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Hotels.com offered voters the opportunity to escape what they call “election stress disorder” by checking into special discounted property after they cast their ballots in November 2020. The site offered a 20 percent discount on properties with the name “rock” in them. One of the options was a man-made…

A real estate website is seeking a job applicant to fly to Dubai and spend a week in a luxury apartment. The site announced that it is offering one person the opportunity to travel to Dubai for a week of sunshine, luxury, and testing a high-end apartment. The applicant would also be a finalist for a…

A website offered a holiday-loving person’s dream job when they announced that they were offering the right person, $1,000 to watch 24 Hallmark Christmas movies and document their experience on social media. The person would have to watch all 24 movies in 12 days. The website suggested the person be…

9-year-old Abbie Graham was visiting Hawaiian Paradise Park with her parents and sister when she found a dirty glass bottle on the beach. Her parents said they thought it was just trash when they first saw it, but when they opened it, they discovered a message inside. The note was written by a Natural…

British authorities said a royal tradition of counting swans along the River Thames was cancelled in 2020 due to coronavirus fears. The so-called Swan Upping usually involves measuring, weighing, and checking swans and is considered a royal affair because Queen Elizabeth II owns all unmarked swans according…

The owners of a London home pulled back on a deal to sell it after they found what they think is a mural painted by Britain’s elusive street artist known as Banksy on an exterior wall. The artwork, called “Achoo,” depicts an elderly woman sneezing, sending her dentures flying out of her mouth. It also…

Rome is known as one of the greenest cities in Europe because over 300,000 trees line the city streets and fill its parks. Many of the 100-year-old trees are weak or dying, leaving the city with ugly stumps. The need spurred 22-year-old Andrea Gandini to act by carving the dead stumps into art. He has…

The North Texas Church of Freethought looks like any other church on the one Sunday each month that it meets. At their gatherings, members enjoy discussions of history, morals, personal and social problems, listen to music and learn about inspiring scientific breakthroughs. “Our services are educational,…

It was mark Twain who famously wrote, “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” after a report circulated that he was seriously ill (when it was someone else) and had in fact died. How surprised would you and your family be if your obituary appeared in a local newspaper—but you were not dead? This…

69-year-old television personality Emile Ratelband is petitioning a court in the Netherlands to grant him a new birthday and make him 20 years younger. Ratelband said he thinks age is just a number, and he would prefer to be 49. Ratelband said he want to avoid age discrimination, especially on dating…

A library in Louisiana said a book that was checked out 84 years ago was returned by the son of the woman who checked it out as an eleven-year-old. A note on the Library’s website said the son found the Spoon River Anthology while cleaning the house. They said the book is in bad shape and is not worth…

Syash Dixit, a computer coder from India, has declared himself king of an 800 square mile section of a previously unclaimed desert in North Africa. When the British drew the boundary between Sudan and Egypt in the late 19th century no nation had ever claimed the land, so it was available to anyone willing…

In a three-part essay on the website Stream.org, Joseph Sciambra tells of his journey into, through, and out of the gay lifestyle. He speaks of the childhood abuse that led him into same sex relationships and the discovery that led him out. The defining sentiment of his journey is this, “I’m Thankful…

The Kraft Heinz Corporation decided to give all of their employees the day off Monday, February 6, 2017. The company has locations in both Chicago and Pittsburgh, and even though neither city had a team in the Super Bowl, it decided to give employees an extra day. The company said nearly 16 million people…

Chinese police are punishing drivers who they catch not switching to low beams only when other cars approach, and give them a compulsory fine of 300 Yuan and then force them to sit down and stare into the full glare of headlight for a minute. Traffic police in one southern Chinese city have even posted…

Discernment During the general election in 2016, Facebook had false news stories trending on their site. Shares and likes of outrageous stories from both sides of the political isle skyrocketed. After the election, Facebook announced they sought to get rid of false stories on their website to keep people…

Dean and Cristy Parave promote fitness, and spouse swapping to Christians on their website. “I don’t think God would be mad at what we are doing,” Cristy said. “At first I was conflicted, but the more we looked at it, the more it makes sense to us.”—Jim L. Wilson http://nypost.com/2014/09/25/these-christian-swingers-like-sharing-bible-verses-sex-partners/…

Over thirty people were injured and treated for burns after walking on hot coals at a Tony Robbins seminar in Dallas, Texas. Robbins markets himself as a self-help coach that wants to help people “Unleash the Power Within.” Robbins says that the fire walk is to help people conquer their fears and turn…

Kynan Eng is president of a computer company that uses computers and brain research to help people live better lives. Eng wanted to use his expertise to respond to online questions about the intersection of neuroscience and human-computer interaction. When we went to Quora, he found himself distracted…

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police report the story of a Good Samaritan who turned in more than $1,500 in cash. The homeless man reported that he found the cash near Langford, British Columbia. This Good Samaritan was in his 60’s and homeless. Even so, instead of pocketing the cash he wanted to get it…

The team that developed hitchBot, a talking, tweeting, hitchhiking robot that tried to cross continents relying on the kindness of strangers says their social experiment has come to an end. When they originally started the project, the team wondered if humans would be able to trust robots. After the…

A Phoenix area man bought a watch for $6 at a Goodwill store and then resold it for $35,000. Zach Norris said he saw the watch and realized it was a rare driving watch and that only 900 of them had ever been made. He sold the watch on a collector’s website and then donated some of the profit back to…

An Internet entrepreneur discovered that revenge can be popular. Mat Carpenter started a website where patrons can order an envelope with a folded up piece of paper filled with glitter and send it to people you don’t like. He said the concept is simple. Decide whose day you want to ruin and then enter…

Listening to Atheist Richard Dawkins convinced him. He had been a Mormon, but as Richard Morgan read Dawkins’ book, The Blind Watchmaker, his faith was shattered. He became convinced that all he had been looking for through his faith was social acceptance. The book made it clear that there really was…

When the family history website MyHeritage decided to compare the most requested Christmas gifts from 1913 and this year, they discovered that a big shift in desires has taken place. The website looked at historical newspaper collections for the old items, and used items reported by leading retailers…