We have another outrageous case involving the government using eminent domain to take property from one private citizen to give to another. This case comes from New York where the Court of Appeals has upheld the right of the Empire State Development Company to seize the Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage building in Manhattanville and give it to Columbia University. It is part of the troubling legacy of the Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision.
Continue reading “New York Court Upholds Use of Eminent Domain To Benefit Columbia University”
It is not uncommon for former police officers to become private detectives and leverage their connections with colleagues to drum up business. However, Michael Sianez, 53, is charged with using his former service to threaten disgruntled customers and engaging in a series of bizarre crimes, including soliciting women to have sex with his dog.
Continue reading “Man’s Best Friend: Ex-California Police Officer Charged With Bizarre Series of Crimes”
A German man may go to jail for six months over a ringtone. The man has been using a Hitler speech as his ringtone on his cellphone. In Germany, it is a crime to display Nazi symbols or Nazi works.
Continue reading “Mein Ringtone: Man Arrested For Having Hitler Speech As Ringtone”
A bizarre scene in Ocean City, Maryland looked like it has the makings of the opening of an episode of Six Feet Under. A woman was sunbathing when she was stabbed by a flying beach umbrella in the leg.
Continue reading “Beach Umbrella Impales Sun Bather in Ocean City”
This was the image of the defendant that a jury saw in an Ohio murder trial. Neil Simpson was on trial for the murder of a pizza shop owner in course of a robbery. After he spat at the jury, the judge ordered mosquito netting and a plastic diaper put on his face. Usually, a defendant will be excluded from the courtroom or required to watch via videocamera in such circumstances. That is sometimes not available. However, the use of netting and a diaper in this way adds an unnecessary and disturbing image in court.
Continue reading “Ohio Murderer Sentenced With Netting and Diaper on Head”
In a surprise move, the Portland Police Bureau has announced that it is re-opening the investigation into the allegations against former Vice President Al Gore. Gore is accused of a sexual assault by a masseuse who described him as a “crazy sex poodle.” Notably, Molly Hagerty, 54, claims that there is DNA evidence and supporting security videotapes.
Continue reading “Legal Warming: Police Re-Open Investigation of Sexual Assault By Al Gore”
The Pope continues to face allegations of his prior knowledge of abuse by clergy. However, the most striking story in the article below is how Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos allegedly heralded a bishop for his willingness to go to jail rather than reveal information about a priest accused of raping a child.
Continue reading “Report: Cardinal Praised Bishop for his Willingness To Go To Jail Rather Than Reveal Information On Priest Rapist”
While President Obama has finally accepted international assistance in the Deep Horizon spill, there is a disturbing account of how Administration officials turned down generous (and repeated) offers from the Dutch to send a fleet of ships designed specifically to clean water after spills. They allegedly offered the vessels free of charge but the Administration declined the assistance for weeks.
Continue reading “Dutch Treat: Obama Administration Accused of Refusing Free Help From Dutch Ships Designed to Clean Water After Spills”
Texas Tech Health Sciences Professor Rod Hicks, 50, is under fire this week after students accused him of surfing the Internet for porn immediately after a teleconference from Austin. Hicks is one of the school’s endowed chairs.
Continue reading “Texas Tech Professor Accused of Watching Porn After Teleconference With Students”
Some Republicans are expressing outrage today, claiming that Vice President Joe Biden suggested they were Nazis in a recent fundraising letter. Given Biden’s well-known tendency toward gaffes, I was not particularly surprised but it turns out to be entirely manufactured. Biden sent out a fundraising letter warning that the GOP will mount a “blitzkrieg” against Democrats in the fall. Since the Germans used the “blitzkrieg” in World War II and many Germans were Nazis, Biden is accused of calling Republicans Nazis.
Continue reading “More Wrong that Reich: GOP Accuses Biden of Calling Them Nazis”
Where is Samuel L. Jackson when we need him? A US Airways flight was forced to return to the terminal at Atlanta when maggots starting falling from an overhead bin.
Continue reading “Maggots on a Plane: Passenger’s Rancid Meat Causes Stir on US Airways Flight”
Arizona Republican candidate and state lawmaker Pamela Gorman appears to be running for a position on a SWAT Team in this video where her skills with machines guns and pistols are highlighted.
Continue reading “Gunning for Votes: Arizona Republican Shown as a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Video”
While both Democratic and Republican politicians have continued to campaign on faith-based politics, Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has declared that she will not pretend to believe in God to appease religious voters.
Continue reading “Australian Prime Minister Refuses To Pretend Belief in God”
Al Qaeda appears to have found a way to endanger millions of people around the world. According to a new report, the full body scanners being used in airports around the world have a dosage of radiation that is 20 times greater than previously announced. Scientists warn of a possible increase in skin cancer.
Continue reading “Report: Body Scanner Radiation Is 20 Times Greater Than Previously Believed”
El Reno, Oklahoma police are under criticism this week due to a case alleging that officers tasered a bedridden 86-year-old woman, Lona Vernon. Officer Thomas Duran said he ordered his colleagues to hit the old lady with 50,000 volts after she took a “more aggressive posture in bed.”
Continue reading ““Don’t Taze My Granny”: Oklahoma Police Respond to Medical Call And Allegedly Proceed to Repeatedly Taser Bedridden 86-Year-Old Woman”