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.
A series of videos of Baptist pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona have gone viral as he talks about the solution of AIDS being the exterminations of all homosexuals and bisexual citizens. He explained that AIDS could be solved by Christmas with a simple holocaust for homosexuals. The videos are below.
A YouTube video has gone viral that shows what is reported to be a cook at the Lucky River, a Chinese restaurant in San Franscisco’s Sunnyside neighborhood, slamming slabs of frozen meat on the sidewalk before cooking it. Media later inspected the area of the sidewalk and reported that it was covered with blackened gum, cigarette butts, and foot-tracked bacteria of all gut-twisting varieties.
Since we discussed the decline in American education this morning, it is only appropriate to discuss a brain drain of a different kind in Texas. The University of Texas at Austin has reported that 100 brains have gone missing from its collection.
Continue reading “Brain Drain: University Of Texas Reports Possible Theft Of 100 Brains”
There is a truly alarming report out of Paterson, New Jersey that captures how far our educational system has declined. Only 19 kids in this large school district have SAT score that are considered appropriate for college. That means that less than a dozen score at least 1500 out of 2400 on the standardized test. This year, the average score was just 1,200. While meetings are held at the White House and across the country on Ferguson, I continue to believe that the greatest reform to benefit all races would be a greater commitment to our public schools. Too many families are trapped in a cycle of poverty with no real opportunities while our workforce becomes less and less competitive in the new economy.
We have previously discussed how President Obama continues to reward donors with ambassadorships, including some with little background or known talents for the jobs. I have long been a critic of this practice and I remain astonished that the American people allow it to continue. However, fat cat friends are often given trivial ambassadorships like the Vatican or smaller nations. It is still not a good practice but the damage is limited. Obama however have been handing out major posts to those who give him or the DNC millions in bundled dollars. This week the Senate confirmed two nominees to Argentina and Hungary that should outrage people who believe diplomacy should be left to diplomats and do not believe that such posts should be handed out as favors to wealthy friends. It is a national disgrace but we have become accustomed to the effective selling of these government offices. It certainly conveys a truly insulting message to these two countries that neither they nor their problems amount to much of a priority for the United States.
Continue reading “Bundling Diplomacy: Obama Places Two Fundraisers In Key Ambassadorships”
If you guessed a woman driving, you are ready to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Loujain Hathloul has continued to defy the Saudi ban on female drivers. She was stopped at the border with the United Arab Emirates when she tried to drive back into the country. Our erstwhile ally is the only country to prevent women from driving in the name of Islam — making such medieval neighbors in the region like Iran look positively advanced in comparison.
The debate in the United States continues over whether Edward Snowden is a whistleblower or a traitor. I previously wrote a column on that question. There appears to be less debate in Sweden where Snowden received standing ovations in the Swedish parliament after being given the Right Livelihood award for his disclosure of sweeping surveillance programs of the United States. The award honors Snowden “for his courage and skill in revealing the unprecedented extent of state surveillance violating basic democratic processes and constitutional rights”. This week, the new movie on Snowden also captured two more awards and critical acclaim.
It took a Brooklyn jury just an hour to convict Christian Ferdinand, 22, for the murder of this girlfriend Shaniesha Forbes, 14. The jury’s disdain for Ferdinand might have been cemented by the comment that he made to police after allegedly confessing to the killing of his girlfriend, burning her body, and stuffing it into a suitcase: “Do you think I can get some kind of community service?”
Continue reading ““Do You Think I Can Get Some Kind of Community Service?”: New York Man Sentenced For Killing 14-Year-Old Girlfriend Because She Might Be Pregnant”
There is a truly bizarre cases at the intersection of religious beliefs and the criminal code in Canada. Peter Wald’s family truly believed he would rise from the dead. Kaling Wald, 50, has pleaded guilty to leaving her husband in their home for six months after his death because she and their family believed that he would be resurrected. They prayed over the corpse for months as it decayed until it was discovered. Notably, the husband died of an untreated illness because the family believed that he would also be healed by prayer.