-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Yes, it’s a real product. Yes, it’s making someone a lot of money.
Sen. Lindsey Graham recently objected to President Barack Obama seeking congressional authorization to attack Syria (that’s right, in contradiction to every assumption James Madison may have made about Congress, Graham is one of those who wants to embrace an Imperial Presidency and gut the check on power represented by his own branch). Graham has been making it clear that he is not happy about the failure to join another war in the Middle East. So what does a hawk do when a war just doesn’t turn out as hoped? Graham is seeking authorization for a new war . . . not against Syria but Iran. After all, we have not defunded enough environmental, scientific, educational or welfare programs. Another war against one of the largest military powers in Middle East would guarantee a decade of military appropriations and interventions.
Continue reading “Graham Calls For Authorization Of War . . . Against Iran”
Hampton, Va., Sheriff B.J. Roberts appears not to have much time for actually fighting crime. Instead, after his reeleection, Roberts sought out employees who favored his opponent. It was not too difficult, he found jailer Daniel Carter who hit “like” on his opponents website. Roberts fired him and others allegedly viewed as disloyal. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled this week that such a designation is protected speech under the First Amendment. The opinion in Bland v. Roberts is below.
For those who are fastidious in scheduling on their iPhone planners, you might want to set one of those ten-minute alerts for 1.75 billion years to address any remaining items on your to-do list. Scientists have determined that, absent a nuclear holocaust, catastrophic asteroid or new William Shatner album, the Earth could continue to support life for at least another 1.75 billion years.
Continue reading “Mark The Date: Scientists Find 1.75 Billion Expiration Date On Earth”
We have yet another bizarre case out of the Land O’ Lakes jail in Pasco County. David Edward Benes is under arrest for reportedly restraining and abusing his 80-year-old girlfriend in an effort to “exorcise her and the get the devil out of her.” What is interesting is that, given the age of his girlfriend, Benes is looking at the enhanced charge of domestic battery on a person older than 65 as well as tampering with a witness and false imprisonment.
Continue reading “Florida Man, 54, Arrested For Alleged Abusive Exorcism Of 80-Year-Old Girlfriend”
BBC News anchor Simon McCoy cause quite a chuckle this week by apparently confusing a ream of printer paper for an iPad. Of course, while the weight was a bit much and the WiFi horrible, the ream appeared to have the same connectivity over some 4G networks as an actual iPad. This network is more 3M and 4G.
Continue reading “Worst WiFi Ever: BBC Anchor Confuses Ream of Printer Paper With iPad”
There is a disturbing report out of Chicago where police were called when 95-year-old world War II veteran John Wrana refused to go to a hospital for a urinary tract infection. Called by paramedics to assist in getting Wrana into an ambulance, the Park Forest police showed up in riot gear and proceeded to shoot Wrana first with a stun gun and then with a bead bag fired from a shotgun. He no longer needed treatment for the urinary tract problem. He died from internal bleeding and blunt force trauma. He was about to celebrate his 96th birthday.
We often cover abusive arrests and conduct by police officers. The fact is that the good work of officers goes without notice because it is neither news or the subject of a case. Yet, most officers conduct themselves in a professional and civil manner despite the dangers and stresses of their jobs. So we can finally take note of a story where an officer set a record of complaints in a good way. L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Elton Simmons has written over 20,000 tickets as a traffic cop over 20 years and he has never been the subject of a complaint. Not one.
Continue reading “L.A. Traffic Cop Sets Record For Complaints”
Attorney Andrea Pelligreni has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former client for a culture of sexism and improper behavior. A lawyer suing a client for such misconduct can be a challenge in itself, but when your client is named the “Insane Clown Posse” it is especially difficult. While many would view working with the Insane Clown Posse to be something of an assumption of risk, Pelligreni insists that she was shocked and moved to tears in working with the recording group and particularly two members of Insane Clown Posse, Joseph “Shaggy 2 Dope” Bruce and Joseph “Violent J” Utsler. Other defendants include Psychopathic Records; its president, William Dail; and some of its employees. It makes for a curious cite as an attorney sues defendants named “Shaggy 2 Dope” and “Violent J” and Psychopathic Records for being shockingly immature and demeaning and . . . well . . . insane.
A court in Sweden has handed done a rather novel ruling. The Södertörn District Court has declared that it is legal to masturbate in public so long as you are not “targeting” anyone in particular. Moreover, public prosecutor Olof Vrethammer says that he entirely supports the ruling.
Continue reading “Swedish Court Rules That Public Masturbation Is Legal”
There is an interesting conflict growing between the federal and state governments over same-sex benefits after Oklahoma joined Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana this week in limiting the benefits for same-sex benefits. Yesterday, Oklahoma decided that the Oklahoma National Guard will no longer process benefit requests from same-sex couples by order of Gov. Mary Fallin. The Obama Administration maintains that the national guards must comply with federal law on such benefits in what could be a test of the remaining state control over national guard units.
Continue reading “Oklahoma Joins Other States In Refusing To Benefits To Same-Sex Couples”
We previously discussed the scandal involving federal prosecutors in New Orleans posting public comments attacking defendants and targets on various websites. That earlier scandal led to the discovery of even more widespread misconduct and yesterday to the overturning of a major prosecution of police officers. Describing the conduct of the Justice Department lawyers as “grotesque,” U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt ordered a new trial for officers accused of deadly shootings at the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent cover-up.
I am in Utah to speak at the Constitution Day celebrations at Utah Valley University and its conference on privacy in America. The conference is the latest national conference organized by the Center for Constitutional Studies. The speakers at the event include Governor Thomas Ridge, former Homeland Security Secretary, who gave a surprising speech that questioned the growth of the department and the raised concerns over the threat to privacy poised by recent disclosures of warrantless surveillance. Ridge repeatedly returned to expressing his trepidation over the sweeping assault on privacy as well as the lack of safeguards under the FISA court and existing laws.
We have previously seen stories of fake eggs, the sale of rat meat and other disturbing accounts from China’s food supply system. Accordingly, this story is not quite as shocking as it probably should be. Chinese officials in Xi’an, Shaanxi province have seized over 20,000 kg of fake beef made from pork and treated with chemicals to be sold for human consumption.
China appears to be returning to the Cultural Revolution with public confessions of dissidents as a warning to all those who would challenge the ruling party. Chinese viewers were exposed to a truly sad and transparent confession of American businessman and leading Chinese blogger, Charles Xue. The Chinese recognize the Internet as the greatest threat to the totalitarian regime. Xue was therefore rolled out to degrade himself before the Chinese people — begging forgiveness for forgetting his place in objecting to such things as contaminated water. He admits to feeling like the “emperor of the Internet” and apologizes for spreading rumors against the ruling party leaders.