It was a horrific video. The victim was standing innocently in the street in Champaign-Urbana when a city bus is shown swerving to hit him. The victim literally seems to explode — piece flying under and over the bus. The bus driver has now resigned, but the snowman will never see Christmas.
Category: Bizarre
We have been following the grotesque sentencings handed down under Sharia law’s medieval principle of “an eye for an eye,” including the recent variation of a spine for a spine. One such case previously discussed involved an Iranian court ordering that acid be dropped in the eyes of an Iranian man after he blinded the husband of his lover. Now, that sentence has been reviewed and upheld by Iran’s highest courts as perfectly proper under Sharia law.
Continue reading “Eye for An Eye: Iranian Supreme Court Upholds Sentence To Pour Acid In Eyes of Defendant”
This week, I watched the Daily Show interview with former Joint Chiefs of Staff retired General Hugh Shelton about his new memoir. What was most striking was his disclosure that a Clinton cabinet member suggested ordering a U.S. pilot to fly low in a U2 surveillance flight over Iraq in order to be shot down. The U.S. would then use the staged pretext to start a war with Saddam Hussein. What Shelton described is a proposed crime of horrendous proportions. However, he has not revealed the name of the cabinet member or whether Bill Clinton was aware of this proposed criminal act.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia had struck down the centerpiece of the national health care plan: the mandatory requirement that all citizens get health care coverage. The lengthy 42-page opinion details how the law falls outside of interstate commerce jurisdiction — the concern that I previously voiced in a column.
Continue reading “Mandatory Health Care Provision Struck Down As Unconstitutional”
It is well known that I watch football games for the torts and New York Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi supplied a perfect case for battery this weekend. Despite the interesting legal dispute over the “one cheek, two cheek” rule in my Bears game, the jackbooted thugs at the network switched over to the “more competitive game” between the Dolphins and the Jets. I was quickly satiated, however, with the picture of Alosi tripping Miami’s Nolan Carroll on the sideline.
We have yet another arrest of a citizen for simply photographing police officers. We have been following this trend of abusive arrests (here and here and here and here), which are tolerated by legislators and police officers in clear violation of constitutional rights and good public policy. David Morse, 42, is a photojournalist who was arrested when he took pictures of a protest. Two UC Berkeley police officers allegedly wrongfully arrested him for taking their pictures.
Continue reading “UC Berkeley Police Officers Allegedly Arrest Journalist for Taking Their Picture”
THis is an amazing video of the collapse of the Viking Stadium this weekend. I felt terribly sorry for the Viking fans until my Bears played yesterday against the New England Patriots.
I have long complained that U.S. customs forms are missing obvious boxes to check for elephant tails, dried hedgehogs, chicken blood, and the like. That appears to be the defense of a man caught traveling from Ghana with a case filled with a horror show of animal parts.
In academia, we often like to study and report on the crimes and controversies in society as if our world is separate and apart from matters. The arrest of well-known Columbia professor David Epstein, 46, has shattered any such illusions. Epstein, who teaches political science and writes for Huffington Post, is accused of incest –stemming from a sexual relationship with a relative over a three-year period. Some are reporting that it was a relationship with his daughter, 24.
Continue reading “Columbia Professor and Huff Post Blogger Accused of Incest”
This clip has been widely shown of Vladimir Putin playing piano and singing “Blueberry Hill.” Shown on various networks, it has been played with spans of the audience of thrilled actors and celebrities from the West. I must confess that, as a civil libertarian, I had a distinctly different reaction. I hesitated to post the clip because I did not want to appear a Killjoy. However, watching all of these American and European actors gush over Putin singing made me a bit ill. Here is a guy who had destroyed democratic reforms in Russia, re-militarized his country, and incorporated the security services to every aspect of Russian life. But he can sure belt out “Blueberry Hill” on a piano.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Author’s note: This is my third submission about events of historical significance following pieces about George Washington and The Boston Tea Party. It is quite lengthy and for that I apologize, but the story and the people involved are both larger-than-life and fascinating. I hope you enjoy reading this history as much as I do writing about it.
Clutching the mahogany bannister of his elegant home located in the Shockoe neighborhood of Richmond’s River District, the old man haltingly descended the steps. Sweating profusely, and doubling up in pain, he could not even summon the energy to cry out. Almost falling numerous times, the ‘father of American jurisprudence,” finally reached the kitchen only to find his freed-slave housekeeper, Lydia Broadnax, and her son, Michael Brown, writhing in distress and afflicted with the same intestinal ailment. Hours later when one of the triumvirate of Richmond’s elite medical establishment would arrive, the Judge would purposefully sit-up in his bed to declare, “I am murdered.” It was May 25, 1806. Fourteen agonizing days and numerous repetitions of the charge later, that prediction would come true.
Continue reading “The Curious Death of George Wythe: “I Am Murdered!””
Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In a move worthy of the late, great Steve McQueen, our canine friend escapes his captors:
http://embed.break.com/NTc0MDU1
Amazing Dog Escapes from Kennel – Watch more Funny Videos
Thomas Drummond is a resourceful fellow. Driving in the unfamiliar wilds of southeastern Missouri, Drummond spun out on icy roads and ended up in culvert. In his last-“ditch” effort to notify someone of his plight, he texted his girlfriend about the accident around 2:00 a.m., but, in a curious omission, forgot to tell her the location. Two hours later, a soused (0.148 BAC) Drummond was found by the highway patrol and promptly arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Continue reading “Get Lost, Get Cold, Get Drunk, Get Acquitted”
Prince Charles and his consort, the Duchess of Cornwall were attacked by a mob protesting tuition hikes screaming “Off With Their Heads” and “Tory Scum” on Thursday as seen in this extraordinary video. One protester reported was able to poke Camilla with a stick through a window left open by security.
With a 2000 year old history, the Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury has stood as an important symbol for Christians in England — a pilgrimage point retracing the steps of Joseph of Arimathea (believed to be Jesus’ great uncle). Now it has been cut down in what some are alleging to be an anti-Christian act of vandalism. I have seen no evidence establishing an anti-Christian intent.
Continue reading “Vandals Cut Down The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury”