Archive: July 22, 2007 - July 28, 2007
This Week in Offbeat Crime 7.27.2007
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 is a team of creative geniuses from China who are accused of stealing $6.7 million and using it to buy lottery tickets in an elaborate get-rich-quick-scheme that (as such schemes tend to) failed miserably. A few days after blowing nearly all the cash on numbers that didn't come up, the five bank workers and accomplices were arrested. Need more proof that the lottery is a tax on stupidity? ** In our No. 2 spot we have a couple from Virginia that attempted to evade police the old-fashioned way: on horseback. The dynamic due first aroused suspicion when the man was seen urinating on the wall of a convenience store Saturday night. Witnesses reportedly told him to stop...
By Emil Steiner | July 27, 2007; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
In Memoriam: Weekly World News Dies At 28
Here are my 10 favorite headlines from the paper version of the WWN over the years -- what are yours?
By Emil Steiner | July 26, 2007; 10:33 AM ET | Comments (87)
Thursday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to July 26th! On this date 16 years ago, Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens was arrested in a Sarasota, Fla., theater for exposing himself. Ever since, "Pee-wee's Playhouse" hasn't had quite the same meaning. And on that note, here is your Thursday Top 5: 5) Ready Maid Urine As the saying goes, one woman's skin cream is another man's poison. An Indonesian maid who pleaded guilty to serving her employer a glass of water laced with urine was sentenced Wednesday to six days in jail. Despite her plea, the 29-year-old claimed she was using "the urine to treat a skin condition" and that it got in the water accidentally. Sounds plausible. After all, if you really want to slip someone some urine, there are better beverages to use than water! 4) Big Brother Likes To Watch Kissing means many things in many places, but for Beijing's closed-circuit security cameras, it...
By Emil Steiner | July 26, 2007; 6:15 AM ET | Email a Comment
Zimbabwe Duped By Mystic
Mugabe Regime Hunts Spiritual Medium After Miracle Rock Comes Up Empty Do you believe in magic? (Reuters) Since taking control of Zimbabwe in 1980, President Robert Mugabe has piloted the once-prosperous south African nation into the kind of tailspin that makes "Leaving Las Vegas" appear upbeat. And yet despite a list of political and economic missteps longer than ODB's rap sheet, his latest move still seems admirably idiotic. With inflation hovering around 1.5 million percent and massive fuel shortages the de-facto dictator did what any sensible head of state would. According to a number of reports, he pinned his hopes on a witch doctor who claimed to be have a magic rock from which diesel fuel oozed. Rotina Mavhunga the "traditional healer" in question, made headlines in April when she announced the discovery of "hundreds of years" worth of the refined fuel within a boulder on top of a hilltop...
By Emil Steiner | July 25, 2007; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (8)
Wednesday Breakfast Bender
Welcome to July 25th! On this date 42 years ago, Bob Dylan caused quite a stir at the Newport Folk Festival when he "abandoned" his acoustic roots by plugging in and playing alongside an electric blues/rock 'n' roll band. He sure had a lot of nerve! Here is your Wednesday Top 5: 5) Legislation That Puts You to Sleep If you're like me, you're either falling asleep at your desk right now or chugging quarts of coffee to keep your eyes open. Rather than enduring such a life-draining cycle of REM deprivation, perhaps we could all just move to Hungary. That's where this week the parliament approved a referendum on a law that would create state-sanctioned siestas! Proponents of the measure now need only collect 200,000 signatures to get it on the ballot in the next general election. Sweet dreams, Budapest. 4) Cincinnati Sinners An amorous homeless couple found out...
By Emil Steiner | July 25, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Lack of Gay Rights Causes Alimony Abuse
How California's Stance Against Same Sex Marriage Actually Helps Lesbians Can homosexuals have their cake and eat it too? Is it possible that laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman provide benefits to gays unavailable to married heterosexuals? Judging from a recent legal ruling in California, the answer would seem to be yes. In March, I wrote about the story of Julio Roberto Silverwolf (nee Julia), whose ex-husband was forced to continue to pay alimony even though Silverwolf's sex change operation made it impossible for them to reconcile. That was in Florida. Now there's a similar case in California: A judge in Orange County has ordered a man to continue paying alimony to his ex-wife despite the fact that she is now in a registered domestic partnership with another woman. According to the ruling, Ron Garber is legally bound to give Melinda Kirkwood (she took...
By Emil Steiner | July 24, 2007; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (23)
Tuesday Breakfast Bender
From pantsless bikers to bull-on-vet violence, here is your morning dose of offbeat news.
By Emil Steiner | July 24, 2007; 5:59 AM ET | Email a Comment
Making the Language Barrier Work for You
A court's inability to find an interpreter for a suspected child rapist may allow him to go free.
By Emil Steiner | July 23, 2007; 9:30 AM ET | Comments (42)
Monday Breakfast Bender
After climbing the Golan Heights and cruising through the West Bank, it's great to be back in the world of Offbeat news! So, welcome to July 23rd! On this date 104 years ago the Ford Motor Co. sold its first car, the Model A, to a Chicago doctor. The standard model cost $750 with additional options including a rear tonneau with two seats and a rear door for $100, a rubber roof for $30 or, for the real high rollers, a leather roof for $50. Here is your Monday Top 5: 5) Charity Gone Wild! While donating computers to students in Third World countries may open educational doors never before available to them, even the best intentions can backfire. In Nigeria, for example, schoolchildren who received laptops from U.S. aid organization One Laptop Per Child, have reportedly been using them to check out pornographic sites! Kids misusing the Internet! What's...
By Emil Steiner | July 23, 2007; 6:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
