President Donald Trump’s comments on Charlottesville during a press conference Tuesday in Trump Tower were remarkable…in the worst way possible.

Not only did Trump equate the counter-protesters (whom he labeled the “alt-left”) to the torch-carrying nazis, but he defended the white nationalists and expressed sympathy for their demonstration against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

“This week it’s Robert E. Lee,” Trump told reporters. “I notice that Stonewall Jackson’s coming down,” he added, referring to another famous Confederate commander.

“I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?”

Many were appalled by the statements, but there were some–like former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke–who praised the president. However, it was a tweet from actor James Woods likening the toppling of a racist statue to the destruction of democracy that inspired a massive meme clap back.

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/juArhCpiXl

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 14, 2017

“Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time…,” read the the tweet, which was paired with a photo of the Marine Corps War Memorial.

Awed by the sheer ridiculousness of such a tweet, it didn’t take long for the “#liberals” to swipe Woods’ caption and troll him with his own words. Here are some of my favorites:

Michael Jackson and Bubbles Sculpture

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/7n7V0Gnc9w

— Heidi Hits Children (@heiditron3000) August 15, 2017

Man Assaulting Creepy Green Babies 

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/M67xuXFhCL

— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) August 15, 2017

This Bronze Bust of Cristiano Ronaldo

Before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/0JqE5obRJj

— Freddie Campion (@FreddieCampion) August 15, 2017

A Giant Butt Plug

before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/8GzpoF0LCK

— Goth Ms. Frizzle (@spookperson) August 15, 2017

This Lindsay Lohan Wax Figure That Tried to Impersonate Beyoncé

before the #liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you might like to see it one more time… pic.twitter.com/I9zbhn5yzf

— corey (@corey4evrfamous) August 15, 2017

And Who Could Forget This Gem…

Before the #Liberals find a reason to deface, destroy or degrade this one, I thought some of you would like to see it one last time… pic.twitter.com/8ltPIoGFeJ

— Victor Vega (@Cpt_ShitPost) August 16, 2017

The compilation of wacky sculpture memes managed to make light of the monument debate, but don’t count on a ceasefire from either side. Confederate-era symbols were removed overnight in Baltimore, and a plaque honoring Robert E. Lee was taken down in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post “Before the #Liberals” Meme Trolls Actor With Wacky Monuments appeared first on Law Street.

Yesterday it was announced that President Donald Trump’s beleaguered press secretary Melissa McCarthy Sean Spicer, was resigning from his position. Spicer’s combative relationship with the press, bombastic attitude during press conferences, and consistent use of “alternative facts” made him one of the most recognizable press secretaries in recent years. So, the internet took news of his resignation pretty hard. Check out some of the funniest tweets below:

Wishing Sean Spicer the best of luck in all future endeavors.

We’ll always have those six months of you lying to us every single day.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 21, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Pays Tribute to Sean Spicer appeared first on Law Street.

Just after midnight, President Donald Trump took to his favorite social media platform–Twitter–and sent out a puzzling tweet.

Damn, they deleted the tweet! Good that I have a screenshot. #covfefe pic.twitter.com/pjIhkXqw7I

— Katya Bohdan (@katyabohdan) May 31, 2017

It’s pretty clear that Trump meant “coverage” as opposed to “covfefe” which…isn’t a word, despite his team’s bizarre claims that he was referring to some sort of inside joke. But it doesn’t really matter why Trump tweeted out the non-word, because the rest of Twitter had a ton of fun with it. Check out the best of the new, beloved #covfefe meme below:

covfefe
covfef
covfe
covf
cov
co
c
co
com
comi
comin
coming
coming o
coming ou
coming out of my cage and i’ve been doing just fine

— mar (@happiestweekes) May 31, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Best Twitter Responses to “Covfefe” appeared first on Law Street.

On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election, defeating far-right populist and nationalist candidate Marine LePen. Once he is inaugurated on May 14, the centrist politician will have to address his constituents’ worries about unemployment and terrorism in a divided country.

But across the Atlantic Ocean, the most pressing concern for many Twitter users was whether or not Macron (who will become France’s youngest president at age 39) is more attractive than Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Congratulations @EmmanuelMacron! Let’s meet soon, and keep working to grow & strengthen the deep ties between Canada and France.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 7, 2017

There are few things the Internet loves more than two good-looking, young-ish, and charismatic world leaders befriending each other–just look at the infatuation with Trudeau and former President Barack Obama. So when Trudeau congratulated Macron on his victory, the idea of two good-looking, young-ish, and charismatic world leaders, who also speak French befriending each other sent some people over the edge.

How is the internet going to cope when Macron & Trudeau eventually meet and discuss politics in French?

— cordney (@courtwhip) May 7, 2017

me when justin trudeau and emmanuel macron meet & speak french together pic.twitter.com/rM5WgPtNIh

— Dr. Mantis Toboggan (@beaarthur85) May 8, 2017

Let the Macron-Trudeau fan fiction begin! pic.twitter.com/NDvXsClpgb

— Jaime Woo (@jaimewoo) May 7, 2017

However, not everyone was enamored.

Trudeau has a 48% approval rating, and Macron’s agenda is unpopular and opposed by most French. But they’re good looking!

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 9, 2017

Some are hoping the two leaders can get together to accomplish more than just a photo op or bromance.

Emmanuel Macron x Justin Trudeau goodness (credit to my former schoolmate Sulaiman Daud) pic.twitter.com/WAnICRz2ZU

— Adibah (@mmonchatsplash) May 8, 2017

BEST TRUDEAU-MACRON FANFIC:

Trudeau: Hey, man lets do some policy and not blow the world up or be insane

Macron: Oui oui

— St. Lucia (@luciaannv) May 9, 2017

Though President Donald Trump also took to Twitter to congratulate Macron, chances of a friendship between U.S. and France may not be as high. Trump had previously called Le Pen the “strongest” candidate in the election, praising her positions on terrorism and borders.

Victoria Sheridan

Victoria is an editorial intern at Law Street. She is a senior journalism major and French minor at George Washington University. She’s also an editor at GW’s student newspaper, The Hatchet. In her free time, she is either traveling or planning her next trip abroad. Contact Victoria at VSheridan@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Fantasizes About Eventual Meetup Between Macron and Trudeau appeared first on Law Street.

Today, President Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., appeared to enjoy a nice, relaxing day by the pool. The weather was beautiful outside, so Trump Jr.’s choice of venue makes sense. But his attire grabbed Twitter’s attention. Trump Jr. tweeted out a picture of himself wearing a t-shirt that poked a bit of fun at the “mainstream media”:

I’m going to have to buy 5-10,000 of these to pass around to our buddies in the #MSM. In the meantime I’ll model it for them. #yourewelcome pic.twitter.com/Hnn3Z5Pspm

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 15, 2017

And Twitter had quite a laugh editing and responding to the shirt. Check out some of the best responses in the slideshow below:

@rolandscahill @DonaldJTrumpJr Donald Jr describing himself as a model is very fake news.

— Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) April 15, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Donald Trump Jr. Gets Mocked on Twitter for “Fake News” Shirt appeared first on Law Street.

It seems like 2017 is the year of the “woke” commercial. This past Super Bowl, audiences were served these types of seemingly socially conscious ads from giants like Audi, Budweiser, and Airbnb. Last night, Pepsi decided to get in on the trend and released a two-and-a-half minute ad starring Kendall Jenner that basically everyone on Twitter found to be as tone-deaf as it was offensive. The ad, which is part of a global campaign that focuses on “the moments when we decide to let go, choose to act, follow our passion and nothing holds us back,” pretty overtly evokes imagery borrowed from what we’ve seen at Black Lives Matter protests.

The commentary on Twitter was a perfect combination of reflection on how Pepsi allowed for this ridiculous ad to be made in the first place, and the brutal roasting that Pepsi deserves.

Star Wars would have never happened if Princess Leia just handed me a can of Pepsi at the beginning of the movie

— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) April 5, 2017

“Now just wait one second officers.

I have a Pepsi.” pic.twitter.com/NW0sddKOOI

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 5, 2017

“I have a dream that one day God’s brown, black, and white children will enjoy backwash from the same can of Pepsi.” pic.twitter.com/DEFwxXxIP0

— April 4, 1968 (@BroderickGreer) April 5, 2017

.@pepsi could have spared itself a lot of trouble by going back to its original slogan “We Only Have Pepsi, Is That Okay?” #PepsiMoment

— Matt Helgeson (@MattHelgeson) April 5, 2017

In Baltimore they handed out water…nothing changed. @Pepsi pic.twitter.com/X73fcxPIMF

— DC Maryland Virginia (@DMVFollowers) April 5, 2017

“This is officer Haynes; just saw a group of black boys. You guys up for a Pepsi? I think I can force about 4 cans from them” pic.twitter.com/YATDgxLq5C

— #Wejoice (@Rejiaku) April 5, 2017

“STOP GUYS! I have a Pepsi multi pack in my car!!” pic.twitter.com/0BamCseHUo

— Ojuelepogba (@Chenyboi) April 5, 2017

when you were going to violently break up a peaceful protest but the Pepsi way too good pic.twitter.com/wTPCwpyk2v

— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) April 5, 2017

Pepsi ain’t been right since they lit Michael Jackson’s Jheri curl on fire.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 5, 2017

me: I’ll have a coke
waitress : is Pepsi ok?
me: oh I’m actually already not racist but thank you

— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) April 4, 2017

theory: that Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad is actually a Coke ad

— Chris Gayomali (@chrisgayomali) April 4, 2017

.@CocaCola watching this @Pepsi ad go up in flames pic.twitter.com/s4DW2GqpXq

— Ryan Brooks (@ByRyanBrooks) April 4, 2017

“They ain’t have no more damn Pepsi at the store!” pic.twitter.com/lVb8hA7Feo

— malibu nova (@theBrittdoll) April 5, 2017

MLK’s daughter even got in on the trend:

If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi. pic.twitter.com/FA6JPrY72V

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2017

And, finally, this thread pointed out the ultimate issues with the commercial–click on the tweets to see the whole thing:

iesha l evans peacefully stands in front of troopers n baton rouge during a protest for philando castile & alton sterling. she was arrested. pic.twitter.com/1UgduU14kz

— lay-ken. ☥ (@lakinimani) April 5, 2017

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

The post New Tone-Deaf Pepsi Ad Receives Brutal Backlash on Twitter appeared first on Law Street.

Today is the best day of the year: #NationalPuppyDay. Puppies are great, because they a) aren’t trying to take health insurance away from 24 million people b) aren’t affiliated with Russia, and c) are much cuter than humans. In honor of #NationalPuppyDay, let’s take a quick look at the best political puppies so far in 2017.

Senator Thom Tillis Made a New Friend

Our official office mascot, Tilly, a 3lb Boston Terrier puppy.

A post shared by Senator Thom Tillis (@senthomtillis) on Jan 24, 2017 at 7:06am PST

Tilly, a Boston Terrier puppy, appears to belong to one of Tillis’s staffers. But she’s not the only dog in Tillis’s life. The senator’s love of dogs is well documented. During the 2016 election he released a video of his dog, Ike Tillis, whining about Hillary Clinton, Obamacare, ISIS, and the deficit. He also encouraged his dog to vote, which is definitely not legal, but Ike is too cute for us to care.

Biden, the Puppy Who Stole Our Hearts

This is a recent addition to best political puppies of 2017. Biden, a four-month-old golden retriever puppy, got to meet Joe Biden, a human and former VP, yesterday.

It seems like they got along well:

Joe Biden met a puppy named “Biden” and the internet lost its mind https://t.co/CW9LOeryq6 pic.twitter.com/dPDnAHcgI0

— Mic (@mic) March 23, 2017

Biden the puppy probably has a long political career ahead of him.

i have a dream

A post shared by biden (@bidenthegolden) on Feb 24, 2017 at 8:27am PST

Rep. Rick Crawford’s Office Has a Maltipoo

Representative Rick Crawford, a Republican representative from Arkansas, has a puppy named Brady who greets constituents who decide to stop by the D.C. office. News of Brady’s hiring broke in mid-January, and according to Crawford’s office, Brady “will be handling all of our canine related policies and will be my go to pup on the #woof caucus.” 

I’d like to introduce the newest member of my staff, Brady Handey. Brady will be handling all of our canine related policies and will be my go to pup on the #woof caucus. #capitolhilldogs #dogsofinsta

A post shared by Rep Rick Crawford (@reprickcrawford) on Jan 5, 2017 at 10:31am PST

Senator Deb Fischer Adopts Fred

Nebraska Republican Senator Deb Fischer has adopted a goldendoodle named Fred. Fischer is a big time dog lover and misses her dogs back home. So, she adopted a nine-week-old goldendoodle in February, who will live with her staff members on the weekends while she’s in Nebraska. Fred is all over the senator’s Instagram, and clearly a very hard worker:

Fred (and Nick) wishing all Nebraskans calling my office a Happy #ValentinesDay #HeartCity #valentinenebraska #hometown #FunWithFred

A post shared by Senator Fischer (@senatorfischer) on Feb 14, 2017 at 8:21am PST

He’s even at meetings on National Puppy Day! Good work Fred:

Fred at staff meeting. Happy #nationalpuppyday

A post shared by Senator Fischer (@senatorfischer) on Mar 23, 2017 at 11:30am PDT

All of the Puppies Visit the Hill

In February, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought a bunch of puppies to the hill, all adoptable. Some representatives jumped on the chance to hang out with them. Here’s Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, a Democrat from California and her new friends:

Made some new animal friends here on the Hill thanks to the @ASPCA! I’m honored to fight in Congress for the well-being of animals. pic.twitter.com/EJjD6nB7wq

— Rep. Roybal-Allard (@RepRoybalAllard) February 15, 2017

Republican Congressman Tom Marino, from Pennsylvania, also stopped by:

Today, I stopped by the #PAWS4Love event hosted by the @ASPCA. pic.twitter.com/UoPSHbKR0C

— Rep. Tom Marino (@RepTomMarino) February 14, 2017

And Democratic Colorado Rep. Jared Polis had his dog selfies down:

Adopt a dog or cat today#paws4love @ASPCA pic.twitter.com/2idACR1OR0

— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) February 14, 2017

The good news: nearly 20 animals (both dogs and cats) found homes during the event!

