New Jersey's Pooperintendent
It was a mystery that baffled Holmdel High School in New Jersey for weeks. Who was pooping on the track and/or football field nearly every single day? It turns out it was the superintendent. Holmdel Township Police reviewed surveillance video and discovered that 42 year old Thomas Tramaglini, the Holmdel School District superintendent, ran on the track before school every day. And nearly every day, nature called...so Superintendent Tramaglini would answer...either on the track, or on the football field it surrounds. He’s now charged with defecating in public, lewdness, and littering and has taken a paid leave of absence. And you thought public education in America couldn’t get any crappier.
Gangster Peppa Pig
Do your kids watch Peppa Pig? If so, be careful, because she is a symbol of thug life...at least the Chinese government thinks so. China is banning Peppa Pig from social media, arguing that she promotes a gangster lifestyle. According to Gizmodo, The kids show first started airing in China in 2015. But at some point last year, young adults started co-opting the innocent cartoon as a symbol of subversion, even getting tattoos of Peppa. As SBS News reports, a rhyme that roughly translates to “get your Peppa Pig tatt, shout out to your frat” has gone viral on Chinese social media. The Chinese government is cracking down, but is having trouble keeping up with the demand for Peppa-related goods on its streets. Her face adorns everything from temporary tattoos to watches. And it's not 4 year-olds who want them; it's 24 year-olds!
Masculinity is a Mental Health Problem?
A new program at the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center is treating masculinity as a mental health issue. According to a new program that promotes "healthy masculinity" through "public events, educational workshops, and other forms of student involvement," men suffer when they are told to “act like a man” or when they are encouraged to fulfill traditional gender roles, such as being “successful” or “the breadwinner.” The program, called MasculinUT, warns that much of traditionally masculine or male traits and behaviors are actually dangerous, claiming that “traditional ideas of masculinity place men into rigid (or restrictive) boxes [which]... prevent them from developing their emotional maturity.” An advertisement for the program makes it seem like being a man is kind of like being a drug addict: “If you are a male student at UT reading this right now, we hope that learning about this helps you not to feel guilty about having participated in these definitions of masculinity, and instead feel empowered to break the cycle!”
Revoking Consent for Sex...After Having Sex
Required sexual consent training at American University is teaching students that if a woman are both drunk and they have sex, the man is the rapist if the woman decides he is at some point, regardless of how she felt in the moment. In other words, she can revoke consent for sex....after the sex. The program is called “Campus Clarity: Think About It,” and students say they’re threatened with academic probation if they don’t complete the training. One former student says she was shocked that it was teaching that you can revoke consent after sex. If I were a student there, I would revoke my tuition after starting classes and see how that flies.
Don't Mess with Mating Manatees
The #MeToo movement apparently extends to manatees in Florida. A man in Key West is charged with harassment after allegedly slapping the water near a group of manatees who were mating. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission identifies the culprit as Luis Miguel Perez, a 49-year-old fisherman. The Miami Herald reports that an officer recorded him on his cell phone. In Florida, it's illegal to poke, prod, pursue or feed manatees, and that includes giving them fresh water, splashing or making excessive noise. Perez now faces a misdemeanor criminal charge...for interrupting manatees making love.
Insanity is Robbing the Same Bank Over and Over and Expecting a Different Result
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. A man in Cleveland took that a bit too literally. He was arrested in April for robbing a bank on the day after he was released from prison...for robbing the exact same bank three years ago. 40-year-old Markiko Sonnie Lewis was indicted Tuesday for robbing a Cleveland Key Bank branch and getting away with just over $1,000. In 2016 he was sentenced to 30 months in prison including time served after pleading guilty to robbing the same bank branch in November 2015. He was released from prison April 11. On April 12, he just couldn’t stay away from that bank and robbed it again. And once again, he’s headed back to prison.
Open Borders for Thee, but Not for Me
A homeless man was arrested last month after breaking into the governor’s mansion in California and says he only did so because of Governor Jerry Brown’s stance on illegal immigration, saying he figured Brown was "an open-door policy kind of guy." Steven Seeley told KCRA TV that he was minding his own business on the streets, when he heard what he said sounded like a large cat roaring at him. So he ran, right into an unlocked side door at Brown’s house. “He’s an open-door policy kind of guy, so I figured the door would be unlocked, or else I wouldn’t have ran over there if I thought the door would be locked,” Seeley told KCRA. "I was looking for the security staff, but I didn't see anybody. I thought the governor was in trouble, I thought he was in danger of being attacked by the wild animals, so I walked in. I yelled 'Jerry!' Sorry, Steven. Jerry will only help you if you illegally enter his state...not his house."