A woman in charge of a toddler, whose mother was in the hospital, was supposed to drop him off at his father's house. But when the father wasn't home, the woman – who is a friend of the mother's (hopefully not anymore) – instead drops him off on the porch of a stranger's house. The way she carries him by only one arm can't be comfortable for him. She knocks on the door and scrams, leaving the little guy standing there all alone.

Fortunately, someone, who was trustworthy, was home. According to The Washington Post:

A woman answered a knock at her door to find the small boy standing there alone and called 911, Spencer said. Sheriff’s deputies canvassed the neighborhood, knocking on every door nearby, including the father’s, officials told reporters, according to the Chronicle. The father was not at home at the time.

The child’s father, Willie Simmons, spoke to reporters on Thursday.

“If that was her child, she wouldn’t have left him,” he said, according to the Chronicle. “Just imagine if my nice neighbors weren’t there. My son would have wandered in the street and got hit."

The toddler, who wasn't hurt, will be reunited with his family. Read the rest

A worker at Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork company, didn't waste any time on the production line to take a potty break. While working at a conveyor belt loaded with pork, the adroit gentleman swiftly takes off his gloves, leans over, relieves himself, and then puts his gloves back on, all without missing much more than a beat or so.

The company, which had to shut down the plant to sanitize the equipment and toss out 50,000 pounds of meat, did not appreciate the employee's time-saving skills. He's been suspended for now.

Here's the story on WAVY TV 10:

Via Business Insider Read the rest

It's highly unusual for a police officer to be fired when they shoot an unarmed person, which happens on a regular basis. It's even more unusual for a cop to be fired just for the words he uses, but the officer who threatened a group of people last summer by saying he was "trigger happy" has just been canned. Shocking but true.

The video above shows Stephen Barone, a former police officer from the Hartford Police Department in Connecticut, talking to a group of people who had been hanging out on a porch without any lights on. The officer didn't like the looks of things, and demanded their IDs. And he wanted to know what was on their persons. Even worse, he let them know he was the bully in charge by telling them that if anyone wanted to run, "I'm a little trigger happy, guys, I'm not gonna lie."

He then brags about how he'll be “paid a ton of money in overtime if I have to shoot somebody, so don’t do anything stupid.”

According to The Daily Dot:

On Wednesday, the Hartford Police Department put out a statement that they had fired Barone after finishing an investigation into the incident in the video, as well as a traffic incident in July.

“Our success as a police department depends on our relationship with the community we serve,” said Police Chief David Rosado. “This officer’s conduct does not reflect the values of our agency. I did not make this decision lightly.

Before entering Ohio's Akron Fright Fest, a park of self-proclaimed "extreme haunted houses," people need to sign a waiver.

The waiver lets them know that these are mature haunted houses with actors who might physically touch them, but never do they mention people getting pushed down for a simulated rape. Read the rest

On August 4th, during a major gun rights demonstration in Portland, OR, a right-wing group with a stockpile of weapons was stationed on the rooftop of a garage, overlooking the rally. The individuals, whose arsenal included long guns, were affiliated with the far right group Patriot Prayer.

The Portland police discovered the armed group and took their weapons, but did not arrest them. They later gave the guns back to the group.

The officers withheld this information from everyone outside the police department, including the mayor. It was only on Monday, over two months later, that this news finally came out.

According to The Oregonian:

That shocking revelation came Monday as Portland officials scrambled to find a way to end the repeated violent clashes between dueling political factions downtown...

Asked why the public was not told of the incident sooner, Chief Danielle Outlaw said, "Hindsight is always perfect." Outlaw said the Police Bureau warns the public that protesters may be armed. Both right- and left-wing demonstrators have come to Portland protests armed, she said.

Image: by U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Thomas Karol/Public Domain Read the rest

There's nothing more fun than a prank that brings great laughter to its victims, and this is what Chance the Rapper does when he becomes an undercover Lyft driver for a day. He drives unsuspecting passengers around Chicago and chats with them about all sorts of things, including rappers. It takes a while, but these passengers finally realize who they're really talking to, and their reactions are priceless (especially the last woman, who comes after you think the video is over, so watch to the end).

