Perhaps because of her left-leaning political views or her young age, newly-sworn in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has garnered a lot of criticism from various media outlets. Aside from a recent attempt to discredit her reputation with an unearthed video of her dancing, an alleged nude picture of the congresswoman has been making the rounds. Thankfully, some crafty and detail-oriented Reddit users came to the forefront to defend Cortez. As reported by , an image of a woman in a bathtub surfaced on Reddit's r/Drama subreddit. The photo, which showcases a woman's feet and legs, is fairly tame, though if you were to zoom in on the reflection from the faucet, you would find an image of the woman's breasts. On this particular Reddit thread, some were claiming the image was sourced from Ocasio-Cortez's Instagram account. Needless to say, the image in question is not of Cortez. How do we know this? Well, thanks to the detective work of a few foot fetishists, of course. In particular, we have one internet sleuth, in particular, to give thanks to. Reddit user jokes_on_you compared the questionable image with a small collection of photos showcasing Ocasio-Cortez's feet, which are shared on Wikifeet, a website that is devoted to foot fetish photos of celebrities and other famous public figures.Speaking to Motherboard, jokes_on_you explained how he was able to spot the difference. "I've sucked enough toes in my life to recognize when something doesn't look right," jokes_on_you relayed in a direct message on Reddit."Because we can't dorsi- or plantarflex our 2nd-5th toes independently I knew it wasn't a matter of the toe being bent. I thought that maybe she has some form of brachydactyly but her Wikifeet page has clear evidence to the contrary. So it was clear to me that it wasn't her feet."For the inquisitive in nature, the photo -- and the feet -- actually belong to Sydney Leathers, a cam model and political activist. Savvy readers may remember Leathers for her role in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, which ended with jail time for the former Democratic congressman. As previously alluded to, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been the target of a handful of attempts to discredit her career. Last week, a day before she was sworn in as a congresswoman, an old video of Cortez surfaced, which showed her dancing on the rooftop as a college student -- per reporting by the . On social media, pundits and political commentators have been quick to target her, including The Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro, per an article by the .
Controversial Fox News host has been known to embrace eccentric . On his own program in June of this year, Carlson went on a , calling it "tyranny." But in last week's episode of the History Channel program Ancient Aliens, Carlson appeared to support an even farther-out theory. In an interview with British journalist Nick Pope that aired on the November 22 edition of Ancient Aliens, Carlson claimed that a "knowledgeable" source has told him that the United States government possesses physical evidence that alien spacecraft have landed on Earth — or at least, crash-landed. "I've heard this from someone who I think is knowledgeable on the subject that there is physical evidence that the U.S. government is holding, um, that, you know, would tell us a lot more - about what these objects are," Carlson told Pope on the program, as seen in the video excerpt below on this page. Pope then asked Carlson if he was referring to UFO "wreckage." "That is correct," Tucker told the Ancient Aliens interviewer. Of course, Carlson's openness to the existence of UFOs and aliens on Earth is not new. In July, Carlson interviewed Donald Trump for a segment, raising the subject with him.Trump told Carlson at the time that he did not consider himself a "believer" in UFOs, and said, "personally, I tend to doubt" that aliens have visited Earth in spaceships. But Trump left the door open, adding, "you know, I guess anything is possible." Carlson also asked Trump if he believed the claim that the government was holding UFO wreckage in an Air Force facility. But Trump replied, "I don't assume it's correct." Nonetheless, Trump told Carlson that he had "an open mind" on the subject. At the time of Carlson's interview, the U.S. Defense Department had recently briefed Trump on a series of sightings by Navy pilots of objects in the sky that they could not identify. The objects appeared to be moving at "hypersonic speeds," according to the Fox News report on Carlson's interview with Trump. In 2007, the Central Intelligence Agency issued a report documenting the intelligence agency's own investigations of the UFO phenomenon. The 84-page report, which remains available to read online via , notes that at least two U.S. presidents — Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter — claimed that they had experienced UFO sightings. The study acknowledged "documents" that claimed to prove "the recovery of UFO wreckage" from an alleged Roswell, New Mexico, crash site. But the CIA report said that, "most if not all of these documents have proved to be fabrications."
