Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Religion, Society

The Boughs Of St.Mary: Faithful See Holy Mother on Tree

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

It’s hard to strike the right balance between respect and mirth in writing this story, but I will try. Faithful in West New York, New Jersey, have commenced pilgrimages to a tree at the intersection of 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue. The skinny tree stands in front of a music store. On it, they say, is a revelation showing an image of the Virgin Mary resembling the famous sighting at  Guadalupe.

Candles, flowers, cards, and towns folk have gathered around the opening in the bark where the purported miracle is said to be. Catholic diocesan spokesman and aptly named, James Goodness,  is not convinced of divine intervention saying the image is likely “just some discoloration” that resembles St. Mary. However,  the churchman is not one to disabuse the faithful of their faith. “But if it helps people to be stronger in their faith, then it is a good thing,” Goodness said.

Or is it?

Source: NJ.com

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering

Something Did Not Stay In Vegas: Florida Father Jailed For Contempt in Consenting To 16-Year-Old Son To Marry

There is an absolutely fascinating contempt finding in Florida where Millionaire Dan Rotta, 65, has been sent to jail for 180 days for criminal contempt in a divorce case — for allowing his 16 year old son to get married in Las Vegas. The court had ordered that the boy be sent to a special school in Utah — at the request of his mother Rene Rotta — in light of his problems with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. However, by marrying with the consent of one parent in Vegas, the boy is now legally treated as an adult and is no longer under the jurisdiction of the court as a child in the divorce case.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Now That’s Better: Texas Man Convicted Of Using Wendy’s To Distribute Child Porn

What would be the fast-food restaurant of choice for a pedophile? Why Wendy’s of course. Juan Antonio Rosa, 36, has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison for distributing child porn with food at Wendy’s in San Antonio. The password for pedophiles? No, it wasn’t the Wendy’s slogan: Now That’s Better. It was the far more creepy, kid-friendly password: “Scooby Doo.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Unsafe At Any Speed: Minnesota Police Pull Over What May Be World’s Most Unsafe Car

My friend Ralph Nader became famous with his study of “Unsafe At Any Speed,” showing the dangers of the Chevrolet Corvair. He may want to do a sequel based on this vehicle seized by the Minnesota State Patrol. You start with a Ford Pinto (notorious for blowing up in relatively low-speed collisions) and then add a few of these personal touches to make what may be the world’s most unsafe vehicle.

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Bizarre, Society

Better Latte Than Never: Funeral Home Adds Starbucks For Mourners . . . And Walk-Ins

What is appropriate as a caffeinated drink at a funeral? A Frappuccino seems a bit festive but a Caramel Macchiato seems too loud for the occasion. Perhaps a specialty mortician mocha to give you that jolt you need to make it through the eulogy. That is the difficult choice that will face mourners at the Robinson Funeral Home in Easley, South Carolina where the fourth-generation family will be adding a Starbucks shop. It is not clear why a coffee machine with some Starbucks coffee would not suffice but mourners will soon be able to sign the deceased’s visitor book and move directly over to the baristas at the “Coffee Corner.”

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Russia Moves To Restrict Internet Sites — Putin Crackdown Supported By InfoWatch CEO

While declaring the demise of the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin is close to enacting sweeping new powers to regulate the Web and block sites of his government’s choosing.  He has received support from Natalya Kaspersky, chief executive of InfoWatch, who said that the Web could use some government control and that civil libertarians are exaggerating concerns about Putin’s control of speech on the Internet. For those people signing up with InfoWatch, it may come as a bit of a surprise that the company is aligned with a man who is rolling back on basic civil liberties for millions and working to limit speech on the Internet — a threat to his authoritarian agenda. Kaspersky actually heralds the possible benefits of a Russian blacklist controlled by Putin.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Islamic Militants Destroy Historic Sites In Timbuktu

Islamic militants destroyed two of the historic tombs at the famous 14th century Djingareyber mosque in Timbuktu this week. The militants from the Ansar Dine group say the centuries-old shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam are idolatrous. In the meantime, some Egyptian Muslim extremists are following the victory by the Muslim Brotherhood with demands that the pyramids be destroyed for the same reason. Obviously these are extreme groups within the Muslim community. This later story is based on accounts coming from various sites but appear based on the same claimed translation of sites, though some have called it a hoax.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Utah Officer Accused of Shaking Down Foreigners In Speed trap

Three police officers in Springdale, Utah have been accused of taking roughly $12,000 from foreigners caught in a speed trap set up near the Zion National Park. While city officials are not apparently upset with the speed trap used to generate funds for the city, they are ticked that they never saw the money.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

New Mexico Man Arrested For Seventh DWI . . . After Hitting Local Judge

It was bad enough that Junior Yazzie, 54, was arrested for his seventh DWI this week. However, his latest victim could not be more worse — Aztec Magistrate Judge Carla Vescovi-Dial. Judge Vescovi-Dial is still recovering from the accident where she was a passenger. She is one of six magistrate judges in San Juan County and handles primarily . . . you guessed it . . . drunk driving cases.

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Bizarre, Congress, International, Society

The Inconvenient Country: Denise Rich Renounces Citizenship And Saves Millions In Taxes

The Rich couple is back in the news. If you recall, President Bill Clinton pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich in one of the most unwarranted presidential acts under the pardon power — a pardon rightfully denounced as little more than a payback for a wealthy supporter by Clinton. Now, Rich’s wife, Denise, has given up her U.S. citizenship — reportedly to avoid taxes. Clinton should be doubly ashamed of his association and assistance to this couple.

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Animals, Bizarre, Environment

“Ball Cutter” Fish Found In Illinois Lake

Ok, things are already bad in Illinois with a rise in the murder rates and thugs allegedly jumping out of stretch limos to assault people. Now, a swim in the state could result in your losing more than the afternoon heat. Officials at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirm that they have caught pacu fish in Lake Lou Yaeger in Litchfield, Illinois. The pacu has an unsettling reputation in in Papua New Guinea for eating testicles — giving it the local name as the “ball cutter.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Four Men Charged With Allegedly Driving Around Chicago in Limo Assaulting Bystanders

These four men have been arrested in a bizarre series of attacks on people where they drove up in a white stretch limousine and jumped out to assault pedestrians. Relatives insist that they were just shooting a video for a song called “Take a Sip” and got made when people spontaneously shouted racial epithets. The attacks occurred near my childhood home in Chicago in the Wrigleyville area.

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