It's News to Me

Welcome back, readers, to the copy desk's "It's News to Me" blog. In our weekly rants, we try to find some of the most interesting news stories out there and give you our perspective on them.

According to an article by The Associated Press, a man claiming to be a Catholic priest was arrested last Friday at an airport in Amsterdam after he was caught carrying 7.7 pounds of cocaine under his robes, police said.

The suspect originally refused to undergo a routine body check for "religious reasons," a spokesman for the Dutch police said.

However, the airport security officers, who we're sure once attended Catholic school, found it very suspicious that the suspect would not disrobe for them.

The man was then spotted lining up at a different entrance gate -- perhaps the guards were younger. He was finally searched and the drugs were found in packages taped to his body.
Airport officials said this was a first for them, and that although people have filled many other things with cocaine -- like their socks or bladders -- they had never seen a "priest" try to hide it under his robes before.

The spokesman said the man was traveling from Bolivia, a.k.a. the second drug capitol of the world, and continued to insist that he was a priest and did not confess any wrongdoing. He also argued that his rights had been violated by the search.

To be honest, we usually don't particularly want to know what anyone has under his or her robes -- unless it's concealed drugs, of course.

The news story that struck us this week is almost too good to be true. It's wacky, it's weird and it's definitely likely to make you furrow your brow in confusion more than once.

According to the BBC, "A goth who leads his girlfriend around with a dog lead and collar was stopped from getting on a bus amid fears for passenger safety, a bus firm confirmed."

The happy couple is claiming the transit company discriminated against them.

According to the story, "Dani Graves, 25, and his fiancee Tasha Maltby, 19, of Dewsbury, West Yorks, claim they have been discriminated against by bus firm Arriva Yorkshire."

The couple said they were once asked to get off of a bus and on another occasion were asked not to board a bus.

The bus firm said they are investigating the couple's complaint but said that safety was the reason for asking them not to ride the buses.

Operations director for Arriva Yorkshire, Paul Adcock, said: "Arriva takes any allegation of discrimination very seriously and have interviewed the driver regarding Mr Graves' claims.

"Our primary concern is passenger safety and while the couple are very welcome to travel on our buses, we are asking that Miss Maltby remove her dog lead before boarding the bus.

"It could be dangerous for the couple and other passengers if a driver had to brake sharply while Miss Maltby was wearing the lead."

What really makes this story so weird is the relationship the two seem to have.

"Miss Maltby said she came up with the idea to wear a dog lead, and said previous boyfriends had called her a "weirdo" when she suggested it. The couple said they loved each other to pieces and the use of the [leash] was a sign of trust."

Now for the kicker. When referring to his girlfriend, Mr. Graves said: "She's very animal-like, she's kind of like a pet, as well as a partner."

He also said he "does everything" for his girlfriend, including laying out clothes for her, feeding her and cleaning their house.

"You wouldn't expect your cat or dog to do the washing up or cleaning round the house," he said.

Now ladies, I know most of us are just dying to find a guy who will refer to us as his 'pet' and walk us on a leash. We're still trying to comprehend, however, why on earth the leash would have been Miss Maltby's idea.

So, the moral of this story: if you want to walk something on a leash, take your dog, not your girlfriend.