A conservative columnist in the United States has accidentally turned himself into a meme after complaining about a supposed meal that he paid for in Newark Airport which cost him $78. David Brooks, who writes for the New York Times, tweeted an image of a burger, fries, salad and a beverage which he claimed cost him $78. Brooks wrote on X/Twitter "This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible." However, things soon backfired on Brooks after the restaurant itself, the 1911 Smokehouse Barbecue, noted that the tab was corrected but 80 per cent of the bill was made up of Brooks's drinks orders. On Facebook, the venue wrote: "Looks like someone was knocking back some serious drinks - Bar tab was almost 80% and he's complaining about the cost of his meal. Keep drinking buddy - we get paid off everything." The clapback has since been added as a community note to the post which continues to go viral. In fact, it's gone so viral that the post has now spawned its own meme with others sharing mock images of meals that they pretended they paid $78 for. Here are some of our favourites. If that wasn't bad enough for Brooks the restaurant are now selling their own D Brooks Special' which doesn't cost $78. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Hundreds of people who identify as dogs have met up in Berlin city centre but not all is as it seems. The group communicated by barking and howling at each other. Around 1,000 trans-species activists met up at the Berlin Potsdamer Platz railway station in the German capital. The group said they do not identify as human beings and instead wish to be recognised as pooches. One local said: “Just abandon them in the Siberian tundra and let them survive with their canine instincts.” Wilson commented: “I don't see anyone smelling the tail of others.” Jose wrote: “Can you imagine when they all have to defecate?” Eduardo remarked: “Call animal control and give them their rabies doses.” Ivan said: “But if they identify as dogs, why do they put on masks?” However, a community note on the now viral post suggested that it was something altogether different. The note wrote: "This gathering occurred during Folsom Europe, which is a gathering of gay men who are into various fetishes. This particular fetish is called pup play, and these individuals, mostly young, are cosplaying. Most do not believe they are dogs but are wearing a fetish costume." The note also provides a link to SDLGBTN which offers an explainer on pup play. In 2019, British man Tom Peters hit the headlines when he identified as a Dalmatian. Trans-species people do not feel or identify as human beings, but instead as specific animals or mythological beings. The most common creatures are dogs, cats, horses, birds, unicorns, dragons, elves, and even angels. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

If TikTok is to be believed, American men are absolutely obsessed with ancient Rome – and now a historian has explained why. The trend: “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” has swept the social media platform in recent weeks. Scores of women have posted about how often their husbands or boyfriends said they think about it. More often than not, it’s more than once a day. But why the fascination? Historian Tom Holland could have the answer – and it doesn’t reflect well on America. Firstly, he writes in Time magazine, it is likely to be something more “visceral” than the great orators and writers like Cicero and Ovid, whose work still gets academics excited 2,000 years later. Instead, he says, it is because the Roman empire was “the apex predator of antiquity: powerful, terrifying, box-office”. Not only this, he adds, but the fact that it was so long ago means modern audiences don’t feel as uncomfortable with the cruel and violent acts of the Roman Empire as with more recent examples. “The Romans, much like the dinosaurs, are not merely glamorous—they are also safely extinct.” However, writes Holland, an author and co-host of podcast The Rest Is History, there is more to it than that: “Romans, more than any other ancient people, seem to offer America a distorted reflection of itself.” @theyaresam_ the roman empire is actually fascinating “Just as American conservatives today look back wistfully to the Founding Fathers as patrons of an age of rugged independence and virtue, so did the Founding Fathers look back with an equal wistfulness to the early years of Rome. “There, for any infant republic victorious in a war against a great monarchy, was a morality tale to be found that could hardly help but serve as inspiration. “The Romans, like the Americans, had originally been ruled by a king; then, resolved no longer to live in servitude, they had dared all in a heroic and ultimately successful campaign to expel him.” The picture gets less rosy when you look to 21st century comparisons, he continues. Both the US and Rome suffered from from wars in Iraq, the rise of rival superpowers, “political vendettas pursued in the law courts” and “the emergence of radicals preaching that the last will be first, and the first will be last, to the excitement of many, and the consternation of others”. When Americans think of Rome, Holland concludes, they are thinking of a civilisation that is both “strange and familiar; terrifying and glamorous; safely extinct and the image of themselves”. Let's just hope the US doesn't suffer the same fate as the Roman Empire any time soon. