Where Else Would You Stash 7 Bags of Heroin? It’s Tortelicious

July 13th, 2010. By LucyC

Welcome to Totally Tortelicious—a review of some of the more bizarre legal stories making news—and there’s certainly no shortage of them. 

Hartford Hat Trick: Rub a Dub Dub, Three Fools in a Flub. I don’t really know where to start with this one—the one-liners come thick and fast. So I think I’ll just get to the facts. Three people were arrested near Hartford, CT, on July 6, having been pulled over by police, presumably because they had not displayed the vehicle’s licence plates properly. But it seems that offense was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. 

Twenty-six year old James Hatfield, was also driving with a suspended license, and did not have his seatbelt done up (Click-it or Ticket?). Oh, and he was transporting two people, friends presumably, who were holding eight bags of heroin between them. Twenty-three year old William Hindman had a mere seven bags stashed up his buttocks, (I wonder if he was wearing a seatbelt…) and the 22-year old girl, one Kathryn McManus, was holding the other bag. Needless to say they were charged for possession of drug paraphernalia. Where was the paraphernalia? 

I think these three get full marks for desperation, a few marks for execution, and no marks for observation. 

Bet He Watches Honeymooners Reruns, Too. Speaking of execution, many people harbour odd fantasies but a 19-year old man from Washington DC was arrested over the weekend Read the rest of this entry »

With Focus on BP, Don’t Lose Sight of Fracking Issues

July 12th, 2010. By AbiK

I’m sure you’ve been hearing about the new oil well cap that’s—possibly—going on the BP well today in the Gulf. It’s been top news all weekend—that, and of course Spain and Lance Armstrong. But crawling around in the background has been a little news story that you most likely missed. About another fossil fuel: natural gas. About Fracking. And, about cattle.

Yes, cattle.

First, some background. I’ve been posting about hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking“) in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia and how not everyone is thrilled that they’re living on top of a veritable gold mine of natural gas. Most of those who oppose fracking are concerned about the possibility of contamination of underground sources of drinking water (usdw). The idea behind fracking is that once a well is drilled into reservoir rock, a mixture of water and high viscosity fluid additives (i.e., chemicals) is injected into the rock to force the rock to fracture. A propping agent, like sand, is then pumped into the fractures to keep them open. The fractures then allow the natural gas to flow more freely to the production well that can then bring the gas to the surface.

Sounds simple enough. But then, what about those fractures? The process Read the rest of this entry »

Who’s at Fault if Suicide Deterrents Fail?

July 9th, 2010. By AbiK

A study done by Canadian researchers looks at suicide barriers—those grids or bars on bridges and places like the observation deck of the Empire State Building that are supposed to prevent would-be suicide victims. According to an article at healthfinder.gov, the study showed that, “suicide barriers on bridges may fail to reduce overall rates of people jumping to their deaths because jumpers may go elsewhere to commit suicide.”

I read that line and thought, “No kidding.”

Read it again to ensure you understand what the study was trying to ascertain. The idea was to see if having suicide barriers in a geographical area translated into a lower suicide rate for that area as a whole—ie, not just whether the rate of suicides went down at the specific location where the barriers had been installed.

The article goes on to quote Dr. Mark Sinyor, resident physician at the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s psychiatry department as saying, “This research shows that constructing a barrier on a bridge with a high rate of suicide by jumping is likely to reduce or eliminate suicides at that bridge but it may not alter absolute suicide rates by jumping when there are comparable bridges nearby.”

Yes, you read that correctly. And I don’t mean to belittle the study (ok, maybe I do) but let’s try to make some analogies here. Will putting a lock on a car with a GPS system inside prevent the theft of a GPS system in an unlocked car nearby? Will living in a “dry town” Read the rest of this entry »

Remember Jumanji? BP Game is Like Living it For Real

July 9th, 2010. By AbiK

This one’s been making the rounds lately—had to share in the event you hadn’t seen it yet. I’m not sure who exactly dug it up—one report says someone at UK Metro found it—but it’s a board game from the 1970’s: BP Offshore Oil Strike. No, you can’t make this stuff up.

Can’t make this up either…tagline is “An exciting game for all the family”. You betcha—particularly if you’re living it Jumanji-style in the Gulf right now. The lead-in line at top is noteworthy, too: “The thrills of drilling, the hazards and rewards as you bring in your own…” Yeah.

It was an actual game where you drill for oil and build platforms and pipelines—all the usual oil biz doings. But here’s the stroke of irony from the benefit of hindsight—it also has “Hazard” cards that players might wind up with. No small hazards either, mind you. These hazards make the game rigs blow up—causing oil spills and major clean-ups (cha-ching!). Sound vaguely familiar?

The thing I’m trying to digest here is that BP apparently marketed this themselves—heck, clearly they at least lent their logo to the thing. And I’m trying to do a little mental flashback to the ’70’s…had no one thought that this might actually be in bad taste? A little brand image no-no? Perhaps because it wasn’t until the later part of the decade when folks turned their focus to more environmental concerns after Three Mile Island and energy sources gone wrong? I don’t know. But even now, the re-emergence of this little gem across the virtual airwaves cannot possibly be a plus for BP’s image—even after some thirty-plus years.

In Charlton MA, A Case for Suing Your Current Employer?

July 9th, 2010. By Hunter West

In 2003 Curt Meskus had a long-standing commitment to the Charlton Fire Department as a call firefighter. At any time of the day or night he could be called in to help fight a fire, or help manage some other emergency the fire department might respond to. He would be paid an hourly rate by the fire department, a service provided by the municipality.

Then, seven years ago, Meskus was hired as the Building Commissioner for that same municipality. The latter would be a full-time job v. the on-call, as-needed structure of his fire department gig that he intended to keep.

Why not do both? Months could go by without a whiff of smoke. If he was, indeed called out during regular hours of his building commissioner job, he could always make up the lost time after hours.

Some may say Meskus has initiative. Others might call him greedy—you know, double-dipping*. But no one could argue Meskus’ status as an honest citizen who is completely above-board. When he was hired by the municipal selectmen for the building commissioner job in 2003, Meskus was up-front about his firefighting responsibilities, which he had no intention of abandoning. In fact, Meskus was the assistant call fire chief.

The municipality didn’t appear to have a problem. In fact, Meskus has been re-appointed to the position of Building Commissioner every year since by the municipal selectmen in Charlton, MA, without hesitation or debate.

Then someone complained. Another municipal employee questioned if the arrangement Read the rest of this entry »