In February, the trade group Mortgage BankersAssociationwhich has been critical of homeowners struggling to make paymentson bad real-estate investmentsannounced the sale of its Washington, D.C.,headquarters for $41 million. The association had purchased the building in2007, at the peak of the real estate bubble, for $79 million.
Compelling Explanations
- (1) Glenn Armstrong, 47, had a defense ready when police accused him oftaking photographs of naked boys in Brisbane, Australia, inJanuary. He said he was having an ongoing debate with his wife and wasgathering proof that most boys are not circumcised. (2) Sheriff's deputies in Austin, Texas,arrested Anthony Gigliotti, 17, after complaints that the teen was annoyingwomen by following them around in public and snapping photographs of them.Gigliotti told one deputy that he needed the photos because the sex educationat his high school was inadequate.
- Fredrick Federley, a member of the Swedish Parliament, said that he hasalways campaigned as someone who does not take gifts from those he isresponsible for regulating. In February, however, the newspaper Aftonbladet called him out for havingaccepted a free travel holiday from an airline. Federley denied that"he" accepted the trip. He reminded reporters that he is a notorious,flamboyant cross-dresser, and thus that it was his alter ego "Ursula"who received the free holiday.
- At first it looked like Rev. Fred Armfield's arrest for patronizing aprostitute in Greenwood, S.C., in January would be uncontroversial.Armfield allegedly confessed that he had bargained Melinda "TruckStop" Robinson down from $10 to $5 for oral sex. Several days later,however, Armfield formally disputed the arrest, calling himself a"descendant of the original Moro-Pithecus Disoch, Kenyapithecus and AfroPithecus," a "flesh and blood being with sovereign status," andsomeone who, based on his character and community standing, should not beprosecuted. Also, he claimed that any payment to "Truck Stop"Robinson with Federal Reserve notes (such as the $1 bills he allegedly used)did not legally constitute a purchase, but rather represented only a promise topay later.
Least Competent Criminals
(1) Myesha Williams, 20, and a female friendstopped by a police station in DeLand, Fla., in January and demanded toknow why their photos appeared in a local news story on TV. Followingquestioning, police decided that Williams was the woman seen on surveillancevideo robbing a beauty shop. She was arrested (since the friend had left beforethe actual robbery, however, she was not charged). (2) The burglar who stolealready-filled prescription orders from the West Main Pharmacy in Medford, Ore.,in January puzzlingly limited his take to the pickup-ready packages filed under"O." Police guessed that the burglar must have been after thecommonly stolen "oxycodone" and was unaware that outgoingprescriptions are filed by customers' last names, not their medications.
Recurring Themes
(1) Last May, a 13-year-old boy in Galt, Calif.,became the most recent beneficiary of foolish behavior. Acting on a dare, theboy chugged eight shots of tequila and lost consciousness. A routine CT scan atthe hospital exposed an until-then-unrevealed brain tumor, and the boy isslowly recovering from his arduous but lifesaving surgery. (2) In January,James Shimsky, 50, became the most recent priest in the Catholic Diocese ofScranton, Pa., to be arrested for wayward behavior (with several recentinstances reported in a January edition of “News of the Weird”). Shimsky wasarrested on a Philadelphiastreet for allegedly buying cocaine.
Pampered Pets
(1) A February St. Petersburg Times report found several local people whoregularly cook gourmet meals for their dogs (the story also revealed some ofthe dogs' favorite recipes). "Veggie Cookies for Dogs," for example,requires whole-wheat flour, dried basil, dried cilantro, dried oregano, choppedcarrot, green beans, tomato paste, canola oil and garlic. As one person put it:Why feed "man's best friend" what you wouldn't eat yourself? (2) Aday spa for dogs ("Wag Style") in Tokyo offers sessions in a hyperbaric oxygenchamber, supposedly to ease doggy arthritis, heal wounds and halt aging. (Anacademic researcher told a BoingBoing.net writer that evidence of such benefitsis "anecdotal.")
A News of the Weird Classic
As many as 10% of Japanese youths may beliving in "epic sulks" essentially as hermits, according to a March2005 Taipei Times dispatch fromTokyo. This represents no improvement in the already alarming problem that wasdescribed in a News of the Weird report in 2000, which estimated that 1 millionyoung professionals were then afflicted. Many of those affected still live intheir parents' homes and never leave their bedrooms except to gather food.Among the speculation as to cause: school bullying, academic pressure, poorsocial skills, excessive video-game playing, inaccessible father figures and aneducation system that suppresses a sense of adventure in children.
© 2010 Chuck Shepherd