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A local man in South Carolina named Randolph White has become an internet sensation, complete with his own remixes, after recreating the sound he heard when the missing F-35 stealth jet crashed near his home. Earlier this week, the US military appealed to the public to help them find the expensive missing plane following a "mishap" that saw the pilot eject from the jet, which carried on flying regardless. Although the missing jet inspired plenty of memes it was eventually found having crashed in rural South Carolina. However, the story has now taken on a new leaf thanks to Randolph White. Speaking to an NBC affiliate, White, wearing an iconic straw hat and what looks like a security vest, said that he was "in the bathroom taking a shave" when he heard an almighty sound takeover his "nice and quiet and peaceful" area. He added that the noise sounded like a cross "between a screech and a whistle" and in a moment that few people would have expected began to recreate the sound himself. “I said, ‘What in the world is this?'” he continued. “And I heard a boom! Then my whole house shook.” White admitted that he thought a meteorite had crashed into the Earth but added "well if it was an airplane, it needs to be reported because that thing was flying just too low." A day later helicopters started circling the area which White thought "somebody must have robbed a bank” or “killed some people or whatever. So, I walked up there, and they told me it was about the plane." The interview has since been viewed more than 4 million times after it was shared by Barstool Sports on X/Twitter. White has now become a viral sensation and his mesmerising interview has now been given several remixes which are well worth your time. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A prominent influencer who boasts over two million TikTok followers has been arrested for eating pork in Bali. Lina Lutfiawati turned to the platform with a video of her eating crispy pork skin, while reciting the Islamic phrase "Bismillah" meaning "in the name of God" in Arabic. The clip that reportedly showed her screwing up her face while chewing on the meat, was reported in March, but she was later charged in May. AFP has since reported that she was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty by a court in Palembang on September 19 of "spreading information aimed at inciting hatred against religious individuals and specific groups". Lutfiawati, who identifies as Muslim, is also required to pay a $16,269.22 (£13,228) fine. If not paid, her sentence could be extended by a further three months. Pork consumption is strictly forbidden in Islam. At the time, it was reported that Lutfiawati was travelling in Bali, where she tried the meat out of curiosity. Following the verdict, Lutfiawati told local a news station: "I know that I am wrong but I did not expect this punishment." Human rights groups have been vocal about the blasphemy law used to charge Lutfiawati. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said: "It contravenes Indonesia’s international obligations in relation to respect and protection for freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The non-fungible token (NFT) craze might be over – but we will always have videos of celebrities endorsing them as reminders of just how unhinged it was. The latest to have re-emerged is of Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon, the US late-night talk show host, and it is quite something. Fallon’s interview with Hilton is from 2022, just before the crypto bubble burst in spectacular fashion last year. It starts with Fallon pulling out a picture of a low-quality cartoon ape, saying: “This is your ape!” "I was going through a lot of them," Hilton said. "I was like, I want something that, like, kind of reminds me of me. But – this one, it does." After a short segment of grindingly awkward conversation, Fallon then pulls out another picture of an ape – his own NFT. Turns out he also wanted something that reminded him of himself. “It reminded me of me a little bit,” he said. He then put the pictures side by side and said, "They're buddies.” Journalist Nooruddean Choudry reposted the clip on X/Twitter, saying: “Still, I’m sure everyone involved in this beyond weird advert to make rich people richer at the expense of gullible idiots is proud of their contribution.” It comes after a report indicated that the NFT market has collapsed and that nearly all NFTs are practically worthless. The study of 73,257 NFT collections found that 69,795 of which have a market value of zero Ether, a popular cryptocurrency used to buy and sell the tokens. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Suspect Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty to escaping Wandsworth prison and people can’t believe it. The 21-year-old former soldier is accused of escaping custody after allegedly sneaking out of the prison on 6 September. Police suspected Khalife escaped via the prison kitchen, where he was working, by attaching himself to the underside of a food delivery truck. After a four-day manhunt, he was apprehended by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer who spotted him cycling along a canal towpath in Northolt, west London on 9 September. On Thursday 21 September, Khalife appeared at the Old Bailey via video link, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of escaping from HMP Wandsworth. Khalife was asked, “Are you guilty or not guilty?”. He replied: “I am not guilty.” Given the worldwide coverage of the events, people have been left shocked, if not impressed, by the absolute audacity of the plea – so much so that “Shaggy” (of 'It Wasn’t Me' fame) began to trend on Twitter. “Just an incredible flex,” one person argued. Someone else called it the “The ‘Shaggy’ defence”. “Maybe Daniel Khalife didn't escape because the outside is the *REAL* prison, eh?” someone else joked. One person argued: “Daniel Khalife pleading not guilty to escaping prison is so classic him. He wants a trial, he wants the attention, he loves it. Get him in the jungle or CBB immediately.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A TikToker has been criticised for leaving a racist comment under her viral video. Ana (@addictedtoana) posted a TikTok of her having an... expressive reaction to pancakes arriving at her table with the overlay text reading "my hangryness leaving my body at the moment I have food." The video, which now has over 36 million views, made many cringe with viewers relating to a woman in the background seemingly judging her, with the majority of comments relating to the girl in the background. Some comments include: "the girl in the back is so real", "we are all the woman in the back", and "I love the girl in the back." Despite thousands of comments saying an iteration of relating to the girl in the back, Ana decided to respond to one comment. @addictedtoana The best part of this video is the woman jugding me #humor The comment Ana decided to respond to was from a Black person who said "girl in the back is me and I am the girl in the back". Ana replied to it saying, "for a Black guy hating in other [another] person that's food for thought society doesn't made [mean] you suffer with hate too?" It seems to be Ana is saying that because Black people endure racism they should not joke about her video and cause suffering on her. The original commenter replied saying "wow so not only are you a cringelord but you're racist too." "You think someone looking at you weird in an iHop is equivalent to racism?!?" Wrote another. And many seemed to agree, with one user commenting "ended her whole career in one reply" Others pointed out the confusing wording of Ana's comment. "I don't even understand what she said," wrote one viewer. "I had to read it three times and I still don't know what she said," wrote another. Indy100 have reached out to Ana for comment. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Everyone enjoys a Meal Deal from time to time – everyone except Spanish police, it seems, who took aim at Tesco to remind people to not eat the paella sandwich. In a viral post to X/Twitter, the Guardia civil force encouraged people to celebrate World Paella Day with the nation's favourite dish – and "not those things they sell out there". The tweet included a photo of the limited-edition sandwich with "prawn, chicken and chorizo on sun-dried tomato bread". It didn't take long for fellow X users to chime in with their takes, with one writing: "As an Englishman, I apologise for any offence caused by my country." Another said: "A paella…sandwich? The Spanish police are correct. The end times are upon us. I’m American and even I understand how wrong this is." Meanwhile, a third person wrote: "I’m not of any Spanish or Latin descent, but I have to agree that a paella sandwich is unequivocally the Devil’s work." It comes after the popular pizza joint Domino's created pizzas based on national dishes earlier this year using AI. Spain's dish featured paella with clams and prawns – finished with a sprinkle of spring onions, while France had Coq au Vin braised chicken, with diced potatoes and rosemary garnish. The UK was given a Beef roast dinner speciality pizza, including potatoes on a bed of gravy, covered in horseradish sauce. A Domino’s spokesperson previously said: “Passing the reins to AI, pizzas generated varied from a somewhat delicious looking Roast Dinner to Carbonara and a clam and prawn loaded Paella pizza. “Signature dishes were also generated for host nation Ukraine in the form of Chicken Kyiv pizza. “And Australia, to see what the country that has competed in the competition since 2015 – to everyone’s bewilderment – would serve up. “And it’s Fairy Bread pizza. “A country and party staple of bread spread with margarine and covered in hundreds and thousands.” Sam Wilson, AI mastermind at Domino’s said: “Pizza brings everyone together, just like Eurovision. “So we challenged AI to generate the perfect pizza for each nation. It’s no surprise the classic Sunday Roast was Britain’s pizza of choice, but we didn’t expect Fairy Bread for Australia. