By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In another bizarre example of what people will call 911 over, Camas Washington Police responded to an “animal problem” call of an SUV driving around with a tiger atop its roof. For reference purposes, tigers are not native to Western Washington.
Surely to the surprise of the caller and other tiger/bigfoot chasers of Washington the tiger was actually a stuffed toy.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
On Friday Irish Citizens went to the polls to vote by referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing same-sex marriage. If passed Ireland will join nineteen other nation states who have legalized such marriages and will be the first to enact the petition by popular referendum.
The topic of the referendum garnered such strong interest it is expected that a large percentage of Ireland’s 3.2 million registered voters will go to the polls. In fact, reportedly, unexpectedly high numbers returned home at their personal expense to cast votes.
Continue reading “Irish Voters Abroad Returning Home To Vote On Same-Sex Marriage Referendum”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Our host wrote earlier of the row over a WTC hotdog vendor accused of fleecing unsuspecting tourists by charging up to thirty dollars per hot dog. Now, the vendor has been terminated by his employer.
It is believed he took advantage of foreign tourists unfamiliar with the exchange rates of U.S. currency by failing to post actual prices then naming a price that was up to ten times the actual market rate.
There are new calls for the termination of incoming Boston University sociology professor Saida Grundy after disclosure that she has a criminal record from Michigan. Grundy has become the best known academic at BU before even starting her academic career at the institution . . . for all the worst reasons. However, at the risk of being called an apologist, I again believe that this is not grounds for termination and that BU should allow Grundy to assume her teaching post.
Membership of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC) has always been a rogue’s gallery of some of the world’s most oppressive nations trying to obstruct its work or artificially rehabilitate their images. Now to add insult to countless human rights injuries, Saudi Arabia wants to head the HRC. That’s right. The country that will not allow any other religion to build a simple church or place of worship in the Kingdom. The country that executes people for apostasy for simply praying to the God of their choice. The country that imprisons and flogs women for driving, adultery, or people accused of sorcery. The country that is the greatest exporter of the extreme Sharia values that are stripping away rights in various countries. The country that cuts off the hands of thieves. The country that denies free speech and executes people in intersections for things like drug dealing. That country.
Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Moves To Take Over Top Spot On The U.N.’s Human Rights Council”
Marquette University has apparently dumped Susannah Bartlow, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center director after the center celebrated the completion of a mural featuring convicted Assata Shakur who was convicted of an execution style killing of a New Jersey trooper in 1973. The mural was joint project of the Center and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Police have identified and have an arrest warrant for the man suspected in the gruesome murder of a family and their housekeeper in Washington, D.C. Police are seeking Daron Dylon Wint, 34, in the murder of Savvas Savopoulos, 46, his wife Amy Savopoulos, 47, their 10-year-old son, Philip, and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57 in the family’s Northwest Washington home. What is most striking about the story is that the lead came from the crust of a pizza ordered to the house during the family’s long ordeal in captivity before they were beaten to death. The DNA reportedly matched Wint who have a long criminal history.
Attorney Richard Fields his estranged wife Ekaterina may represent the worst of stereotypes that people have of the top 1 percent and their distinct problems. The couple has been in an intense battle of who gets a $100,000 baby grand piano in the couple’s former New York apartment. Neither is actually a pianist but Fields, who is managing director of Juridica Asset Management, insists that he already lost another baby grand in an earlier divorce from another wife. Indeed, both of these people make a Tom Wolfe novel look like Little Home on the Prairie.
Continue reading “Who Gets Baby? Wealthy Couple Fights Over Custody Of Piano In New York Apartment”
Yes, it is time for another installment of “Things that Tick Me Off,” the category where I allow myself that chance to vent about something that is so annoying that I must vent to retain my sanity. One of the things highest on my list are vendors who fleece tourists as they try to enjoy their cities. Vendors know that many foreign tourists are unfamiliar with the exchange and the currency as well as the prices. One of those appears to be this lowlife Ahmed Mohammed who not only failed to post his prices (as required under municipal law) at this stand near Ground Zero but was charging some people $30 for a single hot dog. That is, until a local reporter caught up with him.
Continue reading “Things That Tick Me Off: Vendors Who Rip Off Tourists At Ground Zero”
We have another case of a man fired for obnoxious conduct outside of his workplace. While we recently discussed this issue with regard to academics, it is increasing common for private employers to fire people who make themselves notorious with thuggish or insulting conduct in public. The latest is Shawn Simoes, who appears to have the mentality of a three year old and taunted a female report with a disgusting sexually explicit heckle on television. He was an engineer with Hydro One, which fired him after the scene was posted outside of BMO Field.
We have previously discussed Saudi Arabia’s infamous “Chop Chop” square where the country’s medieval Sharia law is carried out for everything from apostasy to drug dealing to murder. The Kingdom has had a bumper crop of executions this year with as many beheadings already this year (85) than the entire 2014 period (87). The work appears to be exhausting their executioners so the Kingdom is hiring eight new executioners. While the Saudis insist that this is a humane form of execution approved by the Koran, the fine print on the advertisement is notable: no experience is needed for those who want to cut the heads off people in Chop Chop square or handle amputations under Sharia law.
There is a deeply disturbing case of Illinois where Josephine Bell, 71, is accused of killing her granddaughter’s cat and four kittens with a hammer to teach her grand kids a lesson for not cleaning their rooms. The case again raises the question of the proper punishment for cruelty to animals separate from the obvious abuse of this 13-year-old child.
Like many around the country, I went late last night in watching the overtime win of my Chicago Blackhawks over the Anaheim Ducks. I was fading on the couch despite some of the best hockey playing that I have seen in years but it was all worth it to see Andrew Shaw turn the game into a soccer match and headbutt the puck into the net past Frederik Andersen. Not only was it a very cool thing to watch, it introduced a wonderful legal dispute in the championship for lawyer fans like myself to feel part of the game.
Continue reading “Ice Soccer? Blackhawk Shaw Uses His Head To Score Against Ducks In Overtime”
There is an interesting scandal growing in Miami where more than ten police officers have been implicated in a fraud conspiracy to clear the bad debt records of individuals with the filing of false police report. At the center of the conspiracy, according to police, were Vanessa and Mario Perez who reportedly made more than $322,000 from the fraud. The officers allegedly received $200 to $250 per report to record identity theft — which the subjects could then show companies to disclaim debt. The officers also allegedly were able to use the system to clear the records of themselves and family members.
Continue reading “Police Officers Arrested In Miami In Sweeping Fraud Case”
This is shaping up for another bad week for Hillary Clinton with stories on another undisclosed and unofficial email account that was used during tenure as Secretary of State as well as a New York Times story on the role of Sidney Blumenthal in seeking business with the State Department while continuing as an unofficial and controversial adviser to Clinton. However, the story that I found most interesting is a report that unions have been pouring significant money into the Clinton Foundation. The Foundation has been accused of being a conduit for donors and foreign governments to give money to the Clinton, who have used the Foundation to hire loyalists (like Blumenthal) and pay for luxury travel for the Clinton family. While some have denounced the Clinton Foundation a “slush fund,” the New York Times has offered a more tempered criticism of the Foundation for its business dealings and advancement of Clinton’s political interests. Yet, Clinton supporters insist that the Foundation has done important work around the world. The use of union funds to support the Foundation would in my view be the most serious of the past disclosures, though it has received less attention than the huge sums paid by corporate and foreign figures trying to influence Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
Continue reading “Report: Labor Unions Contributed To Clinton Foundation”