Weird News

[infinite monkey]

Members of female Russian punk band Pussy Riot found guilty on charges of hooliganism. A plea deal was reached late afternoon on Thursday: charges of shenanigans and tomfoolery (each carrying mandatory minimum sentences of 20 stonings) were dropped in exchange for the guilty verdict to hooliganism.

Hooliganism carries a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.

Raskolnikov has nothing on Pussy Riot.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/world/...html?hpt=hp_t1

[orthodoc]

Under the Soviet regime, they would've been sent to the gulag for 25+. Or just raped and then shot.

But after all this time, this is how the courts view free speech. Oh yeah, free speech - we don't have that here.
Russia has had so many centuries of oppression, it's an integral part of the culture. Only the players change; the roles remain the same.

[BrianR]

I have been following this. I'm not going to say what they did was right, or even very smart. But that should have garnered, at most, a minor summons and a fine.

The Soviet Union isn't yet dead and gone.

[infinite monkey]

Alrighty then! Soooooooo...

HOOLIGANISM! TOMFOOLERY! SHENANIGANS! HI JINKS! CAPER! MONKEY BUSINESS! HANKY-PANKY!

[sexobon]

Looks like female Russian punk band Pussy Riot will be singing the blues and doing the jailhouse rock. They may have to change their name to Stray Pussy.

[Flint]

... for performing a song critical of President Vladimir Putin in a church. ...

Wow.

[ZenGum]

Having seen them "performing" on TV, I'd say hooliganism is about the one crime they haven't committed.

Putin's Russia. Like the old Soviet Union, bit with more oil barons in Mercedes.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The trial.

Those of us who live in Russia often feel like we have been forced into a time machine. Now the rest of the world has seen it happen: three women shaped by 20th-century thought tried by a 17th-century court. Consider the testimony of altar warden Vasily Tsyganyuk, classified as a victim because he claimed to have suffered psychological trauma as a result of the performance.

VICTIM: “Those who are possessed can exhibit different behaviors. They can scream, beat their heads against the floor, jump up and down...”

DEFENSE ATTORNEY NIKOLAI POLOZOV: “Do they dance?”

VICTIM: “Well, no.”

JUDGE: “Stop questioning him about those who are possessed. Tsyganyuk is not a medical professional and is not qualified to render a diagnosis.”

[Griff]

Sometimes I feel like we're headed in that direction.

[BrianR]

Free Pussy Riot!

[Gravdigr]

Did someone say free pussy?

[BrianR]

For the record, Russian punk music is much like a cheese grater to the ears.

I still support their absolute right to make such noise even so. As long as they aren't harming anyone in the process. Other than deafening them of course.

If you listen to what little of their "music" is to be found on youtube, you will note that the performers are flogging, er, playing a couple of guitars and "singing". Also note that although no drums are ever visible, drums can clearly be heard in the sound. Inviso-drums? Always wanted a set of those!

Love

Pam

[BigV]

Arkansas medical examiner rules death of handcuffed suspect a suicide

(CNN) -- The Arkansas medical examiner has ruled the death of a man shot while handcuffed in the back of a police car as a suicide, the state crime lab announced Monday.

Chavis Carter, 21, died July 29 while in the back of a Jonesboro, Arkansas, police car. The police report from that night shows officers detained Carter after learning there was a warrant for his arrest in Mississippi and searched him twice before leaving him handcuffed in the backseat of a patrol car.

"At the time of discharge, the muzzle of the gun was placed against the right temporal scalp," the crime lab's report states.

Police said they discovered a .380-caliber Cobra semi-automatic pistol when the found Carter's body slumped over.

What the fuck?

The cops searched him, twice. They found his marijuana, but not the pistol he was able to reach, while handcuffed and put in the back of the squad car? There is something seriously wrong with what happened here.

[BigV]

and in more yes-it's-true-how-the-hell-could-anyone-make-this-shit-up news

Delaware day care workers accused of running toddler fight club

Somebody talked about fight club.

Three Delaware day care employees have been accused of encouraging toddlers to fight each other while the children were under their care.

CBS Philly reported that Tiana Harris, 19, Lisa Parker, 47, and Estefania Myers, 21, employees of the Hands of Our Future Daycare in Dover, were arrested after a cellphone video emerged of them allegedly encouraging two 3-year-olds to fight in an organized battle.

wait, can I palm their faces instead?

[ZenGum]

I know who we should send to arrest them.