I have previously expressed my disgust over trophy hunting game like lions and elephants — people who post accounts of the thrill of killing a giraffe or rhino with a high-powered rifle. I simply do not understand the joy or power felt in these thrill kills. Nothing however quite prepared most of us for Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer. Fischer shared photos of his hunting trip in Africa where he posed with a photo of a entire “family of baboons,” including a baby, that Fischer massacred with a recurve bow. He gleefully reported that, while you are charged for killing large animals, “Baboons are free.”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on recent stories indicating that top Justice Department officials raised the recusal of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein back in June 2017. I first raised Rosenstein’s recusal in June and August of that year when the Mueller investigation began based on his role in the firing of James Comey and I have repeatedly called for the recusal since then (here and here and here). Unless Mueller has told Rosenstein that he does not consider obstruction to be a serious matter for criminal investigation in this context, it is difficult to see how Rosenstein can continue. Indeed, even if Mueller rejects obstruction theories, Rosenstein should not have continued as his superior in the investigation while that matter was explored in compliance with the mandate given Mueller.
Here is the column:
We have been following the increasing violence seen on college campuses, particularly directed against conservative and pro-life speakers. The latest incident occurred at Ryerson University in Ontario where a video captured Ryerson Student Gabriela “Gabby” Skwarko attacking two members of Toronto Against Abortion (TAA). Skwarko works for the school’s Office of Social Innovation. The video below shows a violent and unprovoked attack to stop an act of free speech on campus. Continue reading “Pro-Life Students Attacked at Ryerson University in Latest Assault on Free Speech”
Anna Ayers, a student at Ohio University and a member of the OU student senate, recently caused an uproar at the university after saying that she received threatening messages, including a death threat, due to being part of the LGBTQ community. Police now say that Ayers made the entire thing up and have arrested her for “making false alarms.” That wording seemed a bit curious so I went to the state code, which indeed has a provision that departs from the usual language of a false police report. Continue reading “Ohio University Student Arrested After Making False Claims Of Threatening Messages Due To LGBTQ Status”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
There are times when one can justifiably take advantage of a host’s generosity and access to an international audience for the selfish purpose of venting one’s frustrations. This is just such a time.
It is increasingly a problem: Whenever I elect to try out a new coffee shop, especially when out of town on business, they do not serve brewed or drip coffee. Just about every foo-foo flavor or coffee containing drink imaginable fills their menu, yet not even a simple, regular cup of coffee can be had. It’s un-American I tell you.
In these “coffee shops” wanting coffee means receiving a cheap substitute: A watered-down misfit of a beverage–the Americano.
Continue reading “The Ugly Americano, The Bane of So-called “Coffee Shops””
I have previously discussed my opposition to sugary drink bans or prohibitive taxation schemes in Chicago and New York. While Cook County reluctantly yielded to public opinion and court decisions recently, other cities have continued to penalize the unhealthy choices of consumers. Now England is considering a measure to put a calorie count on pizza, ready meals and sandwiches to combat obesity. As you might expect, I feel the same way about this measure as a denial of individual choice despite the undeniable well-intentioned purpose of the measure. It is the type of law only a Little Caesar would relish . . . other than the pizza chain of course.
The Cornell Daily Sun is reporting that Cornell Law School has started a Title IX investigation over a report that some male law students were “ranking women on their appearance.” What is most striking is that this was all done in a private group chat. Men and women have been ranking each other by looks since time immemorial. On October 5, Dean Eduardo M. Peñalver said in an October 5th email to law students that Cornell’s Title IX Office is investigating the matter, adding that “ranking women on their appearance is inherently degrading,” adding that it was “childish and unprofessional.” I agree that it is childish and unprofessional, but I still question the need for a Title IX investigation into the private correspondence of students over the attractiveness of other students. Continue reading “Cornell Law School Launches Title IX Investigation Over Male Students Ranking Female Students On Attractiveness”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Thursday’s business trip met with the untimely demise of a close friend, my 1993 Subaru Legacy.
The untimely end came about four miles from my destination. The engine failed. I hoped for the best as each time in the past he would pull through famously. Yet after my mechanic broke the news it was not good. He required extensive repair to the engine and it wasn’t feasible to keep going. After hundreds of thousands of miles of every terrain in the state and every whether condition, my Subaru finally needed to rest.
It was not only named “Legacy”, the car WAS a legacy. He gave both his owners over 484,000 miles of reliable service, mostly to me as a second-hand buyer. If anything can be said of 1990’s Subarus, they were certainly built to last. But this Subaru lasted one of the longest.
Continue reading “In Memoriam: My Subaru, Aged 25 years 484,000 miles”
The National Constitution Center and the Old Parkland Debate Series has announced that a debate will be held on November 12th between George Washington Professor Jonathan Turley and CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on impeachment. The debate will occur a week after the 2018 midterm elections and many have called for the impeachment of both President Donald Trump and Judge Brett Kavanaugh following a Democratic takeover of the United States House of Representatives. The debate question is: Resolved, the framers designed impeachment as a political, rather than a legal process. Toobin will argue that the Framers intended impeachment to be a political judgment while Turley will argue that the Framers intended more of a legal judgment. Turley was the last lead counsel in an impeachment trial in the Senate and Toobin previously worked for Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh.
Continue reading “Turley and Toobin To Debate Impeachment In Dallas After Midterm Election”
Washington’s Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state’s death penalty Thursday based on the way that it has been used in an arbitrary and racially discriminatory manner. It was a surprising basis since usually capital punishment is rejected as cruel and unusual punishment. It is the punishment, not the imposition of the punishment, that is the common argument against executions. Continue reading “Washington State Strikes Down The Death Penalty As Racially Biased and Arbitrary”
In one of the most bizarre (and frankly demeaning) moments for the White House, President Donald Trump invited Kanye West into the Oval Office for what became an unhinged and profane rave sessions in front of the world’s press. As with the high-level visits with a Kardashian to talk policy, these sessions have a freak show quality more fitting a reality show than the Oval Office. For anyone who reveres that office, West raving about how he is a “crazy motherf***er” is an utter disgrace. Not to be outdone, CNN proceeded to demean news coverage by racing to the bottom on the story with April Ryan.
Continue reading “West Wing-Nut: Kanye’s Visit To Oval Office Leads To Unhinged and Demeaning Rave”
Kuwait has continued to remind the world that, despite its advances in the modern world, it remains a religiously orthodox government imposing medieval values on its population. That fact was on display this week as the government banned such works as “The Little Mermaid” and Michelangelo’s David as unIslamic or indecent. Sounds Orwellian? Perhaps but Kuwaiti’s would not know it . . . Orwell’s masterpiece “1984” was also banned.
Continue reading “Kuwait: We Are Not Orwellian . . . We Banned Orwell”
Idaho Republican lieutenant governor candidate Bob Nonini has triggered a firestorm after saying that women who get an abortion should be criminally prosecuted and indicated that that could include the death penalty. If it seems a tad conflicted to execute someone in the name of being pro-life, Nonini seems to be still trying to thread that needle with a later effort to walk back from his comments.
I have previously criticized the effort to criminalize or sanction companies for using models who are deemed too thin in an effort to change the expectations for young girls. There is no evidence that these efforts have a real impact on the social preference for thin body types, but officials continue to police the body shapes and weight of models. That was the case this week with the action against Nasty Gal by the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using models deemed “unhealthily underweight” women in a 30-second ad.Continue reading “Nasty Gal Barred From Running Ad Featuring Thin Model”
The Clintons are back. Despite Democratic members belatedly (by about two decades) denouncing Bill Clinton for the host of women who accused him of sexual assault and rape and the growing unpopularity of Hillary Clinton, Democrats are again putting the couple on the campaign trail in one of the most critical midterm elections in history. Just as the Democratic leadership does not seem to change, neither does the playbook or players. I just do not get it. Hillary has already made headlines in distinguishing her husband’s sexually abusive history by saying these cases were “thoroughly investigated” even though the couple did everything possible to stop such investigations and Democrats remained largely silent despite corroborating evidence from these women. In a remarkably uncritical and relatively passive interview, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour did not seem at all concerned about a strange claim by Clinton that she won the vote of women voters while dismissing white women as opposed to Democratic candidates or values. For those who are looking for a blue wave, the high-profile speaking tour of the Clintons cannot be good news given their continuing polarizing impact in polls. As Democrats seeks to build on the MeToo anger in the aftermath of the Kavanaugh hearings, the Clintons remind voters of the obvious hypocrisy in how Democrats handled the Bill Clinton accusations. Continue reading “Hillary Clinton Dismisses White Women Voters As Lost Cause While Calling For The End Of Civility Toward Republicans”