Some Root Causes of Weird (Besides Alcohol), Plus Referees’ Secret Desire
News of the Weird Daily
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 [part one]
Root cause: "principles"
Why would a guy go nuts on a state trooper he was tailgating on Interstate 4 in the F State? Without benefit of alcohol, Kevin Allen boisterously challenged the traffic stop (video available), including calling 911 while physically resisting, enough that two troopers called for backup (12 cars arrived!). Said one, "[Allen] told the troopers afterwards, it was a matter of principle, that he felt he did nothing wrong" and therefore had to rough up those first two officers "to prove a point." WFTV (Orlando)
Comments 'kevin_allen'
Root cause: need for cool
Markham, Ill., is one of the still-few jurisdictions that take seriously enough judges' orders of driver's license suspensions that they actually watch defendants when they leave the courthouse, to see if they try to drive home. David B. Johnson, 31, is a local legend for dressing pimp-like, in purple, with an immaculate, tricked-up, purple 1988 Caddy (with back cover reading "Mister Oldskool") and had just been sentenced to 10 days in jail (starting Friday) for driving on his 13th suspension. The judge noted (when Johnson was hauled right back into court) that it was "22 minutes" between the first court hearing and Mister Oldskool's resumption of giving the people of Markham the privilege of seeing him behind the wheel. Chicago Sun-Times
Comments 'mister_oldskool'
Root cause: inexplicable social manias
The latest Japanese craze is to determine everything one needs to know about people by which of the four blood types they are (A, B, AB, O), and professional exploiters are raking in money feeding the craze. The data suggest that, as usual, the practitioners of crazes are of two minds: In situations requiring intellectual sobriety, they say, of course, it's all light fun. But then, in the next breath, it's inescapable that they form important impressions of people based on their new-found, clear-cut knowledge of human nature. Associated Press via Seattle Times
Comments 'japan_bloodtype'
Root cause: being Zimbabwe
"Our national currency is a fundamental economic pillar of our sovereignty," said the country's chief finance officer. Hence, the country is now acknowledging its inflation rate of roughly a billion percent, which is roughly a billion minus 3 higher than the U.S.'s, and remedial action now includes taking Z's currency in the denomination of "one trillion dollars" and re-naming it "one dollar." Presto! (On the open market, $1 U.S. is going for Z$300 [which used to be Z$300 trillion] [but that was yesterday, so it's probably more than Z$300 now].) You know about people who do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. CNN
Comments 'zimbabwe_zeros1'
Recurring theme: God's will
A house burned down (probably a faulty heater) in Port Charlotte, Fla., Sunday while a devout family was at church. When he returned, he had things partly figured out, anyway: "God works in mysterious ways. We don't know why things happen, but they happen for a reason." WWSB-TV (Sarasota)
Comments 'gods_will'
Fine Points of the Law: Former car owners find out they still own them
Only some of the 50 states protect ya if ya trade in to a dealer a car that ya still owe money on. The dealer "agrees" to pay off your loan and then resells the car. In the states without protective laws (California!), if the dealer hasn't yet paid it off and then files for bankruptcy, the owner of the car is still you, and the lienholder expects you to continue your payments you thought the dealer had bought your way out of (along with your payments on the new car that the trade-in was part of). Sur-prise! Associated Press via KOVR-TV (Sacramento)
Comments 'car_liens'
The secret desire of all referees and umpires
Your Editor, a former high school basketball referee, can speak for all my colleagues at all levels about how sweet the game would be if we, like Indiana high school referee Glen Fifield, simply had the power to make arrests of people abusing the officials. Of course Fifield's day job is state trooper so when the 64-yr-old man came down from the stands to berate him and then tried to choke him with his whistle neckstrap, Fifield 'cuffed him. Yes! Associated Press via Yahoo
Comments 'referees_desire'
Your Daily Jury Duty
["In America, a person is presumed innocent until the mug shot is released"]
Bradford Sheldon, 44, Gainesville, Fla., must be innocent because why would anyone want to challenge a traffic stop so violently (attempted murder of the cop) just because he had a headlight out? Ocala Star-Banner
Comments 'bradford_sheldon'
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 [part one]
Root cause: "principles"
Why would a guy go nuts on a state trooper he was tailgating on Interstate 4 in the F State? Without benefit of alcohol, Kevin Allen boisterously challenged the traffic stop (video available), including calling 911 while physically resisting, enough that two troopers called for backup (12 cars arrived!). Said one, "[Allen] told the troopers afterwards, it was a matter of principle, that he felt he did nothing wrong" and therefore had to rough up those first two officers "to prove a point." WFTV (Orlando)
Comments 'kevin_allen'
Root cause: need for cool
Markham, Ill., is one of the still-few jurisdictions that take seriously enough judges' orders of driver's license suspensions that they actually watch defendants when they leave the courthouse, to see if they try to drive home. David B. Johnson, 31, is a local legend for dressing pimp-like, in purple, with an immaculate, tricked-up, purple 1988 Caddy (with back cover reading "Mister Oldskool") and had just been sentenced to 10 days in jail (starting Friday) for driving on his 13th suspension. The judge noted (when Johnson was hauled right back into court) that it was "22 minutes" between the first court hearing and Mister Oldskool's resumption of giving the people of Markham the privilege of seeing him behind the wheel. Chicago Sun-Times
Comments 'mister_oldskool'
Root cause: inexplicable social manias
The latest Japanese craze is to determine everything one needs to know about people by which of the four blood types they are (A, B, AB, O), and professional exploiters are raking in money feeding the craze. The data suggest that, as usual, the practitioners of crazes are of two minds: In situations requiring intellectual sobriety, they say, of course, it's all light fun. But then, in the next breath, it's inescapable that they form important impressions of people based on their new-found, clear-cut knowledge of human nature. Associated Press via Seattle Times
Comments 'japan_bloodtype'
Root cause: being Zimbabwe
"Our national currency is a fundamental economic pillar of our sovereignty," said the country's chief finance officer. Hence, the country is now acknowledging its inflation rate of roughly a billion percent, which is roughly a billion minus 3 higher than the U.S.'s, and remedial action now includes taking Z's currency in the denomination of "one trillion dollars" and re-naming it "one dollar." Presto! (On the open market, $1 U.S. is going for Z$300 [which used to be Z$300 trillion] [but that was yesterday, so it's probably more than Z$300 now].) You know about people who do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. CNN
Comments 'zimbabwe_zeros1'
Recurring theme: God's will
A house burned down (probably a faulty heater) in Port Charlotte, Fla., Sunday while a devout family was at church. When he returned, he had things partly figured out, anyway: "God works in mysterious ways. We don't know why things happen, but they happen for a reason." WWSB-TV (Sarasota)
Comments 'gods_will'
Fine Points of the Law: Former car owners find out they still own them
Only some of the 50 states protect ya if ya trade in to a dealer a car that ya still owe money on. The dealer "agrees" to pay off your loan and then resells the car. In the states without protective laws (California!), if the dealer hasn't yet paid it off and then files for bankruptcy, the owner of the car is still you, and the lienholder expects you to continue your payments you thought the dealer had bought your way out of (along with your payments on the new car that the trade-in was part of). Sur-prise! Associated Press via KOVR-TV (Sacramento)
Comments 'car_liens'
The secret desire of all referees and umpires
Your Editor, a former high school basketball referee, can speak for all my colleagues at all levels about how sweet the game would be if we, like Indiana high school referee Glen Fifield, simply had the power to make arrests of people abusing the officials. Of course Fifield's day job is state trooper so when the 64-yr-old man came down from the stands to berate him and then tried to choke him with his whistle neckstrap, Fifield 'cuffed him. Yes! Associated Press via Yahoo
Comments 'referees_desire'
Your Daily Jury Duty
["In America, a person is presumed innocent until the mug shot is released"]
Bradford Sheldon, 44, Gainesville, Fla., must be innocent because why would anyone want to challenge a traffic stop so violently (attempted murder of the cop) just because he had a headlight out? Ocala Star-Banner
Comments 'bradford_sheldon'
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