Good news, ladies! If you have a “tramp stamp” tattoo, we men really do think you’re more attractive. We also think you’re a slut, according to a recent study.

The soon-to-be infamous “tramp stamp” study was performed by a team of French researchers from the Université de Bretagne-Sud on the beaches of Brittany during the summers of 2008 and 2009.

It found that men think women with tattoos are more attractive and approachable, and that they are more likely to sleep with them on the first date.

Eleven college-aged women rated the most attractive out of a group of 58 visited the beach 20 times during the summer. These uber-hotties wore temporary “tramp stamp” tattoos half of the time. The other half of the time, their skin was spotless as a newborn baby.

When these women were wearing the tattoos, men were more likely to approach and chat with them. Researchers said that men were also quicker in their approach.

The second part of the experiment was simpler: It involved interviewing a group of over 400 men in their 20s who were on the beaches while the 11 women sunbathed nearby.

They were asked two questions: One, how confident they were that one of the girls would go out on a date with them and two, the likelihood of having sex with one of them on the first date. They were also asked to rate each girl’s attractiveness.

The results? The women with the tattoos were more desirable, but also more likely to have sex on the first date.

The study does have its fair share of critics who say that the “tramp stamp” study is incomplete because men were not required to give reasoning as to why they made their choices. Were their selections based on stereotypes? Personal experiences?

The survey also only studied the “tramp stamp,” not tattoos in general.

What do you think of the “tramp stamp” study? Is it just stereotype, or do men think that girls with tramp stamps are fun and easy? Sound off!

[Image via: Pavel Sazonov / Shutterstock]

Tramp Stamp Study: Men Really Think Women With The Tattoo Are Easy is a post from: The Inquisitr

Fashion blogger Gabi Gregg’s “fatkini” is sold out, proving that curvy ladies like to look fly just like the “cool kids” (take note, Mr. Jeffries).

Gregg is redefining the term “bikini body” with her curve-friendly “fatkini,” the result of a collaboration between the blogger and the swimwear line Swimsuits for All.

She designed the fashionable bikinis for plus-sized girls with curves, and we’ve got to say … they’re pretty flattering.

Gregg’s initiative has gone viral multiple times over the past year or so, dovetailing in recent months with a massive amount of negative news coverage pointed at “hip” clothing maker Abercrombie & Fitch after 2006 comments from CEO Mike Jeffries were re-printed in a Business Insider article.

Jeffries called Abercrombie & Fitch’s clothing line “exclusionary” by design, and said that the company aims to clothe the “cool kids” instead of their chubby, less cool friends.

But Gregg and Swimsuits for All tapped into a pretty wide market. I don’t know how well you remember high school, but the so-called “cool kids” were what, 4% of the student population at best?

When it comes to swimming, the remaining 96% like to take a dip now and then, as well.

For proof, look no further than the “fatkini,” for which the demand is so high, it has actually left many customers frustrated with Swimsuits for All for taking too long to issue refunds (not because people send them back, but because the limited number of suits sold out immediately, and there are currently no plans to make more).

But why were the trendy plus-sized bikinis so popular? In the words of their creator, ”[It] makes my enormous boobs look even bigger but I don’t care.”

There you have it.

You can check out Gabi Gregg’s blog here (worth a read whether you’re plus-sized, regular-sized, pint-sized, female or male)  as well as more pictures of the sold-out “fatkini.”

Let us know what you think of the “fatkini” trend in the comments below.

[Image via: GabiFresh]

‘Fatkini’ Sold Out: Take That, Abercrombie & Fitch! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Iron Man has been turned into an eight-bit game in a new video!

Iron Man was a breakthrough in Marvel comics film, no doubt about it. Between the amazing story of how it almost didn’t happen and the fact that Robert Downey Jr. gave the character a personality that everyone instantly loved, the film was, if you’ll pardon the pun, a marvel.

CineFlix of YouTube has taken the story of Jon Favreau’s blockbuster Iron Man and condensed it into the span of 60 seconds, amazingly capturing most of what made the film a classic. While it doesn’t have the part where Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) had to dig her hand into the gooey innards of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) chest and replace the most ingeniously made pacemaker ever conceived, it does cover the scenes of Iron Man actually doing his thing and blowing stuff up.

Even the sequel to the film was a big earner in spite of major critical backlash, and Iron Man 3 has proven a hefty film itself, beating out The Great Gatsby and tailing behind Star Trek Into Darkness to remain number two at the Box Office.  Word has it that comic book purists hate it, but movie fans consider it a work of genius.

Eric Eisenberg of Cinema Blend has said that videos like this eight-bit game treatment of Iron Man make him wish it was a game you could literally buy.

The video begins with the title screen from Mega Man, given a graphic make-over to turn the blue bomber into Iron Man from the film. Then we see a caravan of military vehicles rolling through the desert as a bomb hits one of them. Tony Stark is seen running and dodging bullets and missiles, but one eventually hits him. Then we see him building the first suit and using it to escape a cave and kill everyone guarding it. The next scene his him testing the suit as he flies through markers.

The rest of the video is above. It really is a remarkably fun remake of Iron Man in eight-bit game format.

What do you think of the eight-bit game adaptation of Iron Man?

‘Iron Man’ Converted To Eight-Bit Game [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A pizza delivery guy was filmed on elevator security video apparently chowing down on the toppings of a customer’s pie. See embed below.

Russia has a tradition of dash cam videos, but apparently elevator surveillance is also part of the mix.

The incident involving the hungry pizza guy helping himself to toppings on a customer’s pie happened in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Perhaps the delivery guy was so busy he had no time for a proper dinner break. Another theory is that the order was wrong, and he just engaging in some proactive customer service to correct it. Other explanations for the impromptu elevator snacking are also possible, but the result is the same. “In the video he walks in, all business, sets down the pizza bag, pulls out the pie and starts picking away, gobbling up bits of food at a rapid clip like he hasn’t eaten in days. He then closes up the box and puts the partially denuded pizza back in the bag, easy as you please.”

The pizza restaurant allegedly posted a comment under the video on YouTube. The English translation is reportedly as follows: “This video has been received by us. This unprecedented event for our company. We found this deliverer and punished to the full extent. This man no longer works in our company. We’re sorry.”

In virtually every family, there are disagreements about what toppings to get, so maybe this video makes a good argument for a straight-up cheese pizza.

Apart from ethics, considering that hygiene is involved here, would a video like this give you second thoughts about ordering pizza for delivery from your local parlor — or at least opening the box before the delivery guy takes off? Maybe takeout is a better option?

That being said, what do you think “to the full extent” means?

[Top image credit: Milad Mosapoor]

Pizza Delivery Guy Caught On Tape Eating Toppings Off Customer’s Pie [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Simpsons Land at Universal’s theme park in Orlando now includes Krusty Burger and Moe’s tavern.

Fox and Pepsi once had a contest where the winner would get their own actual house based on the one in The Simpsons. Now Universal Orlando has gone all the way with it and made an entire theme park based on one of the longest running TV shows of all time. The Simpsons theme park is opening this Summer compete with the entire town of Springfield on one street.

Universal Orlando’s theme park seems to be focusing on food, as every store is based on one in the cartoon series. Aside from Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl and the Simpsons Ride, you’re surrounded by places to stuff yourself like Homer. Krusty Burger, Moe’s Tavern, Lard Lad donuts, the Kwik-E-Mart, the Frying Dutchman, and Luigi’s Pizza run all along the Simpsons themed portion of Universal Orlando.

Krusty Burger is a shop featuring Krusty certified meat sandwiches, replicating the feel of the Simpsons show. Adding to the experience will be the new characters added to the cast to greet and such, Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob.

Throughout the theme park, Duff beer will be especially brewed just for the park. How cool is that?

Even Kwik-E-Mart will have its trademark humor surrounding it, with a picture of Apu over the door, a sign advertising the Squishee, and merchandise racks that say, “Come on, if you ran a store, I’d buy your junk.”

Fox consumer products president Jeffrey Godsick says:

“This new expansion will broaden and deepen the already incredible experience at Universal, by bringing to life the iconic landmarks of Springfield that fans have grown to love. Fans will literally be able to live and breathe Springfield as they visit the statue of Jebediah, enjoy a Krusty Burger, and have a seat at Moe’s Tavern, which are just a few of the great experiences awaiting at Universal.”

What do you think of Universal Orlando’s new Simpsons Land? Would you visit Krusty Burger and Moe’s tavern?

Simpsons Land At Universal Orlando Gets Krusty Burger And Moe’s is a post from: The Inquisitr

McDonald’s has unleashed its Mega Potato Fries on the citizens of Japan.

The fast food item, which is equivalent to two orders of large fries, has more calories than any other item on the menu. According to Japan Today, it’s actually the most caloric item that the restaurant has ever offered.

McDonald’s has released some interesting items on its international menu so let’s not call Mega Potato Fries the all-time calorie king but with 1,142 calories crammed into a comically oversized container let’s just say that you should eat at your own risk.

Japan Today writes: “The Mega Potato will set you back 490 yen (about $5) and also cost you a large chunk of your dignity and possibly a few years of your life.”

McDonald’s Mega Potato Fries have been available at limited locations for the last week and finally got their nationwide release today.

The restaurant doesn’t have any plans of bringing the Mega Potato Fries to the United States and judging by the company’s recent moves in America they probably won’t be bringing the high calorie item stateside anytime soon. McDonald’s has been trying to make its menu healthier in America with items like the egg-white McMuffin and a new chicken McWrap.

It’s very unlikely that they’ll start offering people 1,142 calories worth of fries anytime soon. Of course, you could just get two supersized fries. Unfortunately, you’ll have to get them in two separate containers.

McDonald’s Japan selling “Mega Potato” French friesshar.es/Z8yCsSupersize my Supersize! #cspnet twitter.com/glcspdn/status…

— Greg Lindenberg (@glcspdn) May 24, 2013

McDonald’s Unleashes Mega Potato Fries On Japan is a post from: The Inquisitr

Operation Swill has yielded some pretty disturbing results. New Jersey’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said that at least 29 restaurants were tricking customers by filling premium liquor bottles with cheaper brands of alcohol. One bar even served rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring to customers that ordered scotch.

Surprisingly, the bar that served rubbing alcohol to customers wasn’t the worst offender. Pix11 notes that one bar served dirty water to customers. An investigator described the concoction as “riverwater” saying that it contained no alcohol and was basically just dirty water.

State Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said: “This alleged scheme is a dishonest ruse to increase profits, and it is a slap in the face to the consumer … Consumers should have the peace of mind of knowing that they will get what they spent their hard-earned money on every single time. No exceptions.”

