Category: Bizarre

The Buzzing Bush

I am getting a lot of emails on the location of the “buzzing bush” that I mentioned this week in remarks at the ABA Convention in San Francisco. I mentioned that some courts have banned cellphones entirely — a practice that I oppose. This has led attorneys in one court to leave their cellphones secreted in a bush outside the door of the court which continually buzzes. While Moses has the burning bush, spectators encounter the buzzing bush outside of the Eastern District of Virginia.
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Flight Attendant Raves Over Intercom, Grabs Two Beers, and Flees Down the Emergency Slide

Jetblue flight attendant Steven Slater may have slid into the thing of legend among flight attendants. After a passenger argued with Slater about getting up before the airplane pulled into the gate, Slater allegedly let loose a string of profanity, grabbed two beers, and slid down the plane’s evacuation slide.
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English Couple Killed in Pakistan in Honor Killing After Daughter Backs Out of Arranged Marriage

We have been following honor killing in the United States and aboard. This tragedy has a different aspect however. Gul Wazir, a taxi driver from Birmingham and his wife Begum were killed in Pakistan after reportedly returning to make amends for their daughter breaking off an arranged marriage.

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Man Allegedly Steals Totem Pole, Lies to Police, and Then Escapes Criminal Charge But Agreeing To Give Donation to Seattle

I am not sure what is more curious: the alleged crime of Charles Edward Jenks or the way he allegedly avoided a criminal charge. Police say that Jenks really really wanted a totem pole for his home so he stole an 18-foot totem pole (not the one shown) from the city. He then reportedly avoided a criminal charge by donating $20,000 to the city.
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Doing the “Caught Red-Handed By The Police:” Turkish Shop Owner Insists He Was Not Beating Wife But Dancing

Allaetin Can, a kebab shop owner in Turkey, was arrested after witnesses said he was outside their shop hitting, kicking, and strangling his wife. The defense? They were dancing in joy after having a good day at the business. It does not help that the alleged local dance is called Kolbasti which means “caught red-handed by the police”.

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Cooked: Sauna Competition Leads To Death of Finalist

There are slip and falls and then there are sweat and falls. Russian Vladimir Ladyzhensky died this week during the World Sauna Championship. Competitions based on sitting in a room with 110 (Celsius) degree temperatures would seem an easy basis for a tort lawsuit in terms of foreseeable injury.

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Please Read Fast and Get Out: Camden To Close Public Libraries

We have another story of how cities are de-evolving due to the economic meltdown as we continue to gush billions of dollars abroad. Camden, New Jersey will now close all public libraries despite the fact that librarians are reporting huge increases in traffic as people search for free places to go due to unemployment and a lack of money.
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Educate Us or the Moose Gets It: Wyoming Governor Threatens to Destroy Pristine Park Area If Administration Does Not Give State More Educational Funds

Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal has turned to a novel approach to secure more federal money: threatening to destroy one of the nation’s most treasured wilderness areas if the Obama Administration doesn’t give him more educational funds.
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Connecticut Man Allegedly Arrested For Expressing Agreement With Killer

There is an interesting case out of Connecticut where police reportedly arrested Francis Laskowski, 58, after he allegedly said that understood why a killer recently went on a rampage and killed nine people in the state. Someone at Fusco Management Co. promptly called police.
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