We recently discussed the case of Emma Sulkowicz who gained fame as the “Mattress Girl” for her protest about the handling of her alleged rape by another Columbia student. Columbia not only cleared the male student,Paul Nungesser, of charges but the police refused to bring criminal charges. Columbia recently settled a civil action brought by the male student and reaffirmed that it found no evidence supporting discipline for sexual assault. Now, the Boston-based National Public Radio station is under fire for a story byNPR correspondent Tovia Smith that continued to refer to Sulkowicz as a “survivor” despite the countervailing findings of the university under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard advocated by the Obama Administration. The reference also indicated that Nungesser had indeed raped her. While the declination to punish Nungesser by the school or the declination to prosecute him does not mean that no rape occurred, it does show that there was insufficient evidence against Nungesser who has always maintained his innocence.
We have previously discussed the German laws barring certain expressions and symbols connected to Nazi Germany. Germany like much of the West has continued to criminalize speech in a gradual erosion of free speech. Most recently, the German police arrested two Chinese tourists for making illegal Hitler salutes in front of the Reichstag building that houses the German parliament. It was obviously a joke but in Germany it is a crime. The problem is that most tourists will not assume that such a picture could be a crime because it is such a senseless denial of free speech. It is ironic that the arrests would involve Chinese citizens who probably assumed that in the West they could enjoy free speech.
Continue reading “Chinese Tourists Arrested For Doing Nazi Salutes In Front Of The Reichstag”
There is a disturbing video of a Campbell, California police officer who points his gun at a man in a vehicle for nine minutes during a traffic stop despite the objections of the occupants that they had done nothing to warrant that level of threat.
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Warning: the video contains foul language.
We recently discussed the arrest warrant issued for Wyndham Lathem and Oxford University Andrew Warren for the murder of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26. They have now been arrested. Lathem, 42, who reportedly left a video of apology for his “big mistake” to his family back in Chicago, reportedly turned himself in in Oakland, California after fleeing with Warren, 56. Warren surrendered in San Francisco.
Continue reading “Northwestern Professor Arrested For Murder With Alleged Accomplice”
In Los Angeles County, a fire fighter had to pull away a skateboard from a contractor trapped in raging flood waters to airlift him out. While skateboards relish getting “air,” holding on to your skateboard in a torrent with a helicopter lifting you next to power lines is a bit too much of an “air walk” attempt for a dedicated skateboarder.
Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to discuss a new leak crackdown, but he will have to deal with questions raised by one of the most massive leaks in recent memory. Someone has leaked the entire transcripts of two heated January phone calls with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The conversations are deeply embarrassing for the Administration because they directly contradict statements made by Trump to the public. These transcripts would also be likely classified, making their release a federal offense.
One would think that with President Donald Trump at record low polling in the 30s (and Congress with even lower polling around 10 percent favorability), the Administration would not be struggling to find a cause further irritate the American public. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears on the brink of doing just that. Despite many states either legalizing or moving to legalize marijuana, Sessions is expected to announce a new crackdown on the multi-billion industry. Not only will the crackdown threaten billions in taxes now collected by these states, but it will contravene the wishes of roughly half of the population. Indeed, according to the latest Harvard-Harris survey 86 percent of Americans now support either legalizing pot for either recreational or medicinal use or both. Indeed, 49 percent want pot legalized outright for recreational use. The Administration however is about to go on a direct collision course with many states — including red states — that has legalized marijuana.
In Great Britain,Wayne Esmonde, 35, is a bit put out. The fugitive is beside himself over the mugshot being posted in the search. The picture is distinctly “unflattering” in his view and he has asked that it be discarded by police.
Continue reading “Fugitive Contacts Police To Object To “Unflattering” Mugshot On Wanted Posters”
The heated exchange between White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller and CNN reporter Jim Acosta this week has been the focus of much coverage. Both men went after each other over immigration and, in my view, neither came off particularly well. Acosta at times seemed more of an advocate than a journalist while Miller seemed bizarrely eager to convert the press conference into some high school debating competition. However, my greatest interest was Miller’s repeated accusation that Acosta had revealed his “Cosmopolitan bias.” This may be a new term of art in political circles but it left me scratching my head. It was like the scene in Princess Bride when Montoya stops Vizzini after he says “inconceivable” for the umpteenth time: “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the most recent allegation of criminal conduct by President Donald Trump or his family. Added to the ever-lengthening list of clear crimes is now witness tampering despite the fact that it does not come close to any prior definition of that crime. Both Professor Lawrence Tribe and CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen (Eisen previously said that Trump’s conversations with James Comey could constitute witness tampering) have claimed that Trump’s dictating or contributing to the statement of his son, Donald Jr., on the Russian meeting establishes the basis for such a charge. I obviously disagree.
Here is the column.
Continue reading “Gambino-Lite: Accusing Trump Of A Half-Truth Does Not Constitute A Whole Crime”
A lawsuit has been filed by Rod Wheeler, a former Fox contributor, that alleges that Fox News Channel and Ed Butowsky, a wealthy Trump supporter (who hired Wheeler to investigate the murder — a story involving the alleged murder of the Democratic National Committee aide. The bombshell part of the complaint is an email that states that President Donald Trump wanted the story to air to distract from the Russian investigation.
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Northwestern Prof. Wyndham Lathem, 42, in connection with the stabbing death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26, a cosmetologist from Michigan. Police are also seeking University of Oxford employee Andrew Warren, 56. The stabbing occurred at Lathem’s address and Cornell-Duranleau’s body showed lacerations.
Continue reading “Chicago Police Issue Warrant To Arrest Northwestern Professor For Murder”
Two stories this week show how the views of people can shape and deceive them in the perception of photos. In Minnesota, Black Lives Matter advocates caused an uproar with a picture of what they claimed was the possible lynching of a black man in a St. Paul park. In Norway, anti-immigrant bloggers circulated a photo of what they claimed to be a city bus filled with women in full burkas. The lynching turned out to be the suicide of a middle aged white man and the Muslim women turned out to be empty cars.
Continue reading “The Eye of the Beholder: Two Photos Trigger Racial and Religious Controversies”
There is an interesting torts case out of Dallas where a couple was sued by a photographer after they trashed the photographer in the media for withholding their wedding album over $125 that the studio insisted had to be paid. The story was immediately gobbled up by the media and the studio lost business and eventually closed. Now, instead of $125, Andrew and Neely Moldovan will have to pay one million dollars in defamation damages.
In a remarkable departure from his own Chief Executive, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Agency Chuck Rosenberg has repudiated the remarks of President Donald Trump that encouraged law enforcement officers to abuse criminal suspects. We previously discussed those irresponsible remarks. While the White House dismissed questions from reporters by saying that the President was just joking, it did not explain why the President would think it was funny to harm suspects or what message such a joke sends to law enforcement after assuring them that “we have your back.” Rosenberg told DEA officers that the President was condoning police misconduct and that he would not.
Continue reading “DEA Head Repudiates Trump’s Comments Encouraging The Abuse Of Suspects”