My January “Dumb” Stuff in the News File

Remember, during the 2012 presidential campaign, when Mitt Romney caught criticism for his proposed California home with parking on an upper floor, requiring a car elevator? Well, a much more elaborate elevator access will be available in the new Porsche Design Tower near Miami (opening in 2016 and already 80 percent sold out). The 132 oceanside units (in square footage from 4,300 to 17,000 and in price from $5.3 million to $32.5 million) include glass-walled, elevator-accessed spaces for two or four cars (for people who would rather admire their Bugattis and Maseratis than the Atlantic Ocean).

In December, Fort Worth, Texas, judge Jean Boyd sentenced teenager Ethan Couch to probation with no jail time for drunkenly killing four people in a car crash -- apparently accepting Couch's "defense" that his affluent, permissive childhood had taught him irresponsibility. But, that same judge in a 2012 case sentenced a 14-year-old black kid to prison for punching another boy who then fell, bumped his head and died.

New York City prostitute murderer Rasheen Everett got a 29-year sentence in December, despite his lawyer's "defense" that the victim was merely a transgendered prostitute. (His defense: "Shouldn't long sentences be reserved for people who are guilty of killing certain (higher) classes of individuals?")

A little “badge heavy”: Jim Howe, father of two children at South Cumberland Elementary School in Crossville, Tenn., was handcuffed and briefly detained by a sheriff's deputy in November after mistakenly believing that he could walk his kids home when class let out at 2 p.m. Actually, the school allows 2 p.m. departure only for kids being picked up in cars; pupils who leave on foot must wait until 2:35. (Howe assumed that the waiting period was only to protect young pedestrians from pick-up traffic.) Deputy Avery Aytes said a rule is a rule and that if Howe failed to cooperate, he would be jailed. 

 

 

Today’s Reflection: Success comes before work only in the dictionary.


Love Long and Prosper…