In Other News

[BeBMan]

For all fans of Rick Astley here

https://news.sky.com/story/pop-hit-makers-stock-aitken-and-waterman-get-blue-plaque-13294478

[My Wife Hates CIV]

In other news. Mwhc got a new windshield for the camaro. Plow other side of road.... must have thrown a rock. Shattered the glass! No worries... I am ok.

[BeBMan]

A fare-dodging passenger on a German high-speed train ended up clinging to the outside when it pulled out of the station before he was ready to get on, police say.

The 40-year-old man had boarded the ICE train in Munich without a valid ticket and wanted to take a smoking break at the station in Ingolstadt.

But he lingered too long over his cigarette and the train doors closed, leaving him with the prospect of being stranded.

He then jumped on to a bracket between two carriages and held on to cables while the train powered on towards Nuremberg at up to 282 km/h (175mph), until federal police brought it to a halt about 30km away.

Witnesses alerted officials and they contacted the train driver, who made an unscheduled stop at Kinding in Upper Bavaria. The intercity express was on a six-hour journey to the northern city of Lübeck.

The man, a Hungarian national, told police he had left his luggage on the train during his cigarette break and did not want to be parted from it.

He was "amazingly" unharmed after his daredevil ride, said a police spokesman.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgpp9p5z00o

IronMan

[Uncle Sparky]

Liar, liar.

[SlowwHand]

[Broken_Erika]

Watch: Australia arson suspect mistakenly sets own trousers alight

Australian police have released footage of two suspected arsonists who allegedly tried to set a fast-food outlet on fire in Melbourne.
The security videos show one of the suspects accidentally setting their own trousers alight before stripping off clothes and fleeing the scene.

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cm21n77rdz1o

[-Jrabbit]

The searchers were idiots. According to the Skamania County Sheriff's Office news release, "Both deaths appear to be due to exposure, based on weather conditions and ill-preparedness."

[BeBMan]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ykyew50go

I always thought Bigfoot is just some version of the Yeti

[BeBMan]

Would be nice if there's a cool backstory to this revealed at some pt. I hope it's not just some sort of marketing effort. However, kudos for making people smile

[N35t0r]

That's amazing

[-Jrabbit]

Where do you find such nice, big googly eyes?!

[BeBMan]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/13/oregon-googly-eyes-art

[Dinner]

So much for father Christmas and the winter maiden.

[BeBMan]

[EPW]

This is the best I could do on such short notice

https://www.newsweek.com/santa-claus-branded-foreign-agent-russia-1998367

Santa Claus Branded 'Foreign Agent' in Russia

Published Dec 10, 2024 at 6:45 AM EST


Santa Claus Activity Around The World

By Maya Mehrara News Reporter

Ahead of Christmas, a pro-Kremlin activist has pushed for Santa Claus to be branded as a "foreign agent" in Russia, according to the Russian outlet Meduza.
Vitaly Borodin, the leader of the Federal Project on Security and Combating Corruption, sent a letter to Russia's Prosecutor General imploring the iconic Christmas figure be designated a "foreign agent" due to his "popularity in 'unfriendly' countries," which use his image to "undermine traditional Christmas values," Meduza said, citing the letter.
Borodin is known for filing police reports against purported enemies of the state, including journalists, singers, songwriters, and even a chocolate manufacturer.


Father Frost and the Snow Maiden welcome Russians to the Christmas train in Russia. Vitaly Borodin has called for Santa Claus to be designated as a "foreign agent" ahead of Christmas. Vitaliy Ankov/Associated Press Newsweek reached out to the Russian government for comment via email.
Borodin's concern is not that Santa Claus will overshadow Jesus, but Father Frost, a Russian New Year figure. He is also "outraged by the fact that the American is replacing the image of our traditional Santa Claus, since his recognition is close to 100 percent," according to the Russian outlet Life.
Borodin is not the only one calling for the end of Santa Claus' influence in Russia, as the deputy of the Bryansk regional parliament, Mikhail Ivanov, called for Santa Claus items to be removed from store shelves and replaced with Ded Moroz, also known as Father Frost, and Snegurochka, the daughter of Ded Moroz also known as the Snow Maiden, which are Russian festive cultural figures.
Regarding Santa Claus' growth in terms of popularity, in an interview with the Russian outlet Life, Ivanov said: "Santa Claus has become not so much a symbol of Christmas as a symbol of commerce and mass production. His omnipresence in shop windows is not an accident, but the result of a targeted marketing strategy, from which the true spirit of the holiday is leaving and our values are being destroyed."
He continued: "We need to support domestic manufacturers who create truly high-quality and beautiful holiday attributes that can give a real fairy tale. Let's cleanse the space of foreign symbols together to celebrate the holidays with a real Russian soul. It's time to bring Father Frost back to our homes and hearts! This is the only way we can preserve and pass on to our children the true values and traditions that make our people unique and strong."
Russia has made other efforts to revive the popularity of Russian Christmas figures during the holiday season. In 2022, the Ded Moroz train, known as the Poezd Deda Moroza, which traveled thousands of miles so that children could meet the famed figure, had to be rerouted due to the war with Ukraine.
According to Christmas Tree World's Spirit Index, the countries that believe in Santa Claus the most include Ireland, Australia, the U.K., the U.S., and New Zealand, going by the number of Google searches gpt "Is Santa real?"