Things in news stories that bug you
 

OK, I'm talking about specifics here, not random things about the news and what they cover that annoy you.

I have two stories to discuss here. The first is the Carol Gotbaum case. USA Today story

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, a woman apparently got drunk at the airport, became hysterical when denied boarding and made a big scene, and was arrested. In custody, she died, possibly from strangling herself in an attempt to get out of her handcuffs.

Here's what's annoying me most about this story:

--
"If the airline or the police authorities had treated Carol with some modicum of sensitivity and grace, or one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulder, sat her down and given her some protection, she might still be with us today," Noah Gotbaum said at her funeral Sunday in New York.

Noah Gotbaum made at least three calls to the airport switchboard that day in an urgent attempt to warn police that his wife was suicidal and should not be left alone, records show. Transcripts of his calls make it clear that he thought his wife was in danger but still alive. In one call he urged dispatchers not to leave her alone.
--

This woman is from a very prominent New York family. She was apparently headed to an alcohol rehab center in Phoenix. Sounds like her family had big concerns about her well-being. WHY THE F WAS SHE TRAVELING ACROSS THE COUNTRY ALONE THEN?

I find it disgraceful that the husband and family are pointing fingers at the airport police and others involved in this case when they are the ones who sent someone they characterize as distressed and suicidal on this trip alone.

OK, on to the second case.
$6.1 million McDonald's prank call verdict

This one doesn't really bug me, it's more just super bizarre. In this case, a prank caller was calling fast food restaurants pretending to be the police, and getting managers to strip search female employees while on the phone with him. Apparently he did this a number of times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_R._Stewart

In this specific case, the caller asked the manager (who also had her boyfriend along) to take an employee to the back and strip, then had her assume a bunch of positions, and finally HAD HER PERFORM ORAL SEX ON THE MANAGER'S BOYFRIEND.

So, two things that bug me about that case.

1) Oral sex, WTF? "Hey the police are on the phone and say you have to blow me, go ahead" WTF? How does that happen?

2) The manager who led the strip search (and had her boyfriend assist her) WAS AWARDED $1.1M IN DAMAGES BY THE JURY, WTFWTFWTF?

BTW, the boyfriend in the case was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

There was a thread about #2 a long time ago. The boyfriend was apparently mentally retarded. I don't doubt all three involved are mentally retarded.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

I saw that headline on CNN.com today, "Widower: Wife needed hugs, not handcuffs" Ok, so the police are going to sit there and hug her and tell her to calm down. Give me a break. Restrain her and get her to calm down. What a lunatic.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

[ QUOTE ]
$6.1 million McDonald's prank call verdict

This one doesn't really bug me, it's more just super bizarre. In this case, a prank caller was calling fast food restaurants pretending to be the police, and getting managers to strip search female employees while on the phone with him. Apparently he did this a number of times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_R._Stewart

In this specific case, the caller asked the manager (who also had her boyfriend along) to take an employee to the back and strip, then had her assume a bunch of positions, and finally HAD HER PERFORM ORAL SEX ON THE MANAGER'S BOYFRIEND.

So, two things that bug me about that case.

1) Oral sex, WTF? "Hey the police are on the phone and say you have to blow me, go ahead" WTF? How does that happen?

2) The manager who led the strip search (and had her boyfriend assist her) WAS AWARDED $1.1M IN DAMAGES BY THE JURY, WTFWTFWTF?

BTW, the boyfriend in the case was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

[/ QUOTE ]
IIRC, there was a big thread in OOT about this case awhile ago. What I think is insane is this part of the wiki:

"During his interrogation, Stewart insisted he'd never bought a calling card, but detectives found one in his house that had been used to call nine restaurants in the past year, including a Burger King in Idaho Falls, on the day its manager was reportedly duped. Police also found dozens of applications for police department jobs, hundreds of police magazines, police-type uniforms, guns and holsters, indicating that being or becoming a police officer was possibly a fantasy of the suspect.[8] Nevertheless, a jury found Stewart not guilty.[9]"
WTF?!

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

[ QUOTE ]
This woman is from a very prominent New York family. She was apparently headed to an alcohol rehab center in Phoenix. Sounds like her family had big concerns about her well-being. WHY THE F WAS SHE TRAVELING ACROSS THE COUNTRY ALONE THEN?


[/ QUOTE ]

if the husband let the wife go to the airport knowing she was suicidal then i agree w/ you. it's also possible the wife was at the airport and the husband realized the extent of his wife's depression while she was there and he decided to alert the airport police.

regarding the mcdonald's case, yeah, weird. wasnt the manager guilty in criminal court of charges and on probation for the situation. now she wins a civil case because of it?

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

That manager lady got money out of it?????? that puts me on [censored] life tilt.


Here is one story that I hated

This was more about the writing of the story and especially the picture. Pretty much your typical out of touch fluff piece about slang, but it was painful to read. He talks about "gnar(ly)" and "dank" and then goes on the "web" and searches for slang.


L8ter Sk8ter.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

[ QUOTE ]
Nevertheless, a jury found Stewart not guilty.[9]"
WTF?!

[/ QUOTE ]

Looking at it on the surface, it seems at least plausible that the boyfriend capitalized on an opportunity, rather than some guy pulling a Jedi Mind Trick from thousands of miles away on the phone.

Also, if this guy is so good, maybe he just got on the stand and said, "I am not the perv you're looking for." Boom. Ship the acquittal.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

the best part is according to the wiki article Diana Summers, the retarded manager who condoned her boyfriend getting oral sex from the cashier because a policeman said to do it, was awarded 1.1 million as well for her trauma.

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

[ QUOTE ]
1) Oral sex, WTF? "Hey the police are on the phone and say you have to blow me, go ahead" WTF? How does that happen?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

Re: Things in news stories that bug you
 

That McDonald's thing, which I remember hearing about before, blows my mind. How does the boyfriend end up with prison time? What the hell? Are people asking "Shouldn't you come down and do the search yourself? Blowjobs? Do we need a semen sample for testing?" EDIT: Having read a bit more, I think I had a different scenario in my head as to how the BJ went down, and can see potential jail time for it the way Wiki describes it.