Good week, Bad week

Good week for:

Getting out of jury duty, after John Backderf of Ohio was quickly sent home when he told the judge and lawyers that, yes, he did know someone convicted of a crime. “I had a close friend in high school who killed 17 people,” Backderf said, explaining that he used to hang out with cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Elitism, after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of the midterm congressional elections: “If you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read.’’

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Playing it safe, after the Gandhi Museum in Mumbai, India, removed all the ripe coconuts from the trees before President Obama’s visit. “People do get hurt, or even killed, from falling coconuts,” said a museum official. “Why take a chance?”

Bad week for:

The Wakefield Track and Field team, after the Massachusetts high school handed out shirts with the team’s initials, “WTF.” School officials said they were unaware of the initials’ meaning in text-speak: “What the f---?”

Second comings, after Neal Thompson of Missouri was kicked out of a Lutheran church and taken away by police because he arrived dressed as Jesus Christ, with a white robe and cross. “Oh, I forgive them,” said Thompson.

Getting away from it all, after an engine-room fire left Carnival Cruise Lines’ Splendor dead in the water off the coast of Mexico, stranding 3,299 vacationers without hot water, hot food, or working toilets for days. The U.S. Navy airlifted in a supply of Spam.