Archive: May 20, 2007 - May 26, 2007
BBC v Scientology: A YouTube Story Starring John Sweeney
When Reporters Attack L. Ron Hubbard Attention South Park writers looking for their next episode! (Comedy Central) While the verdict may still be out as to whether Scientology is a brainwashing cult or not, after a recent run-in with the BBC, two things are abundantly clear: Scientologists can't stand being called cult members, and they have the power to drive even seasoned journalists absolutely insane. BBC reporter John Sweeney, whose documentary "Scientology and Me" ends in a 40-second shouting match between him and Church spokesman Tommy Davis, has apologized repeatedly for his unprofessional outburst. But in this YouTube age, no mea culpa can undo an embarrassing viral video, which supporters of the Church were quick to excrete and smear across cyberspace. Still, a review of his documentary, which aired Monday on the British news show Panorama, reveals another side of what led up to the Springeresque moment. During the 30...
By Emil Steiner | May 25, 2007; 10:25 AM ET | Comments (474)
This Week In Offbeat Crime 5.25.2007
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 this week's "Stupidest Criminal Award": *The first nomination goes to an unnamed New York City jewelry thief/job applicant who was kind enough to leave his curriculum vitae and keys at the scene of the crime. When police called the number on the resume, he may have incriminated himself further by demanding his keys back. **Next we have Michael Autry, of Bel Air, Md., who allegedly walked into a 7-11 while intoxicated and attempted to pay for his chips and Gatorade with marijuana. When the clerk refused to accept drugs as a form of payment, the 27-year-old lost his temper and "allegedly smashed one of the [Gatorade] bottles on the counter, breaking the bottle and spilling the drink on the floor." What, you saying my...
By Emil Steiner | May 25, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Free Speech, Employment Law and The Hooksett 4
Can You Be Fired For Gossiping About Your Boss? Sandra Piper, Joann Drewniak, Jessica Skorupski and Michelle Bonsteel Defend Our Right to Gossip (AP) Perhaps inspired by the Bush Administration's domestic privacy standards, officials in Hooksett, New Hampshire hired a "fact-finder" whose job was to "root out chatterboxes" within the town hall. As a result of that snooping, four female employees of the rural New England town were fired because they admitted to having a conversation about their boss's rumored affair. While on the surface, firing small-town workers for gossiping seems about as logical as expelling high school boys for telling fart jokes, sometimes it takes a shot of absurdity before people can see that logic... and in this case, several shots. According to the "fact-finding" report, it all began with whispers about a tryst involving Town Administrator David Jodoin and another employee identified only with the Kafkaesque moniker "A."...
By Emil Steiner | May 24, 2007; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (19)
Thursday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to May 24! On this date 19 years ago, the British parliament passed Section 28, a controversial amendment which prohibited local authorities from promoting homosexuality and schools from teaching that such a lifestyle was acceptable. It was repealed in 2003. Here's Your Thursday Top Five: 5) Silver Bullet ExplosionDowntown Denver got doused with beer yesterday, when a runaway train derailed after smashing into a parked locomotive. 34 cars in all, including a Coors tanker, overturned spilling the marginally hopped, watery contents across what now may become known as the "world's coldest tasting rail yard." 4) Well If It Worked For Keith RichardsWayne C. Carraway, of Florida, thinks the robbers who broke into his '87 Ford Bronco were searching for drugs when they came upon a cedar box containing a baggie full of gray powder. What happened next remains unclear, but the contents of that bag -- Carraway's father's ashes...
By Emil Steiner | May 24, 2007; 8:30 AM ET | Comments (1)
Wednesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to May 23! On this date 38 years ago, The Who released "Tommy" -- the first musical work explicitly billed as a rock opera. Here's Your Wednesday Top Five: 5) DUI SpecialIn an early bid for this week's Joe Friday Award for "Overzealous Police-Work" officers in Schwerin, Germany pulled over a disabled man they suspected was operating his wheelchair while under the influence. Although the unnamed 31-year-old was in fact 10 times over the blood-alcohol limit, it turns out he cannot be charged with a DUI since he was technically traveling as a pedestrian (he can't exactly walk it off). As a spokesman for the department said: "It's not like we can impound his wheelchair." Police remain confident, however, that they can charge him with something, they're just not sure what yet. Little, Blue, Different (FTWP) 4) What Do E.D.& Jet Lag Have In Common?The answer may be a...
By Emil Steiner | May 23, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Afternoon Teaser: Are U.S. Muslims Cool With Suicide Bombing?
Pew Detects "Hair-Raising" Islamic Ideology Within Our Borders Not Many U.S. Muslims Blame al Qaeda (AP) Forget fighting terror abroad, new research indicates there may be bigger problems in our own backyard! According to a study released today by The Pew Research Foundation, around 25% of U.S. Muslims under 30 say "suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances." About the same precentage of respondents feel that the U.S. war on terrorism is "a sincere attempt to curtail international terror."While this first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans found them to be largely assimilated and "happy with their lives," it also found that a majority of Muslim Americans believe it has "become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most also believe that the government "singles out" Muslims for increased surveillance and monitoring." Still more bizarre...
By Emil Steiner | May 23, 2007; 3:13 AM ET | Comments (281)
NEE Party Attempts to Blow Belgian Election
Mysterious Mouthpiece Mocks Parliament With Sexy Ads Belgium: Where "No" Means "Oh Yeah!" (courtesy of NEE) There are campaign promises, there are dirty campaign promises and then there is Belgium's NEE party, which is offering voters something well beyond the bounds of decency, politics and, by some estimations, human capability. According to their Web site, Tania Derveaux, the "leading NEE party senate candidate in Belgium," is promising oral sex to 40,000 men in order to get voters to write the word "nee" ("no") on their ballots June 10th. The genesis of the 40k fellatio comes in response to ads by several of Belgium's more traditional parties promising "new job opportunities in ridiculous amounts." NEE, a self-proclaimed "impartial protest movement," responded with a parody campaign in which "candidate Tania" posed naked and promised voters "400,000 new jobs." As you might imagine, such provocative advertising "resulted in international media attention," and NEE...
By Emil Steiner | May 22, 2007; 10:18 AM ET | Comments (14)
Tuesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to May 22! On this date 151 years ago, Rep Preston Brooks (D-SC) viciously beat Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA) with a cane on the floor of the U.S. Senate after Sumner made a speech criticizing pro-slavery Southerners. Here's Your Tuesday Top Five: 5) Gay Flamingos Land ChickAs same-sex human couples struggle to adopt children, gay animals are overcoming prejudice and breaking down barriers. Two such pioneers are Carlos and Fernando, a pair of homosexual flamingos in England who this week realized their dream of becoming daddies when they welcomed a beautiful baby chick into the world. Thanks in part to a neglectful mother who abandoned her egg, officials at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), near Bristol, were able to grant the longtime lovers a shot at fatherhood. And while the verdict is still out on whether birds raised by same-sex parents are more or less likely to follow...
By Emil Steiner | May 22, 2007; 8:49 AM ET | Comments (4)
