This cartoon is at the center of a controversy at the University of Denver. We have previously discussed the trend to eliminate such school symbols as Chief Illini and others. Unlike some of these controversies, “Denver Boone” is not based on a tribe but is a cartoon character designed by a Walt Disney cartoonist. However, the University of Denver has voted to ban its use as offensive.
Continue reading “University of Denver Bans “Denver Boone” As Offensive”
Another gems from Russia found on Reddit.
In West Virginia, Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury is the only judge in his county. However, federal prosecutors have charged that he had enough time on his hands to frame have an affair with his secretary and frame her husband for a series of crimes, including the planting of drugs. Thornsbury, 57, is charged with two counts of conspiracy against rights to frame what U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin calls “his romantic rival.”
In Saratoga Springs, a historic cast-iron fountain was knocked over by individuals trying to steal coins thrown with wishes into the pool. It was a senseless act for chump change, but the culprits may soon learn that you have to be careful what you wish for: there are cameras inside faux bird houses in the park that may have captured their images. In the meantime, Buffalo meter maids have confessed to stealing 840,000 quarters from meters over the course of eight years.
For many, major breakthroughs in isotopes or nanotechnology or enzyme can simply go over one’s head in their significance. However, scientists in Australia have developed something that will likely make them virtual Gods in their community: a major step toward a hangover free beer. The sudsologists say that they have found a way to increase the hydrating effects of beer by adding electrolytes, a common ingredient found in sports drinks. As Miller lite promises, “it is everything you always wanted in a beer. And less.” Finally, Joe Six Pack has his own scientists.
Submitted by Charlton Stanley, (aka Otteray Scribe) guest blogger
Polygraph tests are 20th-century witchcraft.
-Sen. Sam Ervin (1896-1995)
As the Obama administration and the Department of Justice ramps up the crackdown on security violators and leakers, the whole thing has taken a bizarre turn. There is an ongoing criminal investigation of instructors who claim they can teach job applicants how to pass lie-detector tests. The two men are Doug Williams, who operates Polygraph.com, and Chad Dixon, who had a website called “PolygraphExpert.net” which has been taken down. Chad Dixon has entered a guilty plea, but the charges against him are being kept secret under seal. Dixon faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison; however, prosecutors are asking for a two-year sentence. Williams has not been charged with any crime; at least not yet, but is said to be under investigation. His only publiccomment was to say he has done nothing wrong.
The criminal investigation has not been acknowledged publicly. What little news that has come out is the claim it is meant to discourage criminals and spies from infiltrating the U.S. government by using so-called polygraph-beating techniques. Several current or former polygraph examiners are alleged to have been providing training materials and classes on how lie detector devices work and how to “beat” them.
Doug Williams and Chad Dixon’s business records were seized. The records are believed to include the names of as many as 5,000 persons who sought advice from the two men. The government claims about twenty of those people applied for positions with the government or government contractors. About half of that group was hired, including one or more getting jobs with the National Security Agency (NSA).
Federal officials have adopted a unique and controversial legal theory that teaching clients how lie detectors work and how to pass the test is a crime, and not protected under the First Amendment.
I find this more than curious. By way of full disclosure, I own a voice stress analysis machine and several biofeedback devices. I first became interested in the detection of malingering, dissimulation and outright lying when I was still in graduate school, and have maintained that interest ever since. Some people lie to look good, and some lie to look bad. Some lie and don’t even know they are lying. Some lie when the truth would serve them better.
In this piece, we will take a look at exactly what it is the Feds are talking about. And we will puzzle about why they want to make it a crime for anyone to teach people how the machines work. Or more accurately, don’t work.
Everyone is familiar with anxiety. Hands sweat, voice trembles, breathing may become more rapid, and the heart races. Many times trembling is visible to the naked eye. Anxiety is a fear reaction. Both the polygraph and voice stress analysis take advantage of these physiological reactions to fear, and take measurements of them. The theory behind both machines is that an anxious person will react. Practitioners of polygraphy and voice stress analysis operate on the assumption that telling a lie will result in a predictable and measurable physiological reaction.
