In Zimbabwe, Cecil the lion was a believed to be a rare animal that was relatively safe from trophy hunters and poachers. After all, the 13-year-old lion wore a GPS collar as part of a research project with Oxford University and lived in a reserve funded by various governments and organizations to keep animals safe. Indeed, Cecil was something of a beloved celebrity. What park rangers did not count on was combination of corrupt tour operators, a foreign hunter, and an array of others seeking to lure the lion out of its protected area. Officials say that hunters paid $55,000 for the fun of shooting Cecil and then cutting off his head and skinning him. He was lured out of the park with bait so that he could be killed for sport. The culprit was allegedly a US dentist Walter Palmer from a small town near Minneapolis. Palmer loves to kill large animals and then pose with their bodies in postings on social media.
The University of California admissions department has updated its applications to reflect alternative genders. However, the school has not simply added “transgender” or a third option. Instead, it has added six gender identity categories.
Continue reading “University of California Gives Students Six Gender Identity Categories”
The Obama Administration has been accused by public interest groups of being one of the most hostile administration toward whistleblowers since the Nixon Administration. Not only whistleblowers but reporters have been subject to abusive investigations and crackdowns under President Obama. Now, that record has taken an even more dangerous turn. The Justice Department is facing bipartisan criticism after it moved to restrict access of inspectors general to documents needed to ferret out corrupt and abusive practices. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued a controversial 68-page memo that says that the department’s inspector general would be required to get permission from the agencies it is investigating to obtain wire taps, grand jury testimonies, and credit information.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Moves To Sharply Curtail Authority Of Government Watchdogs”
There is an tragic road road case out of Florida where two middle aged men that led to a shooting. Robert Eric Doyle, 51, was arrested for the murder of Candelario Gonzalez, 44. What is different about this case if two fold. First, both cars were on the telephone with 911 during the chase and shooting — all of which was recorded. Second, the primary witnesses that could contradict both drivers are the respective wives of the drivers.
Continue reading “Big Catch: Star Of Reality Show Wicked Tuna Indicted For Disability Fraud”
Marilyn Perry, 62, (left) has curious defense for crashing into the car of Pamela Beckham, 50, (right below) and breaking Beckham’s neck and causing her other injuries in Bellevue. Perry was trying to get her grandchildren out of the car so it could have been much much worse when Beckham slammed into her.
There is an interesting story out of Massachusetts where an official at the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission found that the Methuen Police Department admitted that job applicants were given higher scores if they indicated that they would never arrest a fellow officer for drunk driving and other applicants were downgraded for saying that they would apply the law equally to all citizens — officers and non-officers alike.
For those who are already upset about the prospect of the country again being given simply a choice between a Bush or a Clinton in the general election, they might not want to read the recent interview of President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in Time magazine. In a revealing aside, Bush shrugs off the real significance of the result of the election so long as it is either a Clinton or a Bush: says it really does not matter so long as it is either a Bush or Clinton: “What difference does it make,” he said at the time, “if the order is Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama/Clinton or it is Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama/Bush?” It appears that we have a dynastic democracy.
With so many families struggling these days to make ends meet, new Los Angeles Clippers forward Josh Smith may have chosen an awkward way of introducing himself to his new fans. Smith told the media that it will be a bit harder on his family to make ends meet but that they were persevere with his salary. The Smith family will be somehow struggling on a $7 million salary.
Despite the determination of investigators at the State Department and intelligence agencies that Hillary Clinton did use her personal email system to handle confirmed classified information (and potentially compromised “hundreds of classified emails”), Clinton dismissed such allegations and assured the public that it is “pretty clear” that there was no classified information on her personal email system — a system that she used rather than the secure State Department system.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama Administration is preparing to release one of this country’s most notorious spies in an effort to placate Israel in the aftermath of Iranian agreement. Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy, betrayed his country and was arrested as he attempted to flee to the Israeli embassy in 1985. He was not only convicted of espionage but the Justice Department and intelligence agencies have long maintained that he did untold harm to the national security. The question of the release of Pollard has always raised interesting political, social, and legal questions. Thirty years is certainly not an insignificant amount of time and Pollard reportedly has health issues. My greatest concern is one of special treatment, particularly on sentencing policy for other national security cases. (For full disclosure, I have handled and continued to serve as lead counsel in national security cases). Continue reading “Concession or Coincidence? Pollard Reportedly To Be Released In Aftermath Of Iran Deal”
New Horizons made its farewell pass of Pluto and left us with incredible pictures of the dwarf planet to analyze and discuss for years. It has been an incredible experience for all of humanity to see the most distant planet, even if it has been downgraded to dwarf planet.
In a major development on the Clinton email scandal, the New York Times is reporting that the inspectors general for the State Department and the intelligence community have asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into whether there was mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton using a personal email account while secretary of state. While the newspaper referred to the action as a criminal referral, the Administration quickly moved to counter the story and insist that it is not technically a criminal referral. We have previously discussed this story and the insistence of Clinton that she did nothing wrong in maintaining a private email system and that none of the emails were classified. I disagreed with both premises as well as expressed great skepticism over Clinton’s insistence that she was really not trying to control her emails and insulate them from review but rather simply did not want to carry around two phones. According to the New York Times, investigators believe that Clinton’s email archive contained “hundreds of potentially classified emails.” Nevertheless, the Justice Department appears to be moving to counter any expectation of a criminal investigation against the former Secretary of State under Obama. We have previously discussed the special treatment historically given powerful figures in violating national security rules or practices.
A new video shows 10 officers with the LAPD surrounding Christopher Zareck, 43, who is confined to a wheelchair. In the video below, Zareck appears combative, but the response of the officers is being criticized as excessive and abusive. Zareck was tasered and hit repeatedly by bean-bag rounds.
Continue reading “Video: LAPD Under Fire For Tasering Suspect In Wheelchair”
The Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinners are famous events for the state Democratic Party in Connecticut. However, as part of the backlash against historical figures who owned slaves, the NAACP demanded that both names be stripped away from the dinner and the state Democratic Party agreed.
Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson Dropped From Democratic Events”