Well, the results are in and weeks of defamatory attacks on our opposing bloggers and the unrestrained use of the politics of personal destruction have paid off: the Turley blog was voted the Number One law professor blog and legal theory blog in the annual survey of the American Bar Association’s survey. Earlier, it was selected as one of the top 100 legal blogs overall. That is not bad for a blog that is only roughly a year old and it is entirely due to our regulars at the cyber bar we called the Turley blog. Your overindulgence, obsessive compulsiveness, and general lack of restraint have made us what we are today, a group of dysfunctional miscreants. But we are now the Number One dysfunctional miscreants in our category. Well done Team Turley (if I may be so bold). Not to overplay the victory, but this is the first key step to total blogosphere domination and eventual control of the time space continuum.
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Now, in the library of curious celebrity defenses, Charles Barkley takes the cake. When stopped for drunk driving in Arizona, Barkley explained that he would not have been speeding except for the need to have oral sex as soon as possible.
Robert Aragon, 55, and Kenneth Quintana (shown left), 29, have been arrested in Idaho for the second-degree murder and felony injury to a child after he allowed 11-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy to attempt a 10-mile walk to their mother’s house on Christmas Day. Sage Aragon, 11 (shown right with Robert Aragon), died in the attempt. A criminal charge is but the case would have been more properly charged as a manslaughter and abuse case. 
While I believe that the efforts in Illinois and Washington to block the Burris appointment are flagrant abuses of power, there is a legitimate reason to decry the choice. It is not due to the presumptively guilty man who appointed him but the clearly innocent man he wanted to kill: Rolando Cruz.
In a little covered story, a former employee of the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey , Ben-Ami Kadish, pleaded guilty to being a spy for Israel and allowing an agent of the Government of Israel, Yossi Yagur, tp photographed secret papers at his home. Yet, he is only facing five years in prison. He spied for Israel from 1979-1985.
Happy New Year to everyone on the Turley blog. This has been an extraordinary first year of the blog which is approaching two million hits annually. The success of the blog is due largely to our regulars who continue to make this one of the smartest and most fun blogs on the web. Even with the invasion by trolls and a few uncivil moments, the blog has remained a special forum for intelligent, civil, and often witty discourse. Our impressive monthly growth (and the obvious irritation of trolls) is a testament to the fact that there remains many people who want to engage in such dialogue. 2008 was our first full year in operation and I am very grateful for the contributions of all of the regulars on this blog. 
There is a shocking tape being reviewed in Brighton, England where two ambulance workers are overheard debating whether Barry Baker, 59, was “worth saving.” The disabled man had collapses in his home and later died.
Mark Jahnke, a former Waunakee High School chemistry teacher, has been found guilty of an interesting offense: videotaping his girlfriend. Jahnke argued that his girlfriend had no expectation of privacy since she consensually exposed herself to him. Two judges disagreed on the Wisconsin appellate court.
Adam C. Weinstein, a firefighter, may want to go with a a simple NYFD tee shirt next time. Weinstein was outside a bar in 2006 when he felt hot, so he took off his sweater. Underneath was a tee shirt with “POLICE” on the back. A Belleville, Missouri Police officer Jeff Vernatti arrested Weinstein for impersonating a police officer. Weinstein is now suing.
Kosher hot dog maker Arnie Zaler may have pulled off his greatest scam. Facing 
A border collie names Quinn was the pride and joy of the Turlock Golf and Country Club in Turlock, California. He was the perfect vehicle, therefore, in the twisted mind of Franco Garcia Aguilar, 21, to express his anger at being laid off as part of the maintenance crew. Aguilar allegedly shot Quinn three times with a 12-gauge shotgun in his kennel on December 16th.
Portland Bishop Richard Malone has issued a rare order banning an advocate for people abused by priests from his services and threatening to issue a rare Interdict — banning Paul Kendrick from the right of communion. The Maine diocese recently released the names of eleven priests in the state with credible allegations of abuse.
A Syracuse man was tasered twice after he failed to turn down his music Christmas morning. Michael Prince, 23, was told at 2 am to turn down the music and was being given a ticket when police say that he tried to run away. 
Former GOP state Assemblyman George C. ”Chris” Ortloff pleaded guilty in federal court this week to a felony charge stemming from his attempt to have sex with two sisters, ages 11 and 12. A former member of the state Parole Board, Ortloff, 61, now faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence and a maximum of life in prison. He was a staunch “tough-on-crime” legislator who called for severe sentences for sex offenders.