Category: Bizarre

Tackling Free Speech: Roger Goodell and NFL Order Jerry Jones To Stop Talking About The Anthem

Freedom_of_SpeechIt appears that all of the concern over the free speech rights of players over the national anthem protests does not extend to owners.  Last week, Dallas Cowboys coach Jerry Jones was reportedly told to stop talking about the national anthem controversy.  Jones had said that his team would be standing at attention during the playing of the national anthem this season.  Then he went silent.  I previously wrote how the NFL is an organization curiously based on socialist principles and a heavy-hand of censorship.  The NFL is already buckling on its compromise to allow players to stay in the locker room as protests during the anthem as the player association and some teams demand the right to continue the protests.

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Assault By Alligator: Florida Man Chases Customers in Convenience Store With Gator

Gator beer OnlyinDuval FBNew reports in Jacksonville, Florida  show a man chasing customers in a convenience story with a live gator chased.  Strangely it is the wildlife officials who announced that they are investigating (as they should) but not the local police. Last time I check, assault was still a crime and brandishing an alligator would appear to fit the definition.

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Giant Sphinx Head Discovery In California Desert . . . Calling Mr. DeMille

TenCommandments-bigposter-1923The 300-pound head of a sphinx has been discovered in dunes in the California central coast traces. Before you rush to re-read your Egyptian history, this sphinx is the work of that great Pharaoh Cecil B. DeMille. It turns out that after filming the silent movie “The Ten Commandments” in 1923, DeMille just left parts of the huge set to be claimed the desert. It is not a Hollywood archeological site.

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White House Under Fire Over Editing Of Transcript and Video Of Press Conference In Helinski

download.jpgThe late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” That distinction may have been lost in the editing of the controversial press conference in Helinski with President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Arguably the most important and most reporting part of the press conference was a question and answer involving Putin, where he admitted that the Russians wanted Trump to win the presidential election.  An official transcript of the press conference, however, by the White House omits the key controversial part of the question by Reuters reporter Jeff Mason.  Additionally, the White House videotape omits the same information.  The discrepancies have been raised with the White House but no change has been made.  This is a serious problem given the fact that this is an official record being released to the public.  In fairness to the White House, some news organizations also omitted the language and, as noted by the Atlantic, the clarity of the question was muddled due to cross talk and movement. It could indeed be due to “feed issues.” The Atlantic cites two news organizations with the same editing:the Federal News Service and Bloomberg Government.  Nevertheless, the question was clearly stated by Mason but edited out of the transcript.  If this was (as claimed) a transcription or feed error, then it should have been corrected. It has not. Continue reading “White House Under Fire Over Editing Of Transcript and Video Of Press Conference In Helinski”

“Our Friend, David”: Newly Released Tape Shows Trump And Cohen Discussing Purchase of McDougal Story

200px-Cnn.svg160px-Official_Portrait_of_President_Donald_Trump_(cropped)CNN landed a major news coup with the airing of one of the conversations that Michael Cohen secretly taped with President Donald Trump.  The tape is not the best in terms of the audio quality but it contains some troubling portions.  Notably, this was clearly not a telephone conversation but sounds like an actual meeting where Cohen is sitting and meeting with Trump. I just posted a column on the implications of this secret recording by an attorney.  While Rudy Giuliani insists that the tape is clearly exculpatory, the tape could prove more damaging than beneficial to a defense.  Clearly, both sides can read negative or positive elements into this tape.  While some have insisted that Trump sounds like a mobster, there is not a clear crime being discussed on this tape. There are reportedly more tapes, but this tape has good and bad elements for the Trump team.  However, the tape can be used to show that Trump was informed of the deal before the election and participating in the strategy to silence Trump’s alleged former mistress Karen McDougal.  However, Trump has not spoken to investigators (as a basis for some false statement prosecution) on this issue.   Continue reading ““Our Friend, David”: Newly Released Tape Shows Trump And Cohen Discussing Purchase of McDougal Story”

IMF: Venezuela To Hit 1,000,000% Inflation By End Of 2018

250px-Flag_of_Venezuela.svg.pngThe economic meltdown under the moronic Chavez-Maduro government in Venezuela is now moving toward an impressive milestone:  hitting an estimated inflation rate of 1,000,000% by the end of the year.  According to the International Monetary Fund, the hyperinflation devastating the country will continue — making the currency little more than decorative elements in an economy reduced to a barter system.  Socialists have now taken one of the most successful economies in the region and returned most people back to a subsistence existence. Continue reading “IMF: Venezuela To Hit 1,000,000% Inflation By End Of 2018”

Georgia Sheriff Suspended From Federal Program After Using Funds To Buy Hellcat Muscle Car

downloadMany civil libertarians long objected to the reliance on local policy on money and property seized in drug stops and raids.  I have previously written about drivers being stripped of any cash that they cannot clearly account for in highway stops and the windfall such seizures represent for some departments. The federal government has been repeatedly criticized for its seizures, which are shared with local departments.  Now this program is at the heart of a controversy in Gwinnett County where Sheriff Butch Conway used money from the federal program to purchase a Hellcat muscle car for use as his official car.  However, the story gets much, much worse in my view after Conway’s department cited the other use of the car beyond transported Conway in Knight Rider fashion. Continue reading “Georgia Sheriff Suspended From Federal Program After Using Funds To Buy Hellcat Muscle Car”

Sinclair Acquisition of Tribune In Doubt After Allegations Of Sinclair Hiding Key Information From The FCC

fcc-seal_rgb-largeSinclair_Broadcast_Group_Logo.svgThe much-discussed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is now in serious question after the discovery of undisclosed facts and relationships.  A hearing has been called and many believe that Sinclair will drop its bid to avoid the highly damaging adjudication of these issues.  On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted that undisclosed facts by Sinclair was enough cause for concern that it should be reviewed independently by an administrative judge. That hearing designation order  raised the concern that, in light of the new information,  the deal may “not be in the public interest.”

 

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“An Almond Doesn’t Lactate”: Feds Move To Block The Use Of “Milk” In Almond Milk

1280px-Scott_Gottlieb_official_portraitFDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb may have come up with the greatest tagline since “White Men Don’t Jump.”  Gottlieb has announced that the agency is considering blocking the use of the term “almond milk” because “an almond doesn’t lactate.” Continue reading ““An Almond Doesn’t Lactate”: Feds Move To Block The Use Of “Milk” In Almond Milk”

Laying Hands On The Faithful: Police Find Fortune In Cash Hidden In Lavish Home Of Catholic Priest

download-2In a moment reminiscent of the William Jefferson freezer cash seizure, police in Williamston (Michigan) have reported the discovery of $63,392 in cash during a second search of the home of Rev. Jonathan Wehrle.  He is a Catholic priest charged with embezzling more than $5 million from an Okemos parish.  To make matters worse for Wehrle, the cash was still in bundles of $2000 with paper bands reading “For deposit only – St. Martha Parish and School.”  There is a time to pray and a time to plea.  This would be the latter. Continue reading “Laying Hands On The Faithful: Police Find Fortune In Cash Hidden In Lavish Home Of Catholic Priest”

Susanleon33326: Cross Dressing Florida Man Arrested For Pretending To Be Bored Housewife To Film Straight Men Having Sex

 

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Changing Dealers? MGM Resorts Sues The Victims In The Mandalay Bay Massacre

220px-The_ScreamMGM Resorts International has gone to an extraordinary point to forum shop for more sympathetic judges: it is actually suing the victims of last year’s Las Vegas concert mass shooting.  The move has outraged many as MGM shamelessly sues grieving families and individuals to get before the more conservative federal bench. It is a move that is a stark reminder of how corporations openly forum shop for judges as well as the view of the federal bench as being more sympathetic to corporate defendants.  What is all the more unsettling is that MGM and Mandalay Bay could well succeed.

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“It’s OK, She Is Gonna Be 16 Soon”: Dallas Man Arrested For Statutory Rape For 15-Year-Old Wife

Jose Nahun Lopez-Cruz(Dallas County Jail)Jose Nahun Lopez-Cruz, 24,  appears to follow a rather flexible view of the criminal code.  When police approached him while illegally parking, Lopez-Cruz introduced them to his 15-year-old wife but assured the officers that “It’s OK, she is gonna be 16 soon.” It didn’t. He was charged with sexual assault of a child.

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A Bridge Too Far: Wisconsin Woman Rides Into Gap Of Rising Bridge After Evading Flashing Barriers

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In what may be the clearest example of assumption of risk in torts, a 37-year-old Menasha, Wisconsin woman rode around flashing barriers on a bridge to try to make it across before it was open for river traffic.  She did not make it.

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks