Unusual News
Medicare Loses $9 Million a Year by Counting Two Donated Lungs as One
The IG estimates that Medicare’s share of organ procurement costs was overstated by $8,851,018. The report attributes the miscounting to a lack of guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), whose Provider Reimbursement Manual does not provide guidance on how to count the organs involved in a double-lung operation. The manual does, however, direct the OPOs to count both kidneys in a double-kidney transplant. read more
Big Winners in Spread of Power Lines…Ravens
Researchers found that 58% of raven nests were located on transmission poles, far more than in trees (19%) or on other man-made structures (14%).
“By altering the landscape with roads, facility construction, billboards, and transmission lines, and in some cases providing sources of water and food, we are subsidizing ravens,” lead author Kristy Howe said in a press release. read more
Losing New York City Council Candidate Claims Incumbent Placed a Curse on Her
Goodwin says the three-term incumbent, who was unanimously chosen speaker of the city council on Wednesday, won the election after she put a Caribbean curse on the building in which Goodwin lives. Goodwin insisted that it was the mural painted on her apartment building that cost her the election, she claims in a lawsuit. read more
Jeff Sessions Wins Senate Talking Title, ahead of Harry Reid and Ted Cruz
The senator who logged the most speaking time was Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who spent much of his time railing against federal spending or plans to reform immigration.
Sessions talked for more than 33 hours last year. His speaking total eclipsed that of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who recorded about 30 hours on C-SPAN. read more
The Way You Vote May be Revealed by the Liquor You Consume
Vodka drinkers tend to be Democrats, while whiskey lovers trend Republican. Tequila and Jagermeister indicate a non-voter.
Rum, meanwhile, is bipartisan, with Bacardi and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum enjoyed by members of both parties.
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50 Years of Keeping a Daily Diary
When I was 15 years old, I decided to keep a daily journal. I was partly motivated by the fact that my father had started to do so two years earlier and partly by the fact that I regretted not having a record of the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated less than six weeks earlier. Strange as it may seem, I have kept up that diary every day since I was 15.
January 1, 2014, will mark the 50th anniversary of my first entry.
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Trayvon Martin Added to Nativity Scene
Entitled, “A Child is Born, a Son is Given,” the scene connects the death of Martin to the nativity. Referring to the story of Herod’s order to kill all male infants, an onsite plaque explains that even as Jesus was being born “other parents [were] in agony because their children had just been killed.”
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Federal Judge Says Polygamy in Utah is Okay as Long You Don’t Have More than One Marriage License
Waddoups said bigamy is illegal only if a family fraudulently acquires multiple marriage licenses. A family with one husband and multiple wives cannot be considered a violation of the law on its own. Brown has four wives, but is only legally married to his first wife, Meri.
The judge took exception to Utah’s law making cohabitation illegal, ruling the phrase “or cohabits with another person” represented a violation of both the First and 14th amendments.
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Ongoing 4-Year-Old Lawsuit Hinges on whether “i” is a Letter or a Number
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling the paragraph he called “8(h)(i)” was really just a badly indented “8(i),” interpreting the “(i)” as a lower case letter “I”. “The printer simply made mistakes in the indentation of the two subparagraphs placed within paragraph 8(h), which the lawyers who proof-read the documents overlooked,” the court concluded. read more
Self-Stapled Finger Earns New Jersey Cop Lifetime Pension Worth $2 Million
The transit police officer injured the ring finger—of his non-shooting hand—seven years ago while target practicing at a shooting range. Using a staple gun to secure his target to its mark, Onesti accidentally put a single staple in his digit. the state decided he was “totally and permanently disabled.” This meant he could no longer handle a gun or perform duties as a New Jersey Transit cop.
And yet, he still visits the shooting range, firing an Austrian-made sniper rifle.
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Top DEA Agent Lands Job as Legal Advisor to Marijuana Investment Firm
Privateer has invested in growers, processors or distributors in Canada, but is waiting for the opportunity to do the same in the United States, where two states so far—Colorado and Washington—have decriminalized recreational marijuana use.
Moen’s job—managing director of compliance and senior counsel of Privateer—will be to use his law enforcement knowledge and legal skills (he’s also a lawyer) to help guide Privateer’s investments and make sure they don’t break the law.
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Colorado Town Drafts Ordinance Allowing Citizens to Shoot down Drones
In addition to authorizing the hunting of drones, the ordinance puts a bounty on recovered parts—$25 for a fuselage or wing, $100 for an entire aircraft that bears federal government markings.
The FAA has warned that attacking drones is illegal, and “could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane,” according to a prepared statement. read more
California Town Chooses Medical Marijuana Dispensary Operator as Mayor
The 36-year-old mayor opened his first dispensary in 2007, four years before being elected to the Sebastopol Planning Commission. He was elected to the city council in 2011 and was picked by his fellow council members as vice mayor. Jacob was instrumental in writing Sebastopol’s medical marijuana ordinance, said to be a model for other cities in the state. read more
Young Portland Girl Stopped from Selling Mistletoe but told that Begging is All Right
Within a half hour, 11-year-old Madison Root had sold seven bunches of mistletoe at $4 each. But a private security guard stopped Root from making her sales because a city ordinance bans such commerce without a permit.
That’s why the guard informed Root that she could simply ask people for donations, and forego the mistletoe altogether.
To which she replied: “I don’t want to beg! I would rather work for something than beg.”
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Group Sues to Provide Legal Rights for Non-Humans
An animal rights organization has filed suit to free a chimpanzee being held in a New York trailer park, claiming non-humans deserve some of the same legal rights as people.
The Nonhuman Rights Project filed its writ of habeas corpus with the New York Supreme Court, with a chimp named Tommy as the focus of the unusual legal case.
Habeas corpus has been used frequently to help free people from unlawful imprisonment, but this time it’s being employed to assist a primate.
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Known for Violent Fans, Soccer Sees Glimmers of Peace
FARC leaders said they would participate in soccer matches to help foster reconciliation between them and the government. In an open letter, the group confessed to being “fanatical about football” and noted that its members play the sport between negotiating sessions with the government.
The first game will be played in Cuba, where peace talks between the two sides are taking place. read more