CAT | Creepy
BELGRADE, Serbia-
Depending on where you go in this world you will find that the everyday worker/laborer has various levels of rights when it comes to established labor laws in their country. It could be argued that here in America we have it pretty good overall. Every single state has various unions, boards, organizations, and bureaus that oversee just about every aspect of the working world in the United States, so we can work and not think about how badly we are (or are not) getting screwed.
But that level of working security is not universal. Some countries probably have more oversight than we have, while others have virtually none. Take for example a state owned, textile factory in southwestern Serbia, called the Raska Holding. Back in the 1980s Raska Holding was a major textile producer that employed over 4,000 workers. During the collapse of the former Yugoslavia back in the 1990s, and the loss of markets and mismanagement during that decade, there were huge job cuts and now the once mighty Raska only employs 100 people. The crazy part is some workers for Raska have not been paid for extended period of time. And when I say extended I mean extended, as in years.
Not being paid in years is something that doesn’t compute in terms of how things are in the United States and two immediate questions come to mind: How would a worker make ends meet if they have not been paid in years? And second, why would they stay? The argument could be made that the country is so devastated by hard times that there is nothing better available, but if you are not getting paid at all (for years) in the first place, how does it get any worse? I guess the bottom line is I cannot understand for any reason at all why someone would stay at any job if they had not been paid in years. Am I missing something?
So with workers working years and not getting paid this is already a strange story, but it does get stranger. One day while protesting this zero pay, a union leader, Zoran Bulatovic, said, “We, the workers, have nothing to eat. We have to seek some sort of alternative food.” His deputy, also very angry at the situation, said she would cut off her own finger to make a stand. She was a mother of three and Bulatovic did not want her doing such a drastic thing, so he took a hacksaw and cut off his pinky before she could. Instead of giving the pinky to his bosses, he wanted to make an example of alternative things to eat, so he ate it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you did read that right, he ate his own pinky finger. Now I say, that’s really showin’ em whose boss, Zoran. You sure did make your point, and I bet none of them will ever forget it. But again, I ask, is there something I am missing here? Is eating one’s own finger in a protest a cultural thing used to prove a point?
The moral of the story: Just like a prior post about a man who cut off his own ‘member’ for unknown reasons, when you feel the need to cut off and eat your own finger, there may be a little more to it than just a salary dispute.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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SEBASTIAN, Florida-
Timmie Jordan was retired and doing quite well collecting her military survivor’s benefit and social security checks. Between 2003 and early 2009 she had collected nearly $240,000, about $36,000 a year. Not bad for a retired senior citizen. The strange part of the story is since 2003 she had collected every bit of her income without ever once leaving her bed.
Then, one day in 2009 there was a report to police about menacing cats on her property and they went to investigate. While there the police found the even stranger part of the story, why Mrs. Jordan had not left her bed in over six years: she was dead. She had evidently died of natural causes in 2003 and now lay there nearly completely decayed. Penelope Sharon Jordan, Timmie Jordan’s daughter, had concealed her mother’s death because she said she did not have the money for burial expenses. And I say each year Penelope Jordan had 36,000 other reasons not bury her mother. And at 61 years of age, Penelope Jordan had her payday and now it was time for her to pay it back, with up to 15 years behind bars.
The Moral of the story: If you’re going to keep your beloved mother rotting away in her bed all while defrauding the government, you better be prepared to pay it back by carving out license plates.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri –
So there you are on a wonderful, once and a lifetime, dream vacation in the Czech Republic. A world away from the distractions of your normal life in the United States. Driving through the streets of Prague, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, you notice familiar faces in the window of a grocery store. But the faces are not attached to actual people, rather in the form of a family portrait in the window of a Prague grocery store. You double-take to make sure you saw what you think you saw.
You did, and you confirm that your dear friend’s enormous family portrait is plastered all over the window of one of the last place in the world you would ever expect to see it. It was being used as an advertisement for the grocery store, a way to make it seem more family friendly and to draw customers inside. You immediately snap a few pictures and send them to your friend and give her the bizarre news.
As with everything on StrageRush.com this situation actually did happen to Danielle and Jeff Smith of St. Louis, Missouri. When Danielle heard the news from her friend and saw the pictures she was flabbergasted. She had only used the Christmas card photo on her blog and sent it out to friends and family. But she had no idea how they ended up on the window of a grocery store across the world.
The owner of the store in Prague, Mario Bertuccio, said the photo was taken off the Internet, and he had believed it was a computer-generated photo (yeah, check it out below, they definitely look like computer generated people). When he was told it was a real photo, of a real family, he said he began to remove it…..and then I’m sure he jumped back on the net and looked for another computer generated-family to exploit.
