A teenager in Texas told the cops he was just kidding when he walked into the Wilmer Police Department last week and told an officer to hand over money...
18-year-old Keithan Manuel, who attempted to hold up the officer with a white towel over his hands, quickly realized where he was and what he was doing and tried to change the subject, telling the policewoman he was there to check on a warrant.
Perhaps realizing he wasn't about to let off the hook, Manuel decided to go for broke, and told the officer "you do know I have a gun."
He was promptly arrested and booked into Dallas County Jail, where he remains charged with several crimes, the most serious of which being robbery.
"I didn't say nothing like that, I swear to God I didn't say nothing like that; that's why they didn't find no guns on me," Manuel later told the local CBS affiliate over the phone. "Man I play like that all the time, I didn't think she would take it seriously."
But wait dumbest criminal doesn't mean dumbest person, Simon Black has this take on the 'Dumbest Person of the Week':
Former US Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann receives the Sovereign Man dumbest person of the week award for obtaining... then almost immediately renouncing... Swiss citizenship. I'll explain:
Bachmann's husband is a Swiss national; they've been married since 1978, and as a result, Bachmann eventually became qualified for Swiss citizenship as well.
She recently received confirmation of her citizenship from the Swiss authorities, a fact that was reported in some mainstream media outlets. Bachmann was subsequently criticized by her political opponents for engaging in such 'un-American' activities.
[This is a bizarre assertion, by the way, as the country was built on dual nationals...]
And so, just two days after the story broke, Bachmann renounced her Swiss citizenship yesterday, announcing that she is a "proud American citizen."
This is, by far, one of the dumbest things that somebody could do. It's possible to both be a proud citizen AND have a backup plan. Patriotism doesn't mean blindly going all in.
Having a second passport provides a great deal of opportunities, from new banking and financial relationships to a having a fallback option for another place to live.
It's like an insurance policy... something that you many never 'need', but you'll be incredibly thankful you have in case you ever do.
And as citizenship is often conferred generationally, your progeny will also be able to enjoy the benefits. In this way, it's like having an insurance policy for all of your future descendants. Not a bad deal.
A Swiss passport is definitely one of the best. You can travel almost anywhere visa-free. It's a great place to have the option to live some day. The economy is actually functional. Oh, and there are no men in caves plotting to kill the Swiss.
Obtaining Swiss nationality, though, requires a great deal of time and patience; it takes well over a decade to qualify, apply, and receive citizenship, and slightly less time if you're married to a Swiss national.
Only a handful of people are lucky enough to become naturalized Swiss citizens, and giving it up is like throwing away a winning lottery ticket...
Ironically, after her political tenure is over and Congress has managed to finally finish off the US economy, Bachmann may, having renounced Swiss citizenship, find herself one day trapped in the environment of financial repression, capital controls, and steep inflation that was created by the government she once served.
The rest of us don't have to end up this way.
For millennia, governments on the slide have resorted to plundering their citizens in order to maintain the status quo and keep the party going a little while longer.
History is full of examples, from the Roman Empire (which resorted to direct confiscation of people's agricultural stock) to the Greek government of today (which is now simply nationalizing people's bank accounts in its sole discretion).
The folks who stick around waving the flag and bombastically proclaiming their patriotism just end up getting abused. Thinking, creative people have a plan B.
Today this means taking steps to diversify internationally, including obtaining a second passport.
She really is a dolt. I wish she could transfer her citizenship to me...I'd take it.
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