Two crew members of an Icelandic fishing vessel have caused a global outrage after they filmed themselves hacking off the tail of a shark and then laughing as they threw it into the river. The disturbing video captures the utter cruelty of the men as they enjoy the scene of a suffering creature trying to swim without a tail.
Continue reading “Icelandic Fishermen Under Fire After Posting Cruel Video of Mutilated Shark”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on three unanswered and troubling questions for Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The concerns over Mueller’s motivations was heightened by the justifications that he has offered for some of his decisions like not reaching a conclusion on the weight of the evidence on obstruction. Many of us view Mueller’s rationale (based on the DOJ policy not to indict a sitting president) to be not just unprecedented but illogical. Putting aside my long disagreement with the argument that a president is immune from indictment, that policy (and the underlying memos) say nothing about a Special Counsel reaching conclusions on the evidence of possible criminal acts. Indeed, that is the core purpose of a Special Counsel. If one rejects the rationales of Mueller, you are left with a question of motivation in maintaining these positions.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Mueller’s Lack Of Explanations Raises New Questions of His Motivations On Three Key Decisions”
We have previously discussed the violence and discrimination faced by girls and women in some Muslim countries. Nusrat Jahan Rafi, 19, is the latest such victim after she was burned to death. Her offense was reporting a sexual assault by Headmaster Siraj Ud Doula at her Islamic school, or madrassa. Sixteen people are accused of engaging in the conspiracy to murder this girl in Bangladesh.
Continue reading “Girl At Islamic School Accuses Headmaster of Assault . . . Mob Then Burns Girl To Death”
For years, we have discussed the unrelenting attacks on free speech in Europe with the expansion of hate speech laws and the general criminalization of speech, including international speech crimes. Some in the United States would like to follow down that dangerous path (and universities are reinforcing the view of the need to regulate speech). The implications of such anti-speech policies are evident in Germany where a survey, conducted by the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach(and published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) found that only 18 percent of Germans feel free to express their views in public. It is the most vivid example of how Europeans are learning to live without free speech. Undeterred, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the successor to Angela Merkel, is now calling on greater limits on free speech during election periods — a concept that would normally be viewed as counterintuitive outside of the new European model.
Continue reading “Poll: Only 18 Percent Of Germans Feel Free To Voice Views In Public”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on why Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not want to testify in public. Mueller clearly had trouble explaining why he was refusing to reach a conclusion on obstruction in a meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. It could be a hundred times more difficult — and embarrassing — before a congressional committee.
Mueller failed to perform the most basic function of a special counsel to reach conclusions on possible criminal conduct. After accepting the job as Special Counsel, Mueller basically decided not to be a special counsel with respect to this core responsibility. It was like watching Bodexpress run in the Preakness without a rider. My first reaction to both scenes was: can he do that? The answer in both cases is it is possible but this is not how it is done. The Special Counsel is mandated to find possible evidence of criminal conduct. Period.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Why Mueller May Be Fighting A Public Hearing”
Below is my column for BBC on the Assange espionage charges. As I have written, I believe that Attorney General Bill Barr is dead wrong on these charges — a view apparently shared by at least two of the prosecutors on the team. Until now, President Donald Trump’s disturbing rhetoric against the media has been disconnected from actual moves against the media with the exception of suspending press passes or changing rules for the White House press corp. This is a quantum leap in the wrong direction. Indeed, this prosecution could easily become the most important press case since John Peter Zenger.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Assange Case Could Prove The Most Important Press Case In 300 Years”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Every year in reading of the human experience, individuals continue to reinforce the notion that while intelligence has its limits, stupidity knows no bounds. But today’s case-study imports an existential question into the latter element: Stupidity can be so self-actualized, that it succeeds in preventing procreation, thus constraining the bounds of inheritable haplessness.
It all began simply enough–a felon reportedly stuffed a pistol into the front pocket of his pants and shot himself in the testicles. And yes, the story does get worse for him.
Continue reading “Most Hapless Felon Ever”
Bill Barr has been (in my opinion) wrongly attacked for many of his actions with regard to the Special Counsel Report. Indeed, I defended his decisions in print and I testified in favor of his confirmation. I still believe that he is an excellent choice for Attorney General. However, on the charges against Julian Assange, he is wrong. Dead wrong. As I stated in a recent column, the use of the Espionage Act strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Now, the Washington Post is reporting that two prosecutors involved in the Wikileaks case argued against the new charges.
Continue reading “Bill Barr Is Wrong On Assange”
The NYPD is still looking for all but one of these teens. This picture shows a group of teenagers who allegedly were harassing and abusing an elderly couple. A 38-year-old firefighter was driving by and stopped to tell the group to stop harassing the elderly couple. The teenagers proceeded to attack the unidentified firefighter, resulting in several broken teeth and a concussion. Yesterday, the police arrested Damir Johnson, 17, was charged with one count of second-degree assault. They are looking for the other five.
Continue reading “Teen Arrested In Attack On Elderly Couple and Firefighter”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference today that left far more questions than she answered . . . except for some members of the press. While CNN asked the more obvious question of why Pelosi keeps saying that Trump is committing impeachable acts but barring impeachment, the other reporters quickly moved to softball questions and the short time ran out, as did Pelosi. However, Pelosi did reaffirm that Trump should not be impeached because he wants it too much. That is consistent with those other principled stances like (1) serial killers should not be arrested if police think that they really want to be caught; (2) suicide jumpers should not be stopped if they really want to be rescued; and (3) bulimia victims should be given more food if you think that they just want you to intervene. The original question is still the operative question: if Trump is committing crimes and a cover up, as Pelosi alleges, why does it matter what Trump wants as opposed to what the Constitution says.
Continue reading “Pelosi Reaffirms No Impeachment . . . Because Trump Wants To Be Impeached”
France appears to be launching a crackdown on the free press with the same vigor it has shown in destroying free speech guarantees in the nation famous for its 1784 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of all the Citizen. Recently, we discussed how the French government was criminally investigating journalists who uncovered false statements by French officials on the country’s role in the war in Yemen. Now, a senior reporter at the renowned French Le Monde has been called in for questioning after Ariane Chemin revealed that a security aide to President Emmanuel Macron has been summoned for questioning by the domestic intelligence service.
Continue reading “France Continues Crackdown On Journalists”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is reportedly planning to travel to Israel and use the trip to sign a bill that imposes a sweeping anti-Semiticism law that raises serious free speech implications. Florida and other states are enacting a bill being duplicated through the country that would ban statements that “making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective.” I have previously raised my concerns over the curtailment of free speech from such laws as well as bans on support for boycotts of Israel. While courts have struck down the boycott laws, supporters are still trying to curtail speech under ill-defined hate speech models. Recently, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations called for an international ban on anti-Semitic speech.
Continue reading “Florida To Impose Sweeping Anti-Semitism Ban On Florida Schools”
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 here). Now France is adding an attack on the free press that parallels its growing intolerance for free speech. A reporter from Radio France and the co-founders of Paris-based investigative news organization Disclose are under criminal investigation for their reporting on France’s role in the war in Yemen with the use of leaked secret documents. In the United States, such journalism could get you the Pulitzer. In France, it could get you prison.
Continue reading “France Investigates Journalists For Exposing Alleged Lies About War In Yemen”
We have occasionally discussed false rape cases but the prosecution of Brittany Sorey, 30, has a tragic and novel twist. After the mother of six children fabricated a rape claim, a suspect was killed in confrontation with one of Sorey’s friend.
Continue reading “Florida Man Killed After Being Falsely Implicated In Rape”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the increasingly dramatic events on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the release of the Special Counsel Report.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Have The Democrats Jumped The Shark On Impeachment?”