Archive: June 24, 2007 - June 30, 2007
This Week In Offbeat Crime 6.29.2007
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:" * First up is a couple of thieves from China who bet on whether security cameras had caught their crime. The dynamic duo robbed one Mr. Chen of his money and cell phone at an e-game shop in Dalian city. But feeling sporting they decided to wager as to whether the facility was equipped with cameras. According to 21 year-old thief Hu: "We agreed that the loser had to treat the other to Karaoke." When they returned to verify the bet police arrested them and treated them both to handcuffs and a free ride to jail. ** In our No. 2 spot we have Tana Weke Helsham of New Zealand, for his brilliant idea of using his credit card...
By Emil Steiner | June 29, 2007; 12:20 PM ET | Comments (1)
German Sex Ed = Homosexual Role Playing
Berlin Schools May Battle Homophobia by Teaching Students Gay Pick-Up Lines Field trips to gay pride parades? (Reuters) They say you can't understand someone until you walk a mile in his shoes. Perhaps with this in mind, Germany's Regional Institute for School and Media has introduced a series of exercises in which students pick up same-sex partners. Pupils 14 years old and up will participate by practicing homosexual wooing techniques -- and in the process, officials hope, break down age-old schoolyard prejudices. Not everybody in Germany is enamored of this approach. "I think having such topics on how to pick up gay men in role-playing games for youths is completely wrong," FDP Party education spokesman Mieke Senftleben was quoted saying. "We are talking about 14-year-old pupils," she added. (Was she implying that youngsters should wait until they have reached the age of consent, 16 years old in Germany, before participating?)...
By Emil Steiner | June 28, 2007; 10:35 AM ET | Comments (20)
Thursday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 28th! On this date 231 years ago Thomas Hinkey was hanged for plotting to kidnap George Washington. Hinkey was one of his bodyguards and no relation to John Hinckley, Jr. who attempted some 205 years later to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.Here is your Thursday top five: 5) Shooting Head PainWe've had several nominees over the past couple months for world's heaviest sleeper but Michael Moylan, of Florida, is certainly worthy of consideration. The 45-year-old woke up early Tuesday, with such a headache that he thought he might be experiencing an aneurysm. His wife drove him to the emergency room and after some digging, doctors found a "bullet lodged behind his right ear." When they pulled it out April Moylan, his wife, fled the hospital. Later she told deputies that she had "accidentally" shot her husband while he was sleeping. Motive aside, my question is what kind of...
By Emil Steiner | June 28, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (11)
Sweden, Sex Offenders & Pornography
Court Says Rapist Can Have Porn Absolut Rehabilitation? (Bloomberg) Should sex offenders have access to pornography? If you live in Sweden, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, not only are they allowed to own it and read it, but prisons are also forbidden from taking it away -- for safety reasons. Fire escape? Check. First aid kit? Check. Penthouse? Double check! The decision handed down last week by the Supreme Administrative Court in Stockholm states that denying access to porn magazines to inmates serving time for rape could "jeopardize the security of the institution." And best of all for Sweden's diminutive prison population, the ruling cannot be appealed. Take that, Warden! Not surprisingly, officials from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service are perturbed. They say perusing porn can interfere with a prisoner's rehabilitation. They also make the argument that such literature excites inmates, who may then try to...
By Emil Steiner | June 27, 2007; 11:49 AM ET | Comments (14)
Wednesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 27th! On this date 40 years ago the first electronic ATM was installed in Enfield Town in North London by Barclays Bank. Instead of a card and PIN the machine worked on vouchers and tokens.Here is your Wednesday top five: 5) Cooking PotIn what could be the most successful method ever proposed to get people to eat green leafy vegetables, Indonesia's Vice President Yusuf Kalla, has okayed the use of marijuana as a seasoning. However, the world's most populous Muslim nation is not legalizing pot smoking, only authorizing its use in cooking. Despite "notoriously tough" anti-drug laws, a kilo of cannabis can still be purchased on most streets for as little as $5.50, far less than oregano, basil or even tarragon. 4) E.T. or Banana Tree?Fears that a Malaysian witch doctor had buried alien corpses in a village graveyard were assuaged Tuesday when an exhumation turned up...
By Emil Steiner | June 27, 2007; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Bong Hits 4 Jesus: Supreme Court Rehash
Morse v. Frederick: Free Speech v. Half Baked Lawsuit Can Schools Censor "Non-Disruptive" Jokes? (Dudley M. Brooks) When high school senior Joseph Frederick unfurled a 14-foot banner reading "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" during a class trip, he did it to get attention -- and it worked. His "sophomoric" prank not only got him the media spotlight, it also got him an audience at the Supreme Court, in what some legal experts have called the most important free speech case in 20 years. In yesterday's 5-to-4 ruling in Morse v. Frederick, the court held that schools have the right to censor non-disruptive student speech if it "can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use." Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that even though Frederick's message was "cryptic," teachers could reasonably determine the banner would be understood by other students as promoting recreational pot smoking. Dissenting, Justice John...
