Sen. Ben Sasse, R.-Neb., has demanded an investigation into the sweetheart deal given to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who was notorious for his infamous “Lolita Express” where he took friends like Bill Clinton by plane to his private estate on the Caribbean island of Little Saint James with young girls who allegedly were used as prostitutes. Epstein was known for his preference for young women and powerful figures like Clinton were repeat guests.
Chicago attorney Jerald Jeske, 51, believed that his wife loved her two Chihuahuas more than she loved him. One could certainly understand why she would feel that way after he then proceeded to throw both dogs off their balcony. According to WGN-TV in Chicago reported, one was killed and one survived long enough to run off (and has not been found).
Continue reading ““You Love Those Dogs More Than You Love Me”: Chicago Attorney Arrested After Throwing Wife’s Dogs Off Balcony”
We previously discussed the “man free” concert held in Sweden and how the concert (heralded by feminists) was a raw exercise of gender discrimination. It was a telling moment since these same advocates would be appalled by barring women from concerts or venues. Now Sweden’s Discrimination Ombudsman has declared the concern blatant discrimination. The response of feminist leaders is interesting. Rather than recognize the hypocrisy of fighting discrimination by others but not themselves, leaders denounced the ruling and ridiculed men as feeling threatened.
Continue reading “Swedish “Man Free” Concert Declared Discriminatory”
As many on this blog know, I am no fan of trophy hunting (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). The latest controversy centers on Larysa Switlyk, 33, who is a trophy hunter from Sarasota, Florida who recently posed with dead animals on the island of Islay, Scotland with Instagram photos during the hunt. With her boyfriend Jason and another American, they shot an assortment of goats, stags, and sheep and then gleefully demonstrated the kill. I find these images entirely perplexing why people get such a thrill for such kills. I also fail to see the pride in posing with a beautiful animal that you just destroyed — let alone traveling around the world just to shoot their native wildlife for fun. In this case, shooting a bunch of sheep does not even strike me as challenging. There is simply the thrill of killing beautiful animals.
Continue reading “American Television Host Denounced After She Posts Pictures With Dead Animals”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on my annual list of Christmas torts and misdemeanors.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Christmas Torts: The 2018 Listing Of Holiday Mishaps and Madness”
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas.
I am in Chicago with the family for Christmas with my 91-year-old mother Angela. We are getting a dusting of snow for a white Christmas but the weather has been warmer than usual on our visit (in the 40s). Last night, the kids and I went to Christmas Eve mass at St. Mary’s of the Lake, which has been our parish church for almost six decades. My mother was not up to the trip for the first time but we were there representing our family.
Continue reading “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!”
It is called In re Grand Jury Subpoena No. 18-3071 and it just might be the first ruling on an issue in the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller by the Supreme Court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently ruled on the matter under seal involving a corporation presumably owned by a foreign government. The corporation lost in its bid to quash the subpoena under the protections of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The D.C. Circuit imposed a daily fine, which was enjoined by Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday night. While not a ruling on the merit, it could be a historical moment as the first Mueller matter to make it to the Court.
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Below is my column in Fox.com on the Barr memorandum that has garnered so much attention. As I noted, I do not agree with the ultimate conclusion of the research that the obstruction provision could not be the foundation for a subpoena to require President Donald Trump to answer questions. However, the memo is a well-reasoned and thoughtful treatment of the issue. Moreover, I agree with Barr (as I have stated since 2017) that critics were stretching obstruction provisions to the breaking point in their blind effort to turn every act into a crime. Indeed, while I do not necessary view the memo as a strong case against obstruction, it is part of a strong case for confirmation.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Barr Memo: Why Reasoned Discourse Should Not Be A Bar To Confirmation”
Below is my column in USA Today on the nomination of Bill Barr and why he is precisely the type of figure who can bring stability to the long embattled Justice Department.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “William Barr Deserves To Be The United States Attorney General . . . Again”
Despite a series of self-inflicted wounds by President Donald Trump over the Russian investigation in pressuring former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and directly discussing the investigation with former FBI Director James Comey, Trump has reportedly returned to the same pattern in lashing out with Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. If true, it is entirely baffling. Republicans and Democrats have uniformly objected to these communications as improper and raising the appearance of influencing the investigation. It also undermines Whitaker’s position.
