There were two interesting polls this week that present together a humorous, if chilling, picture of the state of the American democratic process. According to the New York Times, only nine percent chose Clinton and Trump as nominees. That is unfortunately no surprise. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the least popular candidates ever to secure nominations of the two parties. Then the Public Policy Polling found that in a general election matchup, five percent of Americans would vote for Harambe, the endangered gorilla that was shot and killed in May after carrying a 4-year-old around inside his habitat at the Cincinnati Zoo. Indeed, not only did five percent prefer Harambe (which seems quite sensible given the choices) but another four percent was undecided. So, those who want Trump and Clinton represent the same percentage as those who either prefer or might consider voting for a gorilla.
Category: Bizarre
We have been discussing the trend toward suspending and expelling students (and teachers) for comments that they make on social media (here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Teachers and administrators have been criminalizing juvenile conduct rather than dealing with such issues with the students and their teachers. Now the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has issued an opinion upholding one of the most ridiculous examples of the criminalization of our schools. The Tenth Circuit said that Albuquerque school officials and police were justified in ordering the arrest of 13-year-old boy who was burping in class. The Tenth Circuit ruled that the school officials and police officer were entitled to immunity for their excessive response to what was at worst a class clown.
Few of us are happy with the poisonous and dysfunctional politics today. With the two most disliked candidates in history securing the two main nominations, tensions are rising as each party seeks to make voters hate the other candidate more than their own candidate. One particularly low moment came with an attack from the North Carolina GOP which accused Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) of inexplicably wearing a flag of Honduras on his lapel rather than an American flag. Not only did the pin share little with the Honduras flag, it was a Blue Star Service pin for Kaine’s son who is serving as a marine.
There is a controversial arrest in Elkview, West Virginia where Matthew Lane Furby, 26, was arrested after posting a video on Facebook allegedly calling for police officers to be killed. The police say that they were alerted to a video where Furby said “the only good cops out there are dead cops.” However, the anti-police comments raise questions over protected speech under the first amendment. He has been charged with making threats of terroristic acts.
Continue reading “West Virginia Man Arrested For Posting Call for Police To Be Killed”
There is a rather bizarre lawsuit in France that is likely to reaffirm the view of many that the French labor force is noncompetitive due to long-standing expectations of employees about mandatory work conditions, vacations, and protections. Frederic Desnard wants 360,000 euros (£300,000) under a claim of a “bore out” or boredom’s equivalent of burnout.
Continue reading “Bore Out: French Executive Sues Over Boring Work Conditions”
Many of us have been in Japanese Steakhouses when the chef pulls out and squeezes the little rubber toy of a boy. The result is a stream of water that makes it look like the boy is peeing. I have seen it happen a dozen times to the delight of kids. Isabelle and James Lassiter clearly did not get the joke. Instead, Isabelle exclaimed “It peed on me!”and the couple called police and claimed that Isabelle Lassiter was sexually assaulted when hit by water by the prank.Continue reading “Couple Call Police After Wife is Squirted By Toy At Japanese Steakhouse”
Brown university is the subject of intense criticism in the wake of a documentary from one of its graduates on the evisceration of free speech on campus. The elite school has followed the same course of other schools in declaring speech or symbols “micro aggressions” and allowing students to prevent speakers from appearing on campus or addressing other students. The film by Rob Montz is scathing and embarrassing as he shows students successfully barring people from uttering opposing views or shouting down a man because he is a white heterosexual.
Continue reading “Brown University Under Fire In Documentary On the Denial of Free Speech On Campus”
With states and cities struggling to support schools, infrastructure and other basic necessities, our government continues to spend wildly and wastefully with little political accountability. The latest such example is the $1.4 billion dollars spent on abstinence-only education as an effort to reduce the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa from 2004-2013. A new study shows that the program never showed any success and yet the government continued to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into Africa because the program was politically attractive.
