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2021 has been a thoroughly confusing year for many of us. Comparing it to a rollercoaster isn’t enough because the number of turns and loop-the-loops, ups and downs, and unexpected narrative twists we’ve had this year make it seem more like a massive maze than a joy ride.
Despite all the negativity, there have been some news stories that have made us do a double-take and check the source to see if it’s not satire. To show you just how strange 2021 has truly been, our team here at Bored Panda has collected the weirdest news stories and most peculiar headlines to share with you. So grab yourself some popcorn or a festive cup of cocoa, get comfortable, and let’s take a peek at the side of this year that you might have missed.
Don’t forget to upvote the news that made you laugh as you scroll down. My personal favorite weird yet thoroughly sad bit of news in 2021 is about this New Zealand wizard losing his official contract after decades of loyal magical service (it just breaks my heart). "It implies that I am boring and old, but there is nobody else anything like me in Christchurch. It’s just they don’t like me because they are boring old bureaucrats and everyone likes me and no one likes them,’" the wizard said.
Oh, and when you’re done enjoying this article, then we cordially invite you to read all about all the good things that happened this year right over here.
I reached out to Los Angeles-based entertainment, pop culture, and lifestyle expert Mike Sington for a chat about what 2021 has been like, how it compares to 2020, and what we can all hope to see in 2022. Scroll down for Bored Panda's full candid interview with Mike who feels as much at home commenting on breaking news stories as fish do living in the water. He didn't mince words about how awful this past year has been, but he still hasn't lost his optimism for the future.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Shelp 3 years ago
Maybe he didn't know he was lost. Or maybe he knew what he was doing; and only the ones who called for help didn't
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Joshua Seaman 3 years ago
Tell me you're an introvert millennial without telling me you're an introvert millennial
Philly Bob Squires 3 years ago
He thought they were trying to sell him an extension on his car warranty...
John Baker 3 years ago
I don't answer unknown numbers either, but there are times when you need to make exceptions. :-)
Mike said that this year has been a rather bad one, especially for the people living in the United States. "2021 has been a complete blur. The entire year has been almost overwhelming," he was honest with Bored Panda. "For us, the single biggest story was the storming of the US Capitol and Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results. It was all downhill from there."
The entertainment industry insider and media expert was very blunt that this year was, overall, horrible. "2021 was worse," he pointed out that, from his perspective, 2020 doesn't even come close. "Whoever thought this pandemic would continue throughout a second year? My heart breaks for so many people who lost loved ones," he said.
Despite all of this, Mike hasn't lost his optimism for the future.
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#2
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
I like the fact that they used a population percentage....that made it so much better.
DDmaybeandor 3 years ago
That’s what I’m thinking. It’s possible she couldn’t sell it because of the birds, but if she talked to the right people, there’s got to be a grant where she could make a buck and move somewhere without them.
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Mazer 3 years ago
Nice try. All California condors were human raised. The species was nearly wiped out completely so they don’t have a “habitat”. They just happen to like her place.
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L.a. Williams 3 years ago
Their nest was where her back porch is now. That's why the house was so cheap
Richard Portman 3 years ago
That's awesome. I'm sure they are very messy, but it is like having your own personal dragon. Cinda is a good sport! In the past several years we have 2 of them fledge successfully from a cave on the cliffs of world famous Angels Landing in Zion NP. Very cool. I would tolerate the nuisance.
#3
Parmeisan 3 years ago
Good to know, I was just depressed after reading the headline because I assumed they went ahead and killed it as soon as they got it back.
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RedMarbles 3 years ago
It should be a law that any animal that escapes a slaughterhouse has won his or her freedom.
Mewton’s Third Paw 3 years ago
All animals deserve freedom and to live, not just the ones who escape torture.
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"I’m very optimistic for 2022," Mike stressed that not all hope is lost.
"I think we’re finally going to get a grip on the pandemic as people continue to get vaccinated, and more medications are developed," he pointed out that the entire world continues to fight against Covid-19. "In the US we have a President that cares about other people more than himself, which is a nice change. Here, and globally, we’ve got to pay attention to threats to democracy."
