xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
A recent study by economists Naci Mocan and Erdal Tekin concluded that unattractive teenagers grow up to commit more crimes than do attractive people. A February Washington Post summary of the research posits that fewer job opportunities and social opportunities might be what accounts for the “consequences of being young and ugly.”
No Longer Weird:
Adding to the list of stories that were formerly weird but which now occur with such frequency that they must be retired from circulation:
–(77) The disgruntled debtor who finally agrees to pay, but obnoxiously delivers it all in pennies, or in $1 bills, as William Lewis Jr., did on a foreclosure judgment in Sebring, Fla., in March.
–(78) The latest recycling laboratory breakthrough that makes possible the conversion of manure, urine or methane gas into a new energy source, as was Japanese professor Sakae Shibusawa’s March announcement that, by pressure and heat, he can produce an ounce of gasoline from 5 pounds of cow dung.
According to a November Washington Post poll (whose results were published in February), 94 percent of Americans said they are “above average” in honesty, 89 percent “above average” in common sense, 86 percent “above average” in intelligence, and 79 percent “above average” in looks.
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or [email protected] or go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.) NEWS OF THE WEIRD