Just when one thinks he has heard "everything" something else weird pops up.

When talking to our District Attorney last week about the final settlement of the James R. Niederstadt court case, he informed me that the reason a three-judge panel from the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals attempted to reverse Niederstadt's conviction was because, they asserted, he did not have "fair warning" that fondling a sleeping teenage girl could be prosecuted as it was.

OK, Niederstadt was a Baptist minister at the time. As such, he should have been aware of what the Old Testament punishment for such a crime was: death. How could he NOT know that he would be severely punished for fondling a sleeping teenage girl?

I understand he received 25 years as punishment for his crime. I am of the mind that there would be less of these kinds of crime if the modern-day punishment were the same as the Old Testament's punishment!

Speaking of warnings, have you heard about the parrot?

Apparently, according to the AP anyway, a noisy parrot that likes to imitate the sound of a smoke alarm helped save a man and his son from a house fire.

The parrot's owner, Shannon Conwell, said he and his 9-year-old son fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie. They awoke at about 3 a.m. to find their home on fire after hearing the family parrot, Peanut, imitating a fire alarm.

And you thought you had heard "everything?"

Jack Rollins is the managing editor of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.