Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

ISIS Bans The Use Of The Plus Sign As Christian Symbol

UnknownFlag_of_the_Islamic_State.svgSome things just don’t add up, but that has never bothered the Islamic extremists in ISIS. In Raqqa, schools have been taken over by ISIS which has reduced classes on such things as science and mathematics in favor of Sharia and the calling of the jihad. When kids do math, they also have to do without the plus sign, which has been declared as too close to a Christian cross (+) and thus a corrupting influence. Instead the kids use the letter “z”.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Poll: Negative Views Of Trump and Clinton Reach “Historic” Levels

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreHillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziA new poll again shows what we have previously discussed as the absurdity of an election that produced the two least popular candidates as what many view as the only choices for the general election. In prior discussions, due to the duopoly on power, citizens will be told to choice between two people that they dislike to an unprecendented degree. What is fascinating is the Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman-Shultz has stated that she is opposed to independents even playing a role in primaries — the reason why Clinton has struggled despite every advantage given to her by the establishment. Wasserman-Shultz, who may be the least popular DNC head in history, sees the problem is giving too many people a voice in the candidates.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Tow Truck Driver Refuses To Assist Disabled Driver After Spotting Sanders Sign In Her Car

572a77ce160000890331db94 I have often been mystified by how some people justify the most base or hateful acts with religion. That seems to be the case with two truck driver Ken Shupe, 51, who was called to an accident where he found a disabled woman, Cassandra McWade, next to her car. He was reportedly preparing to tow the car when he spotted a Bernie Sanders sign in her Toyota Camry. He then announced that he was a conservative Christian and would not help her because she supported Sanders.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

English Woman Jailed For Six Months For False Rape Claim

We have often discussed controversies involving false rape allegations and the resulting punishment for such crimes. I have previously discussed the pattern of prosecutors in either not charging false rape victims or seeking relatively light sentences despite the incarceration of innocent men. (here, here, here, here, here, and here). One case of jail time came be found this week in England where Wendy Willson, 62, alleged that she had been raped and caused an intensive investigation. Later the police determined that the allegation was made for financial gain. She received six months in jail.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion, Society

High-Ranking Egyptian Official Finds Source Of Violence and Extremism . . . In Tom and Jerry?

TomandJerryTitleCardcThe rise of ISIS and other groups has left the entire region of the Middle East in smoking ruins with tens of thousands of innocent victims. So when the head of Egypt’s State Information Service Salah Abdel Sadek said at Cairo University that he had traced the source for such violence, many thought that they would hear a frank discussion of Islamic extremism. Yet, instead of Bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the culprit proved (at least in part) to be none of than Tom and Jerry.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

Texas Teachers and Police Launch Absurd Investigation After Eighth Grader Paid for Lunch With $2 Bill

1280px-US_$2_obverse-highWe have been discussing the over-reaction officials in past cases where police have been called to address pranks or controversies once handled internally in schools. A news story near Houston only serves to capture this absurdity. It began when Danesiah Neal, an eighth grader at Fort Bend Independent School District’s Christa McAuliffe Middle School, attempted to pay for lunch with a $2 bill given to her by her grandmother, Sharon Kay Joseph. The lunch personnel had never seen a $2 bill and the reaction is truly absurd overreaction involving banks and police.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Yearbook Prank Leads To Arizona Student Being Charged With 69 Counts Of Indecent Exposure

635978141058600788-T268146-03000010459498_GWe have another example of school officials and prosecutors criminalizing a school prank this week to an absurd degree. Authorities in Arizona have charged Hunter Osborn, 19, with 69 counts of indecent exposure when, on a dare from a friend, he exposed himself during a football team picture. No one noticed and it was published in the yearbook. The response is to hit this kid with dozens of criminal counts in a matter that would have previously been dealt with a suspension or inner school sanction.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Landlord Arrives In Limo To Turn Herself In After Stealing Dog In Dispute Over Property

