Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Posted: 9:06 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013
What is it? Horned sea "monster" washes up on shore



VILLARICOS, SPAIN — It looks like something right out of a mythology book, but it has many along the coast of Spain scratching their heads. The mysterious creature has what looks like horns sprouting from its head and stretches about 13 feet down the beach.

Whatever it is, some believe it's an oarfish, a mutant fish or even a shark species, it was in the advanced stages of decomposition.




Horned ‘Sea Monster’ Is Spain’s ‘Montauk Monster’
[Update, Not An Oarfish]

A horned “sea monster” that washed ashore at Luis Siret Beach in Villaricos, Spain earlier this month reminds us of the “Montauk monster,” but we have to admit the Spanish sea beast is a bit more… interesting and weird.

The horned sea monster in Spain doesn’t have a catchy name yet, but when it comes to looking scary and mythical, it has the Montauk monster beat. The creature’s remains were “buried by sand,” but American translations of Spanish news reports don’t say if any attempts were made to retrieve some of the remaining DNA for testing or if officials just gave up and disposed of the thing.

Civil Protection coordinator Maria Sanchez reveals another reason testing of the mysterious horned sea monster may not have been pursued: “A lady found one part, and we helped her retrieve the rest… We have no idea what it was. It really stank, as it was in the advanced stages of decomposition.”

Guesses as to the creature’s identity have ranged from several species of shark to an oarfish, a long deepwater sea-dweller that can range from 10 feet up to over 30. Oarfish have only recently been observed at their natural depth, and experts believe that the inspiration for old maritime myths about sea serpents stemmed from sightings of oarfish.

But an expert on the matter, Florida State University ichthyologist Dean Grubbs, explains that the mysterious horned sea monster is not very mysterious at all — he says: “That is definitely a shark skeleton… The elements toward the back were confusing me, but those are the lower caudal fin supports. The ‘horns’ are the scapulocoracoids which support the pectoral fins.”

What does Spain’s horned sea creature look like

http://www.inquisitr.com/916218/horn...MFizrvZGiIS.99

Montauk Monster



This water-logged beast, known as the Montauk Monster, appeared on a beach in New York in 2008. The specimen has been the subject of debate and controversy since its appearance. Several zoologists claimed that the body belonged to a raccoon, although its legs appeared too long to belong to a raccoon.

http://news.nster.com/content624.htm...AeQGE14bFuH.99

THAT doesn't have the skull features of a raccoon

[Advertisement]

[Jolie Rouge]

Spicy News of the Day: Judge Orders Sriracha to Partially Shutdown

After residents of Irwindale, California sued the maker of Sriracha hot sauce due to headaches, burning eyes, and irritated throats, a superior court judge sided with the community. The company was ordered to shut down the local sauce-making plant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=G1dEQTZvxVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=G1dEQTZvxVg

[Jolie Rouge]

Oregon girl told she can't sell mistletoe, but can beg for money
Published December 03, 2013



An 11-year-old girl from Portland, Ore. has been told that she can't sell mistletoe to help defray the cost of braces, but she can beg for the money on the city's streets.

According to KATU-TV, Madison Root and her father were selling bags of the hand-cut, hand-wrapped Christmas favorite Saturday morning next to the Skidmore Fountain in downtown Portland, where the city holds a weekly market. Everything was going well until a security guard told her that she had to stop selling due to a city ordinance that bans such activity in a park "except as expressly permitted under the terms of a lease, concession or permit."

The guard then told Madison that she could sell her mistletoe outside the boundaries of the park where the fountain and the market are located, away from the crowds, or she could simply ask for donations to cover the cost of her braces. "I don't want to beg! I would rather work for something than beg," Madison told KATU reporter Dan Cassuto. "It's crazy. People can get money for pot. But I can't get money for braces. I'm working for this! They're just sitting down on their butts all day asking for pot."

A Portland Parks Bureau spokesman told the station that begging is a form of free speech and is protected by the First Amendment.

