Weird News

Mike Huckabee has a solution for the toilet paper shortage being experienced across the country -- wipe up with Mother Nature's own stockpile ... straight from the cornfield!

The former Arkansas governor tweeted out the bizarre advice, saying people should simply turn to the crafty crop for their bathroom needs. He wrote, "Those of us from rural south know how to handle toilet paper shortage."

MH continued, "Eat more corn on the cob! The corn isn't important, but the cobs are free and work great!  (Just don't flush them!) You're welcome!" Now, Mike's no farmer ... and isn't said to have grown up on one either. So, proceed with the homemade toiler paper recommendation at your own risk -- hard to tell if there's any truth or science behind it.

We should also say for those not totally up to speed on their produce terms here, Gov. Huckabee's not talking about using the husk (the outer leafy coating covering the corn itself) ... he's referring to what lies beneath. The cob is what the corn kernels grow on ... the so-called "pole," if you will, that's left behind when an ear of corn is shaved down.

Coronavirus is the mother of invention -- just ask the exotic dancers at Atlanta's Magic City, who've found a way to stay on the pole through the pandemic.

The world-famous strip joint closed its doors last week -- like most strip clubs in the ATL -- but Magic City's keeping its strippers employed through a Livestream. On Friday, the club went live with a deal regular customers have gotta love.

For $20, online patrons get 24-hour access to watch strippers do their thing onstage. Once you're virtually in, you can switch between each dancer who's on the clock. As the club reminded its nearly 100k Instagram followers ... "Who Checkin In For DayShift Action 👀 🤑"

Not exactly the same as "Gentlemen, coming to the stage ... " but these are weird times. We're all adjusting.

Btw, $20 is the usual cover charge just to get inside the club. You'd end up dropping way more in real life on lap dances and -- for you ballers -- champagne room dances.

If you've got the time -- and we know ya do -- they've got dancers who still gotta get through school. Just sayin' ...

America and junk food are getting back together after years apart ... and it only took a global pandemic to kick start the reunion.

According to a new Bloomberg report, a massive and noticeable trend is starting to emerge in the buying pattern of panicked U.S.-based shoppers these past few weeks ... who've been flocking to their local grocery stores and grabbing the essentials off the shelves en masse.

Long story short ... the country's giving up kale, and they're going back to Oreos. In other words, keeping up with the health kick is over, people. We're going back to what we know.

There's a number of possible reasons for this outlined in the report, but the biggest seems to be basic shelf life and expiration dates. A lot of the junk food shoppers are pivoting to is simply going to last longer than pretty much any of super/health foods they've gravitated towards of late. Plus, a lot of the old-school snacks are sold in bulk, and are easier to grab and go in these scary times. Another explanation ... we're creatures of habit.

The numbers are there to back up the theory too -- sales for companies like General Mills, Tyson Foods, Campbell Soup, Kraft and Heinz are going through the roof of late. The company behind Spam is also blowing up with a 37% spike, and Oreo maker Mondelez Int'l is also peaking.

Costco's been packed to the gills lately -- and to get folks the hell out of their warehouses ASAP ... certain locations aren't even giving you the option to park it anymore for a bite.

Check out these photos TMZ got of the Costco location out in Arlington, VA -- just a stone's throw from D.C. -- where they've got their act together down to a tee ... especially in the food court area, where they've yanked all the dining room tables that are normally there.

As you can see ... the area in front of the pick-up window -- which is usually designated for seating -- has been completely cleared. Heck, even most of the food options are limited ... looks like their hot dog and soda special is one of the few things you can grab to go (emphasis on go).

When it comes to the other survival staples members have been clamoring for these past few days -- it appears the Arlington location lets you know from the jump what's available ... and what isn't. They got signs out front indicating which products are in stock.

It's certainly efficient, and right on brand with Costco as a whole. With lines wrapping around the building, it looks like the honchos figured out easy ways to save people time and headaches -- especially when it comes to post-spree meals people might wanna indulge in.

Measures like pulling the dining tables are happening at several different locations across the country -- and pretty soon ... most of them might very well be doing this.

So, don't consider Costco a place to casually shop and nosh -- it's turned into In-N-Out these days. Hop to it now!

The sun will come out ... and when it does someone's gonna make bank!!! Bettors benched by coronavirus shutting down sports are turning their eyes and wallets to the weather.

Bovada -- one of the country's leading online sportsbooks -- tells TMZ ... since pro sporting events, games and seasons have been canceled or postponed -- their customers are laying wagers on the site's "Weather Betting" channel. It's way less complicated than typical sports bets ... which may be a good or bad thing.

The vast majority of Bovada's weather bets are simply about the temperature in a particular U.S. city. For instance, will it be over or under a certain degree on an upcoming day. In L.A., the line is set at 61 degrees for March 18. The odds for over or under that temp are equal ... if you lay down $120 and you're on the correct side of the thermometer, you'll win $100.

Long story short, there's no favorite or underdog -- ya just gotta guess right! Now, we're not saying you're a degenerate gambler if you're wagering money on Friday's weather in Billings, Montana, but ... y'know.

Look, until the Lakers, Rockets, Yankees and Red Sox get back in the swing ... weather's all ya got.

With toilet paper disappearing from stores amid the coronoavirus pandemic, folks are looking elsewhere in their quest to clean their bottoms ... bidets!!!

Bio Bidet, one of the top-rated bidet companies in the business, tells TMZ ... sales are skyrocketing as people struggle to find TP rolls or even a square to spare.

The bidet giant tells us ... Bio Bidet saw over $250,000 in sales in a 24-hour period after the outbreak, and those figures are just from transactions on Amazon alone.