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Best Political Puppies of 2017 for National Puppy Day appeared first on Law Street.

Donald Trump Jr. decided early on not to measure himself against his father https://t.co/HXIxaRxHOV

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 19, 2017

While Donald Sr. has shown he’s comfortable with stump speeches, Don Jr. seems very uncomfortable on his stump. Needless to say, Twitter latched on to the meme-ready image, mercilessly mocking him and his lumberjack attire.

@JordanFreiman noticed that Don Jr.’s sitting troubles go far beyond just stumps.

how is he so bad at sitting? pic.twitter.com/Jg7cTMfDcc

— Jordan Freiman (@JordanFreiman) March 18, 2017

Callum Cleary

Callum is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is from Portland OR by way of the United Kingdom. He is a senior at American University double majoring in International Studies and Philosophy with a focus on social justice in Latin America. Contact Callum at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Roasts Donald “Stump” Jr. With Viral Meme appeared first on Law Street.

House Speaker Paul Ryan likely didn’t wake up this morning expecting to become a viral meme, but that’s exactly what happened.

During a press conference earlier today, Ryan delivered a presentation to explain the GOP’s proposed Obamacare replacement, the American Health Care Act. The house speaker used an old-school PowerPoint to explain key points with graphs and visual aides.

It didn’t take long before Twitter, trained to sniff out prime, meme-worthy blank canvases, offered up some alternative visual aides for Ryan’s presentation. Check out the top ten funniest Paul Ryan PowerPoint memes below!

10. Certified dab pro

Paul Ryan just gave a PowerPoint Presentation… pic.twitter.com/iOqvtglEhe

— President Goodtime (@SethGoodtime) March 9, 2017

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Made Paul Ryan’s PowerPoint Presentation 100 Times Better appeared first on Law Street.

You may have noticed a lot of tweets pitting Obamacare against a new GOP bill recently. That’s because on Monday, Republican lawmakers introduced the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a measure meant to replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, which helped provide about 20 million Americans with healthcare.

The proposal wouldn’t undo the ACA entirely: provisions allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance until age 26 and ensuring coverage for people with pre-existing conditions will remain intact. But the bill would eliminate Obamacare’s individual mandate that taxes people who don’t purchase healthcare and allow insurers to charge a 30 percent higher premium for those who let their coverage lapse for more than 63 days. It would also roll back the expansion of Medicaid (which is currently used by more than 70 million Americans) by 2019, restrict Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, and postpone the “Cadillac tax”–which fines employers for offering high-cost coverage to their workers–until 2025. Additionally, the measure could allow providers to charge older people five times more for insurance than younger people (under Obama the limit was three times more). For more information, read “What You Need to Know About the New GOP Health Care Plan.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the bill, saying it would “drive down costs, encourage competition, and give every American access to quality, affordable health insurance,” and President Donald Trump has also tweeted out his support of the AHCA. But a handful of Republican senators and several Democrats, who have labeled the measure “Trumpcare,” see it as a downgrade that will increase healthcare costs.

Naturally, opposition toward the bill picked up on Twitter, where users began to draw comparisons between the ACA and the AHCA to famous movies, shows, or characters and their lower-quality knockoffs and sequels. Here are some of the most creative examples.

Obamacare v. GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/C1o8sIXB2I

— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) March 7, 2017

https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/838907799040114694

Obamacare vs Trumpcare pic.twitter.com/8VDZEAAtQx

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) March 7, 2017

Obamacare // the GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/sqTC8yUhAj

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 7, 2017

Obamacare // the GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/MNbNfhC3sI

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 7, 2017

Obamacare vs. the Obamacare replacement pic.twitter.com/vf6rQRou2l

— Fun_Beard (@Fun_Beard) March 7, 2017

Obamacare vs. Replacement Obamacare pic.twitter.com/hLyW5sX8HU

— Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler) March 7, 2017

Obamacare vs. GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/wQ9gi9hPsG

— Alia (@MizzzAlia) March 7, 2017

Obamacare vs. GOP Replacement pic.twitter.com/Ajs2fhzKnk

— Ira Madison III (@ira) March 7, 2017

obamacare vs gop replacement pic.twitter.com/74C01phBqh

— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) March 7, 2017

Obamacare VS GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/3G20CtCckf

— shackas (@shackas) March 7, 2017

Obamacare vs GOP replacement pic.twitter.com/NdpwOqS75y

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 7, 2017

Reasons why people are against the bill differ, though. A handful of conservatives in Congress, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), want to overhaul Obamacare completely and have nicknamed the AHCA “Obamacare Lite” or “Obamacare 2.0.” All this criticism could mean that the bill won’t get the support it needs to pass.

Victoria Sheridan

Victoria is an editorial intern at Law Street. She is a senior journalism major and French minor at George Washington University. She’s also an editor at GW’s student newspaper, The Hatchet. In her free time, she is either traveling or planning her next trip abroad. Contact Victoria at VSheridan@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Why is Everyone Tweeting About Obamacare vs. the GOP Replacement? appeared first on Law Street.

Many of us miss President Barack Obama in the White House, so much so that when he was recently spotted out and about spectators erupted in roaring applause. At the end of February, the former president had dinner at Emilio’s Ballato in Soho with his daughter Malia, who has an internship in New York. They later took pictures with the staff of the restaurant.

Barack Obama & Malia Obama out & about in NYC. The father-daughter dinner date is really cute. pic.twitter.com/AVnaENi1W2

— nañi (@pettyblackgirI) February 24, 2017

The next day, Obama was seen getting coffee at a Starbucks in downtown New York City. The word spread fast and when he exited a building on Fifth Avenue people on the streets behaved like it was Beatles in the 1960s.

Obama just left a meeting off 5th Ave. Hundred outside cheering. pic.twitter.com/6oPC3yCEEX

— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) February 24, 2017

Some commented on his post-White House glow, which probably comes from his vacation in the Caribbean with Michelle and their friend Richard Branson, who taught Obama to kitesurf.

He’s rested & has a glow about him. The man is back. pic.twitter.com/EGyrjSn8EY

— deray mckesson (@deray) February 24, 2017

Later that evening, Obama went to Broadway to see Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Classy as he is, he didn’t make a big fuss about it, but snuck in with Malia and his former adviser Valerie Jarrett after the lights went out. Apparently someone used a flashlight to show the trio to their seats, which even annoyed some visitors. “Who is so rude to come in after the show starts with the flashlights and everything?” Theater visitor Laralyn Mowers recalls thinking. But when her friend told her who it was, Mowers said that her day, which up until then had been really bad, definitely changed for the better.

Okay, so it’s intermission. Obama and Malia came in and left when the lights were down. The crowd didn’t notice. Nice job, Secret Service.

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) February 25, 2017

The Obamas left right after the show ended–but not before giving the cast a standing ovation–and went backstage to snap some pictures with the actors Danny DeVito, Mark Ruffalo, Jessica Hecht, and Tony Shalhoub.

Barack Obama has a sweet father-daughter date night with Malia at Broadway’s #ThePrice. https://t.co/b49OsTatAr pic.twitter.com/iPumQ8OF5L

— EntertainmentTonight (@etnow) February 25, 2017

Obama exited the theater quietly, but his fans still found him and cheered him on, with an applause. As always, he took some time to give a little wave.

Former President Obama, daughter Malia leave theater after watching “The Price” on Broadway https://t.co/tzKPwwakn3 pic.twitter.com/rhZOVzLpKn

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) February 25, 2017

On Monday, Obama and Michelle popped into the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and as they left the building, a crowd of people once again applauded and cheered the former presidential couple. NBC reporter Benjy Sarlin happened to be there and speculated that breaking out in applause when spotting Obama now seems to be the new norm.

Crowd as President Obama leaves the National Gallery pic.twitter.com/lqPSSNrKg9

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) March 5, 2017

This was the first time the Obamas were seen publicly since Donald Trump made his claims that he believes Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower before the election. Trump has not offered any evidence for his controversial claims, and Obama’s spokesperson has denied that any such thing happened. Luckily it seems like the Obamas didn’t take the accusations too hard, and they got to enjoy an afternoon at the museum.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Keep Bursting into Applause When they See Obama on the Street appeared first on Law Street.

Yesterday, you may have seen tweets going around about “the future that liberals want.” It all started when an alt-right account tweeted out a photo of a drag performer and a woman in a niqab sitting next to each other on the New York subway:

This is the future that liberals want. pic.twitter.com/QwterpqQbH

— /pol/ News Network (@polNewsNetwork1) March 1, 2017

And well…that IS the future liberals want–diversity and acceptance for all. And, of course, solid public transportation. So, Twitter users quickly started trolling the account, with all the awesome possible liberal futures. Check out some of the best entries in the slideshow below:

this is the future that liberals want pic.twitter.com/6671NeUw3y

— Amanda M-W (@Manda_like_wine) March 2, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Some of the Best Tweets About the “Future That Liberals Want” appeared first on Law Street.

Today, NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre stayed true to the White House’s line that protesters speaking out against the administration are paid. In fact, he claimed that protesters are being paid $1,500 a week. And given that the future of journalism seems to be less-than-rosy right now, I have to ask: where do I sign up?

I mean, $1,500 a week is a lot of money. That’s about $78,000 a year. That’s about on par with what the average accountant, architect, epidemiologist, psychologist, or nuclear technician makes–all professions that I’m fairly certain take quite a bit more schooling than being a protester.

LaPierre, also said that the protesters are specifically and deliberately inciting violence, and compared them to terrorists. He claimed that, “the left’s message is absolutely clear. They want revenge, you’ve got to be punished. They say you’re what’s wrong with America and now you’ve got to be purged.” He went on to say: that the “extreme left” “literally hate everything America stands for” and “are willing to use violence against us.” But Mr. LaPierre, you can’t have it both ways. Are the protesters apathetic, and that’s why they need to be paid? Or do they hate America with such a fiery passion–in which case you would think that most of them would just protest for free?

Also, who is supposedly paying out this $1,500 a week to protesters? We’ll probably never have an exact estimate on how many people attended Women’s marches throughout the U.S. on January 21, but let’s use FiveThirtyEight’s safe and conservative estimate of 3.2 million. And while the peddlers of this “paid protester” myth haven’t been clear on what percentage of the protesters are supposedly paid, let’s say that just one-third–a million individuals–from the Women’s March got their weekly $1,500 takeaway. That right there is $1.5 billion dollars. That’s quite a lot of money apparently secretly floating around.

While that’s a very literal interpretation of LaPierre’s claims, the ridiculousness of a vast “paid protesters” conspiracy to the tune of over a billion dollars isn’t that remarkably far off from what some have claimed since Trump took office. That ridiculousness is always worth being called out–and Mr. LaPierre, I can assure you that no one is paying me $1,500 a week just to say that.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Wayne LaPierre Says Paid Protesters Make $1,500 a Week: Where Can I Sign Up? appeared first on Law Street.

The Washington Post unveiled a new slogan this week, straight out of the trailer for a summer action blockbuster or a Harry Potter paragraph: “Democracy Dies at Darkness.”

Here’s the Washington Post’s logic about its new slogan, per spokeswoman Kris Coratti:

This is actually something we’ve said internally for a long time in speaking about our mission. We thought it would be a good, concise value statement that conveys who we are to the many millions of readers who have come to us for the first time over the last year.

As the New York Times pointed out, this isn’t the first time that democracy and darkness have been mentioned hand-in-hand by higher ups at the paper. Jeff Bezos said last year:

I think a lot of us believe this, that democracy dies in darkness, that certain institutions have a very important role in making sure that there is light. And I think The Washington Post has a seat, an important seat, to do that because we happen to be located here in the capital city of the United States of America.

Regardless of the logic–and it’s important to note that that logic does seem sound, given President Donald Trump’s relentless attack on “fake news,” and the fact that trust of the media is at a notable low–the slogan is still striking many as a tad…dramatic. And of course, it has received some mocking on Twitter:

i am critical of the washington post but if batman could say your newspaper slogan with a straight face that feels like its ok

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 22, 2017

wow, the washington post’s new slogan is pretty dark pic.twitter.com/6yxzZ2EC5G

— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) February 22, 2017

The Washington Post’s new tagline is pretty good. pic.twitter.com/W922lcvzim

— neontaster (@neontaster) February 22, 2017

The Washington Post has a new slogan. It’s very… metal. pic.twitter.com/k2S95AsMSD

— Thomas Seal (@TW_Seal) February 22, 2017

pic.twitter.com/96TkFdVWHs

— Matt Nelson (@Maddoxnelson) February 22, 2017

But regardless of the mocking, the new slogan got readers’ attention, and reaffirmed the Washington Post’s very laudable commitment to standing up to the Trump Administration. Still…we have to ask: you guys ok?

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Should We Be Worried About the Washington Post’s New Slogan? appeared first on Law Street.

If you followed any of the coverage of President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday in Florida, you may have seen this odd incident:

This is the man Trump brought on stage pic.twitter.com/cHtvop8EYX

— Andrew Hibbard (@andrewhibbard) February 19, 2017

But you may have also seen a ton of confused journalists wondering “what in the world happened in Sweden on Friday night?” Per the Palm Beach Post, Trump said:

Here’s the bottom line. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this. Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels. You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris. We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country and there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing. So we’re going to keep our country safe.

