Archive: April 15, 2007 - April 21, 2007
This Week in Offbeat Crime 4.20.2007
Tommy Vercetti they ain't. (Rockstar Games) It's Friday again, and we're looking back on another stellar Week in OFF/beat Crime. Here are your nominees for the ever-popular Stupidest Criminal Award. *First up we have Bradley Charles Barbier, of West Palm Beach, who wanted to go to jail so badly that he allegedly broke into a van in the jail's parking lot and stole a deputy's purse. Apparently the 23-year-old had called Martin County jail earlier "to say he was coming in to serve a weekend sentence," but officials told him he wasn't due to turn himself in. Not taking no for an answer, Barbier showed up anyway and became "loud and rude" with officials, then broke into the vehicle after they turned him away. ***Next we have Thomas E. Bartow Jr., who was "arrested early Sunday after he handed an officer a marijuana pipe instead of his driver's license."...
By Emil Steiner | April 20, 2007; 7:58 AM ET | Comments (4)
Kansas Jail Charging Inmates Rent
Who Says Crime Doesn't Pay? Don't Do the Crime If You Can't Pay the Rent (The Washington Post) Two counties in Kansas are considering charging inmates for serving time while a third has already started. Marion County, in the center of the state, launched this creative take-on rehabilitation a couple of weeks ago in an effort to curb recidivism. Inmates now pay $9.50 per day for their cell, $2.00 for their linens and $.25 for the privilege of using those ever-so-pleasant showers. Additionally, prisoners get "billed the full cost of medications and health care, and $25 to $40 an hour for transportation services" to and from the facility.County Sheriff Lee Becker thinks such charges will "send a message that it's no longer a free ride." Inmates who do work for the county while locked up can shave five bucks off their bill, but those who do work-release programs for other...
By Emil Steiner | April 19, 2007; 11:02 AM ET | Comments (12)
Thursday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to April 19! On this day 20 years ago, The Simpsons debuted on The Tracey Ullman Show with a short episode entitled "Good Night". "What is the mind? No matter. What is matter? Nevermind." Here's Your Thursday Top Seven: 7) A Very Hot Line for Sexual Predators It's amazing the difference two little numbers can make. Long Island legislators had set up what they thought was a "hotline number that helps track the location of sexual predators," but the number they listed (an 800 instead of 888 prefix) connected callers to a phone-sex line. Hi there parent looking to take advantage of Megan's Law, "welcome to an exciting new way to go live, one on one, with hot horny girls waiting right now to talk to you." Is dad still on the phone??? 6) New Drunk Driving RecordDeana F. Jarrett, of Woodinville, Washington, may have broken her state's record...
By Emil Steiner | April 19, 2007; 8:42 AM ET | Comments (3)
"Ismail Ax" The VT Gunman's Final Message?
The Would-Be Clue Sends The Blogosphere Spinning Could "Ismail Ax" Be A Part Of This Picture (NBC) "Ismail Ax." Eight letters scrawled in red ink across the inside arm of Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui; possibly the last thing he wrote before taking his own life. As soon as police revealed that detail, search engines flew into a frenzy as bloggers hunted every inch of the world wide web for some meaning. The phrase surged into Technorati's top ten most popular searches by yesterday afternoon and soon conspiracy theories began popping up as fast as goosebumps on windy April day.Boing Boing led the charge with a measured explanation: "Ismail is an Islamic prophet. AX may also stand for the Alpha Chi Omega women's fraternity." But comments followed which began converting "Ismail" to "Ibrahim" a Muslim prophet who according to the Koran entered an idolater temple and "with his axe he...
By Emil Steiner | April 18, 2007; 2:21 PM ET | Comments (107)
Do Sex Workers Deserve Workers Compensation?
Frivolous Lawsuits or Fair Labor Law? Injuries Can Happen In Any Workplace (AP) Heavy blogging and digging on an eight-year-old OSHA legend raises interesting questions about workers' compensation. The story goes like this: Back in 1999 Marci Lyn Deutsch, a Florida phone sex operator, supposedly won a workers' compensation settlement alleging "she was injured after regularly masturbating at work." Her lawyer Steven Slootsky had claimed, according to reports, that she developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands because of repetitive self-gratification while speaking on the phone to customers as often as seven times a day. Deutsch had asked her employer CFP Enterprises for "$267 a week, based on her salary of $400, plus $30,000 to cover her medical bills after neurosurgery to relieve the pain in her hands." However, the case was settled for a "minimal" amount because "mediator Joseph Hand, a retired workers' comp judge, told her she'd have...
By Emil Steiner | April 17, 2007; 10:57 AM ET | Comments (42)
Tuesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to April 17! On this date 72 years ago, Washington Times founder and self-proclaimed Messiah Sun Myung Moon claimed Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision and implored to him to save mankind. Here's Your Tuesday Top Five: 5) Primate Literature?If you've ever wondered whether monkeys are capable of writing like Shakespeare, the answer appears to be no. Though this may not be surprising, would you believe that a team at the University of Plymouth, in England, was actually given a 2,000 pound ($4,000) grant by the British Arts Council to test it? The intrepid scientists did so by locking "six Sulawesi crested macaque monkeys with a computer keyboard in an enclosure at a Devon zoo for a month." What they found was that "the alpha male bashed hell out of the computer with a stone and the other monkeys did little else but urinate and defecate on...
By Emil Steiner | April 17, 2007; 6:39 AM ET | Comments (4)
Monday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to April 16! On this day 64 years ago, Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD after accidentally spilling some on his fingers. Here's Your Monday Top Five: 5) Which Way to Mecca?In an effort to help Muslim detainees face Mecca when they pray, a Dutch police station painted compasses in their cells. Unfortunately, the painters got things a little backwards and apparently switched east and west. D'oh! Agassi Cuts Graf's Lip 4) Fundraising RacketSteffi Graf needed three stitches to close her split lip after being "inadvertently" struck in the mouth by Andre Agassi's racket during a charity event in which the married couple played while holding hands. The operation was performed by a doctor onsite who had donated $70,000 for the privilege of playing against them. No word if he deducted a co-pay from that donation. 3) Oddest Book Title of 2007Congratulations to Julian Montague, author...
By Emil Steiner | April 16, 2007; 6:14 AM ET | Comments (2)
