Merlin’s Beard! The College of William and Mary has been embroiled in a contract dispute with a wizarding school for years over unpaid lease fees. Unable to show either a binding magical contract or an unbreakable vow, William & Mary decided to settle for a portion of the alleged outstanding claims against Learn Larp LLC for $70,000. That’s dollars, not galleons.
Continue reading “Muggle College Settles With Wizarding School”
I have previously criticized the new law, enforced by the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), that bans gender stereotypes in advertising. It is the ultimate expression of the “nanny state” phenomenon in the United Kingdom where speech is increasingly regulated and sanctioned by the state along a best values agenda. Commercials for Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Volkswagen were banned. To understand how these laws are really speech controls, one needs only to watch the commercials and the vacuous response of one of the chief regulators in a recent interview.
Continue reading “British Officials Ban Two Commercials For Gender Stereotyping”
According to police, Valiery Portlock’s career as a faux police officer came to a crashing end on a street in Hicksville, Long Island when he pulled over a van only to watch as real detectives stepped out of the vehicle. What happened next was
Continue reading “New York Man Allegedly Impersonates Police Officer In Pulling Over Van . . . Full Of Real Detectives”
Venezuela is a humanitarian and civil liberties disaster. The repressive regime of Nicolás Maduro has been condemned around the world for its campaign of killings, arrests, and torture with the help of hundreds of Cuban intelligence officers. The free press and any dissent has been brutally destroyed as the nation itself reduced to pre-industrial standards. Beyond Cuba, North Korea, and other authoritarian regimes, Venezuela has few friends . . . . except union teachers from Chicago. The delighted picture above shows the delegation of union teachers who flew to Venezuela in support of one of the most blood-soaked regimes in the world. The picture reportedly shows Richard Berg (Organizer), strike captains Sarah Chambers (Special Education Educator), Valeria Vargas (Math Educator) and Fabiana Casas (English Educator) on Twitter after crowdfunding their trip to Venezuela.
Continue reading ““We Didn’t See A Single Homeless Person”: Chicago Teacher’s Union Members Fly To Venezuela In Show Of Support”
In decades of criminal defense work, I have never seen a case like this one. In Portland, police suspected Tyrone Lamont Allen of robbing four banks and credit unions. However, none of the tellers reported seeing his prominent facial tattoos. In a decision that should result in serious disciplinary action, the police photoshopped out the tattoos before showing the picture in a photo line up. The witnesses then identified Allen.
Continue reading “Line Up or Cover Up? Portland Police Alter Line Up Picture In Bank Robbery Case”
Like many, I was appalled to see the President of the United States mocking the weight of a protester on Thursday night. The type of juvenile taunting was degrading more for the office of Donald Trump than the protester. It turns out however that it was not even degrading for the protester at all, but a Trump supporter who was wrongly insulted by the President. The man is Frank Dawson who had taken away a sign from a protester. He was actually wearing a “Trump 2020” teeshirt.
Continue reading “Trump Makes Fun Of Protester’s Weight . . . Who Turns Out To Be One Of His Supporters”
Years ago, I handled a challenge to the decision of the State of Idaho to ban the sale of “Five Wives Vodka” due to the illegality of polygamy in the state. We succeeded in having the decision reversed. Now, however, another Utah brewery has lost its appeal of a decision to bar the sale of “Polygamy Porter” in North Carolina due to the fact that “polygamy is illegal.” It is an illogical and capricious decision that should be further appealed.
Continue reading “Polygamy Beer Banned In North Carolina”
American University has brought in an academic from the University of Washington-Tacoma with a curious mission for an academic institution: to teach academics not to grade on the writing ability of students as opposed to their “labor.” Professor Asao Inoue believes that writing ability should not be assessed because such assessment interfere with “antiracist” objectives.
Continue reading “American University Holds Training Session On Avoiding Single Standard Grading To Achieve “Antiracist” Objectives”
I was previously critical of the intervention of President Donald Trump in the criminal case of American rapper A$AP Rocky Trump not only demanded that Sweden grant bond (which is not available in Sweden) but tied the continued prosecution of the rap star to the status of diplomatic relations with our long-standing ally, Sweden. Now Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and his two friends have been found guilty of assault.
