The 100 Weirdest News Stories we Dugg in 2008: 7 - 5

7. Demon Washes Ashore on New York Beach (4820 Diggs)
The loveable hairless animal (?) carcass captured our hearts over the summer when it washed up on a beach in Montauk on Long Island. Gawker, who broke the story, described the unidentifiable hell-beast as "rodent-like creature with a dinosaur beak."Following the picture's publication, the story was picked up by every major television news outlet and a host of veterinary experts were hauled in to classify "Monty." Was it a dead bulldog? De-shelled sea turtle? Ultimately, celebrity vet Jeff Corwin claimed to lay the case to rest with his convincing side-by-side comparison of the Montauk Monster with a slightly decomposed raccoon. We prefer to believe the much more exciting theory that Monty was the unholy result of animal experimentation conducted at a nearby goverment testing facility. Too bad he was too small and dead to destroy the Hamptons.

6. Goth Who Walks His Girlfriend on a Leash Is Told No Dogs Allowed (5177 Diggs)
An angry bus driver refused to let Dani Graves lead his girlfriend, 19-year-old Tasha Maltby onto his bus, explaining, "We don't let freaks and dogs like you on." The couple complained to the bus company saying that they were the victims of a hate crime. "I am a pet, I generally act animal like and I lead a really easy life," she said. "I don't cook or clean and I don't go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It's my culture and my choice. It isn't hurting anyone."

GhostBoy defended, the couple saying, "My girlfriend is a submissive and she is really into this kind of thing. It doesn't hurt anyone, and she likes it, so who gives a damn."

Other Digg users were much less sympathetic, Nitesmoke commented (and received +50 thumbs up for), "People dress and act like this just for the attention. They do it for the shock value. I don't understand why they get so upset when people have a negative reaction to it. I don't agree with the bus driver not letting them on, but what did they expect? People tend to treat others like they dress. It may not be right, but its the way it is. If I show up to a MLK day celebration wearing a confederate flag t-shirt, I can't be upset when people get mad at me, I did it to cause the controversy. They did this to cause controversy, plain and simple. I think they were looking for trouble just to cry foul. Why is it goths feel the need to be different, so they all dress alike? Its funny they are screaming "discrimination," I wonder how women's rights groups fell about her being led around like a dog in public. But she does look like a bitch, so its probably not so inappropriate after all...."



5. Man Hires Hitman to Kill Wife. Wife Kills Hitman (5318 Diggs)
Greatest story of the year? Possibly. Story with the most delicious irony? Definitely. Susan Kuhnhausen returns home from work to find a man waiting with a claw hammer to killer. I repeat, a claw hammer. Not only does she survive, she ends up strangling him to death with her bare hands.

Further investigation revealed that the man was actually a hitman hired by Kuhnhausen's estranged husband. Perhaps he will be next?

Of course, exuberant congratulations came from all over the web, so much that Kuhnhausen could not respond to all of them. On her voicemail, she left this message, "I'm not able to answer all the calls that I've received in the past few days. I'm being comforted by your concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives are all at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love will come your way than random acts of violence."

We think Digger modirebikar summed it up best, "There is a proverb in Persian that says: sometimes you ride a camel, but sometimes camel ride you!"

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