Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Bristol Palin Triggers Rampage in Wisconsin

Bristol Palin has been implicated in a rampage in Dane County, Wisconsin.  Her latest alleged victim from her appearance on Dancing with the Stars is Steven N. Cowan, 66.  Cowan shared the view of millions that Palin was not much of a star and even less of a dancer.  So, when she again escaped being voted off the show, Cowan snapped.  He grabbed his shotgun and shot his own television.  His wife fled after he demanded his handgun (presumably for a tradition coup de grâce she ran and returned with the police.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society, Torts

California Principal Blocks Ambulance Sent to Help Student To Protect Recently Remodeled Field

Parents in San Jose, California are upset over an astonishing decision made by a high school principal to stop an ambulance from driving onto a football field to help an injured player at Del Mar High School on October 29th. The principal Liz Seabury reportedly says she was following district orders to protect the school’s recently remodeled field from motorized vehicles.
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Academia, Bizarre, International, Society

Lens Louse: NYU Professor To Have Camera Installed In Back of His Head

NYU Professor Wafaa Bilal finally has the solution for all of those spit balls that come flying whenever he turns his back in class: he is having a camera implanted in the back of his head. That’s right, a camera. It is part of a project commissioned by a new museum in Qatar which will broadcast the live images to museum visitors.
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Bizarre, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Alito Criticized For Participation In Another Conservative Fundraiser

Last night on Rachel Maddow, I discussed the controversy over Supreme Court justices attending political fundraisers. Specifically, Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito have been criticized for their participation in such events. Most recently, Justice Samuel Alito was identified by Think Progress at a fundraiser for American Spectator. Alito reportedly said that “it’s not important” that he attends such events. I disagree.
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Bizarre, Media, Society

Parody or Pilfering? Court to Decide What’s What (In The Butt)

Brownmark Films is suing “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker in a case that seems right out of one of the South Park scripts. The court will decide whether Stone and Parker stole copyrighted material from “What What (in the Butt) — a music video that went viral. They are accused of stealing the idea from the website CollegeHumor, but the show insists that this is simply protected parody.

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Bizarre, Lawyering, Society, Torts

Hold the Fries: Did Burger Joint Get Raw Deal on Moby Dick Nuisance?

Steptoe & Johnson has prevailed against a burger restaurant, Rogue States, after the law firm complained that the fumes from the restaurant made them all smell like short-order cooks. Indeed, one of the firm’s “rainmakers” even reportedly threatened to resign from the firm if the burger smells were not removed from his office. D.C. Superior Court judge John Mott ruled that Rogue States was indeed responsible for a nuisance and must either abate the odors or close down.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Maryland Attorney General Seeks $60 Million Fine Against GOP Consultant

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has moved to fine a GOP political consultant to former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (left) for thousands of false calls to suppress the vote in the recent governor’s race to help out Ehrlich. Republican political consultant Julius Henson and his company Universal Elections sent out thousands of calls to convince Democratic voters to stay at home by telling them that they had already won the election. Also named is employee, Rhonda Russell, who reportedly taped the message — which Gansler alleges violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by not identifying who was behind the messages.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Hate Speech or Free Speech? Michigan Teacher Challenges Discipline Over Removal of Two Students From Economics Class

This is a terrific speech given by 14-year-old Ann Arbor student Graeme Taylor who is defending Howell High School teacher Jay McDowell, who was disciplined after throwing out two students for anti-gay statements. The controversy, however, gets a bit murkier on closer examination for free speech advocates.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Do You Want Butter With That Bronson?

In England, four prison officers were injured after discovering Charles Bronson naked in a gym and covered in butter. Ok, this might need a bit of explanation. Bronson, it turns out, is England’s most violent prisoner — a man who has spent nearly all of the last 36 years in prison for one violent crime or another. On this effort, he decided to butter himself to make it more difficult for guards to grab him — it worked. It took 12 guards to finally subdue the greased con.
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Bizarre, Criminal law

Vanity O Vanity, Thy Name is Usher

In Manchester, New Hampshire, a woman has learned the costs of vanity . . . well at least vanity plates. Bonnie Usher, 43, allegedly was careful to hide her face in a hooded sweatshirt when she robbed a Rite Aid.  The problem was the getaway car:  her car boasted vanity plates reading “B-USHER.”  It did not take long for the police to arrive at her house and recover the cash.

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Bizarre, Religion, Society

Careful What You Witch For: US Bishops Need More Exorcists

Overwhelmed by the demand for exorcisms, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are putting out the word that “Exorcists Need Apply” and that training in Baltimore is being held today. Down to only six U.S. exorcists the “Good Shepherds” hope to raise that number to 122. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, thinks each parish should have their own Exorcist in residence. You might remember that Bishop Paprocki said, when asked about who was responsible for the sexual abuse crises in the Catholic Church, that “the scandal was at least in part influenced by the Devil’s taking advantage of the moral weaknesses and psychological instability and sickness of the pedophiliac priest-abusers.”  Like my idol,  comedian Flip Wilson, I see a pattern here — the Devil Made ’em Do It.

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Bizarre, Society

Snow Globe Causes Airport Evacuation: Can Garden Troll Hysteria Be Far Behind?

It was cinematic magic when a dying John Foster Kane uttered the famous word, “Rosebud,”  as he let fall the snow globe down the stairwell  shattering it into scores of broken pieces. Officials at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, aren’t movie buffs it seems. When a TSA employee spotted the suspicious orb in some checked baggage she alerted State Police who evacuated the terminal. Once it was determined that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was submerged in water and glitter, instead of  nitroglycerine, order was restored and flights were again whisking their way to all parts of the real globe.

Source: Courant.com

–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Middle School Student Told To Remove American Flag To Avoid Racial Tensions

There is another bizarre story out of our public school system where a school official at Denair Middle School in Sacramento, California told 13-year-old Cody Alicea to remove an American flag from his bike because of fears that it would trigger “racial tensions.” According to this interview with the Superintendent, Cody has now been informed that he can display the American flag after a review of the supervisor’s decision — and a national outcry.
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Bizarre, Politics, Science, Society, Torts

San Francisco Bans Happy Meals and Other Fast-Food Meals Served With Toys

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors have approved a ban on Happy Meals and other fast-food servings that fail to meet nutritional standards. While sympathetic to the motivations behind the legislation, I have serious questions over the constitutionality (and logic) of the ban.
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