Recently I added Versailles (and more specifically its director, Jean-Jacques Aillagon) to our ignoble list of “Things That Tick Me Off.” Now, Aillagon has succeeded in securing a second appearance on this list with the news that he had decided to convert part of Versailles into a hotel. That’s right. To raise money for his plans for the historical site, Aillagon is moving into the hotel business. This is after his widely condemned effort to become an art museum with the obnoxious placement of works by Takashi Murakami throughout the palace.
Continue reading “Things That Tick Me Off: Versailles II”
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been again criminally charged. This time, he is not only facing a massive federal indictment for corruption but his co-defendants will include his father and three associates over millions of dollars that went to contractors. After his prior conviction, Kilpatrick has not exactly proven an ideal parolee.
Continue reading “Former Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Indicted . . . Again”
One of the reasons for opposition the European Union was the ability of EU courts to dictate social policies within different countries. This issue is likely to come to a head for some critics with the ruling this week by the European Court of Human Rights that Irish abortion laws violate the rights of a woman seeking abortions in Britain.
Continue reading “European Court Rules Woman’s Human Rights Were Violated in Being Denied Abortion in Ireland”
There is a bizarre case in Oregon where a prosecutor has been sentenced to jail for allegedly seeking sex from a woman in a child-support case. Rand E. Overton, Lincoln County deputy district attorney, agreed to a plea deal involving statements made to a women seeking child-support. In a rare sentencing, Overton will actually go to jail for 30 days for the statements and receive two years probation.
New York’s WABC/Channel 7 weather forecaster Heidi Jones was arrested for making a false rape claim to police. Jones claimed that she fought off a hispanic male who pulled her into the bushes while she was jogging in Central Park.
Continue reading “Arrest With Chance of Jail: Television Weather Forecaster Heidi Jones Arrested For False Rape Claim”
New Jersey is dealing with a novel strike. New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto had gone on strike in protest to what he believes is the unlawful appointment of a temporary replacement for Justice John Wallace, who was not re-appointed by Gov. Chris Christie. Rivera-Soto believes that there is no authority for such an appointment and has refused to participate in cases with the interloper.
Continue reading “New Jersey Justice Goes On Strike Over Appointment of Temporary Justice”
In the annals of thefts, this may be the coldest crime since the Grinch Stole Christmas. Burglars in Mesquite not only stole wrapped Christmas gifts but the Rusaw family’s dog, Candy, for good or bad measure.
Continue reading “Taking Candy From a Child: Thieves Steal Family’s Christmas Gifts and Their Dog”
This is very cool. Astronomers have released new information that they believe shows the existence of an “ice volcano” on Saturn’s moon Titan.
Continue reading “Meet Sotra: Titan’s Ice Volcano”
In our ongoing coverage of blasphemy prosecutions, the case of Gregory Luke, 64, in Indonesia is a standout. The retired Californian engineer is charged with blasphemy for allegedly turning off a speaker system during Ramadan playing prayers throughout the night. He denies that he did so, but the allegation was enough for a crowd to tear apart his home on Lombok island and Luke to be arrested.
Continue reading “Californian Engineer Charged With Blasphemy After Allegedly Turning Off Loud Speaker At Mosque”
This video contains very disturbing footage. What is striking is how brave and calm the school board members, particularly Bay City Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt, prove under pressure. The gunman has been identified as Clay A. Duke.
Continue reading “Video: Florida Gunman Shoots At School Board Before Shooting Himself”
Attorney Dominique A. Buttitta, 32, is not someone to leave at the altar. Buttitta is suing Vito V. Salerno, 31, after he back out of a wedding that cost her nearly $100,000 and considerable embarrassment.
Continue reading “With This I Do Sue: Attorney Sues Man Who Jilted Her Days Before Wedding”
It was a horrific video. The victim was standing innocently in the street in Champaign-Urbana when a city bus is shown swerving to hit him. The victim literally seems to explode — piece flying under and over the bus. The bus driver has now resigned, but the snowman will never see Christmas.
While every snow flurry or cool snap is often cited as evidence of the folly of “global warming” by critics, scientists at the NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies have released data showing that 2010 now ranks as the hottest climate year on record.
Continue reading “2010 To Be Hottest Year On Record”
We have been following the grotesque sentencings handed down under Sharia law’s medieval principle of “an eye for an eye,” including the recent variation of a spine for a spine. One such case previously discussed involved an Iranian court ordering that acid be dropped in the eyes of an Iranian man after he blinded the husband of his lover. Now, that sentence has been reviewed and upheld by Iran’s highest courts as perfectly proper under Sharia law.
Continue reading “Eye for An Eye: Iranian Supreme Court Upholds Sentence To Pour Acid In Eyes of Defendant”
This week, I watched the Daily Show interview with former Joint Chiefs of Staff retired General Hugh Shelton about his new memoir. What was most striking was his disclosure that a Clinton cabinet member suggested ordering a U.S. pilot to fly low in a U2 surveillance flight over Iraq in order to be shot down. The U.S. would then use the staged pretext to start a war with Saddam Hussein. What Shelton described is a proposed crime of horrendous proportions. However, he has not revealed the name of the cabinet member or whether Bill Clinton was aware of this proposed criminal act.