A who faked a medical condition in order to get a better seat on an airplane during the busy Thanksgiving weekend ended up causing the plane to be diverted, police say. The unnamed woman is now in custody after police say she told staff on an American Airlines flight from Pensacola to Miami that she was having trouble breathing. As reported, the woman actually wanted to sit more comfortably during the flight and was making up the medical issue. The pilot had to turn around and return to Pensacola, where the plane landed. The situation only got sticker from there, the report noted. After the flight was diverted, the woman refused to leave the plane, leading officials to evacuate all other passengers. The pilot was eventually able to convince the woman to leave the plane, and she was arrested. As American Airlines noted in a statement on the incident, it all took place in under two hours — which was nearly 20 minutes longer than the length of the original . "American Eagle 3508 returned to Pensacola due to a passenger who requested medical assistance," American Airlines said in a statement to NBC News on Friday. "The flight took off at 5:43 a.m. and landed back at Pensacola at 6:26 a.m. and taxied to the gate. All [passengers] deplaned normally at the gate through the main boarding door and onto the jet bridge. The passenger was subsequently removed by law enforcement and medical personnel, and the flight took off again at 7:41 a.m." As the reported, police took the woman into custody under the state's Baker Act, which allows a person to be held involuntarily if they pose a threat to themselves or others. The report did not note whether the woman had been released or remained in custody. It was not clear yet if the woman would face charges for claiming she suffered a medical issue, Pensacola Police Department public information officer Mike Wood said. She may still be charged, the report noted.The woman could also face some large fines if found guilty of the charges. Last year, a man's unruly behavior on a Delta Airlines flight caused it to be diverted for singing loudly and screaming, as well as making a veiled threat against a flight attendant. After being hit with federal assault charges, the man was fined close to $10,000 for the cost of diverting the flight.
A is facing charges after police say he sexually assaulted a stuffed Frozen toy inside a Target store. Cody Christopher Meader had been arrested after the October 22 incident in which police claim he ejaculated on an Olaf doll inside a St. Petersburg store and then put the toy back on the shelf. As the reported, Meader was then accused of moving to a large stuffed unicorn and dry humping it before he was stopped and detained by police inside the store. obtained the police report, which noted that Meader admitted to doing "stupid stuff" inside the store and told police that he had ejaculated on the doll. The report noted that Meader's father also spoke to police, saying that his son had a history of similar incidents. Employees inside Target had to remove the toys and have them destroyed. "The merchandise could not be re-sold and [was] destroyed due to circumstances," the police report read. This week, police charged Meader with criminal mischief. He had already been set free from custody on $150 bond. It was not clear what level of charges the Florida man could face, but the state's legal statutes contain varying degrees of punishment for criminal mischief relating to property damage. If damage to property is $200 or less, it is considered a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a term of no more than 60 days in jail. The report did not specify if the two individual toys had to be destroyed or if it was the entire shelf where he placed the Olaf doll. If the amount of damaged toys totaled between $200 and $1,000, he could face a first-degree criminal mischief charge. Though still a misdemeanor, it would carry a potential jail sentence of up to one year if Meader were convicted. The report also did not note whether Meader had a lawyer, or if mental health issues could have contributed to the bizarre Target incident, as the police report had implied. The attack also came as advertisements for the Frozen 2 sequel were being heavily pushed, with Target and other stores selling products that promote the movie.The incident gained some viral attention at the time, including a joke on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. Some also took to social media to share the strange story, which to many appeared to be the epitome of the "Florida man" meme about citizens of the state committing .
A scrapyard cut open an old safe and found $26,000 in old -- but still good -- coins and bills inside, reported. The scrap dealer said he plans to donate the money to charity. David Dodds, the managing director of Sackers, a scrapyard and scrap metal dealer in Ipswich, has a theory about how the safe full of money came to be in his possession. "The suspicion is it could have been an old factory that was due for demolition and it was in the corner of their offices. When it's demolished then all the scrap goes into the bin, comes into the works and then we treat it," he said. According to , Dodds said that lots of safes come through his business, but it's exceptionally rare for anything to be found inside, much less anything valuable. Nevertheless, back in April, his crew opened up four safes that had wound up in their scrapyard. Three, not unexpectedly, contained nothing at all. The fourth one, however, contained the huge cash haul. Many of the bills were damaged from water that had seeped in over the years. Similarly, much of it was so old that it is no longer considered legal tender in Britain, although it can be exchanged for more modern money. The money was put into police custody. The police said that they wanted to see if it was somehow the proceeds of a crime. Additionally, they said they wanted to give anyone who could be the money's rightful owner a chance to make their case and claim it. At least one person tried to convince the police the money was theirs, but "within about 30 nanoseconds" authorities realized the person had no case. After a few months, a court determined that the money rightfully belonged to the scrapyard. However, Dodds won't be keeping the money. Instead, he said he would be donating it to two hospitals: East Anglian Children's Hospice and St. Elizabeth Hospice. "We wanted to give the money to somewhere local so it could really make a difference," said Helen Crapnell, the marketing manager at Sackers. As reported at the time by , back in June a tourist visited a small Canadian museum that had been in possession of a safe for decades, unable to open it but letting tourists take a crack at it. The tourist was able to open it on the first try. Unfortunately, the only things in the safe were a handful of receipts and an old notebook.
