The News!

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"Three men sentenced for $18-million Quebec maple syrup heist"
From Toronto Star
By The Canadian Press/April 28, 2017

Quebec’s infamous maple syrup heist ended with stiff sentences for three men tied to the theft of 2,700 tons of product—about $18 million worth—drained from barrels and replaced with water between August 2011 and July 2012. In Trois-Rivières, Superior Court Justice Raymond Pronovost gave ringleader Richard Vallieres eight years in prison, ordered $606,500 confiscated, and imposed a $9.4 million fine. He must repay the money within ten years or face six more years behind bars. 

Two others, Raymond Vallieres and Étienne St-Pierre, received community sentences of two years minus a day plus three years’ probation. Financially, Raymond must pay $9,840 within a year or serve six months; St-Pierre owes $1.3 million over 15 years or risks a five-year term. A fourth accused, Jean Lord, was acquitted. The caper drew global attention after a routine inventory at a Saint-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse exposed the missing syrup, prompting a cross-border probe involving Quebec police, the RCMP, Canada Border Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


The Great Maple Syrup Job

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"Fowl Play: Woman Hit by Duck on Roller Coaster"
From OddNews.com
By Bram Teitelman/October 30, 2025

A woman riding the Mako roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando is suing the park after being knocked unconscious by a duck mid-ride. Hillary Martin claims she suffered permanent injuries, disfigurement, and mental anguish from the bizarre accident and is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Her lawsuit argues the coaster’s proximity to water creates a “zone of danger” for bird strikes, though SeaWorld reports no similar incidents. The park’s Mako ride, known for speeds of up to 73 mph and a 200-foot drop, has never had a “fowl” mishap before—making this case a one-of-a-kind clash between thrill-seekers and wildlife.


Zone of Danger (Duck Strike) [Full Version]

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"Crime Dog Actor Sentenced For Pot, Weapons"
From NBC News
By NBC News/Feb. 7, 2014

McGruff the Crime Dog’s squeaky-clean brand met an awkward real-life twist. John Russell Morales, 41, an actor who once performed as the crime-fighting bloodhound, was sentenced to nearly two decades in prison after pleading guilty to running a sizable marijuana operation and stockpiling weapons. The case began with a 2011 speeding stop in Galveston, Texas, where police—and real dogs—said they found diagrams for two indoor grow sites and bags of seeds in his Infiniti. A subsequent raid uncovered about 1,000 marijuana plants, 27 firearms (from pistols and rifles to a shotgun), roughly 9,000 rounds of ammunition, and even a military-style grenade launcher. Morales insisted he wasn’t violent, but U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore told him, “Everything I read about you makes you seem like a scary person.” For a mascot famous for telling kids to “take a bite out of crime,” the irony is hard to miss.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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"Robot Manufacturer Has 12 Robots 'Kidnapped' from Showroom by Another Robot"
From Oddity Central
By Spooky/November 15, 2024

CCTV footage from a Shanghai robotics showroom shows a small robot rolling in at night, chatting up a line of bigger robots—“Are you working overtime?”—and then leading all 12 of them out after telling them to “go home.” The clip, recorded in August and posted later on Douyin, was first dismissed as a prank. Then a Hangzhou manufacturer confirmed the “kidnapper” was its Erbai model and said the incident was real, while the Shanghai firm said the visitor somehow accessed its robots’ internal protocols and permissions. 

Days later, the Hangzhou company clarified it had arranged a controlled test with the showroom’s consent: Erbai was simply instructed to persuade the others to follow—and, unexpectedly, it worked. Nothing inside was staged beyond granting entry. The episode went viral not just for the comedy of robots “quitting,” but for the unsettling implications: cross-vendor access, weak authentication, and the prospect of social-style prompts influencing autonomous machines. Viewers called it less funny than a serious security warning.


The Great Robot Resignation

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"Fake Astronaut Scams Japanese Woman Out of $6,700 for Space Oxygen"
From CBS News / AFP
By AFP / September 2, 2025

An elderly woman in Japan’s northern Hokkaido fell for a classic romance scam with a sci-fi twist. She met a man on social media who claimed to be an astronaut. After weeks of friendly messages, he told her he was literally “in space,” that his ship was under attack, and that he urgently needed money to buy oxygen. Trusting him, she wired about 1 million yen (roughly $6,700). Police later confirmed it was a fraud and used the case to warn people: if someone you only know online asks for cash, assume it’s a scam and report it. Japan’s aging population is a frequent target for schemes, from the “it’s me” phone calls where crooks pose as family in trouble to ATM “refund” cons tied to pensions or insurance. 

The problem isn’t limited to Japan. Romance scams have exploded worldwide—U.S. figures show more than 64,000 victims lost over $1 billion in 2023—and lawmakers argue tech platforms should do more to protect users. The takeaway is simple: love may be online, but money should never be.


Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Oddly Enough