Chance pulls this stunt to bring attention to his charity, The New Chance Fund, which raises funds for art and literature enrichment in the Chicago public schools. Read the rest

This playful puppy has made it his mission to knock every shampoo and soap bottle into the tub – 11 bottles in all. His excitement is contagious. To see more of this guy, check out his Instagram page, little_leo_the_cavapoo. Read the rest

In an attempt to blend English with Maori, Coca-Cola stamps a brilliant blooper onto one of their New Zealand vending machines: "Kia Ora, Mate!" Translation: "Hello, death!"

"Kia ora" is commonly translated as "hello" in Maori, while "mate" can be used as "buddy" in English. But in Maori, "mate" is not the kind of buddy you want to have – it's a word that is associated with "death."

When the languages don't mix well. pic.twitter.com/3piZIoptAE

— Waikato Reo (@waikatoreo) October 14, 2018

What makes this so ironic is how on the mark the message really is. According to The Guardian:

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of obesity in the developed world with one in three adult New Zealanders classified as obese.

According to statistics New Zealand 50% of Māori adults are obese, as well as 18% of Māori children.

Image: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link Read the rest

In an embarrassing video released today, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor, Scott Wagner, thinks he's a tough guy when he threatens his opponent, Gov. Tom Wolf: "Well, Governor Wolf, let me tell you what, between now and Nov. 6, you better put a catcher’s mask on your face, because I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes."

Wolf's running mate tweets that Wagner has "lost it."

.@realScottWagner has lost it.🤬🤪Warns my running mate he’s going to “stomp on his face with golf spikes” https://t.co/ocwBndREsC

— Mayor John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 12, 2018

No, he hasn't lost it. This is just what the devolution of the GOP looks like.

Via the Daily Beast Read the rest

Trump aide Stephen Miller "was a strange dude" and a "loner" who ate glue as a child, according to his third grade teacher Nikki Fiske.

The 72-year-old teacher, who taught Miller in 1993, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter and, among other things, had this to say about Miller:

"I was always trying to get him to clean up his desk — he always had stuff mashed up in there. He was a strange dude. I remember he would take a bottle of glue — we didn't have glue sticks in those days — and he would pour the glue on his arm, let it dry, peel it off and then eat it.

"I remember being concerned about him — not academically. He was OK with that, though I could never read his handwriting. But he had such strange personal habits. He was a loner and isolated and off by himself all the time."

Fiske, who teaches in Southern California, has been suspended for her remarks. "The district says it's concerned about the public release of student information," according to NBC News.

Image: DonkeyHotey/Flickr Read the rest

A high-speed train going from Cologne to Munich carrying 510 passengers caught fire early this morning (local time). At least two cars burned, but amazingly no one was hurt.

From Reuters:

Mass-selling daily Bild said a policeman traveling on the ICE train smelled smoke and activated the emergency braking system, “averting catastrophe”.

Operator Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL] said it had closed the high-speed line between Cologne and Frankfurt as a result of the fire and would divert trains traveling that route, adding 80 minutes to the journey time.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. Read the rest

A man in Peru was recently using Google maps to figure out how to get to a bridge in Lima. He moved the camera around the city's streets, when suddenly he noticed a woman sitting on a bench who reminded him of his wife. She even wore the same type of clothes – white open blouse, jeans, black boots with heels. He then zoomed in, and lo and behold, it WAS his wife, with a man's head on her lap.

He confronted her, and yes, it was what it looked like – she had been having an affair with the man.

The couple is now divorced. Ironically, Google had taken the photo of the woman and her fellow on the Bridge of Sighs.

Via TechSpot

Image: Google Maps Read the rest

Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Julie Swetnick, one of the three Brett Kavanaugh sexual assault accusers, predicts with his usual confidence that Donny Trump Jr. will be indicted by the end of the year.