The moral of the story: Once it’s on the internet, ANYTHING goes.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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BRONX, NY-
Gisela Marrero and Johnny Quintana were in love, engaged, and already had a 2 year old son together. Johnny always made it clear that he wanted another baby and with lifelong plans together it was only natural that eventually they would have that second child.
The only problem was, at the young age of 31, Johnny had a heart attack and tragically passed away, putting a quick and immediate stop to all their longterm plans. That is, all except for one.
Marrero wanted her deceased husband-to-be’s sperm and since they were not yet married she needed a court order. A Bronx judge approved her request and with only four hours left in the ’36 hour window of opportunity after death,’ sperm bank staff members rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where Quintana’s body lay and extracted his sperm.
I find this a little creepy and bizarre, but at the same time I understand.
The moral of the story: If the judge says OK, go for it.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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RIGA, Latvia-
Dictionary.com defines collateral as: security pledged for the payment of a loan. When I think of collateral I think of jewelry, a car, a house (or property), or some other form of personal property with value. Basically, something tangible that can be handed over in the event a monetary loan cannot, or is not, repaid.
Latvia is not a place that we often hear about. So, for those of you who do not know where it is, Latvia is a European country that sits squeezed between the Baltic Sea and western Russia. In Latvia the economic crisis has been out of control for a long time, a lot longer than the rest of the European Union. Unemployment has been steadily rising, causing banks to be very stingy in handing out loans, and overall making it very difficult for consumers to attain personal loans. (Interestingly, it looks as though I have a couple of readers of my blog from different parts of Latvia, thank you for your interest:)
One small loan company in Latvia called Kontora has been making it much easier for consumers to attain minimal personal loans and Viktor Mirosiichenko is the man who heads up this program for Kontora. Mirosiichenko says that consumers can easily get (high interest) loans for up to $500 lasting for up to 90 days and ALL that is required for the loan is a first name (no last name, address, nor phone number is required). In addition, no collateral is required either. Mirosiichenko says that should the borrower not repay the loan, neither he nor Kontora will ever employ debt collectors to get the money back, and also promised no physical violence would ever occur.
So basically it looks as though any schmuck who wants a free $500 can easily get it in Latvia? But wait a second……could there be a catch?
Yes, there certainly is a catch. When I wrote that no collateral is required, what I should have written is no ‘physical’ collateral is required. Kontora is writing loans for people with only a first name provided, but the borrower must sign a contract, with the words “Agreement” in bold letters at the top and the client agrees to the ‘non-physical’ collateral of “my immortal soul.”
Yes, that’s right. All borrowers must pledge their ‘eternal souls’ as collateral to the high interest loan. Should they not repay the loan, Mirosiichenko says, “They won’t have a soul, that’s all.” To me, this sounds like a study in human behavior, conscience, and the belief in life after death. I wonder if there is a University Sociology Department somewhere behind this very odd loan program?
The moral of the story: Some loans are high interest in more ways than one.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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Bountiful, Utah-
OK, so right up front I’m expecting a little grief for this post, but you gotta live a little dangerously every so often, don’t you? And let me just put it out there that I absolutely DO NOT condone this sort of behavior in any way. But I still find it strange enough for StrangeRush.com.
When you were in the 7th grade you thought Johnny (Fill in the Blank) was the resident ladies man? That one kid who seemed to have all the girlfriends. Well, evidently you’ve never heard of this Utah youngster. This young man who we’ll call Romeo had the good fortune, or bad fortune, depending on how you look at it, to bed not one, but two of his much older female teachers. Now, as sick at this sounds, and it truly is, there are those guys out there who are reciting the classic line from the movie Napoleon Dynamite, “Lucky.” It may not be PC, but it’s true, somewhere, within this story is nearly every guys middle school fantasy.
All joking aside, this 13 year old, junior high school boy/Romeo somehow created a love triangle with himself and two of his teachers, 46 year old Linda and 39 year old Valynne. It appears it all began innocently enough when the two teachers separately starting talking to the boy about his personal problems, which led to inappropriate text messages, then phone sex, followed by sexual assaults on the teenager. Neither teacher was aware of the other’s involvement with him and Linda confessed to police that her sexual involvement with the boy lasted for a span of 14 months.
