Some People Take Enormous Exception To The 5G Cell Service Roll-out.

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

For many of us who hold on to old technology until the bitter end, issues such as the obligatory upgrade to a newer generation of cell phone technology brings irritation. But for a few in The Netherlands, it seems burning down cell towers is the retort of choice.

De Telegraaf reports that antenna systems in Liessel, Beesd, Rotterdam and Nuenen had their cabling set alight in what is believed nearly certainly to be arson. One of the control boxes at a cell site had “F*** 5G” spray painted, not the usual result of an arc-flash I would venture to say.

Some of the motivation for the dissent leading to these types of arson stems from the belief that the 5G system as utilized by telecoms curtails privacy and that the propagation of electromagnetic radiation transmissions could have health consequences. There are legitimate arguments to these positions, but there is wide variation in the perceived scope and danger they might actually present. Despite this, there remain always a few who so self-righteously bind themselves to causes célèbres they think very little of the actual damage such acts cause others.

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Ohio Man Arrested For Pulling Gun On Easter Bunny

One Ohio man has a curious way of celebrating Easter. The unnamed 49-year-old man was arrested after pointing a gun at the Easter Bunny in Middlebourne, Ohio. Police later found a .22-caliber handgun and an open 12-pack of beer in truck. It is a good thing, as my kids remind me every year, that the Easter Bunny does not impose a moral test like Santa. Both naughty and nice benefit equally from the Bunny, though there could be a little use proviso on the pulling of guns on the righteous rabbit.

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WA Governor Inslee’s Order Cancelling Remaining School Year Possibly Unconstitutional

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

It is my analysis and view that Washington Governor Inslee’s declaration cancelling the entirety of the remaining school year under the rubric of the COVID-19 situation possibly violates the Washington State Constitution.

The state’s Supreme Court held in McCleary v. Washington that “The word “ample” in article IX, section 1 provides a broad constitutional guideline meaning fully, sufficient, and considerably more than just adequate.

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Illinois Homeowner Kills One Burglar and Tackles Another In Latest Pandemic Crime

Mugshot for Bradley Finnan, 39, of Chatanooga, Tenn.

I am in Chicago to assist with my 92-year-old mother who is in failing health. Much of the local news is about an outrageous crime where two armed robbers wore medical masks and gloves to break into a home. With people suffering in this crisis, these two individuals saw a criminal opportunity rather than human empathy. The problem is that they picked the wrong house. Not only was the crime captured on Ring, but the homeowner in Arlington Heights fatally shot Larry Brodacz, 58, and chased down, Bradley Finnan, 39.

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OSC Rules In Favor Of Kushner On Hatch Act Violation (Sort of)


The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) ruled in favor of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner on whether he violated the Hatch Act in boasting Trump’s reelection in an interview. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked for the complaint to be reopened. There is an interesting twist in the case separate from the merits. The OSC rejected the claim not because it found Kushner’s comments were apolitical but because the interview was apparently not aired on television but was posted online. That seems like a bizarre and facially invalid distinction under the Act.

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“Errand Boy”: Retired Judge Resigns From Supreme Court Bar In Blistering Letter To Chief Justice Roberts

There has been considerable coverage of a letter from retired Hawaiian judge James Dannenberg who resigned from the Supreme Court Bar in protest over what he views as a court become little more than an “’errand boy’ for an administration that has little respect for the rule of law.” While I appreciate Dannenberg’s deep-seated and good-faith concerns over the direction of the Court’s jurisprudence, this letter is wildly off base. Indeed, the letter appears to denounce the Court for being “results-oriented” because it does not reach the results that he prefers. While the conservative justices as chastised for voting in bloc, he has no such qualms about the liberal justices voting as a bloc in the same cases. One is viewed as ideological while the other is viewed as . . . well . . . right.

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Doubling Down: Trump Adds Massive Small Business Program To Daughter’s Portfolio

For years, I have criticized President Donald Trump for his embrace of nepotism with the use of his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka Trump as high-ranking advisers in the White House. I was particularly critical recently when Trump gave Kushner a major role in the pandemic recovery. While I disagreed with some of the more over-wrought statements about Kushner’s role, it was still wrong in my view from both an ethical and political standpoint. Now however the Administration is doubling down by putting Ivanka Trump in a key public spot in the $349 million loan program for small business. The American people have a right to know that the trillions of dollars (and hundreds of thousands of lives) at stake are being managed by people selected on the merits, not familial ties to the President.

