Submitted by Peter Markus:

The World’s Weirdest Restaurants
by Justine Sterling
Food & Wine
January 28, 2012

A380 In-Flight Kitchen; Taipei, Taiwan

This Taipei spot replicates the in-flight experience with an interior designed to look like an airplane cabin with servers dressed like flight attendants who wheel around food and beverage carts.

Fortezza Medicea Restaurant; Volterra, Italy

In Italy, one of the toughest restaurants to get into is this oddly situated one, set inside a prison and staffed almost entirely by inmates (don’t worry, the cutlery is plastic). One reason for the waits of up to two months is that it’s hugely popular; the other is that every diner needs to be screened by Rome’s Ministry of Justice.

(more…)

Man who tried to turn his faeces into gold is jailed
The Belfast Telegraph
20 October 2011

Judge said it was an interesting experiment but doomed to failure

A Northern Ireland man who tried to turn his own faeces into gold by putting it on an electric heater has been jailed for three months.

The bizarre experiment, carried out by Paul Moran, 30, caused around £3,000 worth of damage to his Housing Executive home in a block of flats at Derrin Park in Enniskillen in July.

Upon his release he will spend a further 12 months on licence.

Moran admitted arson and endangering the lives of others.

His Honour Judge McFarland told him: “Rather bizarrely you were attempting to make gold from human faeces and waste products.

“It was an interesting experiment to fulfil the alchemist’s dream, but wasn’t going to succeed.”

While outlining the circumstances of the case at Enniskillen Magistrates Court, prosecuting counsel Robin Steer, told those present that at 7.12pm on July 24 last year the Fire Brigade was called to Moran’s flat at Derrin Park in Cornagrade, Enniskillen.

A police officer who was at the scene overheard Moran tell someone he had put “fertiliser” on a heater. (more…)

Submitted by Peter Markus:

Walk this way! Yiddish sign orders women to move over
by Aaron Short
The Brooklyn Paper
October 7, 2011

Why did the Orthodox Jewish woman cross the road? Because a Yiddish sign ordered her.

A bold new religious decree was bolted to street trees this week that orders women to move to the side when a man is walking towards her on the sidewalk.

The red, yellow and white plastic sign, first noted in the Jewish watchdog blog Failed Messiah, is roughly translated, “Precious Jewish daughters, please move over to the side when you see a man come across.”

Orthodox activists said the signs should not be taken seriously.

“There are some hard-core Hasidim in Williamsburg who think they still live in 19th-century Ukraine and they consider interaction between the sexes, in even the most casual, accidental manner to be licentious,” said bike shop owner Baruch Herzfeld. “They are enormous pains in the tuchis, and most people try to avoid conflict, so they often get their way.”

But Hasidic residents say that the sign is being misinterpreted. (more…)

Local Man Arrested for Merchandise Tampering at Area Walmart
by Trailer
countrycalifornia.com
August 4, 2011

Local country fan Reginald Spears was arrested over the weekend for merchandise tampering at the new Super Walmart out on the bypass. The details of his infractions are unique, to say the least.

Third-shift electronics cashier Lena Johnston first noticed Spears rifling through the country CD section and filling a grocery cart with at least 100 discs before leaving the department. She thought he was just a rabid music fan until he returned 15 minutes later with the same cart and began slipping CDs back onto the shelves while looking around suspiciously.

Johnston walked over to Spears and asked if he’d decided not to make the massive music purchase. Spears responded “Yeah, yeah uh, yes ma’am” and began sweating profusely. He became spooked shortly afterwards and haphazardly threw the remainder of his CDs on the shelf before walking away.

Johnston investigated the country section and noticed that it was full of unwrapped, well-worn CDs that Spears had apparently brought from his home. Spears was apprehended by security, mostly without incident, before leaving the store.

“I looked on the shelf and where Rascal Flatts was supposed to be, that scruffy looking man had put Flatt & Smugs or something like that… and where Taylor Swift had been, he’d replaced it with Tanya Tucker. I guess he’d stole all them new CDs and tried to replace ‘em with his old junk,” said a perplexed Johnston. (more…)

Al-Qa’ida glossy advises women to cover up and marry a martyr
By Julius Cavendish in Kabul
The Independent
14 March 2011

Not content with launching an English-language magazine that debuted with a feature called “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom”, al Qa’ida’s media wing has followed up with a magazine for women, mixing beauty tips with lessons in jihad.

The 31-page glossy, Al-Shamikha, which translates loosely as “The Majestic Woman”, features a niqab-clad woman posing with a sub-machine gun on its cover.

Much like Elle or Cosmopolitan, it includes advice on finding the right man (“marrying a mujahideen”), how to achieve a perfect complexion (stay inside with your face covered), and provides tips on first aid and etiquette. (more…)

Moderator’s note: Joey Skaggs brought “Religion on the move for people on the go” with his mobile confessional booth, Portofess, in 1992. Now confessing has gone high tech.

