You can often tell why the Chinese government has kept a tight lid on tort actions in the country. These shoppers got an unexpected interactive experience with sharks in an aquarium in a Shanghai shopping center.
Category: Bizarre
We have yet another case of a police shooting of a family dog. This case involved a particularly tragic
occurrence on Christmas Day. Kobi, a 70-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback mix was shot dead by a Chicago police officer. Chicago has previously appeared on these pages for dog shootings. The family says that the police opened the gate to the backyard where Kobi was being kept and then shot him when he came out. They were looking for a suspect. The police department insists that the officers acted appropriately.
In one of the more novel federal disciplinary actions that I have encountered, a federal employee in Baltimore was given a formal reprimand for excessive workplace flatulence — a reprimand that involved a remarkably wide range of reviews and supervisory interventions. The 38-year-old Maryland employee, who insists that he is lactose intolerant, was the subject of an actual log recording his “release[] [of] the awful and unpleasant odor.”
Continue reading “Federal Employee Disciplined After Gas Log Details Excessive Workplace Flatulence”
On Christmas Day, people in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama got an unwelcomed visitor with the arrival of 34 tornadoes. This surveillance from a Walgreen shows the sudden and destructive appearance. At least 100 homes and businesses were damaged. It is a perfectly awful thing to have to deal with on Christmas but fortunately there is no reports of deaths.
Continue reading “Video: Tornadoes Rip Through South on Christmas”
YouTube has resulted in a range of arrests, singing contracts, and other recognitions for their virtual celebrity status. However, Havard Rugland may be the first to get a NFL tryout from a YouTube posting. The Norwegian posted this video showing his incredible kicking skills. It went viral and now he has had a tryout with the New York Jets.
NBC is dealing with an unexpected legal problem after a segment by David Gregory, who displayed what he said was a high-capacity ammunition clip on “Meet the Press.” D.C. law prohibits the possession of high-capacity ammunition clips. This may have been a case where a picture — or consultation with counsel — might have been in order. There is no exception for the media in such possession cases.
The police in Toms River have an intriguing crime on their hands involving a mysterious woman, a chicken, and a diamond ring. A married man met a woman at a bar and took her home where he offered her some chicken and gave her $20. She gave him a piece of paper with her telephone number on it. However, after the man fell asleep, he woke to find the paper gone along with $55, his necklace, and his wife’s diamond ring.
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Continue reading “Merry Christmas!!!”
Women in Swaziland can now be arrested for wearing mini-skirts or cropped tops because they are responsible for provoking their own rapes. The government has announced that it will now enforce an 1889 law banning “immoral” dressing. Of course, the same week an Iowa court held that employers could fire attractive women who may be too great a temptation for them.
Continue reading “Swaziland Declares Women Who Wear Mini-Skirts Are Responsible For Their Own Rapes”
It appears that “debonding” is now both a permissible legal as well as dental procedure. The Iowa Supreme Court handed down a controversial ruling on Friday that a dentist, Fort Dodge Dr. James Knight, could fire an assistant due to an “irresistible attraction.” Melissa Nelson was fired because Knight and his wife viewed her as a threat to their marriage. Justice Edward Mansfield wrote for a unanimous court that such a firing does not violate the Iowa Civil Rights Act even if the employee does not engage in flirtatious behavior.
Oakland, California is in the midst of a crime wave and remains the fifth-most crime ridden city in America. Nevertheless, the city fired one-fourth of its police department — over 200 officers. However, in the latest example of the lunacy of public subsidies for professional football and baseball teams, the city is forking over $17.3 million for the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders and Major League Baseball’s Athletics. These owners are racking in huge profits but Oakland and other cities continue to subsidize the teams despite studies (here and here) showing that these teams do not bring in enough revenue to pay for the huge debt associated with new stadiums. However, the teams grab of millions from an economically crippled city explains why the team is called “the Raiders.”
If you are reading this blog, it means that once again we have been duped. I woke up this morning to find civilization continuing and all of my court filings and exam grades still due. I was counting on the apocalypse and frankly I will never trust an ancient Mayan again. I was a bit suspicious when they failed to foresee their own destruction in the 9th Century.
Continue reading “Mayan Apocalypse A Dud: World Looks For Next Date For End-Of-Times”
There is a new disturbing video (below) showing police abuse this week. The video shows a Texas state trooper performing what was claimed to be a cavity search on the roadside on suspicion of possession of marijuana. It appears that while states like Colorado are legalizing marijuana, Texas is allegedly doing cavity searches to find someone in possession of weed. I guess it should be no surprise when you are driving on the George Bush Turnpike. The two women — Angel Dobbs, 38, and her niece, Ashley Dobbs, 24 — subject to the humiliating search are now suing the police.
We have repeatedly discussed the absurdity of U.S. copyright laws and how law firms have become virtual thug patrols threatening average citizens with ruin over small copyright violations. President Obama has been repeatedly criticized for being in the pocket of “copyright hawks” and lobbyists who have used the Administration to increase the penalties and scope of these laws. The Congress has also been a virtual extension of industry groups and lobbyists in the area. For that reason, many people were shocked when Rep. Jim Jordan published a critical report entitled RSC Policy Brief: Three Myths about Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix it.” It was a strong condemnation of how these laws are not stifling creativity and various industries. It was the first such report anyone could remember that was not written by lobbyists for draconian copyright laws. Then it was gone. Gone. According to various sites, the eight page document was removed from the website. Some sites opined that the various industry groups saw it and quashed it — but not before some sites like the one below copied it.
Continue reading “Congress Posts Critical Copyright Report . . . Then It Vanishes”
Police in Parker County are looking for this woman for a truly seasonal crime: she was caught on a security camera stealing the wreath and Christmas lights of a private home.