We have been discussing the truly disgusting teenage prank of licking ice cream at food stores and then posting the act on social media. Now, there is a far more chilling variation of teenagers coughing on fruits and vegetables and posing their acts to terrify other shoppers.
In a repeat of her refusal to endorse Bernie Sanders in 2016, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren again refused to do so before the critical Michigan primary after she pulled out. At the time, she said that she needed more time. Now, as liberal supporters have grown angrier at her failure to support Sanders (with many of the same priorities and policies), Warren is saying that she will not endorse because “Bernie needs space” to decide what to do. It now appears that Sanders is done after his losses this week. For Sanders, it is a familiar knife delivered by a familiar hand.
We have previously discussed televangelist Kenneth Copeland and his bizarre explanations for why he needed to fly in luxury planes and other controversies. Now Copeland appears genuinely concerned about the loss of jobs during the coronavirus outbreak: because people are choosing to use their money to feed their families rather than donate to the church. Accordingly, Copeland took to the air to declare “Whatever you do right now, don’t you stop tithing.”
It appears that NASA follows the same principle of many homeowners that the last resort for any stuck machine is to give it a good kick. In the case of the NASA InSight Mars lander, the solution was to order the lander to literally hit itself with its own shovel. It worked.
As doctors and health professionals around the world work to save lives, famed artist David Hockney, 82, decided to do his part for a world reeling from the coronavirus. Hockney sent out a new painting entitled “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring” to lift the spirits of people around the world. It worked for this humble observer. Maybe it will do the same for you.
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on former Vice President Joe Biden’s pledge that he will select a black women as the next nominee to the Supreme Court.
Fox regular and radio host Mark Steyn is under fire for outrageous remarks made while substituting for Rush Limbaugh on his program. In discussing the San Francisco’s “shelter-in-place” order due to the coronavirus, Steyn referred to the city as a “big gay town” and the order as an effort to prevent “all the gays dropping dead.” While Steyn (who is a regular and substitute host on Tucker Carlson’s show) is known for controversial statements but this is clearly beyond the pale of acceptable commentary.
Cristian Fracassi, who along with fellow volunteer Alessandro Ramaioli were tired of watching people die for lack of ventilators in Italy. The two men decided to act and made the ventilators for $1 to save lives. The company responded by saying that they were violating its copyright and may be liable for huge damages. The men are undeterred and responded “there were people whose lives were in danger and we acted. Period.”
We recently discussed how an American University professor called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Not to be outdone, MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner is now declaring that Trump should be charged with negligent homicide over his conduct. While insisting that, as a former prosecutor, this is something he “actually know[s] too much about,” Kirschner proceeds to utterly misrepresent the controlling law and definitions of such a criminal case. While I come from the other perspective of a criminal defense attorney, the argument being put forward by the MSNBC legal analyst is devoid of any basis in the law. It does however play well for those who believe impeachment or prosecution are entirely fluid and relative concepts when it comes to Trump.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of the leprechauns of the blog from the Turley Clan. The leprechauns came to bring treats and tricks to the Turley house this morning. While our kids are older, we still enjoy our traditions. The leprechauns have always maintained “social distancing” so they drank our beer and left before we woke up.
It appears that trolls are enjoying St. Patrick’s Day as much as Leprechauns. The Justice Department shocked many by dropping the matinee case of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller against two Russian companies accused of funding the “troll farms” in the 2016 election. Many critics have charged that the trolling operation was laughingly ineffective and clumsy. Moreover, the evidence against the companies, including Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering, was questioned. The prosecutors, while defending the original charges, moved to dismiss the case because they viewed the trial as threatening national security secrets. That claim seemed like more of a spin in a case that never seemed to materialize into hard evidence to support these charges. Update: The company has announced that it will sue the U.S. government for billions in damages — a move that will once again raise this same information for trial.
Lake Superior State University student Lucas Gerhard is facing terrorism charges after he posting picture with his new AR-15 on Snapchat with a taunting message for “snowflakes.” Another student objected that she felt threatened by the posting and ultimately the police arrested Gerhard for what was clearly a simple taunting message.
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the recent criticism of the Roberts Court by a federal district judge. The law review article makes a stronger case for critics who view some judges are part of a deep bench movement against Trump. I do not see that pattern but I do view Judge Lynn Adelman as well outside of the navigational beacons for public commentary by federal judges.
We recently discussed videotaped of Iranians licking the doors and objects of Islamic shrines in the belief that such traditions are protected by God from Coronavirus. Now, Greek Orthodox churches in Australia have announced that they will allow congregations of hundreds of people to sip wine from the same spoon during mass because “the holy cup cannot carry disease.”