Weird news: Teen discovers that he has cockroaches inside the ear

From time to time, children are warned to wash up before they have their food, else they would develop insects inside their body. And for horror movies, a typical scene is that of creatures (from this world or aliens) invading the human body and growing inside the body until they are ready to come out and destroy the body while doing this.
So, if somebody says that they have cockroaches growing inside their body, it would be hard for anybody to believe this. After all, how would the growing cockroaches or the eggs end up inside the human body and how could they grow ? And how could 26 cockroaches end up inside the body ? (Link to article)

A 19-year-old, who went to his doctor complaining of a ear ache, was horrified when he was told that 26 cockroaches were living inside his ear. Li, 19, recalled that he woke up in the middle of the night with an unbearable itch in his ear that grew increasingly painful, reports news.com.au. In desperation, he stuck a finger in his ear and felt a sensation deep inside. However, his room mate found no trace of anything unusual. The next day, Li visited the hospital, where doctors performed an endoscopy and found his ear was packed with cockroaches. A female cockroach had been living in Li’s ear canal for weeks and had laid eggs.

Weird news: Possible to be convicted for storing rain water

It sounds so weird, but must be normal for those who live in the region. Places that have a lot of water scarcity can have extensive legal arrangements for accounting for every drop of water; but, but, water that falls from the sky is also accounted for ? You live in a place, have a yard, but if you were to store the water falling from the sky in a water barrel for watering the garden, you have committed a crime ? That sounds so weird ? If having a water barrel is illegal and could lead to you being charged, building a water harvesting and recharge system would lead to long prison sentences ?
However, this legal arrangement is something that has been arranged by the law-makers of the state, and a process to try and change this to allow home-owners to save rain-water was defeated. (link to article):

Water is precious in the arid West, now more than ever as the worst drought in decades bakes fields in California and depletes reservoirs across the region. To encourage conservation, cities and water agencies in California and other states have begun nudging homeowners to use captured rain for their gardens, rather than water from the backyard faucet. But Colorado is one of the last places in the country where rainwater barrels are still largely illegal because of a complex system of water rights in which nearly every drop is spoken for. And when legislators here tried to enact a law this spring to allow homeowners to harvest the rain, conservationists got a lesson in the power of the entrenched rules that allocate Western water to those who have first claim to it. Even if it is the rain running down someone's roof.

Weird news: In South Korea, you can now have an extra-marital affair

When living with the practices of the modern world, the presence or absence of love in a marriage is a private affair between the married people, and it cannot be a criminal offence if one of them decides that the love between them is lost and strikes out for an extra-marital affair. The only one who has a right to feel affected is the spouse who has been cheated, and he/she is the one who can take further steps - such as filing for separation, seeking alimony, etc. However, when nations and laws get guided (or forced) by religious considerations, then society steps in and decides what is wrong and what is right, and specifically this case of extra-marital affairs is deemed adultery, and there can be numerous punishments.
In the case of societies run on strong Islamic laws, there are severe laws against adultery, which can be extremely barbaric such as the one followed by the Taliban, and more so by the recent terror Islamic State, where a woman could be accused of adultery and sentenced to be stoned to death (with lashes happening before that), and men can also be accused and sentenced for the same 'crime'. However, it was surprising that a country seen to be extremely developed, such as South Korea had a similar law on its books, with the sentence for adultery being 2 years in prison. Even though being sent to jail was rare, there were numerous people charged with the law. Finally the courts have realized that an affair is not a criminal act, and has decided to drop the law. (link to article):

A South Korean court on Thursday abolished a 62-year-old law that criminalized extramarital affairs, and the stock price of a prominent condom maker immediately shot up 15%. The Constitutional Court's ruling that the law suppressed personal freedoms could affect many of the more than 5,400 people who have been charged with adultery since 2008, when the court earlier upheld the legislation, according to court law. Any current charges against those people could be thrown out and those who have received guilty verdicts will be eligible for retrials, according to a court official who declined to be named, citing office rules. Under the law, having sex with a married person who is not your spouse was punishable by up to two years in prison. Nearly 53,000 South Koreans have been indicted on adultery charges since 1985, but prison terms have been rare.

The co-relation was interesting though. With the striking down of this law, the share price of a leading condom maker shot up significantly.

