Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Torts

Browns Fan Sues Team Over Misidentification In Beer Dumping Episode At Titans Game
Sceenshot

There is an interesting lawsuit in Ohio where Eric Smith is suing the Cleveland Browns after he was falsely accused of being the fan who poured beer on Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan last month after he jumped in the stands to celebrate a touchdown. He is alleging negligence, defamation, negligent infliction of emotional distress, false light, and loss of consortium as a result of being misidentified and then banned from future games. He claims that he has not been to a game since 2010 and was serving as a DJ at a wedding at the time of the incident.

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Bizarre, International, Media, Politics

LeBron James Denounces Pro-Hong Kong Support By Morey As “Misinformed”

It appears that social justice causes have a strict geographic (and financial) limit — at least for NBA player LeBron James. James, who has defended such protests as the NFL kneelers, ridiculed the tweet by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey in supporting protesters in Hong Kong fighting for the most basic human rights and democratic power. James said that Morey was “misinformed”  and an example of being “not informed about something.” What was Morey misinformed of? The denial of free speech, democratic rights, or basic human rights? How about the threat of Chinese President Xi Jinping to fill the streets with “crushed bodies and shattered bones“? The view of the NBA, and James, appears that Morey was not informed about the billions of dollars to be made in China or the price of supporting people fighting for freedom.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

Not Funny: Video Played At Trump Resort Conference Shows Trump Murdering Political Opponents and Media Figures
The video is an edited version of the church massacre scene from the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service. Trump's head is superimposed on the body of the film's star, Colin Firth, who goes on to kill the parishioners who are depicted as media entities

A videotape (shown below) by Trump supporters has horrified Democrats and Republicans alike in depicting Trump savagely murdering his political opponents like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden while wiping out media figures. It is a take-off of the church massacre scene from the 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service with Trump superimposed for one of the main characters, Colin Firth. The delay in denouncing this film is only fueling the recriminations. I have previously criticized Trump for his reckless attacks on American media as “the enemies of the people.” There is no evidence that this video was approved or even known by the Trump campaign. I assume that it would have been taken down immediately if it were known (as it happened when organizers ultimately learned of its screening). However, there is a rising concern that Trump’s over-heated rhetoric against the press has fueled the anger of some supporters.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

“I’m The Reason There Is An Impeachment Going On”: Biden Addresses Son’s Dealings . . . Sort Of

I recently wrote a column on the growing taboo in the media over mentioning the actual facts, or even name, of Hunter Biden and his dealings in the Ukraine. Yesterday, former Vice President Joe Biden addressed the issue . . . sort of. Once again, he was not pushed to deal with the specifics of the dealings or the overwhelming view that the contract was a raw effort to influence him through his family. Instead, Biden continued the mantra that there is no proof of wrongdoing and then added that “no one — no one — has asserted my son did a single thing wrong.”

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Academics, Bizarre

University of Washington Professor Denounces SpongeBob SquarePants As Violent Colonialist and Cultural Appropriator
YouTube Screengrab

University of Washington Professor Holly M. Barker has published an article “Unsettling SpongeBob and the Legacies of Violence on Bikini Bottom” that seeks to strip away the true meaning of SpongeBob SquarePants as a colonizing, violent cultural appropriator. Moreover, the cartoon is deemed as “whitewashing of violent American military activities” against natives of the Pacific.” What is most remarkable however is that she appears to be serious.

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Bizarre, Politics, Religion

“Render To God And Trump”: Ralph Reed Rallies Evangelicals To Support Trump As A “Moral Obligation”

Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed is out with a book that was written in part to rally evangelicals behind President Donald Trump. it was the original title of the book that first caught my notice, “Render to God and Trump.” It is, of course, a reference to the well-known biblical verse, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” The use of the Matthew 22 is curious in that Caesar was ultimately brought to his end as a dictator by the hands of multiple Senators. Not exactly the image that one would relish going into a possible impeachment.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Tlaib Calls For Banning Facial Recognition After Detroit Police Chief Calls Her Earlier Comments Racist

