There is a truly bizarre case out of Australia where a 20-year-old has been arrested after posting bomb making instructions and encouraging fellow Islamic State supporters to engage in terrorism. Unfortunately, there is nothing particularly new about that story except that the “Australi Witness” is Joshua Ryne Goldberg, a Jewish man living with his parents in Florida.
Category: Bizarre
There was a wonderfully ironic moment in the White House as reporters spared with Press Secretary Josh Earnest who has been often criticized for less than forthcoming statements to the media. Now “Siri” is getting in the act as she was heard in the midst of the press conference saying “Sorry, I’m not sure what you want me to change.” It seemed for a moment like Earnest had developed a second persona.
Continue reading “iPresser: Siri Answers Question In White House Press Conference”
TSA screener Margo Lauree-Grant, 41, is the latest TSA employee to be arrested for theft or other crimes at an airport security area. Lauren-Grant is accused of stealing a $7,500 Diamond Master watch from a Canadian traveler after he placed it in a plastic bin. To make matters worse, Lauree-Grant is accused of then destroying the watch when security officials began to investigate.
There is a fascinating case out of Illinois where DuPage County judge Ronald Sutter has tossed out a lawsuit by Jennifer Cramblett, who sued after a sperm bank mistakenly impregnated her with sperm from an African-American rather than the white donor she selected. The result was a mixed-race baby. The response from the sperm bank was astonishing. They apologized and reportedly refunded only part of the cost to Cramblett and her partner Amanda Zinkon.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Most of the time, when one reads phrases such as “maintain a symbiotic business relationship” it usually harks of the tired and boring corporate double-speak germinating out of conference rooms stuffed with marketing and P.R. wonks. But in clicking through some old image archives I rediscovered an old gem.
What follows is a photo that truly embodies symbiosis in business. Whether it was by design, happenstance, or from my point of view serendipity, I remembered still almost laughing when I captured this irony.
Continue reading “A True Symbiotic Business Relationship”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Last June we reported a rather upsetting incident involving the Seattle Police Department Motor Traffic Unit. Citizen Daniel Gehlke saw motorcycle officers set up near the intersection of 14th Avenue South and South Washington and begin enforcing stop sign and speed laws. Mr. Gehlke then obtained a Rubbermaid container lid and wrote thereon the words “COPS AHEAD! Stop at sign and light!” He stood nearby the intersection displaying the lid to warn drivers of the traffic unit’s presence and recommend compliance with the law.
Unfortunately for Mr. Gehlke the traffic unit took exception to this and cited him under a Seattle Municipal Ordinance making the display of a sign “bearing any such words as ‘danger,’ ‘stop,’ ‘slow,’” and more… [with] Directions likely to be construed as giving warning to or regulating traffic.” In the view of your author this was a highly suspect and chippy charge, and is only a minimally veiled pretext to retaliate against the citizen holding up the sign and thereby thwarting the number of tickets to be issued.
The Motor Unit officer issued Mr. Gehlke a notice of infraction having a $138.00 penalty. He then altered the sign to remove some of the words and continued his speech. Now, Gehlke had his day in court.
Continue reading “Citizen Cited For Displaying “Cops Ahead” Sign Has His Day In Court”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Many politicians are often a detriment to scientific advancement. Now, politicians can use science to the detriment of advancing legislation…using of course a most titanic word. It shows great promise in the realm of filibusters and gridlock.
The magic word is Titin.
Titin /ˈtaɪtɪn/, also known as connectin, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the TTN gene. Titin is a giant protein, greater than 1 µm in length, that functions as a molecular spring which is responsible for the passive elasticity of muscle. It is composed of 244 individually folded protein domains connected by unstructured peptide sequences. How can this be a useful tool of politicians? It is only a matter of expansion of Titin to its full chemical name that presents the opportunity to quash most debate. A typical manifestation of what can become a powerful English sentence using this word might be concatenated as follows:
“[Full chemical name for titin], [full chemical name for titin], parting is such sorrow, that I shall say [full chemical name for titin] till it be morrow.”
