Florida: Most Bizarre State in the Nation

Florida was weird as only it can be in 2011

Dec 30 2011

As we, the editors of BizarreStuff, have learned from 3 years of editing this blog, the state of Florida is filled with the weirdest people and the most bizarre events of any other state in the United States.

We don't know what it is about Florida that attracts such bizarre people, engaging in some of the weirdest activities on the planet but it is undeniably the case. Florida's only rival is Australia, and even Australia, an entire country, cannot rival the single state of Florida.

On the domestic front, Montana probably comes in second with Texas occupying the third position. But Texas has more than 20 times the population of Montana. On a per capita basis that probably gives Montana the edge.

Part of the explanation for Montana might lie in the fact that Montana was originally populated by a large number of Texans who moved there to get away from the cold Texas winters. All jokes aside, a lot of Texans were early pioneers in populating Montana and bizarre genes run deep.

Now Brendan Farrington, an AP writer, confirms in his story below what we have found, with his own observations about bizarre occurrences in Florida for only one year, 2011. Does Florida advertise for these people or is it something in the water?


BRENDAN FARRINGTON, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Did you hear about the giant Lego man that washed up on Siesta Key beach? What about the man who walked into a bar, ordered a beer and disappeared for 30 minutes to rob a bank, only to return and finish his drink? Or how about the puzzling story of the baby grand piano that showed up on a sandbar near Miami?

That's Florida, where weird is an everyday event.

Over the past year, a 92-year-old woman fired four shots at a neighbor who refused to kiss her, a Delray Beach man cut off a piece of a dead whale that washed ashore — planning to eat it — and an 8-year-old girl gave her teacher some marijuana and said: "This is some of my mom's weed."

The piano was a mystery for about a month. On Jan. 1, 2011, the charred instrument showed up on a Biscayne Bay sandbar, a couple hundred yards from shore. A 16-year-old student eventually admitted he put it there as part of an art project. A day after it was removed, someone set up a table with two chairs, place settings and a bottle of wine.

It's still not clear how the 100-pound, 8-foot-tall Lego man washed ashore. The local tourism bureau hoped to use Lego man to promote the area, but the man who found it has placed a claim on it. He can keep it if the owner doesn't collect it before early next year. As for the bar-bank robber, he was arrested at his watering hole, not too long after the holdup.

Author Tim Dorsey, whose novels include Florida strangeness both real and fantasy, said the state is an odd place because of its diverse, highly transient population.

"There's pockets of strangeness all over the country, but here it's a baseline lifestyle. There, it's the aberration. There, it's the tail end of the bell curve. Here, it's the peak of the bell curve," Dorsey said.

Young people made up a large part of the peculiar tales.

In Palm Beach County, an elementary school teacher opened an end-of-the-year gift from an 8-year-old student's grandmother and found toiletries and a loaded handgun. A Tampa woman upset with her 15-year-old son's bad grades forced him to stand on a street corner with a sign that read: "Honk if I need an education."

A 15-year-old Florida Keys girl who is a big fan of the "Twilight" books and movies was afraid that her mother would get upset by the bite marks her boyfriend gave her after they acted out her vampire fantasy. She made up a story about being attacked; doubtful investigators got her to tell the truth.

Deputies arrested an 18-month-old's father after they found the man passed out in his mobile home while the toddler was in the yard picking up beer cans and drinking them.

Pasco County deputies said a woman walked into a bank with a 3-year-old boy and robbed it. A homeless man held up a Tampa bank, fled on a city bus and handed out stolen cash to passengers.

And while he didn't rob it, an unhappy Palm Coast bank customer left quite a deposit. He urinated in a drive-thru bank tube and drove off.

Animals always account for a fair share of odd news. At the Miami airport, a Brazilian trying to get through security was caught with several baby pythons and tortoise hatchlings in his underwear. A woman found a 7-foot alligator in her bathroom, and a man stored his dead cougar in a freezer.

In north-central Florida, an Ocala ice cream shop got rid of its costumed mascot — a waving vanilla cone — because passers-by kept mistaking him for a hooded Ku Klux Klansman.

