News of the Weird, May 16, 2010
3 views
Skip to first unread message
Chuck Shepherd
May 16, 2010, 8:33:01 PM5/16/10
to newsoft...@googlegroups.com
WEIRDNUZ.M162 (News of the Weird, May 16, 2010)
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2010 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Our Expanding "Rights": (1) In April, a high official of the
European Union called for member-nations to subsidize "vacations"
for seniors, the disabled, and those too poor to afford one. Said
Commissioner (for enterprise and industry) Antonio Tajani,
"Traveling for tourism today is a right." (2) In April, the town of
Olathe, Kan., became the second city in two years to settle lawsuits
filed by citizens who were arrested for flashing their middle fingers
at police officers, thus appearing to acknowledge that flipping the
bird contemptuously at a cop is expressive conduct protected by the
First Amendment. (Philadelphia paid out $50,000; Olathe, one-
sixteenth the size, paid out $5,000.) [National Post (Toronto)-
Times (of London), 4-19-10] [KSHB-TV (Kansas City), 4-16-10]
Can't Possibly Be True
* The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., famously pickets
targets around the country with explicit anti-homosexuality signs
and recently chose as venues the funerals of deceased U.S. soldiers
and Marines (calling such deaths God's punishment for America's
acceptance of gays and lesbians). One grieving Marine family in
York, Pa., filed a lawsuit accusing Westboro of "intentional
infliction of emotional distress" by picketing their son's 2006
funeral, but a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in March that such
protests are protected by the First Amendment. Piling on, the Court
added that the grieving family must also pay Westboro $16,510 to
cover its costs in having to defend the lawsuit. [Baltimore Sun, 3-
29-10]
* Michelle Taylor, 34, was sentenced in Elko, Nev., in April to life
in prison, solely for the crime of forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch
her breasts, twice. The sentence was mandatory under a certain
state law, but, said her lawyer, "She is getting a greater penalty . . .
than if she killed [the boy]." (She could be eligible for parole after
10 years.) Elko Valley Daily Press, 4-14-10]
Inexplicable
* Baltimore County (Md.) Judge Darrell Russell Jr., presiding over
a March domestic violence case in which the woman obviously had
changed her mind about blaming the boyfriend, performed the
couple's marriage ceremony in his chambers after temporarily
halting the boyfriend's trial. Earlier, Judge Russell had informed the
woman that she could not refuse to testify based on "marital
privilege" because she and the boyfriend were not married.
Consequently, as the trial started, she asked the judge to marry
them. After the ceremony, she was then granted the "marital
privilege," and the judge dismissed the charge for lack of evidence.
(Russell has now been reassigned to less important cases.)
[Baltimore Sun, 3-18-10]
* When Joseph Velardo, 28, was arrested in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in
April after shoplifting items from a Staples store, he for some
reason expressed relief that the charges would prevent him from
being accepted by law schools. He explained that, since the value
of the goods was over the "$300" line that separates a mere
misdemeanor from a 3rd-degree felony, law schools, thankfully,
could no longer accept him. While officers were busy being puzzled
about all that, the Staples manager told the police that the actual
value of Velardo's take was $276.88. [WPTV (West Palm Beach),
4-7-10]
* Justin Massler, 27, charged with criminal stalking of 28-year-old
businesswoman-heiress Ivanka Trump, was released on bail in New
York City in April but explained to a New York Daily News
reporter that he intended to alter his approach. Instead of imposing
himself on Trump, he said he would "become like a big-time
millionaire, real estate mogel, so that she's the one who contacts
me." [New York Daily News, 4-5-10]
Unclear on the Concept
* At press time, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is
considering declaring veteran comedian Guy Earle guilty of
discrimination against two uncloseted lesbians who were heckling
him in a night club. According to Earle, the women were loud, rude
to the waitress, and contemptuous of Earle, and thus opened the
door to combat-type comedy of insult-exchange, except that some
of his insults referred to the women's sexual orientation and frisky
behavior at the table. Earle said his job requires him to be
"offensive" and that the traditional verbal jousts between comedians
and hecklers are not the same as illegal "hate speech." [Canadian
Press, 3-28-10]
* Fuzzy Thinking: (1) Schools' conventional "zero tolerance"
policies prohibiting guns or weapons on campus not only applies (as
it has recently) to drawings of guns and to a two-inch-long toy
charm in the shape of a gun, but, at an Ionia, Mich., school, to
making the familiar, thumb-up hand representation of a gun Mason
Jammer, 6, was suspended in March. (2) Carly Houston, 29, was
arrested in Naperville, Ill., in March after a rowdy early-morning
dispute with a taxi driver, and, given her customary "one phone
call" to ask a friend to post bond for her, she chose instead to call 9-
1-1 and report that she was "trapped inside a detention facility"
(thus causing police to add "abuse of 9-1-1" to the charges).
