought in an Italian woman to add the necessary intonation to the voice.

"We then had to think about what to have her say," Suzuki said. "We tried having her speak Japanese, but it didn't suit her image."

Experts disagree over who was represented in the portrait, with some saying the smiling woman is Leonardo himself, or his mother.

The team also attempted to recreate Leonardo's own voice in a project timed to coincide with the release of the film "The Da Vinci Code." Suzuki said he was less confident about its accuracy because he had to work from self-portraits where the artist wore a beard, concealing the shape of his face.

Suzuki's work has made contributions to criminal investigations -- in one case after he successfully aged a person's voice by a decade. A recording of the voice was broadcast on television, leading to the apprehension of a suspect.



Mona Lisa 'speaks' (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20060531/2006-05-31T140157Z_01_T177988_RTRIDST_0_ODD-JAPAN-MONALISA-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

These people not easy at all :)"


Court bars man from seeing dog


Jun 2, 12:33 PM (ET)

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court has ruled that dogs should not be treated like children with allocated visiting rights when it comes to divorce cases.

A Spanish man was originally given permission by his wife to visit Yako, a golden retriever, when they separated but he appealed to a lower court when she stopped him from seeing the dog. The court ruled in his favor and set up visiting hours.

But the provincial court of Barcelona then overturned that decision, saying it set a precedent for pets to be treated like children in divorce cases.

"This sort of litigation is rare, given that common sense and reason dictate that people should not take such cases to court," said court papers obtained by Reuters Friday.

Court bars man from seeing dog (http://reuters.myway.com//article/20060602/2006-06-02T163320Z_01_L02789037_RTRIDST_0_ODD-SPAIN-DOG-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

From hedge fund to actual online gambling :)

US hurricane outlook draws betting surge

Jun 2, 10:12 AM (ET)


By Michael Christie

MIAMI (Reuters) - If he believed the smart money, online gambling commentator Christopher Costigan would move out of his oceanfront pad on Miami Beach right now.

According to the odds given by the multibillion-dollar Internet betting industry, it's almost a dead certainty that Florida will be struck by a big hurricane during the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially opened on Thursday.

But Costigan says he is staying put. "I will be betting on the reverse ... I'm looking right at the ocean," he said.

The intensity of the last two Atlantic hurricane seasons has triggered a mini-frenzy this year of storm-related bets online, where gamblers can make so-called "proposition wagers" on anything ranging from "will life be found on Mars?" to "who will win the next presidential election?"

"Betting is funny," said WagerWeb.com chief executive Dave Johnson. "If there's enough things in the news, people want to bet on them.

If you want to win big money, Costigan said, you should bet on the United States escaping a major hurricane strike over the next six months after two ferocious seasons that saw eight hurricanes lash Florida and Hurricane Katrina devastate New Orleans and kill 1,300 people.

"In terms of will a Category 3 (hurricane) not hit the U.S., actually there's some great value in those odds," Costigan said, referring to the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.

US hurricane outlook draws betting surge (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060602/2006-06-02T141237Z_01_N31300899_RTRIDST_0_ODD-HURRICANES-ODDS-DC.html)

[AngelsKiss]

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.

"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.

"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."

The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-06-05T133715Z_01_L05642927_RTRUKOC_0_US-UKRAINE-LION.xml&src=rss)

[AngelsKiss]

This is funny :)

No more navel gazing in church, priest says

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian priest is resorting to some innovative theology to rid his church of young women's bare midriffs.

"God knew what your navel looked like even before you were born, so there is no need to expose it in church," commands a sign at the entrance to the church in Cinisello Balsamo.

Guards at major churches in Italy routinely keep out people wearing skimpy attire. But Father Felice says he resorted to the signs because his parish cannot afford guards to keep out the low-cut jeans and high-cut tops, newspapers reported Monday.

No more navel gazing in church, priest says (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-06-05T123004Z_01_L05702089_RTRUKOC_0_US-ITALY-NAVEL.xml&src=rss)