Mike wanted to share these uplifting words with everyone: "My wish is we all support each other more, and be kinder to each other in 2022. We’re going to get through this, together." And I agree. The only way towards a brighter future is through unity, not division.
#4
Saint Jimmy 3 years ago (edited)
Honestly though the 2nd Alvin and the chipmunks movie was a better love story than twighlit
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Vicky Z 3 years ago
I'm surprised they haven't thought that already!! The story with the lady that invited a stranger by mistake on Thanksgiving is becoming a movie on Netflix! Why not this too?
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Maria Hermida 3 years ago
Spain! The man was not only "a bishop", but one of the most conservative and fundamentalist priests in the Spanish church: homophobic, misogynist and intolerant. Another proof of their hypocrisy.
Nadja Lambacher 3 years ago
It seems the author is also a psychologist, so maybe there is hope. But sad he is so backwards when he was Spain's youngest bishop.
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#5
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
I can't be the only one who would consider having capybaras in my garden to be the best day of my entire life.
Pixie 3 years ago
Aw, I can't believe the "bitten dogs" part. I thought capys were the chill friends of all?
Laura Be 3 years ago
One toy poodle attacked a capybara and it defended itself. It's the only registered incident among hundreds of capybaras but the gated community made a big fuss about it
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Brian Bennett 3 years ago
They are against rich gated communities! Anybody know who got there first!
#6
Kamiru 3 years ago
tthere are too many thoughts clashing in my head reading this ////im gonna try to sort this1THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!!!!! poor camel i cant discribe!! 2so this is allowed? I mean some doctor did it he ACCEPTED to do it but in countries transsexual transition surgery is forbidden but CAMEL PLASTIC SURGERY OBVIOUSLY AGAINST THE CAMELS WILL I-S ALLOWED!!!????? 3 why didn't I think this could exist :( I should have known 4poor camel :(
Prestigous Cactus 3 years ago
I am so with you on this one, but you gotta format better my dude - that's a jumbled jungle of a paragraph up there.
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Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
So is clipping the tails and ears of certain dog breeds, but, sadly, people think it's "required"
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The very first thing that I do when I spot a headline that makes me go, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ is check the source. If it’s not from The Onion or The Babylon Bee, I then go and take a peek if it might be one of the many satire news sites that have popped up all over the internet. You have to be careful that you don’t report on a story that’s purely made up, like so many others have done (which you can read about in more detail right here).
What I love about weird news is that if the topic is sufficiently ‘out there,’ it can even make it to the front page of even the most respectable and trustworthy news sites. Even the most ‘serious’ companies pick up the stories (because who doesn’t love a bit of odd news from time to time?). Political tensions? Financial woes? Global crises? Check, check, and check, right alongside the news that capybaras have infiltrated gated communities and that dozens of camels got banned from a beauty contest because their owners were cheating.
#7
Henry Cheves 3 years ago
When a grid's misaligned with another behind, that's a moire...
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Mayor Lilith 3 years ago
Somebody waited for their entire life for that moment. Let them have it.
Colin Matthews 3 years ago
Well played NYT, Well played... Right up there with "alarm as llama harms Farmer drama"
Oopsydaisy 3 years ago
There is a sub editor somewhere who will dine out on that for the rest of their life.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
When I scuba dived on the Italian coast, Moray Eels (Murene) where a real danger. I remember a german tourist that dived with us once, resurfaced with a moray eel clamped to his thigh. He sawed off the head from the body with his knife, but they had to take him to hospital with the eel still attached.
#8
8Yorkies-and-63cats 3 years ago (edited)
I'm not an expert in life, but if a pack of wild boars want your bag, you give them your darn bag! Then you don't talk about it. Ever. Like it never happened.
Otter 3 years ago
Seriously, what could a person do? Threaten to call the cops on them?
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Sergey Fraimovich 3 years ago
What exactly did she expect to happen? I am not risking my life for your bag, Karen!
Valley Girl 3 years ago
But it's a really expensive bag and it had her really expensive phone! Surely a few peasants could have risked their lives!
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Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Don't know her but should she not have been the first to triy to retrieve her bag!
