Chuck’s Hand-Picked Overnight Weird News for Saturday
Update: One of the two arrogant little twits who stole the Girl Scout's cookie money actually has a substance-abuse problem
Stefanie Woods, 18, made News of the Weird recently [NOTW M062, 6-15-2008] when she snatched $168 off the girl's table and then gave a TV station some arrogant sass on camera. It turns out the judge bought into her drug/alcohol problem and sentenced her to three yrs in lockdown rehab. Whoa. But they couldn't find a spot for her so she's now on house arrest while inching up the waiting list. Palm Beach Post // Video of original news story
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When the stock market plunges in Pakistan, investors don't respond by clutching worry beads and calmly talking to CNBC
Police surrounded the Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday, after the 15th straight down day (worst spell in 18 yrs) to quell the assembly of angry investors, who threw rocks, breaking windows. Bloomberg News
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Old math versus new math, and parents' dilemma
CNN reported sympathetically on parents who want to help their kids with math homework, but even the smart parents don't understand how it's taught these days (i.e., "conceptually"). Some parents cheat and teach subversive things like "long division," which soon may show up only in a curriculum on "History of Math." CNN: "Since Sam is good at math, his father supplements his classroom work with, for example, the old way of multiplying 175 times 142." (Lede buried: There's a different way of multiplying 175 times 142.) CNN
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Heavy metal monk's second album
Capuchin monk (that's the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, not the Capuchin monkey) Cesare Bonizzi, of a monastery near Milan, Italy, is actually the lead singer in a heavy metal band and has just released his second album, Misteri. "Brother Metal" says he thinks he could possibly turn the Pope on to his sound, just like he thrilled the crowd at the recent "Gods of Metal" festival (on the bill with Iron Maiden and, er, Judas Priest). BBC News (with video)
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Yet another harmless transit-driver freak
In the mold of the notorious New Yorker, Darius McCollum, whose fixation with all-things-transit leads him to impersonate drivers and commandeer trains [NOTW 900, 5-8-2005; NOTW 666, 11-10-2000; NOTW 526, 3-6-1998], we have Miamian James Harris, whose specialty is buses. In his latest escapade, he grabbed a bus and ran out the South Beach route, picking up passengers, collecting the fare, delivering everyone safely, returning the bus. No complaints, no missing money. Miami Herald
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It's good to be an Air Force general
Washington Post: "The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on 'comfort capsules' [luxury quarters] to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs." On the one hand, it was only $20M. (But on the other hand, troops ferried to and from the war zones don't exactly get steward service.) Washington Post
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The weird thing about Freddie Mac's CEO's paycheck
It's not that the guy "earned" almost $20M for last year when his company lost half its value, or even that he stands to "earn" that much this year when his company is a millimeter or two away from crashing the entire home-mortgage market, or even that he undoubtedly played an active role in the very strategy that brought about this dismal performance. Nope, the weird thing is that, in our advanced society, Articulate Rich People can produce high-sounding rationalizations to justify this Pay-For-Failure and that lots of Poorer People will suck up those rationalizations. Amazing. Associated Press via MSNBC
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People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
James Kist, who not only got his kicks by peeping in the windows of a Harrisburg, Pa., area cop's family, but told police he'd done it over and over. (Bonus: self-judging mug shot) Patriot-News (Harrisburg)
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Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
James McKean of New Rochelle, N.Y., who maybe had bad motives when he invited that 11-year-old girl to come back to his car with him. Journal-News (White Plains)
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More Things to Worry About on Saturday
A police lieutenant with 15 yrs on the job was fired for repeatedly harassing a Starbucks for free coffee . . . . . An SUV sailed airborne in a San Diego-area neighborhood and went either through or into three homes and some cars (possibly, alcohol was involved) . . . . . God came through for Mr. Absolom Morifi in Johannesburg, who survived a serious auto collision, and it might have been because just hours earlier he had canceled his life insurance policy precisely so he could free up money to continue his church-tithing . . . . . And here is the Eleva, Wis., cornfield-trimmed tribute to, er, Brett Favre. Today's Newsrangers: Karl Olson, John Holsinger, Kathryn Wood, Scott Langill, Tony Jeswald, Matt Mirapaul
