News & Media

Take this report with a grain of skepticism. After all, it comes from the “Christian Post,” and if there’s one group of people I trust less than academic social justice warriors, its Christians. Nevertheless, this post claims that the GW chapter of Young Americans For Freedom is under fire for refusing to participate in “sensitivity training” about LGBT issues. (source) (An article discussing the training is here). YAF is a political organization, but claims that participating in the training so conflicts with their religious values. Allied in Pride, a GW LGBT organization mocked the group and wrote: “[YAF’s] refusal to use preferred gender pronouns should be considered an act of violence and a violation of the non-discrimination clause required in

Italy does not exactly have the greatest track record of being nice to Ethiopians. Things haven’t changed, as an Italian group is helping the Ethiopian government spy on uncooperative journalists. (source)

Journalist in South Africa mugged on camera (source) [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDCrp5wjr1s]

There will never be a nigger at SAE There will never be a nigger at SAE You can hang him from a tree But he’ll never sign with me There will never be a nigger at SAE -Unknown asshole. Whats funny is that I can write that. I can say that. I can say it if I mean it, and I can say it just to quote what some other asshole said. I’m not going to get into a discussion of whether I approve of it or not. (I don’t, but that’s all I’ll say about it). You have the right to be racist. I want that freedom. But, somewhere along the way, we decided that eliminating bad thoughts is

The last time I did anything resembling Communion it was in 2001 or so. A friend was getting married. I agreed to be a groomsman. We had to go through the motions of Communion. I knelt there at the altar, and the best man came by with the cup of wine. He says “Blood of Christ, Blood of Salvation” and then pours some of the wine into my mouth from a big silver goblet. Then he leans down and whispers “BURNS, DOESN’T IT?” I then laughed Communion wine out my nose. It did burn. Hiram Jimenez’ story isn’t as funny. See Jimenez v. Applebees. He went to Applebees for dinner, which is your first clue about him. He ordered the

In a defamation case, the judge is supposed to make a determination as to whether the statements are reasonably capable of a defamatory meaning. It happens less often than it should. But, in this case, Judge Orrick in the N.D. Cal. did his job, screened the allegedly defamatory statements, and tossed the case out. (Order)

In Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Caetano, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that although the 2d Amendment might protect the right to have a hand gun, it does not protect the right to have a stun gun – because the founders didn’t ponder electric weapons. I guess they didn’t have the Internet or T.V. in mind either, but whatever.

Friday, I published a column at CNN.com on New York City’s recent move to observe Muslim holidays, and why I think that is a bad idea.  Why schools should observe ‘Day of the Dude’

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0NW9ufUUw&t=185]

Leonard Nimoy is dead…. for now.  (source)

Eric Chanson and Kevin Bolleart are $900,000 further in the red as of today. (order)

I don’t want to comment extensively on this – but suffice to say that I am delighted to report that evidence in the Argentine Money Trail case will be open to the public. This is a bright day in otherwise dark days for the Argentine press. The Order is here. The court held that matters surrounding the Argentine debt crisis “cannot be litigated in secret. Doing so would limit the public’s understanding of the court’s final decision and, therefore, risk weakening the judicial power, which depends upon public access and trust. See Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 591 (citing In re Oliver, 333 US 257, 273 (1948))” Just as inspiring: [T]he court is bound by its obligation to the public,

For any of you who have followed the case affectionately dubbed “Rakofsky v. The Internet, it is over. This was one of the most unsupportable defamation cases I have ever seen filed. There were clear defenses, which ultimately prevailed. But, since it was filed in New York, which does not have a real Anti-SLAPP law, the parties were subjected to years of litigation and defense costs. And this highlights why we need Anti-SLAPP laws nationwide. All across the country, we find defamation cases filed – not because any plaintiff really believes that it can win, but because the plaintiff knows that courts rarely grant sanctions and rarely do anything more than what is easy. Part of the problem is garbage