Well, it turns out that nothing really happened in Sweden. But, thanks to Aftonbladet, a tabloid-like Swedish newspaper, we can read about what really went down on Friday night in Sweden. Publishing a slyly snarky response to President Trump’s remarks, Aftonbladet released a short breakdown of the worst events that took place on Friday night in Sweden–and none of them are any sort of terrorist attack worthy of being compared to the Bastille Day attacks in Nice or 2015 mass shooting in Paris.

Some of the stories are tragic: “8:23 p.m.: A man died in hospital, after an accident in the workplace earlier that day in the city of Borås.” Aftonbladet also captured the mundanity of that Friday night: “6:42 p.m.: The famous singer Owe Thörnqvist had some technical problems during rehearsal for the singing competition ‘Melodifestivalen.’ (However, the 87-year-old singer still managed to secure the victory the very next day.)”

You can check out the full Aftonbladet article here.

So what was Trump even thinking? We now know that Trump’s comments on Sweden were informed by a Fox News segment he watched.

My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2017

We also know that a White House spokeswoman told officials that Trump wasn’t referring to a specific incident, but just rising crime in Sweden in general. Reuters points out that this is not an entirely true statement, as the country’s crime rate has fallen since 2005.

We also know that facts don’t seem to matter anymore.

Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 19, 2017

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

The post A Swedish Newspaper Shows Trump What “Really” Happened in Sweden appeared first on Law Street.

The Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Columbus, Ohio has released a video that could come in handy for cabinet appointees, visiting heads of state, victorious athletes, or anyone else set for a photo op with the new president. The video provides step-by-step instructions on how to defend against Trump’s aggressive handshake technique.

First, a disclaimer: the black-belt Jiu-Jitsu instructor explicitly states that he is not suggesting his moves should be employed against the president and he does not intend to use the move should he have the opportunity to meet with the president–nor should anyone else. However, if President Trump’s handshaking style happens to become popular with his followers, this guide could help make your next Thanksgiving with that uncle a little bit more bearable.

In short, the defense goes like this:

Step 1: Once the president/your uncle grabs your hand, allow them to pull you in.

Step 2: Step in with your left foot and use your free left arm to wrap around the president’s…I mean, your uncle’s right elbow.

Step 3: Use the hand embraced in a shake with the perpetrator’s tiny hand to bend their (possibly tiny) wrist inwards.

Step 4: Then, use your free left hand to put your red-hatted uncle into a “gnarly” “gooseneck wrist lock.”

Step 5 (optional but recommended): Wash any peculiar orange, Cheeto-like residue from your hands lest you wish to fall ill with the same skin ailment that seems to have stricken Sean Spicer.

Remember, these five easy steps might just be the perfect addition to your next Turkey-day. And should you meet the president, consider Justin Trudeau’s a less inflammatory technique for resisting the Trump grip of death.

Callum Cleary

Callum is an editorial intern at Law Street. He is from Portland OR by way of the United Kingdom. He is a senior at American University double majoring in International Studies and Philosophy with a focus on social justice in Latin America. Contact Callum at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post How to Defend Against the Infamous Trump Handshake appeared first on Law Street.

Last night, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel refused to reinstate President Donald Trump’s seven-country travel/immigration/Muslim/DEFINITELY-NOT-A-BAN ban.

The decision was an unmitigated loss for Trump. And what does President Trump usually do when things don’t go his way?

He has his communications team release a measured and coherent statement reiterating the White House’s position on the issue.

Just kidding.

He tweets about it.

So, after the decision was announced, Trump vented his frustrations on the beautifully insufferable and addictive cesspool that we call Twitter.

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

And then….well…see for yourself:

“oh no, not court” —judges

— both are equally bad (@caseyjohnston) February 10, 2017

SEE YOU IN COURT WHERE WE ALREADY ARE BUT A DIFFERENT COURT SHUT UP NO YOU’RE STUPID!

— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) February 10, 2017

Saying “SEE YOU IN COURT” after losing a court case is like yelling “LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE” after you just lost a fight outside.

— Adam Conover (@adamconover) February 10, 2017

“I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT!” is really the worst thing to yell after you just lost in court

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) February 9, 2017

SEE YOU IN COURT! I HOPE THAT BALIFF WITH THE PUPPET OF HIMSELF IS THERE. I LOVE THAT PUPPET! CRACKS ME UP! pic.twitter.com/SdVJBwJAkG

— Jake Fogelnest (@jakefogelnest) February 10, 2017

And then he tweeted…..
“SEE YOU IN COURT”
After just LOSING IN COURT‼️ pic.twitter.com/RZrku9Pp1C

— Dory (@Dory) February 10, 2017

Nap, then therapy, where I will very likely be told to stay off twitter. SEE YOU IN COURT

— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) February 10, 2017

An all caps “I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT” is the whitest thing to ever happen in black history month.

— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) February 10, 2017

{loses in checkers} SEE YOU IN CHECKERS

— Charles Finch (@CharlesFinch) February 9, 2017

trump: “SEE YOU IN COURT!”
court: pic.twitter.com/tNNKsLqq9S

— Giuliana (@Princessofwifi) February 10, 2017

My teacher: F
Me: SEE YOU IN COURT!

— Lexi (@lexi4prez) February 10, 2017

“See you in court” sounds like dialogue from a bad tennis movie. “See you in court. There’ll be no love. Except for your score. Loser!”

— Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) February 10, 2017

me if Beyoncé doesn’t sweep the grammys https://t.co/5JiXwFeIys

— Matt Bellassai (@MattBellassai) February 10, 2017

TRUMP: SEE YOU IN COURT

JUSTICE: pic.twitter.com/85mQSKUK5Z

— jake (@jakebeckman) February 10, 2017

SEE YOU IN COURT, DONALD. pic.twitter.com/yqIhRjDClC

— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) February 9, 2017

“SEE YOU IN COURT” is what the rich white villain in a dance crew movie yells after he loses a rec room turf battle to a bunch of teens.

— Miles Kahn (@mileskahn) February 9, 2017

And now

*sips martini*
*rolls up sleeves*
*removes earrings*
*takes another sip*

LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT COMMA pic.twitter.com/BRz3g44WJM

— Benjamin Dreyer (@BCDreyer) February 10, 2017

Twitter is so beautiful sometimes. Watching this entire mess reminded me of something. Last night, I just couldn’t put my finger on it, but I suddenly had a revelation this morning.

I want to remind you all of a true classic in American cinema: “Air Bud.”

If you will recall, “Air Bud” is the story about a golden retriever, who is later renamed “Buddy,” who runs away from his abusive owner, a professional clown who is also an alcoholic (this movie has many layers). He then forms a relationship with a teenaged boy who just lost his father in a plane crash. Basically, Bud and the teenage boy form a bond and it’s really beautiful. Oh, also, Bud can play basketball. And he becomes famous. Again, many layers to this film. Anyway, Buddy’s old owner tries to get him back and, in a very tense scene, confronts his dog’s new owners. Check it out starting at 19:49 below:

Welp. There it is. “I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT.” Who knew “Air Bud” could be so relevant in 2017.

If you’re interested, you can watch the full movie on a random afternoon on the Freeform channel (formerly ABC Family), probably. Or in your old VHS collection. Either one is a sure fire bet.

