And… we’re BACK with the Weekly Weird News. This time, there’s going to be an audio version you can listen to (but it’s not up yet). Feedback is welcome, and I hope that I’m not speaking too quickly. At any rate, you can always read.
A teacher in Phoenix, Arizona gave a photography lesson to his students then decided to use his computer to watch porn. While work and play might go together at times, he made just one mistake. What he forgot to do was turn off the screen projector. As a result, all the students were able to watch exactly what he was enjoying, not so privately, on his own monitor. To worsen matters, when the students tried to get his attention, he hardly perked up. Students said they made loud comments such as, “Wow what is he watching?” but he was too engrossed to notice.
Italian comedian Sabina Guzzanti insulted Pope Benedict XVI and is now facing a prison term of up to five years. In her routine, she said that Benedict should go to Hell and be punished by homosexual demons. She is being prosecuted for quote, “offending the honour of the sacred and inviolable person” of Pope Benedict. There has been much dissent regarding the prosecution, some people claiming that it is a return to the Middle Ages or the fascist era.
New spy satellites might soon be able to identify people by their shadows all the way from space. First, the movement of the shadows is recognized and then the identities of the owners are discovered using a technique called gait analysis, which identifies a person by their walking pattern- taking in details such as rhythm and stride length. The technology is useless however, once the sun goes down, but during daylight hours, as long as suspect’s gait is on file, they say the footage can confirm their identity.
A man in Greater Manchester named John Renehan thought for years that his father was dead when they’d found what was supposedly his body up until just recently when he viewed a television program on missing people. He said he recognized his father immediately and showed photos to the police to prove it. Years ago his father turned up in town one day with amnesia and could not remember his own name. He was admitted and through what is being called an “extraordinary series of errors” by the police. As for the other man, the one who was thought to be John’s dead father, he was cremated and his identity is unknown.
Youtube is now banning videos which “incite violence.” In a blog post, Youtube states, “We realise it’s not always obvious where we draw the line on content that’s acceptable to upload.” In their guidelines section they say, “Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed… If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked or humiliated, don’t post it.” Youtube maintains that it encourages freedom of speech and unpopular viewpoints, but still upholds a rule against hate speech.
The Church of England is offering Charles Darwin an apology for the 200th anniversary of his birth. It is, “an apology for misunderstanding his theory of evolution and making errors over its reaction to it.” In addition to an essay by Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the church’s head of public affairs, called “Good Religion Needs Good Science,” the Church has also posted many articles on its website which you can read at here.
And: Catholic priest named Reverend Christopher Layden was charged with possession and distribution of cocaine.
