Category: Strange

Assault with M&Ms?

Posted on by TL

Our “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” can be awful odd sometimes.

A report out of Iowa from the Associated Press tells the story of a college student who was arrested when he allegedly struck an officer with some M&Ms:

Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, according to a police report.

According to the report, McGuire said he threw the candy at the officer because he was “sticking up for his friend.”

I’d love to know what the judge does with this one.  Our courts have become extremely intolerant in recent years.

For now, this kid is out on $1000 bond.

Sweet.

R. Kelly trial finally under way

Posted on by TL

The Chicago media is calling it the “R. Kelly Porn Trial.” After successfully delaying proceedings for six years, Kelly’s attorneys made last-ditch efforts to further delay the inevitable. The defense claimed that potential jurors would be influenced by pre-trial media coverage, specifically mentioning recent articles in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Sun-Times reported Friday that a potential witness in the R. Kelly trial — who would testify to having a threesome with Kelly and an underage girl — was allegedly paid by an aide to the singer in order to get back an incriminating sex video.

“There is no escaping the fact that the Sun-Times will be in every news box in Cook County,” said defense lawyer Marc Martin.

That’s very flattering for the Sun-Times, but it’s hardly true. While circulation of the Sun-Times is respectable, there are no doubt people in Cook County who do not regularly read the paper or follow its stories online. I would bet that there are plenty of people in Cook County who have never heard of R. Kelly, never heard one of his songs or don’t know that they have, and could care less who he is.

It is astounding that this case has stalled in the courts this long, and the court is making every effort to ensure the press is locked out of the initial proceedings:

Exactly how the opening moment of a trial six years in the making played out is unclear, however, because sheriff’s deputies barred reporters from entering the courtroom. In a case kept shrouded in secrecy by Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan, the opening moments of the trial were also behind closed doors.

…

Kelly, 41, faces 14 counts of child pornography for a videotape authorities say was shot between Jan. 1, 1998, and Oct. 1, 2000, and shows him engaging in a variety of sex acts with a girl as young as 13. He has pleaded not guilty.

Six years.

I have no doubt R. Kelly will get a fair trial. If anything, the six-year crawl to justice simply bolsters arguments that the Olympia Fields resident has been treated with more fairness than most others who are accused of crossing the law.

Todd Stroger thinks he’s Oprah Winfrey

Posted on by TL

Just when I thought I had heard it all, Todd Stroger reaches new levels of hubris.

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is “forcing anyone who works under him to sign a confidentiality agreement — promising they won’t disclose anything he deems ‘confidential’ that they ‘learned, disclosed or observed’ while on the job,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Stroger’s edict extends beyond employment with Cook County government:

They must also promise never to disclose information after they leave their job.

Not even Mayor Daley requires such obedience from his employees and those familiar with Gov. Blagojevich’s operations don’t believe he does, either. But Stroger is making those closest to him — department heads, bureau chiefs and anyone working in his PR operation — sign it.

Anyone working in his PR operation? Yes, this is great PR, Todd.

Stroger promised to make Cook County government more transparent. This move certainly muddies the waters.

Oprah Winfrey makes employees sign lifelong confidentiality agreements:

Oprah has successfully intercepted revelations by insisting that everyone who works at Harpo sign an unusual lifelong confidentiality agreement. “You wouldn’t say it’s harsh if you were in the tabloids all the time,” Oprah says in her defense.

I’ll give Oprah her confidentiality agreement because, well, she’s Oprah. While I may tire of her self-indulgent escapades like her road trip with best friend Gayle when she learns how to pump gas and drive in a car by herself — surrounded by cameras, of course — Oprah has done enough philanthropic work for several lifetimes. And she keeps giving.

But Todd Stroger? Todd, you’re no Oprah Winfrey. In fact, Todd, I’d wager that what you’re doing is not even legal, and I would encourage Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to take a good, hard look at this confidentiality agreement for possible violations of the Freedom of Information Act. Madigan speaks about the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act on her Web site:

Both of these laws are intended to foster government accountability and increase the public’s ability to participate fully in government. However, FOIA and OMA are only effective when citizens, the media and public officials understand their rights and obligations under these laws.