A who was partially eaten by an alligator actually died of a meth overdose before the animal started eating him, Tampa's reports. WARNING: The remainder of this article contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. Back in June, as reported at the time, workers at the Mosaic Company, a mining company near Ft. Meade, about 60 miles east of Tampa, noticed an alligator in a nearby canal with what appeared to be human remains in its jaws. Workers called police, but by the time they arrived, the 12-foot-long, 450-pound beast had lost interest in the human body and swam away. Authorities trapped the animal and then shot and killed it. Inside they found the man's hand and foot. Elsewhere on the man's body, they found lacerations and other injuries caused by the gator. The man was identified as 45-year-old Michael Ford II. He was not an employee of the Mosaic Company, and indeed, how or why he was on the company's property remains unclear. Authorities believed at the time that Ford's cause of death was drowning. However, this week the Medical Examiner's Office for Polk, Hardee, and Highlands Counties released the results of its autopsy, which concluded that Ford's cause of death was "methamphetamine intoxication." The alligator attack appears to have happened after Ford had already died. Alligator attacks on humans are exceptionally rare, and rarer still are such attacks fatal, according to a July report. Indeed, since 1973 there have only been 24 fatal alligator attacks on humans in . Dogs and even cows kill far more humans annually than alligators. The reptiles, though fiercely territorial, will generally shy away from humans, preferring their natural diet of fish and turtles, and will sometimes eat pets that get too close. In fact, the best way to get on the bad side of a gator is to get too close to a female's nest. A wildlife expert says that, in the extremely unlikely event that a gator has designs on you, your best bet is to run. Though they can reach speeds of about 11 mph, they can't sustain it for long, so a human could easily outrun the animal. If one does catch you in its jaws, fight back, going for the snout and eyes in particular. With any luck, the gator will decide that you're not worth it and will let go and run or swim away.
A strong storm left a very unusual sight on one California beach this week --- thousands of phallic-looking marine known as "penis fish." The event took place on Drakes Beach in the Bay Area, where Bay Nature Magazine noted that a strong storm brought waves that wiped away the top layer of sand. This left thousands of the fat innkeeper worms --- which normally live in burrows beneath the surface --- exposed on the surface of the sand. The pink or flesh-toned animals are long and tubelike, bearing a striking resemblance to part of the male anatomy. The magazine took to to share a picture of the beach littered with the peculiar-looking animals, showing piles of the long pink worms and the flocks of birds that appeared to be eating them. The worms are an incredibly rare sight, reported. Because they have a number of natural predators, the worms remain under the sand's surface for almost their entire lives, feeding and breeding under the safety and protection of the sand. It's a smart approach, the report added, as biologists have found some of the fat innkeeper worms that are believed to be 25-years-old. The species itself has been around for 300 million years. But taking cover under the sand also leaves the "" vulnerable when especially strong storms sweep through, noted biologist Ivan Parr. "We're seeing the risk of building your home out of sand," Parr wrote in Bay Nature (via CNN)."Strong storms -- especially during El Niño years -- are perfectly capable of laying siege to the intertidal zone, breaking apart the sediment, and leaving their contents stranded on the shore."The worms are normally between six and nine inches long, but can sometimes grow up to 19 inches, the reported. They capture food by circulating water through their U-shaped burrows, trapping it in a layer of mucus and then eating the entire thing. The worm gets its actual name of "innkeeper" from the fact that a number of other fish and small animals take cover in these burrows for safety, allowing them to share their home.The report noted that there were other mass strandings of the fat innkeeper worms in 2010 and 2016, both during El Nino weather events. It's not clear what effect this has on the species as a whole, as CNN noted that it's difficult for scientists to study the size of their populations due to their hidden lives.
