Category: Bizarre

Bizarre, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Trump Attorney Blasts Mueller Over Manafort Raid

582px-US-FBI-ShadedSeal.svgWhite_House_North_Side_Comparison2After just recently sending the President’s “appreciation and greetings” and triggering new allegations of criminal acts, one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers, John Dowd, is now denouncing Mueller for the pre-dawn raid on the Alexandria home of former campaign manager Paul Manafort.  I have commented that the raid seemed intentionally heavy handed and meant to convey a message to Manafort. However, I fail to see why the President’s counsel (rather than Manafort’s counsel) should be making such objections. It, once again, removes any perceived separation between President Trump and obvious targets like Manafort.

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Academia, Bizarre, Politics, Society

Oregon Schools Strip “Lynch” Name From Three Schools Because They Sound Like “Lynching”

cropped-Lynch-Logo-Empower2It appears that the Centennial School District is really appreciative to the Lynch family for their generous donation of land for the establishment of public schools.  However, it appears that their name is simply unacceptable because, when used as a noun, it brings up painful images of lynchings.  We have previously discussed the same lunacy in higher education with buildings named after a Lynch.  It appears that even if a school wants to name itself after Loretta Lynch, the first female African American Attorney General, she will have to change her name.  Ironically, the first word in the motto of the Lynch Elementary School is “learn” but the learning curve appears too steep in the view of the board.  Under the same logic, animal rights activists could object that the school symbol is calling for the lynching of lion cubs — a highly disturbing and traumatic image for young children.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Religion

Malaysian Minister Calls For Atheists To Be “Hunted Down”

400px-1922_hunting_license85px-Coat_of_arms_of_Malaysia.svgMalaysian Minister Shahidan Kassim has made international news by proclaiming that atheists should be “hunted down” and that constitutional rights do not apply to them. He is not alone in the heavily Islamic nation in this hateful view and many support such a crackdown.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

The Demonic Dab: Saudi Arabia Arrests Artist For Dabbing In Public

screen-shot-2017-08-09-at-4-03-58-pm-700xSaudi Arabia is once again in the news with another example of the extremist religious dogma that characterizes its Wahhabi traditions.  The latest lunacy came with the arrest of TV host, actor, and aspiring artist, Abdallah Al Shaharani, who committed an unIslamic and shocking act.  He dabbed. That’s right.  He did a dab during a musical contest. WARNING: THE VIDEOTAPE BELOW SHOW A DISTURBING DAB.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Urine A Lot Of Trouble: California Man Arrested For Burglary For Failure To Flush

Burglar_Bathroom_Break_44480It appears that poor manners comes with some particularly high costs forAndrew David Jensen, 42.  After a burglary in Thousand Oaks, police found that the burglar had used the toilet without flushing.  That meant a bowl full of DNA which the police used to identify Jensen from the DNA data bank.

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Academia, Bizarre, Uncategorized

University of Georgia Professor Institutes A “Stress Reduction Policy” Where Student Can Pick Their Own Grades

CWP_5381_cropped_portrait_largeIt a fairly common joke among academics in discussing “campus life” policies that we should just let students pick their own grades.  University of Georgia professor Dr. Richard Watson appears to have taken such suggestions seriously with his new “stress reduction policy.”  Under that policy, students who “feel unduly stressed” can simply choose their own grades.   Continue reading “University of Georgia Professor Institutes A “Stress Reduction Policy” Where Student Can Pick Their Own Grades” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech

Comedian Chelsea Handler Under Fire For Tweet On Arresting Racists

At the outset, I must confess that I am a hermit academic who has never heard of Chelsea Handler. However, there is an interesting controversy triggered this week in response to the story that we discussed yesterday.  After two Chinese tourists were arrested in Germany for making Nazi salutes, Handler sent out a Twitter suggesting that a law criminalizing racism would be “nice” for the United States.