Individual governmental bodies cannot be permitted to judge for themselves what the public gets to know. There must be oversight and review on this matter, and this nonsense must stop.

Did Blago try to oust Fitzgerald? Get ready for “Blagogate”

Posted on by TL

The Chicago Tribune tells the good news:

In a bombshell disclosure before testimony began Wednesday morning in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial, a federal prosecutor said a former Rezko confidant was prepared to say that another friend of Rezko was trying to pull strings with White House political director Karl Rove to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and kill his investigation into Rezko.

Karl Rove and Robert Kjellander issued statements denying the following allegations:

Before the jury was brought into the courtroom Wednesday, [ Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton] Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that Republican National Committeeman Robert Kjellander was working with Rove “to have Fitzgerald removed.”

The potential witness at Rezko’s trial, Ali Ata, a former official in the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is ready testify about conversations he had with Rezko in 2004 when the Rezko investigation had just begun. According to Ata, Blago was present in the room when Ata and Rezko proposed swapping a $25,000 campaign contribution for a job in the Blagojevich administration.

All roads lead again and again to the Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Governor-Who-Won’t. It’s almost like we’re dealing with an elected mob — a klutzy Sopranos with styled hair.

I recall the night Blago was re-elected. As the numbers came in and it was evident that Blago would win, a friend who serves local municipalities as a prosecuting attorney made an intriguing observation. He said, “What’s it going to be like seeing a sitting governor indicted?”

No one has attached the legendary “-GATE” to this whole ordeal, but it’s coming soon. Perhaps “Blagogate”?

Whatever we end up calling this mess, it will not be good for Illinois.

Passportgate: Big Brother Watching The Dems

Posted on by TL

Yet another sleazy scandal from the Republican Regime. From WTEA TV’s The Pittsburgh Channel:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that the passport files of both Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were accessed without authorization by employees of the State Department.

News organizations this morning were reporting that Sen. Barack Obama’s passport files had been accessed by the State Department. Now it’s Hillary as well. Now it’s Condi Rice making the Apology Circuit:

“We are very concerned about this,” Ms. Rice said. “I told him that I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file.”

The breaches occurred in 2007. Two State Department employees have been fired over the incident.

So, what did they know, and when did they know it?

And who else did they take a peek at?

UPDATE: 11:37 a.m.

According to The Swamp at the Chicago Tribune, Sen. John McCain’s “passport files got an unauthorized viewing at the State Department.”

Will someone in the Bush Administration please speak up for the Bill of Rights?

Spitzer Makes A Call

Posted on by TL

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, D-NY, is in trouble.  Formerly known as “Mr. Clean”, Spizer has allegedly been involved with prostitutes.  The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine’s Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

Democrat or Republican, this is a story, and it must be told.  The governor has not been charged with anything.  While it is easy to make wisecracks, we must exercise restraint.  That has been my practice on Turning Left, no matter who the accused.  One colleague at the Online News Association expected the “liberal media” to stay away from this story, and only attack when the bad-boy is a Republican.

Not likely.

Spitzer already gave the mandatory apology with wife-at-side.  Perhaps he’ll resign.  Should he?  I don’t know.  If he is arrested and charged with anything, then, absolutely yes.  At that point he becomes ineffective as an elected official.

But is he ineffective now?  I don’t think so.  Not yet.  Larry Craig said he would resign, and then changed his mind. Craig was actually arrested.

Spitzer has to determine if he can still govern.  Ethically, what he did is between his family, himself, and God.  Can he still effectively serve the people of New York?  That’s the only issue right now.

Family Killed, Grandfather Charged

Posted on by TL

A horrible story out of Chicago this morning:

An Oak Forest man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, son-in-law and young grandson because he was upset over his daughter’s marriage, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Subhash Chander, 57, told police that he resented the couple for what he considered a “cultural slight” — that his daughter Monika Rani, 22, had married a man from a lower caste and done so without his consent, according to a court document.

One person commented on the story, saying the problem is immigration — all immigration should be stopped.  That’s completely off-base.  Do we really think this is a problem that politicians can fix, and immigration is the root cause?