The disgusting practices were discovered today during “Operation Swill.” More than 100 investigators working with NJ’s Alcoholic Beverage Control went to bars this morning in an effort to uncover what restaurants were scamming customers. The investigators found that 29 restaurants, including 13 TGI Fridays locations, had been selling swill to customers.

A spokesman for TGI Fridays said: “(We have just been) made aware of this issue and (we are) working closely with the franchisee and owner of the cited locations to review and investigate these serious allegations … We have one of the most extensive bar and beverage programs in the industry, which sets a very high standard in the quality and service of our beverages.”

The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said that they had received numerous complaints from customers but added that it was hard to prosecute restaurants due to lack of evidence. Because of “Operation Swill,” investigators were able to document the scam and can now charge the restaurants.

Offending restaurants could face fines and may have liquor licenses suspended or revoked.

Bar Served Rubbing Alcohol To Cusomers Instead Of Scotch is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pope Francis caused a stir this week, and we’re not just talking about his apparent public exorcism. During Wednesday Mass in Rome, he declared that everyone, including atheists, are redeemed through Jesus.

He placed an emphasis on ”doing good,” and used a story from the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus’ disciples were upset that an outsider to their group was performing good deeds.

“They complain, ‘If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.’ ” Pope Francis said. Jesus corrects them, saying: “Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.”

Francis explains that the disciples were “a little intolerant,” thinking that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.”

But, “This was wrong … Jesus broadens the horizon,” Pope Francis said, continuing, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation.”

“The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can… “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!”.. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

Father James Martin explained Pope Francis’ words in an email to The Huffington Post:

“Pope Francis is saying, more clearly than ever before, that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice for everyone. That’s always been a Christian belief. You can find St. Paul saying in the First Letter to Timothy that Jesus gave himself as a “ransom for all.” But rarely do you hear it said by Catholics so forcefully, and with such evident joy. And in this era of religious controversies, it’s a timely reminder that God cannot be confined to our narrow categories.”

Reddit, a social sharing platform with a vibrant atheist subculture, has seemingly responded to the homily favorably.

An article from The Guardian on the story was posted yesterday, and is today’s second most-shared piece.

“He’s making the humanistic aspect of Christianity more important than the dogma and whatnot though. That’s important,” said one user.

“As in [sic] atheist, I’m starting to kind of like this new Pope,” wrote another.

What do you think of Pope Francis’ homily? Is everyone, including atheists, redeemed through Christ?

[Image via: presidencia.gov.ar / Wikimedia Commons]

Pope Francis Says Even Atheists Are Redeemed, Reddit Responds is a post from: The Inquisitr

Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” just got a new mashup, and this time it isn’t with the screaming goat. It’s been redone with clips from Phineas and Ferb.

For a while it seemed that no popular music video was immune to getting a screaming goat or a lamb saying “yeah” thrown in for some laughs. It happened to Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Adele, Whitney Houston and a plethora of other pop artists. The most popular of them was the one where the goat screamed throughout Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” It was hilarious simply because Taylor Swift was becoming sort of a walking punchline due to her dating history, and the goat only made it funnier.

In the new mashup, clips from Phineas and Ferb were edited together to make it look like Dr. Doof is singing Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” to Perry the Platypus. The video is set to premier at 8pm Eastern on the “Gravity Falls” episode, and can also be seen on People.com.

Phineas and Ferb is a popular cartoon about the titular boys who are always out to start some grand new project, much like Warner Bros.’ Pinky and The Brain. The boys’ misadventures constantly annoy their overcontrolling sister Candace, who tries to tell their parents about their ensuing shenanigans. Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher always seem to get in trouble, with running gags throughout.

The B-plot of Phineas and Ferb is where the clips used in the Taylor Swift music video come from. Perry the Platypus is Agent P, a spy complete with the fedora and a grizzled look on his face. In a clear parody on James Bond, Perry the Platypus is always trying to stop the evil machinations of Dr. Doof, or  Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, as he works ever diligently for the OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym).

Clips from this particular portion of the show are cut together and timed to the tune of “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift.

Are you excited to see the Phineas and Ferb mashup of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” tonight on the Disney Channel?

Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ Gets ‘Phineas And Ferb’ Mashup is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you love french fries and you live in Japan, then McDonald’s Mega Potato is probably your best friend.

This extravagant menu item gives customers more than three-quarters of a pound of fries to consume. Not surprisingly, the Mega Potato clocks in at a whopping 1,142 calories. This monstrous batch of fries sports more calories than any other foodstuff currently offered by the restaurant. That’s an impressive feat.

Of course, McDonald’s isn’t suggesting that you eat all of these french fries by yourself. According to MSN, the fast food chain strongly encourages you to share the Mega Potato with your friends.

As you can see in the video embedded below, the restaurant is giving customers a massive amount of food for around $5. The cardboard container is enormous, and appears to be stuffed to overflowing with the chain’s iconic fries.

If you’re planning a trip to Japan just to partake in the Mega Potato, then you might want to act fast. According to Japan Today, this heaping helping of fries will only be offered for a limited amount of time. Those of you who can’t make the trip can always order two large orders of fries from the location down the road and call it a day.

There’s a very good reason why Mega Potato is only offered in Japan. Although you may consider yourself to be the biggest fan of McDonald’s french fries on the entire planet, there’s probably a Japanese guy or gal who could easily put your obsession to shame.

Photos found at Rocket News 24 show large groups of Japanese people eating mountains of french fries inside area restaurants. The sheer volume is staggering. Apparently potato parties are all the rage in parts of Asia.

You can check out YouTube user jetdaisuke’s encounter with 1,100 calories worth of fries below. While the clip is in Japanese, it’s still interesting to see his reaction to all of that food.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]

McDonald’s Offers ‘Mega Potato’ Fries To Customers In Japan [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Is Hollister clothing unfriendly? That’s the ruling from a federal judge in Denver, Colorado who is now reportedly considering an injunction against Abercrombie & Fitch, the parent company of Hollister LLC.

US District Judge Wiley Daniel ruled in March that about 250 of their stories violated the American With Disabilities Act. He ordered the stores to work with disability rights advocates to make them more accessible to the handicapped.

Instead, the stores have mostly made excuses. “They’re digging their heels in. They’ve been digging in their heels all the way,” said Julie Farrar, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Farrar is confined to a wheelchair and had trouble entering one of the Colorado stores with her daughter. That was in 2009.

In a statement to the Associated Press today, Farrar asserted that nothing much has changed. The stores have simply put up signs telling people in wheelchairs to use a side door.

However, she said that a person in a wheelchair still can’t easily go inside: “The (side) entrances are artificial two steps up and two steps down, built to create an atmosphere for marketing purposes. That is what makes them illegal.”

Earlier, she had said that in some of the stores the supposedly accessible entrances were often blocked by tables piled with merchandise.

Hollister clothing bills itself as SoCal fashion for young, hip “Dudes” and “Bettys.” Whatever you may think of someone who uses the word “SoCal” — and a lot of us don’t think much — Hollister has built a worldwide brand based on that image. The top photograph of  Hollister beach boy models was taken by a fan in Hong Kong.

The disabled people who are excluded from the store by the unfriendly entrances naturally feel discriminated against. Farrar compared Hollister’s treatment of wheelchair customers to southern stores’ discrimination against African-American customers under Jim Crow.

Coming so soon after Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want fat people shopping in his stores, Hollister’s refusal to comply with the federal judge’s court order starts to look like a pattern.

The company filed a response to the judge on Friday which said that it would be too expensive to re-do the Hollister store entrances and that the judge should reschedule a new hearing to figure out a compromise.

“@marcusfolarin: You see why places like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are dickheads? twitter.com/marcusfolarin/…” @boo_youwhore_ u luv it

— kawaii (@liadacutie) May 22, 2013

What do you think? In my opinion the Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister clothing companies do sound pretty darn unfriendly.

[male models meeting fans outside Abercrombie & Fitch in Hong Kong photo by Natalitiameom via Wikimedia Commons]

Hollister Clothing Unfriendly To Disabled, Judge Rules In Latest Abercrombie & Fitch Outrage is a post from: The Inquisitr

One Reddit user has posted a picture indicating their child’s preschool has banned superhero play and overactive imaginations, fearing the little snowflakes may be getting carried away with all the fun being four entails. (A circumstance we believe has been ongoing since there were preschool kids roaming Earth.)

Redditor Oremor explains that his child came home from preschool and explained the superhero play ban, telling his dad that “make believe” was no longer allowed at preschool because of the inherent dangers of being playful and adorable.

The original text of the make believe ban read:

“Recently it has come to our attention that the imaginations of our preschool children are becoming dangerously overactive causing injuries within our pre-k community. Although we encourage creative thinking and imaginary play, we do not promote out [sic] children hurting one another.”

The note continued:

“Wrestling, Super Hero play, and Monster games will not be permitted here at [redacted school name]. In addition, please monitor the different media that your children may view. The re-enactment of televisions shows/movies are being done during active paly [sic] times in school.

Oremor posted the flyer to the r/philly subreddit, where Geekosystem rapidly picked up because there is no way to piss geeks off more than telling them they can’t be Batman. The additional factor of copious errors on the superhero play ban note was just icing on the outrage cake.

A Geekosystem writer talked about his post, to which Oremar replied in part:

“My son and I have always utilized superheroes as role models. We often talk on ways problems could have been solved rather than utilizing violence. (I have a masters in restorative practices, so believe me, I am not making this up. It’s sort of a game we play at home. “How could this have been solved peacefully?) However, sometimes, when the bully is too big, we find little recourse left but to meet force with force. It is this constant dialogue of ours regarding superheroes that has allowed us to address concepts such as right and wrong, good and bad, justice and injustice.”

Indeed, it seems contextualizing media (and not banning superhero play) is a fine strategy for dealing with life’s beasties, and the approach is correct — plus, banning imaginative play seems a losing battle.

The angry dad adds:

“You can therefore well imagine my anger when my son showed me the flyer with superheroes crossed out. I was livid! It was akin to a religious person (which we are not) finding their deity of choice called into question and ridiculed … This is nothing more than a bully who has her own issues with superheroes and is trying to force her views down the throat of others. Luckily i have my own superhero to turn to. THANK YOU REDDIT!”

The school involved has not commented on the superhero play ban (nor the atrocious spelling), but the internet is already beginning to take exception to this silly rule.

Do you think superhero play and other imaginative make believe is a healthy outlet for four-year-olds, or is the preschool correct in saying there is danger?

Preschool Bans Superhero Play, Imagination, Fun is a post from: The Inquisitr

We’ve gotten used to seeing her face on near everything, so the Hello Kitty melon that joins toasters, personal massagers, bathrobes, wallpaper, phone cases, and t-shirts isn’t entirely a surprise.

The Hello Kitty melon comes from (of course) Japan, and the (not sure if Sanrio sanctioned) fruit is emblazoned with the cartoon cat’s ubiquitous mug.

A Hello Kitty melon obviously doesn’t spring from the ground (or vine, or wherever melons come from) fully branded — the character’s likeness is carved into the still green young melon before it develops the dry, weird, net-like coating honeydew melons have on the outside.

If you’re enough of a Sanrio fan to need a Hello Kitty melon, there are a few things you should know about the special fruit made just for fans of the brand.

First, they’re not cheap. How much would you expect to pay for a Hello Kitty melon? Does $49, or 4,980 yen sound about right?

In addition to being $50 a pop, the melons are not a new addition to the Hello Kitty world of products. Hello Kitty melons first hit the internet’s big fruit salad back in 2010, and apparently were enough of a hit to come back for this summer’s harvest.

Not a lot of Hello Kitty melons are available for fruit-loving Sanrio collectors, either — just 300 will be sold by Belluna gourmet shopping for very dedicated Kitty-chan fans.

Hello Kitty Hell adds a bit of Sanrio fan-frustration to the mix:

“The sad, sad part is that you know the people at Sanrio are now desperately trying to figure out how to turn the inside of the melon pink to better reflect the brand image and their effort to further increase my (and everybody else’s) Hello Kitty Hell…”

Do you think a Hello Kitty melon is worth $50, even though there’s no way it can be added to a permanent collection of kitty trinkets?

Hello Kitty Melon A Bargain At Just $50 is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Spanish restaurant in the Catolonia region is offering broke customers the chance at a “free” meal. Trobada is attempting to help the country’s “new poor” through the current recession by providing them with free food if they are willing to wash dishes, clean the kitchen, and help out in other ways.

Trobada opened its doors in March with the help of a set menu that includes a starter, main course, dessert, bread, water, and wine for just $8.35.

The restaurant is currently serving 70 meals a day and half of those meals are given to diners who choose to work for their food.

The idea came about through a joint venture between the city of Terrassa and 30 local charities who aim to curb poverty in the area. The restaurant operates on an estimated 2013 budgets of $227,000 for which 25 percent will arrive by way of paying customers.

The organization relies on volunteers who they call “time customers.” Those time customers have been out of work for two or three years and live below the poverty line. They come to the restaurant for a hot meal for which they provide a service to receive.

The restaurant believes that 150 to 200 people will generate more than 15,000 hours of volunteer work in the first year of operation.

Restaurant manager Xavier Casa tells WTVY:

“This is aimed at people wanting to regain and strengthen their self-esteem. People wanting to improve their day-to-day situation. This gives them hope for the future.”

In the first quarter of 2013, the unemployment rate in Spain jumped to a massive 27.2 percent as 6.2 million people in the country are now without work. The “long-term” unemployment rate has jumped to 3.5 million people.

72,400 households in Spain now fail to have any working household members.

Much like the US in 2008 Spain is suffering through a massive collapse in its real-estate market.

Would you wash dishes or clean a kitchen for a free meal?

Restaurant Allows Broke Diners To Wash Dishes For Free Meals is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sandwich, MA – An Episcopal priest has been placed on administrative leave after he was accused of plagiarizing his Sunday sermons from a book he ordered off sermons.com.

Reverend John McGinn was suspended by officials at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cape Cod after it was discovered that he had apparently delivered, word for word, over a dozen sermons from a book called Dynamic Preaching. He had even published some of the sermons as his own.

The 65-year-old had more than 300 families in his “flock,” all of whom received a letter from Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts which read, in part:

“This is a serious breach of the pastoral relationship between John and each of you. I am sorry that this matter has caused pain and will likely cause further pain in the parish. As difficult as this situation is, we know that truth telling helps to bring about healing, and our renewal follows repentance.”

McGinn was first suspected of plagiarism a year ago when he was approached by church elders. He told them at the time that he was not cribbing sermons from elsewhere, so the Diocese “investigated further.”

Bishop M. Thomas Shaw said that the investigation turned up “documentation that not only did he continue to copy sermons and preach and publish them verbatim, in print and online, as his own, but he had been doing so for many years.”

On behalf of local parishioners, Sean Randall, a senior warden of the church, issued a statement:

“For 17 years Fr. John McGinn has raised thousands of dollars for local charities and provided pastoral care for hundreds of people on the Upper Cape. Our prayers are with him as the diocese, St. John’s Church and Fr. McGinn work to resolve this.”

When McGinn himself was approached, he made it sound like he was using “administrative leave” as an opportunity to begin the early stages of his retirement.

“I’m going to retire,” he said. “I loved my time at the parish. That’s all. I think I did a good job.”

[Image via: Stephen Rees / Shutterstock]

Priest Suspended, Plagiarized Sermons From Sermons.com is a post from: The Inquisitr

Is Pope Francis an exorcist? Some are speculating that he may indeed be after performing what appeared to be an exorcism on Sunday.

Francis laid his hands on the head of a young man in a wheelchair after Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, and what happened next was pretty strange. The young man began to heave heavily, he shook, and then he slumped over as Francis prayed.

It was a bizarre scene, with Italian media surveying actual exorcists for their thoughts. They all seemed to agree that there was “no doubt” that Francis either attempted to perform an exorcism, or succeeded in performing an exorcism.

The Vatican was a bit more ambiguous, releasing a statement Tuesday that said Francis ”didn’t intend to perform any exorcism. But as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone who was suffering who was presented to him.”

Whether or not you believe in that sort of thing, Francis’ actions seemed consistent with what Catholic officials expect out of an exorcism. Reverend Giulio Maspero, a Rome-based systematic theologian who has witnessed or participated in over a dozen exorcisms, believes that Pope Francis had performed an exorcism.

He said specifically that Francis’ placement of hands on the man’s head was the “typical position” for an exorcist.

“When you witness something like that — for me it was shocking — I could feel the power of prayer,” he said of his own experiences.

Sunday was also the Pentacost, a date of significance in Catholicism during which Jesus’ apostles received the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  Maspero seemed to imply that the symbolism was not a coincidence.

Your last piece of creepy coincidence: According to Italian newspapers reporting on the event, the late Pope John Paul II performed an exorcism in 1982 in the exact same spot.

Judge for yourself! Do you think Pope Francis’ exorcism was the real deal, or do you not go in for that sort of thing?

Did Pope Francis Perform An Exorcism In Public? [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Star Wars Rebels To Debut In 2014, One-Hour Pilot Currently In Production is a post from: The Inquisitr

An Archie comics gay kiss is the latest in progressive turns for the long-popular series of titles, but the contemporary storyline also reflects how the septuagenarian comic has grown alongside society.

In the 1940s when the brand debuted, an Archie Comics gay kiss would have been unthinkable in Riverdale. And while modern polyamorous people point to Archie, Betty, and Veronica as a pop culture example of a “triad,” the characters have still stayed on the family-friendly side of storyline development despite the ever-racy three-way vibe at the core of the comics.

In an issue debuting August 7, the Archie Comics gay kiss will be revealed. Last year, we learned character Kevin Keller was gay, and is now openly and recurringly Riverdale’s first out gay student.

Keller has a new boyfriend Devon, and the pair lock lips at Pop Tate’s Diner for all of Riverdale High to witness. One onlooker, not a student, takes offense — but drama-courting Veronica records the boys kissing and uploads it to the Archie universe’s version of YouTube.

Jon Goldwater, publisher of Archie Comics, says a gay kiss was the next step for the teen comic in its evolution — and he explains:

“We certainly pride ourselves on being contemporary, but that’s not the reason why we’re showing ‘The Kiss.’ Just like when Kevin first told Jughead he was gay, it was in the natural course of conversation. We are creating this in the same way. It’s just part of the story.”

Dan Parent is a writer and illustrator for the comic brand, and Parent explains that the Archie Comics gay kiss was born in response to the group One Million Moms — the anti-gay group forced Toys ‘R Us to capitulate and remove the “wedding” cover featuring Kevin, but the comic went on to sell out anyway.

Do you think the Archie Comics gay kiss is a sign that America is growing more tolerant?

Archie Comics Gay Kiss Mocks One Million Moms is a post from: The Inquisitr

A couple flown to the wrong continent started out in Los Angeles, connected in Istanbul, Turkey, and ended up almost 7,000 miles out of their way in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Los Angeles residents Sandy Valdivieso and Triet Vo bought tickets to Dakar, Senegal, on the west coast of Africa. However, they were ultimately delivered not just to the wrong town or the wrong country but to an entirely different continent. Bangladesh is located in South Asia.

The mix-up happened because when the airline issued their boarding pass, it wrongly used the airport code DAC (Dhaka) instead of DKR (Dakar). When the flyers boarded the IST-DAC leg in Turkey’s capital, they still didn’t understand that they had been booked on the wrong flight.

“When the flight attendant said we were heading to Dhaka, we believed that this was how you pronounced ‘Dakar’ with a Turkish accent,” Valdivieso told The Los Angeles Times.

The couple didn’t stress it at all, apparently. They went right to sleep — and didn’t wake up until they were well on their way. Oops.

In Bangladesh, the Turkish Air rep didn’t take the story at face value, perhaps assuming that they were experiencing some buyer’s remorse at the trip to the very poor, crowded nation south of India.

According to the LAT account, “Officials with the carrier insisted that they had to track down and hear the recording of Valdivieso booking a trip to Senegal before they could acknowledge that the wrong airport code had been put on their tickets.”

Eventually, Turkish Air admitted that they had done something wrong and flew the couple to Dakar without an additional charge. Their bags, of course, whiffed, and didn’t show up at their destination for another two days.

The flight to the wrong continent actually took place in December, but it has taken months for Turkish Air to acknowledge that they owed the couple some compensation for the crazy ordeal.

The Telegraph said that a Turkish Air spokeswoman has now acknowledged that the airline is “very, very sorry that this happened.” To compensate for their trouble, the couple has been offered free economy tickets anywhere they want to go on Turkish.

There wasn’t any word about how eager they would be to make use of that particular gift.

