Category: Bizarre

Bizarre

Warning…Warning: Assembling Solar Powered Dragonfly, Humming Bird, and Butterfly Garden Lights Can Be Dangerous!

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Fearsome Creatures
Fearsome Creatures

Warning SignYour author recently purchased some decorative garden lights at a garage sale and found that they could have endangered his family. Being a typical man, he took the lights out of the box and assembled them without reading important safety warnings in the owner’s manual. Fortunately providence offered protection despite such negligence.

As a public service, we have provided the opportunity for others to avoid such hazards. Please read below the fold for some important safety information.

Continue reading “Warning…Warning: Assembling Solar Powered Dragonfly, Humming Bird, and Butterfly Garden Lights Can Be Dangerous!” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

The Millionaire Pauper? Hillary Clinton’s Claim On Being “Dead Broke” Falls Flat With The Facts

225px-Hillary_Clinton_official_Secretary_of_State_portrait_cropWe previously discussed Hillary Clinton’s claim that she and Bill understand economic hardship because they were “dead broke” after leaving the White House. The claim has been widely ridiculed after it was shown that within one year, not only were legal fees paid off by supporters but the Clintons amassed nearly $12 million. What is most striking however with the coverage of this statement and the problems in Clinton’s book is, again, the lack of much neutral coverage in the media which has become robotically programmed along liberal and conservative lines.

Continue reading “The Millionaire Pauper? Hillary Clinton’s Claim On Being “Dead Broke” Falls Flat With The Facts” →

Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Science, Society, Supreme Court

The Chemistry of Revenge: Bond v. U.S. – A Study In The Carpenters And Treaties

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Guy

130227203059-supreme-justices-horizontal-galleryCarol Anne Bond was overjoyed to learn that her best friend, Myrlinda Haynes, had become pregnant. That joy was short-lived when she learned that the father was none other than her husband,Clifford Bond. The Philadelphia woman embarked on a course of revenge that would result in federal charges for deploying chemical weapons and a trip to the United States Supreme Court. Passed in 1998,  the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, enabled Congress to enforce the terms of an  international treaty banning deployment of some chemical weapons. Taking advantage of that law, federal prosecutors charged Bond with obtaining two chemicals which together or separately could have killed her pregnant rival.

Continue reading “The Chemistry of Revenge: Bond v. U.S. – A Study In The Carpenters And Treaties” →

Bizarre, Justice

The Golf Club is Mightier Than The Sword: 89-Year-Old Golf Club Wielding Woman Defeats Sword Bearing Robber

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Miyo Koba
Miyo Koba

Proving a new twist to the old adage, it seems the sword is quickly losing its reputation for might. Eighty nine year old Miyo Koba, a Moses Lake, Washington store owner, fought-off an alleged robber who brandished a three foot sword she described as being “little.”

sword-moses-lake-evidenceFor sixty years Miyo and her husband have owned Frank’s Market. She said she noticed a man wearing a ski mask and dark glasses standing behind her cash register on a Sunday attempting to open the till. It would soon prove to be a career limiting move for his apprenticeship in the armed robbery trade.

Continue reading “The Golf Club is Mightier Than The Sword: 89-Year-Old Golf Club Wielding Woman Defeats Sword Bearing Robber” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Science, Society, Torts

Oregon Man Charged After Reportedly Trying To Hold Breath In Tunnel and Causing Three-Car Accident

Oregon State Police
Oregon State Police
This is a truly bizarre story. Like many families, our kids often play the game of holding their breath in tunnels. For some it is fun and for others it is superstitious. For Daniel J. Calhoun, 19, it was potentially fatal. Police say that Calhoun told them that he passed out while trying to hold his breath for the length of a tunnel northwest of Portland. He caused a three-car accident.

Continue reading “Oregon Man Charged After Reportedly Trying To Hold Breath In Tunnel and Causing Three-Car Accident” →

Bizarre

The Importance Of Recording Witness Statements

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Scales of JusticeLaw enforcement video recording of witnesses and suspects has a long history of controversy and judicial scrutiny. Not only can this be an issue in the field but also within the courtroom.

Dangerous Dog SignA recent interview of a witness brings these issues to light. This is especially noteworthy in jury trials and for accuracy in police reports forwarded to prosecutors.

Video below the fold…

Continue reading “The Importance Of Recording Witness Statements” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

“The Relationship People”: Tennessee Man Arrested After Attempting Sex With ATM

lonniehutton220px-ATM_750x1300If money can’t buy love, Lonnie Hutton, 49, appears to have a rather curious second option. The Tennessee man was arrested last week after he walked into The Boro Bar and Grill, dropped his pants and underwear, and tried to have sex with an ATM machine. There is no word on whether the ATM required counseling or who was the lucky person to be the next customer at the machine. He may have taken AmSouth at its word when it advertises that it is “The relationship people.”

