You Can Actually Bet On Interest Rates in Australia
Ozzie online oddsmaker Sportsbet.com.au has on its website a wager as to where the Australian central bank will direct the country’s interest rate when it meets next month.
Theoretically, in a normal world, such a wager could also transpire in the United States. Yet, under the political and economic reigns of Barack Obama and Ben Bernanke, any chance of an adjustment by the American central bank to interest rates appears to be moving from unlikely to impossible. In other words, not much of a bet there.
To be fair, if the current odds are anything to go by, no rate adjustment is likely to take place Down Under either. The current odds are 1.03 for rates staying the same, 3.75 for a .25 percent increase, 16 for any decrease, 26 for a rise between .26 and .50 percent, and 151 for any increase over .50.
Top 5 Most Bizarre But True Stories
by Eric Cho
Only in Australia.
Water Buffalo Takes the Plunge!
Earlier this month, a Howard Springs man finished mowing his lawn and noticed a water buffalo casually strolling up the driveway. Karl Stowers was stunned as he watched it jump in his pool and swim. Mr. Stowers yelled at it to no avail and then lured the beast out of the pool with food. It proceeded to run across his freshly mowed lawn and roll around in a mud puddle. The buffalo may be the same one spotted strolling around in the yards of other Howard Springs’ residents.
Love Soars to New Heights!
A few days after Christmas, a North Cairns police officer heard voices from above and spotted two people climbing down a crane access ladder over a construction site. Elisha Walker and Nigel Meighan were each recently released on a good behaviour bond after they plead guilty to the stunt. Mr. Meighan told the magistrate it was just a silly thing he and Walker thought up when they saw the crane, and they had not considered the consequences since they were drunk at the time.
Praying Mantis Becomes a Video Star!
A Brisbane couple, Maria and Rod Thompson, has captured amazing video of a praying mantis chasing a computer mouse cursor around the screen. Mrs. Thompson said the mantis was seen in the home before, and one night it poked its head over the computer as her husband was checking email. When the mouse was bumped, the praying mantis surprised them by leaping at the cursor. This began a twenty-minute game, and the couple filmed the unusual spectacle that can now be seen on YouTube.
Truck Driver Gets Stuck on the Phone!
43-year-old Darwin truck driver, Gye Gardner, broke his mobile phone’s headset and repaired it with superglue. His boss called before it dried, and it stuck to his ear. He said he usually kept the headset in his ear most of the day, and friends even jokingly suggested that he leave it stuck and plug his ear into the power point at night to charge the headset. Gardner scraped the earpiece from his ear but several pieces of skin were left stuck to the headset. He said removing it was painful, but it did not hurt as much as his pride!
Man is all Thumbs!
Semi-retired gun salesperson and firearms inspector, Geoff McLaren, now has his thumb replaced by his left big toe after his thumb was blown off in a recent workplace accident. Surgeons at Sydney Hospital performed the delicate microsurgery. McClaren says he loves to wear sandals, so a missing toe may cramp his style just a bit!
There are always strange stories to be told and you can find these bits of wonderfully strange news on BigPond News!
Phenominal Handclap Band to Perform in Europe with Franz Ferdinand
Phenomenal Handclap Band “15 to 20″ Official Video
The Phenomenal Handclap Band | MySpace Video
The Phenomenal Handclap Band is off to Europe, starting in London on Friday, to tour and perform with Franz Ferdinand. The band will also make its way Down Under for the new year.
Here are the dates:
Nov 20 The Rest Is Noise London, Brixton, UK
Nov 21 Paradiso Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS
Nov 22 MOD Hasselt, BELGIUM
Nov 23 Trix Antwerp, BELGIUM
Nov 25 Karlstorbahnhof Heidelberg, GERMANY
Nov 26 Prinzenbar Hamburg, GERMANY
Nov 27 Haus Am K
Referee Hands Out 3 Yellow Cards In Game
And now something for the followers of futbol today. As you are no
doubt aware, we are a little more than mid-way through the World Cup.
Last week the otherwise highly rated referee Graham Poll made an error you
would rarely see in an amateur weekend match, let alone the greatest
soccer tournament in the world.
During the Australia-Croatia match, Poll handed Croatian player Josip Simunic
three yellow cards in a game. The maximum number of yellow cards a player is
allowed is two. Two yellow cards in a game equals a red card and a red card
signifies a player’s ejection from the game.
To put this in baseball terms, it would be like an umpire calling a fourth strike
before telling the batter he is out.
What is even more amazing is that nobody on the officiating crew caught the error
that was clearly on display to millions of television viewers.
