Prank

Los Angeles police are recalibrating their response to some emergency calls in light of a series of prank "swatting" calls reporting violent incidents at the homes of celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber and now Chris Brown. Officers will continue to respond immediately, in large numbers and with force if needed, to reports of crime at the homes of such VIPs, top Los Angeles Police Department officials said. But they are trying to warn officers more quickly in cases where an emergency call appears to have the hallmarks of swatting.

While a lot of people say they're growing tired of the Harlem Shake, the meme isn't showing any signs of slowing down just yet. It seems more and more Harlem Shake videos are being uploaded every day and now it appears they are evolving. The funniest videos are showing up with a creative twist at the end: They're Harlem Shake fake-outs, if you will. Here are some of our favorites.  The Just Stop Harlem Shake In this version , popular YouTube video maker Freddie Wong encapsulates how many people are starting to feel about the Harlem Shake.

Chan Ho Park's explosive reaction to a prank by his teammates in Chicago on Wednesday had cooled to a slow burn by Thursday. The Dodger pitcher screamed obscenities and threw furniture and food after discovering teammates had turned his suit into a short pants-and-vest outfit with a pair of scissors. Park had just pitched three hitless innings in relief to get a 4-3 victory over the Cubs.

Despite the pomp and circumstance of a well-orchestrated ceremony, the 248 graduates of Charter Oak High School went home last week without diplomas. It was not that the students had flunked their finals or were being punished for poor conduct. They were the victims of a prank. Somehow, moments before last Tuesday's ceremony, a thief or thieves broke into the cafeteria, where the sheepskins were kept, and made away with the diplomas.

Sports talk radio may have hit a new low when San Diego station XTRA pulled a questionable April Fools' Day-type prank in the middle of November without labeling it a prank. Talk show hosts Steve Hartman and Bill Werndl claimed to be interviewing ABC's Dan Dierdorf on Monday afternoon, when actually it was a professional impersonator who sounded as if he were intoxicated. Neither Hartman nor Werndl informed listeners that it wasn't Dierdorf.

Re "Teen Slain After Theft of Plastic Pumpkin; Man Held," Oct. 20: My heart goes out to the family of the teenage boy killed while stealing a Halloween pumpkin from a front lawn. My heart also goes out to the family of the man who shot the boy. I won't get into the gun issue, although this incident illustrates why easy access to guns, even in the hands of law-abiding citizens, is dangerous. I would like to ask parents to use this tragedy as an opportunity to remind our children, especially those in the teenage years, that "pranks" can be dangerous.

In an interview Wednesday, Rep. Anthony Weiner said he could not say "with certitude" that a photo of man's crotch posted to Twitter -- a picture that has become the center of a small-scale media storm -- was not, in fact, a photo of him. Weiner, a New York Democrat, maintained to MSNBC that he was the victim of a prank and that his Twitter account had been hacked by outsiders -- and that he had nothing to do with an apparent attempt to send the...

It was either a brilliant prank or a mean trick, depending on your point of view. Gabe Pruitt, a sophomore on USC's basketball team, last week got a message over the Internet that supposedly came from a UCLA female student named Victoria, who said she wanted to meet him in Westwood. The prank came to fruition on Saturday when USC played at California and students in the Cal cheering section started chanting, "Vic-tor-ia." They also held up a sign with Pruitt's cellphone number.

Today is April Fool's Day, also known as All Fool's Day and, unofficially perhaps, Don't Trust the Media Day.  Yes, yes, that's every day in some circles. But on April Fool's Day, the warning has particular resonance. Because year after year, April Fool's Day proves that some people will believe anything if it's presented with a straight-enough face. Take the BBC report on the bumper Swiss spaghetti harvest. The vanquishing of the spaghetti weevil made such a thing possible, the BBC reported in 1957.