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D, Mich.) doubled down on her uninformed and controversial statements about facial recognition technology (FRT). We discussed Tlaib’s earlier call for the Detroit Police Chief to hire only African Americans to use FRT. That bizarre call was denounced as racist by Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who is black, and said that he would not adopt a race-based hiring program for FRT. Now, Tlaib has written an oped going further and demanding a ban on the use of FRT. In her  op-ed in The Detroit News, Tlaib denounced FRT as “racist technology.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Oregon Woman Slashes Throat Of Man At Taco Bell . . . Receives Only Seven Years

Oregon seems to have a rather generous criminal code. Caley Mason, 22, tried to murder a man by slitting his throat at a Taco Bill. She then fled the scene and left 48-year-old Jason Luczkow to die with an 8-inch gash across his face and throat. He survived with the help of 100 stitches. Her boyfriend was also arrested. Mason however was given just seven years after pleading guilty to second-degree assault. I fail to see the justice in that sentence for the victim.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

#IMPEACHMITTROMNEY: Trump Appears To Call For The Impeachment Of Mitt Romney In Tirade of Personal Attacks

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) recently stated what many have observed in the wake of the Ukraine call disclosures — the push by President Donald Trump for Ukraine (and now China) to investigate his political rivals is unacceptable. The response from President Trump was both personal and perplexing. He denounced Romney as a “pompous ass” and seemed to call for his impeachment — even though there is not only no impeachment provision for a sitting U.S. Senator and Utah does not even have a recall provision. Sen. Susan Collins (R, Maine) has also made measured but critical comments recently.

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Bizarre, Media

“So You Write Propaganda, Right?”: Journalist Files Complaint Against Customs and Border Protection
Customs and Border Protection Shoulder Patch

There has been a disturbing trend of complaints from journalists who allege that they were harassed entering the country by CBP officers about their coverage of President Donald Trump and related issues. The latest complaint is particularly egregious if true. Journalist Ben Wilson says that he was forced to admit that he “writes propaganda” to gain entry back into the country. The encounter, which is presumably on tape, is chilling in its lack of professionalism and abuse.

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Bizarre, International, Politics

Egyptian Speaker Cites Hitler As Model For Infrastructure Leadership
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Ali Abdel Aal, Egypt’s parliamentary speaker, triggered an outcry after he used Adolph Hitler as a model for infrastructure leadership. Abdel Aal explained “Hitler had his mistakes, but what allowed him to expand eastward and westward was that he created a strong infrastructure.” Well, that and a combination of war crimes, genocide, and wanton destruction. Most people do not start with the good roads on that list of notable elements of Nazi rule.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics

Report: Trump Allegedly Suggested Shooting Migrants In The Legs And Building A Moat

The New York Times is reporting that, based on interviews with more than a dozen White House officials involved with a meeting in March, President Trump suggested shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down. When cabinet members told him that his some of his proposals were illegal, Trump reportedly yelled “You are making me look like an idiot!. I ran on this. It’s my issue.” The paper also alleges that Trump suggest a moat filled with snakes or alligators. The sheer number of sources is illuminating in this story. There has always been a surprising number of leakers in this White House but the numbers appear to be growing.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics

Geraldo: I Would Love To Beat The “Rotten Snitch” Attacking “This Poor President”
YouTube screenshot

“FOX & Friends” took on a WWF feel this week when FOX News correspondent Geraldo Rivera said that he would like to give a beating to the whistleblower behind the Ukrainian story: “I would love to wap him, but that is another story.” Silly Wabbit, beat downs are for kids.

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Academics, Bizarre

Professor: Tom Brady’s Popularity Due To White Supremacy

Professor Kyle Kusz, who teaches a kinesiology professor at the University of Rhode Island, has declared yet another example of the culture of white supremacy in America: Tom Brady. Kusz concludes that it is white supremacy that explains the popularity of Brady in his book “Making American White Men Great Again: Tom Brady, Donald Trump, and the Allure of White Male Omnipotence in Post-Obama America.” It is a bizarre theory since, as I have patiently explained in the past, Brady’s success is only explained by the fact that he sold his soul to the Devil decades ago and he is watched over by a barely disguised Cerberus in the form of Bill Belichick.

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