Watercooler Stories

Disputed 10 commandments plaque on eBay

WINDER, Ga., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The group that lost a legal battle to keep a Ten Commandments plaque in a Georgia courthouse has offered the plaque for sale on eBay.

"The Barrow County Commissioners fought valiantly for the right to display this document," a description reads. "You have a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of history that will remind generations to come of these modern patriots who stood against the moral terrorism of the ACLU."

The 10-day auction period began Sept. 11. As of Tuesday evening, the high bid was $5,811.11.

Ten Commandments-Georgia promises that the proceeds will go to Barrow County to defray its legal expenses for the losing court fight.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2003 claiming that the plaque violates the First Amendment ban on establishing religion. In July, a federal judge ordered its removal, and the county decided not to continue the fight.

Mike Griffin, executive director of Ten Commandments-Georgia, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his group needs another $52,000 to reimburse the $250,000 Barrow County racked up in legal bills.

Jailer and son could become prisoners

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A Kentucky jailer faces a long stretch behind bars if he is convicted of forgery, theft and selling drugs to inmates.

Jerry Taylor, the elected jailer of Whitley County, and his son and chief deputy, Jerry Allen Taylor, were both indicted by a grand jury, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. The father faces five counts each of forgery and theft, four each of drug trafficking and promoting contraband and one count of misfeasance. His son was charged with seven counts each of trafficking in controlled substances and promoting contraband.

State Corrections Commissioner John Rees closed down the county detention center in July, calling it a "den of iniquity" and "totally evil."

Taylor has been a longtime leader in the Republican Party, the newspaper said, serving as judge-executive for 20 years and then winning the jailer's post in 1998 and 2002 elections.

His career began to unravel when the county opened a new facility last year, and several inmates escaped almost immediately. An investigation found problems with Taylor's management, including male and female prisoners housed in close proximity, a situation that eventually led to an inmate's pregnancy.

Bank drops ads showing robbers

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A Swedish bank thought its ads showing masked robbers sitting behind bank counters was a humorous comment on high service charges.

But Skandiabanken agreed to drop the campaign when its employees complain that the ads make them look like crooks. The Copenhagen Post reports that unions representing the workers made formal representations about the issue.

The union also said that the ad, in addition to being demeaning, reminded bank employees of a traumatic situation that any one of them might face at any time -- a robbery.

'I don't agree with the criticism, but our campaign should not be overshadowed by such a discussion," a bank executive

Belgian cash-boxes would self-destruct

BRUSSELS, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Belgium plans to thwart robberies of armored cash-delivery trucks by requiring them to transport the money in cases programmed to self-destruct.

Expatica reports that the country has scheduled the changeover for Jan. 1, 2007. That would make it the first country to adopt the technology of intelligent briefcases that would destroy the contents if they fall among thieves.

The major firms are begging for subsidies, saying that the technology is too expensive for them to carry alone.

"Our company cannot pay for these investments alone," said Maxime Vanden Daele, a spokeswoman for Brink's. "If we aren't helped, we won't leave Belgium; we'll simply go bankrupt."

Once the cases are in use, trucks will carry warnings on the outside that robbers have nothing to gain.