Weird news: Woman threatened with jail, she was trying to grow vegetables

Well, to be more accurate, she was trying to grow vegetables in the front yard rather than the back yard (and we do not even know whether she actually had a back yard). In a sign of how the power of the law can go to some people's head and how they only back down when they realize that others are pointing out how weird their actions are; the lady was actually threatened with jail for trying to grow vegetables in her front yard.
Imagine the scene - the front yard of her house is torn up for a sewer line, and when it is time to repair, they think about their options, and have the bright idea of trying to grow some vegetables there. In today;s world, where people want to try and have some organic food, and reduce their dependence on food that is commercially grown, with the wide benefit of trying to save some money, one should encourage people to grow their own vegetables. If they are maintaining them well, there should be no problem whatsoever. However, in her case, there could have been a possible violation of the city code (possible, since it was vague, and the officials wanted to interpret it in the way that they wanted). However, the lady fought back bravely, and when this news went viral, that is when the officials backed down (being laughed at in the media has a sobering effect) (link to article):

The officials in Bass' hometown of Oak Park, Mich., have charged her with growing "vegetable garden in front yard space." If convicted, she could spend up to 93 days in jail. Bass said that the criminal charge "blew my mind." "Sometimes we laugh because it seems so silly and sometimes we cry because it's so pathetic. A lot of times it does not seem real," she told ABCNews.com. Bass has insisted on a jury trial and a pre-trial hearing is set for July 26. If the case goes to court Bass' attorney Solomon Radner does not believe that a jury will convict his client of a crime. "Michelle Obama plants vegetables on White House front lawn. I don't think the jury is going to think that it's suitable for the White House, but it's not suitable for Oak Park," said Radner. The first lady's office, which is encouraging growing fresh vegetables to help fight childhood obesity, declined to comment on the Oak Park vegetable case. Bass got the idea to plant a garden in front yard after it was torn up over a busted sewage pipe.

The case against her was finally withdrawn, and hopefully the fear of facing ridicule will ensure that power-bloated officials realize the power of common sense.

Weird news - Girl being taken to funeral wakes up

The pain and sorrow that parents feel when their children die in front of them is different to describe. It is the rare case where their pain and sorrow can be alleviated, such as in this case. The 3 year old girl was being taken for a funeral in the Philippines, after the doctors had declared her dead. The shock and sorrow had to be handled while the girl was being prepared for her funeral, and then something joyous happened. One of the neighbors saw that the head of the girl moved, which meant that she was not dead, and the declaration by the Doctors was not true. To confirm, the pulse of the girl was checked, and she was found to be alive, and one can imagine the change in mood, not only of the parents, but of the entire neighborhood when it was confirmed that the girl was alive (link to article):

A three-old-girl, who had been declared clinically dead by doctors, did a strange thing at her funeral ceremony: she woke up. One of her parents' neighbours saw the unnamed girl's head move while arranging the coffin. Someone then checked the girl's pulse and found that she was alive. The girl was quickly lifted out of the coffin as amazed mourners gathered around to see.

A video was already being shot, and is now available at Youtube:

Weird news - A crash that caused $4 million in damages to expensive cars

Road crashes are caused by various reasons, such as bad weather, car malfunction, slippery roads, too much to drink, or other such causes. They can be fatal to people, but very rarely do you see a car crash measured in terms of the amount of damage caused to vehicles, especially expensive vehicles such as a Ferrari. However, this article is more about the total damage caused during an accident which involved very expensive cars - how often have you heard of an accident that caused more than $4 million in damage (link to article):

Eight Ferraris and a Lamborghini -- plus a Toyota Prius -- were among the vehicles involved in the crash, which witnesses said happened when a speeding car slid across a wet road surface. Television footage showed mangled Ferraris -- many of them racing red -- and debris spread over some 400 metres (yards) of the east-bound side of the Chugoku Expressway, the main trunk road in southern Honshu.
A pack of about 20 supercars was travelling in convoy on Sunday morning on a stretch of wet highway when the leading Ferrari slid into a guardrail, police said.
Those behind slammed on their brakes, but for many of them it was apparently too late.
"I've never seen such a thing," highway patrol lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP by telephone. "Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers."

Weird laws from Canada - Part 4 (always fun to read such laws and wonder about the situation when they were implemented)

The 4th part of the weird laws of Canada.

