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As it turns out, according to Jeff Bergen, a mathematical professor at DePaul University the chances of picking a perfect bracket is 9.2 quintillion. That's 18 zeros.
Of course, to win an office pool, you only have to do better than the next guy. That is what Crabby Pants is opting for.
BUT...on with the odd news for the week.
***(really can't say)*** was His Name-OOO
A Covington, Kentucky man found himself in front of a judge on a second degree disorderly conduct charge this week.
So do the police. At least the one that was there at the Bingo game. Park Hills Police Officer, Sgt. Richard Webster, charged Austin with disorderly conduct. According to his report, he felt that this was in the same vein as yelling fire in a theater.
When Austin appeared in Kenton District Court this week before Judge Douglas Grothaus, the judge told Austin he is not to say the word Bingo for six months and he is not to go near the Bingo Hall.
Austin could have received 90 days in jail and a $250 fine if the judge would of been inclined. After 6 months the charges can be removed from Austins record if he has no other offenses.
The judge doesn't seem to deem rogue bingo callers as reprehensible as Sgt. Webster does. Although, 6 months is a long time not to say the word BINGO.
Pays to Know the Judge
A Pennsylvania judge faced criminal charges for allegedly dismissing traffic tickets against her that included an expired registration for her BMW, the state's attorney general said on Monday.
Judge Kelly Ballentine, a Magisterial District Judge, had received 2 parking tickets in 2010 and an expired registration ticket on her BMW. After she failed to pay them on time, a summons was issued. She accessed the online court system website and dismissed the tickets.
The incident was noticed and reported to the court and initially, Ballentine was charged with 12 counts of conflict of interest, tampering with public records and obstruction. She was put on paid administrative leave pending all the charges being dealt with and had to post a $25,000 bond.
Royce Morris, her attorney said his client exercised a lapse in judgement. The judge agreed and said "What's done is done but go on and maybe you will work harder to do the job you were elected to do."
Really, that's it? That story would have just been so much more fun if she would of acted as her own judge and sent herself to jail for 30 days.
Don't Kill the Messenger
As severe cold grips the eastern U.S. on March 21, Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast for an early spring is best described as an epic failure. The prosecuting attorney of Butler County, Ohio, Michael Gmoser, wants the groundhog to pay for his flawed prediction, with his life.
Gmoser filed an indictment against Phil which reads accordingly:
Gmoser said in a phone interview that waking up to snow and temperatures in the teens on the second day of spring served as motivation for the indictment.
Gmoser expects Phil to appeal the indictment.
“His defense will be he didn’t know his rear end from a hole in the ground,” Gmoser said.
The indictment comes just three days after TheOnion.com satirically wrote the groundhog had been beheaded for his inaccurate prediction.
Post script
To close the interview, Gmoser confided he was just having “a little fun” with the indictment.
“This is a story that has legs,” Gmoser joked. “I hope everyone understands it’s tongue-in-cheek
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26 comments:
Oh, I feel so bad for you guys back East. The sun shines warmly on my blooming flowers, despite the slight chill in the air. I wondered why Gmoser felt it necessary to explain that the groundhog indictment is tongue-in-cheek. But then I realized that ya'll need to place the blame for the continual snow somewhere, and why not the groundhog? Poor thing...isn't he suffering as well? Despite your happy picture there Cheryl, we know HE is not sitting on soft earth somewhere, now is he? Isn't he ? He is smothering under the snow, too. He didn't lie, really... why would he lie? Hum...lie or deceive intentionally? Did he have a 'hedge'-hog bet...was he 'shorting' spring? Gosh...finance and the stock market tampers with everything!
I think this is just a long winter that everyone (at least a large part of the US) is getting tired of it. We are due to get 9-12 inches of new snow tomorrow.
I wondered the same thing....why the Prosecuting Attorney felt the need to tell people it was a joke. I guess there is always going to be a segment of the population that has to have everything spelled out precisely as not to have misunderstandings.
You are right...if Phil is down in his burrow in Punxutawney, he probably is snowed in. I would like to think he's chillin' on a beach somewhere. In fact, I would like all of us to be chillin' on a beach somewhere. I, too am sure he didn't get it wrong on purpose. Considering our local anchor weatherman gets a salary to forecast the weather and he is wrong a whole lot of the time...what can one expect of a poor non-paid groundhog that is forced to live in a hole. I think Phil needs to counter-sue for unfair working conditions. Yes, finance is a big part of everything and Phil needs to get his share.
That Bingo story is outrageous. Poor Austin, but I'm sure he'll keep getting a lot of laughs for that one (hopefully). And then for a judge to commit such real crimes and get off so easy - it makes no sense. But oh, the groundhog. Love that guy, and talk about being unrightly blamed. At least the onion.com's joke involved be-heading and not de- feeting and severance from those little bunny slippers. That joke wouldn't have gone over well with me.
Have a great weekend, Cheryl.
xoRobyn
the office pool winning is like surviving a bear chase.
Austin built up some street cred with that stunt - not.
Judge Kelly should move here and run for governor. Cheating and working the system are attractive traits for the office here.
PETA will counter sue.
BIngo, bingo, bingo, bingo.....nah, not so much fun.....judge must have taken a stupid pill and it worked...she must have moved to Pennsylvania from Floridah...here's another take on your little rodent..
I think Phil is quite adorable. I would totally believe him. He probably was talking about an early spring south of the equator. As for politicians...not a big fan of most of them these days but some of the ones I voted for got elected and some didn't. Either way, I will live with the consequences and hope they get their crap together.
