bad-ideas

Parents Arrested for Trying to Scare Daughter Straight at Police Station

Brian Moylan · 02/23/11 04:56PM

A Staten Island couple was arrested after taking their six-year-old daughter to a police station in an attempt to scare the girl into behaving. Annette Gerhardt and Gerardo Santiago were charged with child endangerment for bringing the tot into the station.

Crooks Lose Money In Botched Gun Store Robbery

Jeff Neumann · 02/19/11 04:32PM

Let's say you're going to hold up a gun store. You'd at least load your pistol, right? Well, someone should have told that to the two guys who tried to rob a 65-year-old gun store clerk in Kansas City yesterday. The would-be robbers asked for ammo and put $40 on the counter. Then, from the Kansas City Star:

South Dakota Bill Could Legalize Murder of Abortion Providers

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 03:29PM

Killing a doctor who performs abortions could soon be legal in South Dakota — that is, if a bill passed out of committee in the state House of Representatives on Monday, which makes it a "justifiable homicide" for someone to kill anyone attempting to harm an unborn child, becomes law.

Groupon Pulls Super Bowl Ads: What Else Will Go Wrong?

Hamilton Nolan · 02/11/11 11:28AM

Incessant coupon-offering behemoth Groupon made a jokey Super Bowl ad about Tibet that didn't go over well with... well, anyone. (Yes, even though it was for charity, okay.) After a week of vague public anger about this relatively unimportant topic, the company is finally pulling the ads, reasoning—correctly—that the drama is not accomplishing the ostensible purpose of the ads, which is to help Groupon become a mighty, unavoidable middleman in the buying and selling of goods in America.

Should Arizona Be Able to Ignore Lame Federal Laws?

Adrian Chen · 02/03/11 08:14PM

A bill introduced in Arizona's state legislature would let it ignore any federal law if a committee thinks its unconstitutional. This is the legislative equivalent of a bratty kid overturning the Monopoly board when he realizes he's losing. (via)

Whiskey Now Comes in a Can

Maureen O'Connor · 01/17/11 01:39PM

A Latin American booze distributor now sells "dram in a can," 12 ounces of whiskey in one vessel. That's eight shots, so they're marketing it as "the perfect size to be shared between three people." Scottish whiskey makers are outraged.

Webcam-Controlled Guns Discovered In Georgia Woods

Adrian Chen · 01/16/11 03:10PM

Some overeager hunter in Georgia hooked up a bunch of shotguns to be fired via webcam. A state wildlife employee found the rig last fall and reported it to the Department of Homeland Security. We're never leaving the house again.

Rush Limbaugh's Tucson Billboard Is Just Perfect

Hamilton Nolan · 01/13/11 11:00AM

Oh look, it's a billboard for Rush Limbaugh featuring a bunch of bullet holes. This billboard is located in Tucson, Arizona. We blame the liberal media, somehow.