1469 replies to this topic

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Waris, on 29 Jun 2008, 20:30, said:

At first I wat'd, and then I facepalm'd :(

Seconded

[Waris]

Just... wat

Quote

CARCASSONNE, France (AFP) - Seventeen people, including a child left in a critical condition, were injured Sunday when French soldiers fired live bullets instead of blanks during a visitors day display, regional officials told AFP.

Fifteen civilians and two soldiers were injured in the incident, of which the details remained unclear late Sunday, involving a demonstration by members of a marines parachute regiment of a hostage liberation exercise, the regional authority said.

Witnesses said the incident took place shortly before 6 pm (1600 GMT) on a demonstration ground just inside the barracks, which was open to the public over the weekend.

Four of the 17 were seriously injured, with two described as critical following "incomprehensible" scenes at the barracks near Carcassone, in the country's south-west.

According to local authorities, five children were among the injured.

Five helicopters, 11 firefighters' first-aid vehicles and two ambulances rushed to the scene to help the injured.

One soldier had been detained, although no explanation was immediately forthcoming for why the wrong ammunition was loaded into weapons.

"All hypotheses are being considered," said a national police spokesman late Sunday, adding that the weapons had been "seized and placed under lock and key."

Hospitals in the southern cities and towns of Toulouse, Narbonne, Montpellier and Perpignan, as well as Carcassone, were treating the injured.

Colonel Benoit Royal, head of the army's information unit, said a number among the injured were from military families.

France's Defence Minister Herve Morin traveled to Carcassone on Sunday evening to visit victims of the incident in the hospital.

"I have ordered an immediate inquiry ... to determine as quickly as possible the circumstances of this tragic incident," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was urgently awaiting the results of the top-level military probe, according to a presidential statement.

Sarkozy said he "shares with the families the pain caused by this tragedy. My first thoughts are with the victims. Everything will be put in place to care for them."

Lemaire added that investigators believed the deadly ammunition was loaded by mistake.

"The question being asked is 'Did the soldier engage in a criminal act or not?'," Lemaire said. "For now, no one can answer that, but the theory being worked on is one of error.

[Destiny]

wut...the heck? That's plain stupid...

[Ion Cannon!]

Haha, got to love the french military " What does theese do?" BANG - There is a good reason they were conquered in 2 weeks in WW2.

[Mbob61]

:O

Destiny, on 30 Jun 2008, 12:14, said:

wut...the heck? That's plain stupid...

Agreed

Mike

[Strategia]

The stupid thing isn't that somehow that gun was loaded with real bullets.



The stupid thing isn't that someone got hurt.





The REALLY stupid thing is that that soldier kept firing long enough to hit seventeen people.

[Alias]

There was more than one shooter...

Waris, on 30 Jun 2008, 20:18, said:

Quote

CARCASSONNE, France (AFP) - Seventeen people, including a child left in a critical condition, were injured Sunday when French soldiers fired live bullets instead of blanks during a visitors day display, regional officials told AFP.

What kind of gun salute do you think uses only one gunner?
(In b4 suicide)

I would think before you post next time, before you end up being the "stupid" one.

Edited by Alias, 01 July 2008 - 12:32.

[Strategia]

Bah, that's not what they said on the news. D:

[Dauth]

Not really odd, just rather cool.

Warning video may only work for UK users (international people switch to international webby)

http://news.bbc.co.u.../uk/7493547.stm

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

That's awesome =0

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

If I wasn't at work, I probably would have burst out laughing:

Quote

New Zealand rugby fans watching a regular sports programme found themselves viewing hardcore pornography instead on Sunday afternoon.

Four minutes of pornography interrupted sports coverage on the Prime Television channel, after what a spokesman described as a distribution mix up.

The pornographic footage was meant for an adult pay-per-view channel.

Instead, it found its way onto a regular free-to-air programme called Grassroots Rugby.

Rival television channels reported that some viewers were angry about the broadcast, which may have been seen by children.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ews/7493256.stm

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Quote

Three residents of the Greek island of Lesbos have lost an attempt to ban the use of the word "lesbian" to describe gay women.

The residents argued that using the term in reference to gay women insulted their identity.

But an Athens court ruled there was no justification for their contention that they felt slighted, saying the word did not define the islanders' identity.

Greeks often refer to the island as Mytilene, after its capital.

"This is a good decision for lesbians everywhere," Vassilis Chirdaris, lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, told Reuters news agency.

Court expenses

The island's name was applied to gay women in acknowledgement of the female poet Sappho, of Lesbos, who wrote love poems about both women and men in about 600 BC.

The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, had claimed that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violated the human rights of the islanders - who call themselves Lesbians - and disgraces them around the world.

He argued it caused daily problems to the social life of Lesbos's inhabitants.

But the court disagreed, ordering the plaintiffs to pay court expenses of 230 euros ($366), although they could appeal against the decision.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/7520343.stm

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

M-M-MMULTIPOST

Quote

A 56-year-old man from the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin has been arrested after shooting his lawn mower in his garden because it would not start.

Keith Walendowski was charged by police in Milwaukee with disorderly conduct and possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

He could face a fine of up to $11,000 and a maximum prison sentence of six-and-a-half years if convicted.

Police officers said Mr Walendowski had told them: "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want."

Police found the shotgun, a handgun and a stungun, as well as ammunition, when they detained Mr Walendowski in the basement of his house.

Witnesses told police that he appeared to have been drinking.

The lawn mower was found sitting outside Mr Walendowski's house, which he shares with his mother, with the rubbish on Friday.

A local retailer said that Mr Walendowski might now have difficulty getting his lawn mower repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," said Dick Wagner, of Wagner's Garden Mart in Milwaukee.

http://news.bbc.co.u...cas/7526628.stm

[Strategia]

Quote

World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton Thursday.

A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second -- "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons -- "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key."

"Jokes have varied over the years, with some taking the question and answer format while others are witty proverbs or riddles," said the report's writer Dr Paul McDonald, senior lecturer at the university.

"What they all share however, is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of rebellion. Modern puns, Essex girl jokes and toilet humor can all be traced back to the very earliest jokes identified in this research."

The study was commissioned by television channel Dave. The top 10 oldest jokes can be viewed at www.dave-tv.co.uk.

(Reporting by John Joseph; Editing by Steve Addison)

[Dauth]

This will break any communist ideals on ES

Victoria Beckham is descendant of comrade of Marx

Quote

BERLIN (Reuters) - Pop singer Victoria Beckham is a descendant of a 19th century German communist who was close to Karl Marx, a German historian was quoted as saying on Monday.

Beckham, born Victoria Adams and now wife of football player David Beckham, is the great-great-great-granddaughter of revolutionary and artist Carl Heinrich Pfaender, said Hans Mueller, a historian from the southwestern city of Heilbronn.

Mueller told news agency ddp he had researched the life of Heilbronn native Pfaender, who lived from 1819 to 1876 and was a close associate of Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Pfaender took part in the failed revolution of 1848 and was forced to flee to London where he worked as a miniaturist and painter to make ends meet, he added.

"He certainly didn't get rich doing it," Mueller said. "His wife was buried in a pauper's grave."

The historian told ddp he was astonished to discover the link between a pioneer of the workers' movement and the pop star, and has contacted Beckham's mother Jacqueline.

He said she had confirmed his findings and promised to tell Victoria, who came to fame as "Posh Spice" in the Spice Girls.

Pfaender's brother Wilhelm was a choral singer who was also active in the revolution and emigrated to America in 1848, later becoming state treasurer in Minnesota, Mueller said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughN...oddlyEnoughNews

From now on Comrade is to be known as Spice Girl

[Dauth]

Spanish shopkeeper finds Homer Simpson euro

Quote

By Raquel Castillo

MADRID (Reuters) - A one euro coin has turned up in Spain bearing the face of cartoon couch potato Homer Simpson instead of that of the country's king, a sweetshop owner told Reuters on Friday.

Jose Martinez was counting the cash in his till in the city of Aviles, northern Spain, when he came across the coin where Homer's bald head, big eyes and big nose had replaced the serious features of King Juan Carlos.

"The coin must have been done by a professional, the work is impressive," he told Reuters.

The comical carver had not taken his tools to the other side of the coin displaying the map of Europe. So far, no other coins of the hapless, beer-swilling oaf have been found in circulation.

"I've been offered 20 euros for it," said Martinez.