[Grand Rapids Press, 3-4-10] [Naperville Sun, 3-23-10]
* Erlyndon Joseph Lo, 27 and a graduate of Southern Methodist
University law school, was arrested in April after threats against a
Dallas, Tex., women's clinic that performs abortions. Police were
tipped the day before when Lo appeared at the federal courthouse in
Plano, Tex., and sought a formal judicial ruling that would protect
him from harm, even if he were to use deadly force "to defend the
innocent life of another human being." [Dallas Morning News, 4-6-
10]
Latest Protests
* (1) In April, outdoing the recent partisan spats in the U.S.
Congress, several dozen members of the Ukrainian parliament
squared off over a cooperation-with-Russia bill that eventually
involved headlocks, punching, a smoke bomb, glue (in the voting
machines), and cartons of eggs tossed at the speaker's platform.
Russian president Medvedev called it the chamber's "traditional
elegance." (2) Sweden's Metro newspaper reported in March that a
21-year-old inmate at Kirseberg prison in Malmo faces discipline
for continuing his protests against jail conditions by aiming his gas-
passing directly at guards. [Voice of America News, 4-27-10]
[Daily Telegraph (London), 3-25-10]
Recurring Themes
* Federal agents in April uncovered an elaborate bestiality ring
(involving horses) in Washington state. Facility operator Douglas
Spink is suspected of using the site to make pornographic videos for
perverts, and a visitor from England was arrested as a suspected
paying customer. This farm is near Bellingham, Wash., and the
operation is completely separate from the 2005 raid on a similar
facility near Enumclaw, Wash. (about 110 miles away), in which
one man died of a perforated colon following penetrative sex by a
horse. The state had no specific anti-bestiality law in 2005, but one
was enacted after the Enumclaw episode. [KING-TV, 4-15-10]
Readers' Choice
* (1) Albert Bailey, 27, and a 16-year-old buddy were charged with
robbery of a People's United Bank in Fairfield, Conn., in March,
after they made it much too easy for police by calling the bank
beforehand and demanding that money be set aside for them to pick
up at a certain time. Police were waiting in the parking lot. (2)
Megan Barnes, 37, was arrested in March after being spotted
driving erratically in Cudjoe Key near Key West, Fla. After several
implausible explanations, Barnes admitted she had a razor and was
giving herself a "bikini shave" as she drove. Several traffic charges
were filed against her. [Connecticut Post (Bridgeport), 3-24-10]
[Key West Citizen, 3-5-10]
A News of the Weird Classic (June 1997)
* Robert Jordan filed a lawsuit in May 1997 against the New
London, Conn., police department for illegal discrimination,
claiming he was rejected as an officer solely because he scored too
high on an intelligence test. The department admitted the
discrimination, offering the defense that a person of such
intelligence would quickly get bored with police work. U.S.
District Judge Peter Dorsey agreed with the department and
dismissed the lawsuit. [Cleveland Plain Dealer-AP, 5-31-97] New
York Times, 9-9-99]
Thanks This Week especially to Gary Davidson and to the
many, many newshounds who knew instantly that the Readers'
Choice stories belonged in News of the Weird! And thanks as usual
to the News of the Weird Senior Advisors and Board of Editorial
Advisors.
* * * * *
Are you ready for Chuck Shepherd's Weekly Intelligence
Briefing? Every Tuesday at http://NewsoftheWeird.blogspot.com
Other handy addresses: WeirdNews at earthlink dot net,
http://www.NewsoftheWeird.com, and P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL
33679.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NewsoftheWeird" group.
