Weird News

[infinite monkey]

It's an example of word usage that irritates because of its unnecessariness. People use uncomfortable words in defiance of common sensiness so as to appear to have an air of extra-worldliness. Why? Dumbness, pure and simple stupidness. "Look at me! Hear ME! I am unrivaled in my unrivalriness!"

Cockness.

[infinite monkey]

Wow, in my attempt at humor I remind myself of a Sarah Palinness kind of moronness.

[DanaC]

Or, maybe they were brought up with a slightly different lexicon, or followed an academic subject in which such words have more currency and they've unconsciously included them in everyday speech.

[Gravdigr]

Lana Rae Meisner, Wife of Eagles Founder Randy Meisner, Killed

The incident earlier in the day makes this quite suspicious.

In my book, anyway. YMMV

[DanaC]

Colombian woman arrested at Frankfurt airport with 1kg of cocaine in her breasts

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ocaine-breasts

[Gravdigr]

24 years old, a kilo of blow...That girl is a catch!!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Another explosion?

The firemen had been there investigating a reported gas leak when it happened? Is that the fire department's job? I can see having them stand by, maybe even moving people out and keeping people out, but being at the explosion is nuts.

Originally Posted by DanaC

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ocaine-breasts

If I was running things no breast would go unsearched, mostly by me personally.

[Carruthers]

Police in London are optimistic that the thieves behind an audacious recent heist will have a harder job than usual concealing the loot.

They've appealed to the public to keep their eyes peeled for the unconventional stolen goods -- a small zoo's worth of stuffed animals, including a chimpanzee in a top hat and necktie.

The 18 stuffed animals, worth about £100,000 ($142,000), were taken in a burglary at a taxidermy warehouse in the London borough of Wandsworth last week, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The stolen items included lions, a giraffe, a zebra, a sloth, a crocodile, a rhinoceros, a baboon and a king penguin. Antiques, including a globe, were also taken, police said.

What on Earth possessed them to steal a stuffed giraffe and a chimp in a top hat?

They're hardly going to be able to shift that lot on Ebay, are they?

One for Inspector Clouseau, I think.

CNN

[Sundae]

These people live in Stoke Mandeville.
I don't think I am disclosing anything private when I say this is the next village along the railway line to where Carruthers lives.

What has he been doing?!

Link to local paper.

A deep hole complete with rusty steps leading down into the darkness has suddenly appeared on a front lawn – and the reason for it is a complete mystery.

The hole, which measures around two feet by two feet, appeared when Emma James was mowing the lawn at her home in Kynaston Avenue, Stoke Mandeville.

[glatt]

Deep hole that's about 2 meters deep and they don't know what's down there?

Um, maybe shine a flashlight/torch down there?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Why are they calling anyone, if they have a hole in their lawn, fix it.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Why are they calling anyone, if they have a hole in their lawn, fix it.

I was thinking the same thing. But then I remembered that they have different property rules there. Maybe they are technically/legally leasing it from the Queen? Maybe it's the local council's problem if the residents don't actually own the land the way we own land here?

I have a very poor understanding of UK real estate laws. I just know they are bizarre.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ah yes, I forgot about that socialist set up. In that case, if someone falls into that hole, I wonder who gets sued?

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by glatt

I was thinking the same thing. But then I remembered that they have different property rules there. Maybe they are technically/legally leasing it from the Queen? Maybe it's the local council's problem if the residents don't actually own the land the way we own land here?

I have a very poor understanding of UK real estate laws. I just know they are bizarre.

Most houses in England and Wales are owned 'freehold'.
The owner owns the structure and the plot on which it sits lock, stock and barrel.
In the property deeds there will be details of utilities which cross the land and who is responsible for them.
Sometimes, a specific public utility will be shown to have access for necessary work to be carried out.*
In this instance, although I cannot be certain, I think that the property owner will be responsible for maintenance and repairs.


*ETA We have a pole on the boundary with our neighbour which carries power and telephone cables.
Occasionally, when work is required, one of the crew knocks on the door and asks if it is OK to do so.
It's all done on an informal basis and it's very unlikely that someone will march to your door waving a High Court order.

[Carruthers]

The general consensus of opinion is that the hole is an access chamber to a sewer which serves all the houses along the road.
It seems that the steel, or possibly iron, cover was turfed over many years ago and has finally rusted through.
The square indentation in the surface is a bit of a giveaway.
When Sundae brought this to my attention, I thought that my dungeon, nuclear fallout shelter and all purpose man cave had been discovered.
One can rest easy in one's bed tonight.