Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Nude Dude Pursues Quest

LONDON (AP) — A British man who spurns clothes has lost a legal bid to have public nudity declared a human right. The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Stephen Gough's rights were not violated by repeated arrests and convictions for being naked in public. The court said Gough's legal woes were the result of conduct that could be "alarming and morally and otherwise offensive" to others. Gough, a 55-year-old former Royal Marine nicknamed the "Naked Rambler," has twice walked the length of Britain, with frequent interruptions for arrests, court appearances and jail time. He has served multiple sentences for appearing nude in places including courts and an airplane. He was arrested more than 30 times in Scotland between 2003 and 2012, the court noted, and he spent more than seven years in detention there between May 2006 and October 2012. "His imprisonment was the consequence of his repeated violation of the criminal law, in full knowledge of the consequences, through conduct which went against the standards of accepted public behavior in any modern democratic society," the court said. There is no law in Britain against public nudity. However, there are laws against indecent exposure or behavior likely to cause "harassment, alarm or distress." Gough called the judgment a disappointment but added: "I have no choice but to continue."

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Florida Nabs "Stupid" Title Again

Oct.15,2014 Daytona Beach News Herald Mark and Brenda Voss of Missouri recently completed construction on their gorgeous 5,300-square-foot beach house in a gated community in Hammock Dunes in Florida. The only problem with their palatial new digs? It was built on the wrong lot. Contractors built the $680,000, 5-bedroom house on property that technically belongs to a couple from North Carolina. The couple purchased the lot in 2003 but never developed it. According to Keystone Homes, which built the house, the mistake is traced to a survey conducted last year that pointed out the wrong stretch of land on which to build the Voss's home. Renters had been living in the house for months until the slip-up was noticed in September. So what happens now? Keystone Vice President Robbie Richmond says the company is looking for a way to negotiate a settlement. "We are 100 percent committed to finding a resolution that is fair," he said. "I have built about 600 homes in Flagler County, and this has never happened to me before. It does happen, but it's rare."

Monday, October 13, 2014

The Moving Dead Now Gone

Florida drive-through funeral home demolished October 10, 2014 07:04PM EDT OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A former drive-through funeral home in Florida has been razed. The building in Ocala sat empty for years, but in the early '80s it was set up to permit mourners to see departed loved ones without ever leaving the car. The Ocala Star-Banner (http://tinyurl.com/ojn9b7t ) reports a large drive-through bank teller window was added to the Westside Serenity Funeral Home after the city denied a request for additional parking. The deceased lay in state next to the window behind closed drapes that opened when the front tires of a car passed over a rubber cable on the ground. Mourners signed in at a register kept in a deposit drawer. When the car's back tires drove over the cable again, the drapes closed and the lights and music that mourners heard shut off. ___ Information from: Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner, http://www.starbanner.com/

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Danger to Opposite Sex Couples