In an attempt to keep pace with the public’s love of weird news, CBC has been increasing the number and quality of its bizarre stories recently. Part of it is the annual attempt to divert people from summer, but I suspect that a part of it is a recognition of the need for a good laugh at humanity from time time to. (To see the consolidated oddities on CBC, go to the World section and scroll down. On the right is a column of “Oddities from CP”. Or you could just go to Fark, but there’s a good bit more stuff that’s not work-friendly there.)

Today’s gem? Assaulting someone with a dead toy dog will net you jail time and a fine. The other doozie was the idiot who blew up a dummy traffic camera. There have been some fabulous ones in recent weeks, like the woman who remained motionless in a Swiss bank vault and escaped detection for four hours, the convict who paints with M&Ms, and the woman who was tipped $10 000 by a kind patron. Of course you do get your regular dose of people seeing the Virgin in various types of comestibles, but you probably can’t escape that.

A little less weird is the story of Stephen Hawking’s assistant posting. Apparently he’s looking for an assistant. From what I’ve heard of his personality, thick-skinned should also be on the job requirements list….