John Baker 3 years ago
Free clue. Wild boars are dangerous. Nobody in their right mind is going to risk serious injury or worse to save your damn bag. Buy a new one. You can afford it.
#9
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
Anti-vaxxers are ignorant numbskulls. The ones who catch COVID and die should be eligible for a collective Darwin Award.
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Marianne 3 years ago
A man in Greece tried to bribe a doctor to give him NaCl instead of the vaccine. The doctor took the money and still gave him the vaccine, unknown to the patient. 😂
Kendra Miller 3 years ago
Reminds me of a book, terrier by Tamora pierce. A baddy bribed her to turn the other cheek, she took the money and still arrested him. She told him better luck next time. Bribes were an important income for the kennel or station, so they take all bribes and turn the cheek most of the time. Just not always.
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Huddo's sister 3 years ago
I think there was a woman who tried to use a chicken breast on her arm thinking the person giving the vaccine wouldn't notice!
Robert Martens 3 years ago
His own fault, when they asked which arm for the injection, he said the middle.
A while ago, I had an in-depth conversation about the reliability of news sources, media literacy, and propaganda with Lee McIntyre, who is a published author, as well as a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University.
He explained to Bored Panda that repetition plays a key role in making us believe things, whether or not they’re true. “There is a cognitive bias called the 'illusory truth effect' which is when we are repeatedly exposed to false information over and over and, over time, it begins to seem more plausible," he said.
"Social psychologists have known since the 1960s that repetition works, for truth or falsity. In fact, this idea goes back to Plato who said that it didn't hurt to repeat a true thing. And of course, for falsehood, this was one of the main propaganda tactics in Nazi Germany, where Hitler's propaganda minister understood the 'repetition effect,'" Lee from Boston University explained that regimes have weaponized this effect for their own nefarious goals.
#10
Steve Riddle 3 years ago
That's a Plastic Skeleton and so is the Howling Dog Skeleton. I own one!
#11
Rijkærd 3 years ago
F**k me dead. Even wizards getting fired now? He should've made a portion and conjure up the CEO position at Amazon for himself
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 years ago
How did it manage to stay on the payroll for 20 years? Magic, I guess...
Tina Harnish 3 years ago
We should set up a retirement community for idled wizards, witches, etc.
#12
Sarah Sparkles 3 years ago
He drove an atv all over a beach that was closed. It was closed because of all the sea turtle nests! He knew what he was doing and figured he could just pay a fine. He's a garbage human
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Don't know this creep but it does prove man is the invasive species!
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
The one thing jake Paul has proven is that sports are a sell out industry. He has literally paid five excellent athletes to take a dive.
Evil Little Thing 3 years ago
Woodley should be ashamed enough to play in traffic.
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According to Lee, repeating a falsehood over and over again eventually convinces people that it’s the ‘truth.’ This is also true even for the most highly educated individuals who know all about how the theory works. Lee gave a personal example.
"I understand cognitive bias, yet last election season I kept seeing signs for the same candidate running for local office around my town. I thought, 'Wow, I guess everyone is voting for her.' It turns out I was just walking my dog in the neighborhood where she lived, and her friends and neighbors had up lots of signs! So I fooled myself."
In the expert’s view, it would be “exhausting” to fact-check everything that we come across in the news. So we have to be smart in how we use our time and energy to gauge the reliability of the news.
#13
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Mission Impossible - You eat big Christmas dinner - you gonna break chair- this story is crap!
#14
#15
Casey Burns 3 years ago
And the reply: "Who's Sharika? Shakira owed us money though."
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Anne 3 years ago
It's Texas.. I'm pretty sure all of the people there have a gun and a smoker..
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
LOL drug dealers along the borders use them as guard dogs. Totally serious. You can see signs outside houses that say "guard javalina".
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
I'm on the hogs side - they are just looking at what you have done to their home - maybe a little revenge is involved!
"It would be exhausting to fact-check every single news item we hear. In fact, insisting on this degree of skepticism is something that demagogues use to get us to be cynical, because when we doubt that it is possible to know the truth—even when it is staring us in the face—we are riper to their manipulation. So I'd say the best thing with news is to do a little investigation into finding a reliable source," he said that we should prioritize finding trustworthy news sources.
