The University of Exeter has had the embarrassing task for apologizing for its distribution of an inspiration quote to students that “One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.” The problem is that the quote is from General Erwin Rommel. What should be the most alarming aspect of this story is not the use of the Rommel quote but that the university personnel did not know who the “Desert Fox” was. Continue reading “University of Exeter Apologizes For Use of Inspirational Quote From Erwin Rommel”
Category: Bizarre
Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been dropped by his speaker’s bureau and widely denounced for his mocking of a story of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother. Now, after refusing to apologize, Lewandowski is denouncing the entire story (of playing his own words) to be “fake news.” Continue reading “Lewandowski Declares The Use Of His Recorded Words To Be “Fake News””
In an act of utter Parliamentary pusillanimity, members have declared that the traditional pudding served in the Stranger’s Dining Room would be stripped of its name, “The Spotted Dick.” For generations, ordering the Spotted Dick has been the subject of good-natured chuckles and teasing. However, the current members appear constantly on the lookout for any term or practice that can sanitized as socially or culturally offensive. So, the pudding will now be called “Spotted Richard” – a change that is entirely divorced from any connection to the original meaning of the dish. The proof is in the pudding, but Parliament does not give a wit for the historical meaning of eating a dick. Continue reading “The Proof Is In The Pudding: Parliament Bans “The Spotted Dick” From The Strangers’ Dining Room”
Two days ago, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was effectively chased from a restaurant by protesters screaming at her and her companion. The scene at MXDC Cocina Mexicana was shocking to most of us who have decried the loss of civility in today’s political discourse. One person clearly not shocked was Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Cal.) who defended the protesters and blamed it on Trump’s divisive political rhetoric. While the protest seemed clearly organized, Speier portrayed it as a spontaneous expression of anger by citizens in her interview on CNN. The scene was very disturbing as was the apparent impunity exercised by the protesters in shutting down a restaurant. It now appears that it was a protest by the Democratic Socialists of America and one of those participating was a DOJ employee, Allison Hrabar. Hrabar is reportedly a paralegal specialist and her participation could raise again our long-standing debate over the punishment of employees for comments or actions taken outside of the workplace.
Shamon West, 21, may want to look a bit more closely at the stolen ids of his victims. West stole the purse of Flora Lunsford from her car while she was getting gas. Two days later, he gave the card back to Lunsford after claiming to be her to pay for his meal. She called the police instead.
One of the funnier Farside cartoons featured a deer with a target on its chest and the other deer saying “Bummer birthmark Hal.” The same sentiment could be expressed about Michael Vines and his forehead tattoo after he was arrested for . . . you guess it . . . unlawfully carrying of a firearm in Greenville, South Carolina.
Continue reading “South Carolina Man’s Tattoo Is More Admission Than Art After Arrest”
Washington Examiner reporter Kelly Cohen’s reaction in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was exactly what many expected from the blockbuster report on the investigation of the FBI. The problem is that Cohen was actually responding to something most DC citizens consider far, far more serious: the stepping down of the Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. Continue reading “Reporter’s Reaction In Senate IG Hearing Captures The Public Shock At The Disclosure Of . . .”
Dr. Betsy Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School has decided to sanitize the school’s Bornstein Amphitheater . . . of white men. Nabel declared recently that she decided that all of the portraits of the historical leaders of the hospitals made minority students and visitors uncomfortable because they are white and male. Nabel therefore ordered their removal and was celebrated for her race-based cleansing of history. Continue reading “Harvard Hospital President Removes Historical Portraits Of White Doctors In The Name Of Diversity”
We previously discussed the accident involving an off-duty FBI agent whose service weapon fell out while doing a back flip on a dance floor in Denver. Chase Bishop has now charged with assault. The charge is problematic in my view. I have been a long critic of the criminalization of negligence and civil violations for years. This seems like a clear case of negligence that could be properly handled in a torts action and internal disciplinary actions at the FBI. Continue reading “FBI Agent Criminally Charged After Accidentally Shooting Bar Patron In Dancing Accident”
There has been a rising movement in colleges and universities led by professors who are advocating speech regulation and contesting basic values of free speech. The anti-free speech movement takes many forms. I previously voiced my objections to Antifa and its anti-free speech values, including academics legitimizing efforts to violently curtail free speech on our campuses. One of the most recent examples is the writing of University of Tennessee sociology Professor Victor Ray who explained in a column in Inside Higher Ed that diversity of thought is something of a trap and is in reality “a Trojan horse for white identity politics.” Continue reading “Sociology Professor Declares Diversity of Thought Is “A Trojan Horse For White Identity Politics””
Douglas Kelly, 49, can rest assured that he was not ripped off. Kelly was convinced that a dealer had sold him fake drugs so he went to police to bring charges. He gave the police a bag of meth that he said did not feel right. The police tested the meth and found it was genuine . . . and then arrested Kelly.
Much of the impetus for the current Special Counsel investigation can be attributed to two equally disastrous decisions: the decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in the midst of the Russian Investigation and the meeting of Donald Trump Jr. with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. While I continue to doubt that the meeting (or the later misleading statement issued by Trump Jr.) constituted any type of crime, I have previously written that it was an astonishingly dumb decision to go (with both Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort) to this meeting. I have little doubt that the Clintons would have eagerly accepted the same information, but they would have used surrogates as they did with the Steele dossier. Now Trump Jr. is dismissing the very idea that his father would sit down with Mueller. While this is certainly a good-faith disagreement among lawyers, Trump Jr. is wrong again about a meeting. There are perfectly good reasons for his father to go to such a meeting and interview, but it should have been done months ago as I previously discussed. Continue reading ““I Wouldn’t Do It”: Trump Jr. Declares It Would Be “Stupid” For Trump To Go To Meeting With Mueller”
It appears that things got ugly in a recent meeting between Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and House oversight staff. Rosenstein reportedly threatened to “subpoena” House committee members if they went after him with a contempt sanction for failing to turn over material on the FBI’s investigation of Trump campaign officials. If the account is true, it was a mistake by Rosenstein. To quote The Godfather, oversight is not personal, its oversight business. Continue reading “It’s Not Personal, Mr. Rosenstein, Its Strictly Government Business”
It may be the ultimate expression of our overheated politics. Longtime DNC member Bob Mulholland accused a Sanders supporter of being a possible Russian stooge after she attended a meeting of the Democratic National Committee to discuss rules and bylaws. It appears that anyone can now be denounced as Russian collaborators in an environment that is increasingly picking up McCarthyite elements. The bizarre allegation from Mulholland comes after the DNC moved to effectively block Sanders from the next presidential primary unless he registers as a Democrat. The effort was later abandoned, but left bad memories of the last primary where the DNC was shown to have secretly rigged the process for Hillary Clinton.
I periodically post old mugshots which offer a gritty insight into criminal history. The West Midlands Police just released some gems from their archives including what is believed to be the oldest mugshot in British history. That distinction rests with Isaac Ellery who was convicted in March 1853 and sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing four ‘gig’ cushions.
Continue reading “First Ever Mugshot In Britain Released: Isaac Ellery, Cushion Thief”