Continue reading “Report: United States Wasted $1.4 Billion on Abstinence Education in Africa”
The infamous Iranian Basij militia cracked down on the use of satellite dishes by confiscating 100,000 dishes in Tehran. Iranian prosecutors insisted that dishes expose families to UnIslamic influences and are “morally damaging.” The dishes were destroyed in a triumphant ceremony before General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, head of Iran’s Basij militia. Most people view Naghdi’s crackdown as a pathetic and laughable example of religious orthodoxy that still strangles Iranian society. However, Naghdi heralded the latest achievement of his extremist forces.
Continue reading “Iranian Police Confiscate 100,000 Satellite Dishes To Protect Public Morality”
We have followed the rapid destruction of the secular traditions of Turkey by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has succeeded in creating a new Islamic authoritarian regime. With the support of Islamic parties, Erdogan used the recent failed coup to complete his work in arresting his critics, forcing the resignation of thousands of secular academics, and suspending all civil liberties in a proclaimed state of emergency. The United States helped create the tyranny rising in Turkey in its support of Erdogan as he systemically dismantled the only secular, free country in the Arab world. Recently, Erdogan threatened the United States that he wants his greatest critic, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, delivered to him and that a failure to yield to his demands would be a “big mistake.” Now, one of Erdogan’s extremist followers, Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek, has suggested that U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen uses genies to “enslave” people. That’s right, genies.
Continue reading “Ankara Mayor Accuses Erdogan Critic Of Using Genies To Control the Masses”
Australian customers should have some legitimate questions about the sanitization of the Hungry Jack restaurant outside of Perth. It appears that a man died of a drug overdose in a toilet but was not found for roughly three days by the Australian franchise of Burger King. In a remarkable statement, the police have said that finding a man dead after three days in a toilet is “not being treated as suspicious.” I certainly understand the lack of a suspicion of a crime but at least we could agree that it is a bit curious.
Continue reading “Corpse Left For Three Days In Hungry Jack Restaurant Bathroom”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
As many of us expected, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz fell on the sword after leaked e-mail revealed she and other DNC officials rigged the system to hurt Candidate Bernie Sanders’ campaign as a competitor to Hillary Clinton. Wasserman Schultz’ self “sacrifice”, if you can call it that, along with unwavering loyalty was quickly rewarded by Clinton appointing Wasserman Schultz to serve as her “Honorary” Chair of Clinton’s 50 State Program to help elect Democrats throughout the United States.
Really? The very person who was implicated in a plan to rig a primary election to favor a particular candidate is now placed in a leadership role to help elect other politicians. And, adding to this, the appointment came as a personal reward for deflecting the blame away from the presidential Candidate that received the benefit of such rigging.
It is just another example of the cronyism and corruption that is becoming increasingly self-evident with the practices of Hillary Clinton.
Kayla Renee Dubois, 24, and Christopher Wimmer, 33, have the dubious distinction of creating a new category of crimes for illicit selfies. The two Florida paramedics allegedly competed in a “selfie war” in vying to take the most graphic pictures with incapacitated patients. They are charged with multiple counts of interception and disclosure of oral communications.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What These People Were Charged With?”
There is a little reported story out of the Democratic National Convention where two Sanders delegates have been barred from attending the event. The problem was not their credentials or their conduct. State Sen. Tim Ashe (right below) and Ken Dean are men and the DNC ruled that there were simply too many of that kind in the delegation. Vermont was ordered to replace them with women, any women, so long as the delegation was equal. Ashe and Dean have filed challenges for good reason.
We have followed the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has single-handedly destroyed Turkey’s secular traditions and rolled back on civil liberties. With the support of Islamic parties, Erdogan used the recent failed coup to complete his work in arresting his critics, forcing the resignation of thousands of secular academics, and suspending all civil liberties in a proclaimed state of emergency. The United States helped create the tyranny rising in Turkey in its support of Erdogan as he systemically dismantled the only secular, free country in the Arab world. Now, Erdogan is threatening the United States that he wants his greatest critic, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, delivered to him and that a failure to yield to his demands would be a “big mistake.” Now, one could easily dismiss this threat as the ravings of an egomaniacal, delusional dictator with a persecution complex. However, Erdogan already forced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to reject basic free speech rights to appease him.