The overwhelming vast majority of immigrants and “home-grown” are wonderful people, but we have major problems.  This one is simply horribly sad.

Why not ask the big questions instead of shooting from the hip?  Yes, the man should be prosecuted.  But our already over-burdened legal system will not and cannot fix the problem.

One of the big questions is, “How do we create a society where there is less violence?”  More laws won’t do it.  “Three strikes and you’re out” is just a silly placebo.  Politicians are ancillary.

Stop immigration?  We’re fooling ourselves.

This is the most violent country in the world outside of a war zone.  Face it — we have real problems here.  And the root cause is not immigration, socioeconomics, class, caste, race, sex, too many guns, too few guns, gay marriage, divorce, abortion, or anything else.  For some reason, Americans resort to violence first, and ask questions later.

The law is a last resort after everything else has gone to Hell.  We need to seriously ask ourselves how we can create a society where people do not resort to violence as a first option.

The Star of Bethlehem

Posted on by TL

Every year we listen to a host of theories about the Star of Bethlehem. The story of the star appears only in Matthew’s Gospel, in one of the two Infancy Narratives in the gospels. The other is in the Gospel of Luke. Both of these stories are wonderful tales which are really trying to tell Christians about the adult, risen Christ — according to Christians. These stories are not at all about what really happened. Phil Plait does an excellent job dealing with what may or may not have really happened, and he’s probably right that the tale grew in the telling.

There were no birth certificates. The birth of Christ wasn’t even celebrated in early Christianity. The celebration grew up gradually throughout the Roman Empire, really only taking root after Christianity became a legal religion in 313 C.E. Christians gradually converted the old Roman feast of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) to a celebration of the birth of the Christ. While the Northern Hemisphere was at it’s darkest, Christians began to celebrate the birth of the Light of the World. The celebration was symbolic from the start, and the Gospel writers were quite comfortable using symbolism to introduce a wider audience to the Risen Christ by telling a rich story of His birth. Did they take some liberties? No doubt.

Theology is my day job. See, some Liberals do appreciate religion.

Why am I giving space here about the famous Star? Call it a preemptive strike against the Christian radicals as we move further into the election season. We are still in the middle of a Holiday Season, and have already endured strange and bizarre claims that there continues to be a “War on Christmas.” We can anticipate equally weird and bizarre claims as we move forward to the 2008 Presidential Election.

What will the weird right have in store for us? How will they work to create God in their image? In anticipation of all of the unholy rhetoric about to spew forth from the conservatives, I can’t help thinking of Yeats:

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Simple emotion may sway simple people. The weird right has used simplistic and hate-filled quasi-religious arguments before to sway the masses. Whatever they come up over the next 11 months, we must hold them to facts — and science. Otherwise, we haven’t got a prayer.

The End of America – Possible, Says Naomi Wolf

Posted on by TL

Don Hazen has an interview with Naomi Wolf on AlterNet regarding her new book, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.  In it, she warns that history may indeed repeat itself.

When discussing the Bush Administration, it’s easy to glibly toss around names like “Hitler” and “Mussolini”, and throw in a word like “fascism”, but Wolf raises some alarming concerns about the future of our democracy.

What exactly was going on when Hitler and Mussolini were coming to power?  Are there any comparisons with what is happening in America today, and has been for the past several years?

Wolf does not see much hope for a transparency in the next Presidential election:

We would be naive given the historical patterns to have hope that there’s going to be a transparent, accountable election in 2008. There are various ways the blueprint indicates how events are much more likely to play out. Historically, the months leading up to the national election are likely to be unstable.

What classically happens is either there will be a period of provocation, and we have a history of this in the United States — agitators who are dressed as or act like activist voter registration workers, anti-war marchers … but who engage in actual violence, torch property, assault police officers. And that scares people. People are much less likely to vote for change when they’re scared, and it gives them the excuse to crack down.

In addition, I’m concerned about the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, which makes it much easier for the president to declare martial law.

What are the plans for 2008?  Lower gas prices, and heightened terrorist threat alerts?  Martial Law in the United States?