[strawberrypie]

Originally Posted by vc318 (View Post) NJ cops use pepper spray on aggressive groundhog NJ cops use pepper spray on aggressive groundhog BOONTON, N.J. -Police in northern New Jersey needed pepper spray to thwart a groundhog on the attack. Boonton resident Alex Scott told police the rodent chased him when he entered his garage and tried to get his truck. Police Sgt. Mike Danyo and Officer Paul Ryan said the groundhog went on the attack when they arrived. Police said Danyo tripped and fell. His partner sprayed pepper spray into the groundhog's face, giving the officers time to snare it. The animal was euthanized and its remains will be shipped to the state health department for rabies testing.

I don't see any reason to euthanize the animal -other than they clearly don't know how to deal with animals. They could've just released it somewhere outside the city .

[sunnykerr]

All these stories... dumping a shark on a road, euthanizing a groundhog for not realizing it was a person's home, drunk lady driving off on a horse...

The common thing emerging seems to be that we have a craptacular record when it comes to dealing with animals.

[vc318]

Man, look at this crazy news:

New York homeless being flown to Florida? - SFL

Another New York invasion -- homeless heading to Florida?!

Floridians can expect an influx of homeless people from the Big Apple.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended a city program to send homeless families out of New York on planes, trains and buses today, saying it “saves the taxpayers of New York City an enormous amount of money.”

And wouldn't you know it?

The most popular destinations are Florida, Puerto Rico, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Well, yeah, it's warm here, ya know.

The mayor complained that it cost the city about $36,000 a year to provide shelter for a homeless family. The average stay in a shelter is about nine months, reports the New York Times.

But shipping folks out. That's a bargain.

'“The average cost is trivial,” Bloomberg said. “Most go by bus. Very few go overseas, very few go long distances. Bus is the normal ways we pay for transportation, rather than air.”

But don't we get a say in all this?

Such crazy news. What a stupid suggestion to be made for the economic crisis by the mayor of New York. I'm sorry, but as someone who lives in Florida, we've got enough problems of our own.

[ericfan1]

That is soooo stupid.... Now, those states receiving them will have mass problems supporting them... Great probelm solver!!! NOT! I think most states are struggling to make ends meet and that is all they need, more homeless people to worry about.

[vc318]

Yeah, it really is a crazy idea. I still don't know what this mayor was thinking.

[sunnykerr]

Seven-Year-Old Takes Car to Avoid Church Police in Utah say a 7-year-old boy led officers on a car chase in an effort to avoid going to church. Dispatchers received reports of a child driving recklessly on Sunday morning. Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint Anderson says one witness said the boy drove through a stop sign. Anderson says two deputies caught up with the boy and tried unsuccessfully to stop the Dodge Intrepid in an area about 45 miles (72 kilometres) north of Salt Lake City. The car reached 40 mph (64 kph) before the boy stopped in a driveway and ran inside a home. Anderson says when the boy's father later confronted him, the boy said he didn't want to go to church. The boy is too young to prosecute and no citations were issued, although police did urge the father to make his car keys more inaccessible to children.

7-year-old takes car to avoid church - Weird News - Canoe.ca

So, this is partly freaking hilarious and partly pretty darn scary. So many things could have gone wrong in this scenario.

But, no one was hurt and the police handled the whole thing brilliantly, so I think the hilarity is the thing that sticks me.

[ericfan1]

That kid must really hate church... HAHA!! I heard that he was grounded for four days with no TV. He was pretty mad about that! LOL!!!

[Naomily]

I heard about that kid, how on earth at 7 years old did he know how to drive?

[vc318]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) 7-year-old takes car to avoid church - Weird News - Canoe.ca

I think this kid will be on punishment till the end of time.

[sunnykerr]

Who knows...

There's apparently a video on YouTube of another 7-year-old driving the family car, with the family inside the car, and the dad filming... and presumably uploading it to YouTube.

And, to add the general shame of the thing, this kid is from Quebec.

Gah.

[ericfan1]

That is scary.... A 7 year old has no business driving a car. I don't see how they can see over the steering wheel.

[Naomily]

he only got grounded for 2 weeks if I remember correctly

[sunnykerr]

Well, that seems appropriate to me. He is only 7 years old, after all. It's not like he knowingly broke the law, put himself and others in danger and wasted valuable police officer time.

You can't "over-punish" a kid. All you're doing then is humiliating them and making them mad.

Unless I'm much mistaken, I think the gold standard is a minute of time-out per year of life (i.e., a four-year-old gets four minutes and so forth)... Of course, you adjust the punishment to fit the severity of the infraction and the level of awareness the kid has of their own wrongdoing...

Unless that kid has been joyriding before... I'm assuming he got the poop scared out of him, so to speak. That goes a long way towards punishing a child, I think.

[vc318]

Originally Posted by Naomily (View Post) he only got grounded for 2 weeks if I remember correctly

I wonder what sort of punishment that idiotic father got for videotaping his 7 year old son behind the wheel.

[sunnykerr]

The guy in Quebec? Probably not much. We're not the most punitive of places.

Mind you, he got a freaking boatload of backlash. But I'm thinking that's not the kind of consequences you were thinking of.