Submitted by Alex Case:

Just when you think it can’t get any weirder… I think we should counter with I-dulgence: a new way to pay for your sins, as a small amount of money is regularly deducted from your credit card or bank account…

Catholic church gives blessing to iPhone app
BBC News
8 February 2011

The Catholic Church has approved an iPhone app that helps guide worshippers through confession.

The Confession program has gone on sale through iTunes for £1.19 ($1.99).

Described as “the perfect aid for every penitent”, it offers users tips and guidelines to help them with the sacrament.

Now senior church officials in both the UK and US have given it their seal of approval, in what is thought to be a first.

The app takes users through the sacrament – in which Catholics admit their wrongdoings – and allows them to keep track of their sins.

It also allows them to examine their conscience based on personalised factors such as age, sex and marital status – but it is not intended to replace traditional confession entirely.

Instead, it encourages users to understand their actions and then visit their priest for absolution.

Read the rest of this article here.

Framed for child porn _ by a PC virus
by Jordan Robertson
1010WINS
November 9, 2009

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.

Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses – the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it’s your reputation that’s stolen.

Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they’ll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites.

Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer – and might not realize it until police knock at your door.

An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their co-workers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence. (more…)

Joseph Enterprises honors the 44th President with this Special Edition:

Chia Obama

thanks Henry

And, more on this subject from W.J. Elvin III:

‘Lost Tomb of Obama’ found in Ireland
by Meghan Sweeney
IrishCentral.com
September 2, 2009

A mystery revolving around President Barack Obama’s Irish roots was solved when a tomb containing the remains of Obama’s Irish ancestor was discovered in the Irish medieval city of Kilkenny.

After a painstaking search, film maker Gabriel Murray, who is in the process of making a documentary on Obama’s Irish roots, finally found “Obama’s Lost Tomb” inside the 13th century St. Canice’s Cathedral. Read the whole story here.

From TED:

Robots That “Show Emotion”

David Hanson’s robot faces look and act like yours: They recognize and respond to emotion, and make expressions of their own. Here, an “emotional” live demo of the Einstein robot offers a peek at a future where robots truly mimic humans.

thanks Toni

So, guess whose schoolchildren were not allowed to hear Obama’s speech–the one about studying and working hard?

(more…)

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Japan’s new First Lady Miyuki Hatoyama: ‘I went to Venus in a UFO’
by Richard Lloyd Parry
TimesOnline.co.uk
September 4, 2009

Miyuki Hatoyama tells of a spiritual journey on a triangular-shaped UFO Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, faces formidable foreign policy challenges in dealing with an expansionist China, a nuclear armed North Korea and a sinister Russia. But he need have no concerns about establishing friendly relations with the planet Venus — his own wife is a friend of the Venusians, having travelled there in a UFO in the 1970s.

The distinctions of Miyuki Hatoyama, 66, do not end there. As well as being a musical actress, cookery writer, clothes maker and television personality, she also says that she knew the actor Tom Cruise in a past life when he was incarnated as a Japanese.

To his credit, Mr Hatoyama, who will formally become Prime Minister in a fortnight after a landslide election victory last Sunday, does not appear in the least embarrassed by his wife’s eccentricities, and nor do his fellow citizens. She falls into the category of public figure known as “tarento”, or “talent” — televisual artists or entertainers who are expected and encouraged to be more flamboyant and unpredictable than the rest of us. (more…)

Dutch museum duped by ‘moon rock’
by Toby Sterling
Brisbane Times
August 28, 2009

Amsterdam – It’s not green cheese, but it might as well be.

The Dutch national museum said on Thursday that one of its prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by US astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood.

Rijksmuseum spokeswoman Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw the investigation that proved the piece was a fake, said the museum will keep it anyway as a curiosity. (more…)

Tobacco Smoke Enemas (1750s – 1810s)

The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum for various medical purposes, primarily thte resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration, but doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase “blow smoke up one’s ass.” To learn more, click here.

via tophattobacco.com, thanks Don

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Egyptian statue ‘looks like Jackson’
The West Australian/AAP
August 8, 2009

Was Michael Jackson secretly trying to be “The Pharaoh of Pop?”

An ancient Egyptian bust on display at the Field Museum in Chicago has been the focus of interest since the star’s death as visitors double-take at the eerie similarities between the 3,000-year-old statue and the singer.

The limestone statue – which depicts an unidentified woman – went on display at the museum in 1988 and was carved during the New Kingdom Period, dating from between 1550 BC to 1050 BC.

Like Jackson’s surgically-altered face, the carving has a distinct, upturned nose and rounded eyes.

And like Jackson – if rumours of the singer’s prosthesis are to be believed – the statue’s nose has partially disintegrated. (more…)

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Cabbages and Condoms is a restaurant, hotel, museum, and vasectomy clinic in Bankok, Thailand. This Condom Couture was the Picture of the Day from Telegraph.co.uk, June 30, 2009:

Here’s an amusing video produced by Brent Madden Productions:

Read more: