xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
Though state tax revenues are shrinking nationwide, Kansas reported in January that taxes paid on marijuana sales were up 5 percent and taxes paid on cocaine, methamphetamine and other hard drugs were up 20 percent. As other states do, Kansas sells revenue stamps (in denominations from $10 to $1,000) that dealers are supposed to affix to the drugs in order to sell them. Even though such sales themselves are illegal, law enforcement agencies are forbidden from accessing information on the sellers (and if they did, any conviction would probably be tossed out, as based on unconstitutional self-incrimination). A Revenue Department spokesman guessed that most people who buy the stamps are merely collectors.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote to Yasser Arafat deploring public bombings, at least when the bomb is delivered (as one was on Jan. 26 in Jerusalem) on a donkey. (Said a PETA official, “It’s not my business to (comment on) human wars.”)
To help the U.S. military, a Las Vegas porno distributor offered 500 videos free of charge (except for postage) to servicemen as thanks for their sacrifice.
In Cebu, Philippines, in February, a German man, Frank Oesterle, was detained by police after knifing an American tourist at a bar; they were arguing over their respective countries’ views on imminent war in Iraq (i.e., U.S., fight; Germany, don’t fight).
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
