Assorted Stupidity #118
- Of the many bad ways in which a business could respond to negative online reviews it believes are unfair, using forged court orders to demand the reviews be taken down has to be among the worst. FYI, forging a judge's signature is a felony. The defendant believed that using "photoshop and a few hours of creative editing" made more sense than spending thousands on legal fees, which would certainly be true if the first thing didn't involve forgery.
- Well, it's finally happened-the Girl Scouts have sued the Boy Scouts. Somewhat unexpectedly, the lawsuit alleges trademark infringement, but that is more understandable now that I know the Boy Scouts are trying to recruit girls. The plan is apparently to change the name to "Scouts BSA," which almost but not quite removes the gender distinction from it. Previously, the two groups got along well (apart from occasional cootie incidents) but relations are now "very chilly," according to Girl Scouts leaders.
- Authorities in Barcelona have reported that those in charge of the still-unfinished Sagrada Familia basilica-and the report doesn't say who that is, but I'm guessing it's the Catholic Church? [update: nope]-have agreed to pay 36 million euros to the city in what is more or less a fine for building without the necessary permits. That may seem like a lot, and it is, but on the other hand they have not had the necessary permits for 136 years. Construction started in 1882, and is still only 70 percent complete.
- Fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a lawsuit against Ecuador, saying that new rules he has to follow while living in the country's London embassy violate his civil rights. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the first hearing in that lawsuit was suspended after Assange claimed he couldn't understand his translator, which caused the judge to "call for a replacement fluent in 'Australian.'" (To be fair, I once tried to have a conversation with a guy from Queensland and I had no idea what he was talking about.) Assange is upset that Ecuador is now making him pay for expenses like medical bills and phone calls, and requiring him to take care of his pet cat.
- A 28-year-old Mississippi man was arrested a couple of weeks ago after intentionally crashing his truck into a building. He was later found to be under the influence, but he admitted the crash was intentional, saying it "was a way to contact police in order to report his stolen drug paraphernalia." You may be thinking, "there are easier ways to contact police in order to report your stolen drug paraphernalia, if you insist on doing that." But you would be wrong, because the building he crashed into was the local county courthouse. Turns out if you do that, you will make contact with police rather quickly. In fact, they will make contact with you.
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