In an argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1830, Daniel Webster said, "There's nothing so powerful as truth."
A New Hampshire newspaper found that such a compelling statement that it publishes the quote on Page 1 every day. But there's a second part to the quote ... "and often nothing so strange."
Here we are, the end of the year. Time to shake out the file folder filled with news oddities, tidbits that didn't fit elsewhere and nuggets that tickled the funny bone.
As my good buddy, Sun Eastern Shore correspondent Chris Guy, always says, "We couldn't make this stuff up. It's too good."
Take, for example, a plea for help from Vermont police troopers to hunters that gives a new meaning to the word "harvest."
Seems the officers of the Marijuana Eradication Team are asking hunters this season to report any fallow marijuana gardens they see while walking through the woods.
Growers often sow seeds in the same secluded plot each spring, so knowing the location of dead plants can be helpful, said Senior Trooper Jason Rogers.
The troopers put out a similar request last spring to hikers. Talk about your happy trails.
Too much reality
Are we ready for this - a TV fishing show that follows contestants from their boats to their hotels rooms, bait shops, diners and bars?
Chris Hermans hates "perfect" fishing shows, where every minute is filled with some guy yanking a "big-un" into the boat. So the young man from the Minnesota town of Brainerd (think of the movie Fargo) has come up with a warts-and-all reality show he calls Battlefish.
The show pits a pair of two-man teams issued identical gear and driven around a secret lake by neutral officials who will measure the fish.
Other than that, anything goes. The team with the most inches of fish at the end of two days wins $10,000 in shredded cash. The losers walk the plank, in tandem, off the "Dock of Shame" and into the lake.
During a dry run in July, one team broke into the other team's cabin and taped a cell phone under the kitchen table. Hourly calls to that phone made sure the team in that cabin didn't get much sleep the night before the contest. (They sound like contestants for The Weakest Link.)
Hermans told The Brainerd Daily Dispatch that cameras will not only be on the lake, but also anyplace else the anglers might be. And that, he believes is why his show will attract a wider following than regular fishing shows that play to anglers only.
Right. Millions of people sitting before the plasma screen with surround sound to watch badly dressed guys gulp nasty coffee, break rod tips, tell lousy jokes, lose lures and sit, sometimes for hours, without a nibble.
Sounds like Hermans has spent too much time in the Vermont woods.
Blind justice
It seems Minnesota appeals courts have ruled that fish and game officers have no right to enter duck blinds or ice-fishing shanties or look in boat live wells for critters that don't measure up to the law.
In one case, a visiting Virginia angler refused to allow a conservation officer to inspect his boat to see how many fish he had caught. The state Court of Appeals ruled in the angler's favor, saying conservation officers can't arbitrarily check anglers' boats or their catch without probable cause. The judges said boaters are entitled to the same protection from searches as drivers and homeowners.
A lawyer representing the officers told the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis that the rulings will have a chilling effect on enforcement efforts.
"How could they check waterfowl hunters who are in a blind or duck boat to see how many ducks they have or whether they are using steel or lead shot?" asked Jeff Vlatkovich of the St. Louis County Attorney's Office.
"If conservation officers can't engage in minimal inspections, we might as well pack up our bags. There is no other practical way to protect our natural resources."
Maybe Minnesota judges hope undercover animal snitches will aid game officers by dropping a dime on scofflaws. Now that's a reality TV show I'd watch.
Unnatural resources
One of my favorite news stories came in a November dispatch from the Spokane, Wash., bureau of the Associated Press:
Hunting in unfamiliar territory, Joe Kiefer was thrilled to bag a 250-pound mule deer with symmetrical antlers, each with five points and 18 1/2 inches wide.
Then, when he went to butcher the animal, excitement gave way to amazement.
"There were no male parts down there," Kiefer said. "It looked like a male at the head end, but the undercarriage was all female."
The kill was legal and Kiefer's buck tag was valid because state hunting regulations refer to "antlered deer" and "antlerless deer," rather than to bucks and does - precisely for such situations.
Kiefer, 31, said friends have a theory: "They think it has to be a cross-dressing city slicker from Seattle."
This end up
Finally, we'll end with a joke submitted by a reader whose school loyalties are pretty evident. You can switch the institutions of higher learning or insert the school of your choice:
Two Towson fans went deer hunting and shot a trophy buck. Dragging the buck back to their truck by the tail, they met a Maryland deer hunter. "Man, that's one beautiful buck," he said, "but don't you think it would be easier if you dragged him by the antlers?"
The Towson boys looked at each other, thanked the Maryland fan and started dragging the buck by the antlers.
After about an hour, one of the Towson boys looked at the other and said, "Boy, that guy was smart. This is much easier."
"Yeah," the other agreed, "but don't you think we're getting farther away from the truck?"
Happy New Year, gang!