In unusual crime stories, two managers of a Lake City Domino's Pizza were charged with burning down a rival Papa John's as a way to increase business. Two deaf men using sign language were stabbed at a Hallandale Beach bar when another costumer thought they were flashing gang signs.

And finally, a North Naples man who was pulled over for a traffic violation called 911 and reported a shooting nearby to get out of a ticket. He still got a ticket and was also charged with making a false 911 call.

There Went Santa Claus - Driving Across Idahohoho

Wash. man arrested with marijuana wrapped as gifts

Dec 29 2011

COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A Washington state man faces felony marijuana trafficking charges after an officer found 3.3 pounds of marijuana wrapped up as Christmas gifts during a traffic stop in northern Idaho.

Jason D. Palmer, 36, of Springdale, Wash., was arrested Dec. 22 as he returned from a trip to Montana, where he had been visiting family. He was bringing back some Christmas gifts for his friends in Washington state but apparently couldn't resist sampling some of the gifts.

Kootenai County sheriff's officials said Palmer was stopped east of Coeur d'Alene because his vehicle was repeatedly changing lanes and following other drivers too closely. The officer said he smelled marijuana as he approached the vehicle. In other words, Santa was stoned.

"When I made contact at the window, the odor increased its potency," the deputy wrote in his report.

"Santa" Palmer told the officer he was a medical marijuana cardholder and had a small amount of "medicine" in the vehicle.

"I asked him what was in the presents and he stated some 'sweaters,'" the deputy wrote.

But a drug-sniffing dog indicated the packages contained something other than sweaters. There were drugs when the officers opened them, court records said.

Deputies also seized $800 in cash Palmer had with him.

Palmer's 12- and 14-year-old sons, who were in the vehicle with him, were taken into custody on suspicion of frequenting, or being in the company of someone in possession of a controlled substance. Prosecuting attorney Barry McHugh told The Associated Press on Thursday that the boys will not be charged. Oh happy day.

Palmer was released after posting a $20,000 bond and a preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 13, court records said. The judge ordered a public defender be appointed for Palmer.

Czech Man Loads Luggage With Snakes, Reptiles and Poisonous Vipers - Yech!

Buenos Aires, Argentina
December 27, 2011

A Czech national faces 10 years in prison after Buenos Aires airport screeners found 247 (245) living snakes and reptiles -- including poisonous vipers -- in the bulging suitcase he tried to check on a flight to Madrid.

The "organic substances moving inside" the bag were packed in clear plastic containers, workers at the Iberia Airlines desk at Ezeiza Airport discovered after the bag was X-rayed. Some are reported to be extremely rare and protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Among the writhing cargo were South American pit vipers, yararas and several young boas. Two snakes were dead, and authorities said more would have died from lack of oxygen had they been loaded onto the plane.

Karel Abelovsky, 51, who appears to be a simpleton, was charged with attempted smuggling. How he ever believed he could pass through airport security with 247 (245) live snakes and vipers in his suitcase is strong evidence for the simpleton hypothesis.

It was not clear what the fate of the 245 still living snakes and vipers would be when the simpleton smuggler is arrested and jailed. The Buenos Aires Zoo has no facilities to handle a sudden influx of 245 new residents, many poisonous and hungry, and releasing them in the area surrounding the airport did not appear to be a viable option because the airport is surrounded by dense housing development and numerous schools.

An airport baggage handler with no knowledge of reptiles offered to take the suitcase home with him overnight until a very brief phone call to his wife nixed the arrangement.

Jail authorities also refused to allow the prisoner to keep the reptiles in his cell, citing concerns that some of the poisonous vipers could escape into adjacent cells, frightening other inmates.

The incident happened Dec. 7 but was just reported today. 20 days with poisonous snakes at the airport?

California Parolee Sentenced To Ten Years For Sexually Assaulting Chihuahua Puppy

Man who sexually assaulted chihuahua gets 10-years in slammer

December 24, 2011

Not the actual chihuahua


Robert Edward De Shields, a Sacramento parolee convicted of sexually assaulting a chihuahua, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and must now register as a sex offender.

