Today's Topics:
News of the Weird
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Date: Wed, 3 Mar 93 18:39:09 PST
From: Chuck Shepherd <cshepherd@igc.apc.org>
Message-Id: <9303040239.AA06712@igc.apc.org>
To: subgenius@mc.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: News of the Weird
Cc: rrg@fid.morgan.com
WEIRDNUZ.266 (News of the Weird, March 12, 1993)
by Chuck Shepherd
Lead Story
* Among the abstract watercolors chosen by the
Manchester (England) Academy of Fine Arts for its
prestigious annual show in January was "Rhythm of the
Trees," whose "certain quality of color balance,
composition, and technical skill," said the judges,
earned its place among the 150 works selected from the
1,000 submitted. The painting, composed of various
color smudges, was done by 4-year-old Carly Johnson and
submitted by her mother as a joke. [Independence
Examiner-AP, 2-9-93]
Questionable Judgments
* British Rail Corporation plans this month to
determine how close its maintenance workers should
stand to the tracks when working with new trains whose
speed reaches about 140 mph. Some of its workers will
be tied to posts two to three meters from the track so
their reactions can be measured as the trains whiz by.
[Globe and Mail-AP, 2-1-93]
* Alvin Lastimado Jr., 18, was arrested in August at
the Wahiawa, Hawaii, Public Library and charged with
assault. He had been holding a woman against her will
in his home, where he began to utter a satanic chant.
In the middle of the chant, he forgot the words and
told the woman he was going to the public library to
look them up. The woman got free and called the
police, who intercepted Lastimado in the "occult"
section. [Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 8-13-92]
* The police blotter column of the Lakewood (Ohio) Sun
reported in July that a female prisoner serving time
for DUI had been charged with possessing contraband.
Jail matrons searching her found two balloons
containing whiskey tucked away under her top. [Lakewood
Sun, 7-9-92]
* In January, the Clinicas de Salud Del Pueblo company
in Brawley, Calif., told employees that they would be
docked a day's pay if they showed up for work with an
exposed hickey. Though the company did not explain its
policy, a UCLA psychiatry professor asked by the
Associated Press said hickeys could be distractions at
work: "Someone with a low sex drive may look at it as a
bruise. Someone with a lot of sex on their mind will
look at a hickey as if they're watching Sharon Stone in
'Basic Instinct.'" [Albuquerque Journal-AP, 1-21-93]
* Last year Cesar Duran's appeal of his conviction on
drug charges was affirmed by a federal appeals court.
Duran was arrested because his wife took a pair of L.
A. Gear high-top sneakers back to the Foot Locker store
at Janesville, Wis., Mall because she could not figure
out how to lace them up. She had forgotten that three
bags of marijuana were stored in the shoes. A store
clerk turned her in, and a search of her home
implicated Cesar. [U. S. v. Duran, 957 F.2d 499, 1992]
* Last summer, Gary, Ind., and Chicago sanitation
departments said that more than 1,000 sewer manhole
covers had been stolen over the previous year. Each
cover weighs around 100 pounds but sells for only about
$1 on the scrap market. [Chicago Tribune, 10-1-92]
* Convicted prostitute Mary Ellen Tracy, 50, was
accepted as a volunteer nature-trail tour guide for
elementary school students in Santa Clarita, Calif., in
November. Several years ago, Tracy was a notorious
"priestess" of a "church" in which she said she had sex
with 2,700 members as part of a sin-cleansing ritual.
In January, the nature center that employed her found
out about her past and dismissed her. [USA Today, 12-
14-92]
Chutzpah
* Paul Brennan III, 24, was arrested for fraudulently
collecting charitable contributions in New Britain,
Conn., in December. Despite having a lengthy criminal
record for fraud, Brennan persuaded police to let him
set up a booth next to the police station to sell candy
for what he described as a fund for state lifeguards.
Brennan had collected $59, mostly from police officers,
before the police learned of his background.
[Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dec92]]
* Minnesota inmate Leray [note: L-E-R-A-Y] Taylor, 31,
convicted of defrauding American Express out of
thousands of dollars in credit card charges, said in
December that he had written a book explaining how he
did it but sent the only copy of the manuscript to
American Express for their comment. He now says the
company refused to return it and filed a lawsuit for
$77,000. American Express said the manuscript was
returned promptly. [Sioux Falls Argus Leader-AP, 12-3-
92]
* In February, Frank P. Barrasso, 37, was charged with
making 621 threatening phone calls to a business in
Michigan. Barrasso was easily arrested because the
last of the phone calls was being made from a phone
booth in the federal building in Ft. Worth, Tex., just
outside the FBI office. The Michigan company called
the FBI in Michigan, which traced the call and notified
the FBI in Ft. Worth, whose agents stepped down the
hall and found Barrasso still inside the booth.
[Abilene Reporter-News, 2-13-93]
* Only days apart, two Wisconsin men arrived in court
drunk for their trials on drunken-driving charges.
Both denied they had been drunk while driving, and both
denied they were drunk in the courtroom. James Heard
had a 0.26 blood-alcohol level on his trial day in
Milwaukee, and John Newbury registered 0.22 at his
LaCrosse trial--both over double the 0.10 legal
maximum. [Milwaukee Journal, Feb93; Minneapolis Star-
Tribune-AP, 1-30-93]
Creme de la Weird
* In February Yahiya Avraham, 80, refused the pleas of
seven rabbis to grant his wife a divorce, to which,
under Jewish law, both spouses must agree for it to be
proper. Avraham first refused her a divorce in 1962,
and because Jewish law permits imprisonment as a means
to pressure a spouse to give the required consent, he
has been imprisoned ever since. The rabbis promised
him a fancy apartment and various religious blessings,
but he said, "Can't do it, can't do it, go away."
[Albany Times Union-AP, 2-10-93]
Inexplicable
* In February, the Kenosha, Wis., City Council withdrew
a controversial proposed ordinance to strengthen the
city's anti-nudity regulations. They had wanted to add
a provision banning "covered male genitals in a
discernibly turgid state," but they apparently heard
from too many law-abiding men who were worried that
they could be arrested if they innocently got an
erection while fully dressed in public. [Waukegan News-
Sun, 2-18-93]
END
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End of Subgenius Digest
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