Brickbats
Referees working the football game between Tarkington High School and Splendora High School in Texas have filed a complaint against Liberty County Precinct 5 Constable L.W. DeSpain. DeSpain, who was not working at the game, charged onto the field when he disagreed with a call made by the refs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has required all bloggers with at least 3,000 daily readers to register their real names and other personal information. The government says it may shut down the blogs of those who don't register. In fact, it has already shut down some blogs it deems extremist.
Gregory Towns died after East Point, Georgia, cops shocked him up to 13 times with a Taser to get him to walk, according to an attorney for his family. Police had captured and handcuffed Towns after he led them on a foot chase, but Towns claimed he was too tired to move. The attorney said the total shock time was 47 seconds.
Three cops in Coral Springs, Florida, have been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the union that represents them. One of the accused-Sherry Williams-is a detective assigned to economic crimes cases.
The Veterans Affairs office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has apologized for an internal training program that compared returning soldiers to Oscar the Grouch. A slide show warned employees that veterans could have unrealistic expectations of the agency and told them how to know when a vet is nearing an "outburst."
The San Diego Police Department seems to have misplaced $1 million seized from drug runners and other accused criminals. After a local newspaper found the funds weren't accounted for, officials said they would seek an audit.
Miranda Larkin, 15, had been attending Florida's Oakleaf High School for only three days, and she didn't realize the school required dresses and skirts to be at least knee length. She certainly didn't expect that when she showed up wearing a dress that ended above her knees, school officials would force her to change into what she calls a "shame suit": a neon yellow shirt and red sweat pants with the words "DRESS CODE VIOLATION" on both.
Des Moines pharmacist Mark Graziano is already facing federal charges of illegally dispensing painkillers. Now, he's facing state charges of illegally possessing prescription Pepcid. A police officer pulled him over for not wearing a seat belt and for not having a current registration sticker on his tag. When the officer searched Graziano's truck, he found an old bottle of antacid under the seat.
In Saudi Arabia, religious police beat up a British man after they saw him using a supermarket checkout with a woman as cashier. Such checkout lines are reserved only for women.
Charles Oliver
