Brandon Ancell, 19, and Brandon Chait, 18, probably thought that the Grinch made it look so easy in Whoville. You just wait for Christmas gifts to arrive at houses and steal them. The problem arises when a neighbor plays the role of Cindy Lou Who with a camera.
Continue reading “Trouble In Whoville: Two Men Caught Stealing Holiday Presents”
We have been following the international outrage over the arrest of Loujain al-Hathloul, 25, for driving as a woman. She was arrested with a female journalist. Not only is the Saudi government not backing down, it has extended their jail time by 25 more days to allow for further investigation.
Continue reading “Saudi Officials Extend Jail Time For Women Caught Driving”
We previously discussed the best and worst of mugshots. There is a curious trend developing after the publication of mugshots on the Internet: some are finding that their mugshots have made them overnight sensations. Alysa Suguro Bathrick, 18, is the latest of these mugshot mavens. Her mugshot has gone viral following her arrest on drug charges.
Continue reading “Mugshot Maven: Another Booking Shot Goes Viral”
Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
The Banksters are at it again. You may recall an article that I wrote in March of 2013 which detailed a plan agreed to by the Bank of England and the FDIC which would allow banks to grab depositors funds in order to avoid a bank failure. The prime example given in that article was a similar plan that was put into action in Cyprus. Similar plans were on the books elsewhere, but the Cyprus grab had actually been activated.
Now it seems that the joint FDIC-Bank of England agreement from December of 2012 was not enough to make the Banksters whole in the event that their derivative gambling went south. The idea has gone global and it puts all of our deposits, and even our pension investments at risk! Continue reading “Bail-Ins and Empty Pockets”
Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
An auction for the largest known White Truffle, considered a high delicacy in culinary circles fetched about six percent of its estimated auction price of over one million dollars. This is based upon speculation with previous pre-auction inquiries from Asia and experience from previous auctions of record breaking examples.
The situation is perhaps a small echo from the Tulip Mania market speculative bubble that caused the crash of a segment of the tulip bulb industry in 1637 in the United Provinces (now The Netherlands).
This video below shows the ultimate flash mob . . . by the Air Force band. It is a great idea and done perfectly at the Air and Space Museum. It also highlights the incredible talent of our military bands.
I am very sad to report the death of a GW law student and one of my past students, Mark Edwin Lee. Mark appears to have died on November 29th at his home in Washington, D.C. and the cause of death is not yet known.
To lose someone at such a young age is always a tragedy, but Mark was something truly special. He seemed to find the positive in any situation and any person. There are some people who can reduce stress and strife by just being themselves. Mark was one of those people. He was that rare combination of someone with a brilliant intellect and a warm and engaging personality. I saw Mark as the quiet type; a confident professional who would rise quickly in our profession. I not only thought the world of him but expected the world from him. His loss is truly our loss.
I was on BBC yesterday talking about the Stolen Valor Act and the video below that has gone viral after a man was confronted in a mall on Black Friday by a veteran who called him out as a fake. (Warning: the video contains bad language). The man, identified as Sean Yetman, 30, walked by a real veteran from the famed 101st Airborne Division who was not buying the uniform or claim that Yetman is an Army Ranger. He spotted problems right away, starting with the multiple Combat Infantry badges.
We recently discussed the stinging criticism of Sen. Chuck Schumer who called Obamacare a colossal political mistake and something that was not a priority for the American people. It was a remarkable admission from the third ranking and one of the most liberal Senate Democrats. Now, perhaps the most liberal departing member has given his own departing shot at the White House and Democratic Leadership. Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has gone public with criticism that the Affordable Care Act was badly written and should not have been passed. Like Schumer, he is not questioning the value of health care but said that the current law was not worth doing because of its inherent flaws.
Below is the new “Stand By Hillary” song that appears an attempt to bridge the rather wide gap between Hillary Clinton (and Democratic candidates generally) and males, particularly white males. At first, I honestly thought this was a joke. I am still a bit unsure, but people are reporting that this is a real effort at reaching country music fans. My issue is not the candidate, but the music. To the constant complaint of every member of my family, I listen to country music and this is just really, really bad country music.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson indicated this week that they are “pursuing” an investigation into whether comments made by Michael Brown’s stepfather Louis Head (shown here in the white cap) should be charged for his inciting a riot for his response to the news that there would be no indictment of Officer Darren White. While I certainly do not condone the language, I have long been a critic of such “violent speech” prosecutions and I believe that such charges would violate his free speech rights and ignore the mitigating factor of a family member in a highly emotional position that night. Warning: profane words are contained in the story below and the videotape.
Continue reading “Should Michael Brown’s Stepfather Be Criminally Charged For Inciting A Riot?”
Last September, we passed the 23,000,000 mark and today we hit 24,000,000. We have used these moments to give thanks for our many regular readers around the world and give you an idea of the current profile of readers on the blog. We continue to rank in the top legal blogs in the world and I am particularly gladdened by the growing international readership. As always, I want to offer special thanks for our weekend contributors: Mike Appleton, Larry Rafferty, Charlton Stanley, Darren Smith, and Kimberly Dienes. The increasing traffic on the site is gratifying and reaffirms that there are many people looking for mature and civil debate. Even among the top ten sites, I believe that we offer a unique forum of different views and backgrounds in the discussion of law and politics (and a few quirky items).
The Washington Post has published a hard-hitting editorial that not only accuses the Obama Administration of fudging the figures on its unilateral immigration changes but calls the action “unprecedented” and “indefensible.” The stinging editorial from a generally favorable newspaper amplifies the criticism of others, including myself, that President Obama is doing considerable damage to the separation of powers and, more generally, our constitutional system in these actions.
Continue reading “Washington Post: Obama’s Unilateral Immigration Action Is “Unprecedented””
It is rare for a college student to trigger a national debate with an opinion column in a student newspaper but, to his credit, Oliver Friedfeld, has done precisely that. Friedfeld wrote an op-ed in the Hoya after he was mugged at gunpoint and defended the black youths who robbed him at gunpoint — a column entitled “I Was Mugged, And I Understand Why” that is drawing praise and ridicule across the country.
We have seen a trend in criminal charges where police are defining virtually any object as a weapon to elevate the potential penalties in a given case. The charges in Des Moines against Marvin Tramaine Hill II, 21, appear to be such a case. He is charged with attacking his pregnant wife with a weapon. The weapon? A McChicken sandwich from McDonald’s.