We have yet another case of a police shooting of a family dog. This case involved a particularly tragic
occurrence on Christmas Day. Kobi, a 70-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback mix was shot dead by a Chicago police officer. Chicago has previously appeared on these pages for dog shootings. The family says that the police opened the gate to the backyard where Kobi was being kept and then shot him when he came out. They were looking for a suspect. The police department insists that the officers acted appropriately.
In one of the more novel federal disciplinary actions that I have encountered, a federal employee in Baltimore was given a formal reprimand for excessive workplace flatulence — a reprimand that involved a remarkably wide range of reviews and supervisory interventions. The 38-year-old Maryland employee, who insists that he is lactose intolerant, was the subject of an actual log recording his “release[] [of] the awful and unpleasant odor.”
Continue reading “Federal Employee Disciplined After Gas Log Details Excessive Workplace Flatulence”
German scientists from Kiel University and the Hamburg University of Technology have created the world’s lightest material, aerographite — a material six times lighter than air and 5,000 times less dense than water. This experiment shows the material Aerographite attracted by a charged polymer rod.
Continue reading “Aerographite: Germans Invent Material Six Times Lighter Than Air”
On Christmas Day, people in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama got an unwelcomed visitor with the arrival of 34 tornadoes. This surveillance from a Walgreen shows the sudden and destructive appearance. At least 100 homes and businesses were damaged. It is a perfectly awful thing to have to deal with on Christmas but fortunately there is no reports of deaths.
Continue reading “Video: Tornadoes Rip Through South on Christmas”
YouTube has resulted in a range of arrests, singing contracts, and other recognitions for their virtual celebrity status. However, Havard Rugland may be the first to get a NFL tryout from a YouTube posting. The Norwegian posted this video showing his incredible kicking skills. It went viral and now he has had a tryout with the New York Jets.
As the government deals with ongoing scandal and protests over the gang rape of a student in New Delhi, another woman has come forward with an equally horrific account: she was allegedly raped by the police inspector after she went to report a rape. Maan Singh, a senior sub inspector (SSI) posted at Akbarpur police station in Ambedkar Nagar has now been arrested.
NBC is dealing with an unexpected legal problem after a segment by David Gregory, who displayed what he said was a high-capacity ammunition clip on “Meet the Press.” D.C. law prohibits the possession of high-capacity ammunition clips. This may have been a case where a picture — or consultation with counsel — might have been in order. There is no exception for the media in such possession cases.
The police in Toms River have an intriguing crime on their hands involving a mysterious woman, a chicken, and a diamond ring. A married man met a woman at a bar and took her home where he offered her some chicken and gave her $20. She gave him a piece of paper with her telephone number on it. However, after the man fell asleep, he woke to find the paper gone along with $55, his necklace, and his wife’s diamond ring.
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Continue reading “Merry Christmas!!!”
Women in Swaziland can now be arrested for wearing mini-skirts or cropped tops because they are responsible for provoking their own rapes. The government has announced that it will now enforce an 1889 law banning “immoral” dressing. Of course, the same week an Iowa court held that employers could fire attractive women who may be too great a temptation for them.
Continue reading “Swaziland Declares Women Who Wear Mini-Skirts Are Responsible For Their Own Rapes”
A Saudi court has ordered the editor of a Saudi Arabian website to be tried for apostasy, and possibly executed, due to his criticism of the role of religion in the Saudi Kingdom. Raif Badawi, the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website, was arrested in June and originally charged with insulting Islam. The court has now upgraded the charge to apostasy.
Continue reading “Saudi Editor Faces Death Penalty For Apostasy Due To Writings About Religion”
Another religious group this month made a moral statement through an act of unspeakable violence. In Southern Pakistan, a mentally ill man was accused of burning a copy of the Koran. A mob proceeded to storm a police station and grab the man, beat him to death, and burn him to death.
Life under Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to return to the old Soviet standards this month after a Chechen newspaper was closed following an embarrassing comment by the editor-in-chief in the presence of the Russia strongman. Worse yet, people actually laughed when Belkis Dudayeva, the editor-in-chief of Kadyrov’s Path, asked a question that began with “Thank God that Chechnya has now become a region of peace and prosperity…”
Continue reading “Newspaper Closed After Editor Asks Putin An Embarrassing Question”
We have previously discussed the disturbing fondness of some Russians for the memory of Josef Stalin — one of history’s greatest tyrants. Villagers in Georgia have taken that hero worship a step further by storing a statue commemorating Josef Stalin in his (appropriately named) birth town of Gori and are planning a monument to the dictator. Activities celebrating the “happier times” under Stalin ignore the hundreds of thousands of Russians, particularly intelligentsia, killed under this orders and the millions lost due to this policies. Gori however appears happy to have its favorite son in the tyrant’s chair. The story this month truly filled me with disgust and it was particularly poignant that these Georgians would use the Christmas season to honor one of history’s mass murderers.
Continue reading “Georgians Resurrect Stalin Statue To Remember “Happier Times””
It appears that “debonding” is now both a permissible legal as well as dental procedure. The Iowa Supreme Court handed down a controversial ruling on Friday that a dentist, Fort Dodge Dr. James Knight, could fire an assistant due to an “irresistible attraction.” Melissa Nelson was fired because Knight and his wife viewed her as a threat to their marriage. Justice Edward Mansfield wrote for a unanimous court that such a firing does not violate the Iowa Civil Rights Act even if the employee does not engage in flirtatious behavior.