Not that Adam Smith. But Birmingham Mail’s Adam Smith (also known as Steve Zacharanda) may be an even bigger sensation with his drunken YouTube appearance where he admits to plagiarizing from the BBC, chasing women, and then resigns with a “F— You” to his bosses in England.
The White House was the scene of a torts controversy this week after Presidential Dog Barney bite a reporter. It is a classic question of the common law “one free bite rule.” The video is below.
Continue reading “One Free (Presidential) Bite Rule: Bush’s Dog Barney Bites Reporter”
The Yamaha Rhino is the target of perhaps the largest array of lawsuits against a vehicle in decades. Over 200 lawsuits have been filed in a trend reminiscent of the lawsuits that led to the removal of the Suzuki Samurai in the 1980s. There have been a reported some 30 deaths involving the Rhino, including those of two young girls last month.
Continue reading “Deadly Rhino: Yamaha Facing Over 200 Lawsuits Over Safety of Off-Road Vehicle”
Some wives are so never satisfied. In Sargent, Georgia, Galen Winchell got rid of the cobwebs on the outside of the house. Whatever webs may have been missed were certainly cleared out by the fire that he started when he used a blowtorch for the job.
The Children’s National Medical Center in Washington is going to court to seek a court order to terminate life support for a 12-year-old boy in a case raising parental and religious rights. A ventilator and medications are currently keeping Moti Brody of Brooklyn, N.Y. alive but his Orthodox Jewish parents do not recognize brain death in their religion.
Continue reading “Orthodox Jewish Parents Fight Hospital to Prevent Termination of Life Support for Twelve-Year-Old Boy”
It seems that Alaskans are not only returning convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens to the Senate, but they are adopting his novel criminal defense. If you recall, Stevens insisted that gifts from lobbyists and industry were not “gifts” if he did not consider them gifts in his mind. Thus, a massage chair in his basement for years was simply left there and not really accepted by him. Now, Alaskan Charles J. Schultz in Fairbanks appears to have learned from the master. When stopped by police, Schultz insisted that he did not steal the car despite that fact that it was not his.
Soon signs in London will read “Thank You For Not Fostering Children.” This week, a council in London became the first city to mandate that smokers cannot foster children. Redbridge Council’s cabinet agreed Tuesday night to a ban on placing children with foster carers who smoke absent exceptional circumstances. Anti-smoking advocates are seeking to expand the mandate to other areas of London and other cities.
Continue reading “A Dying Breed: Smokers Banned from Fostering Children”
An interesting fight is brewing at the University of California. Alexander McPherson, 64, is a leading biologist who has taken a stand against mandatory sexual harassment training on principle. Among other things, he objected to the requirement as an infringement of academic freedom and an act of political correctness. He may lose his tenured position and the University may lose a researcher responsible for $20 million a year in grants.
Continue reading “Leading California Professor Suspended Over Refusal to Take Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training”
The Juneau Board of Education has agreed to a settlement in the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case that led to a Supreme Court decision in its favor. Under the settlement, former Juneau-Douglas High School student Joseph Frederick will receive a $45,000 payment.
Continue reading “Alaska School System Settles “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” Case”
Robert Novak has long been dismissed by rational people as a mean-spirited hack. However, he has really out done himself. Novak quickly dismissed the 7 million vote margin of Barack Obama as not a mandate while, in 2004, he said it was obvious that a 3.5 million margin for President Bush was such a mandate. Novak mathematics — or Novatics — appears to demand three times the margin of a Republican for a Democrat to declare a mandate.
Apollo Group Inc. and the University of Phoenix Online have settled a religious discrimination case for $1.89 million. The defendants were accused of discriminating against non-Mormon employees at the University of Phoenix Online division. This would be the largest religious-discrimination settlement in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
McCain campaign officials are unloading on Sarah Palin. Fox News is reporting that staffers were shocked after her selection that Palin did not know that Africa was a continent and could not name the countries who were members of the NAFTA agreement. In the meantime, Newsweek is reporting that aides were furious with Palin’s shopping binges — which appear bigger than reported and contradict her statements that these clothes were forced upon her. One aide at the time complained that it was “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast.”
In Prescott, Arizona, Michelle Felicetta was jogging when she was attacked by a rabid fox, which locked on to her arm. The woman ran a mile with the fox clamped on her arm to get to her car. She then dislodged the animal, threw it into her trunk, and drove to the hospital.
Continue reading “Fox Trot: Arizona Woman Runs One Mile With Rabid Fox Clamped on Arm”
While Barack Obama insisted that he would not take your guns away, he may want to make an exception for James G. Dewalt, 34. In Burlington, Vermont, Dewalt was so excited that Obama had won that he fired his Russian-made .22 caliber rifle 18 times in this home — sending bullets into neighboring homes.
Chinese officials surrounded a monastery to arrest a tibetan monk who had the audacity to speak publicly about his torture by Chinese special police. Jogme (who only uses one name) appeared in a video detailing his torture and abuse. He then went into hiding until Chinese officials assured him that he could return to his monastery in Labrang without fear of arrest. They then stormed the monastery and took him away.
Continue reading “China Arrests Tibetan Monk Featured on Abuse Video”