Better not let your dogs out if you live in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. Why? Just ask Will Harlee. His dogs, Ralow and Deuce, escaped his yard through a hole in the fence and they were picked up by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control. He was told that he had to fix the fence before he could have his dogs back. When he did, they told him, "Oops! So sorry, we killed those dogs." (or something like that)

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control can be reached at (704) 336-7600.

Watch out Brits. You might want to think twice before you or your kids shop at Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland. Why? Well, according to local police, "Bridges shopping centre is a hotbed of paedophile activity and sexual assaults happen there all of the time." That is what a local cop said to a father after a mall security guard lodged a complaint against him for taking pictures of a kid - his son.

Courtesy of BoingBoing.

Although McSweeney's is mostly known for their hysterical satiric articles, here is a rare non-fiction one. In it attorney, Wajahat Ali, documents his frustrating but determined fight with Wells Fargo to negotiate a loan modification for his clients. His determination and constant threats to declare bankruptcy and/or to sue the bank paid off and Wells Fargo eventually relented. His clients have a modified loan.

Some takeaways from this article are:

1. The bank won't begin to discuss modifying a loan until it is within 3 days of foreclosure.
2. "Stated income" loans, where you just tell the bank what your income is without having to prove it (lie), are illegal. If your fight goes to court, there is a good chance that the whole loan will be thrown out and you will get your house for free.
3. California just passed a law that prevents lawyers from working on loan modifications on retainer. Although it stops a lot of scammers, it also reduced the number of lawyers who are interested in doing the work.

This article is courtesy of the Consumerist.

NY to repeal cell phone ban because a study by the Highway Loss Data Institute shows that there are no reductions in crashes in locations with the bans. No just kidding - they ignored the results.

Meet Charlie P. and Maria C. Cardoso. While they live in the great, goofy state of Massachusetts, they own a rental property in the even goofier state of Florida. They own the house outright and no longer have a mortgage. Along comes Bank of America who intimidated their tenant out of the house with all the talk of foreclosure. After Charlie spoke with the real estate agent, he was assured that BoA understood they had the wrong house. They then proceeded to brake down the doors (breaking and entering?), empty the house of the Cardoso's property (theft?), turn off the utilities causing the pipes to freeze (destruction of property)? and put new locks on the doors (theft of property?). At least BoA didn't leave 75 pounds of rotting fish this time.

The lawsuit is now pending. Yet another reason why Bank of America is the devil.

So fans of Jack Benny discovered that CBS has old tapes of the late comedian that were thought to be destroyed/lost. But because modern copyright is such a cluster fuck, even though the tapes are public domain, it will cost CBS so much in lawyer fees associated with copyright that they feel it isn't worth it. CBS is permanently locking away lost Jack Benny tapes because copyright has failed.

3 Americans, Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundidge, and Don Schmierer traveled to Uganda to preach on how terrible homosexuality is to the world (Christian values). After a 3 day rally conference featuring topics such as "how homosexuality is contagious", "homosexuals have a secret, evil agenda", and "how to convert homosexuals" the Ugandans were inspired. So much so that they passed a bill imposing the death penalty for homosexuals one month later.

Now that the world has been made aware that they may have consulted on the drafting of the bill, all three "missionaries" are back tracking and say their best friends are gay.

Here's another time for Sierra's Texas pride to shine. In Texas, it's legal for you to shoot and kill someone if they are intruding into your NEIGHBOR'S house. In the Nanny State UK, if you apprehend a burglar that ties you up and threatens to kill you, he will be set free and you will go to jail for 2.5 years.

Matthew Whalen, a Senior at Lansingburgh High School and an Eagle Scout was suspended for 5 days for having a 2 inch pocket knife in a survival kit he had locked in his car. Because Lansingburgh Central School District and Superintendent George Goodwin hate Eagle Scouts so much, they added an additional 15 days to his suspension. The rule he violated was that he brought something that could be "considered" a weapon onto school grounds. Apparenlty a 2-inch pen knife locked in his car is "considered" to be a weapon whereas the many baseball bats on campus aren't.

While he was worried that this may affect his acceptance at West Point, he was just assured by the Director of Admissions that it would not affect his application at all (although he isn't guaranteed a spot).

John Alexander Rochester was caught passed out in Ashland City Park at 1am with the following drugs in his possession:

1. Two baggies, envelope, one vial, crack cocaine, powder cocaine Total: 32 grams (1 ounce give or take)
2. 1 gallon bag containing marijuana
3. 5 sandwich baggies containing marijuana. 4 were corners of bags packaged for resale.
4. 1100 Extacy pills in 11 baggies
5. 2 straws, 2 rolled up dollar bills and two pipes.
6. 26 Xanax pills

Because his father is Judge John Rochester of Alabama's 41st Circuit Court, he was given 5 years probation for simple possession. His father is Judge John Rochester of Alabama's 41st Circuit Court. John Alexander Rochester was given 5 years probation for simple possession. One might think that a person with 1100 extacy pills would PROBABLY intend to distribute them but you have to factor in that his father is Judge John Rochester of Alabama's 41st Circuit Court. I guess justice isn't so blind in Alabama.