One poster on Flyertalk, a discussion forum for frequent flyers, noted that it wasn’t all the fault of Turkish Airlines:

“[T]here’s absolutely no excuse for the couple not to check on what they’ve booked, especially, when flying to a foreign country – one apparently they’ve never been to previously. Since they didn’t recognize the mistake, how is the airline supposed to? Once brought to [Turkish Air's] attention, they did the right thing and flew them to Dakar free of charge…”

Apparently, this 7,000 mile mistake can happen in the other direction too. A poster on frequent flyer blog View From the Wing said: “I’ve had to deal with a Bangladeshi passenger trying to check-in at Gatwick for a flight home that was actually routing him to Senegal via Ghana. So from personal experience, I can vouch that Dakar vs Dhaka is not a unique situation!”

Ouch. Double-check those tickets, folks. We don’t want you to end up being flown to the wrong continent.

[Dakar beach photo by Jeff Attaway via Wikimedia Commons]

Couple Flown To Wrong Continent And Their Bags Lost Too Just To Rub It In is a post from: The Inquisitr

Are you baffled by the increasing prices for cheap beer? It turns out that hipsters, drunks, and college students might be affecting your ability to buy a cheap product.

A new study by Restaurant Sciences has found that cheap beers such as Budweiser, Miller Light, and Coors Light are getting pricier. The study believes that the increasing popularity of the brand Pabst Blue Ribbon is attributing to the higher costs for previously low-cost beers.

Apparently, cheap beers like PBR are becoming “quite fashionable” as hipsters given them the thumbs up.

Speaking to the New York Daily News Chuck Ellis, the head of Restaurant Sciences reveals:

“I believe the single biggest driver in sub-premium beer price increases is indeed specifically PBR.”

The study might be troubling for low-cost beer buyers who are now paying a 6.8 percent premium over prices that existed just several months prior.

The higher prices for low-cost beers are counter to movement towards higher priced but better tasting micro-brews that have been winning over American consumers over the last few years.

Here is a chart that showcases just how out of control low-cost beer prices have become:

The increase in prices isn’t just effecting the brew market. Cocktails and spirits are also costing more to procure these days.

The rising cost of beer is inevitable, but a 6.8 percent in only a few short months could end up scaring some buyers away from brands that are increasing in popularity.

Based on current increases, low-cost beers could quickly catch up to their premium counterparts in just a short period of time.

Will you continue buying low-cost beer if prices move closer to that of their higher quality competitors?

Cheap Beer Is Getting Expensive Thanks To New Interest From Hipsters is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Saudi women scaled Everest this week, becoming the first female from Saudi Arabia to successfully traverse the Nepal side of the mountain.

Tilak Padney of Nepal’s Mountaineering Department says 35 foreign climbers completed the climb along with 29 Nepalese Sherpa guides.

The climbers reached the top of the 29,035 foot summit on Saturday morning after a climb that took all night to complete from the highest camp on South Col.

Raha Moharrak following the climb became the first Saudi woman to scale everest.

The 25-year old graphic designer was the only female to join a group of four Arabs for the climb. Moharrak and her team announced plans to traverse the summit two months ago.

A tweet from the group reads:

“The first ever Saudi woman to attempt Everest has reached the top!! Bravo Raha Moharrak. We salute you.”

Moharrak was part of the team known as “Arabs with Altitude.” That group included Qatar’s royal family member Mohammed Al Thani, Palestinian real-estate businessman Raed Zidan and ice-cream franchise owner Masoud Mohammad.

Speaking about her record breaking climb Moharrak revealed:

“I really don’t care about being the first … so long as it inspires someone else to be the second.”

Not only did Raha Moharrak become the first Saudi woman to scale Everest; she also joined an elite team that now includes approximately 3,000 people who have completed the climb.

The group of Arab climbers traversed the summit in May, the most favorable month for weather at the summit.

Congratulations to Moharrak and her team for her momentous Everest climb.

Saudi Woman Scales Everest, Becomes First Female In Her Country To Reach Summit is a post from: The Inquisitr

Burger King has introduced a McRib knockoff meant to rival the famous McDonald’s sandwich, but the new boneless pork sandwich won’t really offer much competition to the Golden Arches company.

The new Burger King McRib is part of the fast food chain’s summer menu, introduced this week along with 12 other new items including a Memphis BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. Burger King didn’t specifically say its McRib sandwich was meant to rival McDonald’s, but many business analysts took it that way.

Even the description of the Burger King McRib sandwich sounded like McDonalds, a “juicy boneless rib patty with a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce” that is “topped with crispy bread and butter pickles” served on a “warm toasted artisan style bun.” The only difference appeared to be onions, present on McDonald’s version of the McRib and absent on Burger King’s imitation.

Though there may be similarities, Burger King doesn’t present much of a threat to McDonald’s version of the McRib. The McDonald’s McRib sandwich, which is intermittently on the menu, has cut out a niche audience.

“We know our customers love McRib and we won’t disappoint them!” said McDonalds spokesperson Ofelia Casillas. “It will be returning.”

The McDonald’s McRib has amassed a following so devoted that they even keep track of the sandwich with a McRib locator.

For McDonald’s, the scarcity of the McRib is part of the marketing plan. The absence builds up anticipation among fans, and the sandwich is then inserted into the menu during the slower winter period when it can boost sales a bit.

“The winter is seasonally a slower period,” said Howard Penney, restaurant analyst and managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management, told Ad Age in the fall when McDonalds announced the McRib sandwich delay. “A lot of people underestimated the massive impact the weather had on sales.”

The Burger King McRib may offer the same advantage to the fast food chain, but it’s unlikely to cut into the popularity — or the sales — of McDonald’s original version.

Burger King McRib Not Real Competition To McDonald’s is a post from: The Inquisitr

San Francisco, CA – A restaurant called Bacon Bacon is being forced to close after complaints of an intoxicating obnoxious bacon aroma caused the Health Department to shut the operation down.

The popular pork-based restaurant in the Upper Haight is being forced to shut down this week after months of failed negotiations with neighbors and the Health Department.

It started like this: A handful of really uncool neighbors of Bacon Bacon complained of a constant “porcine aroma,” which is a $10 way to say “we hate the smell of bacon.”

Since you can’t lodge a formal complaint with the Department of Public Health over the smell of bacon, the instead expressed concerns about … grease disposal.

Sounds pretty lame, but the complainants ended up having a real point. The Department of Public Health showed up and poked around, and wouldn’t you know it, they found that the Bacon Bacon restaurant wasn’t exactly up to snuff.

It was the permits that did Bacon Bacon in, but the Health Dept. gave the owners 75 days to set things right before they’d be forced to shutter the place for good.

Despite a swell of online support from Bay Area residents who love the restaurant, Bacon Bacon is closing and won’t be able to appeal at a public hearing until July.

Owner Jim Angelus has tried to work out his differences with his unhappy neighbors to no avail.

“It’s frustrating,” Angelus said. “Two weeks ago, the health department showed up saying we had no permits. So we had a hearing and one person showed up saying they were opposed. They told us we had long enough to resolve these issues — and as a result, we have to cease operations May 17.”

Those neighbors, who were not identified, alleged that the Bacon Bacon restaurant was pumping bacon grease directly into the sewer system and apparently even offered to pay for an air filtration system for the restaurant’s owners. That seems kind of sketchy, but that’s what their lawyer said.

But at the end of the day, Bacon Bacon needs to follow the rules to stay in business, says Ted Loewenberg, president of the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association. If they’d just get their papers in order, they could re-open, and there’s an online petition with about 1,800 signatures belonging to people who would like to see that happen.

Have you ever eaten at the Bacon Bacon restaurant? What do you think of the smell of bacon?

[Image via: Anna Hoychuk, Shutterstock]

‘Bacon Bacon’ Restaurant Closing After Bacon Aroma Plagues Community is a post from: The Inquisitr

Emma Watson showed off her style in a Chanel dress at the premiere of her new film, The Bling Ring, at the 66th annual Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. The actress sported a monochrome Chanel gown on the red carpet that featured a sequined bodice and a cut-out back.

To top it all off, Watson added three sparkling cuffs on her upper earlobe to complete her look for day two at the festival. She took to the red carpet with co-stars Katie Chang, Taissa Farmiga, and Claire Julien, while director Sophia Coppola was also in attendance.

The 23-year-old went with a classic look at the premiere of her new film and it all came together with black heels and a sweetheart neckline. She strutted her stuff with a grin as she posed for photos and spoke with reporters while joining the rest of the cast before the showing.

Though Watson’s shown signs of fashion-disaster in the past, the actress has decided on a more vintage and classic look in her most recent appearances that’s been received quite well. The focus Thursday was on The Bling Ring premiere, her third film since breaking through as “Hermione Granger” in the Harry Potter series.

Emma Watson had the spotlight on the red carpet as she shined in her two-tone Chanel dress, but she remained focused on her new film. The Bling Ring gave her the chance to expand as an actress outside of her Harry Potter persona, though she isn’t hiding from the hit movie series that led to her rise within the industry.

“I’m not trying to run away from it (Harry Potter),” she said during a press conference for The Bling Ring. “I’m very proud of the work that I did. I’m just really enjoying having the chance to transform into new roles.”

Watson will also be featured in Seth Rogen’s upcoming comedy, This Is The End, as well as the dramatic biblical film, Noah, which is set for release in 2014 with co-star Russell Crowe.

Here’s a photo of her Chanel gown on the red carpet Thursday that was posted by a fan on Twitter:

Photo : Emma Watson (wearing Chanel Haute Couture) attends the Bling Ring premiere during the 66th Cannes… tmblr.co/ZD2YNul7Sibb

— Fannyϟ (@Fanny_L8) May 16, 2013

Is Emma Watson becoming a fashion icon this early in her career?

[Image via Joella Marano]

Emma Watson Shines In Chanel At Cannes Film Festival is a post from: The Inquisitr

Airlines over the last few years have begun charging an increasing amount of money for baggage fees. While customers often complain about those fees, a new study suggests carry-on fees are on customers’ minds less than they use to be.

A J.D. Power & Associates airline satisfaction study for 2013 finds that, in general, customer satisfaction with airlines is at its highest level since 2006.

The study discovered that, on a 1,000-point scale, airlines are now receiving 695 points, which is up by 14 points from 2012. The survey involved 11,800 airline passengers.

Carry-On Baggage Fees Being Tolerated By More Customers, Study Claims is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new mother is facing criminal charges including possible jail time after her baby was born drunk.

UK’s The Mirror reports that a 24-year-old new mother had a baby born drunk after she collapsed during an apparent binge drinking marathon very late in her pregnancy. It gets better. She had passed out drunk at an off-license in Tomaszow, Poland, while she was trying to buy more booze.

Surgeons were then forced to perform an emergency caesarean to save the baby, and the mother’s life.

The poor baby was born clinging to life. It had several alcohol poisoning due to the excess levels of the intoxicant in the mother’s blood. In fact, the blood alcohol level of the Polish baby born drunk was 23 times the legal limit.

“The unborn baby was in severe danger of being poisoned to death,” said hospital spokesman Wojciech Zawalski. ”When he came out his heart was barely beating and he had 4.5g of alcohol in his blood.”

You don’t really need us to tell you how bad 23 times the legal BAC is for normal people, but for clarification, the driving limit in Poland is 0.2g.

The baby was also two weeks premature, and is recovering in an intensive care incubator. He is also being weened off alcohol.

Police and other authorities are currently thinking of pursuing charges against the mother for endangerment of an unborn child.

“The matter is under investigation,” said a police spokesman.

So far as we know right now, the mother has nothing to say for herself, but we’ll let you know if that changes.

What do you think should happen to the mother of the Polish baby born drunk?

[Image via: Ljupco Smokovski, Shutterstock]

Polish Baby Born Drunk, Blood Alcohol Content Was 23 Times Legal Limit is a post from: The Inquisitr

Does flying make you feel stressed out? A new playlist from music streaming service Spotify hopes to calm your nerves and allow you to enjoy the flight.

Spotify commissioned anxiety psychologist Dr Rebecca Spelman from the Private Therapy Clinic in London to determine which songs calm our nerves. As it turns out a tempo of 67 beats per minute (bpm) and harmonious tones are what we need.

According to Dr. Spelman, breathing in time to music with a low bpm, at a controlled and reduced pace, is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, which in turn reduces anxiety. Dr. Spelman also found that listening to tracks that stimulate both sides of the brain while using headphones with your eyes closed can help reduce anxiety.

The study notes:

“Music which is harmonious and emotive is generally regarded as the best at achieving this type of stimulation, which induces Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). This tried and tested method was originally developed for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is incredibly powerful at calming and relaxing the mind and body.”

So what does that mean for Spotify users? Dr. Spelman mixed together various genres from classical to alternative rock in order to create the perfect playlist to calm your nerves while flying.

What song wins the anxiety reducing race? Adele’s Someone Like You wins with an optimum bpm of around 60. According to Dr. Spelman, Adele’s song is the perfect pace for slowing down breathing associated with fear and anxiety; it is also a soulful and harmonious song, which helps to stimulate both sides of the brain, making it the ultimate song for calming anxious nerves.

Here is the full Calming Music To Fly To Playlist

• Someone Like You – Adele
• Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) – Enya
• Piano on The Beach – Liborio Conti
• ·Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (“Elvira Madigan”) K. 467 – Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus
• Better Together – Jack Johnson
• Pure Shores – All Saints
• Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley
• Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• Paradise – Coldplay
• As I Lay Me Down – Sophie B. Hawkins
• Inside Out – Britney Spears
• Ignition – R Kelly
• Flaws and All – Beyoncé
• The Christmas song – Nat King Cole
• Space Oddity – David Bowie

According to Dr. Spellman:

“Travel anxiety is caused by irrational thoughts where the threat is exaggerated and inappropriate. Music that stimulates both the logical left and emotional right sides of the brain is said to stimulate the limbic system, which processes negative memories and emotions, which in turn helps people think in a more balanced, rational way suppressing anxiety.  Piano on The Beach by Liborio Conti works using this method of music therapy but must be listened to with headphones to be effective.”

Take a listen to Spotify’s calming playlist and let us know if it relaxes your nerves.

Spotify Reveals ‘Calming Music To Fly To’ Playlist, Uses Study To Create Perfect Set is a post from: The Inquisitr

A naked painting of Bea Arthur is recently sold for nearly $2 million.

The nude painting of the late Golden Girls actress was auctioned off by Christie’s during the Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale in New York this week. The painting, by John Currin, was expected to fetch somewhere between $1.8 million and $2.5 million.

The painting ended up with a realized price of $1,915,750 (not including any additional fees).

Currin created Bea Arthur Naked back in 1991. Critic Peter Schjeldahl wrote in The New Yorker in 2003 that the painting was suspended somewhere “between the object of desire and the object of loathing,”

Christie’s Auction House writes: “Beautiful in its execution, infamous in the press, and simultaneously nostalgic and repelling with its subject matter, Bea Arthur Naked is among John Currin’s early master works … Here, the muted palette of warm earth tones, allows the viewer to focus on the sitter’s gaze, her smooth skin tone, that enigmatic smile, together with her wonderfully full and expressive eyes. We are familiar with the subject matter but not in the way in which it is handled; Currin mixes nostalgia with provocation.”

The winning bidder has not been identified.

Bea Arthur is best known for her Emmy winning roles in Golden Girls and Maude. She passed away from cancer in 2009.

[Image Via Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com]

Naked Bea Arthur Painting Sells For $2 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

So the rumored Taco Bell waffle taco actually exists … and while it’s being piloted in a select few Taco Bell locations, it may be nationwide soon enough.

Grabbing the breakfast abomination torch ignited by the unappetizing McGriddle at rival McDonald’s, the Taco Bell waffle taco is part of the chains slow wade into breakfast fare … or, as Taco Bell calls it, “FirstMeal.” (A reference to the chains shoehorning of a “fourth meal” into life, in general, dubbed “FourthMeal.”)

Taco Bell for breakfast in and of itself isn’t so scary, but the waffle taco — a waffle made into a taco shell and filled with scrambled eggs and sausage — seems to take the edge of a Taco Bell breakfast and combine it with the shaky territory of the McGriddle’s sweet/savory combo and combine it into something you really would have to be quite high to find tempting.

Of course, I love Taco Bell as much as the next person who pretends to eat like a thirty-something adult, but the waffle taco’s first pics are not all that tempting.

Captured by Instagram user @sarah1ch5, the in-the-wild Taco Bell waffle taco is a bit intimidating looking. After the Instagram refried beans were spilled (note: it is not apparent this particular dish actually includes refried beans), Taco Bell confirmed the waffle taco as a potentially nationally available item via its reps:

“We are testing the waffle taco in a handful of Southern California restaurants … We’re pleased with the initial reaction from our customers and if the waffle taco does well in testing, we’ll roll it out to all our restaurants that serve breakfast.”

Currently, Taco Bell’s waffle taco and other morning items are only available at 800 of the chain’s locations in only 10 states, meaning the rest of America is forced to fold their own Eggos until the items is rolled out nationwide.

Taco Bell Waffle Taco Piloted, Is Anyone Drunk That Early? is a post from: The Inquisitr

OMG!!! As part of its Star Wars Weekend event, Disney is giving fans the chance to receive a 3D-printed Stormtrooper figure of themselves!

The big event runs from May 17 to June 9 and takes place at the D-Tech Me experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney will take the high resolution 3D face scans of each person in attendance and then create the 3D-printed Stormtrooper figuring.

The entire process takes 10-minutes to complete and the high-resolution 3D printer does the rest.

Buyers will have to wait approximately seven to eight weeks to receive their new figuring via domestic shipping.

Also being made available is the option to “cast yourself in Carbonite.” That option inspired by the popular Hans Solo scene from The Empire Strikes Back will allow fans to receive a Carbon-Freeze Me light-up band or a collector button depending on their choice in product.

Disney is charging $99.95 for the Star Wars D-Tech Me experience.

While some Star Wars fans are still skeptical about Disney’s involvement in the Star Wars franchise, it’s this type of cool promotion that makes for an exciting new approach to promoting the long-lived franchise.

With more rumors sure to arrive over the coming months and JJ Abrams stepping in to direct the first new Star Wars movie in years, we can likely expect more publicity stunts for the series in the near future.

Are you excited to see what Abrams and Disney can do with the Star Wars franchise, or would you rather have left the series in the hands of George Lucas and ILM?

Turn Yourself Into A Star Wars Stormtrooper With An Awesome 3D-Printed Figurine is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ashlee Simpson’s backless gown stunned the crowd on the red carpet at the 2013 American Ballet Theatre Opening Night Spring Gala at NYC’s Lincoln Center on Monday. The 28-year-old showed off her amazing look in a black lace design by Alice + Olivia.

The backless gown featured feathered trim at the waist along with the cut-out back and she topped it off with emerald green earrings. Not many people can pull off a pony-tail and look great on a red carpet, but Simpson did just that.

Her fashionable style turned heads at the NYC Gala and she even showed some skin while pulling off the dress with a little attitude and flair. She out-shined multiple stars on the night, including model Coco Rocha and actresses Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman who were also in attendance.

It’s easy to note that Ashlee Simpson’s backless gown stole the show before it even started. Her fashion sense has turned her into a red carpet icon, though it didn’t always look that way.

Simpson has distanced herself from the pop star look she once knew and is now as glamorous as ever. This isn’t the first time her style’s made headlines as she stunned the crowd at the opening of the Marquee Nightclub in Sydney, Australia in April of 2012.

The actress wore an olive-colored Roberto Cavalli dress to the event which featured a python-print. Monday she looked even better, and here’s a Twitter fan page post to prove it:

Rawwwr Perfect @ashleesimpson great Job @simpleekatylee twitter.com/FanClubAshlee/…

— Ashlee Simpson Fans (@FanClubAshlee) May 15, 2013

Ashlee Simpson spent Mother’s Day with her 4-year-old son Bronx the day before the Gala and even posted a photo of some flowers she received:

Happy Mothers Day! twitter.com/ashleesimpson/…

— Ashlee Simpson(@ashleesimpson) May 12, 2013

There’s no telling if the flowers came from ex-husband Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boys, though he’s recently credited Simpson for being a great mother.

“I feel like we both realize that we’re parents and we’re in it for our kid. That’s made it really easy,” Wentz said on Bravo’s April 15th episode of Watch What Happens Live. “I feel like, as a mom, she’s awesome. She’s an awesome mom and we get along really well when it comes to our kid now.”

The busy mother and Pete Wentz split in 2011, but it hasn’t stopped Simpson from strutting her stuff and enjoying herself at the occasional event.

Did you like Ashlee Simpson’s backless gown that she featured at the NYC Gala on Monday?

[Image via Eva Rinaldi]

Ashlee Simpson: Backless Gown Stuns At NYC Gala is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pop-Tarts new flavors have been announced by the company, and peanut butter will headline their newest release due to popular request. Kellogs introduced “Pop-Tarts Gone Nutty!” as the pastry line is giving peanut butter another shot after giving up on their first attempt in 1986.

