NewsCraze

Bradying, (pictured below) is a new Internet craze that is a variation on “Tebowing.” People who “Brady” sit with legs stretched out, head down—just like New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s dejected on-field posture after his team lost the Super Bowl. Bradying is a photo fad that involves taking pictures of oneself sitting on the floor with the head lowered and hands clasped between the legs. The pose was inspired by a photograph of NFL player Tom Brady on the football field following his team’s loss against the New York Giants at the Super Bowl XLVI.

Iceland has a population of 300,000 and has apparently run into a problem with cousins accidentally dating/marrying cousins. The risk of accidentally romancing a relative is high. For this reason it has established a searchable database of family trees designed to help young men and women avoid committing incest. Icelander Elin Edda says a friend began sleeping with a guy, “and then found out they had the same great-grandparents. It really freaked her out.’’ To permit quick decision-making, the database—which contains the genealogical background of every Icelander—can be searched via smartphones.

Sagamihara, Japan: Fumie Takahashi’s bird flew away from home when his owner accidently left the cage door open, but the 2-year-old parakeet was was returned to its owner last week. Fumie had taught the bird to recite the city, district, block, and street number of its owner’s address. Piko surprised police when it gave its home address to police. Piko had also been taught her phone number, said the owner, but had not given that up to police.

After Jim Cotter last his wife last year, he set out to paint in his town to help keep him from missing her. He started with a fire hydrant, and then just kept going. Glouster, Ohio, with a population of only 2000, is looking pretty good these days, thanks to Jim. The place was once a thriving coal community but began looking a little rundown. Cotter says he’s always wished someone would fix it up, and so after his wife died, he decided to be that someone.

“I miss her,” he said. “And this just gives me something that keeps  me from missing her more.”

Cotter painted house after house, business after business – all for free.

Read more and watch the video here.

Thirteen-year-old Rachel Ehmke’s parents thought she was dealing with the bullying at school right up until they found she had committed suicide. She suffered a “bullying campaign” from girls at school that went on for months. They called her a “slut” and defaced her books. She had never even kissed a boy, and now she never will.

You do not have to stay in a school where you are being bullied. There are other options. Try an online school or if you have several schools in your area check into a transfer. Don’t take no as an answer, either. Tell them if you can’t get that transfer, you will begin homeschooling and go to the news. Read more about the many free online schools here.

Rachel reportedly pleaded with her father not to mention the bullying to school officials, for fear of worsening the situation. A note that her parents found after her death read, “I’m fine = I wish I could tell you how I really feel,” alongside a picture of a broken heart. The 13-year-old seventh grader in Mantorville, Minn., died April 29, 2012, after hanging herself at her home. The months leading up to the tragedy were a whirlwind of peer abuse instances, her parents say.

Two days before Rachel’s death, an anonymous text was sent to other students at the school, KARE reports. “It was pretty explicit. Something to the effect of that Rachel was a slut and to get her to leave the Kasson-Mantorville School, forward this to everyone you know,” parent Chris Flannery told the station.

“We thought she was dealing with it and the school thought she was dealing with it,” said her father, Rick Ehmke, who said Rachel and a friend had been eating lunch in a locker room to get away from her bullies.

Read more here.