ZERO: Celebrity Recognition Can Take Time

Sunday July 8, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to former NFL player and Fox Sports broadcaster Bill Maas who was arrested and charged with drug possession and weapons charges in Peoria, Illinois. Of course, all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

According to this media report in USAToday.com, police found numerous items in his Hummer:

"Police found a .22-caliber revolver, 5 grams of suspected marijuana, 6 grams of suspected cocaine and 28 pills of Ecstasy."

Maas and a passenger were arrested Friday by Illinois Police. But it apparently took some time before police knew who they had:

'"We didn't recognize him until about 5 p.m. this afternoon," Trooper Tony Halsey told the Journal Star of Peoria on Saturday.'

Ouch! How can there be celebrity justice when they don't know you're a celebrity?

Source: USAToday.

Hero, Nero, Zero.com
http://www.heronerozero.com

ZERO - Al Gore: Just Say No!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - Oh those wacky Gores. A ZERO Award goes out to Al Gore III for among other things, taking a pretty bad mugshot. But wait, there's more.


Seems young Albert Gore III, got himself arrested on the Fourth of July in Orange County, CA on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs.

Al Gore, 24, was allegedly driving in speeds in excess of 100 mph on the freeway early in the morning. Arresting officers reported that he smelled of marijuana. When his car was searched, numerous prescription drugs were reportedly found including Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, and Adderall. He apparently did not have prescriptions for them. Maybe he was in Canada recently for some universal healthcare?

Al Gore was booked into a Santa Ana jail and released on bond.

Way to Go Al! I wonder how he told Pops and his mom Tipper? I'm sure the Gore's enjoyed some extra July 4th fireworks at their home.

Now THAT's an "Inconvenient Truth!"


Hero, Nero, Zero.com

ZERO - Eastern Michigan University's Cover Up

Friday, June 22, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to Eastern Michigan University for their lies and coverup of a campus murder.

Numerous media outlets reported this week the story of the death of college student Laura Dickinson in December 2006. At the time, the college announced that foul play was not suspected.

All the while, college officials knew the truth--there was a murderer loose on the college campus. It took two months before the truth came out--a fellow student was arrested for her murder.

The shocking fact is that not even the parents were aware of the true nature of the crime. After they buried their child thinking it was natural causes that killed her, the shocking admission that their daughter died a brutal death at the hands of a campus killer finally was known.

Now it's finger pointing time on campus.

Fortunately, an independent report gets to the truth of the matter:

• school authorities withheld information,
  
• deceived the public
  
• and potentially violated a federal law designed to warn students of campus safety threats.

Although college administrators can not be responsible for every action of every student, they have an obligation to "do the right thing".

Source: Washington Post

ZERO - Stop Means Stop

Thursday, June 21, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to a bicyclist in Minnesota for not leaving things alone.

Seems Stephan Orsak chose to ride a bicycle from the airport to home. While that is a noble effort, he found himself on the wrong side of the law when a police officer stopped him for riding in a restricted area.

Now Stephen just couldn't leave well enough alone. After he made a compelling case for why he should have not been stopped (it was safe, it was legal, etc. although there were signs posted and it appears he was riding the wrong way on a road), the officer let him go. No harm, No foul.

But no, Stephen decided to challenge the officer, asking for his supervisor, telling him he was rude, and asking about how in the future he could ride on the same road after being told he couldn't.

So, of course, he was tasered and jailed. Ya think?

Some observations:

• Cops may have been wrong on all points and had no "legal" right to tell him to get off the road, but...
  
• When people with guns and tasers and the full weight of the judicial system tell you to do something (even if it's to get down on your knees) then you better do it or be prepared for the entire weight of that system to come down on you
• Know when to back down. Cops usually win these contests.
• Cops usually win these things unless you have the sex or race card to play later in court in front of a mixed jury. White male suspect...you're hosed.
• Cops usually win in court unless you have really good angles and spend a lot of time and money and make no mistakes or get a cynical judge or jury that has been thru the ringer with cops before
• Cops spend no time and money on the aftermath like you do as this is their job not yours.

So, this poor biker could have gone on his way safely and researched his rights to ride from a safe spot (oh, like the local law library). But instead, he fought the law and the law won.

Now he's trying to win in the court of public opinion by blogging about his case and enlisting the help of community-based news sites.

What's most interesting is that this story has made it high into digg.com's ranking.

You be the judge and read the full article here:

http://digg.com/politics/Man_Arrested_for_Riding_His_Bike_Home_From_an_Airport

ZERO - Drag Gone Wrong

Monday, June 18, 2007 - A ZERO Award goes out to the organizers of a charity drag race in Selmer Tennessee that turned tragic on Sunday. 6 children died as a result of an out-of-control dragster crashing into spectators who lined the race course. What were the organizers thinking? To allow children-or-anyone to be in harm's way was a severe example of neglect. Concrete barriers should have been installed and safety should have been part of the race.

More information is available on CNN.com HERE.

ZERO - Too Little, Too Late

UPDATE: Saturday, June 16, 2007 - News reports indicate that District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided Saturday.

Friday, June 15, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to Durham County, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong for handling--and perhaps lack of handling- of the alleged 2006 Duke University Lacrosse case.

Today Mr. Nifong admitted he got carried away with his comments about the case. Also during his bar ethics hearing, he disclosed that he plans to resign.

What is shocking about this case is that it really took this long for Mr. Nifong to appear to realize the grave error of his ways. He appears to have hid information, mislead the court and defense attorneys about crucial material facts in the case, used the publicity of this case to further his own political reelection campaign and finally, attempted to subvert the rule of law with a blinded eyes of justice.

Detroit news story link

ZERO - Expensive Pants

Thursday, June 14, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to Washington DC Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson who appeared in court this week to present his points in a suit he's filed against a local dry cleaning store owners for $54 million dollars. Seems the cleaners misplaced his pants.

Although the owners attempted to settle, Judge Roy has pressed his case that he should be rewarded with this windfall.

If ever there's a case that cries out for swift and concise judicial wisdom, this is is the one. Judge Roy should be ashamed of his new legal infamy and move on.

ZERO - Burger Anyone?

Sunday, June 10, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to United Food Group in Southern California for their recall of 5.7 million pounds of hamburger due to possible contamination from E. coli bacteria. That's a lot of burgers!

MSNBC has a less than insightful article about the recall. Does the Mainstream Media not ask any probing questions anymore? Maybe these are just so common now that its just "here's the facts, Jack".

Seems to me that the Company's business practices should garner some closer examination. If last month's food wasn't safe, how do we know this month's is going to be any better?

ZERO - Recall the Sheriff?

Saturday, June 9, 2007 - A ZERO award goes out to Los Angeles County Sheriff Baca for releasing socialite Paris Hilton from jail under the most flimsiest of reasons, and then, when ordered by the judge to bring her on back to jail where she belonged, transferring her to a special medical section where she'll be able to avoid the fate of thousands of other lawbreakers.

Sheriff Baca needs to remember that there are thousands of inmates under his jurisdiction who "can't stand to be locked up", have medical conditions worthy of medical release, and have family and friends who would like them sprung from the hospitality of LA County.

UPDATE: Seems the good sheriff has riled the feathers of others, RecallBaca.com