Shoplifting 101 - When NOT To Shoplift

In a move that would have fit right into the movie Dumb and Dumber, two young men were caught shoplifting... from a store full of more than sixty uniformed police officers. The annual 'Shop With A Cop' event in Portland marks the beginning of the school year as the officers take dozens of needy children to a local store to purchase school supplies. Store security notified the police that the two men were stuffing their backpacks with items. The men stated "we thought the police would be distracted." You can read more about it here.

These Things Don’t Only Happen in Florida

Some people have a dog, or a cat. Others have more exotic pets. But you don't often come across anyone that keeps chickens (unless they plan to eat the suckers at some point). Lauren Steltzer, of Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, not only keeps chickens as pets, but when two of the chickens went missing recently, she put up posters around the neighborhood and updated her Facebook page. Unfortunately, the police in Lower Merion didn't get the message and when a police officer responded to a call for a chicken at large, he did what anyone else would do when confronted with such a ferocious beast... he got a friend to shoot it (with a bow and arrow!). At least the police department admits that they could have shown better judgement. Read the original article here.

You Better Not Have an Emergency

If you live in Lake County, Colorado, the last thing you want to do is get hurt. Or have your house catch on fire. Why? Because the current Lake County sheriff, Ed Holte, is using the county's emergency services as a political tool. Even going so far as to instruct dispatchers to send sheriff's deputies to all emergency calls first, including medical and fire calls. The situation came to a head when the captain of the fire department, Dan Dailey, was handcuffed and placed in a cell while responding to an emergency medical call. Read the article for more.

Trapped by Boobies

Hemet, California, has traditionally been known as a quiet retirement community. Until now. For whatever reason, someone (or more likely, several someones) has decided that the police are the bad guys and that they should be dealt with. And while we might not approve of what these anonymous folks are doing, you have to admit that they are going to extraordinary measures: a gas line re-routed directly into the police station, a ballistic contraption designed to go off when the gate is opened, and explosive devices attached to police vehicles. Investigators have no idea who might be behind the recent attacks except to point out that the gang enforcement division has been targeted more than any other. Read more about it on Yahoo.

Badge gets shot - not officer!!

The shooter probably wasn't aiming for the Las Vegas officer's badge, but the shield did shield the officer.



The rest of the story and a short news report is at this link:

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11983445

What handy item will save a life next?

Aluminum foil hat stops safe?

Another pen used to perform a tracheotomy?

Submit your suggestion in the comments!!

A Little Light Weirdness – 7

It’s an election year in the UK, and politicians there are suddenly more image conscious than ever. None more so than incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who - at his wife’s suggestion - has swapped his regular Kit-Kat munching habit for a diet of bananas in an effort to slim down a bit. While it’s nice to know that the British PM’s wife is perhaps a reader this blog, she’s obviously not a regular one, or she’d have known that portly politicos are more trusted. Now if only he’d show the common touch by going on a bacon binge (Orange News).

Mind you, Mr. Brown is not the only statesman trying to avert a bleak future this week, an unnamed Arab ambassador got the shock of his life when he finally lifted his new bride’s niqab, only to find she had cross-eyes and a beard. The groom immediately went to court to have the marriage annulled, claiming he had been tricked into the marriage and that the bride’s parents had used pictures of her attractive older sister to deceive him. The court found for the groom and dissolved the marriage, but turned down his demand for $150000 compensation (Daily Mail).

But perhaps he’s been a bit quick to judge by appearances. Two Chinese men certainly were when the found a hoard of 20 clay artefacts in an old tomb they discovered in a field near their home, only to later sell the whole lot to a collector for less than $2000. Unfortunately for the pair, theirs were rare finds from the Sui-Tang Dynasty, making the collection over 1000 years old. One item alone, a pottery figurine, recently reached $150,000 at auction (Daily Times).

More fortunate was Wendy Jones of Aberglasney in Wales, who took the old plate she’d had perched on her sideboard for years – except on those odd occasions it had fallen off it - to a TV antiques show, in a plastic carrier bag, only to be told it was part of a rare, Prussian royal service worth over £100000 (Telegraph).

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Another Helping of Food Related Weirdness - 4

First up, let's take a moment to savour pest control, Texas Style. Farmer Skip Smith, from Dublin, TX, is so fed up with feral hogs busting in to his watermelon patch and eating his crops that he’s fighting back with the aid of night-vision goggles and a silenced, fully automatic machine-gun. “The same thing that our forces use in Iraq, we're just using them on animals," Smith said, “we shoot about 45 to 50 a week on 1000 acres." Which is a hell of a lot of free bacon (ABC).

But if there is one food that might possibly challenge bacon as the mightily meaty master of my heart, it would be southern fried chicken. So what could be better than a sandwich that includes both? Well, how about one that leaves out that pointless bread stuff and puts the slices of gorgeous bacon between two hot, fresh fried chicken fillets? That is the idea behind what some reports are claiming is the latest creation from KFC, the “double-down” sandwich. Bacon, cheese and the “Colonel’s special sauce” are sandwiched between the chain’s house-style fried chicken in a heart-stopping 1200 calorie mouthful. And the day this launches near me officially marks the end of my banana diet (AJC).

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Your Daily Loser & Jury Duty for May 30th

Your Daily Loser(s) - I normally use this space to highlight the stupid actions of regular folks who are caught breaking the law in some way. Today, however, the honor of being a Daily Loser goes to a few police officers, in Baltimore, Maryland. You see, Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Virginia, went to watch the big game between the Orioles and Kansas City in Camden Yards. But they had never been to Camden Yards before, so... they got lost. Read the story to find out how the police reacted when Joshua and Llara tried to ask for directions.

Jury Duty - There is a long history of people taking the law into their own hands in order to mete out justice. Jerome Ersland of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is now firmly established in that history. Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder for killing a teenager who tried to rob his Pharmacy. The Story.

One For You, One Hundred For Me…

The justice system in Lancashire UK have struck a blow for the consumer by jailing a prolific eBay scammer and fining him over £100,000, but just one thousand of this will be used to pay back his victims. Jonathan Hartley was jailed for 18 months after a Police investigation looked into complaints going back over six years. In court Hartley pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud (and one of money laundering), which are believed to have netted him over £140,000.

Taking into account the money he has already spent, Lancashire Crown Court have ordered he raise the £102,000 fine by August or face another 12 months on his sentence and the £102k fine (plus interest). Because only 34 victims have been positively identified, less than a thousand of this 'restitution' will be paid out in compensation. The rest will be split equally between the prosecutors (government), the courts and the police (Pendle Today).

Weird Florida, part 1: Carrabelle

Carrabelle is a small town about 20 miles from Apalachicola. It is also home to the world's smallest police station
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All original content in posts is Copyright © 2008 by the author of the post, either Alex Boese ("Alex"), Paul Di Filippo ("Paul"), or Chuck Shepherd ("Chuck"). All rights reserved. The banner illustration at the top of this page is Copyright © 2008 by Rick Altergott.