Weird News

[BigV]

Who you calling a conspiracy theorist?

[sexobon]

There's no such thing as conspiracy theorists. They're a hoax.

[Carruthers]

This was mentioned on the radio in the early hours of this morning and I wasn't sure if I'd heard it right.

I can't quite believe it. Perhaps not so much weird as utterly bizarre.

Americans are furious at Devon town's plans to burn one of its most proud national symbols

"To us this is almost sickening to think about, it's disturbing"

"Sickening, disturbing and incredibly odd" - these are just some of the words used by Americans to describe an event set to take place in a Devon town.

Every five years Torrington in North Devon hosts a huge bonfire event organised by members of the charitable Torrington Cavaliers group.

The band of volunteers spend years building enormous structures which are then set fire to in front of a crowd of thousands, with previous examples including the town of Trumpton and replicas of Pudding Lane and HMS Victory.

But the choice of structure for the Cavalier's 2020 bonfire has enraged some Americans.

The group is currently in the process of building a life size replica of The Mayflower ship, which carried the first 'Pilgrims' from Plymouth to America back in 1620.

2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing, which is why the Cavaliers chose the ship for their bonfire.

But some Americans who recently found out about this event are outraged that a symbol of such national pride could be set fire to.

The organisers of the official Mayflower 400 anniversary celebrations took to Facebook to share some pictures of the Torrington Cavaliers' progress on their replica of the ship.

The post attracted a lot of comments from Americans who were not happy.

One said: "It's the most important ship in American history. The Mayflower is not an abomination. I would never want to see it set on fire."

A drone photo showing the size and scale of the replica Mayflower.

LINK


For a more cerebral approach to 17th Century US history, could I suggest this episode of Time Team from 2007?

I won't spoil it for you, but they made some spectacular discoveries.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But Jamestown was a commercial enterprise which stile from the natives and led to slavery, whereas Plymouth a couple years later was religious zealots who stole from the natives and issued scarlet letters.

[BigV]

Carruthers, you (and I) don't really appreciate the fashion of outrage and scandal to be gained from a diet of social media. This expression is bizarre because it's silly. There are some stories that are popularized this way that merit outrage and scandal, but this is not one of them.

In my experience, news like this, the shoutiest parts are are a distraction, sometimes/usually intentionally so, depending on the tweeter...

Consider the source, consider the medium.

[xoxoxoBruce]

How dare you not take my stupidity... er... uh, outrage, yeah that's it, outrage seriously. I'm going home in a snit.

[BigV]

Well played xoB.

[Carruthers]

Solid gold toilet stolen from Winston Churchill's birthplace Blenheim Palace

A solid gold toilet installed in the former home of Winston Churchill has been stolen.

The 18ct toilet, reportedly worth more than £1m, is an art piece called America and is the work of Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Police have confirmed the toilet has been stolen and are investigating.

The loo remains missing but a 66-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft.

Detective Inspector Jess Milne said: "The piece of art that has been stolen is a high value toilet made out of gold that was on display at the palace.

"Due to the toilet being plumbed in to the building, this has caused significant damage and flooding.

"The artwork has not been recovered at this time but we are conducting a thorough investigation to find it and bring those responsible to justice."

Edward Spencer-Churchill, the founder of the Blenheim Art Foundation, told The Times ahead of its installation: "Despite being born with a silver spoon in my mouth I have never had a s**t on a golden toilet, so I look forward to it."

Asked about security concerns, he commented: "It's not going to be the easiest thing to nick.

"Firstly, it's plumbed in and secondly, a potential thief will have no idea who last used the toilet or what they ate."

The golden toilet was previously on display at New York's Guggenheim museum in 2016. Visitors could use it while a member of security staff stood guard outside.

It was offered to US President Donald Trump - who upon moving into the White House installed golden curtains - by the museum.

Thames Valley Police is investigating but a source close to the inquiry admitted that they have nothing to go on.

LINK

[sexobon]

I'm confident they'll eventually flush out the thief.

[Gravdigr]

Weather radar picks up mysterious shadow across three states ‘caused by huge dragonfly swarm’

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Weather radar picks up mysterious shadow across three states ‘caused by huge dragonfly swarm’

We had a similar occurrence a few weeks ago but with flying ants.

A cloud of flying ants that hit the south coast on Wednesday was so dense it could be seen in satellite images from space.

The swarm of insects peppered the skies in the counties of Dorset Hampshire, and West Sussex — and were captured on the Met Office's radar, shocking images show.

Ants were also spotted in Kent and East Sussex. The insects were on their so-called 'nupital flight', during which they mate — an event triggered by the current weather.

Ants swarm together to raise the odds of pairs successfully mating and to deter predators at this vulnerable stage in the life cycle of their colonies.

Link

The link is to a Daily Mail article so be prepared for astronomical amounts of hyperbole.

(See what I did there? )

[xoxoxoBruce]

So the flying ants are looking for love in all the high places.
I thought ants had a queen who got all the action, like bees.

[Gravdigr]

Sometime today, a mouse fell out of the White House ceiling into the lap of an NBC reporter.

I knew there was a rat in the Oval Office, but, I didn't know about the mice in the Press Room...

[tw]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

I knew there was a rat in the Oval Office, but, I didn't know about the mice in the Press Room...

He cannot get anything right. The mafia lets it be known. That mouse must be a rat. And it must be dead. Only then is the message properly received.

[Gravdigr]

A 30-year-old man was gored by a bison [in June] at a Utah state park, then brought his 22-year-old date there and she was gored too