Dealing Drugs in the Police Station Bathroom

A 24-year-old man in Everett, Washington was overheard making a drug deal on his cell phone in the men’s room. Of the Everett Police Department. Two officers heard the phone call and confronted him outside. The unnamed man said he thought he was in a probation officer’s office. He surrendered some Oxycodone to the police and was arrested on drug charges.

Goat Arrested for Armed Robbery

A vigilante group in Ilorin, Nigeria apprehended a group of would-be car thieves, including a goat! Local police paraded the animal in public as a robbery suspect. The story is that one of the men seen attempting to carjack a Mazda turned himself into a goat in an attempt to elude capture, according to police spokesman Tunde Mohammed. It is not known whether the goat has retained legal counsel.

14-year-old Patrols Chicago

(more…)

As is the case with many of you, the Super Bowl is on my mind. There are more important things to be concerned with at this moment in history, certainly. But those things don’t have bouncy cheerleaders and 3D commercials.

Anyway, it crossed my mind that the names of the two cities whose teams are involved in the game – Pittsburgh and Phoenix – both begin with the letter “P.” (And yes, I know that the Cardinals technically play their home games in Glendale, but it’s classified as a suburb of Phoenix.) So my question to you:

“A most decided humbug.” George Hull raked in the money exhibiting the Cardiff Giant. His followup, the Ape-Man from Colorado, didn’t go over quite as well.
*
Think you can write a blog post for Neatorama? Anyone can, with the new Upcoming Queue feature, and if it’s neat enough, it will be published!
*
Pittsburgh vs. Arizona Super Bowl Food-Off. Which location has the best game day snack foods in their restaurants? Vote for your favorites!
*
Make your own Valentine message hearts. These are bigger, taste better, and say cooler things than the little candy hearts you know.
*
20 Baffling Foreign Movie Posters. Artists know they don’t have to actually see a movie to create a poster that has nothing to do with the film advertised.
*
The Top Ten Dirtiest Hotels. Reading the details made my skin crawl. And itch.
*
I suffered three days without internet access, but I was lucky, since over a million homes are still without any power at all after Tuesday’s ice storm. Kentucky and Arkansas have the dubious honor of being president Obama’s first declared disaster areas.
*
A Surprisingly Long List of People Who’ve Attempted Suicide. There is always hope, as these many celebrities proved after they tried to end it all.

Exactly 109 years ago today, the American artist Alice Neel (1900-1984) was born. Neel was everything an artist should be—controversial, bohemian, and interesting. Although she’s famous—or infamous—for her nude portraits, including “Kitty Pearson” (1973), shown on the right, she also painted portraits of her neighborhoods, such as “Dominican Boys on 108th Street” (1955), shown on the left.

1. Alice Neel had four children, two girls and two boys, with three different men. Her first, daughter Santillana, died from diphtheria just before turning one. Isabetta, her second daughter, was taken to Cuba by her father when she was about two years old; Neel only saw her daughter during a few rare visits. In between her daughters and her sons, Neel suffered a miscarriage. Neel raised her youngest two children, Richard and Hartley, on her own.

2. Men were a constant in Neel’s life, but they often caused additional pain for the artist. After her husband, Carlos Enríquez, went to his home country of Cuba with their daughter Isabetta on a supposedly temporary trip, Neel never saw him again (though they never actually divorced). Jose Santiago, the father of Neel’s son Richard, had left his wife and child for Neel, but then left Neel for a saleswoman from Lord & Taylor. Kenneth Doolittle, another lover, attacked Neel’s artwork in a fit of rage in 1934, burning more than 300 of her drawings and watercolors and slashing more than 50 paintings.

(more…)

It’s easy to find a place online where you can place a bet on the Steelers, who are favored by 7 points in Sunday’s big game. The final outcome is only one of the things you can bet on, though. Almost every other event that takes place during the game will have some effect on the outcome of one of the many ridiculous Super Bowl prop bets; any time the ball moves or the whistle blows, someone probably wins or loses money. Let’s take a look at some of the wagers you can make if you’re desperate for action this Sunday, as well as a few non-football bets.

1. The Coin Flip

Betting on the Super Bowl is great and all, but you have to wait several hours for the game to finish. Sometimes you need action a bit faster than that. To help quench the public’s insatiable thirst for gambling, many sportsbook sites take wagers on the game’s opening coin flip. For a mere $105 bet, you can win $100 if you pick the right side of the coin. And as a possible side effect, your high school stats teacher’s head will probably explode the moment you make the bet!

2. The Team to Get the First Penalty

That little yellow flag could mean big green for you if you bet on which team is penalized first. It’s tough to pick a winner here since the two teams were actually pretty close in number of penalties this season. The Cardinals were 8th in the NFL with 98 penalties, while the Steelers came in 12th with 91. In the playoffs the Cards have had 19 while the Steelers have had 14, but it’s such a small sample size that you probably don’t want to bet your house on either squad. If this wager isn’t specific enough for you, though, you can make bets on which team has the first pass interference or holding called against it.

3. Team to Use a Challenge First

Whether or not you support the use of instant replay, you can make a bit of cash the first time the red flag flies out. This wager would be far more exciting if the Eagles had actually made the Super Bowl, as some industrious sportsbook would offer a line on “Coach to Make the First Successful Challenge,” and offer 5,000-to-1 odds on Andy Reid.

4. Receiving Yards

(more…)

At various points during our month of book giveaways, I’ve asked you to channel your inner architect, misleading medical consultant and quizmaster. Tonight, you’ve been hired to teach a class at mental_floss_university. The big question—what would you teach? (Don’t say “Math” or “History.” We want you to be painfully specific, and include why you’re qualified in this subject.)