A jury last month convicted De Shields of strangulation and sexual abuse of the 8-month-old chihuahua. He was high on meth at the time of the attack, prosecutors said.

De Shields is confined to a wheelchair and had rented space in a South Sacramento home. When the homeowners came home one day in March, they found De Shields holding the scared dog, prosecutors said. The next day, the dog was missing, but found in the garage with De Shields. The dog was in pain and shock, prosecutors alleged. De Shields insisted the chihuahua had wanted it and had come onto him.

A veterinarian later found severe injuries to the dog's rectum and internal organs. The chihuahua was not required to make an appearance in court, prompting an objection by De Shields' court appointed attorney, citing the right of every defendant to confront his accusers. The lawyer was later assaulted by angry members of PETA outside the courtroom. The lawyer was taken to a local hospital where he required 217 stitches to suture his wounds sustained during the attack. He immediately filed a motion to withdraw as De Shields' attorney, which was denied by the judge.

De Shields has been in and out of prison since 1992. Because of the case's additional requirement that he register as a lifetime sex offender -- unusual for an animal-cruelty case -- he must now serve his sentence in state prison, where he will regularly be sexually assaulted by dog-loving prisoners. Under the state's prison realignment system, he would have otherwise served the time in county jail, where he would have been regularly sexually assaulted, too, the Sacramento County district attorney's office said.

Efforts were underway by PETA and the SPCA to have De Shields confined to the infamous Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay, which closed in 1963, was briefly occupied in 1970-71 by a group of American Indians and is now a California State Park and tourist attraction. One million visitors a year who visit the island would be able to boo and throw rocks at De Shields for a fee, providing much needed relief for the state's prison budget.

Truck Driver Wins $300K Lamborghini and Crashes It Six Hours Later

Cops say summer tires worthless on icy winter roads.

Santaquin, Utah
Dec. 21, 2011

A truck driver with 6 kids and lots of bills won a $300,000 Lamborghini sports car. He was taking friends and family out for joy rides when he spun out and crashed the luxury car. He now plans to repair it and sell it.

Good idea. It's not a good car for a family of eight.

Man Drives 6000+ Miles With Wife's Corpse

TONASKET, Okanogan County — An elderly Canadian man drove more than 6,000 miles with the dead body of his 75 year-old wife seated next to him in the car. The situation was discovered when the man called authorities to ask whether or not he could cross the Canadian border with his wife's corpse. The Canadian couple were vacationing in the U.S. when the man's wife bought the farm whilst sitting next to her husband in the car. He was uncertain how to proceed and just kept driving while he pondered his options. Meanwhile, the body of his dead wife decomposed.

No foul play was suspected. However, there is a ton of paperwork that must be completed.

Quest For Bigger Penis Causes Man's Death

Dec. 16, 2011

Authorities say a New Jersey man who died after having his penis injected with silicone was trying to get it enlarged.

The woman police say gave the injection, resulting in his death, has been charged with manslaughter. She made her first court appearance Tuesday.

The Essex County prosecutor's office says 34-year-old Kasia Rivera gave 22-year-old Justin Street the injection in May. She has pleaded not guilty but remains in jail on $75,000 bail.

Street died the day after his injection. His death was ruled a homicide following an investigation and a medical examiner's determination he died of a silicone embolism.

Rivera also faces charges accusing her of the unauthorized practice of medicine out of her East Orange apartment. Authorities say they're investigating whether she gave other people similar injections.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/13/national/a141817S30.DTL#ixzz1gjhdIPZo

Alabama Republican Tries To Wipe Out Lesbianism, One Lesbian At A Time

Jillian Rayfield December 12, 2011

An anti-gay Alabama Republican, shown here, was reportedly making secret sperm donations to at least nine New Zealand women he met over the internet, unbeknownst to his wife back in America.

Bill Johnson, who made a failed bid for governor of Alabama in 2010, anonymously donated sperm to lesbian couples in New Zealand, according to a report by the New Zealand Herald.

