Model Mayhem: Florida Model Arrested After Stomping and Beating Puppy

Keevonna C’Ante Wilson, 24, is a model and actress who, if guilty, is proof that beauty is only skin deep.  I am not sure what it is like being her photographer or her manager but you sure do not want to be her pet, Chasity.  She is charged with animal cruelty after stomping on the puppy.  Appropriately, she appears on the Model Mayhem site, where she refers to her as “The Flawless Beauty.” Wilson   Warning the video below show violence that will be disturbing to many viewers.

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Gun Control After Heller: The Second Amendment Requires More Than Passing Rational Responses To An Irrational Act

260px-capitol_building_full_viewBelow is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the proposals for new gun control measures in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.  As I discuss below, there are some obvious possible measures that could pass constitutional muster like banning bump stocks (which allow semi-automatic weapons to perform more like automatic weapons) and conversion kits.  However, these proposals would not have prevented the massacre.  There are many “work arounds” for semi-automatic weapons and Paddock would have likely passed any enhanced background checks.  Nevertheless, GOP members have expressed interest in some additional gun control  measures.  

Here is the column:

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“Liberalism Is White Supremacy!”: Black Lives Matter Protesters Block Speech By ACLU Head At William and Mary

 

screen-shot-2017-10-05-at-11-50-22-am.pngdownloadI recently wrote how Antifa and other college protesters are increasingly denouncing free speech and the foundations for liberal democracies.  That troubling trend was evident last week with a protest at William & Mary College in Virginia  when protesters from Black Lives Matter stopped a discussion with Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.  Protesters screamed “Liberalism is white supremacy!” the protesters shouted, and “ACLU, you protect Hitler too!”  It was an all-too-common sight and universities have done little to address students who believe that they have a right to prevent others from hearing opposing views.

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Federal Court Rejects Challenge To Arpaio Pardon

Joe_arpaioI have received a fair amount of criticism for writing that President Donald Trump was within his authority to pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as well as my skepticism of the challenge to the pardon by Berkeley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky and others.  While I opposed the pardon and said that I viewed Arpaio was in open contempt of the court, I viewed the challenge to the pardon to be without merit.  Now U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has rejected the challenge by Chemerinsky and dismissed the guilty verdict in the contempt case.

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Britain Moves To Criminalize Reading Extremist Material On The Internet

440px-Official_portrait_of_Amber_Rudd_crop_2England flagFor years, civil libertarians have warned that Great Britain has been in a free fall from the criminalization of speech to the expansion of the surveillance state.  Now the government is pursuing a law that would make the repeated viewing of extremist Internet sites a crime punishable to up to 15 years in prison.  It appears that the government is not satiated by their ever-expanding criminalization of speech. They now want to criminalize even viewing sites on the Internet.  As always, officials are basically telling the public to “trust us, we’re the government.”  UK home secretary Amber Rudd is pushing the criminalization of reading as part of her anti-radicalization campaign . . . which turns out to be an anti-civil liberties campaign.

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Pro-Life Rep. Tim Murphy Resigns After Emails Surface In Which He Reportedly Asked His Mistress To Get An Abortion

440px-113th_Congress_Official_Photo_of_Rep._Tim_MurphyScott Fitzgerald once said “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” If so, Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania is a certifiable genius. However, in this case, Murphy’s two opposing views have cost him his seat in Congress.  Murphy, who has run on a pro-life platform in securing eight terms in Congress, has struggled to explain emails where he asked his mistress to get an abortion.   He has now announced his retirement from Congress to “take personal time.”  The story is credited to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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“How Will Your Quest End?” Two Women Escape Jail Only To Get Trapped In Escape Room

download-1download-2Kelsie Laine Marie Mast, 23, and Samantha Faye Toope, 20, should have probably stopped with one escape.  The two prisoners escaped from jail in Edmonton, but later visited an escape room called “SideQuests Adventures.”  They never made it out of the escape room before police arrived and took them back to their first room at the Edmonton Institution for Women.  The business slogan is “How Will Your Quest End?” The answer for these two offenders is badly.

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Drexel University Professor Calls Las Vegas Massacre An Outgrowth Of “Trumpism”

screen-shot-2017-04-17-at-5-16-35-pm-e1493074583232drexel-newsealWe previously discussed the controversies swirling around Associate Professor George Ciccariello-Maher when he tweeted in 2016 that “all I want for Christmas is white genocide.”  Now he is again in the news with tweets that blame the Las Vegas massacre on “Trumpism” and “white victimization.”  There is still no confirmation of any motivation of Stephen Paddock but that does not appear to be relevant to Ciccariello-Maher.  It is part of a torrent of comments using the massacre to amplify political or social views.  Recently, Pat Robertson blamed the massacre on disrespect for Trump and the flag in society.