There’s no telling what Trump means exactly by “SEE YOU IN COURT,” but today, during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said “We’ll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country, you’ll be seeing that sometime next week. In addition, we will continue to go through the court process and ultimately I have no doubt that we’ll win that particular case.”

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

The post Twitter Goes in on “See You In Court” appeared first on Law Street.

Twitter is riddled with parody accounts, but one in particular has been helping people laugh through their fears for the past week. The parody account “Future CNN” has been offering people a kind of respite from the craziness of the news–giving us a look into what the future may hold for CNN’s coverage.

The account tweets images of made-up future CNN chyrons that are as hilarious as they are jarringly accurate. The chyrons poke fun at Trump’s, shall we say, “impulsiveness,” CNN’s coverage/panels, and the general insanity we’ve seen in politics over the past couple of weeks.

The account first tweeted last Monday, and since then it has gained the attention of some prominent political reporters and actual CNN employees, including “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter.

Here’s a sample of the account’s tweets:

pic.twitter.com/XirE9EIpvM

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) January 30, 2017

pic.twitter.com/SoemTPaRd8

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) January 31, 2017

pic.twitter.com/faTZIns0Vc

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) February 1, 2017

pic.twitter.com/BJ9JjrkRyx

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) February 3, 2017

pic.twitter.com/vwAAWwmcWT

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) February 3, 2017

pic.twitter.com/Nf3dMZEONV

— FutureCNN (@FutureCNN) February 7, 2017

It might be helpful to remind people that this is a parody account. Also, it is helpful to remind people that Twitter is free. And horrible. And also beautiful, but, you know, in a kind of horrible way.

You can follow “Future CNN” at @FutureCNN

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

The post “Future CNN” is Helping People Laugh Through Their Fears on Twitter appeared first on Law Street.

From sharing an Onion article about himself, to tweeting out what some have speculated are his own passwords, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer may not be the most technologically-savvy person. So it comes as no surprise that the internet has reportedly discovered his public Venmo account.

The podcast “Who? Weekly” first tweeted about the existence of Spicer’s rumored account after it was discovered by a fan of the podcast. Venmo is a mobile app that allows people to send and request money from each other, so naturally users took advantage of the opportunity to ask Spicer to cover their expenses.

It's recently come to our attention that @seanspicer is on Venmo, and that he is being trolled pic.twitter.com/zQO23BVYWG

— Who? Weekly (@whoweekly) February 7, 2017

After Spicer claimed that demonstrators who protested President Donald Trump’s immigration ban were paid, one person asked him to put his money where his mouth is.

@whoweekly @seanspicer yaaas pic.twitter.com/8eZAWFQFyF

— Sara B. (@saraannb) February 7, 2017

Others threw in a reference to Kellyanne Conway’s made-up Bowling Green Massacre story.

I Venmo requested money from Sean Spicer for the imaginary bowling league we're in together pic.twitter.com/rptdVj3Svc

— Sarah Wainschel (@Swainsch) February 7, 2017

Sent @PressSec a venmo request to help those in need: #BowlingGreenMassacre pic.twitter.com/VZPyWeeYgQ

— Brittany Switzer (@britswitz) February 7, 2017

Concert tickets can be expensive, so why not ask Sean Spicer for help?

.@seanspicer has a public Venmo so I've asked him to pay for my @ladygaga tickets pic.twitter.com/XD4xXWMZMg

— Ira Madison III (@ira) February 7, 2017

A couple of people were stressed  out about the last couple of weeks, and wanted some reimbursement.

https://twitter.com/fransquishco/status/829060357943619586

Sean Spicer is on Venmo #TheMoreYouKnow pic.twitter.com/yyZrrBDJLb

— Jamie (@jlew8) February 7, 2017

Unsurprisingly, people got political.

Sean Spicer has a public Venmo. pic.twitter.com/zYSx6J6WDW

— Carrie Courogen (@carriecourogen) February 7, 2017

And of course, they poked fun at his feud with Dippin Dots and his unusual habit of eating at least two and a half packs of chewing gum each day.

Turns out Sean Spicer's Venmo is public, feel free to request anything @seanspicer pic.twitter.com/vbIgV3dLfW

— Kyle Campbell (@Kyle_C_Campbell) February 7, 2017

He's on venmo @seanspicer pic.twitter.com/3kpgjUgff8

— kaki king (@KakiKing) February 7, 2017

But those who got a response learned that Spicer wasn’t feeling too generous.

That's disappointing. pic.twitter.com/zMbnViJfuh

— Janie Stolar (@JanieFierce) February 7, 2017

Whether or not these Venmo users get paid, the situation may make great material for Melissa McCarthy’s next “Saturday Night Live” appearance.

Victoria Sheridan

Victoria is an editorial intern at Law Street. She is a senior journalism major and French minor at George Washington University. She’s also an editor at GW’s student newspaper, The Hatchet. In her free time, she is either traveling or planning her next trip abroad. Contact Victoria at VSheridan@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Sean Spicer’s Public Venmo Receives Lots of Requests appeared first on Law Street.

With tensions rising in America, shade levels have been rising in direct proportion. A tiny bit of this shade and subtly savagery is coming from former official Obama White House photographer Pete Souza’s Instagram account.

Souza, who was also the official White House photographer for the Reagan White House, has been taking to his new Instagram account (the account he used during the Obama administration is now archived) to post photos from his time with the Obama White House, while also throwing some shade at President Donald Trump.

Many people and outlets have pointed out Souza’s shade, from people on Twitter to CNN and Teen Vogue.

Omg you need to follow @PeteSouza on Instagram. The subtle trump shade…these captions are SAVAGE. #ObamaLegacy #whitehouse44 pic.twitter.com/xxLOEQv8qH

— Vallari Ajgaonkar (@VallAjgaonkar) February 2, 2017

Ain’t no shade like Pete Souza shade cus Pete Souza shade has amazing composition and lighting. https://t.co/QuBl7er9AT

— The Happy Feminist (@HappyFeminist) February 2, 2017

I am living for @PeteSouza‘s instagram trolling

— Megan Hess (@mhess4) February 3, 2017

Let’s take a little dive into this man’s glorious new Instagram feed, and rank his pointed posts by shade and savagery.

#5: Immigration Ban Posts

Many people criticized President Trump’s immigration ban last weekend that incited protests in different airports across the country. This criticism has been direct and heated. But Souza is far too shady to directly address the situation. Instead, Souza just posted two pictures relating to the refugee situation to respond. The first: a picture of Obama with a young refugee. The second: a picture of a six-year-old boy, Alex, who was so concerned about the well-being of a Syrian refugee that he wanted him to be his brother.

Why do these posts take last place on the list? Well, that’s because, while they’re perfectly shady, they’re a little too heart-tugging and emotional to be petty enough to be characterized as “savage.” Hundreds of stories have been written about the immigration ban and its effects on not only refugees but on American citizens, and these posts from Souza point to the perceived human costs associated with Trump’s executive order. These posts are a perfect introduction to the shade that Souza is throwing on Instagram, but they aren’t totally indicative of how subtly biting Souza’s posts can get.