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Bizarre, International, Society

The Movie “Dunkirk” Denounced For Its “Maleness”

Dunkirk_Film_posterYesterday, I finally had a chance to see the movie “Dunkirk.” My son Jack had already seen the film but liked it enough to go back with me.  As a military history buff, you can imagine my reaction: I loved it.  It captured the dire acts of survival on that beach and in those ships while under constant air and ground attack.  Yet, despite overwhelming critical acclaim, some have objected that the film was too white and too male.  Mehera Bonner of Marie Claire magazine objected that “Dunkirk felt like an excuse for men to celebrate maleness — which apparently they don’t get to do enough.”  Continue reading “The Movie “Dunkirk” Denounced For Its “Maleness”” →

Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

NPR Under Fire For Calling Woman A Rape “Survivor” Despite Settlement In Favor Of The Accused Columbia Student

NPRLogoWe recently discussed the case of Emma Sulkowicz who gained fame as the “Mattress Girl” for her protest about the handling of her alleged rape by another Columbia student. Columbia not only cleared the male student,Paul Nungesser, of charges but the police refused to bring criminal charges.  Columbia recently settled a civil action brought by the male student and reaffirmed that it found no evidence supporting discipline for sexual assault.  Now,  the Boston-based National Public Radio  station is under fire for a story byNPR correspondent Tovia Smith that continued to refer to Sulkowicz as a “survivor” despite the countervailing findings of the university under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard advocated by the Obama Administration. The reference also indicated that Nungesser had indeed raped her.  While the declination to punish Nungesser by the school or the declination to prosecute him does not mean that no rape occurred, it does show that there was insufficient evidence against Nungesser who has always maintained his innocence.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Free Speech, International

Chinese Tourists Arrested For Doing Nazi Salutes In Front Of The Reichstag

480px-ReichstagsbrandWe have previously discussed the German laws barring certain expressions and symbols connected to Nazi Germany.  Germany like much of the West has continued to criminalize speech in a gradual erosion of free speech.  Most recently, the German police arrested two Chinese tourists for making illegal Hitler salutes in front of the Reichstag building that houses the German parliament. It was obviously a joke but in Germany it is a crime.  The problem is that most tourists will not assume that such a picture could be a crime because it is such a senseless denial of free speech.  It is ironic that the arrests would involve Chinese citizens who probably assumed that in the West they could enjoy free speech.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

California Department Under Fire After Video Shows Officer Pointing Gun At Couple For Nine Minutes On Routine Traffic Stop

There is a disturbing video of a Campbell, California police officer who points his gun at a man in a vehicle for nine minutes during a traffic stop despite the objections of the occupants that they had done nothing to warrant that level of threat.

  • Warning: the video contains foul language.

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Bizarre

Getting the Ultimate “Air”: Stranded Man Struggles To Take Skateboard On Airlift Rescue

In Los Angeles County, a fire fighter had to pull away a skateboard from a contractor trapped in raging flood waters to airlift him out.  While skateboards relish getting “air,” holding on to your skateboard in a torrent with a helicopter lifting you next to power lines is a bit too much of an “air walk” attempt for a dedicated skateboarder.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Society

Trump Administration Hit With New Leak Of Transcripts Of Trump’s Call To the Mexican and Australian Leaders

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedToday Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to discuss a new leak crackdown, but he will have to deal with questions raised by one of the most massive leaks in recent memory. Someone has leaked the entire transcripts of two heated January phone calls  with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.  The conversations are deeply embarrassing for the Administration because they directly contradict statements made by Trump to the public.  These transcripts would also be likely classified, making their release a federal offense.

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Bizarre, Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Eight-Six Percent Of Voters Favor Some Form of Legalization of Marijuana . . . But Sessions Is Reportedly About To Announce A Crackdown

jeff_sessions_official_portraitOne would think that with President Donald Trump at record low polling in the 30s  (and  Congress with even lower polling around 10 percent favorability), the Administration would not be struggling to find a cause further irritate the American public.  However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears on the brink of doing just that.  Despite many states either legalizing or moving to legalize marijuana, Sessions is expected to announce a new crackdown on the multi-billion industry.  Not only will the crackdown threaten billions in taxes now collected by these states, but it will contravene the wishes of roughly half of the population. Indeed, according to the  latest Harvard-Harris survey 86 percent of Americans now support either legalizing pot for either recreational or medicinal use or both.  Indeed, 49 percent want pot legalized outright for recreational use.  The Administration however is about to go on a direct collision course with many states — including red states — that has legalized marijuana.

 

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Fugitive Contacts Police To Object To “Unflattering” Mugshot On Wanted Posters

_97177265_swpIn Great Britain,Wayne Esmonde, 35, is a bit put out.  The fugitive is beside himself over the mugshot being posted in the search. The picture is distinctly “unflattering” in his view and he has asked that it be discarded by police.

 

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