Of course, one could speak it slowly for “easier understanding” and repeating this until collapse.
What is [Full chemical name for titin]? Well for the purpose of brevity the full chemical name of the human canonical form of titin is most easily described as having 189,819 letters: over 2,372 lines of typing. It is renowned for being the longest scientific word in the English. Expanding the sentence in the above paragraph using the full chemical name would constitute over half a million letters, and well suited for congressional usage. Prepare yourself, the word is quite a doozy.
Continue reading “Politics 405: Yes, You Can Filibuster With One Sentence”
The manhunt is over in Massachusetts for the man who shot up the cruiser of a rookie Millis police officer. It appears, according to police, that it was the officer himself. The police have refused to identified the 27-year-old officer but confirmed that the officer was found to be the one who shot up the car and will likely be fired (I would hope so) and face criminal charges.
The world has stood appalled by the destruction of Muslim extremists in ISIS of ancient Syrian architecture and Christian tombs, including continuing demolitions revealed this week with the destruction of the famed tower tombs. A construction company in Israel however shows that you do not have to be a religious fanatic to show the same ignorance and destruction. In this case it was allegedly a case of blind greed rather than blind hate. The unnamed company was told that it could build in the sensitive area of Ashkelon where antiquities are often found (like this earlier sarcophagus) so long as they proceed carefully and report any findings (and stop work when any findings are made). The company allegedly found the beautiful 1,800 year old sarcophagus but decided to hide it rather than stop work. In the process of yanking it out of the ground with a tractor and hiding it under sheet metal, the invaluable piece was irreparably damaged. (Since the photographer for the Israel Antiquities Authority has copyrighted the photos, a curious claim for a government agency, we cannot post the pictures which can be seen here It is an ironic twist, the IAA is objecting to the damage to a historic piece that belongs to all humanity but then claims copyright to the images to ostensibly require anyone who wants to use the image to get its permission)
The former aide that helped set up the private email server used by Hillary Rodham Clinton will, according to the New York Times, invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination before the congressional committee investigating the matter. Bryan Pagliano worked for Clinton in her failed presidential campaign in 2008. He was then brought into the State Department and helped her create a server separate from the secured State Department system so she could control her own emails. If this news was not bad enough, the Washington Post is reporting that Clinton herself wrote and transmitted classified emails on her unsecured server. If that is not bad enough, Fox News is reporting that Clinton staff members may have changed classified markings on documents to hide their classified status.
Like many, I have become addicted to new images from NASA, particularly from Mars. While many have seen figures or other mysterious signs of life, the topography is far more interesting, like this image of the “floating spoon.”
There is a truly bizarre story this week involving a former Indiana University law professor who resigned from West Point Military Academy’s law department as a disturbing article was published where he denounces other scholars who exhibit “pernicious pacifism” as aiding and abetting terrorists. The case raises free speech and academic freedom issues in handling controversial writings of academics. However, it also raises the poor standards for selecting faculty at West Point, a concern that I have had in the past with regard to its legal studies as well as those at other military educational programs. Not only does Bradford have extremist and disturbing views but he has been previously accused of exaggerating his credentials.
There is a bizarre case out of Arizona where lawyer Dennis Wilenchik has been given a formal sanction of admonishment from the bar after he sent profanity laced emails to a client who he accused of failing to pay his bills. The emails also included a reference to the movie Deliverance and its notorious rape scene. After accepting the discipline, Wilenchick now is seeking to set aside the discipline in light of new evidence. The discipline included a one-year probation period during which Wilenchick would have to continue with anger management treatment.
Continue reading “Arizona Lawyer Seeks To Vacate Bar Sanction After Profanity Laden Email”
A Virginia teen may have just become a lock for this year’s Darwin award after he was arrested for alleging pretending to be a police officer. He reportedly picked the wrong car . . . with an actual police officer inside.
It is common to get advice like “never look a polar bear in the eye.” The same appears to be true with Dayton police officers. Driver John Felton has posted a video of a pull over by a police officer who told him that he was pulled over because he “made direct eye contact” with him while driving by.