Right Juris

Most people think of the Southern motif as part of our nation’s grand old history. Are we now to believe that any image of the South from the 19th century reflects racism? That is what Edward Vaughn, head of the Alabama NAACP is now suggesting. Read more, see photo and a video below.

“These are not just regular costumes,” says Vaughn, “they are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind.” -Edward Vaughn

Wow, what an articulate argument. By this reasoning, the pilgrims, apple pie, hell even baseball should all be removed from public display, as these reflect a culture that was cruel to the “Native-Americans.”

I am not a southerner, but can tell you that culture and history are important. Just because one aspect of that cultural history is bad, doesn’t mean the rest is. That is like saying the Arab and Persian cultures are bad because of 9/11. Give me a break.

Of all the stupid, ignorant, asinine things for a supposed leader in the community to be spouting, this guy is complaining about a costume being racist, when a black man has been elected president. Mr. Vaughn, shut your mouth, and do it fast.

I, for one, am calling for the NAACP to fire his keister. A nincompoop like this should not be representing an organization which has a goal of advancing people of color. Even the Mayor of Mobile, who is a black man, thinks this is ridiculous.

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Well, it is a rare asset these days, so I guess the fundamental laws of supply and demand are truly at play. It appears that Natalie Dylan, 23 years old, is auctioning off her virginity to pay for school expenses. Ironically she’s majoring in woman studies and a Masters in marriage counseling (you can’t make that up).

Where did young Ms. Dylan get this great idea from? Well, apparently her sister worked a as a prostitute for 3 weeks to pay for her college expenses, so apparently the same morals run in the family (who the hell were the parents of these girls any way?). Not that necessarily blame girls who do stunts like this, there is a ton of money to be had and its “easy” money. When I lived in Vegas I had a brother who was roommates with a girl who worked at Spearmint Rhino (strip joint) an she told me that she knew girls who would fly in for the weekend and pull in 10-15 K for 2 nights of work. Considering most of these girls wouldn’t make that much in a year, I guess you have to use the assets that are available to you.

The only problem I see here (outside the clear moral problem) is that the transaction is almost certainly illegal. Whether its with a $5 buck ho in the alley, or on Ebay, paying someone for sex is still prostitution, which is still illegal basically everywhere.

In one of the more bizarre stories of the year, it appears that an Indiana man who was facing a difficult time in his life has faked a plane crash.  Yep, you heard it right, a plane crash.  Apparently Marcus Schrenker tried to fake his own death by parachuting out of his small plane after putting it on autopilot to crash in Florida.

Authorities became suspicious when the plane was discovered, with its door ajar and no signs of blood or a blown windshield.  Oh yeah, apparently he also used his drivers license to rent a room after his plane crashed.  Just a tip to those of you who want to fake your death, you may want to grab a fake ID or something, using your own drivers license is somewhat of a red flag.

Schrenker, who is also the owner of Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance services and Icon Wealth Management, is being investigated by the Indiana Secratary of State, and a recent ruling had issued a $553,500 judgment against Heritage Wealth Management. Combined with the fact that his wife had just left him, lets call this a bad week. 

I supposed if all of that happened to me in a matter of a week, I might try to fake my death too, but there has got to be a better way of doing this. Personally I’d go for the old drive my car off the cliff and jump out right before I crash trick.  This is kind of risky, because if you don’t time the time it right, you may be in some trouble. A close second would be the old “lost at sea” con.  The crashed airplane bit is just too difficult to pull off, as evidenced here.

In any event Shrenker, good luck to you in the big house.  Here’s another con you might try.  Tell all the other cons that you are there for a triple homicide and that they better not mess with you.  That one never works though. 

Polygamist leaders in Canada were taken into custody by law enforcement on polygamy charges. Yet gay marriage is protected in Canada, how ironic. Read more about Winston Blackmore and Jame Oler, see photos, a video, and a biography below.

BC’s Attorney General Wally Oppal does admit this will be a hard case to win. The arrest may not hold up. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom guarantees “freedom of religion” and has already been used twice to get polygamy charges thrown out elsewhere. And, gay marriage is protected in Canada, after all.

Is gay marriage and plural marriage a fair comparison? Many insist it is not. Still, it comes down to our society being liberal, and allowing people to seek out happiness in what ever way they see fit, so long as it doesn’t hurt others. So what is the difference then between gay marriage and plural marriage? Simple.

The gay movement has become much more popular in the eye of the public, mainly (in my opinion) because of the pop culture of music, television, and the movies. Will and Grace is much more appetizing than Big Love. Of course Big Love is probably the only example of polygamy in pop culture, and it is in large part a negative portrayal. But folks like Ellen Degeneres or Elton John are loved by millions.

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Now we’re talking. In a striking move today, the Secretary of the Senate has refused to seat Roland Burris in the U.S. Senate.

The secretary of the U.S. Senate on Monday rejected the certificiate of appointment for Roland Burris, named by Illinois’ controversial governor to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, according to an aide to the secretary.

The aide said Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson rejected Burris’ appointment because it does not conform with the Senate rule requiring that the secretary of state — in this case, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White — must sign the certificate of appointment along with the governor.

White has declined to sign the certificate, siding with some Senate Democrats who say Burris should not be seated because of the cloud over Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat.

According to a Democratic source and a Democratic Senate leadership aide, without the signed certificate Burris will be denied access to the Senate floor.

See more in the video below.

In some ways I kind of feel bad for the Burris fellow, except that I don’t really. He’s obviously brought this on himself for the plublicity, after all, who had ever heard of him before he was appointed by the corrupt Democrat (but I repeat myself) governor of Illinois.

The real question in my mind is this; is this move even legal. The requirements of the Constitution to become a senator are that you must be 30, must be a U.S. citizen and you must be a citizen of the state you are representing. The tricky part here is that the Constitution does say that the Senate has the power not to seat a member who is the product of a corrupt Election. This power derives from the clear language of Article 1, Section 5, which gives the Senate to judge:
1. Elections;
2. Qualifications; and
3. Returns

See also Morgan v. United States (1986). However, this is not an election, this is an appointment. The Senate does not have any textual authority to reject a senate appointment according to Art. I or the Morgan case.

There is no doubt that this whole thing smells, but what would smell worse is establishing a precedent of having the Senate seat whomever they will and reject whomever they will. For instance, lets assume (big assumption right now) that Coleman successfully sues and wins the MN senate seat. Could Reid just decide he wasn’t going to seat him because the court case didn’t go the Democrats way? This is a rather scary principle to establish and I don’t think the senate has the power to do this. So, seat this Burris guy, we may not like it, but its probably the right thing to do.

In a couple of Indiana court of appeal’s rulings, the effectiveness of online sting operations that attempt to catch child molesters may have become less effective. Way to go! Read more, see picture and a video below.

The police consider these sting operations to be key in protecting minors from sexual predators. Nonetheless, the appeal of Randy Gibbs, a Shelbyville Indiana man, made impact on this law, on the grounds that there wasn’t an actual victim.

The court ruled 2-1 that the class B felony of “attempted sexual misconduct with a minor” would require an actual victim, not an undercover officer. The dissenting opinion of Judge Melissa S. May was that the conviction should stand. Her reasoning, that the mere fact that the predator couldn’t go through with the crime doesn’t change the attempt.

Read the rest and see a video