Earle Stevens Jr., 69, had a novel defense in Florida when he was stopped by an officer on suspicion of drunk driving. According to the driver, Stevens insisted that that he had only been drinking at red lights and stop signs. The officer was not impressed by the claim that he was drinking then driving then drinking but never at the same time.
NASA has released an extraordinary tape of the sound picked up by the Cassini spacecraft as it plunged into Saturn on its final mission in 2017. The craft captured plasma waves from Saturn to its rings and into one of its moons, Enceladus. It is mesmerizing. It has been describing as Saturn singing and it is strangely beautiful.
Continue reading “Cosmic Whale Music: Listen To What Cassini Picked Up Near Saturn”
Students at Cambridge are objecting to the hiring of American Aron Wall, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California-Santa Barbara who studies “quantum gravity and black hole thermodynamics.” It is not Wall’s academic credentials or theories that are controversial. Rather, three years ago, Wall wrote a blog post critical of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, the decision protecting the right to same-sex marriage. Wall’s criticism was of non-monogamous relations in the gay and lesbian communities. One can easily see the objections to such arguments but critics have gone further to object that Wall’s personal views create a hostile or threatening environment. Continue reading “Cambridge Under Fire For Hiring American Physics Researcher Who Advocated Monogamy On Blog Three Years Ago”
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared that it would not regulate seat sizes — thereby leaving passengers to the mercy of airlines which have been continually reducing seat size and space. Now airlines are moving to reduce those roomy bathrooms on airplanes. Arlines are designing new bathrooms to make them ever narrower. Imagine that.
Continue reading “Airlines Move To Shrink Bathrooms As FAA Refuses To Regulate Space On Airplanes”
President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh was opposed by some conservatives and is not viewed as strongly anti-abortion as Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. However, he is highly intelligent and accomplished. I have a column out this morning in The Hill newspaper.
Continue reading “President Trump Nominates Brett Kavanaugh To Replace Justice Kennedy”
We have been discussing the controversy at the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia where White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was forced out of a restaurant by the owner due to Trump’s policies. Now we have the inverse controversy at the Black Swan book store in Richmond, Virginia. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon went into the store to look at books when a woman began to berate him and call him “a piece of trash.” The owner, Nick Cooke, called 911 after trying to get the woman to leave. After he called, the woman left, but in her wake came a torrent of criticism for Cooke. Former longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines on Saturday even posted the contact information of the bookstore.
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on why the most creative and productive individuals are often disfavored in our modern confirmation system. With the announcement of the new nominee this evening by President Donald Trump, we will have the state of a counterintuitive process that favors those who are the least forthcoming or open about their views.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Why Big Fierce Nominees Are Rare”
Christopher John Czarnik, 45, is the focus of a novel criminal charge. The prisoner at Oaks Correctional in Michigan is serving time on a 2014 plea for the possession and distribution of sexually explicit images of children. He was then charged again with child porn in prison. The source? Czarnik himself. Guards found a drawing of a young girl engaged in sexual acts with an adult male. The drawings were upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Below is my column in USA Today on politics over Roe and the Supreme Court vacancy. The new vacancy and the the earlier pro-life pledge of President Donald Trump is something of a bill come due for Republicans. It is a bill that some Republicans privately do not want to pay.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Catching Roe: Republicans Face The Peril Of Success Of A Pro-Life Majority”
Travaile Speller has a curious case against Mecklenburg County Jail for depriving him of lunch. Speller is Muslim and was put on the traditional meal plan for Ramadan of two meals a day. Speller has sued for major damages for “intentionally eliminating one whole meal (lunch) which is cruel and unusual punishment directed towards all Muslims.” The problem is that Speller reportedly signed up to participate in the Ramadan schedule, including the skipping of lunches. He now wants a jury trial and $250,000 in damages. Continue reading “North Carolina Prisoner Signs Up For Fasting During Ramadan . . . Then Sues Jail For Withholding Lunch”
Attorneys for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort have asked a federal judge for a venue change on the rather dubious grounds that Alexandria Virginia is simply too liberal. Manafort wants a jury in Roanoke where there are more Republicans. It is an exceptionally weak motion and would be unprecedented to shift jurisdiction based on the political views of the local electorate as opposed to using voir dire to spot bias. Attorneys Kevin Downing, Thomas Zehnle and Jay Nanavati told the “It is not a stretch to expect that voters who supported Secretary Clinton would be predisposed against Mr. Manafort or that voters who supported President Donald Trump would be less inclined toward the Special Counsel.” If it is “not a stretch” politically, it is a stretch legally. In fairness to the defense time, however, it was Judge T.S. Ellis III who raised the possibility of a venue change to Roanoke or Richmond. Ellis however has a reputation for making controversial statements from the bench. In most courts, I would expect this motion to be denied fairly quickly.
Continue reading “Manafort Moves For Venue Change From Liberal Alexandria”
Kristoffer Welch, 19, allegedly made his first mistake in tearing up a corn field with his silver Ford truck in Maine. The second mistake was posting the act on Facebook.
Continue reading “Maine Teen Arrested After His Joyride Through A Corn Field Is Posted on Facebook”
We have often discussed the rising incivility and anger in our political discourse. That derangement was on display at a Whataburger in San Antonio when an unidentified man assaulted a teenager for wearing a Make America Great again hat. It was fortunately caught on tape and hopefully the culprit will be apprehended. However, a prior such assault by a University of California-Riverside student will not face jail time for an earlier assault on a student wearing a MAGA hat. In the videotape, the man throws a soda in 16-year-old Hunter Richard’s face before triumphantly walking out of the restaurant. Update: The man has now been arrested. The man’s name is Kino Jimenez, 30.
Talent agent Ken Kaplan has a curious way of celebrating the Fourth of July. According to James Wood, Kaplan used the holiday celebrating a nation committed to free speech and self-determination by publicly dropping the actor for his conservative views. He said dropping an artist for his political views makes him feel “patriotic.” Notably, none of the artists represented by Kaplan protested the discrimination against a fellow artists for political reasons. Continue reading ““Feeling Patriotic”: James Wood Allegedly Dropped By Agent For Conservative Views”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the latest rationale for opposing any nominee of President Donald Trump: that any nomination or confirmation must wait until the completion of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It is a claim being voiced by both politicians and academics despite the absence of constitutional or historical support.
Here is the column: