Massachusetts Judge Cheryl Ann Jacques is facing a bizarre misdemeanor larceny charge for allegedly misrepresenting the features of a combination crib-and-playpen set she sold on Craigslist. Jacques, 50 sold the Graco Pack ’n Play to Tracey Christopher, 39, for $75. It sells for roughly $150 new. Christopher insisted that there were parts missing but that Jacques refused to return her money. On both this allegation and a prior ethics charge, the level of scrutiny does not appear (in my view) justified by the underlying allegations.
Winston Dudley (shown left) has won a false arrest case where a police account was proven to be false after the review of security tapes. Officer Daniel R. Gowans wrote a report that said that Dudley was “disorderly intoxicated” and resisted arrest on Sept.18, 2010. However, the video directly contradicted Gowans account. While Dudley will receive $30,000, there is no indication that the officer will be fired for a early false report following a false arrest.
Detroit has long been viewed as an example of a catastrophic failure of a city with soaring crime, unemployment, and the continued reelection of corrupt or abusive politicians (here and here and here and here). Unable to pay bills, the city has left whole areas without street lighting and even proposed allowing buildings to burn rather than spend the money on fire fighters. However, the Detroit horseshoer remains fully employed . . . even if the city does not have a single horse to shoe.
Continue reading “Detroit Continues To Maintain Horseshoer Despite The Absence of Horses”
There is an interesting ruling out of Australia where lawyer Michael Gerard Sullivan, 54, has succeeded in avoiding a conviction for theft. That would seem rather surprising since Sullivan previously pleaded guilty after being captured on CCTV taking the two paintings of the Katoomba Fine Art Gallery in December 2008. However, Sullivan claimed amnesia and Judge Jennifer English agreed with the diagnosis and declined to record the conviction.
There is new unrest among students in Prague. No it is not a new Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. This is Prague, Oklahoma where the valedictorian at Prague High School, Kaitlin Nootbaar, was denied her high school diploma for saying the word “hell” in her graduation speech. It would however seem to be in keeping with the school’s mascot: the little Devil (below).
They may be Supreme but they are also apparently Supremely forgettable. Two-thirds of Americans polled cannot name a single sitting Supreme Court justice. Of the relatively few who can remember a name it is that of the Chief Justice John Roberts. The least well known is Justice Stephen Breyer. Only one percent could remember them all.
Continue reading “Breyer Who? Two Thirds of Americans Cannot Name A Single Sitting Justice”
Emory University on Friday became the latest and one of the most prestigious schools to be found to have misreported key data in the rankings competition. The school misrepresented data for as much as ten years and the difference was considerable.
Continue reading “Emory Admits To Falsifying Data In Rankings Reports For As Much As 10 Years”
A German court has ruled that the far-right group Pro Deutschland may display cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during planned demonstrations outside mosques this weekend. The act is viewed as an effort to provoke Muslims. Past publications of the cartoons led to riots and the killings of Christians around the world.
The ever-watchful folks at the Ukrainian Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality are reportedly moving against another invasion “aimed at the destruction of the family, and the promotion of drugs and other vices.” His name is SpongeBob Squarepants. The popular Nickleodeon characterhas been found to “present a real threat to children” and is on a list of shows to be banned with The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, Pokemon and The Telletubbies.
Pakistan may have another opportunity to execute another blasphemer for insulting Islam. This time it is an 11-year-old Christian Pakistani girl Rifta Masih accused of burning Islamic texts. In the meantime, Christians have been persecuted in the area as a local mullah claimed a witness saw the girl burn pages from an Islamic text.
Rep. Todd Akin had no sooner won Missouri’s GOP Senate primary this month than he seemed eager to hand over the election to incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Akin instantly became a national sensation with a shocking statement about how “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
In light of Elaine’s excellent discussion of the radical voting record of Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, I got to thinking just why would Romney pick such a radical Congressman to be be his Vice President? I understand that Mr. Romney would want an individual who has conservative credentials to improve his standing within his own adopted party and within the Tea Party. But Mr. Ryan has serious baggage with his now infamous Ryan Budget that attacks the middle class and the poor, all for the purpose of retaining and enlarging tax cuts for the wealthy. Why would Mitt take on Ryan’s baggage when he is facing challenges on his lack of transparency on his tax returns?
It seems that the answer to those questions may all relate back to the Koch Brothers and the princely sum of $100 Million dollars!
Continue reading “Did the Koch Brothers Just Buy a Vice President?”
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Silence is argument carried out by other means.” – Che Guevara
“Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.”
– “The Sound of Silence”, by Simon & Garfunkel, lyrics by Paul Simon
“Darkness isn’t the opposite of light, it is simply its absence.” – Terry Pratchett
“In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.” – Henry David Thoreau
Just as darkness is the absence of light, silence is an absence. We’ve considered the word and the image as propaganda up to this point, so let us pause to consider their antithesis as a form of propaganda. The phrase “[t]he only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” is often attributed to 18th Century Irish born English statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, although what he actually wrote in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents was that “when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Regardless of the apocryphal attribution, the quote goes right to the heart of the issue of silence being a form of propaganda. Like most tactics of propaganda, silence has multiple forms and uses. Let us examine some of these variations on a theme.
Continue reading “Propaganda 104 Supplemental: The Sound of Silence”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Floyd Lee Corkins II, 28, of Virginia shot and wounded Leo Johnson at the Family Research Council’s (FRC) Washington D.C. headquarters. Johnson prevented additional violence when he disarmed Corkins. Corkins’ backpack contained ammunition and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Johnson is doing well and there is no word on the fate of the sandwiches.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Click to enlarge. Solution below the fold. Good luck.