Legal Humour News - October 19, 2009

Odd or Amusing Legal Headlines from the Past Week (or Two):

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1 - See You In Court!

NYC neighbour sues Madonna over loud music

One of Madonna's New York neighbours says the superstar's loud music and frequent dance sessions are causing a commotion. Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park. She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbours to endure "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for up to three hours each day.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/17/11435316-ap.html

2 - Crime and Punishment

Karaoke singer attacked for poor performance

Police in Connecticut say a woman singing karaoke in a sports bar was attacked by six other women who didn't like her performance. Authorities say the six women, all under the legal drinking age of 21, knocked the singer to the floor, punched her and pulled her hair. The victim suffered bruises and a chipped tooth. The victim has said she was singing "A Dios Le Pido" by Colombian superstar Juanes when the violence began.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/08/11345166-ap.html

Two charged in 'clown jewels' caper

They aren't laughing now.
Prosecutors in western Mexico say they have filed robbery charges against two alleged members of a gang of thieves blamed for a "clown jewels" caper. The gang - some of whose members dressed up in clown costumes - burst into a jewellery store in the western city of Guadalajara on July 26 and made off with at least 1.2 million pesos ($900,000) worth of booty. The clown costumes were later found abandoned in a car (we’re guessing it was a VW Beatle).

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/08/11350151-ap.html

McRage after couple gets wrong size fries

A Massachusetts couple are accused of hurling coins and safety cones at McDonald’s cashiers in Quincy when they didn’t get enough french fries. The week before in nearby Norwell, Mass., authorities say a couple attacked a man who asked them to stop cursing about a slow order at KFC.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/08/11349536-ap.html

German police investigate kebab sauce after attack

German police are investigating a chilli sauce to determine whether it was so spicy that it was capable of causing grievous bodily harm when used in an attack. Police took a sample of the sauce from a kebab stand in Bremen's central train station after a kebab salesman threw it into the eyes of a customer during a fight over napkins.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE59F3VK20091016

Air Canada jet diverted over beer theft

There was no fire, engine woe or medical emergency when an Air Canada Jazz flight made an unscheduled stop in western Canada: the pilot diverted the jet over a beer theft, police said. A passenger apparently had stolen beer from a beverage cart and tried to flush the empty cans down the 50-seat jet's toilet to dispose of the evidence.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/091014/oddities/canada_police_airline_1

3 - Politics, Law, and Governance

Canadian trucker fined for smoking on the job

A Canadian truck driver has been fined for smoking in his vehicle because it is considered his workplace. The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, adopted in 2006, prohibits smoking in an enclosed workplace or enclosed public area, and that extends to work vehicles.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091009/odds/odd_us_smoking_1

Maldives cabinet holds underwater meeting

Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on Earth. President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor - six metres below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/17/11436331-ap.html

Fit for office? NJ election tiptoes around fat word

There are weighty issues in New Jersey’s tight race for governor — the highest property taxes in the nation, for one thing. And then there are issues of weight. Republican challenger Chris Christie’s Henry VIII-like girth has become a front-and-center topic of discussion ever since Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine ran a commercial claiming that Christie “threw his weight around” to get out of traffic violations.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/16/11427356-ap.html

Dead man appointed to local committee

Reynolds Smith Jr. was a stalwart Democratic voter. But the Alabama Democratic Party overlooked another fact when it appointed Smith to an interim party panel: He died in November at age 83.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/14/11397976-ap.html

Malaysia state to offer free vacations to troubled couples

A Malaysian state government says it plans to offer free honeymoons to save the marriages of couples who are on the brink of divorce.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE59B4FU20091013

Toronto city services line gets calls on cheesecake, chicken wings and ghosts

Are chicken wings considered a city service?
One person apparently thought so, in one of a few unusual calls the city of Toronto received on its new city services line.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/05/11313441-cp.html

4 - And Now for Something Completely Different

Brothel offers discounts for 'green' customers

Part of Berlin's red-light scene is going green. One bordello, hoping to stave off falling demand in the economic crisis, has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/16/11424621-ap.html

Madoff mask a natural for Halloween

The real Madoff pleaded guilty to a decades-long Ponzi scheme that cost investors millions of dollars. The New York financier is now serving a 150-year prison sentence. But he’ll be joining the witches and ghosts on spook night. Madoff masks are at retail stores and on Web sites that sell costumes. One firm that makes a rubber Madoff mask, Rubie’s Costume Company, has distributed more than 15,000 of them to stores across the U.S.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/10/13/11389676-ap.html