Talking with a young refugee at a Dignity for Children Foundation classroom in 2015.

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 29, 2017 at 5:16am PST

Remember Alex, the six-year-old boy who wrote President Obama a letter about the Syrian boy photographed in the ambulance. Alex visited the Oval Office with his family the day after the election. "Dear President Obama, Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to [my home]? Park in the driveway or on the street and we will be waiting for you guys with flags, flowers, and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother. Catherine, my little sister, will be collecting butterflies and fireflies for him. In my school, I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will introduce him to Omar. We can all play together. We can invite him to birthday parties and he will teach us another language. We can teach him English too, just like my friend Aoto from Japan. Please tell him that his brother will be Alex who is a very kind boy, just like him. Since he won't bring toys and doesn't have toys Catherine will share her big blue stripy white bunny. And I will share my bike and I will teach him how to ride it. I will teach him additions and subtractions in math. And he [can] smell Catherine's lip gloss penguin which is green. She doesn't let anyone touch it. Thank you very much! I can't wait for you to come! Alex 6 years old "

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 30, 2017 at 2:37pm PST

#4: Australia 

Now we’re getting into slightly more savage territory.

This Souza post shows Obama sharing a hearty and chummy laugh with the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia at the ASEAN gala dinner last September.

Talking with then Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, left, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia last September at the ASEAN gala dinner.

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Feb 2, 2017 at 2:21pm PST

Did Souza post this just because he thought the lighting was particularly good in this shot? Absolutely not. This was posted in the midst of the new Trump-Australia feud and after The Washington Post reported that the phone call between Trump and Turnbull was somewhat contentious.

Per The Washington Post:

. . . President Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refu­gee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win, according to senior U.S. officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Trump abruptly ended it.

At one point, Trump informed Turnbull that he had spoken with four other world leaders that day — including Russian President Vladi­mir Putin — and that “this was the worst call by far.”

The beauty of this post lies in how subliminal it is. This is a technique that we will see Souza employ for numbers 3 and 2 of our ranking.

#3/#2 (Tie): Mexico and Merrick Garland

We have a tie. We have this tie because these two posts are uniquely shady in their own ways, thus making it impossible to choose which one is superior to the other.

Let’s begin with the Merrick Garland post.

Merrick Garland. Just saying.

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 31, 2017 at 5:28pm PST

For context, Merrick Garland is, of course, the Obama Supreme Court nominee who never received a Senate confirmation hearing. Many people have cried foul over this because Garland was respected by politicians on both sides of the aisle. And last week Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court.

What makes this post so great is the fact that Souza posted this picture of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden with Garland a couple of hours before Trump announced his pick for SCOTUS nominee. The other thing that makes this post great is the simplicity of the caption, especially the second part. “Just saying.”

Just saying. 

This caption is also 100 times better if you read Just saying the same way André 3000 says “Just playin'” after he describes his very specific (read: petty) hope that a pretty but stuck up young woman (Caroline) will speed in her car on the way to the club trying to hurry up to “get some” baller or singer (or somebody like that) and while driving try to put on her makeup in the mirror but because of her inability to multitask she will crash, crash, crash into a ditch.

We then move on to the picture that Souza posted of Obama drinking tequila with Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto.

This one is for Grover. President Obama sampling some tequila with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico in 2013. @heygrover

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 31, 2017 at 6:18pm PST

This one is pretty self-explanatory. It’s no secret that Trump has a dicey relationship with Nieto (see: border wall). Things seemed to have reached a kind of boiling point the other day when The Washington Post reported that Trump had a heated phone call with Nieto, who canceled a planned meeting with Trump. Then, The Associated Press reported that Trump told Nieto that “he was ready to send U.S. troops to stop “bad hombres down there” unless the Mexican military does more to control them.”

The whole situation with the relationship between Trump and Nieto would make this post go pretty high on the list, but what truly makes it so perfectly shady is what is maybe an unintended feature of the picture. If you will notice, Obama bears a striking resemblance to an insanely popular meme/gif. Click this link to see if you can make the rainbow connection.

#1: Then It Was on Day One…

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end.

The absolute shadiest/pettiest/subtly savage post Souza has made came on the very first day of Trump’s presidency when Souza took a moment to comment on some of the aesthetic changes to the Oval Office.

I like these drapes better than the new ones. Don't you think?

A photo posted by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jan 21, 2017 at 7:36pm PST

The drapes that hang behind the Resolute desk are now gold, which isn’t much of a surprise because, if you didn’t know, our president is Donald Trump.

Captured this last night as @POTUS @realDonaldTrump sits at his desk in the Oval Office for the first time in the @WhiteHouse. #POTUS45 pic.twitter.com/BObUKXwIir

— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) January 21, 2017

Why does this post take the number one spot? Because the whole thing is about drapes. That’s it–drapes. How petty do you have to be to go after a man’s choice of drapes? And imagine how shady you have to be to go after the drapes of the man who replaced your former boss.

Also, this was posted on Day 1 of Trump’s presidency. Day. 1.  This is a day after anarchists took to the streets to set a limo ablaze and bust the window of a Starbucks and the same day millions of women around the globe marched in protest of the new president and his problematic views and behavior, and this man was ruthless enough to take to his Instagram account to go in on the new president’s new drapes. Souza is audacious. This is like if “I don’t know her” were an Instagram post. This is why this post is and will always be the most petty/shady/savage post Souza will ever make on Instagram.

There are no signs that Souza will stop posting his shadiness on Instagram any time soon. Not only does he post pictures with captions that comment on our current political situation, but he also posts a ton of pictures that are objectively beautiful that were taken throughout his career as a photographer.

It’s just too bad that Souza is no longer around the Obamas to take a better-framed and less-grainy photo of this iconic moment in the life of the former president of these United States:

Obama’s on vacation with the hat backwards. He’s never coming back. pic.twitter.com/RUakcwwgtT

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 1, 2017

You can follow Pete Souza on Instagram @petesouza.

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

The post A Profile in Shade: A Ranking of Pete Souza’s Instagram Posts appeared first on Law Street.

Throughout the election, there was one particular superficial criticism of President Donald Trump that seemed to stick–that his hands were rather small. Trump–who’s known for dealing poorly with criticism–may have taken that particular jab to heart. Because now some internet sleuths are claiming that the White House is photoshopping official photos to make Trump’s hands look bigger than they actually are.

Here’s the evidence, in gif form:

The discrepancy in hand size appears to have first been noticed by Dana Schwartz, who writes for the Observer. She tweeted:

Trump 100% photoshopped his hand bigger for this picture hanging in the white house, which is the most embarassing thing I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/MGTbFfdLqp

— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) January 27, 2017

Schwartz, as well as some of her followers, tried to get to the bottom of what I’ve wisely decided to dub PhotoshoppedHandGate.