 

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Murderer Sues Police For Excessive Force In Tackling Him After He Assaulted His Own Lawyer In Court

washingtonRandy Washington, 36, may face a rather unsympathetic jury in his lawsuit against courtroom deputy sheriffs for excessive force.  Washington has accused them of excessive force in restraining him after he decked his lawyer in court.  Washington hit Jessica Lyons as she tried to defend him on a murder charge.  Washington says that he was not resisting but was slammed to the ground — resulting in a broken wrist.

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Minnesota Man Arrested For 28th Times For DWI

ows_150705582693799We have previously discussed the difficulty in dealing with recidivist drunk drivers.  However, Danny Lee Bettcher, 64, is something of an over-achiever.   He was arrested for the 28th time for driving while intoxicated.  That is believed to be a state record — a dubious achievement made worse by what you stated to court after his prior arrest.

 

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FIFA Fines Germany For Fans Chanting Nazi Slogans

Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svgFlag_of_FIFA.svgThere is an interesting ruling by FIFA which has fined the German soccer federation 32,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) because fans chanted Nazi slogans at a World Cup qualifying game in the Czech Republic. It is a curious decision to penalize a team for the actions of third parties who are not under its control.  It is not clear what FIFA expected the Germans to do to fans chanting in a foreign stadium.  The team not that the offensive fans did not buy tickets through official channels.  How is the team responsible?

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CBS Fires Its Senior Counsel After She Tweeted That She Has No Sympathy For Those Killed In Las Vegas

150px-CBS_Eyemark.svgdownloadCBS has fired Hayley Geftman-Gold, the network’s vice president and senior counsel, after a bizarre and disgraceful tweet saying that she is “not even sympathetic” to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because “country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”  We have been discussing the free speech concerns over employees being disciplined for expressing their political or religious viewpoints on social media. However, this is a news network that contractually reserves the right to terminate employees for conduct deemed inimical to its journalistic image or mission.

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Finding Meaning In Madness: Clinton Blames NRA While Robertson Cites Disrespect For Trump

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziAs is often the case, politicians and commentators were fast to draw political meaning from the latest massacre.  Of course, the most obvious explanation is that this was an attack by a demented and hateful individual.  At the base of this massacre seems utter madness — untractable and unfanthomable madness.  However, after saying that this was no time for politics, Hillary Clinton immediately denounced the National Rifle Association.  At the same time, televangelist Pat Robertson cited the disrespect for Trump and our flag.

 

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With Friends Like This: Egypt Sought To Smuggle Over 30,000 RPGs In Violation of North Korean Embargo

Egypt1600px-Flag_of_North_Korea.svgWe recently discussed the controversy over U.S. taxpayers giving billions to Egypt as that country persecutes homosexuals, including its recent ordering of anal examinations of suspected gay men.  Now a new report indicates that the United States suspended aid temporarily when it learned that the Egyptian government was knowingly circumventing international trade bans with North Korea.  While North Korea was threatening the world with nuclear war and specifically targeting the United States, our “ally” was secretly trying to pay North Korea $23 million for over 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades.

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Catching Straws: Democratic Members Call For Impeachment For Trump’s NFL Comments and Other Controversies

300px-National_Football_League_logo.svgdonald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedBelow is my  column in the Hill newspaper on the continuing controversy over President Donald Trump’s remarks over the NFL anthem protest. including the suggestion that his remarks could constitute a case for impeachment.  I wrote earlier that the coverage over the anthem protests have been criticized with cameras notably redirected when boos were heard from the crowed. Indeed, yesterday morning, I watched CNN cover the controversy and say that at a particular game there was “both cheers and boos.”  However, when they cut to the clip there was overwhelming boos and the reporter admitted that the fans have clearly “not gotten the message” of the players.  It does concern me that, again, the coverage seems weighted in downplaying the polls showing that most people (including myself) do not approve of the protesting of the anthem and raising of the flag. As I have previously written, this does not mean that we have fulfilled those values, but rather that we remain joined by a common article of faith in freedom and equality.

Most citizens seems to have a balanced view that they do not approve of the failure to stand for the anthem, but recognize that the players have the right to protest (unless owners decided to enforce the earlier policy of showing respect for the anthem). In the meantime, the owners have shown that they are only concerned with profits and, with Roger Goodell, are desperately looking for a way to threat a needle without an eye-hole.  They are trying every variation, including the Packers standing arm in arm or the Steelers just not coming out of the anthem.  It is clear that neither side is buying it and the only agreement of many people on both sides is a common contempt for Goodell and the owners.

 

Here is the column:

 

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks