Officers with criminal records, and more

Good week for:

Switching sides, after a search of public records found that 36 percent of Atlanta police academy graduates have criminal records. “We would like, in an ideal world, to see every applicant with a clean record, but obviously that’s not reality,” said a police official.

Staying in shape, after a group of British teenage thugs stole a pocketbook from a 68-year-old grandmother who, as it happens, was a former running champion. Janet Lane chased and caught the startled thieves, grabbing one by the collar. “Those boys saw a little old lady and thought I was easy pickings,’’ said a triumphant Lane.

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Venting, after a San Diego entrepreneur opened a store where people can express their rage over the economic meltdown or other problems. For $10 to $50, customers can spend up to 15 minutes smashing plates, glasses, and picture frames. “It was the best $50 we’ve spent in the last two years,’’ said Adam DeWitt, 29.

Bad week for:

Cultural paranoia, after dozens of parents in Oklahoma returned Fisher-Price’s “Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo” doll, claiming it mumbles, “Satan is king” and “Islam is the light.”

Rushing the season, after a St. Louis radio station switched

to an all-Christmas music format in early October.

Heresy, after Chris Buckley, son of conservative icon William F. Buckley, publicly endorsed Barack Obama in a blog on the DailyBeast.com. When he was inundated with angry e-mails calling him a “traitor,’’ Buckley resigned from National Review, saying he had been “effectively fatwaed by the conservative movement.’’