I have previously expressed my disgust over trophy hunting game like lions and elephants — people who post accounts of the thrill of killing a giraffe or rhino with a high-powered rifle. I simply do not understand the joy or power felt in these thrill kills. Nothing however quite prepared most of us for Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer. Fischer shared photos of his hunting trip in Africa where he posed with a photo of a entire “family of baboons,” including a baby, that Fischer massacred with a recurve bow. He gleefully reported that, while you are charged for killing large animals, “Baboons are free.”
Category: Bizarre
Anna Ayers, a student at Ohio University and a member of the OU student senate, recently caused an uproar at the university after saying that she received threatening messages, including a death threat, due to being part of the LGBTQ community. Police now say that Ayers made the entire thing up and have arrested her for “making false alarms.” That wording seemed a bit curious so I went to the state code, which indeed has a provision that departs from the usual language of a false police report. Continue reading “Ohio University Student Arrested After Making False Claims Of Threatening Messages Due To LGBTQ Status”
I have previously discussed my opposition to sugary drink bans or prohibitive taxation schemes in Chicago and New York. While Cook County reluctantly yielded to public opinion and court decisions recently, other cities have continued to penalize the unhealthy choices of consumers. Now England is considering a measure to put a calorie count on pizza, ready meals and sandwiches to combat obesity. As you might expect, I feel the same way about this measure as a denial of individual choice despite the undeniable well-intentioned purpose of the measure. It is the type of law only a Little Caesar would relish . . . other than the pizza chain of course.
In one of the most bizarre (and frankly demeaning) moments for the White House, President Donald Trump invited Kanye West into the Oval Office for what became an unhinged and profane rave sessions in front of the world’s press. As with the high-level visits with a Kardashian to talk policy, these sessions have a freak show quality more fitting a reality show than the Oval Office. For anyone who reveres that office, West raving about how he is a “crazy motherf***er” is an utter disgrace. Not to be outdone, CNN proceeded to demean news coverage by racing to the bottom on the story with April Ryan.
Continue reading “West Wing-Nut: Kanye’s Visit To Oval Office Leads To Unhinged and Demeaning Rave”
Kuwait has continued to remind the world that, despite its advances in the modern world, it remains a religiously orthodox government imposing medieval values on its population. That fact was on display this week as the government banned such works as “The Little Mermaid” and Michelangelo’s David as unIslamic or indecent. Sounds Orwellian? Perhaps but Kuwaiti’s would not know it . . . Orwell’s masterpiece “1984” was also banned.
Continue reading “Kuwait: We Are Not Orwellian . . . We Banned Orwell”
Idaho Republican lieutenant governor candidate Bob Nonini has triggered a firestorm after saying that women who get an abortion should be criminally prosecuted and indicated that that could include the death penalty. If it seems a tad conflicted to execute someone in the name of being pro-life, Nonini seems to be still trying to thread that needle with a later effort to walk back from his comments.
The Clintons are back. Despite Democratic members belatedly (by about two decades) denouncing Bill Clinton for the host of women who accused him of sexual assault and rape and the growing unpopularity of Hillary Clinton, Democrats are again putting the couple on the campaign trail in one of the most critical midterm elections in history. Just as the Democratic leadership does not seem to change, neither does the playbook or players. I just do not get it. Hillary has already made headlines in distinguishing her husband’s sexually abusive history by saying these cases were “thoroughly investigated” even though the couple did everything possible to stop such investigations and Democrats remained largely silent despite corroborating evidence from these women. In a remarkably uncritical and relatively passive interview, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour did not seem at all concerned about a strange claim by Clinton that she won the vote of women voters while dismissing white women as opposed to Democratic candidates or values. For those who are looking for a blue wave, the high-profile speaking tour of the Clintons cannot be good news given their continuing polarizing impact in polls. As Democrats seeks to build on the MeToo anger in the aftermath of the Kavanaugh hearings, the Clintons remind voters of the obvious hypocrisy in how Democrats handled the Bill Clinton accusations. Continue reading “Hillary Clinton Dismisses White Women Voters As Lost Cause While Calling For The End Of Civility Toward Republicans”
I have been critical of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on social media and the campaign trail. The attacks are often personal and, in my view, often unsettling. That was the case yesterday at an Iowa rally where the crowd chanted “Lock her up, lock her up” after Trump taunted ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) over the leaking of a letter from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. It is a chilling development in a mass rally to have supporters calling for the jailing of Trump’s political opponents. That is not what this country represents and should be condemned by Democratic and Republican leaders alike. Continue reading “Iowa Rally Chants “Lock Her Up” After Trump Taunts Diane Feinstein”
If John Kerry was swift boated in 2004, the GOP appears to be Swift voted in 2016. In a measure of the power of celebrity status in our culture, Taylor Swift has reportedly caused a massive registration after she endorsed Tennessee Democrats. For the GOP hoping for a “Brett bounce” of Republicans going to the polls (with money pouring in for both parties after the Kavanaugh confirmation), Swift appears to have blunted the impact, particularly in Tennessee, with a single posting on Instagram. We remain a celebrity driven society.
There are some cases that seem right out of a tort exam. This is one. In Kent, Washington, a woman chased her husband outside with a meat tenderizer after an argument. After he crossed a road, she decided to lay down across the road. She was then run over by a drunk driver, who was later arrested. Continue reading “Washington Woman Chases Husband With Meat Tenderizer and Then Lays Across Road . . .Only To Be Run Over By Drunk Driver”
As discussed today, the Kavanaugh nomination unleashed a form of primordial politics that seemed to reach horrifying levels on both sides of personal destruction and no holds barred attacks. No sooner had that column run in the Hill when Ariel Dumas, a writer for CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” declared that “Whatever happens, I’m just glad we ruined Brett Kavanaugh’s life.” It summed up in a Tweet that vicious character of our politics and discourse. Continue reading ““I’m Just Glad We Ruined Brett Kavanaugh’s Life”: Colbert Writer Tweets Out A Celebration Of The Politics Of Personal Destruction”
Let’s just say Samuel Thomas Spadino, 36, might have wanted to wait for a Trump rally on June 16th.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Is Charged With?”
There is a bizarre new rule in Scotland’s Islands Bill that bars mapmakers from showing the island of Shetland in a box. That is a standard approach to allow a large map of Scotland by not having to show the expanse of water between Scotland and Shetland. That made Shetland feel . . . well . . . boxed and isolated. So now the legislature is ordering mapmakers how to make maps — a ridiculous overreach of legislative authority in my view.
Continue reading “New Law Bans Mapmakers From Putting Shetland In A Box”
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and hereand here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. Of course, once you start to criminalize and regulate speech, the appetite for more speech controls becomes increasingly insatiable and ultimately absurd. The latest example in the United Kingdom is a ban ordered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to prevent Costa Coffee from airing a humorous commercial poking fun at avocados.
As I have written previously, I have long been a huge admirer of former Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens — not just for being a fellow Cubs fan. However, I was surprised to see that Stevens broke a long-standing uwritten rule of former and current justices not to speak on pending nominations or confirmations. According to The Palm Beach Post, Stevens spoke publicly at an event with a retirement group that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed. The event was described as “closed” so it is not clear that Stevens realized that he would be quoted, but it was obviously a large crowd setting. Stevens said that the anger and language used by Kavanaugh raises serious questions of his temperament. Continue reading “John Paul Stevens: Don’t Confirm Brett Kavanaugh”