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“How Hard Can It Be?”: Ohio Democratic Representative Pledges To File Referral For Charges Of Crimes Against Humanity By Trump

Ohio House of Representatives

Ohio state Rep. Tavia Galonski (D) continues to garner extensive national coverage over her pledge to file a referral with the Hague for charges of crimes against humanity by President Donald Trump over his handling of the pandemic. Yesterday, she reaffirmed with NBC News that she would be making a referral “tomorrow.” Galonski is specifically citing Trump’s promotion of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment despite the absence of conclusive studies on its benefits. While Galonski originally said that she had “no idea” how to file such a referral, she has asked “how hard can it be?” The answer is extremely hard if you have, as here, an entirely frivolous basis for a referral.

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“I Swear I Hit Them”: Wisconsin Doctor and Spouse Allegedly Executed By Boyfriend of Daughter

Khari Sanford, left, and Ali'jah Larrue face charges in connection with the shooting deaths of a Wisconsin doctor and her husband, authorities say. (Dane County Sheriff's Office)

In any crisis, a strange array of crimes emerge that are shaped by the crisis. We have already discussed a variety of pandemic crimes from assaults over social distancing rules to coughing on vegetables to attempts to surpass purchasing rules. There have also been murder-suicides with people who feared that they had the virus. With business burglaries up 75 percent in New York, some crimes are merely opportunistic and predictable while others add a level of depravity that is especially shocking. Wisconsin now has a particularly sad and bizarre murder to add to this list. A doctor and her husband were apparently dragged from their home and executed in March. One of the two suspects is the boyfriend of their daughter. Dr. Beth Potter, 52, and husband Robin Carre, 57, had paid for their daughter, Miriam (“Mimi’) Carre, and her reported boyfriend to Khari Sanford, 18, (left) to live in a separate apartment to protect against the spread of coronavirus (due to an underlying health condition). Potter was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and her death has shocked the academic community as well as the community at large. Sanford and his friend, Ali’jah Larrue, 18, (right) are now charged in the murder and police say that the daughter’s account stands contradicted on Sanford’s whereabouts at the time of the crime. ABC News has reported that bail is set at $1 million.

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Howard Dean Boycotts MSNBC Until They Stop Airing Trump’s Daily Briefing

YouTube Screenshot

I previously criticized former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Howard Dean for his view of unprotected speech under the first amendment. He is now taking a different tack than government censorship. He has announced that he will boycott MSNBC until it yields to his demand to stop airing President Donald Trump’s daily briefing. He is calling on other commentators to join his boycott. Dean has curiously not pledged to boycott the other networks, which are also carrying the briefings. The reason is simple: it is news. Moreover, the public in a pandemic has been watching the briefings even though some of us object to some of President Trump’s comments, particularly his attacks on political and media figures. Yet, Dean is only the latest liberal figure or group to try to censor the briefings to prevent public access.

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Trump Continues Assault On Inspectors General With Removal Of Appointed Pandemic Spending IG

We have previously discussed President Donald Trump’s firing of the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson — a move that many of us criticized (particularly after Trump made it clear that the firing was due to the fact that Atkinson informed Congress of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint). Yesterday, Trump unfairly attacked the Inspector General who authored a critical report on shortages in hospitals dealing with the outbreak. Trump appointed Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm but attacked her as a deep state hater despite a record of service to both Republican and Democratic Administrations. Now Trump has removed Glenn Fine — the acting Pentagon watchdog — to lead the group charged with monitoring the coronavirus relief effort. Fine is highly respected and appointed by a panel of inspectors general. All of these moves are unwarranted and dangerous attacks on our system of Inspectors General that should be condemned by both parties.

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No, The Supreme Court Did Not Just Help Rig The Wisconsin Election

Few per curiam opinions have generated as much heat from both dissenting justices as well as the media. The decision of the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of a district court judge on extending the voting for the Wisconsin election this week has generated breathless headlines and comparisons to the Bush v. Gore decision in the 2000 elections. Such hyperbolic language aside, the decision was actually quite narrow and well-supported. Moreover, the dissent is chastising the majority for denying relief that the Wisconsin Democrats never requested from the District Court in their original preliminary injunction motion.

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Oregon Man Throws Firework At Female Friend . . . Causing Four Trucks and A Gas Thief To Catch Fire

In torts exams, professors will often string a series of unexpected events together in a proximate cause scenario. A case out of Oregon seems right out of such an exam narrative. Thomas Hannah, 28, is accused of getting into an argument with a female friend in the parking lot of a U-Haul center in Eugene. He proceeded to light and throw a firework at her, which promptly caused four trucks (and a gas thief) to catch fire.

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