Unusual News
Florida Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients Cost more than it Saved
Florida’s much-publicized law requiring welfare recipients to undergo drug testing has not saved the state money. In fact, it has turned out to be just the opposite.
During four months of testing last year, 2.6% of the welfare applicants faile... read more
Voter ID Laws Could Take Vote away from 25,000 Transgender Americans
Almost a third of all election-eligible transgender Americans living in states with strict voter-ID laws could be denied the right to cast ballots this November.
Jody L. Herman, a Peter J. Cooper Public Policy Fellow at The Williams Institute ... read more
Women More Likely to Die in Ship Disasters than Men
The cry of “women and children first” during ship disasters turns out to be more of a myth than reality.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Mikael Elinder and Oscar Erixson of Uppsala University studied 18 passeng... read more
God Endorsed 4 Losing Republican Presidential Candidates
If four of the losing Republican presidential candidates are telling the truth, then spiritual endorsement is not a sign of primary success.
This week, Mitt Romney said goodbye to his last serious challenger to the GOP nomination. Rick Santoru... read more
FBI Analyst Sues after Missing Special Agent Status by One Pushup; Charges Gender Discrimination
Jay Bauer, an intelligence analyst for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago, is suing the FBI over a single pushup. Bauer was an assistant professor in communications sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, when he left to ... read more
Only One Quarter of “Hispanics” Call Themselves Hispanic or Latino
Regardless of how the U.S. government wants them to self-identify, the vast majority of “Hispanics” or “Latinos” shun generalized ethnic categories, according to a new survey.
The Pew Hispanic Center found that 51% of Hispanic adults identify ... read more
Republican Convention Protest Zone: Squirt Guns Forbidden, Real Guns Allowed
Florida state law has trumped common sense as the Republican Party prepares for its national convention in Tampa later this year.
In developing security measures for the August 27-30 event, city officials have prohibited protesters from carryi... read more
Arkansas Supreme Court Okays Sex between Teachers and 18-Year-Old Students
The state of Arkansas cannot criminalize sex between consenting adults, even if one is a teacher and another an 18-year-old student, ruled the state’s Supreme Court last week.
The case evolved from the conviction of David Paschal, 38, a histor... read more
Radioactive Water in Philadelphia Linked to Urine of Thyroid Patients
When Philadelphia officials learned last year that the city’s water supply and the region’s waterways showed elevated levels of radioactive iodine-131, their initial instinct was to blame the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, as I-131 is found ... read more
Arizona Law Will Make it a Crime to be Annoying on the Internet
A new law passed by the Arizona Legislature and awaiting the signature of Republican Governor Jan Brewer could criminalize much of what gets posted on the Internet, thus raising serious First Amendment concerns. Arizona House Bill 2549 would make ... read more
Michigan Bans Furry Pigs
As of April 1, the mangalitsa will be a wanted pig in Michigan. And that has some farmers very upset.
A new regulation developed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will prohibit the fur-covered pigs. State officials claim the... read more
If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck…Cell Phone and Twitter Edition
Born under a bad sign,
I’ve been down since I began to crawl;
If it wasn’t for bad luck,
I wouldn’t have no luck at all.
—“Born Under A Bad Sign” by Booker T. Jones and William Bell
... read more
Canadian Court Gives Go-Ahead to Brothels and Non-Exploitative Pimping
Prostitutes won a resounding victory in Ontario, Canada, where judges threw out several anti-prostitution laws.
Arguing that the state was placing unconstitutional restrictions on prostitutes’ ability to protect themselves, the five-member Cou... read more
Kingston, Tenn.: First It’s a Coal Ash Spill, Now it’s Lions and Tigers
Just three years after Kingston, Tennessee, (pop.: 5,934) suffered through a massive spill of up to 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic coal waste from earthen dams and holding ponds at a local TVA facility, some residents are complaining about a dif... read more
Prohibition Still Alive in Parts of the U.S.
For hundreds of American communities, prohibition never ended. Nearly 80 years after the law banning alcohol was repealed in 1933, many counties and towns in the South continue their “dry” ways. Citizens residing in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkans... read more
Tennessee Senate Passes Law Protecting Anti-Evolution Teachers…Is This a Return to 1925 Scopes Trial?
Tennessee, the state that produced the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925, is coming close to adopting a new law that allows teachers to question the “scientific strengths” of evolution.
The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson), says that t... read more