News of the Weird

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This Group is only for the posting/delivery of the weekly column, News of the Weird, by Chuck Shepherd.
Updated: 11 hours 38 min ago

News of the Weird, May 11, 2008

Sun, 2008/05/11 - 2:09am
WEIRDNUZ.M057 (News of the Weird, May 11, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Almost-anything-goes "Ultimate fighting," also known as
"human cockfighting," is a major "sport," mostly in southern and
western states, but only in Missouri are kids as young as 6

News of the Weird, April 27, 2008

Sun, 2008/05/04 - 6:38am
WEIRDNUZ.M056 (News of the Weird, May 4, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* "Many of my young patients think about getting plastic surgery
the way they'd think about getting their hair done," explained Dr.
David Alessi of Beverly Hills, Calif., who is still amazed at

News of the Weird, April 27, 2008

Sun, 2008/04/27 - 9:50am
WEIRDNUZ.M055 (News of the Weird, April 27, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Update: Experimental "natural orifice" surgery might be health
care's next big thing following its U.S. introduction last year at
Columbia University (as reported also in News of the Weird),

News of the Weird, April 20, 2008

Sun, 2008/04/20 - 7:59am
WEIRDNUZ.M054 (News of the Weird, April 20, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Lawyer confidentiality rules kept one man improperly on death
row for 10 years and a probably-innocent man in prison for 26,
according to news that surfaced in January (Virginia) and March

News of the Weird, April 13, 2008

Sun, 2008/04/13 - 1:57pm
WEIRDNUZ.M053 (News of the Weird, April 13, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* China's societal self-improvement in preparation for the 2008
Olympics continues. The Beijing Tourism Bureau ordered hotels
to re-translate English signs, hoping to avoid such notorious past

News of the Weird, April 6, 2008

Sun, 2008/04/06 - 2:57pm
WEIRDNUZ.M052 (News of the Weird, April 6, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Lead Story
* Irish director-playwright Paul Walker's production of "Ladies &
Gents" opened for a March run in New York City 29 blocks north
of Broadway, in a public restroom. According to an Associated
Press report, the entire play takes place among the porcelain in a

News of the Weird, March 30, 2008

Sun, 2008/03/30 - 8:50am
WEIRDNUZ.M051 (News of the Weird, March 30, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* While "March Madness" dominates intercollegiate athletics,
another group of collegians works out amidst coaches' whistles,
endures bloody, 12-hour practices, and cheers on

News of the Weird, March 23, 2008

Sun, 2008/03/23 - 2:49pm
WEIRDNUZ.M050 (News of the Weird, March 23, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Dakota Abbott, 16, edged Samantha Phillips, 17, to become Miss
Outdoors 2008 in February in Maryland's Eastern Shore region's
annual beauty-contest-and-muskrat-ski nning festival. The two

News of the Weird, March 16, 2008

Sun, 2008/03/16 - 7:25am
WEIRDNUZ.M049 (News of the Weird, March 16, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* India's middle class is humming with "brand freaks" obsessed
with luxury labels like Prada and Louis Vuitton, according to a
February Washington Post dispatch, even though more than half

News of the Weird, March 9, 2008

Sun, 2008/03/09 - 9:12am
WEIRDNUZ.M048 (News of the Weird, March 9, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* In February, a Mississippi judge released two convicted rapists of
children, who had each been in prison for more than 12 years,
based on DNA. The men had been convicted primarily by the "bite

News of the Weird, March 2, 2008

Sun, 2008/03/02 - 11:10am
WEIRDNUZ.M047 (News of the Weird, March 2, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* The divorce of Anton Popazov and his wife Nataliya is about to
go through, but the couple are still contractually committed to the
Moscow State Circus, where their act includes Nataliya's shooting

News of the Weird, February 24, 2008

Sun, 2008/02/24 - 9:20am
WEIRDNUZ.M046 (News of the Weird, February 24, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Lead Story
* Several Duke University campus organizations, including the
Women's Center, the Student Health Center, and the Women's
Studies Department, sponsored a "Sex Workers Art Show" on
February 3rd, at which nearly-nude "artists" danced for students

News of the Weird, February 17, 2008

Sun, 2008/02/17 - 1:50pm
WEIRDNUZ.M045 (News of the Weird, February 17, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Five of the 10 best-selling novels in Japan in 2007 were
originally composed, and serialized, on cell phones, thumbed out
by women who had never written novels, for readers who mostly

News of the Weird, February 10, 2008

Sun, 2008/02/10 - 9:09am
WEIRDNUZ.M044 (News of the Weird, February 10, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* China's historic fascination with crickets has recently been
exhibited in cricket beauty contests, singing competitions, and
prize fights, according to a January Los Angeles Times dispatch,

News of the Weird, February 3, 2008

Sun, 2008/02/03 - 3:49am
WEIRDNUZ.M043 (News of the Weird, February 3, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Mayor Grace Saenz-Lopez (Alice, Tex., pop. 19,000) and her
twin sister were indicted in January for hiding evidence in a
dognapping case. Saenz-Lopez had agreed to babysit a Shih Tzu

News of the Weird, January 27, 2008

Sun, 2008/01/27 - 8:35am
WEIRDNUZ.M042 (News of the Weird, January 27, 2008)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2008 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* A startup Massachusetts dating service has the usual
questionnaires about likes and dislikes but bases compatibility
specifically on how one person smells to another (straights and