Miami University in Ohio lost a major case in court after a student appealed his ban from the university after being accused on sexual misconduct. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett ordered that the anonymous student known as “John Nokes” reinstated and found glaring unfairness in the rules and procedures of the university. As I have previously discussed, the Obama Administration forced many schools to limit due process rights of accused students in sexual misconduct cases.
A Chinese company, Xingbao, sells knockoff Legos as “LEGO compatible” sets for different scenes and buildings. Its traditional Chinese street series as one curious element unlikely to be approved by LEGO corporation: a house of prostitution with an assortment of Chinese courtesans. It is not clear if this is an effort to get Dads more interested in playing with the kids but LEGO’s slogan “Just Imagine” certainly takes on a new meaning.
Continue reading “Putting The Leg Back Into Lego: Chinese Company Sells Kit To Build Brothel”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the recent news about Comey drafting a statement declining to charge Hillary Clinton or her staff before key witnesses were interviewed or evidence reviewed. The question is why Comey pursued the investigation if he felt comfortable months in advance in drafting the statement. I do not share the President’s view that this draft shows a “rigged process,” though some FBI agents have objected to the drafting of the statement in this context. I take Comey at his word that he did not make up his mind until after all of the evidence was reviewed. However, the draft does show a markedly different approach to the investigation of the Clinton emails and the Special Counsel investigation of the Trump Administration.
Here is the column:
We previously discussed the crushing abuse and discrimination faced by Muslims in Myanmar. The Rohingya are denied basic rights and face continued violence in the country. While it was hard to imagine the abuse of these Muslims becoming any more extreme in the Buddhist nation, it just did. The government has allowed a new spasm of violence against this community which has been denied the most basic rights and the support. Rohingya children have been reportedly beheaded and civilians burned alive.
Continue reading “Myanmar Allows Another Reported Massacre of Muslim Minority Rohingya”
Palm Beach County clerk Anita Pedemey , 54, reportedly admitted to stealing the fees paid by exotic dancers. The reason, however, was a bit novel: she reportedly told police that her husband has been “spending a lot of money at Home Depot.” So much for the slogan “More Saving, More Doing.” I guess his “more saving” produced her “more doing.”
A Cambridge University student with Pembroke College has become persona non grata after a disgusting display in front of a homeless man. When unemployed crane operator Ryan Davies asked for money, Ronald Coyne burned a £20 note in front of him as a taunt. The video was posted on YouTube and Coyne is now internationally despised.
Continue reading “Cambridge Student Denounced After Taunting Homeless Man By Burning £20 Note”
We have been discussing the disciplining of professors for their statements on social media and the erosion of free speech protections for teachers outside of their schools. As many of you know, I take a robust view of free speech rights and have been critical of the monitoring and punishment of teachers for expressing their political and social views outside of campus. The latest such controversy comes the University of Tampa where visiting assistant professor Kenneth Storey was sacked for tweeting, “I dont believe in instant karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas. Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesnt care about them.” Few would defend Storey’s comments which were insensitive and unthinking, but that does not alter the question of where the line is drawn for teachers in speaking publicly about politics or society. (He later apologized.)Continue reading “University of Tampa Fires Professor For Using Hurricane Harvey To Attack GOP”
There are any number of things that were expected to be raised by critics against the reelection of the senior California senator, Dianne Feinstein. There is her support for the death penalty or expansions of surveillance programs or her presumed knowledge of the torture program or her husband’s financial dealings. However, the thing that is galvanizing opposition is Feinstein’s statement this week that she would not back impeachment of President Donald Trump and her suggestion that citizens might have to be patient. That has caused an outcry that now threatens her consideration of running for a new term. In the age of rage, even saying that you would not support a clearly unjustified impeachment effort makes you not only someone outside of the resistance but a reactionary.
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the Antifa movement and its implications for free speech on our college and university campuses. Yesterday, I shared a videotape from one such protest at GW near the law school a few months ago. My concern is with those faculty members who legitimize the anti-speech foundation for this movement. Yet, the violence at Berkeley has exposed this movement for what it is. This week Nancy Pelosi did criticize Antifa but then later qualified that criticism. She said:
“Look, people are out there heiling Hitler and then you have a group that is antifa — anti-fascist; they’ve been there forever — some people may have infiltrated them. We’ll see. But that is not an equivalence, in my view.”
