If you think politics get ugly here in the U.S., wait until you hear how they do things in Peru. Someone who doesn’t want Rogelio Vizcarra, a small-town mayor, to run for re-election dug up the skull of his late father and stated in a text message that Vizcarra will only get it back if he withdraws from the race. So far, Vizcarra says he still plans to run, and authorities are investigating his political opponents for possible information on who took the skull. The crime is punishable by two years in prison…
Don’t be so quick with the pooper-scooper: in Cambridge, Mass., there is a street lamp powered solely by doggy doo-doo. The lamp is the creation of MIT student Matthew Mazzotta, who wanted to give back to the community. Appropriately located at a dog park, it uses a methane digester. All pet owners have to do is put the poop in a plastic bag, put it into the machine and turn a crank. And we spend how much money on electricity a month?…
There was a full moon at a high school football game in Queens last weekend, and it didn’t come from the sky. An assistant coach of the Boys and Girls High School football team dropped his trousers after a fight erupted over a call. After officials made the call, coaches of the Boys and Girls team started cursing and behaving so badly that school safety officers had to step in, whom the coaches then began to shove. They were then given an unsportsmanlike conduct call (gasp!) and lost the game. When fans from the Campus Magnet side of the field continued to yell at the coaches, one turned around and gave them a cheeky retort. A spokeswoman for the school said that the assistant would be fired. The saddest part? The students from both teams are said to have remained well-behaved during the entire ordeal…
Hurricane Karl’s heavy flooding in Mexico caused a unique problem when it caused at least 280 crocodiles to escape from a Mexican refuge near the Gulf of Mexico. Residents were told not to try to capture or kill the reptiles, since they are endangered Morelet’s Crocodiles. Federal authorities are sending experts to the region to try and recapture the crocs…
In Japan, there was an eight-vehicle pile-up caused by a common condiment. A load of mayonnaise fell off the back of a lorry and caused a motorcycle, two trucks and five cars to crash. Part of the two-lane highway was closed for five hours, but luckily none of the injuries was serious. A police official described the mayonnaise on the road as “more slick and dangerous than snow.” They are currently still searching for the truck driver…
Just when we thought bedbugs were the worst bugs, there’s a new crawly invader who is rising in numbers: stink bugs. Farmers in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other Middle Atlantic states say that stink bugs have been damaging fruit and vegetable crops at critical levels, and government reports are backing it up. The brown stink bug is originally from Asia and has no natural predators in the United States. Even worse, they do not respond to pesticides. The bugs have been taking up habitat in people’s homes due to the onset of cold weather, and although they do not bite humans and are not believed to cause health risks, they stink. The bugs earn their name when they become crushed or irritated, and emit an odor that some describe as skunklike…