The new line will also feature a Frosted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pop-Tart along with the original flavor that will also include a unique style of wrapping. The new peanut butter flavors will be wrapped in gold foil, unlike the usual silver foil, to set them apart from the classic flavors.

“Peanut butter has long been the most requested flavor by our fans,” Pop-Tarts marketing director Dick Podiak said in a news release. “We think everyone will agree it was worth the wait once they taste these delicious new varieties.”

The popular brand has become a breakfast staple for youngsters around the world and has even grown on adults. Now Pop-Tarts new flavors will look to standout with traditional flavors like Strawberry and Chocolate.

To promote the new line, the company is sending a toaster-shaped truck across the nation to hand-deliver their new product to customers. The two highly anticipated flavors are expected to be a hit, and they’re already available to buy off store shelves nationwide.

The last time Kellogs tried a peanut butter flavored Pop-Tart, it didn’t go over as planned. According to Foodbeast, the Peanut Butter & Jelly Pop-Tart was discontinued in 1986, and fans have been waiting for it’s next installment ever since.

The wait is finally over, as the creamy goodness will return, hopefully for good. The original peanut butter flavor will be covered with sugar crystals while the other will have a chocolate covered shell.

Most believe the popular morning snack food’s peanut butter release is well overdue, but the company couldn’t have picked a better time. Peanut butter is a flavor phenomenon across the United States right now, and it’s been 27 years since the last Pop-Tart’s installment which should drive sales.

Will you give Pop-Tarts new flavors a try?

[Image via Creative Commons]

Pop-Tarts New Flavors: Peanut Butter Set For Release As Most Popular Request is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new study shows children as young as six are watching online porn. Another disturbing takeaway from the report? Children are also flirting online at the age of eight.

The study was published by Bitdefender, the creator of some of the internet’s best antivirus software. The company correlated their results of an online survey of parents, along with data compiled from its parental control services.

The Bucharest-based antivirus firm looked at what sites parents choose to block, as well as what sites children access regularly. The results showed that almost a quarter of kids in the study had at least one social network account by the age of 12. Seventeen percent had social media accounts by the age of 10.

Bitdefender’s study shows that children will lie about their age when they create a social network profile. On Facebook, they must be at least 13 to sign up. The company’s Chief Security Strategist Catalin Cosoi, stated:

“Kids nowadays are acting like young adults online — just give them an internet-connected device and they will find a way to things parents would like to ban forever.”

Those things include watching porn online, even for children as young as six. Cosoi added:

“Knowing that online dangers go beyond pornography, to hacking and suicide websites may help parents protect their kids’ life on- and offline.”

Along with online porn, the study showed that the age of kids accessing instant messaging and computer games is decreasing. About 3.45 percent of kids chaffing with friends on instant messenger are five. Also, two percent of computer game addicts are also five-year-olds.

The company also found that teenagers leave instant messaging for younger kids. Meanwhile, teens prefer to access “hate” websites, which allow children to share what they hate, as well as use inappropriate language. More than 17 percent of children who read or post hateful messages online ate 14-year-olds. They are followed by 15-year-olds at 16.52 percent, then kids aged 16 at 12.05 percent.

Do you allow your children to access the internet unsupervised? What parental blocks do you place on the computers they use?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Six-Year-Olds Now Watching Online Porn [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Burger King just got its own McRib.

The restaurant chain unveiled its BK Rib Sandwich today and many have dubbed it a McDonald’s McRib buster. The sandwich features boneless ribs a tangy sauce and a sweet bun. It will make its national debut on May 21.

The McRib has gathered a cult following over the years largely because the sandwich is only available at certain times of the year. Burger King will be using a similar strategy with its own ribless sandwich. The BK Rib Sandwich will go on May 21 and will only be available until the end of summer.

Scott Hume, editor of BurgerBusiness.com, said: “That McDonald’s has been bringing back McRib for 32 years tells you it’s popular and important.”

Burger King will also be releasing a Memphis pulled pork sandwich and a Carolina BBQ sandwich next week. Sweet potato fries and a BBQ chicken salad will also be available this summer at BK.

Eric Hirschhorn, vice president of global innovation, said: “Our guests have grown to look for a variety of options … It’s not just about beef anymore, but other proteins like chicken and turkey and pork.”

Do you think the BK Rib Sandwich is a McRib buster? McDonald’s spokesman Danya Proud said today that she was confident that McDonald’s customers would continue to eat McRib sandwiches. Proud didn’t say when the sandwich would be back at McDonald’s but did say that it “will be returning.”

According to Burger Business, this is the first time that one of McDonald’s competitors has added a ribless BBQ sandwich to its menu.

Are you excited for the BK Rib Sandwich? If you live in Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles you’ll be able to use BK’s new delivery service to get your hands on the McRib buster.

Burger King Unveils McRib Buster is a post from: The Inquisitr

A $120 egg sandwich is being sold to celebrate Bacon Week in Sydney, Australia.

4Fourteen chef Carla Jones created the pricey sandwich as a nod to Australian bacon. The item will only be on menus for a week during the celebration spearheaded by Australian Pork Limited.

The $120 egg sandwich includes a number of ingredients. Those looking to properly celebrate Bacon Week 2013 will be treated to bacon, smoked tomatoes, English cheddar, pan-fried duck egg, foie gras, caviar, creme fraiche, and shaved truffles. All of this is served on a homemade bun.

“It’s not something I ever thought I’d be doing but it will be interesting to see how many we’ll sell. I reckon some people will buy it just to see what it’s like. I’m not sure I’d eat it – I’m not that into truffles and stuff like that,” Jones explained to the Daily Telegraph.

Since the expensive concoction sits in a league all its own, Bacon Week organizations have declared the sandwich to be “Australia’s most decadent bacon and egg roll.”

The $120 egg sandwich isn’t the only extravagant item being offered to those looking to celebrate a week’s worth of Australian pork. Organizers have challenged other area chefs to create something to top Jones’ impressive offering.

And these decadent little babies are ready to go @fourfourteen ! and I’m good for at least three on my very worse day twitter.com/Le_bon_vivant_…

— LBV (@Le_bon_vivant_) May 13, 2013

While the egg roll will definitely set you back a pretty penny, it isn’t the most expensive sandwich ever created by mankind. The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Bacon Bling sandwich offered by a cafe in western England can be yours for a whopping $235.

According to the Guinness World Records, the most expensive sandwich recognized by the organization is the Platinum Club Sandwich found at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, England. Chef Daniel Galmiche’s creation will cost hungry patrons around $200.

Would you pay $120 for an egg sandwich?

[Top Image via Shutterstock]

$120 Egg Sandwich Sold During Bacon Week In Australia [Photo] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new American hipster poll has revealed an unshocking truth — that U.S. citizens of all stripes generally can unite under at least one particular banner … hating hipsters.

The American hipster poll uncovered how Americans truly feel about the hipper than thou, fake glasses wearing, local food eating, underground music listening denizens of hip hubs like Brooklyn, Austin and Portland — and no one seems to appreciate their smug distaste for middle of the road Americana.

The American hipster poll was conducted by the Public Policy Polling (PPP), which surveyed 571 U.S. voters on the subject of people cooler than them.

Overall, 42 percent of voters had unfavorable opinions of hipsters in general, and 43 percent weren’t sure what they thought of hipsters overall. 23 percent said hipsters made “a positive cultural contribution to society,” but 46 percent opined that hipsters “just soullessly appropriate cultural tropes from the past for their own ironic amusement.”

Not to get too meta, but the American hipster poll sounds a bit … hipster.

Politically, lefties were a bit more welcoming than the right to hipsters in the American hipster poll, with 34 percent of Democrats hating hipsters to a get off of my lawn 48 percent of Republicans.

Among Dems, 18 percent had a favorable feeling for hipsterism, versus a far smaller nine percent of Repubs. And two percent of GOP voters appeared amenable for voting a hipster into office — whereas 27 percent of independent voters (probably hipsters themselves) indicated in the American hipster poll that they’d consider voting a skinny jeans wearer in.

But the New York Post reveals that some of those polled in the American hipster poll may actually secretly be hipsters themselves:

“Despite the hipster hate, slightly more than one in five voters — 21 percent — said they thought Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer ‘commonly associated with hipsters,’ was a good beer.”

Do you agree with the poll participants in the American hipster poll?

American Hipster Poll Reveals Everyone Hates Hipsters is a post from: The Inquisitr

Coke Formula Claim By Georgia Man Can’t Be Confirmed, Goes On Sale For $15 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

McDonald’s is looking to boost sagging sales with the addition of 3 new Quarter Pounders to its menus.

Although folks in Sacramento, California and Toledo, Ohio are already enjoying the burgers, the rest of the country will be able to sink their teeth into the new offerings later this year. The company hopes to have them in restaurants across the nation this Summer.

McDonald’s has experienced a decrease in sales in recent months. The fast food chain said late last year that monthly sales figures had dropped for the first time in almost a decade. The company is also having a bit of trouble this year as well; sales at certain locations were down during the first part of 2013.

In order to get people back into the restaurants, McDonald’s has unveiled 3 new Quarter Pounders. The chain is hoping that a new twist on a customer favorite will help generate the sales necessary to recover from recent drop in sales.

According to The Huffington Post, the new menu items include the Habanero Ranch (white cheddar, bacon, ranch sauce), the Quarter Pounder Deluxe (lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion), and Quarter Pounder Bacon and Cheese (cheese, red onion, hickory-smoked bacon). The new burgers are essentially filling the void left by the Angus Burger. McDonald’s dropped the item from menus due to a lack of sales.

“Really, this is about the Quarter Pounder brand. We are bringing news to our core menu items and this is one of them. We think we have a way to bring great burger news to a brand that has been around for over 40 years [introduced nationally in 1972],” explained Greg Watson, Senior Vice President of McDonald’s USA’s Menu Innovation Team.

He added, “That’s why we’re taking some of the more popular recipes from the Angus line and bringing them over under the Quarter Pounder brand. That’s why we’re taking Angus out of the restaurants.”

Are you looking forward to trying the 3 new Quarter Pounders when they arrive at McDonald’s locations later this year?

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]

3 New Quarter Pounders Headed To McDonald’s Menus This Summer is a post from: The Inquisitr

Three hours trapped in a ground hold on a plane without access to air conditioning? If you think they made that illegal, you’ve got another think coming, as passengers on a Lufthansa flight from Denver, Colorado to Frankfurt, Germany discovered on Sunday night.

