Criminal Yawning Punished by Judge

Ill. man faces 6 months in jail for yawning


Do you recognize this man? He is armed and is considered dangerous. He was convicted and is going down and going to prison for the commission of a heinous crime. No such crime appears in the Illinois Criminal Statutes, but a Chicago judge just made it a crime by sentencing this man to six months in jail for yawning loudly in his court room.

Clifton Williams, 33, of Richton Park, is facing six months in jail for making what court documents call a yawn-like sound in Will County Judge Daniel Rozak's court last month. The yawn happened as Williams' cousin, Jason Mayfield, was being sentenced for a drug charge on July 23.

Rozak found Williams in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. However, Rozak could free Williams after a status hearing Thursday, if Williams apologizes and the judge accepts. By then, Williams will have served 21 days.

Witnesses disagree about whether Williams' yawn was out of line.

Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County state's attorney's office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom at the time told him that what came out of Williams' mouth could hardly be called a "yawn."

"This was a very loud, boisterous, deliberate attempt on the part of this individual to disrupt the proceedings and show disrespect to the court," Pelkie said. "It was not a guy who involuntarily yawned. This guy was making a statement _ a very loud statement _ in court."

Mayfield disagreed, saying it was "not an outrageous yawn." Williams has written his family to say that he can't believe he's in jail "for nothing."

A message left for Rozak Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Six months is the maximum sentence judges can give for criminal contempt without a jury trial.

So much for free speech.

Chicago Hockey Star Involved in Beating of Cab Driver Over 20 Cent Fare Duspute

Attorney for beaten 62-year-old cabbie says case overblown

Aug 10 2009
Excerpted from story by RICK GANO - AP Sports Writer

One of the young stars of the resurgent Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, Patrick Kane _ the centerpiece of the team's marketing effort for the past two seasons _ is accused of teaming with his cousin to beat up a Buffalo, N.Y., cabbie over pocket change before daybreak Sunday.

Whether the incident will amount to much remains to be seen. Andrew LoTempio, an attorney for the cab driver, told WGN radio in Chicago on Monday that he thinks Sunday's incident was blown out of proportion.

"There was a dispute over the fee and it just kind of escalated from there," LoTempio told the station. "It was not really a robbery. That is probably a large distortion of what happened."

Asked if the case would end up as a felony, he said: "Absolutely not."

"I think we should be able to work things out," he added.

Kane is scheduled for a court hearing next Monday in a Buffalo courtroom. He has pleaded not guilty to felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of theft and criminal mischief. His cousin, James Kane, faces the same charges.

Next Monday is the same day a U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey orientation camp starts in suburban Chicago. USA Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer said Monday that Kane is still expected to participate in the three-day camp.

"We are aware of the incident. We don't condone or approve of what has been suggested the facts are. We are looking into it ourselves," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday.

Police say the cab driver was beaten because he did not have 20 cents in change to give Kane, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft and the NHL rookie of the year the following year. The 62-year-old cab driver, identified as Jan Radecki, said he was punched, grabbed by the throat and had his glasses broken.

His attorney said it is customary for some Buffalo cab drivers to lock the doors of their vehicles with the passengers inside _ if they think they might be stiffed on their fare.

"Early Sunday morning, Pat Kane was involved in an unfortunate situation with a cab driver in Buffalo," Kane's agent, Pat Brisson, said. "The cab driver's attorney in recent media reports was quoted as saying that the incident has been blown out of proportion. Kane has retained Paul Cambria as his attorney in this matter. Cambria has told me that, based on the evidence that he has reviewed in this case, there is no doubt that Mr. Kane will be fully exonerated.

"Since this is an ongoing legal matter, I think it is inappropriate for me to comment further at this time. But I am absolutely confident that, when the legal process has been completed, Pat Kane will be fully cleared."

After losing to the Red Wings in five games in the conference finals three months ago, the off-season for the Hawks has been uproarious. And Kane's arrest has been the most stunning episode of all.

Kane had 25 goals and 45 assists last season and had a hat trick in the victory that clinched the second-round playoff series against Vancouver. As a rookie, he had 21 goals and 51 assists.

Dead Infant Starts To Cry At Own Funeral

Baby declared dead heard crying at his wake

Aug 08 2009


A baby born 16 weeks prematurely and declared dead mystified doctors and stunned family members by crying at his own funeral.

The baby was born Friday in Paraguay and was quickly declared dead after doctors could not find a pulse or other vital signs. The family was issued a death certificate and a cardboard box to serve as a makeshift coffin.

When relatives returned home to prepare for the wake, they were shocked to hear the baby crying.

"I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said 'the baby's crying' ... and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared," said one member of the family, Liliana Alvarenga.

At first, the hospital refused to believe the family, but soon admitted the baby, who is now in stable condition in the intensive care unit.

The family also says doctors first told them they had a baby girl, when in fact it turned out they had a baby boy.

The hospital has opened an investigation to determine if there was negligence on the part of the medical staff.

The investigation should take about 3 minutes, if done right.
___

Building Implosion Gone Sour

8/8/09

Turkish building imploders make miscalculation; building falls on its side, then uprights itself again.


In a startling display of incompetence contractors hired to demolish a building near the center of the town of Cankiri, by imploding the structure, misplaced the demolition charges. Instead of collapsing toward the center, the building tilted to one side where it hung precariously for a few seconds, fell on its side, then turned upright, with the top floor on the bottom.

Arab Horse Refuses to Yield Right-of-Way To Israeli Motorists.

Horse tramples car on Israeli highway
AP



Aug 5, 2009

JERUSALEM – An Arabian horse took to the highway and trampled an oncoming car in an encounter captured on video by a group of tourists in northern Israel. The tourists began filming when three horses came on the highway and began to canter alongside their car, but the scene took a bizarre turn when an oncoming car came on the scene.

The first two horses weaved out of the sedan's path, but the third took it head-on, smashing through its windshield with its hooves before leaping over it and continuing on its way.

The still picture above shows the impact while the video captured the entire sequence of events.

Israel's Channel 2 TV showed the video Tuesday and said the driver suffered minor cuts from smashed glass and the horse was lightly injured.

A passenger in the vehicle struck by the horse's hooves, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said he believed the horse had been owned or trained by an anti-Semitic group. He pointed out that the first two horses had time to veer to avoid the oncoming car but the third horse continued straight ahead.

The Yellow Stream of Water Conservation

Video: Should You Pee in the Shower?
— By Sonja Sharp | Thu August 6, 2009 12:44 PM PST

There's a lot of things the Golden State will do to save water (including declaring a State of Emergency and virtually closing the water supply to the Central Valley) but pushing Californians to pee in the shower is NOT one of them.

"That's not something we've advocated, no," said Water Department spokesman Matt Knotley, who seemed shocked by the suggestion, apparently all the rage in Brazil, that folks should pee in the shower to save water. "If that's what they want to do in their country, fine. There are plenty of other ways that are very easy to save water."

Unfortunately, none of those have a cute Portugese PA video, like the one above. It's being used in Brazil to encourage Brazilians to pee in the shower as a means of conserving water. Turn up the volume and learn how to say pee in Portuguese.

Ultimately, all urban urine, whether from the bowl or the shower ends up being recycled after treatment in water treatment plants. And the U.S. astronauts have been drinking their own, treated and recycled urine since the beginning of space exploration.

In case you're still totally grossed out about the idea, you should know that this is not the first time we've approached water conservation through toilet humor. In the late 80s, when I was potty training, you could sum California's drought policy in a simple rhyme: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

Why Hot Dogs Cost $19.50 in NYC - And Don't Forget the $12.50 for a Coke. Chips Extra

NYC hot dog vendor evicted over whopping rent bill

Aug 08 2009


Homeowners aren't the only ones in hot water over overpriced real estate. A New York City hot dog vendor has been evicted from his prize spot outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art because he couldn't pay a whopping rent bill of nearly $54,000 a month.

Snack cart owner Pasang Sherpa of Queens had a deal with the city's parks department that required him to pay almost $643,000 per year for the vending rights near the museum steps.

He says he was $310,000 behind on his payments when he was evicted.

The Parks Department had auctioned off the rights to the spot last year.

___