Obviously, it is not okay for these women to exhibit this sort of behavior, but my bet is this young Romeo had some idea about what he was doing;)
The Moral of the story: No moral, just admit it guys, you’re jealous.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -
This is one of those sick and disgusting stories that is not the slightest bit funny and is absolutely unbelievable. But, when you consider the sick and twisted world we live in, it doesn’t surprise me too much, as I am sure there are many other men out there that would get off on something like this.
Craigslist has long been a symbol of free commerce and advertising on the internet. In fact, according to Alexa.com, Craigslist has been online since 1997 and ranks as the 8th most visited website in the United States and 29th most visited in the world. Each day millions of people use it to buy and sell anything and everything imaginable. But Craigslist does have a darker and more controversial side to it. Most markets have ‘Adult’ and/or ‘Erotic Services’ themed ads that allow consenting adults the ability to ‘hook up’ and do whatever it is that they do.
But what happens when the ‘consenting’ aspect is removed from the equation? This is exactly what happened in Kannapolis, North Carolina about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte. A 25-year old man used the popular website to solicit another man to come into his home and rape his wife at knife point while he watched. Evidently, this disgusting rape scenario had been a fantasy this sicko needed to fulfill. Not only was his fantasy fulfilled and the rape took place, but there were two children in the home at the time, who were luckily unaware of what was going on. The woman described the event as traumatizing and said it was the worst thing that has ever happened to her. Uhhhhhh, I would say so.
The moral of the story: No moral. Just that the world can be a sick place.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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Kufstein, Austria—
A sad story, but still very strange. Johanna Ganthaler and her husband Kurt were late arriving to the airport and extremely lucky when they narrowly missed boarding Air France Flight 447 on June 1, 2009 from Rio de Janerio, Brazil to Paris, France, that later plunged into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 people on board.
Johanna and Kurt counted their lucky stars and continued their travels to Austria. Just over a week after the near miss on flight 447, while driving near Kufstein, Austria, their car swerved into the path of an oncoming truck. Johanna was killed and Kurt was badly injured.
The moral of the story: When it’s your time, it’s your time.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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WATERBURY, Vermont-
Everyone has heard of the watchdog group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I like PETA and what it stands for as much as the next guy. But have you PETA people lost your %#$*&*# minds? PETA believes it is cruel for human beings to milk cows and that a cow’s milk is naturally hazardous to humans (and both points may have some validity). BUT, PETA came up with a solution that they wrote up and sent to major ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s. They proposed their idea had two benefits: First, it would reduce the suffering of cows and second, would provide consumers with a healthier alternative to cow’s milk ice cream.
Any guesses on where this is going?
Their idea was to substitute human mother’s milk in the ice cream. “If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits,” wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA.
Hello, Tracy, anyone home? I guess if you think about it at a fundamental level drinking cow’s milk is sort of gross. It’s a liquid coming from an arguably dirty animal. I’ll do it once in a blue moon with a couple of cookies, but having a glass of milk is not my first or even tenth choice of beverage, I’d rather leave it for Santa Clause. But I have no issue with cow’s milk in ice cream. However, substituting human mother’s milk in ice cream is just plain disgusting. Is there ANY PETA person out there, even just one, who can honestly say they would eat ice cream made with mother’s breast milk? How about you, Tracy…..are you game for a bowl of Luscious Lemon Lactate?
Thank you Ben and Jerry for vetoing this ridiculous idea, as if you ever even gave it a second of consideration. I’d loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear the laughter when the CEO of Ben and Jerry’s opened that urgent letter. But let’s pretend for a moment they went for it. Mr. and Mrs. PETA, how long do you suppose Ben and Jerry would remain in business?
The moral of the story: Thank God Ben and Jerry’s shot down this insane idea, but the next time you take the family out to an ice cream parlor, be sure to look in the back room for women holding breast pumps, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-
For some strange reason I find this story a little on the creepy side. As far as strange stories go, you may have to take a double take on this one. This is just plain weird but absolutely true. 24-year old Angel Pantoja Medina was found dead under a bridge in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was well known by his family that after Angel died he wanted to remain standing for his three-day wake. So, stand is what he did, dressed in a New York Yankee baseball cap and sunglasses, Angel became an Angel while upright in the corner of his mother’s living room. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment that allowed Angel’s family to grant him his one last wish to remain upright for his three day wake. Angel Pantoja Medina RIP.
The Moral of the story: If you pass away, I wouldn’t put your family through a 3-day STANDING wake in your mother’s living room.
(There are pictures of this story on the internet. I just could not bring myself to post them here to protect the faint at heart. If you are so inclined to see them just do a Google image search for Angel Pantoja Medina.)
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