To post to this group, send email to newsoft...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to newsoftheweir...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/newsoftheweird?hl=en.
by Chuck Shepherd
Copyright 2010 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
* Our Expanding "Rights": (1) In April, a high official of the
European Union called for member-nations to subsidize "vacations"
for seniors, the disabled, and those too poor to afford one. Said
Commissioner (for enterprise and industry) Antonio Tajani,
"Traveling for tourism today is a right." (2) In April, the town of
Olathe, Kan., became the second city in two years to settle lawsuits
filed by citizens who were arrested for flashing their middle fingers
at police officers, thus appearing to acknowledge that flipping the
bird contemptuously at a cop is expressive conduct protected by the
First Amendment. (Philadelphia paid out $50,000; Olathe, one-
sixteenth the size, paid out $5,000.) [National Post (Toronto)-
Times (of London), 4-19-10] [KSHB-TV (Kansas City), 4-16-10]
Can't Possibly Be True
* The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., famously pickets
targets around the country with explicit anti-homosexuality signs
and recently chose as venues the funerals of deceased U.S. soldiers
and Marines (calling such deaths God's punishment for America's
acceptance of gays and lesbians). One grieving Marine family in
York, Pa., filed a lawsuit accusing Westboro of "intentional
infliction of emotional distress" by picketing their son's 2006
funeral, but a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in March that such
protests are protected by the First Amendment. Piling on, the Court
added that the grieving family must also pay Westboro $16,510 to
cover its costs in having to defend the lawsuit. [Baltimore Sun, 3-
29-10]
* Michelle Taylor, 34, was sentenced in Elko, Nev., in April to life
in prison, solely for the crime of forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch
her breasts, twice. The sentence was mandatory under a certain
state law, but, said her lawyer, "She is getting a greater penalty . . .
than if she killed [the boy]." (She could be eligible for parole after
10 years.) Elko Valley Daily Press, 4-14-10]
Inexplicable
* Baltimore County (Md.) Judge Darrell Russell Jr., presiding over
a March domestic violence case in which the woman obviously had
changed her mind about blaming the boyfriend, performed the
couple's marriage ceremony in his chambers after temporarily
halting the boyfriend's trial. Earlier, Judge Russell had informed the
woman that she could not refuse to testify based on "marital
privilege" because she and the boyfriend were not married.
Consequently, as the trial started, she asked the judge to marry
them. After the ceremony, she was then granted the "marital
privilege," and the judge dismissed the charge for lack of evidence.
(Russell has now been reassigned to less important cases.)
[Baltimore Sun, 3-18-10]
* When Joseph Velardo, 28, was arrested in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in
April after shoplifting items from a Staples store, he for some
reason expressed relief that the charges would prevent him from
being accepted by law schools. He explained that, since the value
of the goods was over the "$300" line that separates a mere
misdemeanor from a 3rd-degree felony, law schools, thankfully,
could no longer accept him. While officers were busy being puzzled
about all that, the Staples manager told the police that the actual
value of Velardo's take was $276.88. [WPTV (West Palm Beach),
4-7-10]
* Justin Massler, 27, charged with criminal stalking of 28-year-old
businesswoman-heiress Ivanka Trump, was released on bail in New
York City in April but explained to a New York Daily News
reporter that he intended to alter his approach. Instead of imposing
himself on Trump, he said he would "become like a big-time
millionaire, real estate mogel, so that she's the one who contacts
me." [New York Daily News, 4-5-10]
Unclear on the Concept
* At press time, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is
considering declaring veteran comedian Guy Earle guilty of
discrimination against two uncloseted lesbians who were heckling
him in a night club. According to Earle, the women were loud, rude
to the waitress, and contemptuous of Earle, and thus opened the
door to combat-type comedy of insult-exchange, except that some
of his insults referred to the women's sexual orientation and frisky
behavior at the table. Earle said his job requires him to be
"offensive" and that the traditional verbal jousts between comedians
and hecklers are not the same as illegal "hate speech." [Canadian
Press, 3-28-10]
* Fuzzy Thinking: (1) Schools' conventional "zero tolerance"
policies prohibiting guns or weapons on campus not only applies (as
it has recently) to drawings of guns and to a two-inch-long toy
charm in the shape of a gun, but, at an Ionia, Mich., school, to
making the familiar, thumb-up hand representation of a gun Mason
Jammer, 6, was suspended in March. (2) Carly Houston, 29, was
arrested in Naperville, Ill., in March after a rowdy early-morning
dispute with a taxi driver, and, given her customary "one phone
call" to ask a friend to post bond for her, she chose instead to call 9-
1-1 and report that she was "trapped inside a detention facility"
(thus causing police to add "abuse of 9-1-1" to the charges).
[Grand Rapids Press, 3-4-10] [Naperville Sun, 3-23-10]
* Erlyndon Joseph Lo, 27 and a graduate of Southern Methodist
University law school, was arrested in April after threats against a
Dallas, Tex., women's clinic that performs abortions. Police were
tipped the day before when Lo appeared at the federal courthouse in
Plano, Tex., and sought a formal judicial ruling that would protect
him from harm, even if he were to use deadly force "to defend the
innocent life of another human being." [Dallas Morning News, 4-6-
10]
Latest Protests
* (1) In April, outdoing the recent partisan spats in the U.S.
Congress, several dozen members of the Ukrainian parliament
squared off over a cooperation-with-Russia bill that eventually
involved headlocks, punching, a smoke bomb, glue (in the voting
machines), and cartons of eggs tossed at the speaker's platform.
Russian president Medvedev called it the chamber's "traditional
elegance." (2) Sweden's Metro newspaper reported in March that a
21-year-old inmate at Kirseberg prison in Malmo faces discipline
for continuing his protests against jail conditions by aiming his gas-
passing directly at guards. [Voice of America News, 4-27-10]
[Daily Telegraph (London), 3-25-10]
Recurring Themes
* Federal agents in April uncovered an elaborate bestiality ring
(involving horses) in Washington state. Facility operator Douglas
Spink is suspected of using the site to make pornographic videos for
perverts, and a visitor from England was arrested as a suspected
paying customer. This farm is near Bellingham, Wash., and the
operation is completely separate from the 2005 raid on a similar
facility near Enumclaw, Wash. (about 110 miles away), in which
one man died of a perforated colon following penetrative sex by a
horse. The state had no specific anti-bestiality law in 2005, but one
was enacted after the Enumclaw episode. [KING-TV, 4-15-10]
Readers' Choice
* (1) Albert Bailey, 27, and a 16-year-old buddy were charged with
robbery of a People's United Bank in Fairfield, Conn., in March,
after they made it much too easy for police by calling the bank
beforehand and demanding that money be set aside for them to pick
up at a certain time. Police were waiting in the parking lot. (2)
Megan Barnes, 37, was arrested in March after being spotted
driving erratically in Cudjoe Key near Key West, Fla. After several
implausible explanations, Barnes admitted she had a razor and was
giving herself a "bikini shave" as she drove. Several traffic charges
were filed against her. [Connecticut Post (Bridgeport), 3-24-10]
[Key West Citizen, 3-5-10]
A News of the Weird Classic (June 1997)
* Robert Jordan filed a lawsuit in May 1997 against the New
London, Conn., police department for illegal discrimination,
claiming he was rejected as an officer solely because he scored too
high on an intelligence test. The department admitted the
discrimination, offering the defense that a person of such
intelligence would quickly get bored with police work. U.S.
District Judge Peter Dorsey agreed with the department and
dismissed the lawsuit. [Cleveland Plain Dealer-AP, 5-31-97] New
York Times, 9-9-99]
Thanks This Week especially to Gary Davidson and to the
many, many newshounds who knew instantly that the Readers'
Choice stories belonged in News of the Weird! And thanks as usual
to the News of the Weird Senior Advisors and Board of Editorial
Advisors.
* * * * *
Are you ready for Chuck Shepherd's Weekly Intelligence
Briefing? Every Tuesday at http://NewsoftheWeird.blogspot.com
Other handy addresses: WeirdNews at earthlink dot net,
http://www.NewsoftheWeird.com, and P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL
33679.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NewsoftheWeird" group.
To post to this group, send email to newsoft...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to newsoftheweir...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/newsoftheweird?hl=en.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages