It is a weekly emailing. thanks. On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Arlene C/New Orleans Crime Examiner < [email protected]> wrote:
> > These are some most interesting posts. Keep them coming. > > Arlene Culpepper > http://www.examiner.com/x-2552-New-Orleans-Crime-Examiner > http://groups.google.com/group/south-louisiana-crime-project?hl=en > > On Jun 14, 4:04 pm, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Travis > > > > From: Chuck Shepherd > > Date: Sun, Jun 14, 2009 > > Subject: News of the Weird, June 14, 2009 > > > > WEIRDNUZ.M114 (News of the Weird, June 14, 2009) > > by Chuck Shepherd > > > > Copyright 2009 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved. > > > > Lead Story > > > > * Terrorism Gets Pizzazz: A physical-fitness video, purportedly > > made in April by a U.S.-based al-Qaeda operative, gives workout > > tips to jihadists, urging that they "train as hard as possible" to > > inflict maximum damage on "the enemies of Allah," according to > > an ABC News report. Exercises such as crawling long distances > > on hands and knees are demonstrated by people in flowing robes. > > The narrator discourages using gyms and fitness centers because of > > the "un-Islamic" music and "semi-naked" women. And a video > > released in May, purportedly from al-Qaeda in Somalia, features an > > English-speaking rap singer making a recruitment pitch to U.S. and > > European youth, including such verses as: "Mortar by mortar / > > Shell by shell / Only going to stop / When I send them to hell." > > [ABC News, 4-21-09] [CNN, 5-4-09] > > > > Can't Possibly Be True > > > > * When a son, angry that his father had ordered him to clean up his > > room, screamed at Dad and threw a plate of food across the dinner > > table, Dad called 911. The son is 28-year-old Andrew Mizsak, > > who lives rent-free with his parents in the Cleveland suburb of > > Bedford, Ohio, and is a member of the Bedford School Board (and > > whose mom is a city councilwoman). After police arrived, the > > habitually untidy son apologized and, according to their report, > > "was sent to his room to clean it. He was crying uncontrollably." > > Subsequently, the School Board punished Andrew by removing > > two of his duties. [Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 5-17-09] > > > > * When courts in Nashville, Tenn., get too backed-up, a local > > tradition allows judges to appoint well-known local attorneys to act > > as "special judges" to help clear dockets. According to a months- > > long investigation by WTVF-TV, broadcast in April, it appears that > > at least some of the "special judges" used their power largely to > > dismiss speeding tickets, including at least one instance of a > > lawyer's dismissing his own client's ticket. The station found that > > of almost 1,800 speeding tickets dismissed by courts during the > > time investigated, 1,300 were by the "special judges." [WTVF-TV, > > 4-29-09] > > > > * The U.S. Air Force has spent an estimated $25 million training > > combat pilot Lt. Col. Victor Fehrehbach but is about to discharge > > him involuntarily because he is gay. Born of military-officer > > parents, Fehrenbach has earned 30 awards and decorations, with > > tours flying F-15Es in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and was one > > of the elite fighters called on to patrol the air space over > > Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. Also about to be > > discharged solely for being gay is Army infantry officer Daniel > > Choi, a West Point graduate and Arabic speaker, who would be > > (based on a 2005 Government Accounting Office report) at least > > the 56th gay Arabic linguist to be dismissed from the U.S. military > > since the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. > > [Dayton Daily News, 5-28-09] [ABC News, 5-13-09; New York > > Times, 3-29-09] > > > > * In September 2003, Lisa Strong was hospitalized for a kidney > > stone, which was not treated properly, and by the time the > > resultant, massive, life-threatening infections had been dealt with, > > both her arms and both her legs had been amputated. She filed a > > lawsuit against the doctors in 2005, but in May 2009, a jury in > > Broward County, Fla., somehow could not find any fault at all by > > doctors. (An incredulous Judge Charles Greene reversed the > > verdict, dismissed the jury, and ordered a new trial.) [WFOR-TV > > (Miami), 5-29-09] > > > > Unclear on the Concept > > > > * London's celebrated high-end restaurant Nobu still serves a > > bluefin tuna entree for the equivalent of about $51 but is apparently > > ashamed that it has a fresh inventory ready to carve, according to a > > May report in the Daily Telegraph. Printed on the menu is this > > advisory: "Bluefin tuna is an environmentally threatened species > > please ask your server for an alternative." [Daily Telegraph, 5-29- > > 09] > > > > Inexplicable > > > > * They're Studying What? Where? (1) Doctors and specialists > > from the New York Psychiatric Institute are in the middle of a two- > > year investigation, on a $400,000 grant from the National Institutes > > of Health (NIH), on why gay men have risky sex in