By Emil Steiner | June 26, 2007; 1:40 PM ET | Comments (48)
Tuesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 26th! On this date 723 years ago The Pied Piper of Hamelin allegedly lured 130 local children away from church with his intoxicating music and into a cave from where they were never seen again. 686 years to the day after that The United States government declared Christmas a federal holiday. Coincidence? It's more than likely. Here is your Tuesday top five: 5) Your Sunday SkimpiestLess than a week after issuing their 10 commandments of driving, the Catholic Church is now telling parishioners how to dress when they appear in houses of worship. Manila Archbishop Peachy Yamsuan, "has issued posters advising women not to wear short skirts, revealing necklines and spaghetti-strap tops to mass, while men are warned against shorts, caps and basketball jerseys." Catholic school uniforms, however, will remain acceptable. 4) Wide LoadEveryone knows obesity can cause a list of health problems longer than a Cheesecake...
By Emil Steiner | June 26, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Pearson v. Custom Cleaners Press Conference
Before an audience of dozens of reporters from several countries that was crowded into a tiny parking lot in Northeast Washington, Jin Chung stood before his dry-cleaning shop and held before him the pair of slacks that created a worldwide media sensation. As cameramen jockeyed for position, the Chungs' lawyer, Christopher Manning, said it was a "great day for justice." With their daughter translating, the Jin and Soo Chung said they were "happy with the result" when asked what they thought of the American justice system. They also stated that they are no longer planning to move back to Korea, and even went so far as saying Roy Pearson was still welcome as customer. The Chungs' lawyers added that they were certain Pearson would appeal. They also stressed that court costs, which Pearson has been ordered to pay, are much smaller than legal costs, which he hasn't been ordered to...
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 2:06 PM ET | Comments (54)
More on the Verdict in Pearson v. Custom Cleaners
$54 million for a pair of pants???
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 11:55 AM ET | Comments (106)
Pearson v. Custom Cleaners Verdict
I have been inundated with requests for a full copy of the decision. Interested readers can find it here. Enjoy!...
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 11:37 AM ET | Comments (36)
Bong Hits 4 Jesus Supreme Court Ruling
"Morse v. Frederick: Free Speech or Half-Baked Lawsuit?" Schools Can Censor "Non-Disruptive" Jokes? (Dudley M. Brooks) This morning The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that schools have the right to limit a student's speech when it advocates criminal activity. The case of Morse v. Frederick, which some legal experts have called the most important First Amendment test since Vietnam, came about after high school student Joseph Frederick was suspended for unfurling a 14-foot sign reading, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" during a class field trip in 2002. MORE COMING SOON......
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 10:56 AM ET | Comments (70)
Roy Pearson v. Custom Cleaners, The Verdict
Talk About Being Taken to the Cleaners (AP) D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff today ruled that Roy "Pant-less" Pearson is entitled to nothing.: "The Court finds that the plaintiff is not entitled to any relief whatsoever on his claims under the CPPA, Counts One and Four of his Amended Complaint. The Court's analysis of the plaintiff's CPPA claims applies as well to his claims of common law fraud in Count Two of the Amended Complaint. The plaintiff acknowledges that he is required to prove those claims by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence. He has not proven those claims by a preponderance of the evidence, let alone by that higher standard. Judgment therefore will be awarded to the defendants, as well as their costs." MORE COMING SHORTLY, STAY TUNED......
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 10:16 AM ET | Comments (209)
Monday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to June 25th! On this date 16 years ago Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia, further complicating what had already been a difficult few years for cartographers. Here is your Monday top five: 5) Especially Unfriendly SkiesIn one of the more embarrassing public relations faux pas in recent memory, Indian airline Jetlite refused to allow a cerebral palsy patient to board a Delhi-bound flight because personnel thought he looked "unfit for travel." The company, a division of Jet Airways, has since apologized to Rajiv Rajan and promised to train "staff to be sensitive toward people with special needs." Rajan had been flying to Delhi to attend a seminar on disabilities but instead ended up spending three hours pleading with airline officials apparently unfamiliar with the condition. 4) Blind BallStaying in the vein of special needs, four teams of visually impaired baseball players met Saturday for New York's...
By Emil Steiner | June 25, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
