Unusual News
Marijuana Growers Voted against Legalization
On Tuesday, voters in California rejected a proposal to legalize marijuana for people over the age of 21. Proposition 19 lost 54% to 46%, with 11 of the state’s 58 counties voting in favor and 47 voting against. What may appear surprising to many ... read more
Signs of the Times: Sanity and Fear
At the October 30, 2010, Sanity and Fear rally in Washington, D.C., organized by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, participants were urged to bring signs that expressed issues they considered important. Here is a sampling. (photos: Elijah... read more
Lawyer Wins Election, Turns Down Office
In a first for Schuyler County, Missouri, the winner of Tuesday’s election for local prosecutor said he does not want the job. Defense attorney Ben Gray won the race by virtue of the fact that no candidate was on the November 2 ballot, but some ... read more
Lady Gaga Course Offered at University of South Carolina
Offering what he says may be the first of its kind in the nation, sociology professor Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina plans to teach a course next spring on Lady Gaga that will seek to explain the success of the mega pop star.... read more
Stewart-Colbert Rally Set Record…for Metrorail Use
It wasn’t the biggest rally Washington, DC, has ever witnessed, but it did set a Saturday record for ridership on the Metro, the city’s underground and aboveground rail system. The event, known as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, was put... read more
Judge Rules that 4-Year-Old on Bike with Training Wheels Can be Sued for Negligence
As far as Justice Paul Wooten of New York City is concerned, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn can be sued, even if they were four years old at the time of their vehicular recklessness. Both children were racing their bicycles, complete with traini... read more
Home on Washaway Beach in Washington is…Washed Away
Washaway Beach in Washington State has lived up to its name, and then some. The most rapidly eroding stretch of coast in the Western United States has been losing 100 feet of sand and turf a year for the past century. The erosion recently cost t... read more
Iowa Republican Platform Calls for “No-Activity Wednesdays”
The Republican Party of Iowa has been getting quite a lot for press these days for its new platform, which includes some rather unusual declarations.
For example, the Iowa GOP wants to establish a “no-activities night” every Wednesday in the... read more
CIA and FBI Agents Sent to Art Museum to Hone Observation Skills
Law enforcement and intelligence officials are spending more time these days inside New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to improve their skills of observation.
The officers and agents are taking the class, The Art of Percepti... read more
Don’t Like Health Care in the U.S.? It’s Not as Bad as Al-Qaeda’s
L’Houssaine Kherchtou of Morocco joined al-Qaeda in 1991, determined to become the personal pilot for Osama bin Laden. But Kherchtou got out of the terrorist organization after it decided to relocate its operation from Sudan to Afghanistan and i... read more
Best Cities for Parks in the U.S.
There are more than 20,000 parks in America’s 85 largest cities, providing residents with playgrounds, flower gardens, sports fields, bike trails, dog parks, river walks and more. According to a report by The Trust for Public Land, the leading c... read more
Cars Most Likely to be Ticketed…Mercedes SL Class
Is there something about the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class automobile that makes drivers break the law more often than other vehicle owners? Or does the SL Class just attract a more risky element? A new report from Quality Planning found SL-Class drive... read more
Hidden Benefit of Legal Marijuana: Hemp
Legalizing marijuana in California, which is the intention of Proposition 19, would not only save the state millions of dollars in prison costs and boost revenues through new taxes, but also bring back a forgotten commodity: hemp.
During the... read more
Illinois Newspaper Misidentified Man as Insane Murderer…Three Times
Keith Grinston is suing the Belleville News Democrat for misidentifying him—not once, not twice, but three times—as a man who stabbed his wife to death but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The confusion involved the newspaper publishi... read more
Federal Employee Health Benefits: Dogs, Yes; Gay Partners, No
Homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees of the federal government can’t even treat their partners like a dog. That’s because under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, a worker has the option of buying health coverage for their ... read more
20-Year-Old Embryo Becomes Baby Boy
The Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School has achieved another milestone. Back in 1981, the Jones Institute conducted the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States. This time, its doctors ... read more