Brickbats
A court in Taiwan has sentenced a blogger to 30 days in jail and two years' probation for writing a negative restaurant review. The blogger wrote that the restaurant's noodles were too salty and that it had cockroaches. The court said she should not have called the restaurant's food salty because she tried only one dish during just one visit. The court also ordered her to pay NT$200,000 to the restaurant in compensation for lost business.
When teachers at England's Nathaniel Newton Infant School spotted two 7-year-old boys playing army, they broke up the game and contacted the boys' parents to let them know such "threatening behavior" is "unacceptable."
San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission has proposed that the city ban the sale of pets, including goldfish.
Officials in Glasgow, Scotland, sent a letter to parents of students at King's Park Secondary School warning them not to allow their children to wear short skirts or tight pants. Such clothes, they explained, could arouse the interest of pedophiles.
Emil Linnell called Sweden's emergency dispatch service several times complaining that he could not breathe and asking for an ambulance. Each time, the nurse handling the calls insisted that Linnell sounded just fine. So an ambulance never came. A neighbor found Linnell dead two hours later.
The French government has banned TV broadcasters from mentioning Facebook or Twitter unless it is part of a story. That means TV stations can't direct viewers to their Facebook pages or Twitter feeds.
Health officials in Maryland have warned summer camp operators to get parents' permission before letting campers use sunscreen. They had also originally warned them not to allow counselors or fellow campers to help kids apply sunscreen but backed down after criticism. Officials say the rules were meant to prevent improper touching.
A Broward County, Florida, sheriff's deputy thought the sage that Robin Brown had with her was marijuana, and a field test seemed to confirm that. He didn't arrest her then, but he confiscated the sage and sent it to the crime lab for testing. Unfortunately for Brown, Assistant State Attorney Mark Brown didn't wait for the sage to be tested before obtaining a warrant for her arrest. A deputy showed up at her place of work and took her away in handcuffs to jail, where she was subjected to a body cavity search.
Officials with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina admit they made a few mistakes. It turns out that 11 students who graduated from Garinger High School didn't actually have enough credits to graduate. They found out only after the graduation ceremony where the students received their diplomas. Among the improperly graduated students: the class valedictorian.
A federal jury awarded Tricia Wachsmuth $30,001 after police officers in Powell, Wyoming, forced her to walk in front of them as a human shield while searching her home.
Charles Oliver
