News of the Weird (August 9, 2015)
News of the Weird
Weirdnuz.M435, August 9, 2015
Copyright 2015 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
“Doc, It Hurts When I Do That” (“Then Don’t Do That”): Randell Busch, 27, was in serious condition after being shot on July 26th near the corner of 18th Street and Emmet Street in Omaha, Neb. He was also shot in 2014 around the intersection of 18th and Emmet, and in 2012 was shot in a scuffle after running from the corner of 18th and Emmet. [WOWT-TV (Omaha), 7-30-2015]
The Entrepreneurial Spirit!
Failed European Business Models: (1) Grande Hotel San Calogero, the planned centerpiece of a Sicilian tourist renaissance, is still nowhere close to opening--61 years after construction began. It took 30 years to build, but then developers fought for 10 years over its management, and only later was a serious drainage deficiency discovered (repair of which Rome’s news site, The Local, reported in July remains unfunded). (2) Construction of the ultra-modern Don Quixote airport (in Ciudad Real, Spain, about an hour from Madrid) was finished in 2006, but the $1 billion facility never opened, and in July, was sold to a Chinese investor for the equivalent of $11,000. (Bonus: Fictional character Don Quixote was, himself, noted for delusions of grandeur.) [The Local (Rome), 7-16-2015] [Quartz (qz.com), 7-21-2015]
Unclear on the Concept: Overlooked by the roundup of “state fair” foods listed in News of the Weird two weeks ago was the debut in June, at California’s San Diego County Fair, of the deep-fried Slim-Fast bar. A 200-calorie “diet bar” is breaded in pancake batter, fried, dusted with powdered sugar, and drizzled with chocolate. [Huffington Post, 6-8-2015]
A woman in a suburb of Beijing filed a lawsuit against the China Dragon Garden graveyard recently over her shock to find not only her own name affixed to a headstone in gold lettering but that about half of the 600 plots were eerily marked for prominent (and still alive) people to move into. It was a marketing plan, according to cemetery workers, to convince customers of the upscale neighbors (such as basketball star Yao Ming) waiting for them in the afterlife. (China’s aging population, and Beijing’s land scarcity, have driven up prices, intensifying competition and corrupt practices, according to a Los Angeles Times dispatch.) [Los Angeles Times, 7-23-2015]
The Continuing Crisis
Texas’s highest criminal appeals court agreed on July 17th, hours before Clifton Williams was to be executed, to a postponement until they could consider the significance of perhaps-faulty higher math presented to his jury in 2006. Prosecutors had claimed at his trial that the likelihood of another black man having Williams’s DNA profile was 1 in 43 sextillion (43 followed by 21 zeros, or “43 billion trillion”). Texas officials have recently re-calculated the FBI-developed database and concluded that it was somewhat more likely that a second black man had Williams’s profile--1 in only 40 billion trillion. [Associated Press via WLS-TV (Chicago), 7-17-2015]
Wait, What?
(1) Jason Patterson, upset at New Zealand’s healthcare administration’s having rejected paying for gastric-bypass surgery, announced in July that he will protest publicly by going on a hunger strike. “The first two to three days [will be] really hard,” he told Channel 3 News. (2) Local officials in China’s Xinjiang region informed Muslim shopkeepers and restaurateurs in May that they will henceforth be required to sell alcohol and cigarettes (even though Islam forbids their consumption). An official told Radio Free Asia that the government aims to weaken religion. [TV3News (Auckland), 7-6-2015] [Washington Post, 5-5-2015]
Cutting-Edge Science
Some owners may be petting their cats all wrong, cautioned recent research in issues of the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science by scientists from University of Lincoln in England and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For example, felines seem to prefer face-caressing, especially between the eyes and ears, and are especially aroused, negatively, by tail-petting, especially at the base. Cats appear to be pickier about how their owners pet them than strangers, according to a Washington Post review of one article. The Wisconsin research revealed that cats more appreciate (or are annoyed less by) music written especially for their pitch (a higher octave) and tempo (mimicking purring) than traditional classical music. [Washington Post, 6-30-2015] [Sci-news.com, 3-15-2015]
Oops!
