We previously followed the investigation into the three deaths in a sweat lodge run by “Spiritual Warrior” James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Retreat Center in Sedona, Arizona. Now, the Lakota Sioux Tribe is suing, demanding the prosecution of Ray under the 1869 Treaty of Fr. Laramie for appropriating a Native American ritual.
Continue reading “Indian Tribe Sues Self-Help Author Over Use of Sweat Lodge”
Category: Bizarre
We have another death associated with a taser. Darryl Bain, 43, was tasered twice and died in the Long Island home of his mother in Coram, New York.
Continue reading “Bain of His Existence: Man Dies in Mother’s Home After Being Tasered Twice by Police”
Paul Clarke, 27, a veteran, thought that he was doing the right thing when he found a shotgun in his garden. He took the shotgun to the police station and was immediately arrested for possession of a firearm without permit and criminally charged — an offense that brings five years imprisonment. Prosecutor Brian Stalk insisted that this is a strict liability offense and his intent to help police does not matter — he is a menace to society as defined under the criminal code.
There is a disturbing trial being held in Zambia where the news editor of The Post, Chansa Kabwela, sent photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park without assistance to highlight the costs of a nursing strike and poor government policies. She was right. The officials, including Zambia’s President, Rupiah Banda, were horrified. They immediately arrested Kabwela for distributing pornography.
Continue reading “Journalist Charged with Pornography for Sending Pictures of Woman in Unassisted Child Birth to Government Officials”
Here is today’s column from the Washington Post on the benefits of a new type of “good-faith” defense. While “religious convictions” are usually a reference to personal faith, it turns out that it has a distinct and disturbing meaning for criminal sentencing.
Continue reading ““Religious Convictions”: When Children Die, Religion Is No Defense”
We often discuss liability issues associated with promotional events. Now, it seems that the French are dealing with the same problem. An Internet company canceled a promotional event in which it promised to hand out thousands of dollars in cash. The result was violence as the crowd took out their disappointment on police and parked cars. The site for Mailorama still shows a bus throwing money.
Continue reading “City of Fights: Internet Promotion Sparks Violence in Paris”
The agony of defeat . . .
Continue reading “And the American Challenger Sets, Jumps and . . .”
Parents at the Fox Hill Primary School in Sheffield England are a bit put out over a curious educational program at the school. When children showed up at the school recently, they were met by a bloody crime scene, a dead teacher on the ground, and police. They were asked to solve the crime but not told that it was all for fun.
Continue reading “School Accused of Terrorizing Students With Faked Murder”
First there were the Knights Who Say Ni! (below). Now we have the problem of the lawyers who say Meep! After reading the recent publications over the decision of the principal of Danvers High School banning students from saying the word “Meep,” Entertainment lawyer Theodora Michaels decided to act and wrote a letter using the four-letter word to Principal Thomas Murray, who comes across as a high school version of Dean Vernon Wormer from Animal House. She was immediately reported to the police for investigation by the school.
Continue reading “The Lawyers Who Say Meep! High School Calls Police After Attorney Says Meep to Principal”
A federal court of appeals has ruled that Melanie Dawn Williams, 24, can sue after she was tackled by Jacksonville, Florida police in a hospital where she was experiencing a premature birth. Once inside the ER and she screamed, “I’m pregnant. Someone help me. I am bleeding.” It took the intervention of a nurse to get the police to release her to deal with her serious medical condition.
Scientists have made a breakthrough in research increasing brain activity and memory. They have created Hobbie-J, the world’s smartest rat. Hobbie-j is the result of a sinister organization known NIMH. Ok, it is less sinister when spelled out: U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
Continue reading “The Secret of NIMH: Scientists Develop Super-Smart Rat”
It is rare on national television to have a guest refuse to speak and then just sit there, but that was the scene on Larry King Live with Carrie Prejean. It is always exciting to see legal technicalities and interpretations become the subject du jour for celebrity talk shows.
Continue reading “Larry King and a Moment of Merciful Silence”
Many of us expressed outrage at the actions of the city leaders of New London, Connecticut when they used eminent domain to seize the property of citizens against their will in order to give it to the Pfizer corporation. This anger grew with the inexplicable decision of the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London to uphold the abusive action. Now, after all of the pain the city caused its own residents and $80 million it spent to buy and bulldoze the property, Pfizer announced this week that it was closing the facility — leaving the city worse off than when it began. For prior testimony on the Kelo decision, click here.
Continue reading “Kelo’s Revenge: Pfizer Abandons New London Site After Town Used Eminent Domain to Destroy Homes of Residents”
Vincent Mosby, 23, is a defendant at the heart of a bizarre criminal case. Mosby is accused of marrying a 14-year-old girl under a contract for a dowry purchased at Wal-Mart and then threatening her family when they removed the girl.
CBS Correspondent Debbye Turner Bell has learned the wisdom of at least half of W.C. Fields warning “Never work with children or animals.” A beaver sprayed the reporter during a segment of The Early Show.
Continue reading “Perils of the Press VII: Beaver Leaves Impression on Bell”