#16
Antony Aston 3 years ago
The only good thing about the pandemic was people having to stay 2 metres away from me.
JillyMack 3 years ago
Remember that the U.K. isn't just England. It also includes Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Very varying cultures. Where I'm from (Scotland), we LOVE hugs and we are all devastated about Omicron and dreading what's ahead. We've been under restrictions by our government far longer than England have and we are so weary for normality. Hugging especially
Babsevs 3 years ago
Us in Wales too..... Now new restrictions announced today, back to WFH and lack of social life
Load More Replies... Karen Clark 3 years ago
Welp......some slipped through the net, because if babies kept getting born, hugging was probably going on anyway......
#17
Daniel Ahlqvist 3 years ago
Search for Gävle goat on Wikipedia and you'll see the goats history. It's built every year, but is burned down most of the years, it's become kind of a strange tradition. It was 5 years ago that is was last burned down, else its often every other year. People in Sweden are divided if they want it to burn or not. There have even been suggestions that it should be burned down each year as a finishing touch, this to detract people to not burn it down
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Mad Dragon 3 years ago
It has been torched or otherwise destroyed 35 times: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sweden-yule-goat-julbocken-fire/index.html
#18
Natalie Bohrteller 3 years ago
Technically he's right, because with Deutsche Bahn he still wouldn't have arrived there.
"Look for an organization that does investigative journalism (and doesn't just repeat information from other sources), double-sources its quotations, discloses conflicts of interest, etc. Once we've found that, we can relax a bit and trust the reporting behind the stories. Do we still need to be on guard? Yes. Even The New York Times can make mistakes. Or individual reporters can have biases. But that doesn't mean 'all sources are equal.'"
#19
8Yorkies-and-63cats 3 years ago
Do these look like full-diaper smiles or is it me having read the caption first?
Vicky Z 3 years ago
I didn't get that either! Why to call them out like that? Maybe even tell us how full the diapers are?🙄
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Lady of the Mountains 3 years ago
Ummm they often launch and land in diapers just to save the hastle of going to the bathroom in the middle of preperations
Anna Banana 3 years ago
Truth be told I assumed that's what they were doing by default - didn't know Dragons had toilets on board. I'd do much more than wear a diaper for a day in oder to go to space...
#20
Catherine Binder 3 years ago
Yeah, the vaccine gave me testicular swelling and I'm a cis woman.
Load More Replies... Béla Kun 3 years ago
How she wasn't fined or sued is a the evidence that famous ppl can do anything without punishment
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
It sure does. Even though the president? of the country said that they had to waste so much time that should have been spent treating people searching for the supposed cousin there was no repercussion.
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Yvette Desmarais 3 years ago
If we told the anti-vaxxers that the shot cured ED, do you think more would get it?
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
My country! Haha. This was based on the statement made by Nikki Manaj. There were soooo many memes after this. Lol
Marco Conti 3 years ago
Well, that's a relief. I can put down the calipers now and stop checking for it.
#21
WiTchY_WoMaN 3 years ago
This is so funny... I'm eating one right now! .... No Jesus' though...
According to Lee, media literacy is vital. And there’s no excuse not to put in the effort to improve our ability to mentally separate the chaff from the grain in the 24/7 news cycle.
“They teach [media literacy] to KIDS in Finland! It's easy to learn. Is the story copyrighted? Is it dated? Is there a byline? Are other stories by the author solid? Is it published in a source that has been reliable in the past? Does it seem plausible—if not then you can do some research," the expert listed what we should be asking ourselves when we come across a peculiar piece of information.
#22
iBlank 3 years ago
ah, he was wearing his suit upside down, not backwards
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Joe Reaves 3 years ago
When you have his money you can afford to have your clothes perfectly tailored and always look fantastic. All it takes is the ability to listen to the experts ie the tailor and to pay your bills. I don't know which one of the two Trump is not doing in this specific case (possibly both) but he always wears badly tailored suits, stupidly long ties, and don't even get me started on the travesty of an outfit he wore to the state banquet in the UK. There is absolutely no reason for someone of his wealth to look so terrible. And I'm fine if he wants to look like a tramp in his free time, but if you want to represent your country you should at least make an effort to look professional.
