News & Media

I’m not going Christian on you. But, looking at the leading nations when it comes to executions, that verse resonated with me.

An attorney representing “War Machine” a.k.a.Jonathan Koppenhaver, in his trial for kicking the living shit out of his girlfriend, adult actress, Christy Mack (a.k.a. Christine Mackinday) raised an interesting line of defense. He reportedly argued that you can’t rape a porn actress, because, she’s a porn actress. In court on Monday, defense attorney Brandon Sua said that Mackinday’s career in adult films constituted consent and that her job instilled in her “the desire, the preference, the acceptability towards a particular form of sex activities that were outside of the norm.” The sexual assaults Mackinday charges Koppenhaver with, said Sua, were a consensual part of their relationship. He argued that Mackinday had alleged sexual assaults in the past by Koppenhaver, but then dropped

And it is hilarious… as is the fact that the stupid fucking media didn’t notice that they were cocks.  (source)

Massachusetts has given the world its fair share of musical greatness.  From the Dropkick Murphys back to Jonathan Richman, The Cars to the Pixies, Aerosmith to Mission of Burma.  Bim Skala Bim to the Lemonheads.  The Unband to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.  Lets put it this way, your musical life would fucking suck without the 617.  (Fine, we apologize for New Kids on the Block.  That abomination cancels out the points we gained from Til Tuesday and Billy Squier.) But, I gotta be honest.  Like any Patriots fan has to admit that the Pittsburgh Steelers are, to date, the better franchise.  It doesn’t mean I love the Pats any less, but… you might love your wife til the end of

A Los Angeles City Councilwoman is pushing for a plan that would use license plate reader technology to log visits to areas that are “known for” prostitution.  She then wants to use that database to send letters to the vehicle’s registrants, explaining that the car was in such an area. Councilwoman Nury Martinez seems to have the typical statist mentality about this. In a statement issued by her office Wednesday, Martinez said, “If you aren’t soliciting, you have no reason to worry about finding one of these letters in your mailbox. But if you are, these letters will discourage you from returning. Soliciting for sex in our neighborhoods is not OK.” (source) You know what’s worse than soliciting sex?  How

Last year, Sabrina Erdely wrote an article for Rolling Stone story about a gang rape in a UVA frat house.  It turns out that she made up the story, and that seems to have caused serious harm to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.   Now the bill is coming due, as Phi Psi sued Rolling Stone for defamation.  (source) The story initially exploded, largely because of the salacious details and a narrative that many wanted to believe.  I was one of the many who bought the story at first, as I confessed in an article last December. As I wrote then:  Why wouldn’t I believe it? The antagonists were a bunch of over-privileged white fraternity jerks from UVA, it seemed. The

In what is reported to be the largest demonstration in Polish history, 170,000 Poles rallied against the “Islamization of Europe.” (source)  (the source is somewhat suspect though).  I don’t need to provide sources to show that there are similar sentiments in the United States. I am both in support of this xenophobia and against it. When it comes to the United States and Canada, I believe there is no room for such xenophobia.  We are immigrant nations, and if we are “overwhelmed” with a flood of these strange people, with strange customs, and strange languages, and strange beliefs, so what?   It was not so long ago that the Anglo-Saxon “Americans” felt this way about Italians.  (source)   The President of

This Australian woman came up with a great way to deal with it — tell the little shits’ mothers! (source)  1) It is effective, 2) the kid is likely to actually learn something from his mother, 3) it doesn’t scream to authority to go and throw someone in jail for his thoughtcrime.

One of two things is going on here: Either A) I am way out of touch with racist jokes, or B) Huffington Post is full of shit. See Fox’s Brian Kilmeade Asks Black Co-host If She Makes Kool-Aid.  In this post, there seems to be manufactured outrage at a FOX News host asking about the shitty drink. A “Fox & Friends” segment on peach cobbler appeared to get uncomfortably tense when anchor Brian Kilmeade asked co-host Harris Faulkner if she serves Kool-Aid with her meals. I’ll give you that Kilmeade is an idiot, but since when is it a racist thing to ask a black person if they drink Kool Aid?

A German condom manufacturer joked on its packaging that a box of seven condoms could bring as many as 21 orgasms – one for the guy and two for the woman.  Fair Squared GmbH, a competing condom company sued the Berlin based startup, Einhorn Products GmbH for deceptive advertising. Einhorn’s packaging, in addition to the 21 orgasms joke, has a “calories burned” table, as well as a claim that the condoms contain traces of “fairy dust.”  (source) The court held that even though consumers would probably realize the claims were attempts at humor, and not real advertising claims, the packaging still violated German standards.  The court held that condoms are “medical devices” as defined by § 3 para 1 (d) of the Medical Devices Act, and