Comments
Stefanie Woods, 18, made News of the Weird recently [NOTW M062, 6-15-2008] when she snatched $168 off the girl's table and then gave a TV station some arrogant sass on camera. It turns out the judge bought into her drug/alcohol problem and sentenced her to three yrs in lockdown rehab. Whoa. But they couldn't find a spot for her so she's now on house arrest while inching up the waiting list. Palm Beach Post // Video of original news story
Comments
When the stock market plunges in Pakistan, investors don't respond by clutching worry beads and calmly talking to CNBC
Police surrounded the Karachi Stock Exchange on Thursday, after the 15th straight down day (worst spell in 18 yrs) to quell the assembly of angry investors, who threw rocks, breaking windows. Bloomberg News
Comments
Old math versus new math, and parents' dilemma
CNN reported sympathetically on parents who want to help their kids with math homework, but even the smart parents don't understand how it's taught these days (i.e., "conceptually"). Some parents cheat and teach subversive things like "long division," which soon may show up only in a curriculum on "History of Math." CNN: "Since Sam is good at math, his father supplements his classroom work with, for example, the old way of multiplying 175 times 142." (Lede buried: There's a different way of multiplying 175 times 142.) CNN
Comments
Heavy metal monk's second album
Capuchin monk (that's the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, not the Capuchin monkey) Cesare Bonizzi, of a monastery near Milan, Italy, is actually the lead singer in a heavy metal band and has just released his second album, Misteri. "Brother Metal" says he thinks he could possibly turn the Pope on to his sound, just like he thrilled the crowd at the recent "Gods of Metal" festival (on the bill with Iron Maiden and, er, Judas Priest). BBC News (with video)
Comments
Yet another harmless transit-driver freak
In the mold of the notorious New Yorker, Darius McCollum, whose fixation with all-things-transit leads him to impersonate drivers and commandeer trains [NOTW 900, 5-8-2005; NOTW 666, 11-10-2000; NOTW 526, 3-6-1998], we have Miamian James Harris, whose specialty is buses. In his latest escapade, he grabbed a bus and ran out the South Beach route, picking up passengers, collecting the fare, delivering everyone safely, returning the bus. No complaints, no missing money. Miami Herald
Comments
It's good to be an Air Force general
Washington Post: "The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on 'comfort capsules' [luxury quarters] to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs." On the one hand, it was only $20M. (But on the other hand, troops ferried to and from the war zones don't exactly get steward service.) Washington Post
Comments
The weird thing about Freddie Mac's CEO's paycheck
It's not that the guy "earned" almost $20M for last year when his company lost half its value, or even that he stands to "earn" that much this year when his company is a millimeter or two away from crashing the entire home-mortgage market, or even that he undoubtedly played an active role in the very strategy that brought about this dismal performance. Nope, the weird thing is that, in our advanced society, Articulate Rich People can produce high-sounding rationalizations to justify this Pay-For-Failure and that lots of Poorer People will suck up those rationalizations. Amazing. Associated Press via MSNBC
Comments
People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
James Kist, who not only got his kicks by peeping in the windows of a Harrisburg, Pa., area cop's family, but told police he'd done it over and over. (Bonus: self-judging mug shot) Patriot-News (Harrisburg)
Comments
Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
James McKean of New Rochelle, N.Y., who maybe had bad motives when he invited that 11-year-old girl to come back to his car with him. Journal-News (White Plains)
Comments
More Things to Worry About on Saturday
A police lieutenant with 15 yrs on the job was fired for repeatedly harassing a Starbucks for free coffee . . . . . An SUV sailed airborne in a San Diego-area neighborhood and went either through or into three homes and some cars (possibly, alcohol was involved) . . . . . God came through for Mr. Absolom Morifi in Johannesburg, who survived a serious auto collision, and it might have been because just hours earlier he had canceled his life insurance policy precisely so he could free up money to continue his church-tithing . . . . . And here is the Eleva, Wis., cornfield-trimmed tribute to, er, Brett Favre. Today's Newsrangers: Karl Olson, John Holsinger, Kathryn Wood, Scott Langill, Tony Jeswald, Matt Mirapaul
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