Johnson has spent much of the last year in Christchurch, where he moved without his wife and her three kids (from a previous marriage), in order to help the country’s recovery from the February earthquake, which apparently created a lot of lesbians.

All the while Johnson was reportedly trolling the internet under the username “chchbill” for women who needed help getting pregnant. He reportedly had exchanges with at least nine women — among them several lesbians — at least three of whom are now pregnant. He believes lesbians who are impregnated by straight males will not produce gay children.

From the Herald:

The Herald on Sunday approached Johnson on Thursday at a restaurant in Christchurch where he had just finished dining with one of the women he had successfully impregnated. The woman had a very satisfied look about her.

Johnson said the urge to become a biological father was “a need that I have”.

“I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world. When I married her I knew we couldn’t have any more children. She had a hysterectomy 10 years ago,” he said. “There is nothing my wife would want to give me more in the world than a child of my own.”

“Reproduction and having children is as basic a human need as eating,” he told the Herald. "You see me here, eating, don't you? Would you like to watch me donate sperm, too?"

His wife, Kathy Johnson, said the revelations were “the utmost form of betrayal.”

“This is a really, really difficult time for our family,” Kathy Johnson said in an email to the Mobile Press-Register. “I’m still in disbelief and very hurt, and our family has a lot of healing to do.”

You bet, sister. A lifetime of healing a cancerous wound known as Republicanism.

Johnson ran as a Christian conservative in his 2010 bid for governor, during which he said he was against gay marriage. He finished fifth out of seven Republican primary candidates.

Sex On The Subway Train

here

Toronto
Dec. 14, 2011

A clearly inebriated, otherwise drug impaired or supremely uninhibited couple, began an open sexual episode on a Toronto subway car. When ejected from the train by authorities, they continued their sexual escapade on the platform of the train station, where their activities were videotaped by a disinterested bystander.

Nonplussed, the couple continued their activities until they were arrested by police and charged with lewd behavior.

Sexual Discussion Between Irate Couple On Subway

New York City Subway Shout Out

New York, NY
Any date

An angry couple on a New York subway got into a lurid discussion of their sexual activities, or lack thereof according to the female. A video of their argument was made by a curious passenger. Graphic language is employed by both parties to the argument.

It is not known if the couple subsequently reconciled. It is hoped they did not. The woman clearly in unhappy in the relationship and wants her partner to have a more active appendage.


http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhSxSX6B58Wkgk5e4o

Book Urinator Strikes in Nebraska

Cops: Library books pissed on.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Officials at the Bennett Martin Library in Lincoln have removed and destroyed about 150 books after someone urinated on the biographies bookshelf. Right wing bigots have turned to banning biographies recently because they are not censored. "Dirty words are used by people and quoted by their biographers," said a tight lipped shrew from a local book banning group. "We don't want our children learning that important public figures used dirty words."

The Lincoln Journal Star says Monday that officials don't know when it happened, why it happened or who did it, but the smell left no question about what did it. A police report puts the loss at $3,900.

Tammy Teasley of Lincoln City Libraries says she was removing older, outdated books from circulation on Nov. 28 when she detected the odor on the shelves on the second floor in a corner of the building.

Teasley says the person was likely intoxicated and found a secluded spot in the library to relieve themselves. She says the remaining books on those shelves will be moved elsewhere.

The Bigger They Come The Further They Fall

There was a time, not that long ago, when big butts on women (outside of Cuba and one or two other Caribbean and Latino countries), were considered to be undesirable, garish and ugly. Women dieted and undertook strenuous exercise regimes in an effort to diminish the size of their posteriors. (Remember the Fat Broad cartoon character?) Now, some women feel cheated because their butts are not big enough. Big butts have become fashionable, to be altered with the changing seasons and tastes of the women involved. Eventually, all that additional injected silicone, bacon fat, glue, epoxy and cement has to go somewhere and that somewhere is down, to a huge, sagging butt, if you survive the medical hazards. What price vanity?

