On 6 Jul 2004 13:28:37 GMT, Carl Nisarel
wrote:


It's a lot easier for things to "just go to hell" for people
like Mark who live paycheck to paycheck.

Sure. And most of us have lived paycheck to paycheck at one time or
another. But few had time during those periods to spend all day on
Usenet lecturing on what's wrong with nearly everybody and everything.
That's beyond goofy and well into weird. How weird? Well, we need a
benchmark of weirdness, so we'll start here
http://www.ucomics.com/newsoftheweird/index.phtml

It's a collection of weird news articles, often featuring such items
as the tale of the vocal poster-girl for a church-sponsored abstinence
program.... who suddenly finds herself embarrassingly pregnant.

Here's a sample -

"In March, Awards World magazine sponsored the inaugural "Awards
Awards" at London's Dorchester Hotel, handing out awards to members of
the British awards-presentation industry for the year's best awards
shows. Spokesperson Barbara Buchanan explained, "Everybody likes to
win an award," even the people who give out awards (who staged
ceremonies for about 1,000 major presentations in Britain last year).
Although Buchanan called this year's program a success, she said it is
disqualified from receiving any awards at next year's Awards Awards.
[BBC News, 3-5-04]"

Now, let's see if the following item might fit in at the site.

"Using the frequently weird medium of Usenet, a California man is
attempting to set a record for the most opinions *and* the most
contradictions... ever. His campaign strategy is simple. For instance,
while personally a wealth-challenged individual, he prefers to lecture
on macroeconomics. He writes that he's knowledgeable about medical
matters, yet cannot see the connection between a Dale Gribble
lifestyle and hospital bills. A self-professed survivalist, he's
fiercely critical of society's loss of self-reliance, while at the
same time three generations of his own family require public
assistance to the tune of a half-million dollars and counting. As if
all this weren't enough to qualify for the record, the fellow seeks to
clinch the title by claiming (from atop an office chair) that he's a
"workaholic" and "well-grounded in reality", all the while obviously
spending a huge portion of his life online, and posting his views
hundreds of times per week."

Yup. That's weirder than the Awards Awards and the pregnant abstinence
spokesgirl put together. :-)


Wayne