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Influencer and former Bad Girls Club star Morgan Osman has spoken out since being branded the new "crazy plane lady." Viral footage from the American Airlines flight surfaced online earlier this week, which saw Osman flaunting her influencer status while trying to get off the plane. The clip shows the "star" getting a suitcase from an overhead locker, telling a man "Call me a b***h again." "I did nothing wrong," she continued, before telling the man and "his b***h" to "shut the f**k up". It was then Osman was spotted storming down the aisle and hitting back at one person who was recording, saying: "Film me, I’m Instagram famous, you f**king bum." Osman has since opened up to TMZ about the incident, claiming she was not told to get off the plane. "Obviously, things have transpired before the cameras rolled and we all know that. So I feel like it’s very unfair that people are attacking me when I was provoked and reacted," she said, adding that she chose to leave the flight by choice. Speaking about a woman next to her, she claimed: "She got on FaceTime and she’s making fun of me and I said, ‘Morgan this is not the flight for you… Just get off the flight because I’m [going to] knock her the f**k out’". It was then that fellow passengers whipped out their phones to record. "I’m the sweetest girl; nobody films the good s**t I do for people. So, whatever. And it wouldn’t have been a sensation if it wasn’t a sensational 10-second clip,” Osmon said. “I don’t feel bad about any of it. I’ll be the crazy plane lady. I don’t care." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Kick streamer Adin Ross successfully fooled fans after claiming to have secured an interview with Kim Jong Un leading to a reported record for the platform. Earlier this week during a live stream, Ross said he had the North Korea leader "locked in" for chat which will go live in the next 48 hours. He claimed US officials had warned him against the so-called interview, saying: "We definitely got government officials hitting up my legal team. No, I swear to god, it's not that. It got millions of views on Twitter and it's on TikTok and s**t. They see everything! The government sees everything." He continued: "They saw and hit up, basically, my team and they just let me know there could be consequences for this. You know?" Ross even shared a list of planned questions he intended to ask the leader, including: Thoughts on LGBT? Can you give Stake money back? React to Andrew Tate. Visit North Korea? Add Yeonmi Park to call. Trump vs. Biden. USA better than North Korea. E-date? Fake n*tsack prank. On the day of his scheduled interview, Ross' viewers soared with over 333,506 fans tuning in to get a glimpse of 'Kim Jong Un', who turned out to be none other than Howard X, an impersonator. Later in the stream, Ross invited Andrew Tate into the stream – who was just as confused as everyone else. "Let me tell you all a story," Tate said. "You know like I had no money at all and I was growing up in Luton on a council estate with a single mother and no money?" "I had all these dreams of what I'd do if I ever got rich, 'Andrew, if you make hundreds of millions of dollars, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do that,'" he continued. "Turns out, I go to Romanian jail and get woken up at three in the morning by Adin Ross to come and talk to a Kim Jong Un impersonator." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

History buffs on Facebook were left convinced of time travel after a black and white photograph originating from World War II appeared to show a man speaking on a mobile phone. In the image, the conspicuous figure could be seen leaning against a shop front on a crowded pavement amongst locals as well as US army soldiers deployed there. According to The Sun, the image was taken in Iceland’s capital of Reykjavík in 1943 – long before the invention of the portable telephone devices. The first mobile phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was sold in 1973. The man who appeared to be holding a device to his ear was dressed in a light-coloured coat, wore a flat cap and was looking in the direction of the camera that captured the image. The picture which has sparked conspiracy theories of time travel was shared by its owner Kristján Hoffman on the Facebook group Gamlar ljósmyndir, which translates to “Old Photographs”. Hoffman wrote on Facebook: “The American army is taking over Icelandic splendour, as you can see. “One thing that draws attention to this beautiful picture is that above the window, in the corner in the middle of the picture, a man is leaning and is on a cell phone.” The post sparked a lot of debate online as people gave their different theories. One person suggested the man was simply scratching his ear, while another said he was holding his watch up to see if it was working since the man is standing outside a watch shop in the image. But Hoffman stuck to his own beliefs, saying: “He's in a stupor, standing alone and wearing a different headdress than the others and a scarf and acting like we would do today. “He has an overview of the square and nothing like having a conversation with someone on a smartphone.” Another person in the comments joked that Icelanders had “already invented the mobile phone way before anyone else!” Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.