Emily-Jo Banks, 23, has been sentenced to jail in a bizarre case where she framed a man for harassing her with abusive texts for months – texts that the police confirmed that she sent from August to September 2015.
Continue reading “English Woman Sentenced In Hoax Stalking Case”
The Saudi Kingdom is still leading the boycott of Qatar over its support for extremist Islamic groups. However, the Kingdom has not stopped pursuing threats at home with an attack launched against a historic fort. Saudi police are searching for this woman who has shocked the Kingdom by posting images of herself wearing a miniskirt in public. That’s right, the police are pursuing the case brought to them by the infamous Saudi morality police to bring the woman to justice. UPDATE: The Saudis have now arrested the woman in the miniskirt in the latest madness of Saudi extremist values.
Any time a family (like the one in Appleton, Wisconsin, this week) finds a burglar naked in one of their beds, it is noteworthy. However, one aspect of the arrest of Bradley Braxton, 40, caught my eye.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Family Find Naked Burglar In Bedroom”
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh has again made a mockery of his own religion. We previously discussed how the Sunni religious leader banned Muslims from playing chess. Now he is warning that driving is a road to perdition for women and is a “dangerous matter that exposed women to evil.”
Continue reading “Top Saudi Cleric: Driving Will Expose Women To Evil”
Neither Congress nor foreign legislatures have done anything about ridiculous user contracts for services like WiFi or cable that require consumers to sign long agreements with impenetrable legal language and clauses. It is a knowing effort by companies to impose highly disadvantageous terms in mountains of legalese. One company however has vividly demonstrated the scam to its credit. The WiFi company, Purple, inserted language in its standard contract that obligated consumers to clean toilets at festivals and clear sewer blockages. Some 22,000 people signed up.
Continue reading “Thousands Agree To Manually Clean Sewers In User Agreement For WiFi Services”
I have been discussing the dubious claims of criminal liability over the meeting of Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. As I have mentioned, there is a legitimate reason to investigate this latest undisclosed meeting, though the overheated rhetoric on possible (if not imminent) criminal charges is bizarre. This morning on CNN, Sen. Richard Blumenthal raised possible charges of espionage and treason. Putting aside the facially weak foundation for such charges, I must again note that the underlying narrative around this meeting remains rather speculative and unbelievable. I have worked on the legal side of national security investigations for decades in both espionage and terrorism cases. As I said when this meeting first surfaced, none of this makes sense as an actual Russian intelligence operation as opposed to a rather transparent “bait-and-switch.” If this is a Russian spy mystery, it hardly makes for a sequel of Le Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
We have all been on planes or trains or buses with people who seem to show up with streamer trunks to store above your seat. This guy in Queensland Australia however is truly in a class by himself.
Continue reading “Australian Man Fined For Trying To Move Fridge On Train”
Yesterday, I posted a column in the Hill detailing how the media and various legal experts have worked mightily to avoid the fact that former FBI Director James Comey (1) leaked his memos to the media, (2) the memos were presumptively government material, and (3) the memos were likely classified and/or privileged under long-standing FBI rules. As I said in the column and in earlier columns, none of this takes away from the underlying allegations or the importance of the investigation into possible obstruction of justice. However, the response to the recent Senate Homeland Security majority report and the Hill Newspaper story was precisely what the column discussed: a concerted effort to deny any wrongdoing by Comey (who has assumed the position of an immaculate hero in this political narrative). One such denial of any wrongdoing came from Comey’s friend Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman. Professor Richman invoked a familiar defense: the memos he was given had no classification markings – the very same defense made by Hillary Clinton and rejected by then FBI Director James Comey.
The New York Times is reporting that “Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy.” That would be a significant development in supporting allegations of “collusion.” I am still skeptical of the alleged crime of collusion and even more skeptical of the alleged crime related to this meeting. I am also confused by the NYT story which says that the email from publicist Rob Goldstone acknowledged that the information was coming from the Kremlin but the article quotes Goldstone in saying that he had no knowledge of any such connection to the Russian government.
Latham & Watkins partner Michelle Kelban-Carteron is in an intense litigation with the board of managers of her Chelsea Modern condo over what her counsel says is “dog racism” in a ban on pit bulls and “other potentially dangerous dogs.” The lawsuit by the board cites instances of Luna lunging at residents and barking at other dogs in an aggressive manner. As a result, they seek an injunction and declaration that Kelban-Carteron has breached her contract and violated the associational rules of the condo. It also alleges the creation of a nuisance.
Continue reading “Dog Racism: New York Partner Sues Condo Over Ban On Pit Bulls”
Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, has declared that the meeting of Donald Trump Jr., with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have compromising information on Hillary Clinton during the campaign, “borders on treason.” Others have said that the disclosure could be the long sought after “smoking gun” on collusion and evidence of criminal conduct. I am afraid that I have to continue my record as something of a “buzz kill” on these stories. There is not a clear criminal act in such a meeting based on the information that we have. Moreover, it is not necessarily unprecedented.
The arrest of William Rian Adams, 35, in Florida for assault after pointing a handgun at another driver is tragically not unique. However, what is a bit more unusual is that fact that Adams is the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, just south of Asheville.
Continue reading “North Carolina Minister Arrested for Brandishing A Weapon”
We often debate on how one should take a mug shot. Mark Prichard, 59, went with the “I’m really happy” approach. His crime however was less joyful. He was arrested after allegedly making threatening comments toward Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake’s staff that referenced the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. There is an interesting First Amendment issue raised by some of the charges against Prichard.
With Congress moving to give the Trump Administration authority to withhold grants from sanctuary cities, California is moving to become a sanctuary state. Under Senate Bill 54, the “California Values Act,” state and local law enforcement would be prevented from cooperating with the federal government in the deportation of illegal immigrants. The bill would bar such actions even for undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crime (given a narrow definition of “serious felonies”).
Meet Steven Marks, 32, a Trump supporter who decided that it was a brilliant idea to write anti-Trump slogans on the Morley Elementary School in West Hartford man to frame liberals. He succeeded (with the help of the school security system) only in implicating himself.
Continue reading “Trump Supporter Admits Writing Anti-Trump Graffiti On School To Frame Liberals”