Purse-snatcher, heckler, and T rants

You can learn a lot by reading local weblogs -- like what not to carry from the scene of a crime and what on earth a haplogroup is.

The Boston Police Department's BPDNews police-blotter weblog recently reported on a woman who allegedly lifted a purse from a Park Square restaurant: ''Witnesses saw the suspect leave the restaurant heading toward Boylston Street carrying a martini and the victim's bag."

Ana Marie Cox, who gained fame dishing on Washington gossip on her Wonkette site, came to Brookline Booksmith recently to read from and promote her new novel.

Jason Feifer of Concord reports on his Happy Scrappy that the night didn't end well: ''Once, the nutcase [who had been asking questions all night] raised his hand, and Cox responded by saying she only wants to call on new people. A few more questions. Then, a woman in the back is called upon -- and off she goes on a furious rant against elitists who forget that people in the Midwest are the ones who really keep this country going, and how they're forgotten, and how she perpetuates that, and, well, I kind of lost her after that. It was impossible to stop her. One of the bookstore employees even tried. So, Cox did the only thing she could: She said she had a dinner date and ended the event 10 minutes early."

Red Line commuter Ellen McCullough reports on her Commuterrant that on a recent trip, a woman walked up and down her car, orating loudly in some language other than English -- although she occasionally slipped in English obscenities:

''On and on she went, gesticulating with great fervor. I listened for a while, then she moved on, making her way down the car to address another group of commuters. The woman sitting near me said, to no one in particular, 'I think she just put a spell on me.' "

Perhaps McCullough's sorceress had gotten on at JFK/UMass, where Mike Mennonno reports, on his T-Rage blog, a bizarre conversation with the guy in the token booth after sliding a $5 bill under the glass and asking for two tokens:

''Waddya want?" he snapped at me.

I said: ''Two. I wanna go and come back."

''Just tell me what you need!" the guy snarled.

''Two please," I repeated, flatly.

He was spoiling for a fight and was grumping and griping beneath his breath.

I talked over him, but matter-of-factly: Two. Two. Two. . . .

''Here," he snarked. And added, inexplicably: ''And it's my fault. Remember that."

Andy Carvin of Brookline recently read an article about a scientific study showing 40 percent of Ashkenazic Jews from Eastern and Central Europe were descended from just four women. The study looked at mitochondrial DNA, which we get only from our mothers, and cited four ''haplogroups" or patterns in the DNA. Carvin writes on his Waste of Bandwidth blog (andycarvin.com) that he knows for a fact he is not among that group:

''I had my DNA tested for genealogical purposes almost six years ago. . . . I discovered that my genetic clan, or mtDNA haplogroup, is called pre-hv1. It's a very uncommon haplogroup among Jews; in fact, it's more common in Arabia, Ethiopia, North Africa, and southern Spain. This doesn't mean I'm not an Ashkenazic; it means that my particular family history has a direct line that's more easily traceable to modern Middle Eastern populations.

Contact Adam Gaffin at adamg@gaffin.com.