International, Politics, Religion

Trump: Any Jewish Person Who Votes Democratic “Shows Either A Total Lack of Knowledge or Great Disloyalty”

In a disturbing statement to the media, President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that “any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat – I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” American Jews have long fought against the common trope that they vote solely on Israel and put the interests of that country above their own. Weirdly, Trump appears to be adopting the trope with this comment. It is a deeply insulting suggestion for Jewish Americans who vote their consciences on the future of this country. Trump seemed to suggest that they are expected to be one issue voters.

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Bizarre, International

British Officials Ban Two Commercials For Gender Stereotyping

I have previously criticized the new law, enforced by the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), that bans gender stereotypes in advertising. It is the ultimate expression of the “nanny state” phenomenon in the United Kingdom where speech is increasingly regulated and sanctioned by the state along a best values agenda. Commercials for Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Volkswagen were banned. To understand how these laws are really speech controls, one needs only to watch the commercials and the vacuous response of one of the chief regulators in a recent interview.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

New York Man Allegedly Impersonates Police Officer In Pulling Over Van . . . Full Of Real Detectives

According to police, Valiery Portlock’s career as a faux police officer came to a crashing end on a street in Hicksville, Long Island when he pulled over a van only to watch as real detectives stepped out of the vehicle. What happened next was

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Society

“We Didn’t See A Single Homeless Person”: Chicago Teacher’s Union Members Fly To Venezuela In Show Of Support

Venezuela is a humanitarian and civil liberties disaster. The repressive regime of Nicolás Maduro has been condemned around the world for its campaign of killings, arrests, and torture with the help of hundreds of Cuban intelligence officers. The free press and any dissent has been brutally destroyed as the nation itself reduced to pre-industrial standards. Beyond Cuba, North Korea, and other authoritarian regimes, Venezuela has few friends . . . . except union teachers from Chicago. The delighted picture above shows the delegation of union teachers who flew to Venezuela in support of one of the most blood-soaked regimes in the world. The picture reportedly shows Richard Berg (Organizer), strike captains Sarah Chambers (Special Education Educator), Valeria Vargas (Math Educator) and Fabiana Casas (English Educator) on Twitter after crowdfunding their trip to Venezuela.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

Line Up or Cover Up? Portland Police Alter Line Up Picture In Bank Robbery Case

In decades of criminal defense work, I have never seen a case like this one. In Portland, police suspected Tyrone Lamont Allen of robbing four banks and credit unions. However, none of the tellers reported seeing his prominent facial tattoos. In a decision that should result in serious disciplinary action, the police photoshopped out the tattoos before showing the picture in a photo line up. The witnesses then identified Allen.

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Columns, Media, Politics

“Myside Bias”: How The Democrats Are Becoming More Trump-Like And Why No One Seems To Notice

Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the Trump-like rhetoric coming from Democratic leaders as the 2020 election season ramps up. While correctly criticizing President Trump for many of his comments, the Democrats have been engaging in almost identical commentary with little coverage. What is now missing is a high ground in an election season that seems to be getting more and more irresponsible and hyperbolic.

Here is the column:

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Animals, Environment

Report: Massive Die-Off Of Salmon Due To Higher Temperatures

My recent return from Alaska left me with a wealth of new experiences and new friends. It remains a truly wondrous and wild place that everyone should visit. However, as I mentioned during the trip, the impact of climate change is obvious and alarming. Just comparing my kayaking pictures from three years ago, the glaciers have receded a great deal and most have lost any snow cover. If you doubt that climate change is real, go to Alaska and speak to the fishermen and guides. It also has apparently taken a devastating toll on salmon. When I was flying to Alaska, I was speaking to some avid fishermen in the airport who said that they have been going to Alaska for a couple decades and have never seen so few salmon. It turns out that they were right. Scientists have reported that salmon are experiencing a massive die off due to the higher temperatures. Other remote areas a reporting unheard of temperatures and melting. Greenland alone has lost 12.6 billion tons of ice IN ONE DAY — in a record meltdown.

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Criminal law, Politics

California Woman Convicted For Assault On Trump Supporters
Prosecutors said Jessica Aguilar’s jail sentence will be dropped if she completes community service.

I recently wrote about the limited coverage of violence by anti-Trump individuals and groups. A number of such cases are pending in Orange County where Trump supporters were attacked while trying to attend a rally. One conviction was recently handed down again for Jessica Aguilar, 23, of Sacramento. She slapped a man twice across the face during the March 25, 2017 rally at Bolsa Chica State Beach and was found guilty Wednesday of one misdemeanor count of battery. This is clearly a problem on both sides and it is continuing to spread, including 13 arrests in Oregon at the rallies this weekend with the seizure of various weapons.

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Constitutional Law, Courts

WA County’s Guardian Ad Litem Should Be Dismantled After Egregious Due Process Abuse Case

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

As many know I am often a staunch critic of Washington’s child protective services and a system that at times has shown itself to be rife with incompetence, vindictiveness, and laziness. For the past several years hardly a six month time period elapses without news of yet another major debacle occurring that shatters the life of a child or family member and results in millions of dollars paid out by the state in damages.

But the latest spell in my view goes beyond the usual bureaucratic blundering and crosses a line into what many would consider to be corruption.

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Bizarre, Politics

Trump Makes Fun Of Protester’s Weight . . . Who Turns Out To Be One Of His Supporters

Like many, I was appalled to see the President of the United States mocking the weight of a protester on Thursday night. The type of juvenile taunting was degrading more for the office of Donald Trump than the protester. It turns out however that it was not even degrading for the protester at all, but a Trump supporter who was wrongly insulted by the President. The man is Frank Dawson who had taken away a sign from a protester. He was actually wearing a “Trump 2020” teeshirt.

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Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

Beto O’Rourke Accuses Fox News of Spreading The “Seeds of Terror”

As the Democratic presidential race gets more crowded and frantic, the rhetoric is rising. As with some of President Trump’s comments, one can dismiss much of these comments as irresponsible efforts to trigger a base of voters. However, some comments raises more troubling issues. That was the case with Beto O’Rourke’s comments on the media. O’Rourke accused conservative media of being the mouthpieces of terrrorism — an attack every bit as chilling as Trump’s calling the media the “enemy of the people.”

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law

Polygamy Beer Banned In North Carolina

Years ago, I handled a challenge to the decision of the State of Idaho to ban the sale of “Five Wives Vodka” due to the illegality of polygamy in the state. We succeeded in having the decision reversed. Now, however, another Utah brewery has lost its appeal of a decision to bar the sale of “Polygamy Porter” in North Carolina due to the fact that “polygamy is illegal.” It is an illogical and capricious decision that should be further appealed.

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Environment, Travel Blog

Running The Nenana With Raft Denali

One the greatest highlights of the trip to Alaska was returning to join Nenana Raft Adventures (www.raftdenali.com) on a whitewater adventure in Denali. This is one of my favorite companies, run by Judith White, who is a fixture in Denali with Nenana Raft Adventures and Denali Paddlesports. Judy attracts top raft operators from all over the country and the company is takes every precaution to give amateurs a safe but exciting time on Class Four runs along the Denali National Park. It is a wonderful way to break up days hiking at Denali and we had a ball.

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Academia, Bizarre

American University Holds Training Session On Avoiding Single Standard Grading To Achieve “Antiracist” Objectives

American University has brought in an academic from the University of Washington-Tacoma with a curious mission for an academic institution: to teach academics not to grade on the writing ability of students as opposed to their “labor.” Professor Asao Inoue believes that writing ability should not be assessed because such assessment interfere with “antiracist” objectives.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

A$AP Rocky Found Guilty In Sweden Despite Trump Intervention

I was previously critical of the intervention of President Donald Trump in the criminal case of American rapper A$AP Rocky  Trump not only demanded that Sweden grant bond (which is not available in Sweden) but tied the continued prosecution of the rap star to the status of diplomatic relations with our long-standing ally, Sweden. Now Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and his two friends have been found guilty of assault.

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