Yes, Autstin was on the Today Show and had trouble not laughing through the interview. It will be a great story to tell his grandkids someday.
I really laughed at the governor remark. Poor Illinois has had their problems with their governors for sure. It would seem that there are two types of Illinois governors, the ones that get caught and the ones that don't.
(pppsssttt...I still LOVE your state, bad politicians or not)
I thought the same thing, about PETA, there is no way they would let a hair be harmed on Phil. I am surprised they didn't picket the office of The Onion just for spoofing the be-heading of Phil.
Yes, I think this is making Austin a celebrity of sorts. He was on The Today Show and everyone was having quite the laugh.
Also, agree with you about the judge. All the BS about how she had served well and hadn't had prior problems...actually she had a number of tickets prior to these that she didn't fix as well. A judge should set an example and she doesn't. It kind of irritating that she got paid while all of this was going on as well. Pays to know the other judges.
I thought those little slippers on Phil were awesome. I am such a marshmallow about animals...it makes me sad when they pull him out of his little burrow each year. What the heck? All nice and cozy and YANK.
You know, I am so bad about sports and basketball that I had no idea there was any important basketball going on! I am such a GIRLLLLL!
I laughed out loud at the Groundhog Lied picture!!!
I am still laughing over the bingo story! You can't make this stuff up. That is as good as the bank robber who was caught because although he couldn't figure out how to crack the safe, he stole a jar of dum-dums and left a trail of wrappers for the police (yes, really.)
I know nothing about college basket ball but I am just nerdy enough to be intrigued that no one has ever had a perfect bracket. I would have never dreamed that picking a bunch of winners out of 64 had 9.2 quintillion odds. Had I got on it, I would of just filled in a bracket for the heck of it to see I many a total moron (me) could get right.l
I thought that picture was funny also. There are a number of people that have posted some funny "groundhog lied" pictures on the Internet.
OMG there are stupid people in the world!!! I hadn't heard of the robber that stole the dum dums. Every week when I am looking around for news stories there is always one where the crook brags on Facebook and gets caught. You just have to wonder how stupid a person can be,
I have to throw my support behind the old ladies at the bingo hall. It just goes to show that everything changes when money is involved.
The kid is lucky that the ladies that dumped their cards thinking they had lost didn't get up and beat the crap out of him. You just don't mess with serious Bingo players.
I have never understood Groundhog day and until the movie I had never heard of it either......lol
Yeah the judge should had been harder on herself, letting herself off is just wrong......and really did she think no one would notice.........talk about giving judges a bad name........oh yeah judges are lawers...........so of course they have a bad rep............lol
That judge should have had a tougher sentence...she is there to uphold the law! Really does pay to know the judge! The Bingo incident is just silly...he is the one who should have had a slap on the wrist...come on!
According to the article the ethics system that looks at judges in her area are investigating her and she may be disbarred. I can't believe she can go on being a judge and have anyone's respect.
I agree with you about the judge. She got off easy because she is a colleague. One of the articles did say that the jurisdiction the oversees ethics is looking into the matter and she may lose her job and/or be disbarred.
I think the kid will not have any repercussions at all. I think the judge thought the officer was out of his mind which is why he gave the kid such a silly sentence. Who is going to know if Austin says the word Bingo in the next 6 months? If anything it is giving the kid some publicity.
If mis-reporting the weather became a crime, our jails would be overflowing with weather announcers ... with a 90% of the wealthier reporters high-and-dry in their pent houses, followed by periods of blustery bureaucrats wanting to make new laws to ensure the safety of "weatherees" * everywhere.
*weatheree - a person who experiences the forces of nature and lives to complain about it.
I wonder if, after sentencing, Austin Whaley heard that annoying B-I-N-G-O song in his mind repeating over (B-I-N-G-O) and over (-I-N-G-O) and over (--N-G-O) and over (---G-O).
Yes, mis-reporting the weather would never result in imprisonment because there just wouldn't be enough room to incarcerate that many people but it sure would open up a lot of available jobs on a regular basis.
I must be a weatheree as I am still alive and I am certainly complaining about this newest 10 inches of snow in the Spring, no less.
Oh you just know that everyone is taunting him with the word bingo and that song is being sung over and over and over around him. I am sure everyone is having a good laugh about it though.
"the judge told Austin he is not to say the word Bingo for six months"
I wonder if the judge was just saying that to be cute, or if that could hold up in the court of law.
"Mr. Whaley violated his court order last weekend, sir. His friend asked him, 'Hey, is this that new phone you were talking about?' to which Mr. Whaley responded, 'Yep! Bingo!' My sentence: 3 months in jail."
I think the judge was trying to make a point of how ridiculous the charges were by giving it an equally ridiculous sentence. On The Today Show Austin was joking by substituting made up words like lingo and blingo. Austin is probably having some fun with this. I wonder if the cop is?
Yeah, I'd have to walk around town saying Bingo and wear a freedom of speech sign. Lol
Isn't it always that judges or those with power get away with things? Ugh. Makes me sick.
Run groundhog. He needs a ground hog day movie make over!
He probably is doing just that. In the interview I saw he was having a lot of fun with this.
Yes, that is the truth. The rules can bend and break depending on who is involved. Just look at how celebrities get things handled. I agree...it makes me ill as well.
Hahaha..run groundhog...great advice.
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