Assorted Stupidity #152
- Quit sending naked pictures" or this trip is over, a Southwest Airlines pilot reportedly told passengers on August 25. Apparently someone on the plane was using the AirDrop feature on his Apple device to send file-transfer requests to other Apple users, and that's what they got if they accepted the request. Seems pretty obvious that you shouldn't accept anonymous file-transfer requests, but they were on their way to Cabo, so maybe that explains it. According to the report, what it calls cyberflashing" is a misdemeanor in Texas, and a bill is pending in California that would create a cause of action against anyone 18+ who sends certain unsolicited images."
- A lawmaker in the Philippines has introduced legislation aimed at ghosting," defined as the practice of cutting off all communication with a person with whom the ghoster is in a dating relationship." The bill would declare ghosting to be an emotional offense" against the ghostee, and it defines some terms, but ... doesn't actually do anything else, like create penalties or a cause of action or anything like that. I got all excited about this guy's legislation and then he just didn't finish it? This has caused me mental distress.
- On Wednesday, a candidate for mayor of Winnipeg had his bike stolen, about 90 minutes after announcing a plan to reduce bike theft. This is being reported as irony, but I'm not sure it is. If his plan was already in place, that would count, but this just seems to make his point. Irony would be, say, if a city commissioner succeeded in forcing all residents to register their bikes to deter theft, only to have a undeterred thief steal his bike, which it turned out he had never registered. Also the guy who helped pass the Dangerous Dog Act," which subjected dog owners to felony charges if their dogs caused serious injury, and was then seriously injured by his own dog. Those count.
- The Daily Mail claims that a man who bought a ham roll at a Birmingham market in 2017 is suing the seller for 200,000, alleging that eating said roll afflicted him with what his lawyer described as excessive flatulence which causes him a great deal of embarrassment." The plaintiff alleges that the ham roll, whatever that is, was tainted with salmonella, which the seller denies.
- Among the terrific candidates running for office this year is Matthew Leveridge, a former prosecutor who acknowledges he made a mistake" eight years ago when he got a criminal defendant pregnant. The woman was on a pretrial-diversion program when the affair began, and when she told Leveridge's wife about the affair, he moved to terminate the program. Leveridge was replaced, but was never disciplined for the conduct. If you're a prosecutor," the woman's lawyer said, you're not even supposed to talk to a defendant without her attorney being presdent, much less ... well, this." According to the report, Leveridge met the woman through a probation officer with whom he was having sex, and has also been the subject of a criminal investigation for allegedly having sex with jurors." He is now running for circuit judge.
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