635973854138624979-Taylor-2635973852441022097-KemptonPolice in Oregon have been seeking a landlord named Brooke Skoda-Kempton, 39, who stole a black 4-year-old whippet named Isis from her former tenant Kate Taylor, 30. After a public call for the whereabouts of Kempton, she turned herself in by pulling up to the police station in a stretch limo. Not exactly the entrance that most defense lawyers would suggest.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Turkish Legislators Seeking To Create Islamic Constitution Balk At References To Oscar Wilde

220px-Erdogan_croppedOscar_Wilde_SaronyJust when you thought that Turkey could not get more frightening under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic parties, you get a story like this one. Turkish lawmakers were debating Erdogan’s effort to adopt an Islamic constitution and further increase his authoritarian powers. A member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) sought to quote Oscar Wilde when members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) objected that they had no idea who Wilde is and thought he was quoting from the Oscar movie awards. When the meaning was made clear, these Erdogan drones objected that it was a reference from a Western source. Of course, as Wilde noted, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

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Bizarre, International, Religion

Indonesia Village Finds Sex Doll On Beach And Proclaims That It Is A Living Angel and Gives It A Hijab For Modesty

_89547397_032748100-1In an example of how religious fervor can overwhelm basic judgment, the residents of a remote Indonesia village called Kalupapi recently discovered what they believed to be an “angel” on a beach. They described a being of “shining white, (with) round eyes with red eyebrows” that was naked, crying and only clothed in a white cloth after descending from the heavens. Police seized what they said was far from angelic: a sex toy that was tossed over the side of a boat.

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Academia, Bizarre, International, Society

“Something So Black And Wonderful Had Happened”: Rhodes Scholar At Oxford Under Fire After Gleefully Making White Waitress Cry Over Tip

images33B5ED3900000578-3568590-image-m-53_1462142686173There is a deeply disturbing controversy out of one of South Africa. Ntokozo Qwabe is an Oxford student who has received incredible privileges as a Rhodes Scholar and looking at virtually limitless opportunities. However, when he and a friend went to eat recently, they refused to leave a tip for a waitress because she was white and instead left a note that reduced Ashleigh Schultz, 24, in tears. Qwabe, who has led a campaign to remove a Cecil Rhodes statue at Oxford, displayed not only his own racism but lack of humanity in the treatment of Schultz, particularly in posting a gleeful account of who he made Schultz cry “typical white tears.” He celebrated on line that he and his friend were “unable to stop smiling because something so black and wonderful had happened.”

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Bizarre, Society

Fire Fighters Find Group Of Cops Stuck In Elevator . . . Stop Rescue For Priceless Photo

13100926_1002708379765866_8677055891114495807_nThe Kansas City Fire Department rescued a group of police officers stuck in an elevator recent and the opportunity was . . . well . . . too good to pass up. Before letting them out, firefighter Tony Pisciotta memorialized the moment and posted it on the fire department’s website.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Airports Grind To Halt As TSA Again Fails Most Basic Test of Competence

240px-tsa_-_logoCd07R8sWEAAX5Er.jpg-largeYou have likely been reading about the scandalous situation at our airports where TSA security points have created chokepoints due to a lack of planning and staffing in the latest failure of this agency. Thousands of passengers are missing their flights due to massive lines and the airports are now suggesting that people come THREE HOURS in advance. The reason is obvious incompetence in failing to plan for rising numbers of passengers and to properly staff security checkpoints. Yet, no one is being held accountable. The public is just again left paying billions to the government, which cannot meet the most basic obligations to the public. We no longer expect competence from our government.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

New Jersey Officer’s “Brake Checking” Incident Causes Uproar

Screen Shot 2016-05-02 at 8.38.39 AMThere is a controversy in New Jersey over the practice of “brake checking” where a police officer stops suddenly in front of a car that he thinks is following too closely. The problem is that the videotape below does not show Clinton resident Omar B. following too closely when Officer Juan Velez slams on the brakes. Nevertheless, the driver is hit with a slew of tickets, including tailgating.

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