"Donald Trump Jr. will be indicted before his birthday on 12-31-18. If you doubt my prediction, please check my record over the last 7 months. #Winning"

Donald Trump Jr. will be indicted before his birthday on 12-31-18. If you doubt my prediction, please check my record over the last 7 months. #Winning

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 11, 2018

Of course, if Avenatti's prediction comes true, in the end it won't matter much. Papa Trump will fix it and make it all better for his mini-me.

Image: by Luke Harold/Flickr Read the rest

I'm a sucker for a good horror movie, and even this trailer gives me goosebumps. This remake of Stephen King's Pet Sematary comes out in April 2019.

From Esquire:

The concept was so spooky King himself hesitated to publish his book in the first place. “I found the result so startling and gruesome that I put the book in a drawer, thinking it would never be published. Not in my lifetime, anyway.” he wrote in a 2000 introduction for the paperback, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“I’m particularly uneasy about the book’s most resonant line… ‘Sometimes, dead is better,’” King wrote. “I hope with all my heart that that is not true, but in the nightmarish context of Pet Sematary, it seems to be. And it may be okay. Perhaps ‘sometimes dead is better’ is grief’s last lesson.”

Brett Kavanaugh is a name that leaves a bad taste in many mouths, but the name is now being put to good use with BrettKavanaugh.com (or .org/.net). Because the new Supreme Court Justice, accused of sexual assault by three women, didn't think to buy BrettKavanaugh.com, it's now a site for sexual assault survivors. WE BELIEVE SURVIVORS it says as its opener. And then:

The start of Brett Kavanaugh’s tenure on the Supreme Court may look like a victory for one interest group or another.

But, more importantly, it is putting a national focus on the issue of sexual assault – and how we as a country can and should do more to prevent it and to support those who have experienced it.

This past month, thousands of survivors came forward to tell their stories. We applaud your bravery. We believe you.

The site links to outside resources, including End Rape on Campus, National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

According to Mashable, "The domains were purchased by an organization called Fix The Court, which pushes for accountability and transparency in the Supreme Court."

Image: by CSPAN - https://www.c-span.org/video/?181538-1/judicial-nominations, Public Domain, Link Read the rest

A new documentary, David Bowie: The First Five Years, reveals how wrong some BBC judges were when he first started out. In 1965, David Bowie's band, the Lower Third, auditioned for the BBC's radio air time. This was when Bowie went by Davey Jones. The band, and especially Bowie, did not impress. Some of the comments by the judges:

“Singer not particularly exciting. Routines dull.”

“I can’t find fault with them musically – but there is no entertainment in anything they do.”

“Strange choice of material. Amateur sounding vocalist who sings wrong notes and out of tune”.

“I don’t think they’ll get better with more rehearsals.”

These tone deaf judges must've been surprised when Bowie released Space Oddity four years later, in 1969. As an aside, notice how much the guitars in "You've Got a Habit" above (starting at around 00:57) sound so much like Space Oddity.

According to The Guardian:

The documentary, David Bowie: The First Five Years, will be shown on the BBC in 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of Space Oddity. It features a clip of Phil Lancaster reading the audition report for the first time. The film concludes the BBC’s Bowie Five Years trilogy, directed by Francis Whately: The Last Five Years was broadcast in 2017, while Five Years, which focused on five key years in his career, was shown in 2013.

A guy is on the side of the road giving CPR to a squirrel by pressing his fingers on its chest (yes, he is wearing a glove). Two police officers pull over to see what's going on, and find out that the guy's car either drove over the squirrel, or maybe just sideswiped it. (Or, perhaps it's just stunned by an almost-roadkill moment.)

But the guy and the officers determine that the car's tire didn't actually roll over the animal, who is out cold on its back. The good samaritan keeps working on the squirrel, massaging it and turning it over, when suddenly, voila! It pops back to life and runs off. Read the rest