Judges often have to deal with hard cases, including some who literally have nothing to lose in disrupting a courtroom. Most judges will have such defendants removed, but Floyd County Superior Court Judge Bryant Durham in Rome, Georgia appeared to be intent on trying to out crazy the craziest guy in the room. In this case, the guy was Denver Allen and he unleashed a tirade at Durham who proceeded to join him in trashing talking. This led ultimately to Judge Durham daring Allen to masturbate in his courtroom. It should also lead to Durham’s discipline and likely removal for conduct that violates the basic tenets of judicial ethics.
Category: Bizarre
While our host is basking in a well deserved vacation in our nation’s most adventurous state, I’ve resigned myself to my office to travel via Google Earth and Street View.
In taking my whirlwind tour of Hadrian’s Wall, with my virtual flyover I found a 21st century “artifact” of sorts upon a 2nd century artifact.
Continue reading “Hadrian’s Hand: Bizarre Google Street View Artifact Discovered on Hadrian’s Wall”
Recently, Pope Francis called on the church to apologize to gays and others for years of poor or abusive treatment. It was a signature moment for this Pope who has reached out to marginalized groups and rejected many of the long-entrenched positions and habits (and excesses) of the Vatican. However, his words were given an interesting spin by Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who had a remarkably heated exchange with CNN’s Chris Cuomo and refused to apologize to gays. The video is below.
Continue reading “Catholic League President Rejects Pope’s Call To Apologize To Gays”
Iranian dog lovers are facing a crackdown by the government, which is rounding up their pets as part of the “vulgar Western culture” of canine ownership. The confiscation of the dogs is part of an order issued by local prosecutor Mohsen Boosaidi in Shahin Shahr in Isfahan province. Many Muslims view dogs as unclean and anti-Islamic.
It has happened to us all. You quickly type an email and some auto program completes the address for the wrong person or you hit “reply all” by mistake. Indeed, most attorneys have had such misfires in case, but few have had to deal with the embarrassment of Defense attorney Bob Hinton in the high-profile case. Hinton sent an Associated Press reporter an email intended for the legal team that admits that his client former Quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel is still abusing drugs and could not pass a simple urinalysis as part of any plea bargain. Since they are trying to secure such a deal, the email is devastating for any chance that Manziel had for such a deal. To make matters worse, Manziel’s own father called him a “druggie” and said that he hoped that his son would be sent to jail to save his life.
One always hopes for the best in flooding disasters, but when your house is both burning and floating down the river, it is time to move to Plan B and call the insurance company.
Continue reading “Burning Home Captured Floating Down West Virginia River”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In what can be seen as a prelude to future rights abuses by Turkish military and police forces engaged in countering the pro-Kurdish resistance fighters in the east, Turkey’s parliament passed laws granting immunity to its military engaged in “anti-terrorist” operations.
The government has become engaged in fighting since a cease-fire with the PKK broke down two years ago.
Our close ally, Saudi Arabia, is again showing that it is as extreme as countries like Iran in its application of Sharia law and Islamic practices. Ramadan has triggered a crackdown on clothing deemed “unIslamic” ranging from ripped jeans, Crocs shoes, shorts, necklaces and Western hair styles. Up to 50 men have been arrested off the streets by the infamous Saudi “Mutaween,” or the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Arrests People For Wearing Ripped Jeans and Crocs As “UnIslamic””
We previously discussed the case of Casey Nocket, a New York-based graffiti artist, who proudly posted pictures of her defacing surfaces in at least six national parks: Death Valley, Colorado National Monument, Canyonlands, Zion and Crater Lake. Thanks to Reddit (one of my favorite sites), she was tracked down by irate viewers who helped the national park investigators. She has now been sentenced to 200 hours of community service but also banishment from all national parks and other federally administered lands. We earlier discussed the fine and probation as facially insufficient. The banishment element is an important advance, even if the lack of jail time is disappointing. For years, I have advocated such a ban for those who deface our national and state parks. Nocket is now banned from 20 percent of the United States and that is a good thing.
