Friday, October 29, 2010

Friday's Odds and Ends

As much as $1 billion in U.S. aid has been diverted from programs meant to stabilize Afghanistan and has wound up in the hands of the Taliban and other insurgency groups, war analysts and government auditors say. They say that graft has gotten so bad that the U.S. government estimates that only about 10 percent of the aid budget actually reaches the people in Afghanistan who need it.

And we keep sending money, why?

A mother in Texas shook her baby to death because he was interrupting her computer game.

I'd like to interrupt her.

Tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP's oil well in the Gulf of Mexico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway.

Thank you, Halliburton.

An obese mother in the US is trying to put on weight in order to become the world's fattest woman.

Isn't there another record she would like to break that wouldn't affect her health?

At least two southwest Montana horse owners are reporting thieves trotted off with tail hair from their horses. The hair can be used for making a number of items including hand crafted jewlry.

I couldn't imagine that stealing horse hair would be a lucrative endeavor until I did a  Google search for "horsehair items" and saw 195,000 results.  People are making baskets, bridles, hatbands, hair clips, gun slings, and much much more out of horsehair. They've got to get it from somewhere. 

Keith Richard's memoir, Life, reached best seller status before it was even released on Tuesday. 


I guess it pays to be famous before you write a memoir.

What wacky news have your heard this week?

9 comments:

Helen Ginger said...

Can't think of any wacky news I've heard today. Right now, though, I have on Oprah while I work. She and Gail are on a road/camping trip. Those two can be so funny when they head off on a trip together.

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Nothing as wacky as what you've found.
Maybe Oprah and Gail will get lost.

The Words Crafter said...

I read about the lady and farmville. How tragic!

Maryannwrites said...

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I don't think we should be wishing that Oprah and Gail get lost. Besides, they probably have GPS. How can you get lost with GPS?
Well, actually you could. My son was going somewhere and his GPS sent him to a Starbucks instead. His reaction? Wow, Starbucks is taking over everything.

Robyn Campbell said...

Wacky stories indeed. NO ONE BETTER EVER STEAL MY HORSES HAIR OR I SHALL WACK 'EM UPSIDE THE HEAD. :)

We live on a farm and have horses. I see you are a fellow horse lover. We have cats, the dog, and chickens, too.

I follow from Theresa's Halloween Haunting.

Maryannwrites said...

Robyn, I thought about the horse-tail thief when I was brushing my horse today. I wondered if In could bag up all the hair that came out of his mane and tail. When book sales are down I could always use the extra money. LOL

Anonymous said...

Hi Maryann, I've popped over from Theresa's blog.

I had ponies when I was growing up. I miss the horsey smells.

My neighbour has horses, so when I go over there I always have a good sniff! haha

Nice to meet you :o)

Laura Eno said...

These are definitely head shakers. The truth is more bizarre than fiction.

Maryannwrites said...

Thanks for the visit, Niki. Hope you come back now and then. I enjoyed my visit to your blog.