We have another story out of the worker’s paradise in North Korea. A North Korean factory worker named Chong was executed by firing squad for passing along information on rice and living conditions to a friend who defected to South Korea.
Continue reading “North Korea Executes Man For Passing Along the Price of Rice to Friend in South Korea”
Category: Society
State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) is known as a fierce opponent of gay rights. It was, therefore, more than a bit curious when he was arrested for drunk driving after reportedly leaving a gay bar with an unidentified man in the passenger seat.
Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade. Kids in the other classes were given pictures of such notables as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama.
Sawsan Salim went to court to file harassment complaints against her local government in 2007. Her papers were in order but she was missing one detail. She had ventured out without a male family escort. For that crime she has been sentenced to 300 lashes and 18 months in jail.
We have continued to follow the outrageous expansion of copyright and trademark litigation (here and here and here), particularly the recording industry which is seeking crippling penalties for downloading song. Now, the industry has succeeded in nailing Whitney Harper who was between 14-16 years old when she downloaded 37 songs. The Court of Appeals increased the penalties against her — amounting to as much as $40,000.
Continue reading “Federal Court Rules Woman Must Pay As Much As $40,000 for 37 Songs She Downloaded At Age 14”
A family in Rahway, New Jersey was ordered by police to cover up their nude snow woman after a neighbor complained. Maria Conneran added a bikini top and skirt to satisfy scandalized neighbors.
Continue reading “Venus de Malum: Police Order New Jersey Family Cover Up Nude Snowwoman”
Bishop Denis Brennan (Bishop of Ferns in Ireland) is being criticized for asking parishioners to help to pay for compensation claims linked to sexual abuse damages. The diocese has already paid 8 million euros to settle 48 civil actions arising from decades of sexual abuse by priests. An additional 13 actions are pending.
Delmer Doss, 19, and his girlfriend Amber Burgess, 19, have their own alleged version of family videos of their 11-month old baby. Police say that the couple blindfolded their 11-month-old son and then recorded the child bumping into walls with a video camera.
The National Enquirer is reporting that a federal grand jury is close to indicting two-time presidential candidate John Edwards for the misuse of campaign funds. ABC News reported earlier that Edwards’ mistress (with whom he recently admitted having a child after months of denial) had spoken to the grand jury, here. In the meantime, there is an equally interesting report that Elizabeth Edwards may be preparing to sue her husband’s longtime aide Andrew Young for alienation of affection (here).
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a bizarre incident where a child was allowed to direct air traffic at John F. Kennedy airport,. An air controller brought the child to work on February 17th and apparently fed the child lines to give orders to pilots. Both the air controller and the supervisor have been suspended. Now it appears that the air controller not only let his 9-year-old son direct planes at JFK but repeated the stunt with the boy’s twin sister the following day, here.
In yet another morphing of George Bush and Barack Obama, the Administration has indicated that it will include “tort reform” in the new and smaller health care bill — provisions that the CBO has said could cost 4,800 lives a year. While an estimated roughly 100,000 people die each year from malpractice, the Administration is about to make it more difficult to sue doctors and hospitals.
Continue reading “Obama To Cave On Tort Reform — Adding Provisions to Health Bill That Could Kill 4,800 a Year”
First, animal rights activists wanted to euthanize Knut as a polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo, here. Now, they want to castrate him. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Knut (now grown) to be castrated to avoid his mating with another bear who is his cousin. Giovanna has been placed in the same area as Knut and they are getting quite close. That has led to call to neuter Knut.
Continue reading “Calls for Knutering: PETA Demands German Polar Bear Be Castrated”
Florin Necula downloaded a flash drive in January to the surprise of Secret Service agents who had arrested him on suspicion of credit card theft. the Kingston flash drive was in his pocket and he swallowed it while in custody. The problem is that “this too will [not] pass.” Necula has finally agreed to have the flash drive surgically removed after it failed to pass naturally.
Continue reading “Flash In The Pants: Suspect Swallows Flash Drive In Bid To Destroy Evidence”
While Christopher Sheehan is being prosecuted in Florida in a case involving his iron garden, here, Quan and Angelina Ha are being prosecuted in California for their wood chip garden. The Has sought to conserve water in the drought-plagued City of Orange by replacing their lawn with eco-friendly plants and chips. They have now been charged with a misdemeanor and told that they must have a water-consuming lawn.
Christopher Sheehan, 51, has been arrested after sending a letter to the Department of Motor Vehicles demanding a driver’s license or he would seek “day of reckoning when I pull all of you lying pigs into an iron garden from which you will not escape.”