Stupidly Believing the Unbelievably Stupid

I've recently come across a couple of real-life stories that make me wonder what kind of world we actually live in...

I logged onto Yahoo this morning and this is what I see: Arrested for Virtual Murder: A woman whose "husband" divorced her in an online game is jailed for killing his avatar.

WHAT?!?! With all of the craziness that is going on in the world right now, THIS is the lead story?? Here is the story: A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.

The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

Players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.

Story number two (this actually happened at MY job): The computer at the front desk crashed the other day. A call was made to get a new one and get this, they (don't know who "they" are) said that someone from maintenance has to come and declare our computer dead. We will then need to be issued a death certificate before a new computer can replace it. Seriously?! We want our three days off.

A headline that caught my eye literally made me say "WHAT?!" out loud... you'll enjoy this one, Dad: "The Stink in Farts Controls Blood Pressure" Sorry that I don't have details on this one... I decided not to read the whole story. Yes, THIS is what I see when I go to news.yahoo.com.

This one really got me: Taiwan student dies during fast food binge

A man died just as he was about to win a university binge eating contest in Taiwan, scoffing down two buns filled with rice and cheese as well as some of his teammate's food, the college said on Friday.

The 23-year-old, described as tall and strong, vomited relentlessly, passed out and died on Thursday during the "Big Stomach King" contest at Dayeh University in central Taiwan. He had pulled ahead of 30 other teams.

"I can't say why he died," said Huang Te-hsiang, the university's dean of student affairs. "He had been in the contest before. He was a strong guy."

The graduate student, surnamed Chen, may have eaten too fast rather than too much, a campus publicist said. Chen was on course to win the five-year-old annual competition, she said. He would have won T$2,000 ($60).

Taiwan's education ministry has halted campus-based eating contests while an investigation is launched.

$60?!?! That's it?? For goodness sake... TGIF!