Sideswipe

Seasick sign: Harsh rule.

A prominent lawyer was recently overheard in an Auckland city bookshop breaching a suppression order, which he had done so much to have imposed in the first place. Is this improper conduct or are lawyers privileged to discuss such matters openly (and in front of members of the public who could very well be journalists) while the rest of the public are warned to keep things hush hush?

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A reader wonders aloud: "What is it about these lycra-clad lads? Cycling New Zealand seems to have a culture of drinking within its ranks and now the Telecom employee says after a cycling "meeting" he was too drunk to focus on the Very Important Document he was leaked. Perhaps someone should take these sweaty pedallers aside and tell them when they are looking for fluid replacement there are liquids other than booze in bulk to resort to".

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Quotable: "I really don't think I'd ever go back to television," former Friend Jennifer Aniston told a British magazine, "and not just because I'm above it, but because I really don't think I could ever top that experience."

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Nashville's The Tennessean newspaper revealed in April that a man still serving time for hiring a hit man to kill his wife was actually put in charge of the purchasing office of the state's emergency management agency. Inmate Daniel Erickson was participating in a rehabilitation program intended to help prisoners find work when they get out and apparently was so good at his job that agency officials promoted him. (Source: News of the Weird)

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Kent, England, police stopped three boys for taking pictures of a lamp post with a mobile phone. No, really. The paperwork given to Danny Finn, 12, says it clearly, "Was seen taking photos of lamp post . . . advice given." Police also gave notes to Michael Fearn and George Supple, both 13, that say "Hanging around lamp post - spoken to." Police later explained that the boys were taking pictures of graffiti. (Source: Reason.com)