Careless Governing: (1) Maine enacted legislation in July to make immigrant asylum-seekers eligible for the state’s General Assistance fund--contrary to Gov. Paul LePage’s aggressive promise to veto the bill. The governor had misunderstood state law and believed legislation would be regarded as vetoed if he merely failed to sign it for 10 days. LePage appeared stunned on the 11th day, according to press reports, that he had had the veto law backwards and that asylum-seekers are now eligible for benefits. (2) News reports from Georgetown, Tex., politely did not identify the councilman by name, but Mayor Rachael Jonrow confirmed that the man neglected to turn off his mobile microphone during a May meeting as he excused himself for a restroom break. Mayor Jonrow said she stoically ignored the men’s room sounds on the PA system--until the noise from a toilet’s flushing seemed to release the councilmembers’ pent-up laughter. [Maine Beacon (Portland), 7-7-2015] [Fox News, 5-5-2015]
Epic Clumsiness: (1) A guest at the upscale W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had to be rescued by firefighters in July when he fell off of one machine in the hotel’s exercise room and got his head caught in the one next to it. Rescuers arrived with torches and saws, but managed to pull and push and manipulate the man’s head free (though he had “significant” injuries). (2) A 27-year-old man, entertaining friends at his home in Colmar, France, on the country’s National Day on July 14th, suffered serious injuries when he fell from his third-floor balcony--while, said his friends, leaning over to spit on police officers below. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7-22-2015] [The Local (Paris), 7-17-2015]
The Aristocrats!
Michael Crawford, 68, was arrested when he arrived in Phoenix in July expecting, according to the sheriff’s office, to have sex with a horse. Crawford had allegedly posted an online ad seeking horse owners who would allow him access for brief flings. In arranging the meeting with the undercover deputy, Crawford had volunteered that he would be bringing five shirts with him for the horse to urinate on, as memories of the trip. [AzFamily.com (Phoenix), 7-12-2015]
Least Competent Criminals
Irresistible Self-Promotion: Jason Stange, 44, who became a fugitive last year by walking away from a Spokane, Wash., halfway house while on probation for bank robbery, was re-arrested in July in Olympia, Wash., after featuring himself in an extensive newspaper pictorial about a local movie he was starring in. Stange could have chosen a more veiled stage name, but (since it was a horror movie) billed himself merely as “Jason Strange”--making detection easier for U.S. Marshals. [News Tribune (Tacoma), 7-21-2015]
Update
Earlier, even Norway’s world’s-friendliest prison system had refused to honor the educational rehabilitation demands of Anders Behring Breivik, the mass-murderer of 71 (mostly children) at a camp in 2011. Breivik had been sentenced to 21 years in prison--the country’s maximum, or less than four months per victim--but he was subsequently turned down when he sought to register, behind bars, as a political science student at Oslo University. However, in July, prison officials relented and will allow the enrollment--although he will still be subject to his prison restrictions against Internet and e-mail use. [BBC News, 7-17-2015]
A News of the Weird Classic (June 2010)
In a 2009 traffic accident, retired Montgomery County, Md., county judge Edwin Collier and his wife, both in their 80s, were severely injured by driver Rene Fernandez, 45, who pleaded guilty to DUI-caused injury [in 2010]. Judge Collier had met Fernandez earlier, in 1998, when Fernandez appeared in his courtroom to answer for his three DUI-related arrests in the previous three-month period--but Judge Collier let him off with probation instead of a more meaningful punishment that might have had greater effect on his future DUI behavior. (Update: The 2010 judge gave Fernandez 18 months.) [Washington Post, 4-10-2010, 4-14-2010]
Thanks This Week to Chuck Hamilton and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
Weirdnuz.M435, August 9, 2015
Copyright 2015 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
Lead Story
“Doc, It Hurts When I Do That” (“Then Don’t Do That”): Randell Busch, 27, was in serious condition after being shot on July 26th near the corner of 18th Street and Emmet Street in Omaha, Neb. He was also shot in 2014 around the intersection of 18th and Emmet, and in 2012 was shot in a scuffle after running from the corner of 18th and Emmet. [WOWT-TV (Omaha), 7-30-2015]
The Entrepreneurial Spirit!
