Sen. Lindsey Graham (R. S.C.) is always good for a sound bite (though civil libertarians are still smarting from “free speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war.”). Now Graham has identified the greatest threat to the GOP: the declining numbers of “angry white guys.”
Continue reading “Help Wanted: Angry White Guys”
Category: Society
There is another claim of excessive force and abuse against officers with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) after two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera (shown below) slamming a nurse, Michelle Jordan, 34, on the ground twice after a traffic stop. Not only is the basis for the action in doubt, but the two officers are shown giving each other a fist bump afterwards.
A Florida appeals court has ruled that George Zimmerman is entitled to a new judge. In a 2-1 decision (below), the Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled Judge Kenneth Lester has to go. Zimmerman accused Lester of “gratuitous, disparaging remarks” he made as part of his bail bond proceedings. Lester accused Zimmerman of “flout[ing] the system” when he failed to report outside donations. That would normally not result in a forced recusal but Florida is one of the states that makes disqualification mandatory when the motion is “legally sufficient.”
There is a bizarre lawsuit this week against Continental Airlines by a gay couple who say that the airline caused them emotional distress after baggage workers removed a dildo and taped it to the outside of their suitcase. Christopher Bridgemann and Martin Borger say that the sex toy was openly displayed to other passengers when they picked up their luggage.
The video below is causing a great deal of public anger showing St Paul officer Jesse Zilge macing, kicking, and hitting suspect Eric Hightower, who is slammed face first on to the hood of a cruiser.
This week the public continued to get signals from our leaders that we may be in for yet another war. This time it would be Iran. In an interview this week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) uttered the words that many peace advocates fear: “regime change.” In response to public moves by Israel to attack Iran “before the U.S. elections,” Lieberman took to the air to assure the public that “we” can defeat Iran and “hope and pray” for a regime change. Sounds tragically familiar.
Continue reading “Lieberman Predicts Victory in War With Iran With A Prayer For “Regime Change””
There is a truly bizarre story about of Nebraska where the parents of three-and-a-half year old Hunter Spanjer have been told that their son is violating the school’s policy against guns in school by making his fingers look like a gun. I have previously written (and here) about the lunacy of zero tolerance rules, including the gun drawing and finger gun violations. The difference in this case is that Hunter is deaf and the motion is the sign language for his name which involves crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand up and down. When the situation was explained to Grand Island Public Schools administrators, they came up with a solution that only a bureaucrat would view as reasonable. According to the parents, they were asked to change their son’s sign name. There is now a Facebook page (shown here) to let Hunter keep his name.
Atlanta math teacher Shayla Smith is now without a job after she allegedly admitted to cheating on tests for students to improve performance of her students, Smith allegedly explained that the illegal assistance was needed because the students were “dumb as hell.”
Ivana Samardzic, 20, is one lucky lady that her trip to Cancun was not shorten to a trip to the can. The Wisconsin juror was supposed to be deliberating a verdict in a felony shooting case when she simply left for the airport to go on vacation, calling the clerk from the airport to say that she left her vote in the jury room and did not want to lose out on the family trip. To the surprise of many, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge JD Watts (shown here) did not jail her for contempt but simply let the 11 member jury decide the case and fined Samardzic $300. The case that Samardzic abandoned involved a wonderfully named defendant, Spartacus Outlaw, who was accused in a felony shooting case.
Continue reading “Wisconsin Juror Fined Just $300 After Abandoning Deliberations To Party In Cancun”
Nagla Wafa, 39, an Egyptian wedding planner and designer, had a simple business dispute with a partner over a cashed check and a joint business venture. The partner says that she cashed a check and reneged on opening a restaurant. It is the type of thing that is standard fare for courts around the world. However, this is Saudi Arabia and the partner was a princess in the Royal family. Wafa was arrested without charge and held for months. She was then belated charged with fraud and sentenced to 500 lashes and five years in prison in a case that has drawn rightful condemnation in Egypt. She is shown here with her two sons.
Judge Elia Cornejo Lopez has been accused by Texas lawyer Nat C. Perez of a rather unique form of abuse: cookie coercion. Perez has filed an unusual motion for recusal that lists, among other complaints, Lopez’s alleged pressure on Perez to buy her daughter’s girl scout cookies. He suggests that a couple boxes of “Thanks-a-lot” would go a long way with Lopez and that he refusal meant he could not “Tag-a-long” in cases. . . but he did get a judicial “Shoutout”
Continue reading “Thanks-A-Lot: Texas Attorney Accuses Judge of Pressuring Him To Buy Girl Scout Cookie”
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has struck down the graphic warning images on cigarette packages in an important opinion on corporate speech rights. I have been a long critic of the images on both constitutional and policy grounds. Previously the Sixth Circuit rejected the same free speech claims.
Continue reading “Graphic Cigarette Labels Struck Down By D.C. Circuit”
Reports now indicate that all nine wounded bystanders in the recent shooting near the Empire State building were shot not by the gunman, Jeffrey Johnson, 58, (left) but by police officers.
Continue reading “All Nine Wounded in New York Were Shot By NYPD Officers”
New York Family Court Judge Bryan Hedges, 65, thought that he had resigned from the bench in Onondaga County in April after allegations that he sexually abuse with 5-year-old deaf niece. However, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct decided to retroactively remove him from the bench and bar him from ever holding a judicial office again in the state of New York despite that fact that the incident occurred 40 years ago and before he become an attorney. It presents an interesting case on the reach of judicial ethics for judges.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
According to Huffington Post, the following 2010 interview that Michael D. Higgins, the current president of Ireland, did with Boston conservative radio talk show host Michael Graham went viral recently.