(Writing by Sarah Morris, edited by Richard Meares))

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughN...oddlyEnoughNews

[Ion Cannon!]

Quote

The builders of the world's biggest particle collider are being sued in federal court over fears that the experiment might create globe-gobbling black holes or never-before-seen strains of matter that would destroy the planet.

Representatives at Fermilab in Illinois and at Europe's CERN laboratory, two of the defendants in the case, say there's no chance that the Large Hadron Collider would cause such cosmic catastrophes. Nevertheless, they're bracing to defend themselves in the courtroom as well as the court of public opinion.

I wish I could say this level of stupidity suprised me, but I can't. Why are people so bloody stupid!!

[Dutchygamer]

facepalm.jpg
And this proves ones again some ppl are stupid enough to be shot...

[Strategia]

Dutchygamer, on 9 Aug 2008, 11:54, said:

And this proves ones again some ppl are stupid enough to be shot...

What?!? Of course not!

























It'd be a waste of a good bullet.

[Dutchygamer]

Hanged then, or something similar. As long as they will be killed

[Dauth]

Britain's only matador back in ring after surgery

Quote

By Jon Nazca VILLANUEVA DE LA CONCEPTION, Spain (Reuters) - A grandfather in his 60s made his comeback as Britain's only matador at a bullfight in Spain on Sunday, less than a year after a quadruple heart bypass and a knee replacement.

Frank Evans, known as "El Ingles", was forced to hang up his cape three years ago because of an old injury, but on Sunday made a triumphant return with support from a new titanium knee joint at a charity bullfight in Villanueva de la Concepcion, a village in the mountains above Malaga, southern Spain.

The balding pensioner, who turned 66 on Monday, looked a little slower and stiffer than younger rival fighters as he swished his cape under the fierce Andalusian sun.

But, cheered on by hundreds of villagers curious at the sight of an Englishman in the ring, Evans executed elegant passes and killed the 420 kg (92O lb) bull with a single sword thrust, earning him the highest prize a matador can receive -- the bull's severed ears.

"It was nice to get it out of the way and now I hope those who didn't think I could do it will ease off a bit," he said in a telephone interview afterwards.

Evans, the son of a Manchester butcher, was inspired to become a bullfighter after reading about Britain's first matador Vincent Hitchcock as a teenager.

He enrolled in a bullfighting school in Valencia and, after surviving the skepticism of his teachers, fought his first corrida in 1966 thanks to a mix-up by a booking agent who mistook him for another fighter.

Back home, he practiced sword thrusts by stabbing a bail of hay on a supermarket trolley with a pair of horns mounted at the front and in 1991 he became a fully-fledged "matador de toro", who faces the biggest bulls.
Sunday's appearance was the first step on a comeback that he hopes will lead to a full corrida in September and, one day, to Ecuador, Peru and Colombia -- the only bullfighting countries where he has never appeared.

"Now that I am back I will never ever retire no matter what. I will simply fade away one day," he said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughN...oddlyEnoughNews



Confused sea turtles march into Italian restaurant

Quote

ROME (Reuters) - About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a conservation worker said on Monday. The baby turtles -- which ended up under the tables of startled diners at the beachside restaurant -- were probably thrown off track and lured by the eatery's bright lights, said Antonio Colucci, who was called to help rescue the group.

"They saw the artificial lights and took the wrong route," said Colucci, who works on a turtle monitoring project for the conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).

"The diners were at first quite curious and then someone alerted the coastal authorities."

The stranded turtles, which had hatched on a beach in the southern Italian region of Calabria, were released into the sea.

Female sea turtles nest on beaches and their offspring instinctively head to the sea after hatching from their eggs.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughN...oddlyEnoughNews

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Man buys Chevy with small change

Quote

An Ohio man with a hatred of paper money slapped down $8,000 in coins at a car dealership to buy a Chevrolet pick-up - then paid the rest by cheque.

James Jones, 70, produced 16 coffee cans full of coins to buy his new Chevrolet Silverado in Cincinnati and staff spent 90 minutes counting it.

But his coin hoard only covered half of the $16,000 (£8,500) price tag.

The man's son said the most amazing thing for him was his father deciding to replace his 1981 pick-up at all.

As far back as he could remember, Dennis Jones told the Cincinnati Enquirer, his father had always had coins.

“He gave me lunch money in coins and each time he ever gave me money it was in coins,” he recalled.

Paper money will burn, but it is hard to damage coins

James Jones

“I am amazed that we were able to talk him into buying a new truck, because he is pretty tight with his money.”

According to the paper, James Jones walked into the Jake Sweeney dealership, plunked down his cans and said: “I want that Chevy truck.”

"In my 19 years in this business I have never seen anything like this,” said Biff Arnold, finance manager for Jake Sweeney.

“I have seen many buyers come in with a lot of cash money, but never this much money in coins.”

Salesman David Crisswell said the coins included "dimes, quarters, half-dollars, silver and Susan B Anthony dollars".

The new owner of the Chevy says he does not trust banks or paper money.

“Paper money will burn, but it is hard to damage coins," the retired engineer pointed out.

"I bought four or five rolls of coins each month. I don't know how long it took me to save this amount, probably all my life.”

http://news.bbc.co.u...cas/7559881.stm

[Wizard]

I saw that and I thought the same then as I do now, 'TARD.

[Dauth]

In top hat and tails, Spanish debt agents prosper

Quote

By Jason Webb

MADRID (Reuters) - If more confirmation were needed of the funereal state of Spain's economy, it can be found in the shape of The Debt Collector in Top Hat and Tails.

That's a translation to English of "El Cobrador del Frac", the name of a company which specializes in sending men dressed like extras from a 1930s Fred Astaire movie to humiliate debtors into paying up. Its business is booming.

"At the start of the year we noticed demand was increasing," said Juan Carlos Granda, head of El Cobrador del Frac's international department.

Working with a theatricality that would not be tolerated in many countries, the company's Madrid headquarters has a distinctly macho atmosphere.

Its offices are full of men in dark suits -- female debt collectors are not employed by the company as they are not deemed imposing enough -- and the walls studded with hunting trophies.

Together with a significant collection of antlers and a pair of elephant tusks, there are two lion heads, as well a hyena and an antelope, looking as well and truly beaten as the most crushed of debtors.

With Spain's economy on the edge of recession as a property bubble crumples, Granda expects the Cobrador del Frac to enjoy years of bonanza as it clears up debts left by consumers and companies during years of financial fiesta.

Spain's household debt is at record levels above 120 percent of gross domestic product, a result of the easy credit facilitated by euro membership which long allowed people to live far beyond their immediate means.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughN...lBrandChannel=0

This is frankly brilliant as an idea. Made my day .

Edited by Dauth, 21 August 2008 - 07:48.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Man's 'pants' password is changed

Quote

The bank apologised to Mr Jetley in a statement
A man who chose "Lloyds is pants" as his telephone banking password said he found it had been changed by a member of staff to "no it's not".

Steve Jetley, from Shrewsbury, said he chose the password after falling out with Lloyds TSB over insurance that came free with an account.

He said he was then banned from changing it back or to another password of "Barclays is better".

The bank apologised and said the staff member no longer worked there.

Mr Jetley said he first realised his security password had been changed when a call centre staff member told him his code word did not match with the one on the computer.

"I thought it was actually quite a funny response," he said. I tried 'Barclays is better' and that didn't go down too well either

Steve Jetley

"But what really incensed me was when I was told I could not change it back to 'Lloyds is pants' because they said it was not appropriate.

"I asked if it was 'pants' they didn't like, and would 'Lloyds is rubbish' do? But they didn't think so.

"So I tried 'Barclays is better' and that didn't go down too well either.

"The rules seemed to change, and they told me it had to be one word, so I tried 'censorship', but they didn't like that, and then said it had to be no more than six letters long."

'Very disappointing'

Mr Jetley said he was still trying to find a suitable password which met the conditions.

He said his dispute with the bank started over some travel insurance, but that issue had been dealt with by managers independently.

A statement released by the bank said: "We would like to apologise to Mr Jetley.

"It is very disappointing that he felt the need to express his upset with our service in this way. Customers can have any password they choose and it is not our policy to allow staff to change the password without the customer's permission.

"The member of staff involved no longer works for Lloyds TSB."

http://news.bbc.co.u...ire/7585098.stm