I had a rather odd experience on the way into school this morning. I was going over the Memorial Bridge and saw a guy on the bridge in front of what appeared to be a rappelling rope tied to one of the columns. He seemed nervous and came across as a lookout. There was just a paper bag next to him and he was not wearing any of the usual items signifying a construction crew like an orange vest or some other marking. As I turned in front of Lincoln Memorial, I saw what looked like a man dangling off the bridge. I decided to call in the matter to be safe. [Update below: three arrested in protest]
Continue reading “Traffic Citation or Terrorist Threat? A Curious Tale of Priorities In Washington”
Category: Bizarre
Special Education Judge Larry Craddock has resigned after being filmed sleeping during a hearing. Craddock was filmed sleeping through the critical testimony in the case involving a suicidal teenager. It appears Craddock found his “sleep number” on the bench because the family insists that he was out for an extended time.
Continue reading “Texas Judge Resigns After Being Filmed Sleeping During Critical Hearing”
This weekend I was with the family in Raleigh/Durham North Carolina and eating at my favorite breakfast place, Parker and Otis. The talk of the town was the latest scandal plaguing the office of the District Attorney of Durham County. You may recall the disgraceful removal of Mike Nifong from that office years ago. Now Nifong successor, Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline, has been removed for serious allegations of prosecutorial misconduct — something of a pattern for that office it seems. Her hearing is today. She had moved for a delay of the hearing.
Continue reading “Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline Faces Removal Hearing”
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Sc. 5
Some days when you wake up, don’t you just feel like doing something new and exciting? A way to change things up? Most people follow through with this urge by going to a new restaurant or visiting some place new or getting a different haircut. Perhaps trying a new outfit. Like all ideas, you can go too far with this impulse for change. Sometimes people get an idea and figure anything worth doing is worth overdoing, but I’m still trying to guess where the good idea/bad idea line was crossed in this case. If any forethought was given, I’m thinking the line was crossed fairly early on.
But crossed it was early on the morning of February, 3, 2012, in Neon, Kentucky. Andrew Toothman, 22, was apparently feeling the need to change things up when he broke into the IGA grocery store. What were his intentions you might be asking? I think possibly his intention was to make a bold fashion statement. That or he had simply taken leave of his senses. When the IGA employees arrived for work that morning, they found a surprise waiting for them. They found Mr. Toothman wearing black boots, chocolate and peanut butter. That’s it.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Texas Southern University Jonathan Chan and Karla Ford have created their own form of clinical education. They are suing the law school in the Southern District of Texas for the D grades given to them by adjunct professor Shelley Smith teaching a first-year contracts class. They allege that the grades were “arbitrary and capricious” and meant to “curve them out” of the class.
Continue reading “Clinical Credit? Texas Southern University Law Students Sue Over Poor Grades”
While the Sioux tribe in North Dakota is fighting the use of “Fighting Sioux,” the Suing Sioux of South Dakota are in federal court with a rather novel (and in my view thoroughly frivolous) lawsuit of their own. The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is suing the largest beer makers for contributing to the corruption and abuse of members of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation by supplying alcohol through local stores. The tribe is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation.
A former state trooper and Guadalupe County Judge Michael Thomas Wiggins, 58, was almost late for a conference of judges this week . . . he had to make bail to be released from jail on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.
Continue reading “Texas Judge Arrested For Pot Possession In Hotel Room”
Debasish Majumder, 54, a court clerk in London, has pleaded guilty to watching pornography during a rape trial in court, including while the victim testified on her sexual assault. Majumber pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and five counts of possession of indecent images. The latter charge appears to be child pornography found on his home computer. The Right Honorable Judge Nigel Seed (left) discovered the pornographic surfing.
Continue reading “Court Clerk Caught Watching Porn As Rape Victim Testifies At Trial”
Harvard appears to be moving to secure its borders against other nation states. In an interesting landlord-tenant dispute, Harvard has charged that Cameroon is squatting on its property on embassy row. The country has been the university’s tenant for two years but its lease expired a week ago. A week? That is not a lot of time for almost 19 million people to collect their stuff, get moving buddies, a truck, and find a new crib.
Continue reading “Harvard Invades Cameroon: University Moves To Evict Embassy”
Former Union County State’s Attorney Allen W. James has been suspended for 60 days after pulling a gun on a process server after dodging prior service. Christopher Dees reported that he identified himself to James who proceeded to point his 380 semi-automatic handgun at him while trying to serve a complaint upon him. James insisted that he did nothing wrong, though he later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor aggravated assault over the incident.
Memphis lawyer Christopher F. Donovan, 42, has been arrested after a parking dispute gone bad where an officer charges that Donovan hit him with his car near the courthouse. The charge, however, is notably not assault but a Class A misdemeanor of reckless endangerment. We have previously seen how little contact it takes to be charged with assault on an officer. While Donovan appears in the wrong from the available facts, the charge of reckless endangerment could be challenged.
Continue reading “Memphis Lawyer Charged With Endangering Officer In Parking Dispute”
The Catholic bishop of Harrisburg, Pa., Bishop Joseph McFadden is being criticized for comments where he compares American public schools to the system that Hitler and Mussolini sought to create. I actually think that part of the criticism of McFadden is misplaced, though he is certainly worthy of criticism. McFadden’s controversial statements follow a call for Catholics to organize against President Obama and his health care program by leading Catholic leaders.
Continue reading “Catholic Bishop: Hitler and Mussolini Would Love American Public Schools”
Conservatives are lining up to take shots at another Hollywood celebrity. But this time it is movie icon (and Republican) Clint Eastwood for his role in Chrysler’s “Halftime in America” Super Bowl ad below. In our previous discussion of the best commercials many people picked the ad and I put it in the top four. Frankly, as a Cowboy film nut and Eastwood fan, I loved it. Eastwood, however, was left unforgiven by that paragon of good politics: Karl Rove. Rove (who runs a huge Super PAC and pumps millions into campaigns from undisclosed contributions) denounced the commercial as
“corporate advertising” of the worst kind . . . in other words, corporate money that could be viewed as supporting President Obama. Ironically, Eastwood was a critic of the bailout, but the segment praises American workers not federal bailouts.
Continue reading “Unforgiven: Rove Denounces Eastwood Super Bowl Commercial”
