Chuck’s Weekly Cite-Seeing (March 26, 2012)
Chuck's Weekly Cite-Seeing Tour
The Crème de la Crème, Every Monday
Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
March 26, 2012
(datelines from March 16 or later) (links correct as of March 26)
New York City: A horror story from the city's rent-control law: Thomas Lombardi pays $55 a month for what is really a $2,500-a-month apartment. (Even bigger horror story: His 87-year-old neighbor, who also pays way under market, supplements his income with nude modeling. "They tell me I'm so good at it, I have a duty to do it.") Gothamist.com
Fargo, N.D.: That Sacred Institution, now joining togethertwo one woman. (Give Nadine Schweigert her due: Many Americans just act like they're in love with themselves.) Fargo Forum
Rio de Janeiro:: The Brazilian welfare safety net sees to it (mostly via a mega-rich plastic surgeon) that low-income women get discount (or free) access to breast augmentation and butt lifts. A nation rejoices! Associated Press via ABC News
Whitby, England: In the U.S., the best we can do is Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann, but the UK has a town councillor who is an alien-abductee with "hundreds" of close encounters and a 9-foot-tall green mother. (Bonus: He, too, plans to seek higher office!) Scarborough Evening News
Trinity, Tex.: Chris Windham, 27, said it was an accident that he snapped cellphone video under the bathroom stall of a 57-year-old man. He was just wiping himself by holding himself up with one hand on the bathroom floor, and that hand happened to have a phone in it. KTRE-TV (Lufkin, Tex.)
Burnsville, Minn.: The full force of the law rained down upon Mitch Faber (jailed, then house arrest, random drug testing) for the crime of . . . not putting proper siding on his house. (He started to, but the economy turned bad, and he told himself, well, I'll just have to pay the fine.) (Burnsville: Fine? He thinks we're just going to fine him! That's so cute!) KSTP-TV (St. Paul)
Anderson, Ind.: County councilman David McCartney finally admitted that, yes, he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with a female official, but that was because, see, he was setting up a sting to expose corruption! Details? Ummmm . . They . . will come out later. Indianapolis Star
Vilnius, Lithuania: A judge ruled that Carlsberg Beer workers cannot strike the plant because the brewery's work is "vitally essential" (in the same category as providing medical supplies). Daily Telegraph (London)
Mandeni, South Africa: Sibusiso Methembu, 64, knows how to draw the crowds: just offer maps of what Heaven looks like, since he has been there four times and met Jesus and God. (FYI: Jesus is white, God "greyish.") (Elsewhere on the continent, Nigerian faith healer Chris Oyakhilome drew 150,000 to a Cape Town stadium; there were many failed healings but only one death so far.) SowetanLive (Johannesburg) /// Daily Telegraph (London)
Purley, England: To Lizzie Griffiths, 25, it was an easy call to spend her life's savings (£3000, or $4,760) on chemotherapy for her bearded dragon (and to drive 200 miles each way every day to the clinic). "My fiancé knows that 'George' will always come first." Croydon Advertiser
South Bend, Ind.: The new way to make yourself viral on the Internet: be texting on a pier and accidentally fall in the water. Yahoo News
Milan, Italy: J.P. Morgan Chase closed the local bank account of the Vatican because the Holy See was failing to meet Chase's hallowed disclosure standards for money transfers. Reuters via Huffington Post
A Bad Week for Criminals: (1) Didn't See It Coming: U.S. Customs arrested a big cocaine smuggler at a bed-and-breakfast called Smuggler's Inn, 100 ft. from the Canadian border in Blaine, Wash. (2) Burglar Christopher Wallace would've been fine if he'd settled for the loot on the first floor, but after filling his van, he went back for the second floor--and fell out a window, breaking his back. (3) A witness spotted burglar Paul Wright, 34, by his t-shirt that bore huge, easily-spottable lettering ("What's Mine Is Mine / What's Yours Is Mine"). /// (4) Mishelle Salzgeber's brilliant drug-testing ruse: Since her urine is dirty, put a tiny bottle of clean urine inside her hoo-hah for the drug test. (Actually, that urine was drugged up, too.) News Tribune (Tacoma) /// Wayne Independent (Honesdale, Pa.) /// WJBD Radio (Salem, Ill.) /// WTSP-TV (St. Petersburg)
Your Weekly Jury Duty [In America, you're presumed innocent . . until the mug shot is released]:
Slidell, La.: The lovely Debra Fisher, 58, was accused of stuffing her dad's body into an ice chest and continuing to collect his Social Security. Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Holiday, Fla.: Mr. Deaundre Barnes, 22, was charged with stabbing a guy, and it's all settled, he says. "I'm going to jail anyways." Tampa Bay Times
Thanks to Hal Dunham, Cindy Carlson, Gary Locke, John Connell, Skip Mendler, and Mark Boudreaux, and to the News of the Weird Senior Advisors (Jenny T. Beatty, Paul Di Filippo, Ginger Katz, Joe Littrell, Matt Mirapaul, Paul Music, Karl Olson, and Jim Sweeney) and Board of Editorial Advisors (Tom Barker, Paul Blumstein, Harry Farkas, Sam Gaines, Herb Jue, Emory Kimbrough, Scott Langill, Steve Miller, Christopher Nalty, Mark Neunder, Bob Pert, Larry Ellis Reed, Rob Snyder, Stephen Taylor, Bruce Townley, and Jerry Whittle).
The Crème de la Crème, Every Monday
Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
March 26, 2012
(datelines from March 16 or later) (links correct as of March 26)
New York City: A horror story from the city's rent-control law: Thomas Lombardi pays $55 a month for what is really a $2,500-a-month apartment. (Even bigger horror story: His 87-year-old neighbor, who also pays way under market, supplements his income with nude modeling. "They tell me I'm so good at it, I have a duty to do it.") Gothamist.com
Fargo, N.D.: That Sacred Institution, now joining together
Rio de Janeiro:: The Brazilian welfare safety net sees to it (mostly via a mega-rich plastic surgeon) that low-income women get discount (or free) access to breast augmentation and butt lifts. A nation rejoices! Associated Press via ABC News
Whitby, England: In the U.S., the best we can do is Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann, but the UK has a town councillor who is an alien-abductee with "hundreds" of close encounters and a 9-foot-tall green mother. (Bonus: He, too, plans to seek higher office!) Scarborough Evening News
Trinity, Tex.: Chris Windham, 27, said it was an accident that he snapped cellphone video under the bathroom stall of a 57-year-old man. He was just wiping himself by holding himself up with one hand on the bathroom floor, and that hand happened to have a phone in it. KTRE-TV (Lufkin, Tex.)
Burnsville, Minn.: The full force of the law rained down upon Mitch Faber (jailed, then house arrest, random drug testing) for the crime of . . . not putting proper siding on his house. (He started to, but the economy turned bad, and he told himself, well, I'll just have to pay the fine.) (Burnsville: Fine? He thinks we're just going to fine him! That's so cute!) KSTP-TV (St. Paul)
Anderson, Ind.: County councilman David McCartney finally admitted that, yes, he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with a female official, but that was because, see, he was setting up a sting to expose corruption! Details? Ummmm . . They . . will come out later. Indianapolis Star
Vilnius, Lithuania: A judge ruled that Carlsberg Beer workers cannot strike the plant because the brewery's work is "vitally essential" (in the same category as providing medical supplies). Daily Telegraph (London)
Mandeni, South Africa: Sibusiso Methembu, 64, knows how to draw the crowds: just offer maps of what Heaven looks like, since he has been there four times and met Jesus and God. (FYI: Jesus is white, God "greyish.") (Elsewhere on the continent, Nigerian faith healer Chris Oyakhilome drew 150,000 to a Cape Town stadium; there were many failed healings but only one death so far.) SowetanLive (Johannesburg) /// Daily Telegraph (London)
Purley, England: To Lizzie Griffiths, 25, it was an easy call to spend her life's savings (£3000, or $4,760) on chemotherapy for her bearded dragon (and to drive 200 miles each way every day to the clinic). "My fiancé knows that 'George' will always come first." Croydon Advertiser
South Bend, Ind.: The new way to make yourself viral on the Internet: be texting on a pier and accidentally fall in the water. Yahoo News
Milan, Italy: J.P. Morgan Chase closed the local bank account of the Vatican because the Holy See was failing to meet Chase's hallowed disclosure standards for money transfers. Reuters via Huffington Post
A Bad Week for Criminals: (1) Didn't See It Coming: U.S. Customs arrested a big cocaine smuggler at a bed-and-breakfast called Smuggler's Inn, 100 ft. from the Canadian border in Blaine, Wash. (2) Burglar Christopher Wallace would've been fine if he'd settled for the loot on the first floor, but after filling his van, he went back for the second floor--and fell out a window, breaking his back. (3) A witness spotted burglar Paul Wright, 34, by his t-shirt that bore huge, easily-spottable lettering ("What's Mine Is Mine / What's Yours Is Mine"). /// (4) Mishelle Salzgeber's brilliant drug-testing ruse: Since her urine is dirty, put a tiny bottle of clean urine inside her hoo-hah for the drug test. (Actually, that urine was drugged up, too.) News Tribune (Tacoma) /// Wayne Independent (Honesdale, Pa.) /// WJBD Radio (Salem, Ill.) /// WTSP-TV (St. Petersburg)
Your Weekly Jury Duty [In America, you're presumed innocent . . until the mug shot is released]:
Slidell, La.: The lovely Debra Fisher, 58, was accused of stuffing her dad's body into an ice chest and continuing to collect his Social Security. Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Holiday, Fla.: Mr. Deaundre Barnes, 22, was charged with stabbing a guy, and it's all settled, he says. "I'm going to jail anyways." Tampa Bay Times
Thanks to Hal Dunham, Cindy Carlson, Gary Locke, John Connell, Skip Mendler, and Mark Boudreaux, and to the News of the Weird Senior Advisors (Jenny T. Beatty, Paul Di Filippo, Ginger Katz, Joe Littrell, Matt Mirapaul, Paul Music, Karl Olson, and Jim Sweeney) and Board of Editorial Advisors (Tom Barker, Paul Blumstein, Harry Farkas, Sam Gaines, Herb Jue, Emory Kimbrough, Scott Langill, Steve Miller, Christopher Nalty, Mark Neunder, Bob Pert, Larry Ellis Reed, Rob Snyder, Stephen Taylor, Bruce Townley, and Jerry Whittle).
Comments
87yo Male Nude Model Not only no but H3LL N0!
Rio Butt Lifts In the land of the Samba I'd say this was justified!
Trinity, Tex. The art of telling whoppers still alive and well in Texas!
Carlsberg Beer Strike We need more judges with this kind of insight in the US!
Bearded Dragon $70 on line
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/gallery/beardeddragon.jpg
Chase vs God Who could doubt Ma Church's honesty?
Jury Duty #2: This guy won?
Rio Butt Lifts In the land of the Samba I'd say this was justified!
Trinity, Tex. The art of telling whoppers still alive and well in Texas!
Carlsberg Beer Strike We need more judges with this kind of insight in the US!
Bearded Dragon $70 on line
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/gallery/beardeddragon.jpg
Chase vs God Who could doubt Ma Church's honesty?
Jury Duty #2: This guy won?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/26/12 at 09:45 AM
The Smuggler's Inn cocaine smuggler was arrested in a car with the personalized license plate that reads "SMUGLER"!!
The black SUV was actually owned and driven by the Inn's owner, but they insist that they "don't encourage smuggling"! Of course not. Who encourages their competition?
The black SUV was actually owned and driven by the Inn's owner, but they insist that they "don't encourage smuggling"! Of course not. Who encourages their competition?
Posted by Miles on 03/26/12 at 02:18 PM
The stabber was refreshingly honest:
"Barnes, who lists his occupation as "drug dealer," was arrested at the Pleasure Drive home. The deputy asked him what happened and Barnes refused to talk. "I'm going to jail anyways," he said, according to the report. He was sentenced last June to five years of drug offender probation on cocaine and other charges, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, which listed him as an "absconder/fugitive."
Barnes was charged Sunday with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and violating his probation. He's being held without bail at the Pasco jail."
"Barnes, who lists his occupation as "drug dealer," was arrested at the Pleasure Drive home. The deputy asked him what happened and Barnes refused to talk. "I'm going to jail anyways," he said, according to the report. He was sentenced last June to five years of drug offender probation on cocaine and other charges, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, which listed him as an "absconder/fugitive."
Barnes was charged Sunday with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and violating his probation. He's being held without bail at the Pasco jail."
Posted by Harvey on 03/26/12 at 07:15 PM
There's not a germ of truth in an insanity defense, and with all the coverage this dirty story is getting they are gonna contaminate the jury pool. His lawyer should was his hands of the guy. :cheese:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/27/12 at 01:30 PM
Wash his hands (darn it, one missed h and it all goes to hell.)
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/27/12 at 01:31 PM
Great work, Chuck!
Although I prefer my weirdness with more seasoning from Our Editor...
😊
Although I prefer my weirdness with more seasoning from Our Editor...
😊
Posted by girlgeniusNYC on 03/27/12 at 08:46 PM
Those mugshots........just...........I don't even know
Posted by The Dude on 03/28/12 at 05:36 PM
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