One market vendor told the station that she wished an exception to the ordinance could be made for children. "They should have a caveat for children trying to create options for commerce, especially this time of year," Sharon Steen, who sells ceramic bowls at the market told KATU. "We encourage it. We want them to grow up and be entrepreneurs."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/03...beg-for-money/

[Jolie Rouge]

Oregon girl told she can't sell mistletoe, but can beg for money
Published December 03, 2013



An 11-year-old girl from Portland, Ore. has been told that she can't sell mistletoe to help defray the cost of braces, but she can beg for the money on the city's streets.

According to KATU-TV, Madison Root and her father were selling bags of the hand-cut, hand-wrapped Christmas favorite Saturday morning next to the Skidmore Fountain in downtown Portland, where the city holds a weekly market. Everything was going well until a security guard told her that she had to stop selling due to a city ordinance that bans such activity in a park "except as expressly permitted under the terms of a lease, concession or permit."

The guard then told Madison that she could sell her mistletoe outside the boundaries of the park where the fountain and the market are located, away from the crowds, or she could simply ask for donations to cover the cost of her braces. "I don't want to beg! I would rather work for something than beg," Madison told KATU reporter Dan Cassuto. "It's crazy. People can get money for pot. But I can't get money for braces. I'm working for this! They're just sitting down on their butts all day asking for pot."

A Portland Parks Bureau spokesman told the station that begging is a form of free speech and is protected by the First Amendment.

One market vendor told the station that she wished an exception to the ordinance could be made for children. "They should have a caveat for children trying to create options for commerce, especially this time of year," Sharon Steen, who sells ceramic bowls at the market told KATU. "We encourage it. We want them to grow up and be entrepreneurs."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/03...beg-for-money/

Ah, the new America! Don't teach kids to work…..teach them to beg!! Awesome plan. Go Oregon!!

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/12/...yn-kelly-88433

[Jolie Rouge]

Vandal paints Voodoo queen's tomb pink
Posted: Dec 30, 2013 4:24 AM CST

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WAFB) - Cemetery caretakers have a bit of a mystery on their hands in New Orleans after someone vandalized the tomb of Voodoo queen Marie Laveau.

According to The Times-Picayune, someone sneaked into St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and painted the tomb pink. While it may look nice, the latex paint also traps in moisture, which can cause major damage to the tombs.

It also covers thousands of "X" marks people drew on the tomb. According to legend, to have a wish granted, you have to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, and then knock on the tomb.

http://www.wafb.com/story/24325173/v...ampaign=Buffer



Marie Laveau's tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 painted pink by mysterious vandal
Richard A. Webster, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on December 29, 2013 at 12:12 PM, updated December 29, 2013 at 9:54 PM

Dozens of tourists in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 gathered around the tomb of Marie Laveau Sunday (Dec. 29) as tour guide Renee Dodge explained the mysterious history of the famed Voodoo queen. But most of the tourists had one question on their minds: Why was the tomb painted bright pink?

Two weeks ago, in the middle of the night, someone sneaked into the cemetery and painted the tomb, Dodge said, but she didn't think the person had any malicious intent. "The person really came in to paint over the thousands of thousands of "X"'s all over this tomb," she said. "And that's the real desecration."

Decades ago, someone started a rumor that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their "X," and leave Laveau an offering, Dodge said. "I'll tell, you, I don't have a problem with it being painted pink," she said. "I have a problem with it being paint."

Whoever painted the tomb used latex paint, which does not breathe and traps in moisture which is "the single biggest threat to the survival of these brick-and-mortar tombs," Dodge said. The vandal also painted the marble tablet on the face of the tomb with white paint. That is damaging because marble is very soft, porous, and fragile, Dodge said.