A man named Luke Skywalker was arrested after police allegedly found a bag of marijuana in his car during a traffic stop, San Antonio's reports. There's a famous scene in the Star Wars franchise where the "real" Luke Skywalker comes perilously close to being busted by imperial stormtroopers for being in possession of contraband at a traffic stop — in this case, two missing droids the Empire was looking for. However, Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi uses his powers of The Force to convince the stormtroopers that the droids in the vehicle aren't the droids they were looking for. Befuddled by The Force, the stormtroopers send Luke and his companions on their way. Unfortunately for Luke Aaron Skywalker Sexton, 19, The Force doesn't exist. Or at the very least, it doesn't work on Texas cops. Garden Ridge City Mayor Larry Thompson says that on Monday, an officer noticed a vehicle allegedly driving without a front license plate. An officer pulled the vehicle over and allegedly smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer searched the car and allegedly found a "baggie" containing an undisclosed amount of weed. Sexton was taken downtown and charged with possession. He was later released on $2,000 bond. Though multiple states have legalized marijuana, either for recreational use or medical use, or at the very least have taken a less-is-more approach to prosecuting marijuana possession, Texas is not one of them. Indeed, Texas actually has some of the harshest marijuana laws among the 50 states, according to . It remains unclear, as of this writing, if Sexton was given the name "Luke Skywalker" at birth or if he legally had it changed after the fact. This is not the first time that a man named Luke Skywalker, or a variant thereof, has been arrested on petty criminal charges. In December 2018, as reported at the time, a Tennessee man named Luke Sky Walker was arrested for an unspecified parole violation. The 21-year-old had been on probation for stealing a road sign. It's unclear, as of this writing, if Walker was given the moniker at birth or had it changed after the fact. Other criminals with unusual names have included Madison, Wisconsin's Beezow Doo-Doo Zoppitybop-Bop-Bop, who, like Luke Skywalker in Texas, was allegedly busted for drug possession, among other crimes. Beezow, however, had been born with a much more mundane name, Jeffrey Drew Wilschke, but had changed it a few months prior to his arrest.
Wakanda, a fictitious nation that exists only within the (MCU) and is not a real country, was listed as a U.S. trading partner on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) website, reports. According to the entry, the two countries purportedly trade ducks, donkeys, and dairy cows with one another. The federal government keeps records and data on just about everything and it can be surprising what sort of information is available on government websites. Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer, found himself finding some obscure information as he was looking up agricultural tariffs for a fellowship he was applying for not too long ago. On the USDA -- which tracks the cost of importing and exporting goods from countries that have free trade agreements with the United States -- Tseng found the Kingdom of Wakanda listed, as well as a detailed list of the goods the two countries supposedly traded. These include the aforementioned animals, fresh vegetables, unroasted coffee beans, essential oils, and other livestock. Some of the data Tseng uncovered showed that Wakandan potatoes were being charged a tariff of half a cent per kilogram. There was no tariff on frozen Chinese water chestnuts from Wakanda, however, nor was there one on Wakandan cows. Tseng says that when he first saw the Wakanda entry, he was confused, believing for a second that his memory had been muddled and that Wakanda was a real place. Once he realized that the kingdom doesn't actually exist and never has, he took to Twitter to share his strange find with the internet.Soon, the snark was flowing. One reporter, for example, asked how things were progressing in trade talks between the U.S. and a fictional city from another . "Where are things at on negotiations with Agrabah?" they asked. As it turns out, no one within the USDA actually believes that Wakanda is a real place. Rather, as USDA spokesman Mike Illenberg explained, Wakanda's entry was added to the system as part of a testing process and it never got removed. "The Wakanda information should have been removed after testing and has now been taken down," he said. For those unfamiliar with the origins of Wakanda, it first appeared in a Marvel comic in the 1960s as the fictional home of the superhero Black Panther. In its portrayal in the MCU, Wakanda is actually a wealthy and technologically-advanced nation that had hidden itself from the rest of the world for years, instead using cloaking technology to portray itself as economically and technologically depressed.
A town is getting rid of its traditional "possum drop" New Year's Eve tradition, possibly due to complaints from animal-rights activists, reports. In cities across the country, the New Year will be rung in with an object being ceremonially "dropped" as the clock counts down. New York City's Times Square has its famous "ball-drop," for example. And this year in Nashville, a musical note strung with LED lights will ceremonially drop. Back in 1990, Brasstown, resident Clay Logan realized that his neighbors didn't have anything to drop to ring in the new year. What Brasstown does have, however, is plenty of possums. He put two and two together, and soon enough, Brasstown was welcoming the new year with the "possum drop." The tradition continued in Brasstown until 2018 when Logan realized he could no longer manage the event. It migrated over to nearby Andrews. At this point, it bears noting that the phrase "possum drop" doesn't tell the whole story. No animals were ever "dropped" in the sense of being let go of in order to fall. Rather, the animal, in a cage, was safely and slowly lowered. But the phrase "New Year's Eve slowly lowering of a possum safely in a cage" doesn't exactly tickle the ear, so the event was always referred to, via verbal shorthand, as a "possum drop."Indeed, the misleading name may have given the wrong idea, says Emily Malin, a town administrator for nearby Andrews. One such rumor was that a live animal was thrown from the roof of a building. "There were a lot of untruths being spread about us being cruel to the animals. It isn't true," she said. The fact that the animal was safely lowered in a cage aside, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wasn't having it. The animal-rights organization lobbied for years to have the tradition discontinued, and Malin says that the tradition is now over, for good. In a statement, PETA lawyer Martina Bernstein said that it was time for the tradition to go. "It took years of lawsuits by PETA and appeals to state officials by concerned citizens, but 'Possum Drop' organizers may finally be leaving opossums in peace and ringing in the new decade in a compassionate way," she said. Back in Andrews, there will still be a town New Year's Eve celebration, just without the possum drop. Instead, there will be a beauty pageant (without women) and a wrestling match. "As long as we have some kind of event going on, people are happy," Malin said.
