Category: Bizarre

Animals, Bizarre, Environment

American Television Host Denounced After She Posts Pictures With Dead Animals

As many on this blog know, I am no fan of trophy hunting (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). The latest controversy centers on Larysa Switlyk, 33, who is a trophy hunter from Sarasota, Florida who recently posed with dead animals on the island of Islay, Scotland with Instagram photos during the hunt.  With her boyfriend Jason and another American, they shot an assortment of goats, stags, and sheep and then gleefully demonstrated the kill. I find these images entirely perplexing why people get such a thrill for such kills. I also fail to see the pride in posing with a beautiful animal that you just destroyed — let alone traveling around the world just to shoot their native wildlife for fun. In this case, shooting a bunch of sheep does not even strike me as challenging. There is simply the thrill of killing beautiful animals.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Former NASA Engineer Sabotages Thieves With Glitter Bomb After Police Refuse To Help [Updated]

A YouTube video has gone viral, showing a former NASA engineer, Mark Rober, who got tired of constantly have delivered boxes stolen from this front door in California. His glitter bomb device is worth watching below but what really drew me to the story was the reason. Like millions of people, we are having holiday gifts delivered and worry about the rising theft rate of such deliveries. If you are wondering why, this story give ample explanation. When Rober called police, they told him that they could not be bothered with such thefts. It is maddening. It seems that we get less and less for our taxes. Police protection is the most basic public function covered by taxes and yet the police simply treat this rising crime trend as none of their business. [Update: In a weird twist, Rober says that he has learned that a couple reactions from the alleged thieves may have been staged without his knowledge by associates. He has removed those scenes.]

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

The Curious Tale Of The Flynn Sentencing Hearing

Below is a column on the Flynn’s sentencing hearing and the curious turn of events in the case. He is now scheduled for a new sentencing hearing in March 2019. Interestingly, while I have repeatedly stated in print and television that Flynn does not deserve sympathy, I have been widely quoted as saying that I have called for such sympathy. My point is simply that there are serious concerns raised by how this interview was handled, including the intentional effort to have Flynn interviewed without counsel. Moreover, it is possible to denounce such false statements without exaggerating the specific crime itself. It is still unclear why Flynn lied when the conversation of such sanctions was not strange or improper. Indeed, the Administration publicly was saying that it wanted a new start with Russia and would reexamine all aspects of the relationship. The hearing however quickly went off the rails. I have a great deal of respect for Judge Emmet Sullivan and have appeared before him on countless occasions. But this hearing took a radical departure from the record and the specific crime being addressed in sentencing.

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Bizarre

“Colonizers Aren’t Praised In Wakanda”: Forever 21 Apologizes And Removes Image Of White Model Wearing Black Panther Sweater

We previously discussed the controversy covered by the New York Times over whether white parents should allow their children to dress as the Black Panther for Halloween. Now, people rise up in anger after Forever 21 used a white model in an advertisement for a Black Panther sweater. Most people would simply observe that the company is selling to people of all races who admire the superhero. Instead, Forever 21 apologized.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media

Giuliani Admits That Trump Did Sign The Previously Stated “Unsigned” Moscow Letter But Calls It All “Bulls**t”

I have previously discussed the problematic advocacy of Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, including repeated corrections of his statements on national television.  The latest correction was to Giuliani’s insistence that, while Trump did continue to discuss a Moscow deal far later than previously claims, the thrust of the deal came down to an “unsigned letter.”  That latest representation lasted only a few hours when the signed letter was found.  Now, Giuliani is saying the letter was signed but it is just “bulls**t.”  Again, I fail to see how this meets the standard of effective and professional representation.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Pushing the Envelope: Man Reportedly Commits Brazen Theft at Airport

It is rare to see a brazen act of theft committed in public but a video shows this man casually taking envelopes of cash containing $9,000 at a security checkpoint in Rome.  The man’s calm demeanor is striking as he takes the money literally from the man behind him going through security.

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Bizarre, Society

San Fran Commission Requires Owner To Rebuild Historic Home That He Demolished Without Approval

There is an interesting decision out of the San Francisco Planning Commission after an owner demolished a famous house without approval.  The Commission clearly believes that Ross Johnston decided it was better to ask forgiveness than permission in tearing down the home known at the Largent House after securing only a permit for renovation.  The response of the Commission is poetic justice: Johnston has been ordered to build the exact house that he tore down and put up a plaque giving the history of the house and its demolition. 

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Society

American University’s Yoga Group Disbanded After Cultural Appropriation Charge

I have been critical of the widening charges of cultural appropriation and microaggressions on our campuses as statements and even programs are targeted with little resistance from faculty or administrators.  We previously discussed how yoga classes were denounced in Ottawa as cultural appropriation. Now American University in Washington has become embroiled in the same charge after a single student objected to white individuals performing an Indian epic as part of university’s Bhakti yoga group. American University student Maya Krishnan seems to believe that the school should limit performances on the basis of race and national origin — and that objection appears to have succeeded with the dissolution of the group as well as the resignation of the group’s faculty adviser, student president and vice president.

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Bizarre, Columns, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

“Let’s Just Send A Couple Of Guys Over”: Comey Admits Another Violation Of Department Protocol and Policy

Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the recent admission by James Comey that he intentionally circumvented the White House Counsel and Justice Department protocol to send two agents to interview then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.  It is a subject that will hopefully be raised this week when Comey appears again before Congress on Monday. Comey describes his sudden realization that he could “get away with” sending “a couple guys over” to the White House. Comey’s epiphany could be his epitaph. 

Here is the column:

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Putin On The Rap: Russian President Says Rap Will Not Be Banned But “Directed” By The State

For an authoritarian leader like President Vladimir Putin, this may seem like the height of liberalism.  Putin told cultural advisers  that the rising popularity of rap music will, not be banned by rather “we must lead it and direct it.”  It is not clear what Putin rap might sound like but it is clearly going to be something Stalin rather than Solzhenitsyn would dance to.  We all know what Soviet central planning did to the economy.  We can now watch the same magic of centrally planned rap music.

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Bizarre, International, Religion

“Satan Is Sitting Inside Them”: Russian Orthodox Priest Under Review After Violent Baptism
Ilia Semiletov will face a church court and could be struck off after he was seen three times forcing the naked child's head in the font in Yessentuki, south west Russia

I am sorry but it really seems like Father Ilia Semiletov has some issues and it is really not a little Satanic girl. The Russian orthodox priest is under review after the shocking videotape below where he is shown violently pushing a little girl into a baptismal font to remove the Satan within her.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International

Quebec Theater Fined In For Actor Lighting Fake Cigarette On Stage

One could imagine a number of things that might draw the attention, if not the ire, of aspiring censors in Quebec in the performance of Conversations avec mon pénis, starting with the woman dressed as a giant penis.  However, the $500 fine levied against the theater was for Marc-André Thibault sitting next to the giant penis while he smoked a fake cigarette on stage.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Media

British Ads Barred in 2019 From Showing Any Form Of Gender Stereotype

We have previously discussed how Great Britain has embraced the “nanny state” in regulating speech and conduct that are deemed unhealthy or inimical to good social policy.  The latest example are new rules to take effect in 2019 the will ban sexist or gender stereotypes from advertising. This includes showing men or women in gender stereotypical activities because such images are deemed to contribute to pay inequality or psychological harm.

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