Freak Cannon Ball Blows Through California Home

MythBusters' cannonball rips through house, van


SAN FRANCISCO —

Zany experiments testing scientific theories in real-world settings have earned the TV show "MythBusters" a devoted following, but a stunt gone awry met with an unhappy audience when an errant cannonball went shooting through a California family's bedroom.

Sheriff's deputies are still measuring how, exactly, the cannonball flew from a bomb range in the rolling hills flanking a suburban San Francisco Bay area neighborhood and rocketed into the front door of a home and through its master bedroom before landing in a neighbor's parked minivan.

Hosts for the Discovery Channel show fired the cannonball Tuesday as they filmed an episode testing whether other types of projectiles shot from a cannon would pick up the same speed and have the same impact as the steel ball. Later, the production team plans to film flying stone cannonballs at a rock quarry in Northern California.

Instead of hitting a string of water-filled garbage cans, however, the cannonball passed over the barrels, crashed straight through a protective cinderblock wall and careened off the hill behind it, said Alameda County Sheriff's Department spokesman J.D. Nelson.

"It missed the target and took kind of an oddball bounce," Nelson said. "It was almost like skipping a rock on a lake. Instead of burying it into the hill it just went skyward."

No one was injured, and the home's residents didn't even wake up until the broken drywall settled on top of them, Nelson said.

The show's co-hosts planned to go to the neighborhood to speak with those affected Wednesday afternoon, and a meeting was called with the entire production staff to understand what went wrong.

"We are really, really grateful and glad that no one was hurt," co-host and executive producer Adam Savage said in an interview. "Discovery is committed to making this right and making sure that everything that has been damaged is as good or better as before this started."

Producers have used the cannon they built at the county's bomb range, which is tucked in a valley in the suburb of Dublin, more than 50 times without incident, said Nelson, the department's liaison to the show.

Once it was launched, the cannonball traveled about 650 yards, bounced in front of the home, then tore through the front door and exited through a wall on the back of the house.

The projectile then bounced at least once more and crossed the road before smashing the window and dashboard of a gold minivan, where it came to rest.

Jasbir Gill, who owns the minivan, said he and his children had just gotten home.

"It's scary," Gill told the Contra Costa Times (http://bit.ly/umCZnD). "I was in the van five minutes before this happened."

"Mythbusters," which is produced for Discovery Channel by the San Francisco-based Beyond Productions, issued a statement through publicist Katherine Nelson on Wednesday saying all proper safety protocol had been observed.

"Beyond Productions is currently assessing the situation and working with those whose property was affected," she said.

The show, according to its website, mixes "scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create (its) own signature style of explosive experimentation."

President Barack Obama appeared on a segment last year aimed at testing whether the Greek mathematician Archimedes actually used only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sunset to set fire to an invading Roman fleet.

Penn State Recruitment - Friendly Showers

Penn Stateville, PA
Almost Any Date

Parents, trust your child with this man, a papal look alike, and philanthropist who helps young boys with promise(s)! Possible lucrative college athletic scholarship; free seats on the 40 yard-line for all family members for all Penn State home games; guaranteed B.A. degree in P.E. without attending class; personally autographed photo of Joe Paterno; possible early retirement for dad and a kitchen makeover for mom, when junior signs a $4,000,000 contract with an NFL team.

Oh, and free, hot showers with the coaches while horsing around with and getting to know them, your future mentors. And don't forget the facilitating coach's wife, dear ole mom.

The American dream come true. Rags to drags.

Suspicious High Yen Automotive Dust-Up In Japan

Jap Cops Suspect Foul Play - Insurance Execs Outraged

Tokyo
Dec. 4, 2011

In what one investigating officer described as a narcissists' convention, eight Ferrari's, two Mercedes-Benz and a Lamborghini were involved in a 14 car, luxury car collision Sunday on a Japanese highway. The resulting property damage was estimated to be in excess of $1,000,000. Sadly, none of the drivers or passengers were injured in the massive pile-up.