The Navy pilot who filmed a possible is speaking out about the event, emphasizing that what he saw seemed to defy the natural laws of physics. Though the incident happened 15 years ago, Chad Underwood still recalls the sighting as if it were yesterday. At the time, the video of the aircraft caused national headlines, and the erratic, alleged UFO was give the name the "Tic Tac," which Underwood coined, according to the . Underwood reportedly declined to speak out previously due to the fear that his name would be associated with tinfoil hat theories about aliens. However, he has decided to shed light on his experience, especially since the object remains a mystery. The incident happened on November 10, 2004, when a radar operator reported a number of odd and slow-moving objects off San Clemente Island, close to San Diego. There were between five and ten of them in total. The objects were at an altitude too high to be birds and were moving at a pace that made them too slow to be aircraft. Moreover, they did not seem to be on a flight path. Instead, they were moving erratically. In a military report, Day would later describe the objects as having "exhibited ballistic-missile characteristics."Scientists and military researchers took spent weeks trying to figure out what could be a cause for the mystery. Finally, Dave Fravor, commanding officer of the Black Aces, made visual confirmation of the radar mystery. Underwood was scheduled for the second flight, and Fravor reportedly warned him to be on the lookout. "That day," Underwood said, "Dave Fravor was like, 'Hey, dude. BOLO.' Like, be on the lookout for just something weird." Underwood ended up coming across a 40-foot-long, white, oblong shape -- and it was captured on film that eventually made its way to the front page of the New York Times. Underwood said it was unnerving how the alleged UFO seemed to defy the natural laws of physics. "The thing that stood out to me the most was how erratic it was behaving. And what I mean by 'erratic' is that its changes in altitude, air speed, and aspect were just unlike things that I've ever encountered before flying against other air targets. It was just behaving in ways that aren't physically normal... It was going from like 50,000 feet to, you know, a hundred feet in like seconds, which is not possible." Underwood added that two other odd things that he noticed were that it managed not to create a sonic boom and that it did not have any exhaust. "Debriefs were usually pro forma in the CVIC, but this one in particular was so odd," said a former pilot who was in the Carrier Vehicle Intelligence Center when they first went through the video. The pilot spoke on the condition of anonymity. "There weren't really a lot of skeptics in that room." The interview with Underwood comes as the media has renewed its interested in alleged UFO sightings. A little over a month ago, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed that the United States government had evidence of an alien "wreckage," as previously reported by .
resident Jérémy Schalkwijk and his new girlfriend, Athina Yalias, received quite the shock when they walked near his pond and discovered a giant nursery web spider sinking its teeth into Jérémy's pet goldfish, Cleo, reports . Jérémy, who happens to be a tour guide, managed to whip out his camera just in time to watch the bizarre incident take place. It was too late to save Cleo, but he took several pictures of the spider in the midst of its attack. Not only did it yank Cleo out of the pond, but it also dragged the helpless fish upwards along a concrete wall. The fish was almost two times the size of the spider. Both Jérémy and Athina were shocked by what they witnessed. The incident occurred in Barberton, South Africa. Athina and the 33-year-old tour guide were on their second date."When we came back out both animals were nowhere to be found. We have a pond with goldfish and I just wanted to show her the fish, then I saw this. I could see the spider catching the fish and it had taken it out of the water."What surprised Jérémy the most was the spider's flexibility since it carted the sizable fish up a wall with no branches or anything else to balance its weight. According to him, his girlfriend wasn't scared so much as she was impressed. He told reporters that she "isn't a real bush woman" and therefore not used to seeing strange animal encounters like the one mentioned above. People on social media were fascinated by the . Some folks thought the goldfish's owner acted rather cruelly since he abandoned his pet to the predator so he could grab a camera. However, others pointed out that there was likely little he could have done to prevent the inevitable once the spider got its fangs into poor Cleo. It likely injected the fish immediately and from that point, it would have died regardless of what Jérémy did. Other users joked that the spider was simply saving a goldfish from drowning. "And this is why every spider needs to die! God I hate them things," wrote one person. "[T]he way it was written i thought the dude was eating the pet goldfish for dinner and the spider took it off the plate," said a second confused user. "Apparently, spiders like sushi too," teased a third person.
