This election just seems to get weirder and weirder. On the heels of her praise and then unpraise for Nancy Reagan on AIDS, Hillary Clinton is again being charged with rewriting history in attacking Bernie Sanders for his absence on the health care fight back in 1993-94. New York Times reporter Amy Chozick quoted Hillary Clinton in a tweet saying, “I don’t know where he was when I was trying to get health care in 93 and 94.” The Sanders campaign quickly responded with a picture showing Sanders standing right next to her and then released another signed picture where she commended him for his work in seeking such national health care coverage at the time. CNN and other media outfits already called out Clinton for the “cheap shot” in falsely suggesting that Sanders did not support the auto bailout. This is not going to help those low trustworthiness numbers plaguing Clinton.
Category: Bizarre
This week we discussed the effort to impeach two student leaders at Bowdoin. Their offense was wearing sombreros as a fiesta-themed party. Now, there is an effort to impeachment a conservative student leader at the University of Southern California for inviting a conservative speaker to campus. Jacob Ellenhorn appears to have done little more than facilitate conservative voices to be heard on campus.
We have another abusive crackdown in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt has seen a dramatic rollback on civil liberties under al-Sisi. In Egypt, a teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears. A leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, was arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive al-Sisi government. Now Egypt’s Attorney General Nabil Sadeq ordered an investigation into a TV presenter, Azza Al-Henawy, who simply criticized al-Sisi for not delivering on promise.
Continue reading “Egyptian Journalist Criminally Charged After Criticizing Al-Sisi”
There is a curious case out of Brooklyn where William Powell, 27, fell into a habit of not charging for drinks for customers who could not afford it at his IHOP. The sodas added up to $3,000 to be specific and the owner was not pleased. Powell described himself as “the modern-day Robin Hood.” It would not be surprising if the owner fired Powell, but instead he called the police and now Powell is facing a grand larceny charge.
The Sopranos make this look so easy. A man and a woman have been arrested in Ellendale, North Carolina after they were caught burying a dead body on an abandoned property. It does not get stronger than that for a criminal case. Suspect Tony Hearne is quoted as saying it was just his “bad luck” that things worked out this way.
Continue reading “Corpus Delicti: Two North Carolinians Arrested In The Act Of Burying Dead Body”
We have another “honor killing” in India where a family believed that its religious and social standing demanded the murder of a family matter. Rama Kunwar, 30, had simply married for love eight years ago. Her husband was from a different caste, but she had hoped that her family had reconciled to her choice in returning to her village. They hadn’t. Her brother set her on fire and burned her alive as other villagers watched. No one intervened to save her despite her pleas.
Continue reading “Indian Brothers Burn Sister Alive For Marrying A Man From Another Caste”
A recent case involving a Navajo nation judge has led to some serious questions of special treatment. Judge Roy Tso was convicted in a bench trial after being accused of interfering with a burglary investigation to help his relatives and then attempting to bribe the prosecutor. His punishment? Giving up his position and paying $25.
The Roselle (Ill.) police released this picture from a drunk driving arrest this week. The driver failed to stop after hitting a tree. Instead, the car was pulled over about 11:10 p.m. traveling the wrong way with a 15-foot-tree lodged in the front grille of the Lincoln.
There is a troubling case out of New York where U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino of Albany threw out a lawsuit alleging the denial of free speech after the government banned a food truck from a vendor program because its name was an Italian slur. The slur is “dago.” It appeared on the food truck “Wandering Dago” owned by Andrew Loguidice and Brandon Snooks. I am half Sicilian and I may share that heritage with Judge D’Agostino. However, while we may both view the slur in the same way, we may see free speech protections differently. Judge D’Agostino wrote a comprehensive and interesting opinion that carefully looked at the governing precedent over forums and free speech. Moreover, it is important to note that Judge D’agostina was applying cases that she felt compelled this result as a lower court judge. She ultimately found no protection for barring a truck based on the sensibilities of others. The case is Wandering Dago, Inc. v. Destito, 1:13-cv-1053 (MAD/DJS), UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26046.
We have been discussing the crackdown on speech deemed offensive or insulting to anyone or any group on U.S. campuses. The latest example can be found at Bowdoin, one of the country’s oldest and leading colleges. Two student government members are facing calls for punishment and impeachment for attending a party where some people wore tiny sombreros.
Continue reading “Bowdoin Students Facing Impeachment For Attending Party With Sombreros”
There is a controversy in Alabama after prosecutors cut a plea agreement with an Alabama state trooper Samuel H. McHenry II, 36, who was accused of raping a woman and forcing her to perform oral sex after a bogus arrest in December 2015. For the crime, McHenry was allowed to plead to a simple misdemeanor for sexual misconduct and only six months in jail. [Warning: graphic content below]
As China continues its crackdown on dissidents and journalists and lawyers, it appears to be slipping back into its old habits from the cultural revolution. Chinese censors have issued new regulations banning all depictions of gay people on television. Other depictions banned as “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content include content showing extramarital affairs, one night stands and underage relationships as illegal on screen. The new censorship regulation also extends to “smoking, drinking, adultery, sexually suggestive clothing, even reincarnation.”
In an unbelievable development, news reports have revealed that an unnamed police officer found a knife on the estate where O.J. Simpson lived at the time of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Sources say that the knife appeared to have possible blood residue. Here is the truly incredible part: the officer, who was off-duty at the time, kept the knife as a souvenir and later sought to confirm the case number for a proper framing of the knife. There still may be more to this story and we have not heard from the officer. However, unless the officer clearly knew that this knife was not involved in the crime or other crime, the failure to disclose the potential evidence is startling. There is no indication that the officer has been arrested for the removal of the possible evidence. While it could prove to unrelated to the murders, the officer clearly thought that it might be key evidence.
Continue reading “Report: Police Officer Removed Knife From OJ Estate And Kept It As Souvenir”
The videotape below has shocked many people both inside and outside of Baltimore. A Baltimore school police officer is shown slapping and kicking a teenage youth while a second officer watches. The video raises the suitability of either officer to serve in the department as well as the question of potential criminal charges of assault.
Continue reading “Video: Baltimore Police Officer Slaps and Kicks 16-Year-Old Student”
Egypt’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to expel Tawfik Okasha from the legislature for the apparently unforgivable sin of inviting the Israeli ambassador in Cairo for dinner. The picture of him meeting with the ambassador took that opposition into a full rage. Now remember that Egypt has full diplomatic relations with Israel, but Okasha’s merely having dinner with the ambassador resulted in a vote of 465 out of 490 legislators supporting this expulsion.
Continue reading “Egypt Expels Lawmaker For Inviting Israeli Ambassador to Dinner”