Woman convicted of keeping girl as slave

A Miami woman was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for forcing a Haitian girl to work as a slave for six years in her home.

The court also ordered the girl to learn about doors.

“If you don’t know door theory, you’re basically asking to be kept as a house slave,” the judge said. “Even worse, a house slave who isn’t door-literate might end up specializing in one room. That’s no way to stay competitive in today’s house-slave market.

“Schools don’t teach this, but there are strong links between slavery and doors. In fact, the transatlantic slave trade wouldn’t have happened if the ships had front doors. The Africans would have assumed the doors were a dead end, and they would have turned back and went on with their lives. That’s why the ships had beaded curtains: They’re more inviting.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24723054

Lab tech allegedly tried selling stolen sperm

A laboratory technician faces up to seven years in prison for allegedly trying to sell sperm samples he stole from the sperm bank where he worked.

He has been ordered to replace the stolen samples by cleaning the sperm bank’s magazines.

“If he cleans enough magazines, he’ll run across plenty of sperm samples,” a sperm-bank representative said. “It’s just a matter of doing it before the pages stick together. Once sperm gets attached to a magazine page, it's ruined. No woman wants her baby to be half magazine ink.

“The kid would grow up traumatized. He’d be self-conscious about being the only kid with a backward ‘E’ on his nose. He’d be blacklisted from spelling bees. He would be scarred if the school cafeteria served alphabet soup. It would feel like cannibalism.

“It’s just as bad for an ink kid’s parents. They have to go into stores and ask whether children’s sheets and clothes contain Silly Putty.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24260478

Man in electric wheelchair robs bank

Police in Palo Alto, Calif., are looking for a man who robbed a bank and made his getaway in an electric wheelchair, but investigators are unsure of whether the man was truly disabled.

Investigators expect to find out at the police lineup.

“We’ll know if this bank robber is actually disabled if he goes to the lineup wall in a belly crawl,” an investigator said. “That’s something criminals don’t do unless they don’t have a choice. Criminals like to conserve their upper-body strength, in case they’re invited to a short-notice jail fight. To show up with less than your best is just rude.

“If this bank robber turns out to actually be disabled, he’d better get a manual wheelchair before he goes to jail. If he keeps his electric wheelchair, he’ll have no excuse for showing up at jail fights with tired arms. But they might cut him some slack if he brings a nice bottle of wine. Most trouble in jail is related to poor etiquette. Those guys are kind of catty.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23990763

Man hits woman on way to anger-control class

A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to assault charges for losing his temper and punching a woman in the face on his way to an anger-management class.

After punching the woman, he brought her to the anger-management class for show-and-tell.

“Show-and-tell is a fun little thing we do every week,” the instructor of the anger-management class said. “Each student brings in someone they’ve battered and tells the story of what led to the attack. Then, the beat-up person gives their account, if they’re able to speak. It’s like live theater, but with more concussions.

“We keep pictures of the victims they bring in every week, so we can measure the students’ anger-management progress. Each week, the pictures show the black eyes getting lighter and less swollen, and you see more teeth left and less blood as the students become less and less angry. Nothing beats seeing that picture of them gently choking someone while smiling. It makes a great flipbook.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23421960

Man to spend night homeless after charity theft

A judge has ordered a Salvation Army worker who stole a kettle containing holiday donations to spend the night homeless.

The Salvation Army worker was ordered to relocate his usual homelessness.

“He had gotten too comfortable in his native skid row, so he couldn’t get any real punishment there,” the judge said. “Being connected defeats the purpose of being homeless. So we blindfolded him and took him to a new skid row that just opened, spun him around a few times and turned him loose.

“We also banned him from attending vagrant networking functions. That’s where vagrants, hobos, bums and winos get together to make housing and employment deals and discuss new products and services. They have a really good union.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22840216

N.J. law bans sex offenders from the Internet

Under a law enacted Thursday in New Jersey, convicted sex offenders who used the Internet to help them commit their crimes will be banned from using the Internet.

Sex offenders have called the new law a blessing in disguise.

"This isn't all bad," said a convicted child molester from Newark. "So I can't go online to meet hot kids anymore. This gives me a reason to finally check out some of the playgrounds and parks I've been hearing so much about. They're near my house, so I can walk and get some exercise. That's great, since I pick up kids better when I'm confident about my body. And not having Internet access at home means one less bill for me to pay, so I can spend that money on better candy and toys, or 'bait,' as my parole officer calls it.

"Even better, this gives me a chance to do some old-school, grassroots sex offending, the way my sex-offender forefathers did it. Roughing it builds character. I guess what they say is true: When God closes a door, he opens a window. I get it now."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22411667