With the rising tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the execution of Sheikh Nimir al-Nimir, there is a wonderfully ironic element as Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of stifling free speech by a cleric who merely disagreed with the regime. Iran of course is the government that has beaten and killed protesters calling for basic rights. We have regularly commented on Saudi Arabia’s medieval Sharia system as well as Iran’s suppression of free speech. Both countries regularly decapitate people and hang or crucify people in the name of Islamic values. Now both countries are exchanging insults about how the other is an extremist regime.
Category: Bizarre
The Internet is increasingly becoming a vehicle for public shaming for those who enrage communities by thoughtless or reprehensible conduct. Holly Jones, a hair stylist in Indianapolis, is the latest target of the collective condemnation. Jones went on Facebook to complain that Kilroy’s Bar N’ Grill had ignored her needs on New Year’s Eve to help some “Junkie” who died. It turned out to be a 57-year old lady celebrating with her husband and son. Fortunately she survived. Jones’ reputation did not.
Jackson, Mississippi Councilman Kenneth Stokes has unleashed a firestorm of controversy over his call for citizens to throw bricks and bottles at police who are trying to make arrests. Stokes declared “Let’s get rocks; let’s get bricks, and let’s get bottles. And we’ll start throwing them, and then they won’t come in here anymore.” (Notably, the Jackson sheriff agreed with the Stokes in opposing car chases in the city while Stokes himself remains entirely unapologetic for calling for violence against police.)
We have previously discussed the relatively lack food safety regulations for restaurants where even the most egregious violations seem to require minor fines or brief closures, like the Chinese restaurant in Kentucky found to be serving road kill. Now another Chinese restaurant vividly illustrates the disconnect after deer heads, brains, and other animal parts were found in the kitchen of New China House in Lititz, PA (among other violations). However, the restaurant will remain open and serving the public.
There is a fascinating study out of the scientific journal Environment & Behavior that found that diners order significantly more food and drink when served by an overweight waiter or waitress. It appears that a Rubenesque servers with more waistline are better for the bottom line of restaurants.
We recently discussed the concern over the criminalization of speech in Israel. Now there is an added concern after Israel’s Education Ministry disqualified Dorit Rabinyan’s award winning “Gader Haya” (literally “Hedgegrow,” but known in English as “Borderline”)from being used in high schools. The reason? The novel describes a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man. The Education Ministry decided that the novel threatened “the identity and the heritage of students in every sector,” and the belief that “intimate relations between Jews and non-Jews threatens the separate identity.”
This story has me a bit mystified, but it promises that our steady stream of bizarre political stories will continue unabated in 2016. There is a controversy in New Hampshire where Republican Rep. Josh Moore addressed a proposed exception to nursing mothers in a bill to criminalize showing breasts in public. Moore tweeted “If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her (breast) out in public, then you should have no problem with a man’s inclination to stare at it and grab it.” It was clearly meant as a joke but he was not the only one to attack a female legislator who raised the issue of criminalizing breastfeeding under the law.
I had to share the videotape below of two leading televangelists, Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis, as they explain why flying private jets is not just personally enjoyable but actually biblically required. It turns out that the luxury jets not only place them closer to God and allow to them speak directly with him but avoid “a long tube with a bunch of demons.”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
One concept that local producers seem to miss when dealing with Chinese manufacturers is Quality Assurance, something that often must be addressed at higher levels and greater frequency than what is customary in the United States. The allure of fast turnaround and cheap production costs often blinds companies to underlying problems. Examples include asbestos in crayons, cadmium in toys, toxic dog treats, and even the bizarre examples such as a shaved dog substituted for a lion.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Last September I penned an article describing how the IRS demands tax payments but will refuse to take checks of $100,000,000 or more, now on the other end of the spectrum the US Postal Service seems to want to join the fun by placing post office box renewal notices and refusing to take payment in my case on the same day.
While in the latter case it was a minor affair, it does show the joy in dealing with another case of government red tape.
Continue reading “Post Office Puts Out Box Renewal Notice Then Refuses To Take Payment”
New Year’s Eve brought in the New Year with the usual array of injuries from the combination of excessive drinking, crowds, and other factors. Perhaps the most bizarre and ironic was the death of a Filipino man who decided to hug a giant firecracker appropriately named “Goodbye Philippines” just before it exploded. It took the man with it.
Russia has shown again how the dream of post-Soviet civil liberties has plummeted under the authoritarian ambitions of Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, a Russian court sentenced a blogger to five years in jail for extremist views and advocacy. Terrorism? Religious fanaticism? No, Vadim Tyumenstev, 35, from the Siberian region of Tomsk, encouraged people to protest against corruption and high transport fares.
Richard Rizal McGee, third-year law student at Whittier Law School, was shot and killed last week in another case involving a mistaken shooting under “Castle Doctrine” laws. McGee appears to have been drunk and banging on the wrong door in Las Vegas when the occupants warned him and then fired through the door four times. The shooter is unlikely to be charged in the killing.
Continue reading “Whittier Law Student Shot and Killed In Las Vegas In “Castle Doctrine” Case”
There is a fascinating DWI case out of New York involving a case of a 35-year-old school teacher who was arrested after driving with a flat tire and a blood alcohol content of .33 g/dL. Judge Walter L. Rooth dismissed misdemeanor charges of DWI and aggravated DWI after agreeing with the defense that the woman has the rare condition known as auto-brewery syndrome, where her body turns ordinary food and beverages into alcohol in a person’s body like a brewery.
We often discuss the long-standing question in criminal law of the right balance between offenses and sanctions. A sanction needs to generally achieve restoration for victims and deter others in an ideal world. That does not appear to be the case in Paoli, Indiana where a historic bridge from 1880 collapsed after a track driver violated weight and access signs by driving her truck over the bridge. The sanction? A possible $135 for disregarding a posted sign. That’s it. In the meantime, the bridge will have to be replaced and traffic halted for weeks or months due to her incredibly reckless and thoughtless act. I am assuming that the trucking company can be sued for the damage to the bridge.