In a bit of news, the verified Passenger Shaming account shared a grotesque video of a man urinating while sitting in an airport terminal, reports . He seemed to partake in the task without any shame or regard for the surrounding travelers. One of the other passengers recorded the clip, which has gone since it was first posted three days ago. It's not clear where the incident took place. The man is shown sitting in one of the chairs pressed up against the wall. While the video is censored to keep it Instagram-friendly, the deed is visible. At first, he acts normally, and then after a few seconds, he starts urinating. Several of the people in the vicinity gasp in shock and disgust, although no one tries to get him to stop. "P*SS OFF, 2019!" says the caption, which includes several cheeky emoji added to the remark. Over 240,000 people viewed the video, and close to 1,000 have commented on it. The majority of commenters were shocked by the man's actions and confused as to why none of the surrounding passengers spoke up or said anything to dissuade his unsanitary act. Several Instagram users were vocal about their desire to see the passenger arrested. It's not clear what happened to him after the videographer stopped recording, or if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs when the act occurred. His face has not been blurred out, so the video could be used as visual evidence if it becomes a police matter. Despite the outrage, some people thought the clip could be an elaborate prank. Since the man's private area is blurred out, they believe he could merely be squeezing a water bottle, and the person who recorded him may have been in on the joke setup. Strangely enough, there were even a couple of folks who thought that the man should be left alone. "Can we please let this airport behaviour stay in 2019?" wrote one person. "How do we get this guy on the no fly list?" asked a second user. "Why is he not arrested. That's not acceptable behavior," a third individual mentioned. "Probably got terminal and urinal mixed up," joked a fourth Instagrammer. This is hardly the first time that a video of someone acting weird while traveling has gone viral. The Passenger Shaming Instagram account frequently hosts footage of travelers doing strange things and having the misfortune of getting caught by someone with a cellphone.
An state board will have to decide if being a fan of the Cleveland Browns and/or Cincinnati Bengals is enough to qualify for the use of medical marijuana, Cleveland's reports. Similar to what multiple other states are doing or have already done, Ohio is gearing up to start its own medical marijuana program. Taking a cue from Missouri and similar states, the Buckeye State's program will be on the strict side, requiring users to meet one or more of several certain "qualifying conditions" and getting a physician's recommendation before being allowed to legally purchase marijuana. Authorities sought the help of the general public, launching a petition to decide which health issues it should consider adding to the list of approved qualifying conditions. Not unexpectedly, the list contained several ailments that typically come up in the conversation about what things marijuana can supposedly treat, like epilepsy, anxiety disorders, depression, and autism spectrum disorder, among others. However, also included on the list is "Being a Browns/Bengals fan." It probably started with a joke -- after all, when you crowdsource ideas, the crowd is sometimes likely to come up with some tongue-in-cheek suggestions that are going to make it through the process. One example was when the British Antarctic Survey sought the internet's help in coming up with the name of a research vessel -- only for users to come up with Boaty McBoatFace. The agency instead named the vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough instead. Joke or not, the state medical board will have to consider it since it was properly submitted through the proper channels. So, is being a fan of either the AFC North's or Cincinnati Bengals enough to qualify for medical marijuana? Well, the two teams fleshed out the bottom two slots of their division in the 2019 NFL season -- combining for a record of 8-24 -- so there's that. And in the nearly 20 years since the Browns have been in Cleveland following a hiatus, they've had only two winning seasons and one playoff appearance. The Bengals are slightly better, having made the postseason with relative consistency since 1990. However, over that timeframe, they've never won a playoff game. A fan of either team who smokes marijuana isn't going to turn around either team's fortunes by puffing and passing, of course. So if the state does approve medical marijuana for the fans' use, the teams will still stink if they aren't able to address their weaknesses. But their pot-using fans just won't care. There has been some evidence that being a fan of a losing team can take a toll on one's mental health. As reported in 2015, watching one's favorite sports team go through their ups and downs -- a long string of downs in particular -- could have a profound effect on anxiety, depression, and stress.