Continue reading ““The Relationship People”: Tennessee Man Arrested After Attempting Sex With ATM” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Torts

Connecticut Dentist’s License Is Suspended After Elderly Woman Dies During The Extraction of 20 Teeth In One Session

220px-Dental_office-1The dental license of Dr. Rashmi Patel has been suspended in Enfield Connecticut after a horrific session with Judith Gan, 64, ended in her death. Patel reportedly extracted 20 teeth in one session and Gan became unresponsive and then died.

Continue reading “Connecticut Dentist’s License Is Suspended After Elderly Woman Dies During The Extraction of 20 Teeth In One Session” →

Bizarre

Man Wearing Bulletproof Vest Says “Shoot Me” And Dies From Gunshot Wound

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

First Bulletproof Vest TestAn old fortune cookie meme reads: “A fool and his wearing of body-armor is soon departed.” But apparently this wisdom did not make it to Honea Path, SC in time where Blake Wardell and some friends were inside a garage where he found a bulletproof vest.

According to, wait for it….Deputy Coroner Don McGowan, Blake asked someone to shoot him. Not wanting to miss such an opportunity another guest fired a small caliber firearm at him. The bullet missed the Kevlar panel of the vest and struck Blake in the heart, killing him.

But the intrigue was not about to stop there.

Continue reading “Man Wearing Bulletproof Vest Says “Shoot Me” And Dies From Gunshot Wound” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Justified Homicide Or Just Bad Kaarma? Montana Man Accused Of Laying Trap In Killing German Exchange Student

article-2626808-1DCE739600000578-307_306x600I was recently interviewed about the highly troubling case involving the killing of German exchange student Diren Dede (left) in a Montana garage. The shooter was Markus Kaarma who has been charged with deliberate homicide after he allegedly set up a trap for Debe with bait, motion cameras . . . and the state’s castle doctrine law.

Continue reading “Justified Homicide Or Just Bad Kaarma? Montana Man Accused Of Laying Trap In Killing German Exchange Student” →

Bizarre, Media, Politics

“I Have A Master’s In Raising Hell”: Biker and Santa Lookalike Liven Up Idaho Debate

idahoFor those who are tired of the duopoly controlling our nation with ruinous results, the debate this week for the Republican nomination for governor was bizarre but at least a refreshing change from the robotic, pre-written answers given by Republican and Democratic professionals. The Idaho debate organizers allowed two fringe candidates to appear with the Republican and Tea Party candidates: Harley Brown, a biker (in biker regalia) who declared that he is about as politically correct as a “turd in a punch bowl” and Walt Bayes, a guy so anti-government that he says that his wife drove for years without a license after they objected to the concept of an emissions test. Gov. Butch Otter and state Sen. Russ Fulcher were barely noticed in what followed. A clip is posted below.

Continue reading ““I Have A Master’s In Raising Hell”: Biker and Santa Lookalike Liven Up Idaho Debate” →

Bizarre, Lawyering, Media, Politics

The Perils Of The Open Mike: Lawyer Resigns From Board Presidency After Calling Parent “Chubby Wubby”

1399930897000-RayCoteRaymond Cote, an attorney in New York, has resigned not only from his position as board president but withdrawn from his campaign to be re-elected to the Mahopac Board of Education. The reason? An open mike caught him referring to a parent during a meeting break as a “chubby wubby.”

Continue reading “The Perils Of The Open Mike: Lawyer Resigns From Board Presidency After Calling Parent “Chubby Wubby”” →

Bizarre, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Society

Mentally Ill Judge Cynthia Brim Removed From the Bench

By Charlton (Chuck) Stanley, Weekend Contributor

CT MET-AJ-JUDGE-BRIM-1102The sad case of Cook County (Illinois) Judge Cynthia Brim has been discussed on this blog previously here and here. To sum up, she had a mental breakdown while holding traffic court on March 8, 2012.

She went on a paranoid rant, accusing police of targeting minorities for traffic tickets. For the next 45 minutes, she rambled on about her childhood as well as describing at least five prior hospitalizations for mental illness. During her rambling outburst, she told her audience she was once removed from the courtroom by paramedics after a previous breakdown.

Witnesses reported she said, “Not only men have balls, but women can have balls too. You just have to grow them.”

Continue reading “Mentally Ill Judge Cynthia Brim Removed From the Bench” →

Bizarre

Burglar Steals Everything Including The Kitchen Sink

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Kitchen Sink
Is nothing sacred anymore?

Everything has been stolen — including the kitchen sink — from the kitchen of a model house in Kansas.

Police say thieves stripped the kitchen of the Clayton Homes unit in south Wichita, taking all the upscale appliances, the wooden cabinets from the walls and, of course, the sink.

General manager Kevin McCracken says the model unit was nearly ready for display when the theft occurred, sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday.
Continue reading “Burglar Steals Everything Including The Kitchen Sink” →