According to a Denver news station, the passengers departing Denver International Airport had already been boarded onto the plane when the crew discovered some mechanical issues.

As any flyer who has been in this situation already knows, the air doesn’t circulate, and it tends to get pretty hot during a ground hold. Under new FAA regulations, passengers can’t be held on a plane for more than three hours when it’s a domestic flight.

And, while international carriers can make their own rules, Lufthansa apparently agreed, since it did allow the passengers to deplane after about three hours. Although the German airline hasn’t commented, airport spokeswoman Laura Coale told the Associated Press that paramedics were called out after the passengers had been onboard for about 90 minutes.

One passenger Sarah Bogue, who was being held with her toddler, apparently reached out to call Colorado 9News anchor Kyle Clark: “They ran out of water. I can’t even tell you how hot it is in here. They should at least let us off the plane to wait.”

While I’m skeptical that the flight actually did run out of water — they were stocked for a transatlantic journey after all — I get the idea. Bogue and other trapped passengers were very, very angry about the frustrating situation.

In the end, the passengers were briefly deplaned around 8:30, the plane was fixed shortly thereafter, and the jet took off around 10 Sunday night.

No one was hurt, and the paramedics weren’t needed. But, leaving that late, the grumpy and sweaty passengers certainly missed a great view.

WOW! RT @lufthansa_usa: A3: You never know what you’ll see out the window. Take a peek! #TNI#photography tips! twitter.com/Lufthansa_USA/…

— MidlifeRoadTrip (@MidlifeRoadTrip) May 9, 2013

You’d better believe that everyone will need a shower after the nine hour flight that followed a three hour plane hold with no air conditioning.

[Lufthansa photo by Lu&Si via Flickr and Creative Commons]

Passengers Trapped On Delayed Flight With No Air Conditioning For Three Hours is a post from: The Inquisitr

McDonald’s recently cut its Angus Beef burger, but the company has already found a way to fill the meaty void. The restaurant announced today that it was adding 3 new quarter pounders to its menu.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the 3 new quarter pounders will make their debut this June. One of the new burgers will feature cheddar and a few strips of a thick apple wood smoked bacon.

Neil Golden, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s USA said: “We’ve had some feedback from our consumer that our bacon may not have been as high quality or met their expectations but we just in the process of rolling out a new bacon system wide. We feel like that bacon is a fabulous enhancement to many of our products.”

The Huffington Post reports that the 3 new quarter pounders will include a Habanero Ranch burger with hickory-smoked bacon; a Quarter Pounder Deluxe with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles; and a Quarter Pounder Bacon and Cheese with American cheese and hickory-smoked bacon.

McDonald’s spokeswoman Danya Proud said that this is the first time in 40 years that the restaurant has tinkered with its Quarter Pounder.

McDonald’s has made several changes to its menu recently. The company is dropping less popular items like the Chicken Selects, Angus Snack Wraps and the Fruit and Walnut salad, and has added items like the Egg White Delight McMuffin and now 3 new quarter pounders.

The restaurant is also toying with the idea of extending its breakfast service past the morning hours.

According to Yahoo News, the new burgers have already been released in Sacramento, California and Toledo, Ohio. They will go nationwide this Summer.

3 New Quarter Pounders Added To McDonald’s Menu is a post from: The Inquisitr

A woman sang on a plane very, very badly — so horribly, in fact, that she was tackled and cuffed by a federal air marshal on a Thursday American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York. The plane was actually diverted to make an unscheduled landing in Kansas City, Missouri. There, law enforcement officers removed the unnamed songbird from the plane as she continued to yowl out “I Will Always Love You” with all the skill of a dying tomcat in heat.

No, really. I didn’t believe it either. But there’s video.

Even though the irate flight attendant keeps telling people not to take photos on the flight, everybody’s got their cell phone out and everybody’s snapping video, so it was probably inevitable that the story would make its way to the wilds of YouTube.

If you’re asking why the woman doesn’t have a name, well, it turns out that the officers questioned her and learned that she wasn’t drunk or on drugs, despite her decidedly unruly actions.   She was released when it became obvious that she was harmless.

According to CBS Atlanta, it’s believed that she suffers from diabetes and was having an episode that affected her ability to control her behavior. She was therefore released without being charged with any crime.

However, American Airlines wouldn’t offer her another flight, telling her that she would have to make other arrangements to get to New York.

As frequent flyer blogger Ben Schlappig wrote: “If she was actually interfering with the flight crew, am I wrong to think she’d be charged with something for that? So yeah, it sounds to me like her only crime was singing Whitney Houston songs poorly — which is awesome.”

I think most frequent flyers can agree that more bad songbirds, not to mention screaming babies, need to be hauled off commercial airplanes in handcuffs. Heh.

A heated debate broke out on Flyertalk about whether or not the woman should have gotten a refund. American Airlines is certainly within their rights to ban a disruptive passenger, but the poor woman probably didn’t choose to be a diabetic or to lose control of her behavior.

AA has ignored the debate, but most people speculated that they’ll keep her money because their terms and conditions clearly state they can ban you from flying if: “your physical or mental condition is such that in American’s sole opinion, you are rendered or likely to be rendered incapable of comprehending or complying with safety instructions without the assistance of an attendant.”

She didn’t choose to be impaired, but she was definitely not all there. Watch the video and see what you think.

Wowsers, she’s bad. I say the pilot made the right call. I think I want to shake his hand. What about you?

Would you be mad if your flight was diverted to arrest this woman singing on your plane?

[American Airlines plane photo by Patrick Cardinal via Wikimedia Commons and Flickr]

Woman Sings On Plane, So Awful Flight Is Diverted And She’s Kicked Off [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Cicada snacks are back in the news, as Brood II of the 17-year cicada population begins to emerge all over the northeast. The noisy insects aren’t normally considered good for much but making a racket, but Drexel University entomologist Isa Betancourt has dubbed them “the shrimp of the land” in her attempt to promote the oversized bugs as a tasty source of protein.

Like shrimp, crab, and lobster, cicadas too are arthropods, she pointed out.

OK, but I don’t know about that logic. Cows and rats are both mammals, and probably more closely related to each other than a shrimp is to an insect…but that doesn’t stop me from feasting on hamburger and getting grossed out by the rodent.

However, I’ve tried other sources of alternate protein in an insect-cooking class at the New Orleans Audubon Insectarium, so who knows? Heck, our own Megan Charles has written a detailed description of all the tasty insect choices out there that you can eat.

Jenna Jadin and the University of Maryland “Cicadamaniacs” have published an online cookbook for many years called Cicada-Licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas.

It’s jam-packed with all the recipes you might ever need, even during this summer’s expected emergence that will have billions of the 17-year Brood II cicadas bursting onto the scene from Georgia to upstate New York.

There are recipes for such delicacies as soft-shelled cicada snacks, Shanghai cicadas which feature a Cantonese twist, and cicada dumplings. The more traditional mid-Atlantic cook might try Maryland cicadas which includes classic Old Bay® seasoning in the list of ingredients.

Like soft-shell crab, a soft-shell cicada is at that stage where it has just emerged from its tough juvenile exoskeleton. Only, you know, it’s an insect and not a crab. Yummy. The picture up top shows a soft-shelled Peruvian cicada right after breaking free of the shell.

You could start your cicada cookin’ plans by checking out a YouTube video called “Cooking and Eating Cicadas — Yum!” from Tennessee Home and Farm. In it, you’ll see the chef prepare stir-fried cicadas, which he said have a “kinda nutty, kinda earthy” flavor.

You’ll also see the victim — I mean co-host — eat the stir-fried periodical insects followed up by chocolate-covered versions for dessert.

“If there was ever an insect I’d want to eat covered with chocolate, it would be cicadas,” he said. Well, that’s a rave review if I ever heard one. Not. The look on his face is priceless.

Since I’ve already sampled other stir-fried and chocolate-covered insects, I see no real reason to turn up my nose at cicadas. What about you?

Think you’d ever dare to try cicada snacks?

[soft-shell cicada emerges from juvenile exoskeleton by Ryan M. Bolton via Shutterstock]

Cicada Snack ‘Shrimp Of The Land’ Cooking Tips For All Your Cicada-Nibblin’ Needs [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A $120 egg sandwich is the latest high, high, high-end item to hit a menu, this time in Sydney.

The $120 egg sandwich is part of a growing trend of simple menu offerings retooled to be uber-expensive — in recent years, we’ve seen burgers that cost hundreds of dollars and feature toppings like pricey truffles and lobster tail.

A New York restaurant has also promoted a sundae like the $120 egg sandwich — except with gold and diamonds, Serendipity3′s “Frozen Haute Chocolate” (a riff on their popular signature Frozen Hot Chocolate) rang up at a scary $25,000.

So what’s up with the $120 egg sandwich? 4Fourteen, a restaurant in Surry Hill in Sydney, is featuring the costly breakfast item for one week, and UPI describes the ambitious creation:

“The sandwich features award-winning bacon from Slade Point Meat Specialists in Mackay, Queensland, a pan-fried duck egg, semi-dried and smoked gourmet truss tomatoes, duck foie gras, caviar, creme fraiche, shaved truffles and English cheddar, squeezed between a handmade brioche bun. It will be served with a side of chips and shaved truffle aioli.”

The $120 egg sandwich is the idea of 4Fourteen head chef Carla Jones, but Jones herself isn’t too keen on eating it — she explains candidly:

“It’s not something I ever thought I’d be doing but it will be interesting to see how many we’ll sell … I reckon some people will buy [the $120 egg sandwich] just to see what it’s like. I’m not sure I’d eat it — I’m not that into truffles and stuff like that.”

While the $120 egg sandwich is only available in Sydney for a week, it seems the growing trend of uber-luxe menu items is here to stay.

Would you give a $120 egg sandwich a shot just to see if something so basic can really be worth such a high price tag, or will you stick with a $3 bagel shop version?

A $120 Egg Sandwich Exists On Aussie Menu is a post from: The Inquisitr

New York City — “Sweet!” is the only way to describe the giant Bloomberg cupcake made by House of Cupcakes.

The cupcake brand based in Princeton, N.J., celebrated the grand opening of its store in the West Village in Manhattan this week by unveiling a huge cupcake made in honor of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The store also gave away normal sized cupcakes to visitors to the new venue.

The NYC mayor is well known for his nanny state crusade against large sugary drinks, salt, smoking in restaurants, and possibly even earbuds among other things.

The ingredients of the mother of all cupcakes include about 12 pounds of sugar, five pounds of butter, four pounds of flour, six cups of cocoa power, two dozen eggs, and two cups of milk which, taken together, totals 36,000 calories.

