Archive: June 3, 2007 - June 9, 2007
Friday Fun Poll: Should Amputee Oscar Pistorius Be Allowed To Sprint In The Olympics?
Can a Disability Give You Too Much Ability? Oscar Pistorius and his "Cheetah Flex Foot" blades (AP) South African Oscar Pistorius can run faster than just about anyone on earth which is pretty amazing considering that he doesn't have legs. Due to a congenital condition, the 20-year-old from Pretoria was born without any fibulae. Before his first birthday, his parents were faced with two choices: he could either spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair, or have both legs amputated from the knee down. They chose the latter, outfitting their son with prosthetic legs that allowed him to walk like anyone else, and it turns, to run even faster. Flash-forward to 2007 and Oscar Pistorius is training for the 2008 Olympics. Not the 2008 Special Olympics or a Paralymics, but the able-bodied 2008 Games in Beijing. Having already shattered the 100 and 200 meter world records for...
By Emil Steiner | June 8, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (18)
D.C. Judge Pearson Cuts $67 Million Pants Suit
Updating This Year's Most Frivolous Lawsuit Talk About Being Taken to the Cleaners (AP) Good news for the Chungs, owners of Custom Cleaners in Northeast Washington. Roy L. Pearson Jr., the D.C. Administrative Court judge who was suing them for $65 plus million over a pair of lost pants, has decided to reduce his claim. Now he only wants $54 million for the lower half of the suit, which cost him the sum total of $1,100. And you thought he was unreasonable! As I reported last month, Judge Pearson successfully took advantage of the District's bizarre consumer protection laws to unleash such a bevy of legal action against Custom Cleaners that they were virtually torted into bankruptcy. So vexed were they, in fact, by his punitive onslaught that the Chungs offered to settle for as much as $12,000 and contemplated a move back to Korea. Lucky for them, Pearson has...
By Emil Steiner | June 7, 2007; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (80)
Thursday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 7th! On this date 32 years ago, The U.S. Supreme Court decided Griswold v. Connecticut effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples. Here's Your Thursday Top Five: 5) Powder-BoozeInnovative Dutch students have come up with a product that makes producing alcohol as easy as whipping up a batch of Kool-Aid! Even crazier, they claim it "can be sold legally to minors." The so-called Booz2Go, comes in 20 gram packets that, when combined with water, create a delightful "bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content." And since Booz2Go contains no liquid alcohol, (until you add water), it might be legal for minors (at least in Holland) to purchase it. Can you say Nobel Prize? 4) Too Much BoostIn what may be this year's most offbeat lawsuit, a New York man is suing the pharmaceutical company Novartis, claiming that a beverage they produce...
By Emil Steiner | June 7, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Perverted Justice: Updating The Genarlow Wilson Tragedy
The Time Has Come For Georgia To End This National Farce Monroe County To Hears Genarlow's Appeal (AP) Though America's history is littered with tales of perverted justice, few have captured the national spotlight like that of Genarlow Wilson, the 17-year-old sentenced to ten years in prison because he had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old. Today, amid intense criticism from human rights groups, the media, even former presidents, a Georgia appeals court is examining whether this promising young man, who has spent the last 27 months behind bars, deserves his freedom. And come Monday, if reason somehow manages a shocking comeback in the Peach state, he could be released, but I'm not holding my breath. Here is the background of the case: "In 2003, Wilson was a 17-year-old senior at Douglas County High with a 3.2 GPA and football skills that had caught the attention of a several Ivy...
By Emil Steiner | June 7, 2007; 12:25 AM ET | Comments (54)
Supermodel Gisele Slams Catholic Church
Gisele Dukes It Out With the Vatican at Brazil Fashion Week Victoria's Secret Angel, Gisele Bundchen (center) thinks virgin wives are so last century (AP) A supermodel is not going to change Vatican doctrine. But that didn't stop Gisele Bundchen from speaking out Tuesday against the Catholic Church's positions on abortion and contraception.The Brazilian supermodel told a Sao Paolo newspaper that the church's policies were concocted centuries ago, when women often were virgin brides, but that "[t]oday no one is a virgin when they get married." She went on to ridicule the church's ban on contraception, saying: "You only have to think of the diseases that are transmitted... I think it should be compulsory to use a contraceptive." And given that she has denied being pregnant with Tom Brady's baby, she's probably speaking from the heart.Not only is Gisele the world's most wealthy model, she also hails from the world's...
