We recently discussed the arrest warrant issued for Wyndham Lathem and Oxford University Andrew Warren for the murder of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26. They have now been arrested. Lathem, 42, who reportedly left a video of apology for his “big mistake” to his family back in Chicago, reportedly turned himself in in Oakland, California after fleeing with Warren, 56. Warren surrendered in San Francisco.
Continue reading “Northwestern Professor Arrested For Murder With Alleged Accomplice”
Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to discuss a new leak crackdown, but he will have to deal with questions raised by one of the most massive leaks in recent memory. Someone has leaked the entire transcripts of two heated January phone calls with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The conversations are deeply embarrassing for the Administration because they directly contradict statements made by Trump to the public. These transcripts would also be likely classified, making their release a federal offense.
In Great Britain,Wayne Esmonde, 35, is a bit put out. The fugitive is beside himself over the mugshot being posted in the search. The picture is distinctly “unflattering” in his view and he has asked that it be discarded by police.
Continue reading “Fugitive Contacts Police To Object To “Unflattering” Mugshot On Wanted Posters”
Two stories this week show how the views of people can shape and deceive them in the perception of photos. In Minnesota, Black Lives Matter advocates caused an uproar with a picture of what they claimed was the possible lynching of a black man in a St. Paul park. In Norway, anti-immigrant bloggers circulated a photo of what they claimed to be a city bus filled with women in full burkas. The lynching turned out to be the suicide of a middle aged white man and the Muslim women turned out to be empty cars.
Continue reading “The Eye of the Beholder: Two Photos Trigger Racial and Religious Controversies”
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ranian state television presenter Azadeh Namdari is known as an advocate of the strict Iranian dress codes for women that many women have bravely resisted in the authoritarian country. For that reason, a photo of Namdari sitting outside without a hijab and allegedly drinking a beer has caused a firestorm of criticism from both secularists and Islamists.
There is an interesting case out of Australia that will confirm the concerns of many parents over food for young children. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought a legal action against Heinz in June after reviewing a complaint by the Obesity Policy Coalition about the sugar content of the food. The Commission determined that the level of added sugar would qualify the food — which is sold as a “natural” and healthy choice — as a confectionary item like junk food. The focus is a product line called “Little Kids Shredz.”
The Chinese government is searching for a plump counter-revolutionary with a taste for honey and irony. Yes, the Communist regime has banned Winnie the Pooh who is apparently a running dog exploiter bent on turning workers against the one and true Party. The regime learned that the image of Pooh was being used as a surrogate for Xi Jinping as a way of getting around censorship laws (Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo is portrayed as Eeyore). As a result, Pooh and presumably his capitalist overlord Christopher Robin are no longer welcomed in China.
Continue reading “The Chinese Government Moves To Ban The Pooh”
North Korea’s tourism agency is launching a campaign to attract tourists with promises of surfing (and curiously rice planting) despite its murder of Otto Warmbier, 22, who was enticed to North Korea as a tourist and then arrested when he stole a hotel propaganda poster. He was tortured and return to his family years later in a coma (only to die shortly after his return).
Continue reading “North Korea: Come For The Surfing, Stay For The Beatings”
Emily-Jo Banks, 23, has been sentenced to jail in a bizarre case where she framed a man for harassing her with abusive texts for months – texts that the police confirmed that she sent from August to September 2015.
Continue reading “English Woman Sentenced In Hoax Stalking Case”
The Saudi Kingdom is still leading the boycott of Qatar over its support for extremist Islamic groups. However, the Kingdom has not stopped pursuing threats at home with an attack launched against a historic fort. Saudi police are searching for this woman who has shocked the Kingdom by posting images of herself wearing a miniskirt in public. That’s right, the police are pursuing the case brought to them by the infamous Saudi morality police to bring the woman to justice. UPDATE: The Saudis have now arrested the woman in the miniskirt in the latest madness of Saudi extremist values.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh has again made a mockery of his own religion. We previously discussed how the Sunni religious leader banned Muslims from playing chess. Now he is warning that driving is a road to perdition for women and is a “dangerous matter that exposed women to evil.”
Continue reading “Top Saudi Cleric: Driving Will Expose Women To Evil”
Neither Congress nor foreign legislatures have done anything about ridiculous user contracts for services like WiFi or cable that require consumers to sign long agreements with impenetrable legal language and clauses. It is a knowing effort by companies to impose highly disadvantageous terms in mountains of legalese. One company however has vividly demonstrated the scam to its credit. The WiFi company, Purple, inserted language in its standard contract that obligated consumers to clean toilets at festivals and clear sewer blockages. Some 22,000 people signed up.
Continue reading “Thousands Agree To Manually Clean Sewers In User Agreement For WiFi Services”
A tragedy in St. Maarten highlights the perils of assumption of the risk. In St. Maarten a New Zealand tourist has been killed by the blast from a jetliner taking off next to a popular beach. People love to go to the beach to feel the blast of engines and see planes land just overhead (like the YouTube image above of another tourist). The 57-year-old woman tried to cling to a fence — a common practice — but was thrown into a wall with fatal injuries.
Continue reading “Tourist Killed At Popular Beach In St. Maarten By Airplane Blast”
Today the world lost one of its most inspiring and courageous figures. On Thursday, Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Prize recipient and Chinese intellectual, has died at 61 of cancer. The Chinese government defied the world in keeping Liu under custody as part of its authoritarian, one-party rule. Liu kept the memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre alive when the government has sought to wipe out any evidence that the protests even occurred. He was a tireless defender for civil liberties in a country that rejects the most basic principles of human rights and civil liberties. He declined numerous opportunities to leave the country and live in freedom. He was the ultimate Chinese patriots and the Chinese government has reaffirmed that it remains a blood-soaked dictatorship. Some day freedom will come to China and the Chinese people will learn of people like Liu who died for their liberty and their future.
Continue reading “Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo Dies In Chinese Custody”
I have been discussing the dubious claims of criminal liability over the meeting of Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. As I have mentioned, there is a legitimate reason to investigate this latest undisclosed meeting, though the overheated rhetoric on possible (if not imminent) criminal charges is bizarre. This morning on CNN, Sen. Richard Blumenthal raised possible charges of espionage and treason. Putting aside the facially weak foundation for such charges, I must again note that the underlying narrative around this meeting remains rather speculative and unbelievable. I have worked on the legal side of national security investigations for decades in both espionage and terrorism cases. As I said when this meeting first surfaced, none of this makes sense as an actual Russian intelligence operation as opposed to a rather transparent “bait-and-switch.” If this is a Russian spy mystery, it hardly makes for a sequel of Le Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”