According to critics, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln has ended its witch hunt. It settled with an unnamed self-described witch who alleged that she was fired after coming out of the figurative broom closet.
Continue reading “Bewitched: University of Nebraska Settles Case With Witch After Preliminary Finding of Discrimination”
The tension between the Church of Scientology and Australian political leaders continued to grow last week. First, there was the allegation of the Church obstructing a criminal investigation, here. Then, there was the call for a criminal investigation of the Church by a powerful member of the legislature, here. Now, educators and parents are outraged over material distributed to elementary children heralding L. Ron Hubbard as one of history’s greatest figures and a symbol of human rights.
Continue reading “Scientology Accused of Spreading Propaganda to Elementary Students in Australia”
Detroit has long fascinated observers as a major city in political and economic meltdown. In addition to continual political scandals and corruption investigations of its leaders, Detroit has soaring crime and debt that are accelerating a downward spiral. Now, in something out of Roger & Me, the city is dealing with a massive stack of corpses as people abandon loved ones due to a lack of money to bury them.
Continue reading “Don’t Bring Out Your Dead: Detroit Overwhelmed By Unclaimed Bodies”
Cats have long resented the monopoly of dogs in animal law enforcement.
Continue reading “Kitty Cop: Feline Fights to Serve and Purrtect”
It was probably not the reptile logo on an Izod shirt that gave Michael Plank, 40, away at the Los Angeles International Airport. It was more likely the 15 live lizards strapped to his chest under the shirt, including 11 skinks.
Continue reading “Stewardess, the Man Next to Me Skinks: California Man Arrested at Airport With 15 Reptiles Tied to Body”
Harold Warren Sr., 77, a Missouri funeral home director has pleaded guilty to intentionally giving three families the wrong cremated remains. This includes leaving a woman’s body in an electrical room for 10 months without embalming or refrigeration. What is interesting is that Circuit Judge Gary Oxenhandler indicated that he might not honor the plea bargain for no jail time for Warren, who is a prominent political figure in the area. There are questions of whether the prosecutors cut Warren a remarkably light deal due to his political connections and standing in the community.
Continue reading “Funeral Director and Missouri Politician Pleads Guilty to Mishandling of Corpses”
Prosecutors in Thousand Oaks, California have brought a novel charge in a bizarre case. Charles Hersel, 39, has been charged with misdemeanor child annoyance after allegedly paying a teenager $31 to spit in his face. The teenager arranged the deal through MySpace. [Update: Hersel has been acquitted in the case after only an hour of deliberation by the jury]
Continue reading “California Man Arrested for Allegedly Paying Teen to Spit in His Face”
You cannot trust anything today. After generations were taught how the little pig who built his house out of straw was negligent, a straw house has not only been built in England but it has even passed the industry standard fire safety test. Called the Balehaus@Bath, it is built of pre-fabricated straw-bale and hemp sections and would resist the most determined, wind-blowing wolf.
Continue reading “I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff . . .: English Architects Build Wolf-Proof, Fire-Proof Straw House”
Milford, Connecticut police officer Jason Anderson has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of reckless driving in an accident that killed 19-year-old David Servin and 19-year-old Ashlie Krakowski. Anderson was driving at 94 miles per hour at the time and the crash was caught on the dashcam of another cruiser by Police Officer Richard Pisani.
Nathalie Blanchard seems to have had one “friend” too many on her Facebook page. The Quebec woman is on long-term sick leave but posted pictures of herself on the beach and enjoying a show with the Chippendales. One of the viewers was the insurance company paying for her total disability due to depression from her job at IBM.
With the increased use of tasers on humans, it was perhaps inevitable that the crustacean set would demand their own stunning device. Simon Buckhaven of CrustaStun has developed a system that allows lobsters to be zapped to death in a device rather than boiled alive. It was such a breakthrough that animal rights groups organized a lobster dinner fundraiser with lobsters dispatched with the CrustaStun device. The problem is that the machines were lost in transit and the sponsors had to boil hundreds of lobsters alive at the event with such participating groups as PETA.
Continue reading “Shock Lobster: Company Invents Lobster Stunning Machine”
We have a new major recall this morning. Procter & Gamble is recalling Vicks Sinex nasal spray in the United States, Britain and Germany because of the presence of bacteria. Shooting live bacteria up your nose puts a new meaning in the gamble that comes with Procter & Gamble.
Continue reading “Bacterial Spray: Procter and Gamble Recalls Vicks Nasal Spray”
I am confused. Where’s the taser?
Continue reading “Shock Video: Officers Stop Bicyclists on Video and . . . Hug them”
A federal judge in New Orleans has found “monumental negligence” by the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers in the operation and maintenance of a shipping channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. The finding allows residents to collect damages against the U.S. government after their homes were swamped by Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters in 2005.
Continue reading “Court: Corps of Engineers Responsible for Flood Damage in New Orleans”
Pat Robertson has declared that Islam is not a religion but a “violent political system.” For many, such statements are nothing new from Robertson. However, it was a bit more surprising yesterday to learn that Virginia Governor Elect Bob McDonnell has refused to disavow that view. McDonnell was opposed during the recent campaign for having extreme religious views and close ties to evangelical leaders like Robertson.
Continue reading “Pat Robertson Claims Islam Not Religion — and Virginia Governor-Elect McDonnell Refuses to Disavow Comment”