19 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like performance, emiru and crown jewels. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was paying attention.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

6 comments

  1. skybrian
    Link
    Wild bear pays surprise visit to bear enclosure at California zoo: ‘He was very polite’

    Wild bear pays surprise visit to bear enclosure at California zoo: ‘He was very polite’

    In a Facebook post, the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka in the northern part of the state said its staff were conducting a routine inspection of part of the complex when they spotted a wild American black bear leaning on a gate and looking in at three captive black bears in their enclosure.

    “The wild bear did not appear aggressive and was observed interacting with [the captive bears] through their habitat fencing,” the zoo said.

    “At no point did the wild bear enter any animal habitats and, after a brief exploration of the enrichment items around the night house, the bear was safely coaxed back into the woods through a service gate.”

    9 votes
  2. [2]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Spanish town bans black cat adoptions during Halloween BBC News – Yang Tian – 19th October 2025

    Spanish town bans black cat adoptions during Halloween

    The Spanish town of Terrassa in north-eastern Catalonia has temporarily banned the adoption of black cats from animal shelters to prevent potentially sinister "rituals" during Halloween.

    All requests for the fostering or adoption of the felines will be denied from 6 October to 10 November to protect them from being hurt or used as props, said the local animal welfare service.

    BBC News – Yang Tian – 19th October 2025

    8 votes
    1. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      All of the shelters around me will not adopt them out in late October, that’s been the policy for decades. Sometimes people really suck.

      All of the shelters around me will not adopt them out in late October, that’s been the policy for decades.

      Sometimes people really suck.

      7 votes
  3. patience_limited
    Link
    'Just holding a Doritos bag': Student handcuffed after AI system mistook bag of chips for weapon Difficult to say whether artificial or natural stupidity was more at fault here - maybe review the...

    'Just holding a Doritos bag': Student handcuffed after AI system mistook bag of chips for weapon

    Difficult to say whether artificial or natural stupidity was more at fault here - maybe review the video before sending eight police cars with armed officers to a school?

    8 votes