Failed European Business Models: (1) Grande Hotel San Calogero, the planned centerpiece of a Sicilian tourist renaissance, is still nowhere close to opening--61 years after construction began. It took 30 years to build, but then developers fought for 10 years over its management, and only later was a serious drainage deficiency discovered (repair of which Rome’s news site, The Local, reported in July remains unfunded). (2) Construction of the ultra-modern Don Quixote airport (in Ciudad Real, Spain, about an hour from Madrid) was finished in 2006, but the $1 billion facility never opened, and in July, was sold to a Chinese investor for the equivalent of $11,000. (Bonus: Fictional character Don Quixote was, himself, noted for delusions of grandeur.) [The Local (Rome), 7-16-2015] [Quartz (qz.com), 7-21-2015]
Unclear on the Concept: Overlooked by the roundup of “state fair” foods listed in News of the Weird two weeks ago was the debut in June, at California’s San Diego County Fair, of the deep-fried Slim-Fast bar. A 200-calorie “diet bar” is breaded in pancake batter, fried, dusted with powdered sugar, and drizzled with chocolate. [Huffington Post, 6-8-2015]
A woman in a suburb of Beijing filed a lawsuit against the China Dragon Garden graveyard recently over her shock to find not only her own name affixed to a headstone in gold lettering but that about half of the 600 plots were eerily marked for prominent (and still alive) people to move into. It was a marketing plan, according to cemetery workers, to convince customers of the upscale neighbors (such as basketball star Yao Ming) waiting for them in the afterlife. (China’s aging population, and Beijing’s land scarcity, have driven up prices, intensifying competition and corrupt practices, according to a Los Angeles Times dispatch.) [Los Angeles Times, 7-23-2015]
The Continuing Crisis
Texas’s highest criminal appeals court agreed on July 17th, hours before Clifton Williams was to be executed, to a postponement until they could consider the significance of perhaps-faulty higher math presented to his jury in 2006. Prosecutors had claimed at his trial that the likelihood of another black man having Williams’s DNA profile was 1 in 43 sextillion (43 followed by 21 zeros, or “43 billion trillion”). Texas officials have recently re-calculated the FBI-developed database and concluded that it was somewhat more likely that a second black man had Williams’s profile--1 in only 40 billion trillion. [Associated Press via WLS-TV (Chicago), 7-17-2015]
Wait, What?
(1) Jason Patterson, upset at New Zealand’s healthcare administration’s having rejected paying for gastric-bypass surgery, announced in July that he will protest publicly by going on a hunger strike. “The first two to three days [will be] really hard,” he told Channel 3 News. (2) Local officials in China’s Xinjiang region informed Muslim shopkeepers and restaurateurs in May that they will henceforth be required to sell alcohol and cigarettes (even though Islam forbids their consumption). An official told Radio Free Asia that the government aims to weaken religion. [TV3News (Auckland), 7-6-2015] [Washington Post, 5-5-2015]
Cutting-Edge Science
Some owners may be petting their cats all wrong, cautioned recent research in issues of the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science by scientists from University of Lincoln in England and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For example, felines seem to prefer face-caressing, especially between the eyes and ears, and are especially aroused, negatively, by tail-petting, especially at the base. Cats appear to be pickier about how their owners pet them than strangers, according to a Washington Post review of one article. The Wisconsin research revealed that cats more appreciate (or are annoyed less by) music written especially for their pitch (a higher octave) and tempo (mimicking purring) than traditional classical music. [Washington Post, 6-30-2015] [Sci-news.com, 3-15-2015]
Oops!
Careless Governing: (1) Maine enacted legislation in July to make immigrant asylum-seekers eligible for the state’s General Assistance fund--contrary to Gov. Paul LePage’s aggressive promise to veto the bill. The governor had misunderstood state law and believed legislation would be regarded as vetoed if he merely failed to sign it for 10 days. LePage appeared stunned on the 11th day, according to press reports, that he had had the veto law backwards and that asylum-seekers are now eligible for benefits. (2) News reports from Georgetown, Tex., politely did not identify the councilman by name, but Mayor Rachael Jonrow confirmed that the man neglected to turn off his mobile microphone during a May meeting as he excused himself for a restroom break. Mayor Jonrow said she stoically ignored the men’s room sounds on the PA system--until the noise from a toilet’s flushing seemed to release the councilmembers’ pent-up laughter. [Maine Beacon (Portland), 7-7-2015] [Fox News, 5-5-2015]
Epic Clumsiness: (1) A guest at the upscale W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had to be rescued by firefighters in July when he fell off of one machine in the hotel’s exercise room and got his head caught in the one next to it. Rescuers arrived with torches and saws, but managed to pull and push and manipulate the man’s head free (though he had “significant” injuries). (2) A 27-year-old man, entertaining friends at his home in Colmar, France, on the country’s National Day on July 14th, suffered serious injuries when he fell from his third-floor balcony--while, said his friends, leaning over to spit on police officers below. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7-22-2015] [The Local (Paris), 7-17-2015]
The Aristocrats!
Michael Crawford, 68, was arrested when he arrived in Phoenix in July expecting, according to the sheriff’s office, to have sex with a horse. Crawford had allegedly posted an online ad seeking horse owners who would allow him access for brief flings. In arranging the meeting with the undercover deputy, Crawford had volunteered that he would be bringing five shirts with him for the horse to urinate on, as memories of the trip. [AzFamily.com (Phoenix), 7-12-2015]
Least Competent Criminals
Irresistible Self-Promotion: Jason Stange, 44, who became a fugitive last year by walking away from a Spokane, Wash., halfway house while on probation for bank robbery, was re-arrested in July in Olympia, Wash., after featuring himself in an extensive newspaper pictorial about a local movie he was starring in. Stange could have chosen a more veiled stage name, but (since it was a horror movie) billed himself merely as “Jason Strange”--making detection easier for U.S. Marshals. [News Tribune (Tacoma), 7-21-2015]
Update
Earlier, even Norway’s world’s-friendliest prison system had refused to honor the educational rehabilitation demands of Anders Behring Breivik, the mass-murderer of 71 (mostly children) at a camp in 2011. Breivik had been sentenced to 21 years in prison--the country’s maximum, or less than four months per victim--but he was subsequently turned down when he sought to register, behind bars, as a political science student at Oslo University. However, in July, prison officials relented and will allow the enrollment--although he will still be subject to his prison restrictions against Internet and e-mail use. [BBC News, 7-17-2015]
A News of the Weird Classic (June 2010)
In a 2009 traffic accident, retired Montgomery County, Md., county judge Edwin Collier and his wife, both in their 80s, were severely injured by driver Rene Fernandez, 45, who pleaded guilty to DUI-caused injury [in 2010]. Judge Collier had met Fernandez earlier, in 1998, when Fernandez appeared in his courtroom to answer for his three DUI-related arrests in the previous three-month period--but Judge Collier let him off with probation instead of a more meaningful punishment that might have had greater effect on his future DUI behavior. (Update: The 2010 judge gave Fernandez 18 months.) [Washington Post, 4-10-2010, 4-14-2010]
Thanks This Week to Chuck Hamilton and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
Comments
Same spot- Randy, dude, stay away from that corner!
61yrs- I don't think its gonna ever open.
air port- This either.
deep fried slimfast bars- Really?
graveyard- Careful China, you're catching up with Japan on the weird-o-meter.
40/43 BT- not surprising except that it is in Texas, wouldn't have expected that.
NZ- By the time they relent and approve the surgery he won't need it anymore.
cats- So, they do not like to be petted on the butthole, who woulda thunk it?!
veto- Knowing how to veto legislation would seem to be something to learn very early on. Guess that's what happens when someone thinks they already know everything.
mic on- Politicians should be especially aware of mics!
exercise machine- Just trying to reduce his fat head I guess.
3 floors- Don't spit on cops!!!!!
horse sex- Not cool, recently heard a similar story involving sheep, the owners got jail time. I hope this guy do too.
judge- Perfect example of the phrase 'the life you save may be your own'.
61yrs- I don't think its gonna ever open.
air port- This either.
deep fried slimfast bars- Really?
graveyard- Careful China, you're catching up with Japan on the weird-o-meter.
40/43 BT- not surprising except that it is in Texas, wouldn't have expected that.
NZ- By the time they relent and approve the surgery he won't need it anymore.
cats- So, they do not like to be petted on the butthole, who woulda thunk it?!
veto- Knowing how to veto legislation would seem to be something to learn very early on. Guess that's what happens when someone thinks they already know everything.
mic on- Politicians should be especially aware of mics!
exercise machine- Just trying to reduce his fat head I guess.
3 floors- Don't spit on cops!!!!!
horse sex- Not cool, recently heard a similar story involving sheep, the owners got jail time. I hope this guy do too.
judge- Perfect example of the phrase 'the life you save may be your own'.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 08/09/15 at 10:29 AM
Tex-ass justice: Wait, you mean that the system is going soft on death penalty cases??? Probably, someone worked out that there was a 7% decrease in the chances of a DNA match, and ignored that fact that there are fewer than 4e21 people on the planet. Either that, or they're running scared at the odds of a race riot if they execute a black man.
Horse: When Sheriff Joe says that perversion has reached new levels, that's pretty bad. How long before we see tabloid headlines about the more famous namesake being the perp here?
Spitting: Colmar is the departmental capital of Upper Rhine; perhaps, for Bastille Day, he was using both uppers and Rhine wine. He should have just farted in their general direction.
Infanticide: sounds like just the guy to run for office.
Horse: When Sheriff Joe says that perversion has reached new levels, that's pretty bad. How long before we see tabloid headlines about the more famous namesake being the perp here?
Spitting: Colmar is the departmental capital of Upper Rhine; perhaps, for Bastille Day, he was using both uppers and Rhine wine. He should have just farted in their general direction.
Infanticide: sounds like just the guy to run for office.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 08/09/15 at 03:05 PM
Randell Busch So, I guess 18 ain't his lucky number?
EU Business Just the tip of the ice burg.
State Fair Foods Someone should do one of those scripted reality shows about this stuff. It should be good for 10 or 11 seasons (or until the mouth-breathers smarten up or die off).
Chinese Capitalism Isn't that one of those oxymorons? Or, maybe just moronic!
Texas Accounting 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ain't no rounding error.
Hunger Strike I've never understood why those worked. Freedom of choice & pursuit of happiness.
Cat Petting (I could have used cruder words but...) So, some idiot academics figured out what everyone that's owned a cat has know since day 1? And, how much did that cost?
Gov. Paul LePage Really? Not one of his staffers said a thing? Really? No, seriously??
Georgetown, Tex Potty humor. Wouldn't want to tax them too much.
Equine Love Cht! Cht! Did I hurt'ch'a babe? ....or.... Being a Stud for Dummies.
Anders Behring Breivik The US even whimped out on James Holmes' death sentence. Both should have been long gone long, long ago.
How high's the water, Chuck? Seen any gators gliding by?
EU Business Just the tip of the ice burg.
State Fair Foods Someone should do one of those scripted reality shows about this stuff. It should be good for 10 or 11 seasons (or until the mouth-breathers smarten up or die off).
Chinese Capitalism Isn't that one of those oxymorons? Or, maybe just moronic!
Texas Accounting 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ain't no rounding error.
Hunger Strike I've never understood why those worked. Freedom of choice & pursuit of happiness.
Cat Petting (I could have used cruder words but...) So, some idiot academics figured out what everyone that's owned a cat has know since day 1? And, how much did that cost?
Gov. Paul LePage Really? Not one of his staffers said a thing? Really? No, seriously??
Georgetown, Tex Potty humor. Wouldn't want to tax them too much.
Equine Love Cht! Cht! Did I hurt'ch'a babe? ....or.... Being a Stud for Dummies.
Anders Behring Breivik The US even whimped out on James Holmes' death sentence. Both should have been long gone long, long ago.
How high's the water, Chuck? Seen any gators gliding by?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/10/15 at 10:20 AM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Category: