Quick Links: Dec. 3, 2007

Pie in Santa's Face
"A 22-year-old University of Montana student was charged with assault Friday for shoving a pumpkin pie into Santa Claus’ face at a shopping mall while a teen sat on his lap."

Save the Park
Four students in the UK created a hoax website as a social experiment to test the influence of the media. Their website, savethepark.co.uk, claimed there were plans to build a 220,000 tonne waste incineration plant in a South London park. Within a few weeks their site had received thousands of hits, and they had been contacted by a newspaper. They claim that their experiment, "showed how rumours can spread and how easy it is to get information out there that isn't true." But also that, "we are still a community and we can still stand together."

Venezuelan Toilet Paper Shortage
"Venezuelans have been buying large amounts of toilet paper on rumours it could be the next hard-to-find thing amid shortages of products like milk and meat."

Death by Cell Phone Report Disputed
It turns out that the death of a South Korean man was not due to an exploding cell phone, as many media outlets recently reported. Instead, police are attributing the death to a co-worker who backed into him with a drilling vehicle, and then tried to frame the cell phone. (Thanks, Joe)

Death Pranks Technology Urban Legends Websites

Posted on Mon Dec 03, 2007



Comments

Who was it, years ago, started the toilet paper shortage in the USA by making a joke about it? I kind of remember the incident but I can't remember who made the joke that started the run on toilet paper (and yes the joke is intgentional).
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Mon Dec 03, 2007  at  08:38 PM
The run on American toilet paper was started in 1977 by a plumber's assistant named Brownie Pusher, who claimed he could bring any dark project to fruition and become famous in the process. After some intiail success, his efforts failed and he went forgotten down the drain of history. True story
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Dec 03, 2007  at  11:34 PM
initial. Yes, I can spell, I'm just old. Shut up
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Dec 03, 2007  at  11:36 PM
Brownie Pusher is a very appropriate name for a plumber.
Posted by RHM  on  Wed Dec 05, 2007  at  05:33 PM
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