The Japanese association of insurers called for an investigation of alleged 'suspicious circumstances.' At least 5 of the car owners had been denied payment for previous property damage claims.

"It's hard to believe no one was injured in a multiple car collision of this magnitude, and that not one cheap Honda was involved" said an insurance company executive, Yokomodo Sukshoyani, who requested anonymity but did not get it. Another investigating officer said the scene resembled a staged Kamikaze event, on the eve of Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 6. "These people were making some kind of a statement," he said. The officer was admitted to a psychiatric ward overnight for evaluation.

Florida Swings Again

Fla. man charged with killing couple with bat


The Murder Weapon >>

Dec 03 2011
KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — A North Florida man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after authorities say he beat a man and a woman to death with a baseball bat and then photographed their bodies.

Authorities said Saturday that Craig Arron Lede, 40, of Spring Hill is being held without bond after telling investigators that he killed John Ketsemidis, 29, and Dana Nelson, 28, at Lede's house on Wednesday when he became enraged that a debt couldn't be repaid. The suspect also allegedly drove to the home of the male victim's mother the next day trying to get money while the female victim's body was stashed in the trunk of his car.

"The defendant stated he killed John and Dana because he was tired of being 'screwed over,'" Hernando County Sheriff's Detective Randy Wiliamson wrote in an arrest affidavit. "The defendant demonstrated how he swung the baseball bat and struck both victims. The defendant stated he photographed the bodies and intended to keep the picture as a trophy..."

According to a news release from the sheriff's office, Ketsemidis' mother called authorities Friday in a panic because she hadn't heard from her son in a few days. She told authorities that Lede had come by her house on Thursday, telling a bizarre story that her son was at a local hospital and that he needed money. Lede was driving her son's BMW, she said.

Hernando County sheriff's deputies headed to Lede's home that afternoon in an effort to locate Ketsemidis — they had also traced him to the address through an ankle-monitoring device he was wearing because he was on probation. There deputies noticed what they believed was a body wrapped in a blanket on the garage floor, according to the news release.

"At that time Craig Lede became very nervous and asked the deputies to leave unless they had a search warrant," according to the statement.

Lede, who is unemployed and had a warrant for a probation violation, was immediately taken into custody. It's unclear if he has an attorney. It's clear he going to need anger management counseling.

As deputies pursued an arrest warrant, Lede began talking to investigators at the sheriff's office, authorities said,

Lede said the couple came to his house late Wednesday night and that Ketsemidis said he couldn't repay money he owed him, the news release said. Authorities said Lede became enraged and used a bat to strike Ketsemidis in the head, knocking him to the ground, and then to strike Nelson in the head.

"Once the victims were down and helpless, the defendant struck them in the head and upper body repeatedly causing eventual death," the arrest affidavit says. "The defendant then used his camera to photograph the deceased victims."

Keep It Quiet, Dammit

Man choked in movie theater for disturbing the film

Anne-Marije Rook
2011-11-28

According to the Seattle Police Department, a man was attacked while watching a movie at Majestic Bay Theatre for disturbing the film.

The police report states that the incident occurred during the five o’clock showing of “Tower Heist” on November 21.

The victim of the attack was watching the movie when his phone rang. After silencing his phone, the victim checked to see who had called him and the suspect, who sat a few seats over from the victim, yelled at the him to turn off his phone.

Five minutes later, the victim received another phone call and the suspect yelled at him again.

At some point during the movie, the victim spoke to himself and the suspect told him to keep his mouth shut.

The suspect then left the theater twice, brushing the victim’s legs as he walked past him.

When the suspect returned to his seat the second time, he grabbed the victim’s throat with both hands. The victim stated that he couldn’t breathe and tried to pull his attacker’s hands off him. The attack lasted for about 30 seconds and the suspect subsequently grabbed his backpack from his seat and left the theater.

While the officer did not observe any visible injury, three witnesses confirmed the attack.

The incident was referred to the Seattle Law Department for assault.

The victim was sorry he didn't heed the theater's warning to silence all cell phones. He'll probably be more responsible in the future, or carry his own handgun.