The nonprofit Save Our Cemeteries has been in contact with several restoration companies about removing the pink-and-white paint, Dodge said. If people would like to see Laveau's tomb restored to its natural state, they can ask her to grant them that wish without desecrating the tomb with an "X," Dodge said. "If anyone wants to make a wish, I will tell you here and now this lady has never let me down, and I've never done anything other than this," Dodge said putting her hand on the tomb. "You simply place your hand on her tomb make a wish, and when she grants it or she comes to you in a dream with knowledge to get what you want, you return and make an offering."

Despite Dodge's advice, the pink tomb already has several "X"'s drawn on it.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans oversees the cemeteries, but the majority of the tombs are individually owned by families who are responsible for their maintenance and upkeep. Many of the families, however, left the region or died off decades ago. leaving the tombs untended for generations. Angie Green, executive director of Save Our Cemeteries, estimates that 75 percent of the tombs in St. Louis No. 1 are orphaned.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...incart_m-rpt-2

[Eddie]

Fracking hot: N. Dakota man ‘sets tap water on fire’

A video made by a man from North Dakota shows him cautiously holding a lighter up against the stream of water coming out of his tap, prompting large flames to rise up into the faucet. North Dakota has been home to a fracking boom over the past few years.

“First time I did it, it was a huge fireball [that] took up the entire sink – so that's why I'm a little jumpy doing it. I don't want to blow up the bathroom here,” he laughed during the demonstration. A huge flame shot up as the running water appeared to catch alight.

“Really weird, right?” he questioned as he switched the camera off. The video has had over 400,000 views. It was only uploaded within the last three weeks, garnering attention on a global scale. The video prompted one commenter to note sarcastically that there was “nothing like a refreshing glass of fire.”



Jacob Haughney, who made the video, tells the camera that he works in the North Dakota oil fields

His stunt with the tap water seems reminiscent of notorious 2010 documentary film ‘Gasland’ when a Colorado resident conducts a similar feat.

The scene in particular has been thrown into question by investigative journalist, Phelim McAleer, who postulated that residents in the man’s neighborhood had been able to light tap water on fire since around the 1930s because of naturally occurring methane. The filmmaker later said that his findings were irrelevant.

However, Haughney’s video has sparked speculation that the North Dakota fracking boom and nearby oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing is responsible for the apparently flammable tap water.

A Louisiana family noted a similar incident at the beginning of December, and they blamed a gas company for nearby drilling. The fire “blew up and caught the fringe of the curtains,” according to the daughter Sarah Evans, who spoke to local station, KSLA12

The highly controversial process of injecting water, sand and various chemicals into layers of rock in hopes of releasing oil and gas deep underground has drawn harsh criticism from environmentalists.

While supporters say fracking brings jobs and opportunities for energy independence, detractors have pointed to exaggerated employment claims – not to mention the health risks related to chemicals used in the practice.

And experts say the flammable water could be caused by a high concentration of methane in the line, which occasionally occurs naturally.

In October, researchers found high levels of radioactivity, salts, and metals in water and sediment located downstream from a treatment facility which processes fracking wastewater from oil and gas production sites in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale formation.

At the end of November, northern Texas towns experienced some 16 earthquakes over a period of three weeks, while in December, opponents of the practice experienced a rare victory when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that a 2012 law allowing gas companies to drill anywhere in the state unconstitutional.

North Dakota is the second largest oil-producing state in the US, reaping more than 911,000 barrels of shale gas on a daily basis.

http://rt.com/usa/flammable-water-dakota-fracking-023/

[3lilpigs]

It also covers thousands of "X" marks people drew on the tomb. According to legend, to have a wish granted, you have to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, and then knock on the tomb.

Ok, so it's ''vandalism'' if they paint it pink, but it's OK to draw a bunch of ''X's" on it for some supersticious legend??

[Jolie Rouge]

Ok, so it's ''vandalism'' if they paint it pink, but it's OK to draw a bunch of ''X's" on it for some supersticious legend??