Continue reading “Polygraphers trigger fear response in Federal prosecutors.”
There was a national controversy created recently when a rodeo clown, Tuffy Gessling, put together an act involving a President Barack Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair. The announcer reportedly called out “This bull’s going to get’cha, Obama! He’s gonna get’cha!” The reaction was fierce. Gessling was given a lifetime ban and the announcer, Mark Ficken, resigned. All clowns will now have to go through a “sensitivity training” course after the incident. However, The President of the Missouri Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Mary Radliff is calling for the prosecution of the key players for a hate crime. Radliff’s statements shows how broad this controversial crime has become and how it can now threaten free speech principles.
The Louhe City Zoo in People’s Park advertized a real African lion to pull in visitors. However, when the lion had to be sent off for breeding, the zoo was short an attraction. So, the operators went and got a large Tibetan mastiff and told people it was a lion. They did the same with wolf exhibit where a dog played the role of a white fox. In the leopard exhibit visitors were actually watching a common white fox. It all worked swimmingly well until the lion started to bark.
Surgeon Emmanuel Labram is facing misconduct charges this month after a woman came forward with an allegation that he told her that had successfully removed her brain tumor when he had not. Labram allegedly encouraged her not to seek further treatment after her surgery at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland. (picture shows brain scan from different case)
Buying vehicles at government auctions can come with obvious perils that range from past damage to poor maintenance to wear and tear. However, the Duarte family appears to have discovered another peril when they unwittingly smuggled drugs from the U.S. to Mexico. Sergio Torres Duarte, 18, and his 19-year-old friend Julio Cesar Moreno were arrested after being stopped on their way to a soccer match near the resort city of Mazatlan and police found 2.2 pounds of cocaine beneath the dashboard of their blue 2004 Toyota Sienna. While we do not see many cases of people smuggling drugs from the United States to Mexico, the teens were arrested despite their pleas of innocence. Torres Duarte’s father, also named Sergio Torres, did some research and found that the van was seized in a drug raid and police found drugs, but apparently missed some before sending the vehicle for auction. Nevertheless, the boys remain in a Mexican jail.
There is a tragic case out of Michigan that could present a novel controversy under the “one free bite” rule for dogs. A 33-year-old man tried to “befriend” a pit bull by putting his face up to the dog and sticking his tongue out. The pit bull proceeded to bite off the man’s tongue, or at least a significant part of it.
I saw this picture on Reddit and marveled at the obsessive-compulsive thinking that goes into the spoon scoop. My question is whether the drawer of spoon scoops has a scoop scoop itself. I made me wonder what is the most obsessive rule or sign in your work place. I was once at an office where someone put zip lock bags to secure and seal used coffee filters before discarding them.
Continue reading “The Spoon Scoop And The Scourge of Drawer Contamination”
Now this could make for an interesting tort lawsuit. Detroit police officers were surprised this week to get an email from a Commander Dwayne Love that listed the names of female officers and their bra sizes and weight. The email dealt with bullet proof vests and the information was mistakenly included. The question is whether such information could be used as a basis for a tort action.
Continue reading “Commander Love Sends Detroit Police The Bra Sizes Of All Female Officers”
Parents in Tennessee came to court to deal with a dispute over the last name to be used for their 7-month-old son. However, Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the first name to be changed because the parents had named the boy “Messiah.” Ballew admits that she has never ordered a first name change (particularly when both parents were in agreement with the name) but that messiah is a name earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ.”
For those of us who are fans of the series of “Breaking Bad,” this is a story that may hold particularly interest given the lessons of Walter White on the production of his “blue ice.” CVS customers are being asked to produce identification before they buy nail polish because the product contains acetone and can be used to make methamphetamine. While store employees are quoted as blaming federal and state laws, there is no such requirement under federal or state law. Rather it is a company policy that strikes me as perfectly moronic even when the store is openly selling “Blue Ice Nail Polish.”
Continue reading “CVS To Require Identification For Purchasing Nail Polish”