Community ClicksDemocracy in action
When the DRP party candidate for president of Mexico City’s most populous borough lost in the primary this year, party officials hatched a plot to elevate a street peddler, “Juanito” Angeles, to run in the general election, with the “understanding” that he would step aside if victorious, in favor of the original candidate, Clara Brugada.
Helped by his “everyman” image (according to a New York Times dispatch), Angeles won the election.
However, his sudden power and celebrity apparently went to his head, and he refused to relinquish the presidency.
He finally agreed, in September, but only after receiving concessions from the party.
>>> When a Broward County Republican club held its scheduled meeting in October at a local gun range (according to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel report), among the shooters was the congressional candidate trying to unseat the Democratic incumbent, and on his target as he fired away, someone had written the Democrat’s initials.
>>> Also in Broward County in October, the father (a Democrat) of County Mayor Stacy Ritter was arrested and charged with threatening his daughter at gunpoint.
The father is running for mayor of Tamarac and was upset that his daughter had endorsed his opponent.
Britain’s safety weenies
In November, the Solihull Council in Britain’s West Midlands county ordered a flooring store to remove the festive balloons it had pinned out front to attract business, calling them hazards.
One councilor explained that drivers may be distracted by the colors, and another was concerned that if a balloon came loose, it might possibly float into traffic and lure a child to follow it.
>>> In October, Britain’s Association of Chief Police Officers prepared a guidebook of instructions for bicycle-duty officers on how to ride a bike.
The book was 93 pages long, containing such assistance as a diagram on how to turn left or right (“deployment into a junction”).
Following widespread ridicule, the association decided in November not to release it.
>>> Examiners from Britain’s Health and Safety Executive, inspecting bowling alleys for hazards, considered recommendations (according to a November Daily Mail report) that included erecting barriers over the lanes to prevent bowlers from wandering the alleys and perhaps getting caught in pin-setting machines or, feared one inspector, bowlers injuring themselves trying to knock over pins by hand.
The barriers would leave space for the ball to roll under.
Common sense takes a vacation
Three men were convicted in August in Kansas City, Mo., of having convinced “numerous” customers to buy 3-inch-by-4-inch laminated “diplomat” cards that, promoters said, would legally free them from ever having to pay taxes or being arrested for any crime.
According to the FBI, customers ponied up fees ranging from $450 to $2,000 to get the cards.
(2) Dr. Yehu Azaz, a wealthy, respected physician, gave up his career in 1991 and gave away all of his possessions, coming under the spell of guru Rena Denton’s spiritual healing center in Somerset, England.
In a 2009 lawsuit to recover his wealth, Azaz said that despite being an educated professional, he did not realize what he had done until 2003 because he had been brainwashed (“unduly influenced”) by the aged guru.
A judge tossed out his lawsuit in July.
People with too much money
After Nicolas Cage filed a lawsuit against him for mismanaging the actor’s money, Cage’s former business manager Samuel Levin filed his defense in November, charging Cage with creating his own problems by disregarding Levin’s budgetary advice.
According to Levin, Cage’s 2007 purchases included three houses (costing $33 million), 22 cars (including nine Rolls-Royces) and 47 works of art.
By 2008, said Levin, Cage owned 15 houses, four yachts, a Gulfstream jet and an island in the Bahamas.
