Animals, Society

Washington State Rangers Confirm That Hunter Killed Beloved “Cinder” Bear

We have another story this week of a beloved animal who was killed by a hunter.  Cinder was a young black bear that was nursed back to health after she was severely burned in a 2014 Washington wildfire. She became a moving story for many as she fought her way back to health and was eventually returned to the wild.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has now confirmed that she was killed. She was the subject of the book “Cinder the Bear: A True Story of Rescue, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Return.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Pushing the Envelope: Man Reportedly Commits Brazen Theft at Airport

It is rare to see a brazen act of theft committed in public but a video shows this man casually taking envelopes of cash containing $9,000 at a security checkpoint in Rome.  The man’s calm demeanor is striking as he takes the money literally from the man behind him going through security.

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Politics

Steele: Dossier Was Funded By Democrats To Challenge Election

In a surprising admission, the author of the controversial dossier used to secure the secret surveillance on Trump officials admitted that it was paid for by Clinton campaign as a type of insurance to challenge the election.  At the same time, the reporter who helped break the story, Michael Isikoff now says that many of the specific allegations remain unproven and are likely false. 

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Bizarre, Society

San Fran Commission Requires Owner To Rebuild Historic Home That He Demolished Without Approval

There is an interesting decision out of the San Francisco Planning Commission after an owner demolished a famous house without approval.  The Commission clearly believes that Ross Johnston decided it was better to ask forgiveness than permission in tearing down the home known at the Largent House after securing only a permit for renovation.  The response of the Commission is poetic justice: Johnston has been ordered to build the exact house that he tore down and put up a plaque giving the history of the house and its demolition. 

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Society

American University’s Yoga Group Disbanded After Cultural Appropriation Charge

I have been critical of the widening charges of cultural appropriation and microaggressions on our campuses as statements and even programs are targeted with little resistance from faculty or administrators.  We previously discussed how yoga classes were denounced in Ottawa as cultural appropriation. Now American University in Washington has become embroiled in the same charge after a single student objected to white individuals performing an Indian epic as part of university’s Bhakti yoga group. American University student Maya Krishnan seems to believe that the school should limit performances on the basis of race and national origin — and that objection appears to have succeeded with the dissolution of the group as well as the resignation of the group’s faculty adviser, student president and vice president.

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Bizarre, Columns, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

“Let’s Just Send A Couple Of Guys Over”: Comey Admits Another Violation Of Department Protocol and Policy

Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the recent admission by James Comey that he intentionally circumvented the White House Counsel and Justice Department protocol to send two agents to interview then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.  It is a subject that will hopefully be raised this week when Comey appears again before Congress on Monday. Comey describes his sudden realization that he could “get away with” sending “a couple guys over” to the White House. Comey’s epiphany could be his epitaph. 

Here is the column:

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Supreme Court, Torts

It’s A Wonderful Libel? Trump Suggests Legal Action Against SNL For Latest Skit

I have previously criticized President Donald Trump for his calls for greater liability of the media for its coverage of the controversies surrounding his Administration.   This weekend, Trump was again suggesting the need for legal review as he was excoriated by Saturday Night Live in a skit based on the classic Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  Fortunately, the courts have maintained core free speech and free press protections from such assaults, particularly in the realm of comedy and parody.  

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Putin On The Rap: Russian President Says Rap Will Not Be Banned But “Directed” By The State

For an authoritarian leader like President Vladimir Putin, this may seem like the height of liberalism.  Putin told cultural advisers  that the rising popularity of rap music will, not be banned by rather “we must lead it and direct it.”  It is not clear what Putin rap might sound like but it is clearly going to be something Stalin rather than Solzhenitsyn would dance to.  We all know what Soviet central planning did to the economy.  We can now watch the same magic of centrally planned rap music.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

Deporter in Chief: Deportations Under Obama Still Higher Than Under Trump

For both Democrats and Republicans, the recent deportation numbers may come as something of an unpleasant surprise. It turns out the President Barack Obama deported more illegal immigrants than Trump even after two years of Trump’s controversial immigration policies.

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Bizarre, International, Religion

“Satan Is Sitting Inside Them”: Russian Orthodox Priest Under Review After Violent Baptism
Ilia Semiletov will face a church court and could be struck off after he was seen three times forcing the naked child's head in the font in Yessentuki, south west Russia

I am sorry but it really seems like Father Ilia Semiletov has some issues and it is really not a little Satanic girl. The Russian orthodox priest is under review after the shocking videotape below where he is shown violently pushing a little girl into a baptismal font to remove the Satan within her.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International

Quebec Theater Fined In For Actor Lighting Fake Cigarette On Stage

One could imagine a number of things that might draw the attention, if not the ire, of aspiring censors in Quebec in the performance of Conversations avec mon pénis, starting with the woman dressed as a giant penis.  However, the $500 fine levied against the theater was for Marc-André Thibault sitting next to the giant penis while he smoked a fake cigarette on stage.

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Constitutional Law

Turley To Speak At Newseum On The Special Counsel Investigation

I will have the pleasure of joining an esteemed panel today in a special event held at the Newseum.  We will discussing the Special Counsel investigation and related issues from indicting a sitting president to possible impeachment proceedings.  The event is organized by the Freedom Forum Institute and the panel will also include Stuart E. Eizenstat, American diplomat and attorney (and author of the new book, “President Carter: The White House Years”) and Kenneth W. Starr, former federal judge, U.S. Solicitor General, and independent counsel for the Whitewater investigation. The moderator will be Greta Van Susteren, broadcast journalist and host of legal and political affairs programs on Fox News and MSNBC.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Justice, Politics

California Appellate Court Slams USC For Denying Basic Due Process To Accused Student

We have yet another court ruling that a university denied the most basic due process protections to a student accused of sexual assault.  For example, the University of Southern California appeared entirely unmotivated and uninterested in determining  if stains on clothing of the victim was blood or red paint from a party where “students splattered paint on each other.”  What is astonishing is that, while spending little time to guarantee a fair process, the university has continued to litigate this case to try to protect its right to summarily convict accused students.  Claremont McKenna College and the University of California-Santa Barbara were previously cited for such due process violations.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Media

British Ads Barred in 2019 From Showing Any Form Of Gender Stereotype

We have previously discussed how Great Britain has embraced the “nanny state” in regulating speech and conduct that are deemed unhealthy or inimical to good social policy.  The latest example are new rules to take effect in 2019 the will ban sexist or gender stereotypes from advertising. This includes showing men or women in gender stereotypical activities because such images are deemed to contribute to pay inequality or psychological harm.

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