Police say that it was not hard to track down Paul Terry, 27, who allegedly forced his way into an Oklahoma man’s apartment and robbed him at knifepoint. The victim described one of the two attackers as having horns and the words “F**k Cops” on his forehead. That tends to stick in the mind of most witnesses at the scene . . . and most officers on the beat.
Continue reading “OK, Take Your Time, Can You Identify That Man Who Robbed You?”
There is going “Full Monty” and now going full postal. Wisconsin mailman David A. Goodman, 52, was arrested after stripping naked to deliver mail to a law firm. He insisted that he did so to cheer up a secretary at the firm. However this was one package delivery that the firm declined and Goodman is now looking at lewd and lascivious behavior. The good news is that such a citation carries a $681 fine. If Goodman is looking for a more open recipient to such deliveries that may want to apply to be the postman for Mark Mertz in Massachusetts.
Continue reading “Junk Mail: “Mailman Dave” Arrested After Delivering Mail To Law Firm Naked”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Following his arrest this week for alleged securities fraud, Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli resigned his office.
Turing garnered infamy for the 5000 percent price increase of Daraprim, a $13.50 medication indicated for patients requiring treatment of Toxoplasma gondii–an opportunistic pathogen afflicting the immune-compromised such as AIDS patients. Monthly treatment cost now associated with the drug can be upwards of seventy-five thousand dollars. See previous articles HERE and HERE.
Interim CEO Ron Tiles thanked the 32-year-old for “helping us build Turing Pharmaceuticals into the dynamic research-focused company it is today.”
Continue reading “Embattled Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli Resigns”
Rabbi Mendel Epstein, 70, of Brooklyn was convicted this week in a bizarre series of crimes where he and others kidnapped and beat Orthodox Jewish men who refused to grant their wives religious divorces or “gets.” He was to 10 years in prison, a relatively light sentence given multiple kidnapping and beatings ordered by Epstein. The attackers were paid by women to force “gets” out of their husbands. That makes this a religious-based form of organized crime.
A former police officer who may have tazed a man as many as 28 times has been acquitted by a federal jury to the surprise of many who have followed the case of former Oglala Sioux Tribe police officer Rebecca Sotherland. Sutherland, 33, is shown below tazing Jefferson Eagle Bull, 32, who had reportedly drunk of gallon of vodka and passed out in Manderson, South Dakota. Manderson is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southern South Dakota. Sotherland faced three criminal charges including “deprivation of constitutional rights, assault with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of a federal investigation by filing a false report.
Continue reading “Officer in South Dakota Acquitted After Tazing Man On The Ground 28 Times”
For months, Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager who took over a pharmaceutical company and raised the cost of a critical drug more than fiftyfold, has been the face of corporate greed and immoral business practices. He may soon has a record to go along with his well-earned reputation. Shkreli was arrested on a seven-count indictment alleging that he fraudulently induced investors to invest in two separate funds and misappropriated Retrophin’s assets to satisfy Shkreli’s personal and professional debts. Presumably, if convicted, the judge will not (despite natural temptations) enhance his sentence 50 times simply because he want a higher profits penalty curve.
Civil libertarians have long been critical of the German speech crimes, including the prohibition on any Nazi symbols. Not only have the laws not had any discernible impact on the neo-Nazi movement but they actually make these extremists into victims and force them further underground. The laws also lead to bizarre cases like the arrest of a German man for a cellphone ringtone of Hitler. The latest case is out of Oranienburg where German politician Marcel Zech was arrested due to a tattoo spotted on his back at a pool.
Continue reading “German Politician Arrested After Being Spotted At Pool With Death Camp Tattoo”
Juries generally comes to reasonable results in my view and tend to get cases right despite the criticism that one reads in the media or popular culture. However, there are cases that leave me baffled. Often this is due to the fact that not all facts have been reported accurately, but some are left a mystery. One such case is out of London this week where a jury spent just 30 minutes to acquit Saudi millionaire Ehsan Abdulaziz, 46, of rape. Abdelaziz’s defense? he accidentally tripped, fell on her, and may have penetrated her by mistake.
President Obama once pledged that his government would be the most transparent in history — a claim that is often mocked by civil libertarians and other critics who accuse him of almost Nixonian secrecy policies and inclinations. That troubling record is playing out again before U.S District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Administration continues to fight to withhold over 2,000 images of torture and abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan simply because it would make the United States look bad. Ironically, there is a transparent element to this case. Few Administration have been so transparently obvious in their use of classification rule to simply bar the disclosure of information that would be embarrassing to officials or the government. Usually, the Justice Department attempts to spin a tale of some other national security rationale for non-disclosure. Here, however, there is nothing even plausible to come up with. The Obama Administration simply wants to deep six the photos because people would be really angry if they saw what the government did, including photos that are believed to be far worse than those Abu Ghraib (like the one above).
We have been discussion how England has seen the rise of calls for speech prosecutions. The trend appears to be accelerating under David Cameron. While seen across Europe, this trend has been especially pronounced free speech rights in the Westin England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). In one of the most vivid examples of the decline of free speech in England, an evangelical preacher named James McConnell, 78, from Northern Ireland has been charged criminally for calling Islam “satanic.” The preacher is charged with spreading a “grossly offensive” message for what should be considered (and protected) as religious and political speech.
Continue reading “Preacher In Northern Ireland Arrested For Calling Islam Satanic In Sermon”
Our close Asian ally, Thailand, continues to crush both free speech and political dissent under its draconian criminal code. Mechanic Thanakorn Siripaiboon, 27, is facing a potential of 37 years for allegedly insult King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, by “liking” a humorous photoshopped photo of the King’s dog and passing it along to his over 600 “friends.” That’s all it take in Thailand to face 37 years in jail . . . insulting the King’s dog. It is all part of what is called lèse-majesté governing royal insults but this is the first known extension of the law to royal pets.
Continue reading “Thai Mechanic Faces 37 Years For “Liking” Spoof Photo Of King’s Dog”
Dekalb police are admitting this week that “we made a mistake” but that does not seem to capture full extent of the blunder perpetrated by three officers who mistakenly entered the home of Chris and Leah McKinley in response to a 911 call. Not only did the officers enter the wrong home, but they proceeded to shoot the family dog, then shoot the unarmed father, and then shoot one of their own officers.
Senior Chinese official Lu Wei has made news this week by assuring the world that there is no censorship in China. He should know, Lu is the chief censor in China. If you cannot believe a government censor, who can you believe?
Continue reading “Chinese Censor Assures World That There Is No Censorship In China”
We have been following the expanding market pressures in favor of legalization of marijuana in the United States. Now a new study seems to support those who have argued that legalization is a powerful economic lift for the Colorado economy. It appears that the powder on the slopes is less of a draw than the pot for tourists.
We have another unnerving case of a recent convert to Islam allegedly turning quickly to involvement in terrorism. Enrique Marquez, 24, legally purchased the AR-15 rifles that his neighbor San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik used to kill 14 people and injure 21 others. Police say that former security guard Marquez had recently converted to Islam and was part of the planning for the attack but got cold feet after the arrests in a nearby town of terrorism suspects in an unrelated case. He will initially face gun charges since he transferred the weapons to the couple after serving as the purchaser.