Continue reading “Trump Reportedly Lashed Out To Whitaker About Controlling The NY Prosecutors After Cohen Plea”By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
What began as a laudable business model to fund individual content creators such as writers, bloggers, vloggers, and artists–providing many now with generous incomes aggregated from their subscribers–has devolved into heavy-handed practices antithetical to the basic tenets of Free Speech, small business, and the spirit of Self-Employment and Self-Sufficiency. The platform exercises the worst kind of censorship, cutting off the incomes of individuals and their families for often arbitrary accusations of unacceptable speech off-platform or for association with those Patreon finds objectionable.
This censorship is not just for content hosted by Patreon, as many former subscribers to their service report that they are forced to walk a fine line in their own personal lives for fear that Patreon’s “Trust and Safety” team will take away their patrons and lifestyle for engaging in wrong-think or speech.
Continue reading “Patreon: A Threat To Free Speech”
James Wolfe, the former head of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, was sentenced on Thursday for lying to the FBI about leaking information to reporters. The sentencing hearing by US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson stood in sharp contrast to the one held by Judge Emmet Sullivan with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Notably, despite being head of security for a committee with highly sensitive information, Jackson handed down only a two month sentence. In contrast, Sullivan indicated that he was inclined to send Flynn away for serious time and that the hearing took on a bizarre note with references to treason and being an effective foreign mole in the White House. Wolfe asked for a sentence in the same zero to six month range as Flynn, but the prosecutors asked for a “departure” for two years.
Continue reading “Former Senate Intelligence Committee Staffer Sentenced For Lying To The FBI”
A YouTube video has gone viral, showing a former NASA engineer, Mark Rober, who got tired of constantly have delivered boxes stolen from this front door in California. His glitter bomb device is worth watching below but what really drew me to the story was the reason. Like millions of people, we are having holiday gifts delivered and worry about the rising theft rate of such deliveries. If you are wondering why, this story give ample explanation. When Rober called police, they told him that they could not be bothered with such thefts. It is maddening. It seems that we get less and less for our taxes. Police protection is the most basic public function covered by taxes and yet the police simply treat this rising crime trend as none of their business. [Update: In a weird twist, Rober says that he has learned that a couple reactions from the alleged thieves may have been staged without his knowledge by associates. He has removed those scenes.]
Continue reading “Former NASA Engineer Sabotages Thieves With Glitter Bomb After Police Refuse To Help [Updated]”
Below is a column on the Flynn’s sentencing hearing and the curious turn of events in the case. He is now scheduled for a new sentencing hearing in March 2019. Interestingly, while I have repeatedly stated in print and television that Flynn does not deserve sympathy, I have been widely quoted as saying that I have called for such sympathy. My point is simply that there are serious concerns raised by how this interview was handled, including the intentional effort to have Flynn interviewed without counsel. Moreover, it is possible to denounce such false statements without exaggerating the specific crime itself. It is still unclear why Flynn lied when the conversation of such sanctions was not strange or improper. Indeed, the Administration publicly was saying that it wanted a new start with Russia and would reexamine all aspects of the relationship. The hearing however quickly went off the rails. I have a great deal of respect for Judge Emmet Sullivan and have appeared before him on countless occasions. But this hearing took a radical departure from the record and the specific crime being addressed in sentencing.
Continue reading “The Curious Tale Of The Flynn Sentencing Hearing”
I have previously written about the increasing state and federal efforts to impose bans on contractors and employees who refuse to sign agreements not to boycott Israeli products. The agreements raise serious free speech concerns under the First Amendment and contravene a host of constitutional rights from speech to religion to association. Now a speech pathologist in Texas is suing after she was barred from employment with the school district after nine years of work with developmentally disabled, autistic, and speech-impaired elementary school students in Austin, Texas. The lawsuit on her behalf was filed in the Western District of Texas is the latest federal challenge to these laws.
Continue reading “Five Texans Sue After Being Barred From State Jobs For Refusing To Sign A Required Statements On Israel”