Belly laughs from the Wall Street Journal

Two of them today. First, a front page article, available to subscribers, entitled "Perpetrator Problem: It's Hard to Run Away In Falling Trousers." Here's one item:

James Green might have made a clean getaway when he stole seven DVDs from a Blockbuster store in Ferndale, Mich., last October. But he, too, was undone by his baggy pants.

Mr. Green, 30, rode away on a bicycle with copies of Donnie Brasco, The Bourne Identity, and Sin City. When a patrol car knocked over the bike, he fled on foot. As he ran, his trousers slipped down past his hips, and he tripped. He hitched up his pants and ran a few more yards before falling again.

Things got worse and worse for Mr. Green. He finally kicked off his pants and shoes and "ran into the yard of 1720 Beaufield," police officer Kenneth Jaklic said in a report of the incident. "I ran after [Mr. Green], yelling at him to stop." Instead, Mr. Green jumped over a fence behind a garage, and Mr. Jaklic immobilized him with two Taser darts in the back.

Mr. Green pleaded guilty to charges of resisting arrest and retail fraud and spent 30 days in jail. He could not be located for comment.

Surely you want to read the whole thing.

The other article is from the opinion page. If you've ever found yourself wandering through a contemporary art exhibition and wondering why the objects were considered art, this one, "Thought to Have Merit," is for you.