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
And he always has. Even in the 80s he was a horrible dresser.
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Brian Bennett 3 years ago
His pants are not backward but his mind is - Why would any one want a president to dyes his hair, has a stupid comb over wears lifts in his shoes that makes it look like he's walking down hill - PHONY PERSON WITH STUPID IDEAS! Do you ever wonder what he looks like when he crawls out of bed!
Walking On Sunshine 3 years ago
Seriously who would vote for a man that wears more make up than most women? Republicans really need to stop trying to elect D list reality television personalities and then act offended when they destroy the country.
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#23
Rijkærd 3 years ago
This alphabetical named generational trash talk warfare is becoming silly everyday.
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Even sillier is that they have messed around with the actual generational names. According to google apparently after gen x is millennials, when it always used to be gen y. Millennials were meant to be a subsection of gen z (for those born around the millennium). Now people use millennials as people who were teens in around the millennium. I'm so confused!
Load More Replies... Mark Howell 3 years ago
I asked my 21yo daughter, 'We have millenials, Gen Z etc. I was born in '64, what am I?'. Her reply, "Old". Brutal but true. ;o)
M O'Connell 3 years ago
It makes perfect sense when you consider that the person who wrote it is probably highly biased. Gen Z is "less educated" because the oldest Gen Z-ers (born in 1997) are barely old enough to have finished doctorate degrees, so obviously as a whole they are "less educated" which the writers have used as a dis for some reason. Obviously they'd be more depressed because... just look outside. If you sub "question traditional values" for "without values" it makes much more sense. Headlines are often written to provoke a strong response without even reading the article.
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Jessica Cole 3 years ago
Ugh... Media pitting every difference in society against each other. Constant b.s.
Florence likes women 3 years ago
we’re the ones that are goanna rule this world someday and hopefully we’ll do a good job
#24
Nathan Pogorzala 3 years ago
Trying to stay relevant by being the most ridiiculously "inclusive" person ever.
Psycho Cat 3 years ago
Trying a bit to hard to be unique, special, or whatever the hell she thinks she is...
Hi, I'm Mars! 3 years ago (edited)
Once again trying to stay relevant after the heroin overdose nearly destroyed their career 🙄 They had a pretty solid singing career (among other ventures) prior to that and now it seems they have to engage in increasingly outlandish behavior to grab headlines. Sad.
bxttery_bxby 3 years ago
While this is completely ridiculous, I want everyone to know that Demi Lavato does go by they/them pronouns! Please respect that!
Tina Harnish 3 years ago
Whatever works for people. She felt impelled to help. She's allowed. She wasn't doing any harm. How many throw a bit of salt over their shoulder after spilling a some?
"Will we get fooled sometimes in doing this? Yes. But we're going to get fooled sometimes anyway. It's analogous to how scientists form their beliefs. They are skeptics, but they also—at some point when the evidence is sufficient—give their assent. Scientists deal with warrant, not 'proof.' They are what philosophers call 'fallibilists.' You give your belief to things that are well-sourced with evidence, while always holding out the possibility that if further evidence comes to light that contradicts your belief, you should give it up because you might be wrong."
#25
M M 3 years ago
I've read you can still buy queen Victoria's wedding cake (pieces of it). They're completely dry and preserved in tin boxes.
#26
Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Is he stating that social media is dangerous. "Those who make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" (VOLTAIRE)
Béla Kun 3 years ago
True that, like the ppl that want to convince you of everything swallowing floods and ppl walking on water.
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What do you think ?
ZAPanda 3 years ago
I saw the one about the NZ wizard. Apparently he is real, and he's upset because now he's unemployed.
Jonas Grinevičius 3 years ago
Yes, ZAPanda, it's a tough time for everyone: wizards, witches, and muggles alike...
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ZAPanda 3 years ago
I saw the one about the NZ wizard. Apparently he is real, and he's upset because now he's unemployed.
Jonas Grinevičius 3 years ago
Yes, ZAPanda, it's a tough time for everyone: wizards, witches, and muggles alike...
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