Oddity Central

The Asparamancer – Woman Claims to Predict the Future Using Asparagus
The Krispy Kreme Black Market of Juarez
Indian Engineer Spends the Last Five Years Collecting over 50 Kilograms of Nails from City Road

The Asparamancer – Woman Claims to Predict the Future Using Asparagus

Posted: 12 Jan 2017 09:07 AM PST

Jemima Packington, from Bath, UK, claims to be the world’s only ‘asparamancer’, a term coined by one of her friends to reflect her unique talent of telling the future using asparagus.

The asparamancer says she started practicing asparagus fortunetelling when she was just eight years old, after seeing her grandmother practice with tea leaves. She tried using other plants, including broccoli, but none worked as well as asparagus, which she describes as the most accurate. Jemima is aware that most people see her fortunetelling technique as silly, or plain stupid, but she claims that her rate of success has been quite impressive over the years.

“I was the first person to predict that Gordon Brown – former British Prime Minister – would leave high level politics some twelve months before anyone else!,” 61-year-old told The Telegraph last year. “Last year my predictions were 99 per cent accurate, with four coming true within the first week of the New Year.” That does sound impressive, but as some people have already pointed out, her predictions are generally, well, very general.

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The Krispy Kreme Black Market of Juarez

Posted: 12 Jan 2017 06:33 AM PST

Up until a few years ago, the Mexican border city of Juarez was considered one of the most dangerous in the world due to the violent drug trafficking cartels operating in the area. Today, Juarez is a much safer place, but there’s still some trafficking going on, involving something just as addictive as illegal drugs – Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Let’s face it, the whole of the United States is obsessed with glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and things are apparently not much different south of the border. The American company first started operating in Mexico in 2004, setting up shop in virtually every major city, Juarez included. People absolutely loved them, so when Krispy Kreme decided to shut down its operations in Juarez due to the violent drug war that was taking place in the city, they had to come up with alternative ways of getting their hands on their favorite sweet treats. When boarding a plane out of Mexico City, it’s not uncommon to see people holding boxes of Krispy Kreme boxes for family and friends in places that don’t have their own shops. But what if you don’t have anyone to bring you such gifts, or if you need a constant supply of delicious glazed doughnuts? You turn to the local doughnut black market, of course.

Yes, there is such a thing as a Krispy Kreme black market in Juarez, and it’s apparently booming. Local entrepreneurs with U.S. visas drive to El Paso, Texas and buy dozens of boxes of doughnuts, which they later sell to doughnut junkies back home at a slightly higher price. Whereas most Krispy Kreme fans saw the closing of the local shop as a tragedy, these people saw it as an opportunity to fill a void, and supplement their income while making many people happy.

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Posted: 12 Jan 2017 02:23 AM PST

Benedict Jebakumar is a man on a mission. Ever since 2012 he has dedicated his free time to sweeping Bangalore’s Outer Ring Road of metal nails deliberately put there by nearby tire puncture shops to boost their profits. In the last five years, the Indian engineer claims to have collected over 50 kilograms of metal nails from the road.

It all started when Benedict Jebakumar realized that he would often have to deal with a punctured car tire when taking the Outer Ring Road from his home in Banashankari to his office, or vice-versa. He didn’t think much of it at first, but then he noticed the many tire repair shops lining the roads, most of which were often busy fixing the tires of seemingly unlucky motorists. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that whenever he got a flat tire it would always be because of metal nails conveniently located close to one of these puncture repair shops. He went to the local authorities to report his findings and ask them to take action, but they didn’t seem to eager to help. That’s when he decided it was up to him to keep the roads clean for himself and other drivers.

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