This is a list of weird, wacky, and other unusual stories that we found around the web. It is for March, 2022.
Hove the nukes been dropped yet? No? Great! Now you can read about all the weird stuff happening around the web!
The Flight Got Off to a Bad Start Thanks to the Pilot Being Drunk
There are some things you really don’t want to see on a flight. Examples could include a window popping out or one of the engines catching fire. Another one, of course, is seeing the pilot get removed from the cockpit for being completely hammered:
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A JetBlue pilot was removed from the cockpit of a plane in Buffalo, New York on suspicion he was intoxicated, authorities said.
The pilot has been identified as 52-year-old James Clifton of Orlando, Florida.
According to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), Clifton was passing through security Wednesday when a TSA officer noticed the pilot may be impaired.
NFTA police were notified and Clifton was removed from the cockpit. The pilot was reportedly given a breathalyzer test and registered a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.17. According to the FAA, pilots should not be flying with a BAC over .04.
Clifton was taken into custody but released to JetBlue security. He could still face federal charges.
*laboured sigh* “Thiz iz yur cabtain speaging.”
From a £230 Unpaid Bill to a £3 Million Castle
It’s not every day that a small debt leads to an eviction from a £3 million castle, but it has happened:
Mrs Van Overwaele had allegedly refused to pay a £230 factor’s bill relating to a bridalwear business she owned in Helensburgh in 1997. She claimed the bill had nothing to do with her.
The bill and the subsequent legal costs saw the debt soar to a reported £30,000 and in 2000 Mrs Van Overwaele was sequestrated – the Scottish legal term for being made legally bankrupt.
Her finances were taken over by an insolvency practitioner.
The Belgian family fought the sequestration and mounted various legal actions including claims of assault, theft and destruction of property against an accountant.
Mrs Van Overwaele at points represented herself in court.
What was that saying about having a fool for a client?
The Russian’s Are Now Looting Chickens
It makes you wonder what the heck is going on on the frontlines on the Russian side that the soldiers are having to resort to stealing chickens in Ukraine:
Russian soldiers looting chickens pic.twitter.com/nasX6Lmglq
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 9, 2022
Russian soldiers looting chickens
A part of me was hoping that a bunch of chickens would attack the Russian’s like what happens in those Zelda games when you hit the cuckoo enough times. I know, I know, wouldn’t have happened.
Manual Transmission: The Most Effective Anti-Car Theft Technology Known to Man
A man in the Hudson Valley attempted to steal someone’s car. Unfortunately for the would-be thief, he ran into the most effective anti-car theft technology known to man kind: manual transmission:
NEWBURGH – A trespasser in the area of 24 City Terrace in Newburgh was arrested last Saturday evening after he robbed a man of his cell phone, pushed him and got into the victim’s car. The suspect ran into a problem with his attempted getaway. He couldn’t figure out how to get the car into gear. Instead, he fled on foot.
The victim assisted city police with locating the man, later identified as Isaiah Jackson, 33, of Newburgh, nearby.
He was charged with two felony counts of robbery.
Boy, when they say that some people can’t get it into gear, they really do mean it!
Squatters Take Up Residence in Russian Oligarch’s Mansion
The mansion is estimated to cost 50 million British pounds, but hey, since he wasn’t using it anyway, why not just break in and make yourself at home?
Squatters have occupied the London mansion suspected of belonging to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska — who was placed on Britain’s sanctions list last week — unfurling a Ukrainian flag and a banner saying, “This property has been liberated.”
Police said they were called in the early hours of Monday after it was reported that the squatters had entered the multimillion-pound mansion in Belgrave Square, in an upmarket area of the British capital that is home to numerous foreign embassies.
“By occupying this mansion, we want to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but also the people of Russia who never agreed to this madness,” said a statement from the squatters, who described themselves as anarchists.
“You occupy Ukraine, we occupy you.”
When Autocorrect Accidentally Triggers a Police Response
Don’t you hate it when autocorrect changes a word to make a text message sound weird? Some Pittsburgh residents know how you feel… only it triggered a police response with fears that an active shooter was on the loose:
PITTSBURGH — A misinterpreted text message sparked a scary situation in the city’s North Side on Friday afternoon.
At around 12:30 p.m. many workers and guests at Nova Place were promptly evacuated, while nearby neighbors watched police and EMS fill the entire block of South Commons Street, shutting down portions of the street to manage what was believed to be an active shooter.
According to police, a person meant to text “fire alarm,” but instead sent “firearm.”
“The person texted [another] person off-site fire alarm. [But] what was meant to say fire alarm came out as firearm. When they didn’t respond to their phone, the person that got the text called police because they thought there was an immediate danger, but there was not,” said Maurice Matthews, PIO for the City of Pittsburgh Police.
Officials later confirmed there were no injuries, victims, or a shooter.
“Responding officers arrived on scene and didn’t find any evidence of a shooting, no victims, and few people even said that they didn’t hear anything,” added Mathews.
Yeah, autocorrect can be a reel pane in the grass sometimes.
Canada Opts for Editing Russian Letters
Anyone who has ever had their essays edited by a professor or teacher knows that feeling when their paper comes back full of red ink. That feeling of dread washes over and the self questions come up of “what have I done now?” Well, it apparently happened to Russia who, naturally, threw a Trump style temper tantrum in response:
In an unorthodox diplomatic move, Canada’s UN mission on Thursday tweeted out a heavily annotated letter that Russia had sent to the United Nations, including pointed comments in the rewrite, later prompting Russian accusations of “kindergarten-level libel.”
In a tweet that quickly went viral, Canada’s UN mission added multiple remarks to a March 16 letter from Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia. The missive sought support for Russia’s draft resolution on providing aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine.
Thank you @RussiaUN for your letter dated March 16.
Please see our suggested edits below. #StandWithUkraine #RespectTheCharter pic.twitter.com/0M663R0tUW
— Canada Mission UN (@CanadaUN) March 17, 2022
Canada’s UN mission annotated one part of the Russian letter that read: “Like other members of the international community, we are gravely concerned about its deterioration,” referring to the “dire humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine.”
Canada’s UN mission crossed out the first few words and changed the rest to read: “We are not gravely concerned about its deterioration,” and inserted at the end “because we are the primary cause.”
In a section a few sentences below that, Canada’s UN mission added a comment asking: “Do you think the UN membership actually believes this?” where Nebenzia accuses “Western colleagues” of “politicizing humanitarian issue [sic].”
On the final page, Canada suggested part of an alternative ending: “We want you to know just how little we care about the human life we have destroyed.”
Countries around the world, including Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia, have commended Canada’s tweet.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, fired back on Thursday:
“Thank you @CanadaONU for this kindergarten-level Russophobic libel!” he wrote on Twitter.
“It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb and gives an idea why your country’s bid for a non-permanent seat in #SecurityCouncil was voted down twice in 20yrs by UN membership,” Polyanskiy said, adding a thumbs-down emoji.
Aww, pooty poot’s fee fee’s got hurt?
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
