The World Scrabble Championship was rocked by controversy this year when Chollapat Itthi-Aree, from Thailand, demanded officials take Ed Martin, an IT consultant from London, to the toilet for a strip search. The contraband was the letter “G”, which went mysteriously missing in the match.
Continue reading ““Strip Search” Worth 18 or a Lawsuit? Scrabble Competition Rocked By Controversy Over Missing G”
Category: Criminal law
The Secret Service recently stopped a threat to First Lady Michele Obama during her trip to Cape Town, South Africa while sitting in her five-star hotel. They promptly called authorities to confront the culprit: the HMS Edinburgh. The agents were alarmed that the British war ships had its Sea Dart missiles turned toward the hotel . . . and the First Lady. The Secret Service is infamous for overreacting but this really takes the cake. Of course, no one will be disciplined for such an insulting and moronic objection.
Continue reading “Did The HMS Edinburgh Just Try To Murder The First Lady?”
a new book is making a shocking claim that Vincent van Gogh might did not commit suicide in 1898 but was in fact killed by a local boy named Rene Secretan. In “Van Gogh: The Life,” Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith suggest that van Gogh was shot by Secretan and then lied to protect the boy.
Continue reading “Was Van Gogh Murdered?”
A new Gallup poll just released shows a record number of Americans want marijuana legalized — 50 percent of those polled. This comes days after the prestigious California Medical Association called for legalization and regulation of pot like alcohol. Nevertheless, the Obama Administration has continued the aggressive position of the prior Administration in raiding marijuana shops and prosecuting people for federal drug violations.
Continue reading “Gallup: Half of Americans Now Support Legalization of Marijuana”
We have yet another case of an officer threatening to arrest a citizen for filming him in public. In the perfect libertarian nightmare, the officer was threatening a Ron Paul supporter who he had accused of distracting traffic with his sign in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Officer Threatens Ron Paul Supporter With Arrest for Filming Him in Public”
California’s largest doctor group has called for legalization of marijuana. Despite its remaining uncertainty over marijuana’s medical benefits, the Trustees of the California Medical Association (representing more than 35,000 physicians statewide) adopted the policy last week and called for marijuana to be regulated in the same fashion as alcohol.
Continue reading “California Medical Association Calls For Legalization Of Marijuana”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
As an undergraduate I learned the wisdom of management guru, Peter Drucker, who reminded us that, “Efficiency is doing things right; but effectiveness is doing the right thing.” True words, indeed, but I wonder how Professor Drucker would explain Franklin, Tennessee native, Mark Burgen.
Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I was surprised when I read an article yesterday that reported the news of an indictment that was handed down in Jackson County, Missouri. You may be asking what is unusual about one more indictment in the State of Missouri? The news worthy aspect of this indictment is the person and organization that was indicted. The Grand Jury in Jackson County indicted the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as well as its Bishop, Bishop Robert Finn! Continue reading “CATHOLIC BISHOP INDICTED”
As I and others were celebrating last night at the home of Irish Ambassador Michael Collins, there was one Irish lawyer who could not attend: Pat Finucane. Finucane was gunned down in front of his wife and three children in a savage murder in in Belfast in 1989. His family was crushed this week in a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron when he told them that he was blocking a public inquiry into the death — linked to a police informant. Instead, Cameron said he would ask a lawyer to look into the matter.
Continue reading “PM Cameron Blocks Inquiry Into Killing of Irish Lawyer Pat Finucane”
With Barack Obama refusing to allow the investigation, let alone the prosecution, of CIA employees or Bush Administration officials for our torture program, human rights and civil liberties groups are calling on Canada to fulfill international obligations and arrest George Bush on his planned visit to that country.
We may be watching civil liberties and federal programs fall like leaves in Montpelier, but Senator Patrick Leahy (D, Vt.) is moving aggressively to address the need for yet another federal crime . . . the crime mislabeling products as containing maple syrup. That’s right, despite criticism of the over-criminalization of America (here and here and here), we need to add a federal law on maple syrup mobsters.
Continue reading “Ending Molasses Mayhem: Leahy Moves To Make False Labeling of Maple Syrup A Crime”
We have been following the lawsuit against the FBI after an agent destroyed a $750,000 Ferrari on what was described as a joyride. FBI agent Fred Kingston was accused of taking out a stolen 1995 Ferrari F50 — one of only 50 such cars in the United States. Kingston was instructed to move the car from the FBI garage and so Kingston reportedly called Assistant US Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson to come along for the ride. The agent ended up crashing the car — causing $750,000 but now the Justice Department insists that it is not liable for the damage. This week the court agreed and dismissed the case — leaving the FBI with little deterrent for the negligent damage to private property. There has been no mention of any discipline for Kingston — beyond having to drive his own car. As for the prosecutor, his office prevailed in establishing a rule that even a joyride fits within the discretion of the government.
Police are searching for two men shown below after a shocking video was posted on the Internet showing an attack on a woman at a strip mall in Sacramento. The attackers wanted to show others how they attacked this woman — listing the credit first as “Dylan G The Kid” and later as “Rhekidd.” Here is the video.
Continue reading “Sacramento Police Search For Men Who Beat Disabled Woman on Video”
. Joseph Sun, the actor who played Random Task in the first Austin Powers film, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, has outdone himself. Serving for life for one felony count of torture, Sun is now accused of murdering his prison cellmate, a sex offender at the Wasco State Prison.
Continue reading “Random Task: Austin Powers Actor Charged With Murder of Cellmate”
As complaints rise over mass arrests by Boston police in the Occupy Boston protests, Mayor Thomas Menino decided to add a rather draconian note by announcing ” “Civil disobedience will not be tolerated.” It was a moment reminiscent of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announcing in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests that “the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”
Continue reading “Boston Mayor: Civil Disobedience Will Not Be Tolerated”