Month: June 2010

Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Prison Guard Fired For Posing For Playboy

We have been following a line of cases where teachers (and here and here and here and here and here), city managers, lunch ladies, police officers (and here), coaches, students and others have been fired for lawful conduct committed in their private lives. These cases are also occurring abroad in countries like England. We can now add Jessie Lunderby, a 21-year-old jailer in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Washington County Sheriff’s officer has been suspended after she participated in a nude photo shoot for playboy.com.

Continue reading “Prison Guard Fired For Posing For Playboy” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

Drunk Driver Opens Last Beer While Waiting To Be Cut Out of Overturned Car

Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, is not someone to allow a wreck to stop him from enjoying a beer. Sneddon was trapped in his overturned car after driving drunk in Wellington, NZ. Since he had to wait for rescue crews to cut him out of the car, he proceeded to open one last beer because he had “nothing better to do.”
Continue reading “Drunk Driver Opens Last Beer While Waiting To Be Cut Out of Overturned Car” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

Drunk Chicago Cop Threatens Cabbie at Gunpoint . . . So Colleagues Give Him Back His Gun and Release Him Without Charges

Chicago police officer John Killackey, 32, will only receive probation and community service after pulling a gun on a cabbie during a fare dispute. Critics have charged that the sentence for aggravated assault and theft was too light — though he only faced a one year maximum jail sentence. This is because he was only charged with two misdemeanors.
Continue reading “Drunk Chicago Cop Threatens Cabbie at Gunpoint . . . So Colleagues Give Him Back His Gun and Release Him Without Charges” →

Bizarre, Environment, International, Politics, Science, Society

The [Early] Rising Sun: Sleeping Japanese To Slow Global Warming

Next time you see a sleeping Japanese, do not wake him . . . he is saving the planet. The Japanese government has launched a campaign asking people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Of course, it is not clear what carbon footprint will be left by the likely increase in births associated with forcing couples into their beds for longer periods.
Continue reading “The [Early] Rising Sun: Sleeping Japanese To Slow Global Warming” →

Bizarre, International, Religion

Mannequin Mascetomies: Iranian Officials Reportedly Ordering Removal of Breasts From Mannequins

There is another bizarre account from Iran where the government has been cracking down on “baldy veiled women.” It appears that it is not just actual women who offend Sharia-sensibilities. There is a photo running on the web that allegedly shows how Iran’s religious police are giving double mascetomies to mannequins to avoid the appearance of breasts in public.
Continue reading “Mannequin Mascetomies: Iranian Officials Reportedly Ordering Removal of Breasts From Mannequins” →

Bizarre, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Salon: Author Details Controversy at LA Times Over Article on The Israeli Lobby and Denial of the Armenian Genocide

Author Mark Arax has written an article in Salon that details allegations against the Los Angeles Times in killing a story on how the Israeli lobby was helping efforts to deny the Armenian genocide in exchange for Turkey’s support of Israel. Despite the focus on media issues on this blog, I am embarrassed to say that I was unaware of the controversy until this column.
Continue reading “Salon: Author Details Controversy at LA Times Over Article on The Israeli Lobby and Denial of the Armenian Genocide” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Texas Officer Charges Homeowner With “Illegal Photography” For Taking His Pictures During An Alleged Unlawful Entry

We have another case of a citizen arrested for photographing police. Francisco Olvera says that he was charged in Seeley, Texas with “illegal photography” when a police sergeant followed him into his own home, and he objected and took the officer’s photo with his cell phone.
Continue reading “Texas Officer Charges Homeowner With “Illegal Photography” For Taking His Pictures During An Alleged Unlawful Entry” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Report: 1,300 Inmates Wrongly Given Over $9 Million in Homeowner Tax Credits

The Treasury Department has learned that roughly 1,300 prison inmates wrongly received more than $9 million in tax credits for homebuyers as part of the Administration’s stimulus effort. These unique homebuyers included 241 inmates serving life sentences.
Continue reading “Report: 1,300 Inmates Wrongly Given Over $9 Million in Homeowner Tax Credits” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

Floaters: Surfers and Swimmers Complain Over Lack of Notice of Sewage Release Along Miami Beaches

Swimmers and surfers in Miami are a bit put out this week after they learned that 20 million gallons of raw sewage was released along beaches without adequate notice to the public. It brings a new meaning to the surfer term “floater.”
Continue reading “Floaters: Surfers and Swimmers Complain Over Lack of Notice of Sewage Release Along Miami Beaches” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Chattanooga Officer Suspended Over Arrest of Husband Rushing Wife To Emergency Room

Chattanooga police officer Jim Daves has been suspended in the controversy over his arrest of Eric Wright, the husband who ran red lights to get his critically ill wife to the emergency room. As we discussed earlier, Daves allegedly blocked Wright from carrying in his wife to the ER and later charged him with a variety of criminal acts, including evading arrest for staying by his wife’s side.
Continue reading “Chattanooga Officer Suspended Over Arrest of Husband Rushing Wife To Emergency Room” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Veiled Threat: Iranians Issue Warnings To 62,000 “Badly Veiled Women” and Confiscate Cars

We have been following the Iranian crackdown on “badly veiled” women. It now appears that at least 62,000 women have been issued warnings about their failure to properly cover their hair in the Shiite holy province of Qom.
Continue reading “Veiled Threat: Iranians Issue Warnings To 62,000 “Badly Veiled Women” and Confiscate Cars” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Two Chicago Men Intentionally Strike Bicyclists For Fun and Receive Probation for Aggravated Battery

Erik Fabian, 20, was sentenced this week in Chicago for an outrageous prank where he and his friend, Armando Reza, 18, took turns striking bicyclists with their car. He pleaded guilty and received a relatively light sentence of two years probation for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and leaving the scene of an accident.
Continue reading “Two Chicago Men Intentionally Strike Bicyclists For Fun and Receive Probation for Aggravated Battery” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

Firefighters Suspended For Performing Emergency Resuscitation on St. Pauli Girl

In British Columbia, firefighters bravely saved a half-dozen victims in a blaze and were suspended for performing emergency resuscitation. Canadian Mounties are investigating the firefighters, who pulled kegs of beer from a burning hotel and then tapped a couple of the kegs in celebration.

Continue reading “Firefighters Suspended For Performing Emergency Resuscitation on St. Pauli Girl” →

Bizarre, Environment, International, Politics, Society

BP: The Disaster is the Relief

As BP flacks try to stem criticism of Tony Hayward going yachting during the crisis in the gulf, many have surmised that Hayward and his staff are living on a different planet. That seemed confirmed by Planet BP — the company’s in-house magazine — which quoted a local seafood businessman as saying “[t]here is no reason to hate BP” and insisting that “[m]uch of the region’s [nonfishing boat] businesses — particularly the hotels — have been prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oil emergency response teams.”
Continue reading “BP: The Disaster is the Relief” →