A Bangkok radio station’s attempt to entertain military troops by hiring a contingent of go-go dancers has been rebuffed by the leaders of Thailand’s coup. Said a military spokesman “We have to maintain the seriousness of the coup.”
The Thai Ministry of Silly Walks was unavailable for comment.
A Brazilian woman, illegally living and working in Britain, has been convicted of blackmailing a female immigration judge who had employed her. Roselane Driza also had an intimate relationship with another (male) immigration judge and stole 2 explicit video tapes from him, one featuring him and the first judge in flagrante delicto. In addition, Driza claimed that the tape showed the female judge snorting cocaine. Evidence presented included text messages from the male judge to Driza, calling her, among other things, “chilli hot stuff.”
According to the Sun, “The conduct of the Judges involved may be investigated.” Granted, we’re not familiar with the rules of English jurisprudence, or the ethical codes thereof. But it seems to us that at the very least, immigration judges who are known to have employed or engaged in any relationship with illegal aliens must immediately be removed from their positions. To do otherwise would be to make a mockery of the law. Or to prove true the words of Dickens’ Mr. Bumble: “The law is a ass — a idiot.”
Steve Silver calls it the “worst thing ever” and we can’t disagree. A young mother returned to the homeless shelter where she was staying after a night of drinking. After retrieving her baby from a sitter, she went to sleep with the baby and sometime later, vomited into a bucket of cleaning solution near her bed. At some point later, the baby fell off the bed and drowned in the bucket of vomit. The New York Times reports:
“It sounds like a tragic accident,” said Judge Alexander Jeong, as Ms. DeJesus sat before him, her face buried in her hands. But, the judge added, “there was some responsibility.”
Our reaction to this surprises even us. Though we are usually all in favor of harsh punishment, we wonder what purpose it serves here. The mother was clearly negligent, but can any punishment hold a candle to the pain she must already feel? In such a horrific case, it’s easy to demand a pound of flesh, but the harder choice, compassion, would appear to be the more proper course.
Jessica Durham of Montana recently had her conviction upheld for giving her 18 month old daughter hits from a bong. (Former) friend Brandi Nichols testified that
Durham encouraged photographs of her 18-month-old daughter with the water pipe and said Durham wanted to send the pictures to a marijuana magazine.
Nothing like a proud mother taking pictures of her child’s firsts.
Judge Louis Pollak explained that
Ms. Durham allegedly remarked that smoking improved Michala’s appetite and left Michala lethargic and mellow - a manner she found consistent with her own experience smoking marijuana
I suppose it beats shaking your baby to death, but we tend to frown upon medicating children into submission. Independent Sources wonders how the child will answer questions regarding drug use on future job applications.
Perhaps our style of parenting is old-fashioned, but we prefer allowing children to bang on pots and not allowing them to smoke pot. And while first haircuts, and first steps and first words are milestones worth remembering, a mother who believes a first bong hit is a milestone worth capturing should surely have a new milestone to celebrate: first mug shot.
Apparently Mitch Cozad was unhappy playing second fiddle as backup punter to starting punter Rafael Mendoza at Northern Colorado. Cozad alledgedly attacked Mendoza from behind as he got out of his car near his apartment, stabbing him in his kicking leg. Cozad was arrested not long after the incident, and suspended from school and the team. This reminds us of the man who after being denied boarding when showing up late for his flight who called in a bomb threat from an airport payphone. Tip to all aspiring criminals: don’t commit a crime where you are the only reasonable suspect.
We were both amused and disturbed to learn recently from Flight Wisdom of a recent incident at Logan Airport in Boston. It seems that as part of a security drill, 8 ounces of potent plastic explosive were attatched to the bumper of a vehicle in a secure parking area. Over a week later the explosives have still not been found. During the test, a Massport employee, unaware of the drill, got into the vehicle and drove off. Nearly 10 minutes later, and a mile and a half away, the truck was found, sans explosive. Despite exhaustive searches of the airport propeincluding the dismantling of a street sweeper, the explosive remain missing. State Police assure us that without a detanator the explosives pose little threat.
We wonder: If explosives can disappear without a trace so easily during a controlled situation, how can we trust security to detect explosives carried by a dedicated attacker?
Detroit Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen was arrested for “driving on public streets without any clothes on. (NUDE).” It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Cullen, who was also arrested for driving drunk in a separate incident one week later. Cullen was fired last year from a coaching job at Ole Miss after being arrested for public drunkenness in a restaurant, and there are other disturbing public incidents in has past. One wonders why PR conscious organizations like NFL teams and Universities continue to hire people with dubious background. The Lions have announced that Cullen will be seeking “treatment.” Our guess: while Cullen may have been a Lion in the fall, he won’t be a Lion in winter.
Orthomom reports that a British internet company refuses to sign up customers who have passed the age of 70 unless they are accompained by a younger person. Apparently, the company believes that the elderly are incapable of understanding the fine print of their contracts. Having seen our share of customer agreements, we wonder why they allow anyone to sign up without having an attorney present. We suspect the elderly just have more time to complain than us poor working folk. We’re reminded of this tale of Dan Rogers, a Canadian retiree who paid his $230 credit card bill online in 985 separate installments of several cents each after the bank refused to acknowledge a complaint. Said Rogers, “retired folks are dangerous. We have time on our hands.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Perennially cash-strapped schools are always looking for new ways to raise funds. Scores Las Vegas, a strip club gentleman’s club managed to break new ground. The Las Vegas establishment sponsored “Detention” night to benefit the Public Education Foundation in Cook County. Strippers dressed as schoolgirls, teachers and librarians, though we imagine they didn’t stay dressed for long. Patrons donated over $1000 which Scores matched, delivering a check for $2500 to the foundation. Deb Hegna, director of development for the foundation was pleased. “From any licensed, legitimate business, we’re certainly happy to accept donations.” Chalk this up as a lesson in economics. To Cook county schools, all money is apparently green. As for the well-endowed women who helped boost the school’s endowment? We can only hope that they learned enough math to count singles. And a word of advice: the letter after D is not double-D.
College professors report that fewer and fewer students are bothering to show up for class. The increased availablity of course materials online, particularly for large lectures of hundreds of students, has made an ever-growing group of students comfortable skipping classes. Some of the professors for those large classes claim not to mind, but those are probably the ones who teach only so they can continue their research and convey that to students. Professors who add value in the classroom are likely to continue to be rewarded with good attendance. As for the students, we suggest they start attending classes, else when their parents catch on, they’ll be at home attending the University of Phoenix.
British commuters were bemused to discover that their trains were delayed due to clement weather. Apparently it was such a beautifully sunny day that a train driver was unable to use his mirror to check the platform for passengers embarking or disembarking. London trains have along history of odd excuses for service interruption including “leaves on the line,” “the wrong kind of snow,” and “the wrong kind of soil” beneath the track.
In an episode reminiscent of The Naked Gun, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips took a bathroom break during a Presidential address without having her mike turned off (video). While there, she spoke negatively of men, excluding her husband whom she praised. She also referred to her sister-in-law as a “control freak.” Phillips seems to have taken the epsiode in good humor, appearing on David Letterman’s show and delivering a Top 10 List of excuses for her behavior. We have yet to hear whether her control freak sister-in-law has taken the episode in equally good humor. Good thing she wasn’t on an airplane, the FBI would have gotten involved.