Argentina. > > Researchers visit gay bars nightly in Buenos Aires and question > > men about their behavior and substance abuse. (2) Wayne State > > University (Detroit, Mich.) researchers, operating on a $2.6 million > > NIH grant, are now "training" prostitutes to drink alcohol > > responsibly, to reduce the women's willingness to engage in risky > > sex. However, the training is taking place in Quangxi province, > > China. [Fox News, 5-8-09] [Fox News, 5-14-09] > > > > * Challenges of Geography: (1) In March, China's Minister of > > Railways Liu Zhijun acknowledged that the government has plans > > for a rail line connecting Beijing and Taipei, Taiwan (which would > > involve traversing the Taiwan Strait, which is 108 miles across at > > its narrowest point). (2) The Czech Republic newspaper Lidove > > Noviny reported in May that, as late as 1975, the Communist > > government of Czechoslavakia was actively planning to dig a > > tunnel from that landlocked country underneath Austria and the > > part of Yugoslavia that is now Slovenia, to give it rail access to the > > Adriatic Sea, 250 miles away. It is not known what the Austrians > > and the Yugoslavs thought of the idea. [Taipei Times, 3-13-09] > > [BBC News, 5-13-09] > > > > Fine Points of the Law > > > > * Kerry Fenton's pub, The Cutting Edge, in Worsbrough, England, > > initially complied with the 2007 Smoking Act, which prohibits > > lighting up inside. However, since smoking research is generally > > carried on indoors, "research" was exempt from the law. Fenton > > ultimately re-named part of the bar the Smoking Research Centre > > and allows patrons to smoke provided they fill out questionnaires > > about their habit. So far, according to a May BBC News report, > > neither Britain's Home Office nor the local Barnsley council has > > intervened. [BBC News, 5-13-09; Daily Star (London), 5-13-09] > > > > The Aristocrats! > > > > * (1) Timothy Martin, 44, was arrested in Federal Way, Wash., in > > May for felony indecent exposure after he was spotted standing > > partially nude with a string attached to his penis and, according to > > police, apparently "manipulating it with the string like a puppet." > > (2) Two workers at Yellowstone National Park were fired in May > > after being caught on surveillance video urinating into the Old > > Faithful geyser. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5-20-09] [MSNBC-AP, > > 5-14-09] > > > > Least Competent Criminals > > > > * Police in Indianapolis charged Fifth Third Bank manager > > Dwayne Roberts, 31, with arson and theft after the failure of his > > scheme to cover up embezzlement. Police said that Roberts > > elaborately staged a fire inside a locked vault so that an > > undeterminable amount of money would burn up, thus perhaps > > covering his cash shortage. However, after Roberts had set the fire > > and locked the vault, he realized he had left his keys inside and > > could not re-open the vault or lock the bank's doors or drive home. > > [Indianapolis Star, 5-12-09] > > > > * Donny Guy, 31, was arrested in Hickory, N.C., in May and > > charged with burglary of the Captain's Galley Seafood restaurant in > > a caper caught on surveillance video. Guy was immediately a > > suspect because he lives in an apartment about 50 yards from the > > restaurant, and there were two paper trails from the restaurant > > almost to his front door. The video revealed that, in carrying away > > the two cash registers in the dark, the burglar failed to notice that > > the spools of paper in each machine had snagged on something in > > the restaurant and were unraveling with each step he took. > > [Hickory Daily Record, 5-16-09] > > > > A News of the Weird Classic (May 2002) > > > > * Most Helpful Bureaucrat: When Hermilo Mendez, 28, found > > himself behind bars on a minor charge early 2002 in Dilley, Tex., > > he realized that he finally had time to work on his long-desired > > divorce and wrote the county clerk in San Antonio to start the > > paperwork. First, though, he needed the clerk's help, in that he > > could not remember his wife's name. The couple had married in > > 1992 after a one-week courtship, and she cleared out shortly > > afterward. The clerk researched it and informed Mendez that he > > had been joined in holy matrimony with "Violeta Sanchez Juarez" > > and that she had apparently long ago returned to Mexico. [San > > Antonio Express-News, 3-10-02] > > > > Thanks This Week to Dan Karchmer, Janene Hols, David > > Musheff, Caroline Lawler, Doug Miller, Alice Sullivan, Perry > > Levin, Reid Branson, Stan Adams, Chris McDivitt, and Mark > > Hazelrigg, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial > > Advisors. > > > > * * * * * > > Visit Chuck Shepherd daily > > athttp://www.WeirdUniverse.net<http://www.weirduniverse.net/> > <http://www.weirduniverse.net/> > (orwww.NewsoftheWeird.com<http://orwww.newsoftheweird.com/> > <http://www.newsoftheweird.com/>) or > > mail [email protected] / P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL > > 33629. > > > > -- > > *~@):~{> > > > -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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