The weird, the wild, and the wacky - again

It's time for another update on the strange-o news that's not really tailor made for a regular Daily Dose, yet is just too juicy, bizarre, or revealing about our culture and society not to pass along. Enjoy, lament, or just shake your head…

Drag queen gangs terrorize Big Easy

For months running this spring and summer, a roving band of hulking transvestite thieves has stalked the Big Easy's Magazine Street boutique district, according to a recent issue of New Orleans City Business newspaper. Their booty: Not money, but flamboyant duds to fit their outsized frames! Described by victims as dreadlocked black males (at least biologically) between 6' and 6' 5," the gang members have struck numerous boutiques in brazen daylight robberies while in full drag - pumps, wigs, neon pink jumpsuits, the works. They've made off with as much as $2000 in merchandise in a single robbery, and have occasionally turned violent, attacking one female boutique owner with a mannequin. Stretched-thin NOLA police have done little to stem the out-of-control thefts. Guess they'll have to put out a tighter, uh, "dragnet."

Domestic terrorism in Colorado - via Saudi Arabia (big surprise)

In a case that has garnered more and more national attention in the last few weeks, a Saudi citizen living in suburban Colorado has been given 28 years to life in prison for keeping a 24-year old female illegal Indonesian immigrant as a virtual slave for sexual and domestic services for four years. His Saudi wife has agreed to deportation for her complicity. While cooking, cleaning, and caring daily for the couple's five children (and most likely nightly for the husband), the victim slept on a mattress in the basement and received less than two dollars a day for wages, an AP story confirms. In his defense, the Saudi national claims he treated the woman the same way any observant Muslim family would treat a daughter! Yeah, these are the kind of people we want here in the U.S.

Firefighters in firefight for stranding kitty

According to a recent AP story, a Kingman, Arizona man opened fire with a revolver on a trio of three firefighters dispatched to his house in early August. Their offense: Refusing to use their hook-n-ladder to rescue the man's cat from a treetop in his yard! The 58 year-old gunman is now facing four felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon - plus likely charges for filing a false report. He'd originally summoned the fire brigade by reporting a fire on the premises, claiming it was the only way to get them to respond to the call. Still no word on whether the cat will be able to join him in jail.