Brickbats

England and Wales have banned zombie knives, stylized blades that are supposed to be useful in fighting the undead. Northern Ireland Justice Minister Claire Sugden wants to expand the ban to Ireland as well.

The Cajun Navy, an unorganized group of private citizens with boats, is credited with saving hundreds—maybe even thousands—of people during the recent flooding in Louisiana. But Republican state Rep. Jonathan "J.P." Perry has proposed a bill that would require them to get training before they can rescue people in the future.

In Colombes, France, a halal supermarket has been ordered to either sell alcohol and pork or be shut down. The store is located on property that belongs to the housing authority, which says the owners are violating the lease, since it calls for a "general food store." Officials also claim the store violates the nation's republican principles by prioritizing certain groups.

After Waller County, Texas, officials received a letter from gun rights activist Terry Holcomb that said they were violating state law by prohibiting firearms at the courthouse, they sued him for $100,000.

Artist Timothy J. Desmond has sued California officials after they barred him from displaying at the Fresno Fair a painting of a Civil War battle in which one of the soldiers is carrying a Confederate battle flag. The fair director pointed to a California law banning the flag from being displayed or sold on state property unless it appears in a book or digital medium or is part of a historical or artistic display at a museum.

When actor Steve Tom got a $490 ticket generated by a red light camera for an illegal turn in Culver City, California, he was certain he wasn't guilty—especially when he saw it wasn't issued to his vehicle. But the officer who signed off on the citation insisted it was him because they'd met before and he just knew it was him. After local media picked up the story, police backed off.

The U.S. Postal Service has fired a postal carrier who was observed dumping hundreds of pieces of mail—an entire bin containing bills, letters, and business fliers—into a Lee County, Florida, dumpster.

A federal official reportedly got into a fistfight with a Native American college student over a Washington Redskins shirt the student was wearing. Barrett Dahl says William Mendoza, executive director of the White House Initiative of American Indian and Alaska Native Education, approached him, called him stupid and uneducated for wearing the shirt, and attacked him when he turned to walk away.

In Smithers, British Columbia, North Central Plumbing and Heating spent $10,000 to build a 30-foot sidewalk that goes nowhere. The nearest walking path is 500 meters away, but a local ordinance requires developers doing more than $75,000 in construction or repairs to build public infrastructure outside their premises.