The heated exchange between White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller and CNN reporter Jim Acosta this week has been the focus of much coverage. Both men went after each other over immigration and, in my view, neither came off particularly well. Acosta at times seemed more of an advocate than a journalist while Miller seemed bizarrely eager to convert the press conference into some high school debating competition. However, my greatest interest was Miller’s repeated accusation that Acosta had revealed his “Cosmopolitan bias.” This may be a new term of art in political circles but it left me scratching my head. It was like the scene in Princess Bride when Montoya stops Vizzini after he says “inconceivable” for the umpteenth time: “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Category: Bizarre
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Northwestern Prof. Wyndham Lathem, 42, in connection with the stabbing death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26, a cosmetologist from Michigan. Police are also seeking University of Oxford employee Andrew Warren, 56. The stabbing occurred at Lathem’s address and Cornell-Duranleau’s body showed lacerations.
Continue reading “Chicago Police Issue Warrant To Arrest Northwestern Professor For Murder”
Two stories this week show how the views of people can shape and deceive them in the perception of photos. In Minnesota, Black Lives Matter advocates caused an uproar with a picture of what they claimed was the possible lynching of a black man in a St. Paul park. In Norway, anti-immigrant bloggers circulated a photo of what they claimed to be a city bus filled with women in full burkas. The lynching turned out to be the suicide of a middle aged white man and the Muslim women turned out to be empty cars.
Continue reading “The Eye of the Beholder: Two Photos Trigger Racial and Religious Controversies”
President Donald Trump has been widely criticized for his breaking an 80-year-old tradition in making political comments at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in West Virginia. When asked about the controversy, however, Trump refused to apologize and instead said that there were no “mixed” views at the event. Rather, he said that the head of the Boy Scouts called him and told him it was “the greatest speech that was ever made to them.” That comment left many scratching their heads since the Boy Scouts apologized to parents for the Presidents speech and said yesterday that they are unaware of any such telephone call.
Controversial statements by President Donald Trump in the past have often been treated by his supporters as hyperbole or not to be taken strictly or even seriously. However, a speech last Friday had some particularly chilling elements for anyone who believes in the rule of the law. Trump was speaking to law enforcement officers and urged them not to be “too nice” to suspected criminals and gang members. He further seemed to encourage intentional acts of harm and abuse in the handling of prisoners. The comments were irresponsible and should be be corrected by the White House. We recently discussed Trump’s praise for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has bragged about extrajudicial killings and encouraged police abuse. This is obviously not that extreme but it is still highly disturbing in a speech where the President has pledged that “We have your backs 100 percent” while encouraging them to be rough in handling of suspects. His comments have led to police organizations publicly rejecting the comments and assuring the public that they will not engage in such conduct.
There is an interesting case out of Michigan where the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a man can be charged with driving while intoxicated on his own private driveway. The case against Gino Rea of Northville was reinstated in this decision (PDF) after the court found that the law encompasses any area accessible to motor vehicles, even if it is on private property.
The case of Sergio Jose Martinez, 31, in Portland, Oregon is likely to magnify the current debate over sanctuary cities. Martinez broke into the home of a 65-year-old woman and sexual assaulted her. He then stole her car and proceeded to assault another woman. He was finally arrested after a chase by police. It was discovered that Martinez was previously arrested and, despite a long criminal history and an immigration detainer, was released by authorities. He has been deported 20 previous times and has at least five probation violations.
Continue reading “Oregon Case Renews Debate Over Sanctuary Laws”
The shocking comments of new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Thursday has left the Trump Administration staggering around Washington with no one clearly in control of the staff and, ironically, an increase in leaks about Scaramucci and fears of the President’s staff. In the meantime, the crude comments of Scaramucci have undermined any effort of the White House to convey strength after the stinging defeat of the “skinny” health care bill. With Republicans in open revolt, the Scaramucci controversy conveys a team in disarray and division. This was the worst possible time to go full Jerry Springer.
Many were surprised — and a bit saddened — to hear President Donald Trump give a highly partisan speech at the National Scout Jamboree. For roughly 80 years, Presidents have avoided political speeches at the event. That tradition was shattered in a big way by Trump on Monday before 40,000 scouts. Now the Boy Scouts of America has issued a formal apology to all of the parents about the content of Trump’s speech — a stinging rebuke for the President. The White House responded by refusing to apologize from the departure of 80 years of precedent.
Defense counsel often discuss demeanor in court with our clients. One thing that we all agree on is that it is a uniquely bad idea to smirk during victim statements, particularly in a murder case. That is one lesson Danta Wright, 17, did not learn and it almost cost him the plea bargain negotiated with prosecutors.
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ranian state television presenter Azadeh Namdari is known as an advocate of the strict Iranian dress codes for women that many women have bravely resisted in the authoritarian country. For that reason, a photo of Namdari sitting outside without a hijab and allegedly drinking a beer has caused a firestorm of criticism from both secularists and Islamists.
The Chinese government is searching for a plump counter-revolutionary with a taste for honey and irony. Yes, the Communist regime has banned Winnie the Pooh who is apparently a running dog exploiter bent on turning workers against the one and true Party. The regime learned that the image of Pooh was being used as a surrogate for Xi Jinping as a way of getting around censorship laws (Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo is portrayed as Eeyore). As a result, Pooh and presumably his capitalist overlord Christopher Robin are no longer welcomed in China.
Continue reading “The Chinese Government Moves To Ban The Pooh”
North Korea’s tourism agency is launching a campaign to attract tourists with promises of surfing (and curiously rice planting) despite its murder of Otto Warmbier, 22, who was enticed to North Korea as a tourist and then arrested when he stole a hotel propaganda poster. He was tortured and return to his family years later in a coma (only to die shortly after his return).
Continue reading “North Korea: Come For The Surfing, Stay For The Beatings”
Washington was rocked last night by another scandal with allegations of collusion and a true cover up. As you can see in the above screenshot, I appeared on Fox News but my suit jacket did not. The reason, dear readers, was that my jacket was lifted from the green room at Fox News shortly before I went on with Martha McCallum. The culprit left a very small blue jacket in its place. With minutes to go live, I had to choose between looking casual in shirt sleeves and looking fat in an undersized jacket. Vanity won out over propriety. But there remained growing questions of who knew about the jacket switch and when did they know it. The culprit left the studio literally cloaked in the cover up that was once my jacket.
Continue reading “WASHINGTON ROCKED BY ALLEGED COVER UP WITHIN FOX NEWS”
We have previously discussed how the Democrats lost the last presidential election when the Democratic establishment pushed through the nomination of Hillary Clinton — the least popular Democrat ever to run for the White House. There has been a concerted effort by Democratic members (who uniformly supported Clinton) to shift the blame to the Russians or Comey or others. Clinton herself has a long list of people responsible with the notable exception of herself. This includes her explanation (and her supporters) that it was not Clinton but self-hating, misogynistic women who could not vote for any woman for President. Now another poll shows just how unpopular Clinton is. Even with Trump showing record lows in polls as president, he would still beat Clinton. This is consistent with other polls showing that voters continue to view Clinton in a highly negative light.