For a country that commonly experiences famines, North Korea has a surprisingly large range of beers. And if you're a microbrewing enthusiast, it might be the last country you'd think of visiting on a tasting tour. That's exactly what Josh Thomas did, though, from 30 March to 6 April this year.

Thomas, who lives in Hong Kong and works in advertising as a creative technologist, is a self-confessed lover of all things beer. Though an amateur microbrewer himself, he "might be moving over into the professional realm soon with some mates", he told Wired.co.uk. "I've been brewing beer for a number of years, and love to travel the globe trying beers from different cultures."

North Korea has a robust domestic beer brewing culture, despite its isolation from the outside world. Famously, the regime bought a British brewery in 2000 for £1.5m and had the whole thing shipped and rebuilt on the edges of the capital, Pyongyang. That formerly German-owned Ushers equipment now produces Taedonggang beer, one of the most popular domestic brands (and, like every other enterprise in North Korea, it's state-owned).

The people of North Korea love a beer as much as Europeans or North Americans, but the culture around brewing is obviously different in some unique ways. Thomas' itinerary in his trip took him to many of the same museums, parks and national monuments that every tourist to North Korea sees, but it also featured special stops at some North Koren breweries where he could share knowledge with locals and sample the local suds.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/29/north-korea-breweries

Of Interest: If there are two things you should remember, it's not to cross a Hutt, and that Mercury's surface can throw up all kinds of surprises. In this image, a portion of the terrain surrounding the northern margin of the Caloris basin hosts an elevated block in the shape of a certain carbonite-encased smuggler who can make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. This block may be part of the original surface that pre-dates the formation of Caloris, which was shaped by material ejected during the basin-forming event. The act of seeing a meaningful shape in random landforms is a form of pareidolia—and has been seen for Mercury more than a few times before...

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. During the first two years of orbital operations, MESSENGER acquired over 150,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=1258

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) didn't have much to say Thursday in response to House Republicans fuming at him for conceding that the Democratic-controlled Senate doesn't have the votes to repeal Obamacare and leaving the battle -- and all its political perils -- for House conservatives to fight.

In fact, Cruz, a tea party favorite who has championed an Obamacare repeal, went further and said even some Senate Republicans don't support the latest push for defunding President Barack Obama's signature health care law. He also said a full repeal of Obamacare doesn't have a chance until at least after the 2014 elections.

"Right now, [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid has 54 Democrats and they presumably are going to stand with him ... and a number of Senate Republicans have expressed that they may support the Democrats here," Cruz told a couple of reporters, just after his remarks at an event hosted by the National Auto Dealers Association.

"I think it is likely that it will take another election for a full repeal," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/ted-cruz-government-shutdown-2013_n_3953754.html

He has all the riches he could ever dream for in this life. But to avoid any risk of missing out in the afterlife, wealthy entrepreneur 'Count Scarpa' is burying his greatest treasure - his new £310,000 Bentley convertible.

In a bizarre announcement on his Facebook page the 62-year-old declared that he plans to do as the Pharaohs of Egypt did and take his riches with him when he dies by burying them.

So tomorrow, he will entomb his brand new Bentley Continental worth over £310,000 to make sure he has a comfortable journey into the ‘other side’. The funeral ceremony, he promises, will be at 11am.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2425452/Brazilian-businessman-inspired-Pharaohs-buries-310-000-Bentley-use-afterlife.html#ixzz2fNYfW9Z2
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Wayne Stilwell, 25, was caught on security cameras attaching the bacon to the handles of the main door at Edinburgh's Central Mosque.

He then threw the bacon inside the building, knowing Muslims regard pork as unclean.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier he pled guilty to causing a breach of the peace. His lawyer said Stilwell was sorry for his crime.

Sheriff Gordon Liddle said his actions had been "grossly offensive" and jailed him for 10 months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24130079

Plans for the opening of the Jackie Chan World Park were confirmed by the Hollywood star on his official account of the Chinese micro-blogging website Weibo.

Based in the Beijing suburb of Yizhuang, a former hunting ground for Chinese royalty, the park complex will feature five major themed areas and different cultural exhibition centres showcasing a variety of personal items collected by Chan over the years, including four antique Chinese wooden buildings.

"I wanted to buy everything when I was young, but now I want to donate whatever I have," he wrote on Weibo.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10317458/Jackie-Chan-theme-park-to-open-in-China.html

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- A North Charleston woman was arrested late Monday night after she got into an argument that led to a stabbing -- and it all started with classic rock.

According to a North Charleston police report, 54-year-old Vernett Bader was charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature after officers showed up at her Brossy Circle home to investigate reports of an assault with a knife.

When officers arrived, Bader was standing outside the house with another man who told police the victim had several cuts on his arms and hands. Bader caused all of the cuts, the report states.

When police talked to the victim, he said he had been listening to The Eagles when Bader told him that she did not want to hear the classic rock band's songs. So the man told her to shut up, the report states.

http://www.abcnews4.com/story/23455808/police-eagles-tunes-lead-to-bread-knife-brawl

"He would get drunk out of the blue — on a Sunday morning after being at church, or really, just anytime," says , the dean of nursing at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. "His wife was so dismayed about it that she even bought a Breathalyzer."

Other medical professionals chalked up the man's problem to "closet drinking." But Cordell and Dr. Justin McCarthy, a gastroenterologist in Lubbock, wanted to figure out what was really going on.

So the team searched the man's belongings for liquor and then isolated him in a hospital room for 24 hours. Throughout the day, he ate carbohydrate-rich foods, and the doctors periodically checked his blood for alcohol. At one point, it rose 0.12 percent.

Eventually, McCarthy and Cordell pinpointed the culprit: an overabundance of brewer's yeast in his gut.

That's right, folks. According to Cordell and McCarthy, the man's intestinal tract was acting like his own internal brewery.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/17/223345977/auto-brewery-syndrome-apparently-you-can-make-beer-in-your-gut

Fake gun, check. Stolen cash, check. Car keys, oops.

Police said a 57-year-old bank robbery suspect who ran through the streets of the Pearl District Monday afternoon, scattering cash and causing the evacuation of the Ecotrust Building, forgot his car keys after allegedly robbing a Wells Fargo branch.

The mistake not only led to the capture by Portland police of Andrew Frank Laviguer, it allowed police to link him to three addition bank robberies and two motel robberies, police said Friday.

Sgt. Pete Simpson, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said forgetting his car keys meant Laviguer had to try and make his getaway on foot after robbing the bank at 845 NW 11th Avenue, just around corner from the Ecotrust Building.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/09/two_state_bank_robbery_spree_e.html#incart_river

It's the little things that get you... arrested.

Sergio Seanez, 18, and a 17-year-old accomplice broke into a mobile home in Chaparral, N.M. last month, pilfering "multiple DVD's relating to Midget Pornography," according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Smoking Gun and published Tuesday.

Though the complaint used the word "midget," this term is typically considered offensive, with dwarves preferring to be called "little people."

The two also allegedly stole electronics, kitchen appliances and a mirror before setting the home on fire.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/sergio-seanez-midget-porn-heist-_n_3943585.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news