You’re playing for a copy of Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them, which seems like a book mental_floss_university freshmen would all have to read. We’ll compile a mini-course catalogue and pick a winner on Monday. (You’ve still got time to send in your celebrity photos.)

There’s no such thing as mental_floss_university (yet), but our Tuition Giveaway is absolutely real. We’re giving away five $10,000 scholarships. All you have to do is tell us, in 750 words or less, why you should win. But you have to tell us by January 31st. We look forward to reading your entries!

Two weeks ago, we asked you to come up with new slogans for your towns. Over 350 entries and a dozen “what’s the delay?” emails later, we’re excited to announce three winners. But before that, let’s give a big round of applause to reader Jami Drost of Cleveland, who volunteered to mock up fake Welcome signs. (You can find out more about Jami and see some of her non-signage work at coroflot.com/jdrost.) To the winners…

1. Barnegat Light, New Jersey (from Josh)

2. Tombstone, Arizona (from Dan)
(more…)

You’re probably familiar with the Forbes magazine lists: richest people in the world, most expensive zip codes to live in, best companies to work for. But let it be known that Forbes has a sense of humor, too: last month they announced the Forbes Fictional 15, a list of the 15 richest fictional people of the year. Below is a short summary of their fabulously funny list, but I highly recommend checking out the real thing so you get all of the quips and inside jokes.

1. Uncle Sam. Why? ‘Cause he can print his own money, of course. Net Worth: Infinite.
2. Scrooge McDuck. Thanks to his famous frugality, he’s apparently worth $29.1 billion.
3. Richie Rich. Although he’s #3 on the list, he would have been higher had it not been for “ill-timed investments in Web 2.0 start-ups.” Net Worth: $12.3 billion.
4. Gordon Gekko. I’m surprised he’s not higher on the list, since “restructuring poorly-managed companies” is the name of his game. Maybe he’ll hit the top three next year, but his $8.5 billion is nothing to sneeze at.
5. Jabba the Hut. If I were him, I’d probably use some of his $8.4 billion on lipo.
6. Ebenezer Scrooge. “Lifelong bachelor maintains keen interest in paranormal; claims to pick stocks by consulting with ‘Ghost of Christmas Future.’” Gotta love it. Net Worth: $8 billion
7. Tony Stark. I’m kind of surprised that he’s only worth $7.9 billion, but apparently the announcement that he was Iron Man made Stark Industries stock plummet.
8. Thurston Howell III. He has offshore assets. Hee. Net Worth: $6.5 billion.
9. Bruce Wayne. “FBI reportedly investigating violations of the Mann Act related to Wayne’s longtime habit of keeping teenage boys as “wards.” Again: hee. Net Worth: $5.8 billion.
10. Adrian “Ozymandias” Veidt. Who knew? He’s the guy behind the ShamWow and the Snuggie! Net Worth: $5.4 billion.
11. Jed Clampett. Lost $1 billion in a Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Net Worth: $3.6 billion.
12. Artemis Fowl II. His wealth is thanks to Irish crime family ties. Net Worth: $1.6 billion.
13. C. Montgomery Burns, who would surely be disappointed to know that he didn’t even break the top 10. Net Worth: a mere $996 million.
14. Lara Croft. “Spent much of last year buying up Viking rune stones; locals stunned by cultural insensitivity, inappropriate winter attire.” I told you Forbes was funny! Net Worth: $900 million.
15. Mr. Monopoly. This one is the best. Rich Uncle Pennybags went totally bankrupt in the 2007 subprime crash, but thanks to Chance and some federal bailout funds from the Community Chest, he made an astounding comeback and started buying “distressed” properties. Net Worth: $800 million.

Love it. But do you think the list is lacking someone? Share your missed moneybags in the comments. (How much is Mr. Pewterschmidt worth, do you think?)

In part one of Angels of Death, you saw the stories of eight medical professionals who killed their patients. That’s just scratching the surface of the many cases of medical murders. Here are seven more.

Nightmare Nurse

Jane Toppan admitted to first eleven murders, then later to 31. Despite recklessness with drugs, unusually high patient deaths, and charges of theft, she managed to find employment over and over again in Massachusetts between the years of 1885 and 1901. In 1901, Toppan moved in with the Davis family after the death of the elderly mother she had cared for. Within a short time, the father and two daughters were dead. She also killed her foster sister before an investigation, which found the victims to be poisoned, led to her arrest. Toppan was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was held in a mental institution for the rest of her life. Toppan was said to have been proud of the killings.

The Angel of Death

Two of the people profiled here are very different from the rest in that they did not hide their actions at the time. One was Joseph Mengele, who had free rein under the SS to conduct experiments on inmates at Auschwitz. The doctor was also largely responsible for selecting prisoners for the gas chambers. Mengele had a special interest in twins. Thousands of twins were subjected to horrific surgical procedures and injections. Only a few survived World War II. Mengele also “experimented” with electric shock, castration, radiation, and removal of limbs and organs without anesthetic on manner of prisoners. Mengele escaped to Argentina after the war under a false identity. The records he kept on his experiments were destroyed by a colleague. Mengele died in 1979 in Brazil. A grave was exhumed in 1985 and DNA tests in 1992 confirmed that it was Mengele’s.

(more…)

This Sunday, many of us will be glued to the television to enjoy the most important pro football game of the year. I’m intrigued by this season’s matchup; I knew that the Cardinals had never been to a Super Bowl, while the Steelers had won more than their share of Vince Lombardi trophies. Upon doing some research on the origins of these two NFL franchises, however, I got so confused that I had to resort to creating icons for team names.

The key might not help, but here’s what I came up with. These aren’t all the NFL teams, mind you, just the ones referred to in the article.

Now, here’s where we put these icons to good use!

(more…)