Post by Tim Wescott on Jul 3, 2004 9:03:42 GMT -5
HOW TO BE AN IDIOT: After Michael Hatfield, 54, of Lee's Summit, Mo.,
dropped his keys in a lake, he decided to go get them, even though the
water was 30 feet deep. Using a garden hose for a snorkel, he tied a
20-pound boat anchor to his waist and dove in. Hatfield couldn't find
the keys since he didn't have goggles, so he tried again. On the second
attempt, he lost his grip on the garden hose and a friend, sensing
trouble, hauled him to the surface with a rope. By then Hatfield was
not breathing, but by the time the Missouri State Water Patrol rescue
squad arrived he was conscious and refused assistance. Hatfield says he
wasn't thinking about the risks when he hatched his recovery plan.
(Kansas City Star, AP) ...Good thing he survived, since we otherwise
never would have known that.
HOW TO BE AN IDIOT TOO: Jason Grisham, 22, climbed over a barbed wire-
topped fence around an electrical substation in Clarksville, Ind., and,
ignoring warning signs, climbed up a tower until he got to a 69,000-
volt wire. The resulting jolt threw him clear, but he knocked out power
to 6,800 customers. Grisham "appeared to have extensive burn marks on
his chest and his pants appeared to have exploded," police say, but
he's expected to survive. (AP) ...Let's hope the "exploded" pants means
he won't be able to pass on his genes.
FLAMING IDIOT III: Zachary Lee Foust, 19, of Chapel Hill, N.C., was
arrested on charges of breaking and entering and theft, and was taken
to the county jail for booking. Once at the jail, the arresting officer
noticed his cell phone was missing -- and Foust looked nervous and was
avoiding eye contact. Then the officer heard a "beep" from Foust's leg.
He searched him and found his phone in Foust's shoe. The officer added
another theft charge to Foust's lineup. (Durham Herald-Sun) ...Does
that mean he was entitled to another phone call?
CULTURE OF EXCUSE: Slave owners beat their slaves, says attorney Randall
Vogt. Therefore, it's "justified" for black men to beat their sons.
Vogt is defending Isaac Cortez Bynum, who beat his 2-year-old son to
death, and says he'll use a "post traumatic slave syndrome" defense "in
a general way" in Bynum's Beaverton, Ore., murder trial. "If you are
African American and you are living in America, you have been
impacted," says Joy DeGruy-Leary, assistant professor at Portland State
University's Graduate School of Social Work, who originated the slave
syndrome theory. The boy's autopsy showed he had been abused over a
lengthy period and had suffered brain injury, a broken neck, broken
ribs, and scores of whip marks all over his body. When shown the boy's
autopsy photos, DeGruy-Leary said the injury pattern "falls in the
rubric" of "normal" for descendants of slaves. (Portland Oregonian)
...Comforting words for the country's children.
dropped his keys in a lake, he decided to go get them, even though the
water was 30 feet deep. Using a garden hose for a snorkel, he tied a
20-pound boat anchor to his waist and dove in. Hatfield couldn't find
the keys since he didn't have goggles, so he tried again. On the second
attempt, he lost his grip on the garden hose and a friend, sensing
trouble, hauled him to the surface with a rope. By then Hatfield was
not breathing, but by the time the Missouri State Water Patrol rescue
squad arrived he was conscious and refused assistance. Hatfield says he
wasn't thinking about the risks when he hatched his recovery plan.
(Kansas City Star, AP) ...Good thing he survived, since we otherwise
never would have known that.
HOW TO BE AN IDIOT TOO: Jason Grisham, 22, climbed over a barbed wire-
topped fence around an electrical substation in Clarksville, Ind., and,
ignoring warning signs, climbed up a tower until he got to a 69,000-
volt wire. The resulting jolt threw him clear, but he knocked out power
to 6,800 customers. Grisham "appeared to have extensive burn marks on
his chest and his pants appeared to have exploded," police say, but
he's expected to survive. (AP) ...Let's hope the "exploded" pants means
he won't be able to pass on his genes.
FLAMING IDIOT III: Zachary Lee Foust, 19, of Chapel Hill, N.C., was
arrested on charges of breaking and entering and theft, and was taken
to the county jail for booking. Once at the jail, the arresting officer
noticed his cell phone was missing -- and Foust looked nervous and was
avoiding eye contact. Then the officer heard a "beep" from Foust's leg.
He searched him and found his phone in Foust's shoe. The officer added
another theft charge to Foust's lineup. (Durham Herald-Sun) ...Does
that mean he was entitled to another phone call?
CULTURE OF EXCUSE: Slave owners beat their slaves, says attorney Randall
Vogt. Therefore, it's "justified" for black men to beat their sons.
Vogt is defending Isaac Cortez Bynum, who beat his 2-year-old son to
death, and says he'll use a "post traumatic slave syndrome" defense "in
a general way" in Bynum's Beaverton, Ore., murder trial. "If you are
African American and you are living in America, you have been
impacted," says Joy DeGruy-Leary, assistant professor at Portland State
University's Graduate School of Social Work, who originated the slave
syndrome theory. The boy's autopsy showed he had been abused over a
lengthy period and had suffered brain injury, a broken neck, broken
ribs, and scores of whip marks all over his body. When shown the boy's
autopsy photos, DeGruy-Leary said the injury pattern "falls in the
rubric" of "normal" for descendants of slaves. (Portland Oregonian)
...Comforting words for the country's children.