The "x"'s are usually done with a graphite pencil and cause little damage ... no one has been caught doing it and they do try to discourage it as vandalism. The problem seems to be that it was painted with latex paint on the old style brick ... this will cause moisture to be held in and bring on mold and mildew. The old tradition would be a tinted wash of limestone & chalk dust which allows the brickwork to "breathe". They are consulting "experts" ... what they need to do is get a high heat hair dryer and slowly dry out the latex paint ... it won't adhere properly to the brickwork ... and they can peel it off in small sections at a time... without damaging the tomb

[Jolie Rouge]

Conjoined whale calves found dead in Mexican lagoon in world's first documented case of Siamese gray whales
Conjoined gray whale calves found dead in Mexican lagoon
Twins are believed to have been miscarried due to their disability

Siamese calves could be world's first case of conjoined gray whales

By Chris Murphy and Sara Malm

PUBLISHED: 08:25 EST, 7 January 2014 | UPDATED: 09:27 EST, 7 January 2014


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2plMBER2a

[Jolie Rouge]

Biologist pleads guilty to feeding killer whales in Monterey Bay
By Jason Wells - January 14, 2014, 6:38 a.m.

A prominent marine biologist was fined $12,500 and placed on three years probation for feeding killer whales in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. In exchange, Nancy Black -- whose work has appeared on PBS, National Geographic and Animal Planet -- pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and agreed to serve 300 hours of community service. Federal prosecutors accused her of using chunks of gray whale blubber to draw orcas closer to her research vessel for filming in 2004 and 2005.

Black had faced a maximum $100,000 fine and one year in prison, according to her plea agreement, in which she admitted to offering food to the orcas, "specifically chunks of gray whale blubber."

Investigators built their case on footage shot by famed oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau, whose crew also attempted to lure the orcas during the feeding in April 2004. Federal prosecutors forced him to forfeit his vessel, the Manfish, alleging that, like Black, his crew also threaded gray whale blubber on ropes to draw the orcas closer.

In their criminal complaint, prosecutors said the orcas tried to submerge and steer the gray whale carcass away from the Manfish multiple times over the course of two hours, but the crew repeatedly interfered, at one point even backing up over the carcass while the orcas were still feeding on it.

Unlike Cousteau, Black was not forced to forfeit her research vessel, but supporters argued it was unfair that she was the only one charged in the whale interaction. They also argued that attaching a rope to a piece of blubber from a gray whale that had already been killed by orcas was not akin to "chumming" the water.

Black, a researcher and co-owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, told the Monterey County Herald that the case was the "worst nightmare I could ever imagine" and looked "forward to returning to my passion of studying marine mammals without the distractions that I have had during this case."

Her supporters said the case would have a chilling effect on other researchers who try to work with animals in the wild. But U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said feeding wild animals erodes their wariness of humans, which can be dangerous for both parties.

The judge also ordered Black to stay 100 yards from the whales -- a punishment her attorneys warned could be used against her by her whale-watching business competitors if a whale swims close by on its own.

Black had faced a 27-year prison term and $700,000 fine after she was initially charged with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts in 2012.


http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2qQN60zZC

[Jolie Rouge]

Third prominent banker found dead in six days
Trey Garrison - January 31, 2014

Bloomberg is reporting this morning that former Federal Reserve economist Mike Dueker was found dead in an apparent suicide near Tacoma, Washington. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...ound-dead.html

Dueker, 50, a chief economist at Russell Investments, had been missing since Jan. 29 and was reportedly having troubles at work.

Normally HousingWire wouldn’t cover deaths in the industry, but what’s strange is that Dueker is the third prominent banker found dead since Sunday.

On Sunday, William Broeksmit, 58, former senior manager for Deutsche Bank, was found hanging in his home, also an apparent suicide.

On Tuesday, Gabriel Magee, 39, vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co’s (JPM) London headquarters, apparently jumped to his death from a building in the Canary Wharf area.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/...ad-in-six-days