Continue reading “A$AP Rocky Found Guilty In Sweden Despite Trump Intervention”
We have previously discussed the liability issues associated with eating contests or drinking contests. In Fresno, California, Dana Andrew Hutchings competed in the Taco Truck Throwdown eating contest and it proved to be his last meal. Hutchings is believed to have choked to death during the taco-eating contest at a Grizzlies game in California. I remain surprised by the continued popularity of such contests given the obvious risks. However, these contests are often accompanied by clear waivers of liability and such tragedies are viewed as a classic assumption of the risk by courts absent some collateral negligence in responding to a medical emergency or other issue beyond the dangers of the competitive eating.
Continue reading “California Man Dies During Taco Eating Contest”
As many of you know, I am a constant critic of the loss of civility in our society. For that reason, I was not critical of CNN host Chris Cuomo when he reacted angrily to a guy who went out of his way to insult Cuomo by calling him “Fredo,” a reference to the weak, older brother of Michael Corleone. After calling Cuomo “Fredo,” the man mocks him further by saying “I thought that was who you were.” Cuomo responds with profanity, which is captured on video and went viral. I am sympathetic to Cuomo when people believe that they have license to insult celebrities and suspend basic rules of civility just because someone is on television. It is particularly disturbing to have the President of the United States join in the mockery and lower his office to the level of a troll.
Continue reading ““The Truth Hurts”: Trump Joins In On “Fredo” Mockery Of Chris Cuomo”
Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Few will likely mourn his passing but some will publicly regret it and others will privately celebrate it. The suicide comes a day after the release of documents implicating an array of powerful figures around the world. Epstein catered to friends from Bill Clinton to Prince Andrew. The timing has already caused some to question whether this was a true suicide or an effort to get rid of a man who was becoming a major threat to major players in politics and business. Close friends have already said that they believe that he was murdered. Given the low likelihood of success for Epstein, 66, in his criminal case and the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail, a suicide attempt was likely. However, that raises the question of how a man who was once on a suicide watch could be allowed the material, let alone the opportunity, for a suicide. It appears that guards broke protocols during the night.
Continue reading “Jeffrey Epstein Is Dead, But Questions Remain Very Much Alive”
Frank Figluizzi, an NBC News national security contributor, voiced a bizarre criticism of President Donald Trump after Trump ordered flags to be flown at half mast because of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Figluizzi said that the date, August 8th, meant that the shorthand date of 8/8 could be viewed as a reference to 88 which could be a reference to HH (the eighth letter in the alphabet) which could be viewed as a salute to “Heil Hitler.” Figluizzi explained that Trump could be simply ignorant of the obvious reference. There is another possibility: Frank Figluizzi is a reference to FF which is a reference to 66 (as the sixth letter in the alphabet) which is a reference to Route 66 which is a reference to the song “Get Your Kicks On Route 66” which is a reference to freeing yourself from any obligations or responsibilities . . . like serious commentary.
Continue reading ““It’s The Little Things”: NBC Analyst Criticizes Trump’s Order To Lower Flags After Massacre As Implied Salute To White Supremacy”
Professor Richard Wolff of the New School is calling for the banning of grades as disrespectful to students and advancing a capitalist agenda. Wolff penned an op-ed entitled “Grades Are Capitalism in Action. Let’s Get Them Out of Our Schools.” I confess that I fail to see the oppressive or disrespectful elements of grading, even though it is the worst part of this job. However, Wolff has a broader objective in denouncing “meritocracy” as a concept and grades as merely an outgrowth of that system.
Continue reading “Professor Calls For Throwing Off The Yoke Of Grades As A Tool Of Capitalism”
Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe has a history of passionate opposition to President Trump and calling for his impeachment, and he continued the trend Sunday by blaming Trump for a pair of shootings that took place over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Others have also placed blame on Trump for the shooting though Tribe goes as far as to declare Trump a terrorist. I have previously disagreed with Professor Tribe on these tweets against Trump and Republicans and this attack appears unhinged and entirely inappropriate for a respected academic.
Continue reading “Laurence Tribe Calls For the Impeachment Of Trump As A Terrorist And Racist”