Unusual News
6th Graders Ask to be Paid for Taking Test to Help Controversial Common Core
Laroche jokingly remarked in class that his students should get something out of spending the equivalent of a week’s worth of class time taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test, one of the Common Core programs, as a trial. The Obama administration gave $350 million to two groups to create standardized to judge states receiving federal education aid. read more
Wealthy Suburb Charged People for being Arrested
Chicago’s high-end suburb of Woodridge has been charging anyone who gets arrested within their community a $30 fee, which some consider unconstitutional.
Jerry Markadonatos, for one, objected to the charge and filed a class action suit arguing it violated a person’s right of due process.
When the defendant’s lawyer, Paul Rettberg, likened the cost to filing fees, Posner shot back: “Arrest is not a privilege. Paying for being arrested is ridiculous.”
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Grease Bandits Profit from Stealing Used Cooking Oil
Grease bandits have grown in number, making off with vats of discarded oil from restaurants worth hundreds of dollars at a time.
The booming black market for the “liquid gold” has reached $40 million a year, and cooking-oil crimes have doubled in number in just seven years.
Despite the fact that 5,943 grease thefts were reported around the country two years ago, only 188 criminal charges were filed and 97 people were convicted.
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Hurricanes with Female Names Cause more Deaths than those with Male Names
“Our model,” wrote the authors of the study, “suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley…to Eloise…could nearly triple its death toll.”
The fact that hurricanes with female names are perceived—by both men and women—as being less dangerous results in people taking less protective measures when those hurricanes strike. Consequently, more deaths occur.
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Elk-Killer Trial Stirs Colorado
Boulder police officer Sam Carter says he responded to calls of a wounded elk on January 1, 2013 in the neighborhood of Mapleton and put the animal down. Carter claimed it was a mercy killing. But some officers dispute Carter’s version of the incident.
One Boulder man, Jonathan Bennett, even wrote a song about the killing. Part of the lyrics say “Gunned down for nothing, But his sovereign space, Wrong time, wrong place.” The late elk also has his own Facebook page: RIP Big Boy. read more
Medicare to Cover Sex Change Surgery
A Department of Health and Human Services appeals board ended the 33-year-old restriction on Medicare payments for gender-reassignment surgery after a suit by a transgender woman who’s an Army veteran.
Denee Mallon, who was born a male, had appealed a Medicare denial of the surgery. "I expect a certain amount of criticism because of my age—generally you’re considered over the hill at 70." read more
Tennessee Town Wins Court Approval to Change Name to Popular Country Song Title
Lake City, a small Appalachian community (population: 1,781) beset by unemployment and methamphetamine use, has been approached by a developer wanting to spruce up its downtown and build an amusement park and water park. The catch is that the city must change its name to Rocky Top.
If you’ve ever watched a University of Tennessee football game, you know what “Rocky Top” is. The song by that name has been used to cheer on the Volunteers since the 1970s.
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Florida Labeled Worst Gerrymandered State
In 2012, Republican candidates for the House of Representatives in Florida won 53% of the vote, but gained 63% of the seats. In the 2012 elections, Democratic congressional candidates nationwide polled more than 1.3 million more votes than Republicans, yet it was the Republicans who won a 34-seat majority. read more
91-Year-Old Ralph Hall First Texas Republican House Member to Lose Renomination Bid
First elected in 1980, Hall was attacked by Ratcliffe and the super PAC Now or Never for being too old. The Missouri-based super PAC spent $100,000 on ads to defeat Hall, who had represented the voters of the Fourth District since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. At least one commercial featured a rocking chair, and the recommendation for Hall’s constituents to bring him home for good. read more
50 Years Later, CIA Still Refuses to Release One Volume of Report on Invasion of Cuba
The CIA refused to release the Volume V draft. The majority opinion stated “that a draft of an agency’s official history is pre-decisional and deliberative, and thus protected under the deliberative process privilege.”
Judge Brett Kavanaugh did concede that “there may be no final agency document because a draft died on the vine.” That means the CIA could sit on the document indefinitely as long as it never finalizes the draft report.
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If a Driverless Car Gets a Ticket, Who Pays?
The age of robot-driven cars is here, thanks to Google. These self-driving vehicles on California’s Bay Area roadways are ushering their human passengers to their destinations.
So far, Google’s cars have a perfect law-abiding record: Not one of them has been issued a traffic citation…yet.
But when that day comes, who’s going to pay the fine? Google? Or the person behind the wheel, who has no control over the car? The programmer who wrote the algorithm that made the mistake?
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Justice Dept. National Security Division Earns “Most Secretive Agency” Nomination
In the eyes of one civil liberties organization, the U.S. Justice Department office overseeing national security matters is a real winner when it comes to keeping the American public in the dark.
Each year, Investigative Reporters and Editors gives out the “Golden Padlock” award to the government agency best at being overly secretive with information.
Nominations for the “honor” are now being accepted, and Justice’s National Security Division has been put up for consideration.
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Many Americans Afraid to Admit They Don’t Go to Church
Name almost any group of Americans and the odds are they’re exaggerating about how often they attend church.
A survey by PPRI tested Americans’ honesty when it comes to churchgoing. The research revealed “that every subgroup of Americans inflates their levels of religious participation, with young adults, Catholics and white mainline Protestants particularly likely to inflate the frequency of their attendance at religious services,” according to PRRI.
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Restroom that Replicates U.S. Capitol is latest in Series of D.C. Copycat Buildings in China
China has used designs of the U.S. Capitol and the White House as inspirations for various Chinese government buildings.
The latest is a 4,000 square foot facility featuring the Romanesque dome and columns found on Capitol Hill in Washington. But inside the elaborate building are toilets for staff and visitors to use. It was brought to light by local farmer Wu Ketao. “I took the pictures because the toilet looked very luxury and reminded me of Capitol Hill,” he said. read more
Medicine Most Effective in Treating Alcoholism Has Been Largely Ignored for a Decade
Nearly 20 million Americans suffer from alcoholism, but most have never been prescribed medications that can help people with their addictions, a new study shows.
Research found two drugs which were approved over a decade ago to treat alcoholics are rarely given to patients with drinking problems. Both are designed to adjust a person’s brain chemistry to reduce cravings for alcohol.
“Our findings show that they can help thousands and thousands of people,” said Dr. Daniel E. Jonas. read more
Secret Service Director Pulled White House Agents to Protect his Assistant
Secret Service agents assigned to guard the area around the White House were pulled from their posts and told to help the assistant of the agency’s director.
The agents went sent in 2011 to the home of Lisa Chopey--an hour away--where a neighbor had supposedly harassed the woman.
“Prowler is there for a reason, and it shouldn’t be pulled when the president is on the move,” said former Secret Service agent Dan Emmett. read more