We have been following how universities across the country have seen an increase in claims of “micro aggressions” and impermissible “cultural appropriation” (here and here). Now that tension has become physical at San Francisco State University after student Bonita Tindle reportedly attacked a white student named Cory Goldstein for wearing dreadlocks. The claim seems to capture the race to bottom on campuses where an ever widening array of words or symbols are declared racially or culturally insensitive. However, this was so bizarre, I checked to confirm that it was not an early April Fool’s joke. Yet, various news organizations are reporting it and a YouTube video shows the attack.
Category: Society
There is a curious class action lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco that seeks an order to force movie studios to use a minimum of an R rating for movies depicting the smoking of tobacco. The lawsuit filed by Timothy Forsyth and others strikes me as entirely meritless. The lawsuit cites various movies like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as warranting an R rating. Not all that gruesome decapitations and gouging mind you. It is the fact that characters like Gandalf smoke.
The Iranian Supreme Court has again shocked the world with the application of the medieval Islamic Sharia law. In the most recent case, the court literally ordered “an eye for any eye” in sentencing a man (identified only as 28-year-old Saman) have his eye gouged out in retribution for blinding another man.
There is a story out this week that shows just how porous our borders have become and how relatively little is done against repeated offenders who smuggle people over the border. Efrain Delgado-Rosales, 35, was sentenced to five years in jail by a federal judge in San Diego for bringing an illegal alien into the U.S. for financial gain. However, the case reveals that Delgado-Rosales, an abusive and dangerous smuggler who is believed to have conspired to rob undocumented immigrants, had been arrested 24 times dating back to 1999. That’s right, 24 times.
Just when you thought that this campaign season could not get more weird, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with misdemeanor battery over allegations he grabbed the arm of then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. A video does in fact show Lewandowski grabbing the arm of Fields though it seemed to pass fairly quickly (though Fields showed a bruise left in the aftermath). Most people would not view the encounter as battery and the delay in reporting the alleged crime may be raised at trial. That might not matter for the misdemeanor charge given the definition, as discussed below. The video is also below.
Russia under Vladimir Putin has seen a dramatic rollback of civil liberties, including free speech and free press. The government has little tolerance for anyone voicing opposition views, but the most recent action after a board game reached a new low for the Putin regime. The game is Kolejka or “Queue” which widely popular as a type of “Communist Monopoly.” It requires players to fight for limited resources under the prior Polish communist regime. In an ironic move, the Putin regime has banned the game for its critical depiction of communism — thereby showing the striking similarity between Putin’s regime and the one depicted in the game.
Continue reading “Putin Government Reportedly Bans “Communist Monopoly” Game As “Anti-Russian””
Japan continues to defy the world in its slaughtering of whales despite international prohibitions and a 2014 ruling of the International Court of Justice that its claim of “scientific research” is transparently fraudulent. The latest outrage involved the killing of 333 minke whales on a four-ship, 115-day expedition — death toll that included 200 pregnant females.
Continue reading “Japanese Fleet Kills 333 Whales Including 200 Pregnant Females”
ISIS-linked extremists in Yemen has reportedly carried out their threat to crucify a captured priest, Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, after he was taken hostage during a massacre at a Catholic home. Some 15 people were killed on March 4th after four Islamic extremists posed as visiting family members and then murdered the occupants, including four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard. Also, in Pakistan, at least 70 people are dead in an ISIS attack during the Easter holiday that targeted a playground filled with mothers and children. A Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has sworn allegiance to ISIS, took “credit” for the Easter bombing — using bombs loaded with ball bearings to maximize the killing of the children and mothers gathered in the park for the holiday. Islamic extremists who are willing to riot and kill for any slight of their religion have little problem with targeting religious buildings and holidays of other faiths. While such inconsistencies are hardly surprising for a group willing to crucify priests and shoot elderly nuns, the belief that such grotesque acts please Allah remains inconceivable to most people.
It has been fascinating to watch the rapid political and economic changes favoring the legalization of marijuana, including the growth of a market worth billions in sales and taxes. The most recent polling by Associated Press and the University of Chicago has found a record-high percentage of Americans — 61 percent.
Continue reading “Poll: Sixty-One Percent of Americans Favor Legalization of Marijuana”
Saudi Arabia UN Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi has finally resolved the rather glaring inconsistency of the Kingdom demanding elections in Syria while denying full elections to Saudi Arabians. The reason is simple according to Al-Mouallimi: Saudi citizens are the happiest in the world and would not want a democratic choice.
Happy Easter to all of our bloggers and readers that are celebrating today. The bunny came to the Turley house and left baskets overflowing with chocolates and candies. He even left a basket for Luna overflowing with dog treats. We were in Chicago all week and returned to Virginia a day early so it was good that the bunny found us. He must have been up really really really late. He left riddles for the kids like “what gets bigger the more you remove from it?” (Answer below)
A 12-year-old girl, Breana Evans, from Milwee Middle School outside of Orlando, Florida was arrested and booked after she allegedly pinched a boy’s butt in school as part of a popular game. While the boy did not want to press charges, the boy’s mother reportedly insisted on criminal charges being brought against the girl.
We have been discussing how colleges and universities are expanding the range of micro aggressions and hostile or hate speech to troubling levels in terms of free speech and associational rights. Now the expression of political views in the presidential election has been added to speech that students have declared threatening. Someone at Emory chalked the name of Republican candidate Donald Trump around campus. Nothing unusual about that. Students often chalk up statements on sidewalks for causes or candidates. It would not be seen as in any way unusual and the next rain brings a clean slate. However, the statement of support for Trump has led to a protest calling for the supporter to be punished or expelled and for the President to express condemnation of such political affiliations. The students want a statement of support for Trump to be treated as the same as the writing of a swastika. The students have said that they feel threatened in the wake of the statements of political support for Trump.
Continue reading “Emory To Identify Those Who Chalked Support For Trump On Sidewalks and Walls”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has issued an unanimous opinion overturning a district court that had forfeited $271,080 in cash seized by the federal government, even though owners brothers, Pedro and Abraham Cruz-Hernandez, were never criminally charged. Pedro and Abraham contested the forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 983(a) and submitted affidavits attesting that the money is their joint savings. The entire panel rejected the decision of United States District Judge Joan B. Gottschall to uphold the abusive forfeiture. Judge Diane Wood (left) wrote the opinion below for the Court. I wrote a column on the increasing use of our roads by police to mine for cash and property to seize from vehicles. We have also discussed this trend in various blog columns.
383rd District Judge Mike Herrera apparently sees nothing wrong in his action that led to a sanctioning by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. Herrera kept his own divorce case on his docket for months but insists that it “made no difference” that the case was before him even though he was one of the litigants. In reality, there may have not been any action taken but Herrera’s utter failure to see the conflict (and appearance) issues is rather shocking. The case itself shows a real mess in representation and conflicting accounts.
Continue reading “Texas Judge Sanctioned After Keeping His Own Divorce On His Docket”