Legal Humour News - May 5, 2008

Hi and welcome to this week's newsletter. If it's in the news and it's got a legal slant, we'll do a blawg on it.

Have you noticed that hardly a day goes by without the media reporting on yet another one of criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan's high profile case?  Have you wondered whether Mr  Greenspan ever handles more minor cases than Conrad Black or Garth Drabinsky?  Then read  Marcel's Blawg, Where's Eddie, which follows Eddie Greenspan in a expired parking meter case. 
 
And speaking of machines, are you all teched out?  Then check out, Technology 101- Back to the present.    This humourous story demonstrates how you can enhance your office technology and appreciate life with our list of 7 simple but world class wonders.  
 
Finally, enjoy this week's feast of weird legal happenings from around the world.

Odd or Amusing Legal Stories from the Past Week:

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1 - See You In Court!

Man Asks Illinois Court To Change His Name To "In God We Trust"
An Illinois man named Steve wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name. He wants to be known as "In God We Trust." Steve says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_fe_st/odd_name_change

Ohio Judge To Decide Man's Fate For Sharing Snack Cake
A judge in southern Ohio must decide whether to send a man to prison for sharing a Little Debbie snack cake. The case involves 21-year-old Timothy, who last year was held in a residential community corrections program in Nelsonville for breaking into a bar. While there, prosecutors said he bought the oatmeal creme pie from a vending machine and shared it with a fellow inmate who was on restriction and wasn't allowed access to snacks. Prosecutors in Vinton County have asked Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Simmons to revoke Timothy's probation and put him in prison for nine months.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/02/national/a121856D93.DTL

2 - Crime and Punishment

Police In Illinois Arrest Naked Hostage-Taker After Three-Hour Standoff
Police in Rockford, Illinois, have arrested a 32-year-old naked man who allegedly took a woman hostage and threw furniture out an apartment window during a standoff with authorities. The naked man barricaded himself in a bathroom and allegedly threw a television and dresser out the window.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/05/04/5468011-ap.html

Man Tries To Cash $360B Cheque
Tellers at the Texas bank were immediately suspicious. After all, it isn't every day someone walks in to cash a cheque with 10 zeros on it. But police say a 21-one-year-old tried to do just that and now faces forgery and other charges after trying to cash a cheque for $360-billion.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_fe_st/odd_check_for_billions

Will Cards For Inmates Solve Crimes?
Inmates in 58 county jails across New York are getting playing cards with the pictures of missing persons in hopes the photos will jog memories and help solve cold cases.
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0136128320080501

Woman Pulls Into Lot With 'No Parking' Sign, Post On Car
The first clue that something might have been wrong was when a car pulled into a New Hampshire parking lot in with a "No Parking" sign and post stuck to the front end. A clerk called to report the car. When officers showed up, the sign had fallen off, and they found a sleeping driver inside.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_fe_st/odd_sign_crash

3 - Politics, Law, and Governance

Illinois Smoking Ban Tamps Down Puffing At Pipe Convention
There will be no indoor smoking at a large convention for pipe smokers in Illinois. A new Illinois law bans smoking in public places. That's taken some of the steam out of the Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show in St. Charles.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/05/03/5462651-ap.html

Chilean Town Handing Out Free Viagra To Seniors
A town in Chile is handing out free Viagra pills to senior citizens. The mayor of Lo Prado - a suburb of the capital Santiago - says he launched the program because "an active sexuality improves the overall quality of life." About 1,500 residents of the working-class area are eligible to receive as many as four pills of the erectile dysfunction drug each month, the mayor says.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/04/30/5432226-ap.html

Iran Calls Barbie 'Destructive'
A top Iranian judiciary official has warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other western toys. In the latest salvo in a more than decade-old government campaign against Barbie, the Prosecutor said in an official letter to the Vice-President that the doll and other western toys are a "danger" that need to be stopped.
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2848483220080428

Saudi Governor Orders Haircuts For Men Who Hit On Women
A governor in northern Saudi Arabia has ordered authorities to punish men who flirt with women in public places by cutting their hair.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/saudi_flirting_crackdown

4 - And Now for Something Completely Different

School Brings In Eyebrow Grooming Policy
A Portland high school is raising eyebrows with its brow grooming policy: shave 'em or go home. Some students at Centennial High School have shaved vertical lines into their eyebrows in a trend recently made popular by hip-hop star Soulja Boy. School officials say the mark looks like a gang symbol. Centennial administrators are telling students with the lines that they can't return to school until they shave their eyebrows off.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/04/28/5414271-ap.html

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