31. It is illegal to kill a sasquatch.
32. Bylaw states that no more than 3.5 inches of water is allowed in a bathtub.
33. "For Sale" signs are not permitted in the windows of moving vehicles.
34. One's rear license plate may not be protected by glass or plastic.
35. You may not swear in French.
36. Citizens may not relieve themselves or spit on the street.
37. It is illegal to kill a sick person by frightening them.
38. It is illegal to pretend to practice witchcraft.
39. You may not paint a ladder as it will be slippery when wet.
40. In Quebec, No language other than French is permitted to be shown out doors.

Weird laws from Canada - Part 3 (always fun to read such laws and wonder about the situation when they were implemented)

The third set of such laws (would welcome comments on whether these still stand or not)

21. You may never use dice to play craps. An inspector would be always present to check things.
22. It is illegal to turn right on a red light at any time.
23. Margarine producers can’t make their margarine yellow. Orange / black / purple etc should all be fine.
24. Citizens may not publicly remove bandages.
25. It is illegal for clear or non-dark sodas to contain caffeine.
26. Businesses must provide rails for tying up horses. Wonder how many people have horses nowadays.
27. Wooden logs may not be painted.
28. Homeowners are responsible for clearing snow off of municipal sidewalks.
29. All business signs in the province of Quebec must be in French. Part of the regional language agreements.
30. You can’t work on your car in the street.

Weird laws from Canada - Part 2 (always fun to read such laws and wonder about the situation when they were implemented)

The second set of such laws from Canada, but not confirmed whether these are true or not.

11. Now I couldn't find a date for this law but its so off the wall it must be from around the late 1800's or early 1900's. There's a law on the British Columbia books that states if you're a bankrupt drunk who got thrown into jail, the law requires the jailer to bring you a bottle of beer on demand. Nuts!

12. Here's a law I found that kind of surprised me. In London, Ontario it is against the city by-law to allow your grass in your front yard to grow any taller then a inch and a half. If you do, the city will come by and cut it for you then give you a fine for $200. Crazy!

13. Quebec law states that all business signs must be in French. If the owner wants English on the sign then the French print has to be twice as large as the English print.

14. In Ottawa, Ontario you are not allowed to eat ice cream on Bank St on a Sunday! No idea as to why.

15. In Beaconsfield, Canada it's considered an offense to have more than two colours on your house; and you are not allowed to own a log cabin!

16. In Guelph, Ontario, the city is classified as a no pee zone! What about other Canadian cities ?

17. In Toronto, Ontario, it's illegal to drag a dead horse down Younge St on a Sunday!

18. In Nova Scotia a person is not allowed to water their grass when it's raining. Not like someone would do this, but it's against the law in Nova Scotia!

19. In Cobourg, Ontario if you have a water trough in your front yard, it must be filled by 5:00am! Not sure when was the last time this law was implemented.

20. Through out Ontario the average speed limit is 80 km/h for cars, BUT bicyclists have the right away. Does make sense if you go in for more green methods of travel.

Weird laws from Canada - Part 1 (always fun to read such laws and wonder about the situation when they were implemented)

For the Canadians, you may speculate that some of these laws have been repealed, but they are still fun to read.

1. In Uxbridge, Ontario it's illegal to have an internet connection faster than 56k! This must be when the cost of a connection would be high and there would be a lot of competitive jealousy.

2. It is illegal anywhere in Canada to pay for a 26 cent item in all pennies. The limit is 25 cents. If you are paying for your item in nickels, then its illegal to pay for it in nickels if its over $5. Its also illegal to pay for something over $10 dollars in all dimes. What do you do with all your spare change ?

3. In Kanata, Ontario, believe this, it's illegal to have a clothes line in your back yard! Laundries must have paid for this law.

4. In Oshawa, Ontario it's illegal to climb trees!

5. Did you know that in Fort Qu'Appelle Quebec it is illegal for a teen to walk downtown main street with his shoes untied? Its true. Must be a number of them considering it fashionable to not have their shoes tied.

6. Did you know that Canadian law states that every 5th song on the radio must be by a Canadian born citizen? Well believe it or not it is true! France also has a similar law.

7. In Alberta back in the day, it was the law when a prisoner was released from jail that he would be given a gun and horse to ride out of town or city.

8. Through out Ontario the average speed limit is 80 km/h for cars, BUT bicyclists have the right away.

9. No one in Canada is allowed by Canadian law to watch or listen to encrypted broadcast which is not licensed by the Canadian Government. This basically means that its illegal to use US satellite systems like "Direct TV".

10. Supposedly its illegal to buy cigarettes for minors (Under 19), but you can supply them with cigarettes as long as its not in public places. Seems strange.

Weird laws of France - some of these should make you smile .. Part 2

Second set of the weird laws of France ..

Between the hours of 8AM and 8PM, 70% of music on the radio must be by French artists. (one can believe this though of the French, it is a wonder that they allow music by people of other nationalities)
It is illegal to kiss on railways in France. (this must be one of the most violated laws)
No pig may be addressed as Napoleon by its owner. (What about calling the pig as the President of France)
It is illegal to take photos of police officers or police vehicles, even if they are just in the background. (Seems legitimate, but with concealed cameras and other equipment, much more difficult to stop)
It is forbidden without a cemetery plot to die on the territory of the commune. (if you die, the police come to catch you and put your body in a cell)
In Paris, it is illegal to walk with your hand up a woman’s skirt, but while you’re on the Metro you may legally touch breasts. (No word on whose breasts they’re talking about here - could be you’re allowed to only touch your own.)
In Paris, an ashtray is considered a deadly weapon. (heavy ones would be dangerous)

Weird laws of France - some of these should make you smile .. Part 1

In a region of the Rhone, it is illegal for UFOs to fly over vinyards. (And how will they catch a UFO if it does indeed do a dance over the vineyards)
In Cannes, France, wearing a Jerry Lewis mask is illegal (could one wear a mask of the President or first lady)
It is illegal to shoot Englishmen as they cross the English Channel towards France - unless they are sailing in a 'boat of war'. (if soldiers are coming for an exercise and crossing the channel, can somebody shoot them)
Paris: Any man carrying onions must be given right of way in the streets. (the smell itself would move people away from such a person carrying onions)
Paris: Criminals can apply for sanctuary in Notre Dame Cathedral and must be 'fed and watered' for up to six weeks. (must be true for a criminal seeking sanctuary then, and to ensure independence of the Church)
In France, it is against the law to sell an “E.T” doll. They have a law forbidding the sale of dolls that do not have human faces. (wow, will they really implement this law)

Weird laws of Wyoming - Part 2

It is so much fun to read about laws that do not appear to make any sense at all, like some of these laws. They must have been made for some specific cases, but somehow ..

You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit.: Wow. Maybe the rabbits are very unattractive at such periods.
It is against the law to write a poem containing any line that rhymes with Wyoming.: Mighty proud state.
It is illegal for anyone to play chess with their grandmother.: It would be very bad for the ego if the grandmother constantly wins the chess matches.
All new buildings that cost over $100,000 to build must have %1 of funds spent on art work for the building.: Trying to ensure that a building remains artistic, but that should be the decision of the persons who own the building
If one is drunk in a mine, he or she could land in jail for up to a year.: Wow. Do they send alcohol detectors inside mines.
Any person who fails to close a fence is subject to a fine of up to seven hundred and fifty dollars.: Can't figure out a reason, unless this was set in rural areas where wild animals could get inside.
Skiing under the influence of alcohol is prohibited.
Using a firearm to fish is strictly forbidden.: Imagine trying to shoot rapidly moving fish ? You could set a competition for the one who can shoot a fish at 10 yards vs. 50 yards
It is illegal to wear a hat that obstructs people's view in a public theater or place of amusement.: This one makes sense to some degree, but what happens when a short person is sitting behind a taller person ? Do you outlaw that also ?

Weird laws of Wyoming - Part 1

It is so much fun to read about laws that do not appear to make any sense at all, like some of these laws. They must have been made for some specific cases, but somehow ..

In Sheridan, Wyoming, a policeman can bite a barking dog, in order to quiet him.: Which policeman would actually want to bite a barking dog ?
All clocks must be set 10 minutes fast.: Might as well set a new time zone that is 10 minutes ahead at that.
Blind men are not allowed to fly helicopters between the hours of 9am and 6pm.: The assumption being that they are allowed to fly helicopters at other times, or maybe helicopters cannot be flown at other times
Girls under the age of 12 must not have hair that is longer than their arms.: Hooray for those with longer arms
It is against the law for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking.: Such a law would have been struck down based on discrimination laws, but maybe no one actually bothered with challenging such a law
Junk dealers are not allowed to undertake business transactions with drunks.: Mighty strange.
Newcastle: Couples are banned from having sex while standing inside a store's meat freezer.: In such a cold location, how could a couple even think of having sex ? Maybe there is the fear of contaminating the meat.
Stupid people are not allowed to take IQ tests.: Hah hah.