On Friday, Nov. 17, a Saudi Arabian court sentenced the Palestinian poet, Ashraf Fayadh, to death because he renounced his Islamic faith. (source) Fayadh was investigated for blasphemy, spreading atheism and having an illicit relationship with women, based on pictures found on his phone. After initially being sentenced to 800 lashes and four years in prison, he was retried and on Nov. 17 was sentenced to death. (source) This predictably drew some criticism.  One twitter user apparently called the sentence “ISIS-like,” and that hurt the Saudi justice ministry’s tiny pink feelings. Reuters reports the Saudi justice ministry “plans to sue” that Twitter user.  (source)     “The justice ministry will sue the person who described … the sentencing of a man to death

It is stupid, a lie that it is a “timeless tradition,” and it is one of the most incredible acts of senseless cruelty that I’ve ever read about. It’s a sad truth. Because pardoned turkeys are bred to be robust showmen, they often live incredibly short lives. They are stuffed with a mineral-enhanced diet of corn and soybeans, and their complications are not unlike those of obese humans: heart disease, joint damage, respiratory failure, organ failure.  The turkeys we eat are bred to be obese freaks of nature, and they are miserable enough.  But, the turkeys that wind up on TV with POTUS?  They’re bred to be even fatter, even less healthy, all to look good on camera.  They’re literally

There are just so many angles to this story.  Its got bumbling cops, feisty old Jewish ladies, mahjong, and all of a sudden, one of my oldest publications is relevant!  Condo Casino!  (c’mon, click it and download it, get my SSRN rankings up!) So first the story, then the law stuff. Lee Delnick, Bernice Diamond, Helen Greenspan and Zelda King do what any self-respecting foursome of Jewish women in Florida would do… they get together regularly for a friendly game of mahjong in the Escondido Condominium clubhouse. (source) Then some busybody in Building 11 called the police reporting that there was a gambling ring operating at Escondido.  This being Flori-duh, did the cops “take a report” and just move on to other things?

Someone added fake Black Friday posters to his local Target bulletin board.  (source)

It seems that not all Princeton students are politically correct idiots who can’t string together a coherent sentence. While the victim studies types are whining to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from a building, because he apparently harbored racist views, there are at least a few who paid attention in their high school classes. (source) Academic discourse consists of reasoned arguments. We simply wish to present our own reasoned arguments and engage you and other senior administrators in dialogue. We will not occupy your office, and, though we respectfully request a minimum of an hour of your time, we will only stay for as long as you wish. We will conduct ourselves in the civil manner that it is our hope

This is sort of a sad story.  David Mech was once known as “Dave Pounder,” a porn actor.  I do not know him personally, but everything I can find out about him suggests that he is a pretty smart guy.  (example) He has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from Arizona State University, and is enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Florida Atlantic University. He has taught mathematics at Palm Beach State College and is certified to teach secondary math in Florida. Mech is also a retired porn star. (Op.) Dave also happens to run a math tutoring program, “The Happy Fun Math Tutor.” Beginning in 2010, Mech inquired about displaying a banner for The Happy/Fun Math

I have a friend who came to the United States from Chile, fleeing the Pinochet regime.  I see the irony in fleeing Chile to the United States because of Pinochet, but lets set that aside.   On September 12, 2001, he called me to tell me he was going to give up his law practice to join the military, the NSA, the CIA, or whatever he could do to help.  “This country gave me everything,” he said.  “Now, if it needs me, I need to be there.” I have another friend, this one from Afghanistan.  Her family fled in the 1980s, after the Soviets invaded.  Her father became a doctor here.  She became a lawyer.  We spoke recently about what it

Giovanni Gambino, dalla famiglia Gambino, cioè una famiglia famosa per la sua criminalità, ha offerto aiuto agli stati uniti per risolvere il problema di ISIS. (rif) Forse ha preso l’idea da Toto Riina che ha offerto la stessa cosa all’europa. (rif) Non abbiamo bisogno di una terrorista per difenderci dagli altri.  È come se il Ku Klux Klan avesse offerto ad aiutare con l’applicazione della legge.  Non paghiamo il pizzo, e non apriamo la porta per invitare d’entro la spazzatura — neanche la spazzatura che promette ad pulire la cucina dopo la cena. La cosa più triste di questa storia è il fatto che tanti italo-americani sono tifosi per la loro fantasia della “mafia.” Riina e Gambino non sono eroi.

A Kansas professor is “under investigation” because the word “nigger” touched her lips, and this supposedly left a student “in tears.” (source) The professor was teaching a seminar about how to address racial issues. She admitted her view that she didn’t experience racism, so it was hard for her to fully understand it. Here is what she allegedly said: “As a white woman I just never have seen the racism…It’s not like I see ‘Nigger’ spray painted on walls…” When I read that, I don’t see someone saying “racism doesn’t happen.” I see someone saying, “when I come out of my house, there isn’t going to be a slur spray painted on the wall that is aimed at me. But,