Continue reading “Graffiti Artist Nocket Banned From All Federal Parks”
It often seems that when the world is grieving some terrible tragedy, there are some religious extremists who will celebrate the loss. Stepping immediately into that role was Sacramento pastor Roger Jimenez of the California-based Verity Baptist Church who praised Omar Mateen’s murder of gays and lamented that he did not “finish” the job. It appears however that Jimenez will have to find another place to peddle his religious-based hate. Harsch Investment Properties has decided not to renew the church’s lease and wants Jimenez out by next March.
Continue reading “Sacramento Pastor Praises Omar Mateen and Says That God Will Finish The Job”
It was something out of a whodunit story. A man is murdered but a suspect was under constant surveillance at the time of the murder. The GPS placed on Quincy Green, 44, showed that he remained at home. However, the twist is that his leg remained at the home with the tracking device on it, but the leg was a prosthetic that he removed. According to police, he left the leg and limped to another location to murder Dana Hamilton.
Continue reading “D.C. Man Accused Of Committing Murder While Being Monitored With Ankle Bracelet . . . By Removing His Prosthetic Leg”
The Olympics in Brazil have already been an unmitigated disaster and the first race is weeks off. Despite warnings about the environmental and political conditions in Rio De Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee (which has distinguished itself for a long litany of moronic decisions) refused to yield to such warnings. Now, athletes, commentators, and fans are staying away of the country in fear of crime, pollution, and disease. The country is in financial and political chaos as the country still has not fulfilled many of its commitments. For all those reasons, the organizers must have been relieved to finally hold the Olympic torch ceremony in Manaus, but then were left reeling from another disaster. The organizers brought out a chained jaguar named Juma as a backdrop for the photoshoot. Once it was over, police used tranquilizers on the jaguar after it broke loose from its handlers. A soldier then killed it when it continued to move toward him.
Continue reading “Brazilians Bring Out Chained Jaguar As Prop For Olympic Torch Ceremony . . . Police Then Shoot Jaguar After Ceremony As Threatening”
In a true sign of our times, a Pennsylvania church and its pastor in Dallastown have been harassed after a message was added to the church sign wishing neighboring Muslims a “blessed Ramadan.” Trump supporter Matthew Jansen, an elected delegate to the Republican National Convention, is one of the irate people who called to denounce Rev. Christopher Rodkey and St. Paul’s United Church of Christ. So a demonstration of tolerance and civility became a rallying cry of religious hatred.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Church Harassed After Wishing Muslims A Blessed Ramadan”
Yesterday, the Justice Department reversed itself and released a full, unredacted transcript of the 911 call of Omar Mateen during his massacre in Orlando. The Justice Department redacted references despite objections from media and political leaders that the redactions were ridiculous. Nevertheless, Attorney General Loretta Lynch went on the Sunday shows and insisted that it was best for the public and the victims. It was a telling moment of how the government now begins with an assumption that it is better to limit what the public reads and knows. What was removed was references to “Islamic State” and ISIS leader “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” How exactly do those references, according to Lynch, “revictimize” people? It was well known and widely reported that Mateen had referenced both ISIS and al-Baghdadi. Yet, the impulse of the Justice Department was to censor and control information that was already public.
Two of the closest allies to the United States have long been primary sources for terrorists: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Both maintain Islamic schools or madrassas that espouse extreme views of Islam that justify the killing of homosexuals, blasphemers and others. While both countries continually insist that they are not supporting such groups, terrorists have been traced back to both countries in terms of support and education. Indeed, Pakistan continues to jail a doctor who helped the United States find Bin Laden but still receives massive U.S. aid. Now, it has been disclosed that Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs 300 million to a madrassa known as the “University of Jihad” because of its infamous alumni of terrorists and extremists, including top Afghan Taliban leaders like the late Mullah Omar.
Continue reading ““University of Jihad”: Pakistan Gives Millions To Maintain Extremist Madrassa”