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Great Headlines: Found!

"Colo. Man Comes Home, Finds Squatter in Underwear" -- Billings Gazette (Montana), Nov. 17, 2009.

"Body Discovered in Prince George's Trash Compactor" -- Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2009.

"Hell's Angel Finds God at Bottom of Bottle of Booze" -- Foxnews.com, Nov. 20, 2009.

"Origin of Species Found in British Toilet" -- News.com.au, Nov. 23, 2009.

"Methuen Woman Says She  Read More 
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Best. Headline. Ever.

The New York Post, which gave us the immortal "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar," outdid itself again today (December 29, 2009) with its headline about the terrorist who tried and, happily, failed to blow up a jetliner bound from Amsterdam to Detroit by means of an explosive-packed set of underdrawers: "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE."
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Great Headlines: Crime and Punishment Division

"Rockville Police Shoot Jesus" -- WRC-TV (Washington), Dec. 1, 2009.

"'Elf' Jailed After Threat to Blow Up Santa at Georgia Mall" -- Foxnews.com, Dec. 3, 2009.

"Cocaine Found in Man's Chicken" -- Washington Times, Dec. 4, 2009.

"Georgia Death Row Inmate Dies" -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 7, 2009.

"Pa. Police Arrest Amish Man in Buggy for DUI" -- AP, Dec. 9, 2009.

"Shirtless  Read More 
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Really R.E.A.L.

Last weekend I read a book entitled "Diversity, Resiliency, and Legacy," edited by Jean Herbert, associate dean of undergraduate education at Tufts University, and Tina Marie Johnson, a doctoral candidate at Tufts. The book is a collection of interviews with and essays by students who graduated from the university as participants in the R. Read More 
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Fiction and Libel, Continued

An Associated Press article dated November 23, 2009, which I found posted at www.firstamendmentcenter.org, sheds further light on Vickie Stewart's lawsuit against Haywood Smith and St. Martin's Press, respectively author and publisher of The Red Hat Club.

To quote from the article: "Because Stewart is not a public figure, her attorneys only needed to  Read More 
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Fiction and Libel

Haywood Smith, author of a 2003 bestseller entitled "The Red Hat Club," and her publisher, St. Martin's, were sued by a childhood friend of Smith who claimed that Smith had based a character in the novel on her. A Georgia jury found that plaintiff Vickie Stewart had indeed been defamed, and awarded her $100,000.

Interestingly, the jury did not find that Stewart's privacy had been invaded, and did not award her attorneys' fees. The jury also found that Smith and St. Martin's had acted "in good faith" in, respectively, writing and publishing the book, and that the characterization didn't constitute "an act of vengeance."

What Smith  Read More 
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Yet Another Great Headline

"Jesus Christ Dumped from Jury Pool for Disruption" --- USA Today, Dec. 2, 2009

A woman who changed her name to Jesus Christ was dismissed from juror service for behaving badly in an Alabama courthouse.

The article notes that "Efforts to reach Christ for comment were unsuccessful."
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