A A new discovery may have solved the long-standing mystery of who stole a Willem de Kooning painting worth more than $100 million. The theft in 1985 was a brazen crime by a man and a woman who cut out “Woman-Ochre” from its frame in November 1985. The painting was found a year ago at a home in New Mexico belonging to Jerry and Rita Alter. A newly discovered picture not only puts the couple in Tucson the day before the heist but it shows a striking resemblance to the suspects.
Category: Bizarre
Sweden was the scene of a heist this week that is worthy of Ocean Eleven or The Thomas Crown Affair. A gang of thieves hit the Strangnas Cathedral. The 900-year-old church (located about 50 miles from Stockholm) houses the royal treasure of King Karl IX and Queen Kristina. It was surprisingly easy — a smash and grab followed by a high-speed boat getaway. Continue reading “The Swedish Crown Affair: Treasure Snatched By Gang Of Thieves Outside Stockholm”
There are patdowns and then there are patdowns. This one was particularly memorable for North Carolina sheriffs after they found $100 worth of steaks down the pants of a guy pulled over on a moped. My question is what happened to the ribeyes: evidence locker or spontaneous grill taste and testing? I certainly hope that they did not end up back on the store shelf after being down a guy’s pants as he rode down the highway on a moped.
A controversy is building in the little town of Haddam, Conn. where Selectwoman Melissa Schlag continues to take a knee NFL-Style during the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of meetings. Her protest however is not the treatment of African Americans but to protest President Donald Trump. I have previously stated my personal dislike for such protests during the national anthem and I frankly view this as a bit silly as a forum. However, while I have argued that owners have every right to bar such protests by NFL players as a contractual matter, I believe Schlag has a clear first amendment right to continue her protest as these meetings. Continue reading “Connecticut Official Stirs Controversy By Taking A Knee During Every Pledge Of Allegiance In Council Meetings”
It 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.
New 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.
The 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.
Continue reading “Giant Sphinx Head Discovery In California Desert . . . Calling Mr. DeMille”
The 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”
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”
The 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”
Many 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”
Eric Stagno, 34, insisted that he was only enjoying Planet Fitness’s policy of being a “Judgment Free Zone” . . . when he walked around naked and started doing exercises on the yoga mats.
The 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.”
FDA 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”
In 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”