Justin Bailey, a resident of Rose Hill, , received quite the scare on Wednesday when he discovered a hidden inside his living room couch, reports . The citizen called the Rose Hill Police Department after the startling discovery, in the hopes that someone would be able to retrieve the snake for him. The Butler County Fire District No. 3 later responded to the call. Deputy Fire Chief Melvin Linot -- who the department has dubbed their "resident snake charmer" -- managed to wrangle the reptile and even posed for a photograph that was later posted on the department's official Facebook page. They asked if anyone was missing a pet boa and if so, they could claim it. Several reptile-lovers on the Facebook post didn't know whose snake it was but were keen to adopt it themselves if no one came to collect it. According to , Bailey was searching for his keys when he plunged his hands down in between the couch cushions and felt something scaly hidden beneath. "I reach into the right side, and I feel something, and I'm like, 'That doesn't feel right,'" said the concerned resident. He also added that he had no idea how the creature found its way into his home. It may have taken up residence inside the Bailey family couch months ago, potentially when it was much smaller. Reporters from ABC News spoke with Butler County Fire Chief James Woydziak about what they'll do next with the reptile. "I'm not even sure who gets to make that decision. This has never come up before," stated a baffled Woydziak. People on Twitter found the news to be pretty humorous and joked that they were shocked this particular story occurred in Kansas and not in Florida -- a state known for many oddities. Others were terrified by the report and vowed to get their couches thoroughly inspected before sitting on them again. One user even shared the infamous Snakes on a Plane scene with Samuel L. Jackson. "So that's what happened to the baby snake I left at my in-laws house 27 years ago..." quipped one Twitter user. "It was just protecting all that loose change between the cushions," wrote another person. https://www.facebook.com/BCFD3/posts/10162823493225084 Per the aforementioned 13 WHTR article, the boa constrictor is now at a Kansas pet store. A phone number for the rightful pet owner to call was shared on the Butler County Fire District's Facebook page.
A woman fought off a possibly rabid otter, saving her dog and her teenage daughter in the process, reports. Casina Ewert and her family were getting ready for their day last Tuesday morning when the incident occurred. The debacle began when Ewart's 17-year-old daughter, Gwyn, let their family dog, Scooter, out the back door for his morning adventures. Not long afterwards, both women heard a loud commotion. "I sprinted to the backdoor, and I was like, 'Scooter!' All I saw was like a big, black ball, just all over the place," Gwyn said. Gwyn tried to close the door, but unfortunately she was just a hair too late. The otter was chasing the dog inside, and Gwyn not only failed to close the door before he got inside, but she managed to shut the door on him, seemingly enraging the animal. "The otter got stuck," Gwyn said. Once again, the animals were fighting, and so fast and furious were the beasts' fisticuffs that Casina couldn't tell who was who, describing the entire situation as "a big, tangled tumbleweed." Casina says that she grabbed the otter by the tail, but the beast kept latching onto pieces of furniture "I snatched it by the tail, and then, I held it up like a prize. The otter's going crazy," she said.
Eventually she was able to get a long-enough hold on the animal to throw it into the backyard and close the door. "My husband's like, 'Case, you just alligator-wrangled an otter in the living room,'" she said. When the dust had settled, both Gwyn and Scooter had received multiple bite marks, according to . Gwyn was taken to a hospital to get stitched up and get a series of shots. Scooter, for his part, had just gotten his rabies shot a couple of days earlier, but was still placed under quarantine just as a precautionary measure. As for the otter, he or she hasn't been caught, so there's no knowing for sure if it was rabid. However, Dustin Hooper, an animal trapper and owner of All Creatures Wildlife Control, says that otters normally flee from humans, so this one's behavior was definitely unusual. Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have been setting up traps in order to catch the animal and test it. Meanwhile, the agency is getting reports from other homeowners of a crazed otter attacking their dogs.
A man could be looking at time behind bars after he allegedly released mice and other rodents in various hotel rooms, then alerted staff, hoping they could compensate him with a free stay. As the reported, 37-year-old Ryan State is accused of taking the rodents to three different hotels in Utah and secretly releasing them in his rooms. At the third location, the Hyatt House in Salt Lake City, the hotel's general manager decided to call police after State tried to claim that his room was infested. After the first two hotels reportedly fell for the ploy and compensated him with free stays, police caught on and arrested State. As the report noted, the man is accused of damaging several hotel rooms after the rodents left behind feces. As noted, the scam could have been costly to the hotels, as they are required to bring in pest control whenever rodents and feces are found in rooms. State's gambit could have also netted him a few hundred dollars, had it worked. The website for the Hyatt House lists rooms from $109 to $149 per night. It was not clear what other hotels he allegedly targeted or how much money State could have made, in what police referred to as services stolen by fraud. The strange circumstances of the alleged scam and the fact that it worked at least twice helped attract some national attention. Some major media outlets picked up the story of State's arrest, even though the charges only amounted to misdemeanors. This is not the first to gain viral attention. Back in 2015, police in Texas said a couple who lost their dog later found that someone was advertising its sale on Craigslist. Police said the people listing the 11-year-old terrier were taking part in a "dog flipping" scheme, in which they tried to profit from re-selling the dog. The animal's owners contacted the seller, who then took down the ad. The rightful owner was eventually able to track down the sellers, who forced them to pay in order to get their beloved pet back -- only to find that its coat had been painted in an effort to hide the fact that it was stolen. In this most recent case, State has been charged with two counts of theft by deception and three counts of criminal mischief. It's not clear if a conviction would result in jail time.