House of Cakes owner Ron Bzdewka said that the Mayor Bloomberg cupcake was just a form of good-natured kidding around given the mayor’s well-publicized policies about personal behavior. “It’s just all in fun, it’s not like we’re trying to you know, go against him, it’s just a fun thing, like I said I’m a big guy, I do big things,” Bzdewka said. The store also gifted City Hall with some standard-sized sugar-free cupcakes

Bzdewka and his wife Ruthie, who co-founded the company with him, were the winners of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network and so they know their way around treats of all sizes.

Mayor Bloomberg apparently wasn’t amused, however, with the Bloomberg cupcake. “This is one of the dumbest things people have done.” Added the mayor in reference to the obesity epidemic: “This is not a joke; people are dying.”

Unlike Bloomberg, most of the store’s customers reportedly enjoyed checking out the display which has now been donated “to one of the local ‘harvest’ groups that takes food from area restaurants to feed the homeless and needy.”

Bloomberg’s ban on sugary drinks scheduled to go into effect on March 12 was blocked at least temporarily by a judge and is now on hold.

[Image via @MichelleFields]

Massive ‘Bloomberg Cupcake’ Weighs In At 36K Calories is a post from: The Inquisitr

A fake pope arrested in Rome was nabbed for looking way too much like the deceased Pope John Paul II.

A Slovak street performer was dressed in white papal vestments and was detained and fined by Rome police for … well … playing the part way too well, authorities said Friday.

“The problem was that he looked a lot like Karol Wojtyla [John Paul II's birth name]. He was detained for usurpation of title which is a misdemeanour,” said a police spokeswoman. ”The cassock he was wearing has been confiscated,” she added.

The man was released, but he’ll need to pay between 154 and 929 euros ($200 and $1,200) pending a decision by a judge.

An officer at the station where the 55-year-old pope impersonator was held seemed to have a poor opinion of his arrest, remarking ”If he had been dressed like Tutankhamun nothing would have happened.”

The fake pope arrested for looking too much like the real deal was working the main avenue leading to the Colosseum in his papal vestments for weeks. He worked alongside other impersonators dressed as Roman centurions and various other street performers. Police snagged the fake pope following an anonymous complaint.

One vendor, who sells miniature Colosseum souvenirs, said that he saw the fake pope being arrested on Thursday.

“He was right here, near me. He was taken away by two officers in civilian clothes who were pretending to be tourists,” he said.

Pope impersonators are not all that uncommon. A quick Google search shows that there are various Pope John Paul II impersonators, as well as those portraying Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

What do you think? Should the fake pope, arrested in Rome, be fined for impersonating John Paul II too well?

[Image via: Radomił Binek, Wikimedia Commons]

Fake Pope Arrested In Rome, Looked Too Much Like Real Pope is a post from: The Inquisitr

More than 800 Italian saints were canonized on Sunday by Pope Francis. The saints were mostly unnamed martyrs killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th-century.

The massacre happened in Otranto, Italy in 1480 when Ottoman soldiers invaded and killed some 800 people on a hill when they refused to convert to Islam.

Along with the 800 Italian saints, Pope Francis also canonized two Latin American nuns, the first to be named saints in Francis’ pontificate. In his homily during the ceremony on Sunday, the pope also brought attention to the persecution of Christians today.

He stated, ”We ask God to sustain the many Christians who, today, in many parts of the world, right now, still suffer violence.” The prayer is not surprising, as the Vatican has already expressed concern regarding attacks on Christians in the Middle East, including the Coptic Christians of Egypt.

The ceremony to canonize 800 Italian saints was marred by a doctor who claimed a nun’s “miracle” cancer cure was actually because of chemotherapy, not divine intervention. The possible sainthood for the 800 martyrs came after the nun, Sister Francesca Levote, allegedly made a miraculous recovery from ovarian cancer in 1981 after she was given a small time to live.

Fellow nuns prayed to the Otranto martyrs to save her. Levote’s recovery from ovarian cancer was considered by the Vatican as an inexplicable miracle required to elevate the 800 Italian martyrs to sainthood.

However, Salvatore Toma, a doctor who treated the nun, disregarded the claim. Instead, he suggested that the nun’s recovery was from medical science, not from God. Toma added that he and his team treated Lavote with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He further explained, ”And that is how we observed, after about two years, a complete clinical response. I cannot sustain that it was a miracle, but a scientific event.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict confirmed the canonizations of the 800 Italian saints on February 11, the same day he announced his resignation.

[Image via Casa Rosada]

800 Italian Saints Canonized By Pope Francis is a post from: The Inquisitr

Forget Doritos, a Taco Bell in South Carolina is selling waffle tacos.

Taco Bell is relatively new to the breakfast fast food game and they’re still playing around with the menu. The restaurant is apparently testing a waffle taco (egg and sausage wrapped in a waffle shell) at select restaurants in South California.

The restaurant hasn’t officially announced the new breakfast item but a photo was posted to Instagram this week showing the new 89 cent breakfast item.

Sarah1ch5 wrote on Instagram: “It was awesome!#itsdelicious #callitwafflebell Don’t Hate. It was awesome.”

Brand Eating reports that waffle breakfast sandwiches aren’t new but this appears to be the first waffle taco. Dunkin’ Donuts and Jack in the Box both have waffle sandwiches but Taco Bell is the first to have the idea of folding it into some sort of taco.

In 2012, Taco Bell ramped up its “First Meal” menu with the items like the A.M. Crunchwrap. Brian Niccol ,the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Taco Bell, said: “Over the past four decades, Americans have lulled themselves into a breakfast routine … For those who have been stuck with boring breakfast sandwich options, Taco Bell now gives them a compelling reason to break their breakfast routine.”

What do you think of the waffle taco? Is this a stroke of breakfast genius or just another disgusting fast food item?

Waffle Taco Spotted At Taco Bell In South California is a post from: The Inquisitr

On Mother’s Day, the thoughts of women apparently turn not to home and family but to cheating on their spouse at least according to one website that specializes in that sort of thing.

AshleyMadison.com, the publicity generating extra-marital hookup site, claims it experiences a huge spike in female sign-ups on the day after Mother’s Day. In 2012, the site reports that it had a massive 439 percent increase (about 15,000 married women signing up) over what it considers a typical Monday.

CEO Noel Biderman claims that women who don’t get sufficient affection or appreciation from their spouse on holidays or quasi-holidays start considering looking elsewhere for love. “While Mother’s Day might not have the implicit romance factor of Valentine’s Day or an anniversary, it’s a holiday that compels women to reflect on their relationships,” Biderman opined.

Based on about surveying about 3,000 members of the website, the typical cheating mom (if their is such a thing as typical) is 31, married less than five years, and has one young child. Nearly 70 percent of members of AshleyMadison.com are moms.

Yahoo’s “HowAboutWe” columnist Melissa Wall suggested that the demands of married life may possibly account for the day-after-Mother’s-Day membership increase at AshleyMadison.com:

” … one thing we can be pretty certain of is that the holiday is confronting for many married moms. Just as her children are expected to stop and contemplate the jaw-dropping onslaught of toil and worry and gifts and sacrifices that go into the raising of a child, so are moms forced to take a hard look at just what their lives involve on a day-to-day basis. Our society holds motherhood on a pedestal, glorifying it for its virtues and selfless nature, but when it comes down to brass tacks, we don’t do all that much in the way of helping moms escape the drudgery and hardship that come with the deal. Cards and flowers and a nice breakfast are lovely, but do they really make up for the weeks of no sleep, the 6 AM carpools, and the piles of mushy Cheerios perpetually left on the floor?”

Previous surveys carried out by the married-dating website revealed that large chain restaurants are the preferred locations for cheaters to meet up for a bite to eat and also that Washington, D.C., is the least faithful city in terms of adultery.

Do you accept the premise that moms are more receptive to infidelity following Mother’s Day?

[Image via Shutterstock]

Happy Mother’s Day, When Unhappy Moms Think About Having An Affair is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you choose to be gay, or are you born that way? That question is at the heart of the debate between gay and traditional culture, and prompted Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker to turn it on straight folk, asking “when did you choose to be straight?”

The video, shot in Colorado Springs, has Nuckolls interviewing bystanders about their sexuality. He leads with questioning whether being gay is a choice, or if homosexuals are simply born that way, as they say.

Most respondents are pretty level-headed, choosing the “happy medium” of “it’s probably a little of both,” suggesting that environmental factors may play a role in how one’s sexuality comes to be. At the least, they give the benefit of the doubt to the “born that way” argument, but leaving room for development to play a part.

Nuckolls then asks “when did you choose to be straight?”

Remarkably, most respondents take the point immediately. They laugh at the question and concede that Nuckolls brings up a “good point,” or respond that they’ve “never thought about it that way.”

The lady at the end is the most clear “they choose to be gay” advocate, but even when she is asked when she chose to be straight, she laughs and confesses that gay people “maybe” don’t make a choice at all.

The video has gotten over three million views since it was published in 2008, and over 8,000 people have “liked” it.

So what inspired the creators to make the video? Simply to “prove that asking the right question can be more important than anything you can tell someone.”

Check out the video below and leave us your thoughts. Do people choose to be straight?

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/QJtjqLUHYoY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Image via: Anchiy, Shutterstock]

Did You Choose To Be Straight? Viral Video Brings Up A ‘Good Point’ [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you want to try some lion tacos? Well, don’t go to Taco Fusion. The Florida restaurant has pulled the interesting item from its menu after several customers complained about using the exotic animal in a taco.

Ryan Gougeon, the owner of the Florida restaurant, said that he received several complaints and even threats about his lion tacos.

Gougeon said: We’re getting all kinds of threats over it … Now we’re getting bomb threats, and everything else. Some guy just called and said he’d kidnap me and grind me up for a taco. There are so many coming in we aren’t counting.”

Gougeon eventually decided that the lion tacos weren’t worth all of the hassle. The tacos, which were available for $35, were pulled from the menu this week.

Taco Fusion wrote in a statement: “Some of you were supportive, some of you were angry. We listened to everyone and decided to no longer carry lion.”

You may not be able to get lion tacos anymore at Taco Fusion but there are still plenty of other unique options available. The restaurant currently has beaver, otter, shark, rattlesnake and kangaroo tacos on the menu.

What do you think of the lion tacos? Are you surprised that the restaurant caved into the threats and pulled the item from the menu?

Lion Tacos Pulled From Menu At Florida Restaurant is a post from: The Inquisitr