Facial Flame Out

Kim Grice, a 29-year-old mother of three, endured a situation most have only seen on TV.

The actual fire, caught on video>>

While having cysts removed from her head at the North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview, Fla., Grice's face erupted in flames in a phenomenon known as a flash fire, ABC News reported. The flames make it difficult to distinguish Grice's facial features.

While the source of the fire is currently under investigation, ECRI Institute vice president for accident and forensic investigation Mark Bruley told ABC News the occurrence is not uncommon.

"There are between 550 and 650 surgical fires a year," Bruley told ABC, adding fewer than 30 of them cause injury.

Such was not the case for Brice who was airlifted from the medical center to the University of South Alabama Burn Unit on Tuesday morning, according to the Crestview Bulletin.

"I am in shock. This is not what happens with a routine outpatient surgery," Kim's mother, Ann Grice, told the paper "She had headaches and the doctor was going to remove three cysts and biopsy them but something went bad wrong and my daughter is now in a burn unit with burn specialists and I still do not know what happened. No one will tell me why or how this happened to her."

North Okaloosa Medical Center spokeswoman Rachel Neighbors released an official statement about the incident to the Northwest Florida Daily News:

"We are conducting a thorough review to fully understand what happened in a deliberate effort to prevent such an event from occurring again. Our highest priority is always the safety of our patients."

Does the medical center every make an undeliberate effort at prevention?

Whether or not Grice and her family will be suing the center remains to be seen but not for long. What PI lawyer isn't salivating over this case? A scorched Grice will have many millions of reasons to console herself.

MSNBC reported that more than half of surgical fires happen inside a patient's airway, known as flaming throat, or on the patient's upper body, while a quarter of surgical fires happen on other parts of the body. Fewer than 10 percent of surgical fires actually happen within the body cavity.

MSNBC reports the tools linked with igniting surgical fires:

About 70 percent are ignited by electrosurgical tools commonly known as Bovies, devices that use a high-frequency electric current to cut tissue or stop bleeding. Twenty percent of fires are sparked by hot wires, light sources, burrs or defibrillators. About 10 percent are touched off by lasers.

In 2007, Swedish news source The Local reported that a 40-year-old woman caught fire during an operation to remove hemorrhoids. The flammable antiseptic solution came into contact with the electrical current being used for her electrosurgery; the woman survived, but had to be treated for burns, The Local reported.

Beware all ye users of Preparation H.

French Father Gives Son Deadly Bath For Acting Out At School

Dad Drowned Son in Washing Machine for Chilling Reason

Sasha Brown-Worsham
November 28, 2011

Actual washing machine >>

Three-year-old Bastien never had a chance when his 33-year-old father Christophe Champenois pushed him into a washing machine. The toddler died from his injuries, which were allegedly inflicted because he acted out in his preschool class. But the real reason, according to his grandmother, is much more chilling.

The boy's grandmother told Le Parisen that Bastien was an "unwanted child." She reported that the day Bastien was born, his father was "drinking with his friends and told me he didn't want the child." So for three years, the father abused the child until one day he finally killed him. And it wasn't the first time he had placed the child in the washing machine, according to The Huffington Post.

The father was unavailable to comment.

Hunter Shot In Ass By Own Dog

Dog steps on gun, shoots Utah hunter in buttocks

Nov 30 2011

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah bird hunter was shot in the buttocks after his dog stepped on a shotgun laid across the bow of a boat.

Box Elder County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Potter says the 46-year-old Brigham City man was duck hunting with a friend when he climbed out of the boat to move decoys.

Potter says the man left his 12-gauge shotgun in the boat and the dog stepped on it, causing it to fire. It wasn't clear whether the safety on the gun was on at the time or if the dog disengaged the safety before stepping on the shotgun.

Potter says the man was hit from about 10 feet away with 27 pellets of birdshot. He says the man wasn't seriously injured, in part because he was wearing waders. The man was treated at a nearby hospital.

The dog was adopted by a local animal rescue group that promises to use the dog as a poster dog in a public campaign opposed to hunting.