I fail to see why there is a need to draw distinctions. Antifa is premised on the view that some speech is unworthy to be protected and that preventing people from hearing unworthy views is an act of “community self-defense.” As the column discusses, the distinction between Antifa and its opposing fascists is rather difficult to discern in terms of the effort to intimidate or assault those with opposing views. The threat of Antifa is summed up by the description of one of its most influential academic voices. Dartmouth Professor Mark Bray says that the movement has no interest in co-existence with opposing views and seeks not simply to oppose them but to “end their politics.”
Here is the column: Continue reading ““End Their Politics”: Antifa and the Rejection of Liberal Democratic Values”
If there was a police recognition for effort, Zachary Kingsbury, 20, would be given a free pass this week after his arrest for possession of controlled substances. After being stopped by police, Kingsbury jumped into the ocean at Surf City, North Carolina and swam so long and so far that the police drone ran out of power. In his swim for freedom, Kingsbury came dangerously close to a shark who was less interested in the fugitive and more interested in the food in the water. Unlike Michael Phelps, this shark was real and Kingsbury swam away the victor.
Below is my column in USA Today on the Arpaio pardon and its historical context. While I have been critical of the Arpaio pardon, the history of presidential pardons is quite checkered. Moreover, I agree with critics that the Justice Department made a major mistake in the timing of its prosecution of Arpaio shortly before the election. That does not change the fact that Arpaio was in flagrant violation of a court order and warranted the contempt conviction. I also disagree with New Jersey Christ Christie in aspects of the following statement:
“I think the pardon power is an extraordinary power for any executive, both the governor, and I’ve used it, and the president. My understanding has always been that one of the prerequisites you look for in giving a pardon is contrition for what you were convicted of. I didn’t see that in Sheriff Arpaio. And so, to me, one of the things that you need an acknowledgment of is an acknowledgment of guilt, first off, is required for pardon.”
While Christie can demand that from individuals as governor, it is certainly not a mandatory requirement for a presidential pardon. Contrition is a common element in presidential pardons in the review of petitions but it is not a threshold requirement. While a smaller subset of pardons, some pardon beneficiaries, like Richard Nixon, maintain that they were not guilty of any crime. Indeed, pardons can be used in cases where a president believes that someone was wrongly charged or convicted — as is the case with Trump’s rationale for the Arpaio pardon. Of course, in such case presidents normally give the courts an opportunity to review the conviction on appeal before executing a pardon. This is not one of those cases. Arpaio might have good-faith arguments in favor of his immigration arrests, but those arguments do not give him license to ignore a court order — which he did for 17 months.
Here is the column:
There is an interesting ruling expected in L.A. Superior Court where Judge Gregory Keosian has handed down a tentative decision that would dismiss Richard Simmons’ defamation suit against the National Enquirer and Radar Online. Those papers published a story that Simmons was transitioning to a woman. Simmons denied the account and sued for defamation. The decision is part of a trend away from such allegations as a per se form of defamation.
This week I wrote a column on how Antifa and related groups are destroying free speech at academic institutions across the country with the help of enabling, sympathetic faculty. I just saw this earlier video from a few months ago of an assault near the law school on our campus. Antifa activists harassed a conservative Rebel filmmaker, Jack Posobiec, and then a young man assaulted him. The man was later identified asSydney Ramsey-LaRee, 24. When GW police intervene, the attacker immediately claims to be the victim in the video below. I was unaware of this earlier assault and wanted to share the video. Fortunately, we have not seen the type of violence at other universities like Berkeley.
Continue reading “Antifa Comes To GW: Filmmaker Assaulted By Protester Near Law School [Updated]”
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the call of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to cancel the permit of a conservative group seeking to hold a “Patriot Prayer” event in San Francisco. As discussed in the posting today on Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin’s call to end a Free Speech event, leaders are latching on to a new way to limit speech. While professing fealty to free speech, Pelosi, Arraguin, and others seek to deny it on the basis for how critics might react. The West has grown weary of Free Speech and these are the voices calling for greater restraints and regulation of speech. It is the new anti-speech pretext: leaders seek to protect the public from free speech in the name of public safety.
Here is the column:
Yesterday, I posted a column on the violence of Antifa protesters and their war on free speech. Judging from the actions of Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin they appear to be succeeding. After Antifa and counterprotesters chased and beat people trying to attend the event this week, Arreguin immediately came up with a solution to their denial of free speech: cancel the free speech event. That is like solving bank robbery by asking banks to empty their vaults.