By Emil Steiner | June 6, 2007; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (17)
Wednesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 6th! On this date 17 years ago, U.S. District court judge Jose Gonzales ruled that the 2 Live Crew rap album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" violated Florida's obscenity law, declaring that the predominant subject matter of the record is "directed to the 'dirty' thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind." That ruling allowed police to arrest store owners for selling the album and members of the band for performing songs from it. Here's Your Wednesday Top Six: 6)Olympic Symbol Causing FitsIn an incident reminiscent of Japan's Pokémon shake-up of 1997, a video on 2012 London Olympic website has been removed amid reports that it causes seizures in epileptics. This is the second PR boner this week for Summer Games organizers, who Monday unveiled their official 2012 logo which critics likened to both a "toileting monkey" and a "broken swastika." 5) Pricier...
By Emil Steiner | June 6, 2007; 6:06 AM ET | Comments (1)
Singapore Radio 987FM Fined for FHM Bra Show
What's Worse: Women Removing Their Bras or the Suppression of Free Speech? "Two cups in the front, two loops in the back. How do they do it?" (Getty Images) In Singapore's latest battle to blot out obscenity, local radio station 987FM has been fined for hosting a contest in which models raced to remove their bras without taking off their shirts. The affluent southeast Asian city state felt such behavior was not merely inappropriate and offensive, but actually unfit for public consumption. As a result, MediaCorp Radio, the station's broadcaster, will have to fork over $9,800 for what Singapore's Media Development Authority characterized as "contravening a broadcast code." The rather juvenile three-part program, called "No Bra Day," on 987FM's Muttons in the Morning Show was sponsored by FHM Singapore and featured "Girl Next Door models" from a popular men's magazine. Further enraging officials was the video recording of that segment,...
By Emil Steiner | June 5, 2007; 10:26 AM ET | Comments (16)
Tuesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 5th! On this date 51 years ago, Elvis Presley "scandalized America" by suggestively shaking his hips during a rendition of his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show. Here's Your Tuesday Top Five: 5) Ostrich Impotency Case UpdateAlmost exactly three months ago I covered the trial of three German teenagers accused by a farmer of rendering his ostrich impotent by detonating fireworks. Rico Gabel had claimed $6,730 in damages, but will instead have to settle for $188 after the court ruled that it could not prove that the boy's pyrotechnics display had caused E.D. in the once virile bird, Gustav. Luckily his impotency only lasted 6 months and Gustav is now every bit as plucky as before. 4) Strikers Blame Conditions For Low Sex DrivePerhaps inspired by Rico Gabel's lawsuit, South Africa's COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) federation of trade unions is claiming...
By Emil Steiner | June 5, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Illinois School Denies Diplomas For Enthusiastic Cheering
Was Galesburg High Justified in Withholding Five Students' Diplomas Because of Parental Over-Exuberance? Honor Student's Achievement Superseded by Audience's Lack of Decorum (AP) When it comes to offbeat news topics few sources have been so rich as the American education system. The latest in what is already an embarrassingly long list of stories I've covered comes out Galesburg, a former factory town in northwestern Illinois, where five high-schoolers had their diplomas withheld because the audience cheered when their names were called during graduation. How could this be legal, you ask? Last month, Galesburg High School asked students and parents "to sign a contract promising to act in [a] dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from an after-graduation party." As a result, five students, including honors student Caisha Gayles, had what should have been a moment of celebration transformed into "one of the worst...
By Emil Steiner | June 4, 2007; 11:34 AM ET | Comments (73)
Monday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 4th! On this date 33 years ago, the Cleveland Indians attempted an ill-advised 10 cent beer promotion for a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cleveland forfeited 9-0 after alcohol-fueled mayhem and violence spread from the stands onto the field with fans stealing Texas players caps and gloves. Here's Your Monday Top Five: 5) Near-Fatal LoogieEveryone's enjoyed the fun of a good spitting contest, but one recent event in Forst, Germany took a tragic turn when a father fell from his second-story balcony while attempting to out hawk his son. The 43-year-old man, who apparently lost his balance on a forward thrusting lunge spit, was air-lifted to hospital where he is listed in critical condition. 4) Hot Dog! A New RecordThis weekend Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California, decimated the previous world hot dog eating record, ingesting 59.5 hot dogs and buns in 12...
By Emil Steiner | June 4, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
