Archive for the 'Absurd' Category

The Curious Case of the Reappearing Scurvy

Monday, March 15th, 2010

DoctorScurvy is a potentially fatal illness caused by a lack of vitamin C. Historically it was a problem for sailors, who went out to sea for long periods on a restricted diet. The cure (eating citrus fruit, fresh meat, etc.) has been known since at least the 15th century, but in a tragic comedy of errors this fact was repeatedly forgotten, misapplied, or misunderstood. It wasn’t until 1932 that vitamin C was identified and definitively shown to be the “cure” for scurvy. The linked article explains the long history, with special emphasis on Robert Falcon Scott’s disastrous Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole.

Link: http://idlewords.com/…
(via Neatorama)

Korea’s Imaginary Wall

Monday, February 8th, 2010

WallFrom the article: “North Korea’s New Year’s wish of seeing the destruction of a massive concrete wall dividing the Korean peninsula never seems to come true — mostly because there is no such barrier.”

Link: http://www.reuters.com/…

Man Sues Neighbor For Using an iPhone

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

TransmitterA man who claims he is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation is suing his neighbor for using her iPhone at home.

Link: http://sfreporter.com/…
(via Kim Komando)

2009 Darwin Awards

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

AbsurdThe 2009 Darwin Awards are out, and the winners are two bank robbers killed by crushing debt. Here at Chad’s News, we think one of the runner-ups (dying to go) was more deserving, but the judges were obviously swayed by the rare phenomenon of having two people remove themselves from the gene pool with a single action.

Link: http://www.darwinawards.com/
(via Neatorama)

California State Gov’t Devises Method To Get Blood From Turnips

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

GovernmentAstute Chad’s News readers already know that the State of California has severe financial problems, and that its politicians are desperately looking for ways to make ends meet. Their latest idea is to increase tax withholding by about 10 percent. Note that they’re not actually increasing the tax rate, just the amount that is withheld by employers. In essence, this forces California citizens to give short-term, interest-free loans to the state.

Here in Colorado, our finances, while a bit strained, are not even close to being as bad as California’s—primarily because of the TABOR amendment which put serious curbs on the expansion of government spending.

Thanks to Ciro for this link.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/…

The 2009 Ig Nobel Awards

Friday, October 9th, 2009

ScientistThis year’s Ig Nobel prizes were awarded on October 1st. It was a fairly weak field, but here are some of the better ones (see the linked article for the full list):

  • Medicine: Donald L. Unger, of Thousand Oaks, California, USA, for investigating a possible cause of arthritis of the fingers, by diligently cracking the knuckles of his left hand — but never cracking the knuckles of his right hand — every day for more than sixty (60) years.
  • Veterinary Medicine: Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, for showing that cows who have names give more milk than cows that are nameless.
  • Peace Prize: Stephan Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and Beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining — by experiment — whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle.
  • Chemistry: Javier Morales, Miguel Apátiga, and Victor M. Castaño of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, for creating diamonds from liquid — specifically from tequila.

Link: http://improbable.com/…
(via Neatorama)

I’m a Victim Here! #4

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

AbsurdSo you’ve got a brand new bachelors degree but can’t find a job. What do you do? Sue the college, of course! Trina Thompson filed a lawsuit against her alma mater, New York’s Monroe College, for $70,000 to reimburse her tuition and $2,000 to compensate for the stress of her job search.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/…
(via digg)

Aren’t Bonuses Supposed to be Based on Performance?

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

MoneyAccording to the New York Attorney General, three major banks paid out nearly $18 billion in bonuses, yet only managed to drum up $9.6 billion in revenue. That’s revenue, not profit. They gave bonuses worth almost twice their total income. Seems pretty absurd to me.

Link: http://consumerist.com/…

I’m a Victim Here! #3

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

AbsurdA new study finds that those horrible, terrible, evil Western societies are to blame for 15 percent of China’s CO2 emissions. Never mind that China might have some responsibility in the matter.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/…
(via digg)

Update: It gets even better.

Bigger Than the Constitution

Monday, February 9th, 2009

GovernmentHere’s a direct quote from Mayor Frank Melton of Jackson, MS: “I certainly respect the Constitution, but we have some issues that are much bigger than the Constitution.” He’s referring to an executive order banning saggy pants. No, really.

Link: http://www.clarionledger.com/…
(via Neatorama)

I’m a Victim Here! #2

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

AbsurdSo you got drunk and beat up your wife. What’s your next step? Treatment? Alcoholics Anonymous? Nope—you sue the airline that served the alcohol.

Link: http://www.news.com.au/…

2008 Darwin Awards

Monday, January 5th, 2009

AbsurdThe 2008 Darwin Awards are out, and the winner is the balloon priest. I don’t agree with this one—it seems more like a tragedy than a case of stupidity.

Link: http://www.darwinawards.com/…
(via Neatorama)