Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh has again made a mockery of his own religion. We previously discussed how the Sunni religious leader banned Muslims from playing chess. Now he is warning that driving is a road to perdition for women and is a “dangerous matter that exposed women to evil.”
Continue reading “Top Saudi Cleric: Driving Will Expose Women To Evil”
Neither Congress nor foreign legislatures have done anything about ridiculous user contracts for services like WiFi or cable that require consumers to sign long agreements with impenetrable legal language and clauses. It is a knowing effort by companies to impose highly disadvantageous terms in mountains of legalese. One company however has vividly demonstrated the scam to its credit. The WiFi company, Purple, inserted language in its standard contract that obligated consumers to clean toilets at festivals and clear sewer blockages. Some 22,000 people signed up.
Continue reading “Thousands Agree To Manually Clean Sewers In User Agreement For WiFi Services”
A tragedy in St. Maarten highlights the perils of assumption of the risk. In St. Maarten a New Zealand tourist has been killed by the blast from a jetliner taking off next to a popular beach. People love to go to the beach to feel the blast of engines and see planes land just overhead (like the YouTube image above of another tourist). The 57-year-old woman tried to cling to a fence — a common practice — but was thrown into a wall with fatal injuries.
Continue reading “Tourist Killed At Popular Beach In St. Maarten By Airplane Blast”
A new poll from Gallup shows a sharp decline in Americans who believe in creationism and specifically the “Young Earth” view that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Only 38 percent of those polled now embrace creationism while 57 percent accept the theory of evolution as well as scientific data uniformly showing life existed millions of years ago.
Continue reading “New Poll: Support For Creationism Falls To Record Low”
Today the world lost one of its most inspiring and courageous figures. On Thursday, Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Prize recipient and Chinese intellectual, has died at 61 of cancer. The Chinese government defied the world in keeping Liu under custody as part of its authoritarian, one-party rule. Liu kept the memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre alive when the government has sought to wipe out any evidence that the protests even occurred. He was a tireless defender for civil liberties in a country that rejects the most basic principles of human rights and civil liberties. He declined numerous opportunities to leave the country and live in freedom. He was the ultimate Chinese patriots and the Chinese government has reaffirmed that it remains a blood-soaked dictatorship. Some day freedom will come to China and the Chinese people will learn of people like Liu who died for their liberty and their future.
Continue reading “Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo Dies In Chinese Custody”
I have been discussing the dubious claims of criminal liability over the meeting of Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. As I have mentioned, there is a legitimate reason to investigate this latest undisclosed meeting, though the overheated rhetoric on possible (if not imminent) criminal charges is bizarre. This morning on CNN, Sen. Richard Blumenthal raised possible charges of espionage and treason. Putting aside the facially weak foundation for such charges, I must again note that the underlying narrative around this meeting remains rather speculative and unbelievable. I have worked on the legal side of national security investigations for decades in both espionage and terrorism cases. As I said when this meeting first surfaced, none of this makes sense as an actual Russian intelligence operation as opposed to a rather transparent “bait-and-switch.” If this is a Russian spy mystery, it hardly makes for a sequel of Le Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
Below is my most recent column in the Hill Newspaper on the latest round of predictions of possible criminal charges against the Trump family.
Continue reading “The Media Rorschach Test And The Russian Meeting”
We have all been on planes or trains or buses with people who seem to show up with streamer trunks to store above your seat. This guy in Queensland Australia however is truly in a class by himself.
Continue reading “Australian Man Fined For Trying To Move Fridge On Train”
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the curious coverage surrounding James Comey and his leaking of his memos on meetings with President Donald Trump. With the confirmation hearings of Comey’s replacement, Chris Wray, today, the status of the memos may come up in the Senate.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Printing The Legend: The Growing Gap Between Comey’s Image and Actions”
Yesterday, I posted a column in the Hill detailing how the media and various legal experts have worked mightily to avoid the fact that former FBI Director James Comey (1) leaked his memos to the media, (2) the memos were presumptively government material, and (3) the memos were likely classified and/or privileged under long-standing FBI rules. As I said in the column and in earlier columns, none of this takes away from the underlying allegations or the importance of the investigation into possible obstruction of justice. However, the response to the recent Senate Homeland Security majority report and the Hill Newspaper story was precisely what the column discussed: a concerted effort to deny any wrongdoing by Comey (who has assumed the position of an immaculate hero in this political narrative). One such denial of any wrongdoing came from Comey’s friend Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman. Professor Richman invoked a familiar defense: the memos he was given had no classification markings – the very same defense made by Hillary Clinton and rejected by then FBI Director James Comey.
The New York Times is reporting that “Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material was part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy.” That would be a significant development in supporting allegations of “collusion.” I am still skeptical of the alleged crime of collusion and even more skeptical of the alleged crime related to this meeting. I am also confused by the NYT story which says that the email from publicist Rob Goldstone acknowledged that the information was coming from the Kremlin but the article quotes Goldstone in saying that he had no knowledge of any such connection to the Russian government.
Latham & Watkins partner Michelle Kelban-Carteron is in an intense litigation with the board of managers of her Chelsea Modern condo over what her counsel says is “dog racism” in a ban on pit bulls and “other potentially dangerous dogs.” The lawsuit by the board cites instances of Luna lunging at residents and barking at other dogs in an aggressive manner. As a result, they seek an injunction and declaration that Kelban-Carteron has breached her contract and violated the associational rules of the condo. It also alleges the creation of a nuisance.
Continue reading “Dog Racism: New York Partner Sues Condo Over Ban On Pit Bulls”
Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, has declared that the meeting of Donald Trump Jr., with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have compromising information on Hillary Clinton during the campaign, “borders on treason.” Others have said that the disclosure could be the long sought after “smoking gun” on collusion and evidence of criminal conduct. I am afraid that I have to continue my record as something of a “buzz kill” on these stories. There is not a clear criminal act in such a meeting based on the information that we have. Moreover, it is not necessarily unprecedented.
Judge Richard Posner may have just announced his own impending retirement from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Posner is arguing that federal judges should be subject to a mandatory retirement age of “probably 80.” The legendary jurist and writer is 78 years old. The interview may also add fuel to calls for Supreme Court justices to accept retirement. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 84. Anthony Kennedy is 80. Stephen Breyer is 78.
Continue reading “Posner: All Judges Should Be Required To Retire At 80”
The arrest of William Rian Adams, 35, in Florida for assault after pointing a handgun at another driver is tragically not unique. However, what is a bit more unusual is that fact that Adams is the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, just south of Asheville.
Continue reading “North Carolina Minister Arrested for Brandishing A Weapon”