Thanks to strong winter storms that kicked up high winds in the region, a "ghost ship" has washed ashore in , following a year drifting aimlessly at sea after its crew abandoned it. According to officials are warning the public to stay away from the wreckage. Back in 2018, the 253-foot MV Alta -- which at the time was already well over 40 years old -- was damaged off the coast of Bermuda. Unable to make repairs, the crew abandoned the vessel and was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, which took them safely to Puerto Rico. The craft was meant to be towed to Guyana. However, the boat never made it there and was believed to have been hijacked by bandits. What happened after that is unclear; but by August 2019, it had been found by a Royal Navy ship, HMS Protector, floating aimlessly in the mid-Atlantic. Over the next several months, the ship was carried about by winds and currents along the Atlantic Ocean. It's believed to have drifted northwards along the west coast of Africa, past and all the way to Ireland. Meanwhile, off the coast of The Emerald Isle, Storm Dennis kicked up winds and waves that finally pushed the rusting vessel to shore. It was specifically washed ashore near Ballycotton, a fishing village in County Cork. The craft landed on some rocks, apparently fully intact.Needless to say, the abandoned vessel is garnering its share of curiosity-seekers who came out to the shore to get a glimpse. However, officials are warning the public to stay away from the ship, due to the fact that its final resting place is on a remote stretch of inaccessible shoreline bedeviled by tricky waves, high winds and jagged rocks. Plus, the stability of the vessel is uncertain. "Cork county council is asking members of the public to stay away from the wreck location," the county said in a recent statement. For now, the Irish government's immediate concern is the potential environmental impact of the vessel. The ship, like any derelict ship, could potentially still have toxic substances on board, including oil and fuel, that could spill into the ocean. A team of scientists has taken a preliminary look at the situation and determined that there doesn't appear to be any environmental damage. However, a team will take another look during the next low tide, which is expected to be on Tuesday.
A man whose remains were found in a freezer had written a note exonerating his wife for his death, reports. Still, questions remain about how Paul Edward Mathers died and how his remains wound up in a freezer. On November 22, 2019, a maintenance worker was doing a job in the town of Tooele, when the worker came upon the remains of 75-year-old Jeanne Souron-Mathers, who is believed to have died of natural causes. As authorities were investigating the scene, they found a . Inside were the frozen remains of 69-year-old Paul Edward Mathers. The man's body was wrapped in a garbage bag, with another garbage bag over his head and held by duct tape wound tightly around his neck, according to Salt Lake City's . Also found in the home was a note, typed and notarized, presumably written by Mr. Mathers, in which he exonerates Jeanne for his death. "I want it known that Jeanne is in NO way responsible for my death," the note reads. What's more, Mr. Mathers said that he had actually wanted to commit suicide, but that Jeanne had "foiled" his suicide attempts. Authorities believe that Paul Mathers had died some time between March 2 and 5, 2009. While it's been a decade since he died and most of the people who knew him, and/or who had any possible connection to the case have died, police are having a difficult time determining much else about the man's death.At the time, Mathers had been diagnosed with end-stage bladder cancer and was expected to have only months to live. As he pointed out in his note, he was taking powerful prescription painkillers at the time. A toxicology report later found "highly lethal levels" of several prescription narcotics in his system. According to authorities, at this time, there's no way of telling whether Mathers had died before or after the duct tape was wrapped around his neck. Meanwhile, it is not clear how Mathers' remains wound up in the freezer. According to police, Mathers' sister had spoken to him on the phone on March 2. On March 5, she came to the home to see her brother and was purportedly told by Jeanne that he had moved to California. Authorities say that Mathers was likely dead when his sister came asking questions and had died within that three-day period. As for Jeanne Souron-Mathers, police believe that her death was due to natural causes.