An Argentine journalist credited with breaking the news of a prosecutor’s suspicious death has been forced to flee the country, fearing for his own safety. Damian Pachter of the English-language Buenos Aires Herald is currently in Uruguay, en route to Israel. In 1994, the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires was bombed, leaving 84 dead. (source) To date, nobody has been held responsible for the crime, but Argentina and Iran reached a 2013 deal where they would jointly investigate the crime. Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman in 2013 released an indictment in which Iran and Hezbollah were accused of being behind the crime. Then, in early January of this year, Nisman released an indictment in which he accused senior Argentine officials

The Nebraska Supreme Court reminds us in Steinhausen v. Homeservices of Nebraska, 289 Neb. 927 (Neb. 2015) that rhetorical hyperbole is not actionable as defamation. I can assure you that total idiots nationwide will fail to get the memo. In this case, someone referred to a home inspector as a “total idiot.” Nitz argues that in the context of the Hotsheets— which she refers to as a place for HomeServices agents to “express their opinions without pulling punches”38—the phrase “total idiot” is not “a factual statement that [Steinhausen] is mentally defective.”39 Steinhausen responds that “[i]diocy is verifiable” and “can be defined and proved.”40 He notes that “idiot” is defined in one dictionary as “a stupid person or a mentally handicapped

Audrey Dunham is comedian Jeff Dunham’s new (vintage 2012) wife. Before she married him, she was Audrey Murdick. Jeff’s ex-wife is Paige Dunham. Paige is accused of registering AudreyDunham.com, AudreyDunham.net, AudreyDunham.us and AudreyDunham.biz. Apparently though, she registered those names before Audrey Murdick became Audrey Dunham. But, according to the complaint filed by Audrey’s lawyers, she did so in anticipation that Murdick would change her name. Meow. “Defendant knew at the time she registered the Accused Domains, that Plaintiff would soon change her name to AUDREY DUNHAM.” It also seems that Audrey Dunham filed for, but has not yet received, a trademark registration for the name. It also seems like whoever filed it didn’t have the best grasp of trademark law

Guest post by Dr. Marty Klein The first issue published by Charlie Hebdo after a dozen staff members were assassinated is out. Instead of the typical print run of 50,000, they printed (and sold) three million copies. Newsworthy? Of course. Was the cover apologetic, conciliatory, or “balanced”? Hell, no. Newsworthy? Of course. But when CNN reported that the magazine had resumed publishing, it was unwilling to show the cover. The cover breaks no American laws, is not “obscene,” and features neither nudity nor violence nor libel. So why the CNN blackout of this historic event? An anchorwoman explained: “It is our policy not to show potentially offensive images of the prophet.” Read that again: “potentially offensive.” CNN refuses to say

Mount Holyoke College cancels “The Vagina Monologues” because women who don’t have vaginas got their feels hurt. (source) No. Fucking seriously. “At its core, the show offers an extremely narrow perspective on what it means to be a woman…Gender is a wide and varied experience, one that cannot simply be reduced to biological or anatomical distinctions, and many of us who have participated in the show have grown increasingly uncomfortable presenting material that is inherently reductionist and exclusive,” the email, obtained by Campus Reform, said. (source) This is the same All-women’s Mount Holyoke College that recently decided to admit men who “identify as women.” (source) That sorta makes sense to me, but it helps put the issue in context. But,

By Robert Horne Friends describe Jean Cabut, 77, as a man who tried to laugh as much as possible. An interviewer once asked the esteemed French cartoonist if laughter and drawing could bring him through the economic crisis of the press. (source) His answer is haunting. “I try. You can try, but sometimes there are delicate subjects. Sometimes laughter hurts, but humor and mockery are our only weapons.” (source) Unfortunately, for his fellow French citizens and the civilized world at-large, there has been very few opportunities to laugh since Cabut and 11 other heroes of free expression were gunned down on Jan. 7 in the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo by religious fanatics. These particular extremists were upset over the

I hate to interrupt the obituaries of the Charlie Hebdo martyrs (and I use that term with all reverence). I had promised myself that we would publish nothing else until all 12 were done. But this story demands that I interrupt. I am sure that all of the Charlie Hebdo 12 would approve. Raif Badawi is a Saudi Blogger who called for an end to Saudi theocracy. For this “crime” he received a sentence of 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of 1 million Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$266,600) The official crime was “Insulting Islam” (source) The lashing began on Friday. (source) He is apparently going to get 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks. For “insulting