TUSHY -- also a top company -- has seen sales soar to 10x their usual and over double what they were a year ago. Brondell, another manufacturer, has also seen sales spike to close to 10x.

People are also searching for and researching bidets in droves ... company honchos tell us searches for "bidet" on Amazon rose over a thousand ranks to become one of the Top 10 most-searched items on the online retailer.

One Bio Bidet product is already sold out ... the slimedge attachment, which retails for $59 and connects directly to your freshwater supply.

It's pretty saddening to see people fighting over toilet paper in brick-and-mortar stores ... but Bio Bidet says they're committed to providing quality hygiene products to as many homes as they can, despite the unfortunate TP circumstances.

Capitalism is the s***!!!

The dearly departed hopefully won't hold a grudge over low funeral turnouts -- coronavirus is keeping loved ones at home.

TMZ spoke with several prominent funeral homes in major cities across the country -- and the overall message was this ... they're scaling back, and finding innovative ways to grieve those who've passed on during the global pandemic. Prepare for morbidity, folks.

For starters, several mortuaries -- including some in Chicago, San Fran, Fort Lauderdale, New York and Los Angeles -- tell us they're planning on limiting the number of guests allowed at any given burial service in the coming weeks ... hard as that may be.

With the CDC's newest guidelines of no more than 50 bodies in one place at one time ... it sounds like just about all the parlors will attempt to honor that. The question of how is interesting though ... each spot does it differently, some with more ingenuity than others.

Chicago's Leak & Sons Funeral Home says it's considering implementing a "family only" rule for now, in hopes of keeping things compact. James C. Boyd Funeral Home in FL says it's putting a hard cap of 50 people per service ... and a morgue in NYC says they're drawing the line at just 25 at a time. A funeral joint in SF tells us they've seen customers push out funeral dates entirely, solving the problem of crowd control for them.

Now, the more innovative route is being embraced fully by a cemetery in L.A. called Hillside Memorial, where tons of celebs are buried. They say they're offering live streams as an alternative, so anyone who wants in on the service can watch from home.

Some of these other places have streaming options too, but none quite as robust as Memorial's -- which normally costs $235 a pop. Not these days though ... we're told they're waiving it in light of the new safety measures brought on by the outbreak.

So, no worries, your funeral can still get max views. 💀

As coronavirus fears skyrocket and the stock market plummets ... Soulja Boy's making a whole lot of money off a pretty clean gamble.

Sources close to the rapper-turned-entrepreneur tell TMZ ... he's invested in a company called The Soap Shop -- which, of course, sells soap products and the like. We're told Soulja went in on a franchise location in Mississippi last year with his manager, CEO Miami Mike.

Our sources say Soulja's trying to diversify and heard it was a good investment opportunity. What he didn't know is how well-timed it was.

As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has people frantically looking for soaps, disinfectant products and anything that'll kill germs. That all adds up to a massive profit for Soulja and co.

Our sources say TSS as a corporation has gone from selling 100 bottles of cleaning products per month to well over 3,000-plus cleaning products in the last 2 months. That's about a 3,000 percent increase, and we're told it's record-setting production.

Soulja and Mike's specific Soap Shop location -- in South Haven, MS -- is seeing similar results. Our sources say profits have tripled without changing anything.

One last thing, the soap venture actually benefits the youth. Soulja has linked his Soap Shop location to a charity called Bubbles for Cash.

The run on toilet paper and wet wipes has nothing on seriously hard alcohol -- 'cause people fearing a full coronavirus outbreak are snatching up booze to cook up their own sanitizer.

Everclear, the potent 190-proof grain alcohol college kiddos traditionally use for Jell-O shots, is in crazy demand now that enterprising DIYers know it's one of few alcohols potent enough to kill nasty bugs like COVID-19.

The craze for the specialty booze is coast-to-coast. The good folks at Seattle's Downtown Spirits tell us they're fresh outta Everclear. A clerk says customers aren't hiding their intentions -- "They're buying it for the sanitizer." The price tag's a mere $20, but he told us it wasn't a commodity until this week.

We're told they sold 40 bottles in 2 days -- more than twice what they normally sell.

Ditto for Broadway Spirits in Manhattan's posh TriBeCa 'hood where they've had customers calling in to make sure Everclear's still in stock. A clerk there told us it's about to go on backorder.

As you know, brand-name germ killers like gels and wet wipes are vanishing from stores -- and the homemade craze started when the World Health Organization released a few recipes to help out newbie chefs.

They suggest folks pull isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and glycerin (if you have it) from cupboards and start whisking to attempt a homemade Purell, if you will. Everclear would come in handy if you're short on isopropyl A.

The Center for Disease Control prefers washing hands. But if soap and water aren’t “readily available” the agency suggests using a hand sanitizer containing “60% alcohol.” Grain alcohol to the rescue!!!

Buyers should carefully read the label because some spirits don’t pack enough punch. Tito’s Handmade Vodka admitted on social media it "does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC."

When life gives you fears over coronavirus ... make some hand sanitizer and sell it at your lemonade stand!!!

Check out these funny pics of two young entrepreneurs in Texas ... the kids are putting a twist on the classic suburban lemonade stand by hawking bottles of hand sanitizer for $3 a pop.

These smart salespeople are cashing in on the hand sanitizer craze ... as you know, people are stocking up on the stuff over fears of catching coronavirus, and stores across the country are selling out ... and they're taking extra precautions by including their Venmo. Money is dirty!

This lemonade hand sanitizer stand is right outside Austin ... makes sense, the city just declared a local disaster and the upcoming SXSW music festival is canceled.

Gotta hand it to these kids, they're making the most of a bad situation ... looks like the country is in great hands!!!