@DanaSchwartzzz Here, this is the absolute most precise I could get it. The color & contrast changes, but nothing moves. pic.twitter.com/zHFItu8Knx

— Christopher Keelty (@keeltyc) January 27, 2017

@DanaSchwartzzz tried to scale the photos based on their shoes (and was generous). Trump’s hand is still enormous compared to the original. pic.twitter.com/9XraoWKO8l

— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) January 27, 2017

Based on my (unscientific) eye Trump’s hand certainly looks bigger in the White House release. But what exactly happened? Some have hypothesized that PhotoshoppedHandGate may be similar to the “dress” phenomenon–lighting and angles are playing a trick on our eyes. And Philip Bump, from the Washington Post pretty handily (see what I did there?) debunked it on Twitter.

OK. So, this “Trump’s hand is Photoshopped” thing is nonsense.

— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 27, 2017

First, the ABC segment clearly uses a version of the photo from Getty, not a shot of the photo on the wall. https://t.co/h0JMpVsU1A

— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 27, 2017

Second, if you compare ABC shot (in preceding tweet) with image from Getty, below, they’re the same, except color. https://t.co/cbeUwuoNp8

— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 27, 2017

And here you go: A GIF that I just made. Not aligned perfectly (my fault), but the hand is the same. pic.twitter.com/N7Zii1qRMY

— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 27, 2017

So as fun as it could have been to pretend that there’s an official White House staffer dedicated to photoshopping Trump’s hands in photos…that’s almost certainly not the case. But, for a few minutes during a long week, at least we were all distracted by the possibility.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Is the White House Editing Pictures of Trump’s Hands?: Probably Not appeared first on Law Street.

Twitter is convinced that our new First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, is being held hostage. While the theory sounds quite far-fetched, it’s not without some evidence, prompting the viral hashtag #FreeMelania.

In a clip from the inauguration, Melania is seen smiling at her husband, President Donald Trump, but the second he turns back around her smile is gone.

Here’s a closer look:

#FreeMelania Blink twice if you want us to save you. pic.twitter.com/1H5as3tbZq

— ISTANBUL THEMES (@ISTANBUL_THEMES) January 24, 2017

Twitter users were quick to speculate on whether or not the first lady was acting on her own free will, and here’s their evidence:

Exhibit A:

Her husband didn’t escort her to meet the Obamas.

Donald Trump was so excited to see the Obamas that he forgot his bride at the car. #SpicerFacts #obamasgrace #4yearsof #freeMelania pic.twitter.com/TM4LnqzE2B

— Wonky Badgal (@mob_ms1) January 22, 2017

Exhibit B:

There’s something suspicious about that Tiffany box.

Everyone was wondering what was in the Tiffany box that Melania handed Michelle Obama… We were hoping it was this pic.twitter.com/dcoG4Ub2US

— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) January 22, 2017

Exhibit C:

The Trumps’ physical affection is lacking.

I’m so glad this GIF exists. pic.twitter.com/a4BNmzfa5C

— summer. (@SummerNazif) January 21, 2017

Exhibit D: 

She kinda looks miserable.

I’m not the only one bored by this parade. #FreeMelania pic.twitter.com/l2DCgcJWgN

— Michelle Kelly (@shellyellykelly) January 20, 2017

While the Trumps’ lifestyle differs greatly from the average American couple, let’s be real: Melania probably isn’t being held hostage by her husband. In fact, the first lady has condemned her online critics in the past and has pledged to combat cyberbullying during her husband’s term in office.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #FreeMelania: Why Does the Internet Think Melania is a Hostage? appeared first on Law Street.

Alternative facts: an inherent oxymoron and, three weeks into 2017, likely a phrase that has already been cemented as an unforgettable moment in America’s new political era. Sunday morning, on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd,” Kellyanne Conway was prodded about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false claim that President Donald Trump’s inauguration was “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.” Conway replied: “you’re saying it’s a falsehood…our press secretary gave alternative facts to that.”

And with that, days into Trump’s presidency, Twitter had a new phrase to have some fun with. As it so often does, Twitter firmly chiseled Conway’s clever rewording of “lies” into the history books. First, dictionary company Merriam-Webster enlightened us all by clarifying a key, and often misunderstood, definition:

A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality. https://t.co/gCKRZZm23c

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 22, 2017

Comedian Samantha Bee is convinced Trump is not in fact America’s new president, regardless of who took the podium on Friday:

Hillary is president right now. I choose to believe this. #alternativefacts

— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) January 22, 2017

Washington Post journalist Dave Weigel seems fired up to watch the Super Bowl in a few weeks, which will feature the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons:

Pretty excited for the Eagles to face the Ravens in the Super Bowl! #alternativefacts

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) January 23, 2017

Hopefully @TonkaOBrien alternative facts children’s book won’t get published anytime soon:

It all starts somewhere … #potus #spicerlies #trumplies pic.twitter.com/AmWymAVaP0

— Tim O’Brien (@TonkaOBrien) January 22, 2017

User @davidschneider used an image of Sean Spicer at the podium to give us all a little Monday motivation:

“It is not Monday. It is still the weekend. Period.”#mondaymotivation #alternativefacts pic.twitter.com/XX3vbAbvk6

— David Schneider (@davidschneider) January 23, 2017

Finally, actor George Takei, a consistent contributor to Twitter’s finest trends, laid out a few #alternativefacts of his own:

Kellyanne Conway now refers to their lies as “alternative facts.” We get it. War is peace, freedom is slavery, Trump is presidential.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) January 22, 2017

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Does Not Believe in #AlternativeFacts appeared first on Law Street.

Donald Trump is now officially the 45^th president of the United States. But something else caught our attention at the inauguration ceremony–Kellyanne Conway’s outfit. She celebrated Trump’s swearing in wearing a very patriotic coat/dress in red, white, and blue. Someone pointed out that the outfit is a $3,600 Gucci creation, and if you look closely, the buttons are actually catheads. She paired the coat with a red hat.

Twitter exploded with speculation about her inspiration:

Why is Kellyanne Conway wearing a Nutcracker costume

— David A. Graham (@GrahamDavidA) January 20, 2017

Who wore it better: #KellyanneConway or the #Nutcracker???? https://t.co/PrA7dVBTq7 pic.twitter.com/VEsmukfHfl

— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 20, 2017

“The Daily Show” was pretty on point.

Kellyanne Conway dressed as the era Trump wants to take America back to. #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/Vrmc1Bq3Nz

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 20, 2017

Though the colors match the American flag, the high-end designer clothing site Net-A-Porter wrote that the coat was inspired by the British flag that includes the same colors. And considering the British connection, she could also have been inspired by this furry guy—especially with the hat.

Who wore it better: Kellyanne Conway or Paddington Bear? pic.twitter.com/CP2M6fzLyD

— Michael Hopper (@mhopp7) January 20, 2017

But the French flag also has the same colors, so maybe it was a nod to Napoleon.

Kellyanne Conway going for the “Napoleon” look I see #Inauguration #DisruptJ20 pic.twitter.com/SbRSA7vRE8

— Yes, You’re Racist (@YesYoureRacist) January 20, 2017

Or maybe she was influenced by the sports world?

Why does Kellyanne Conway look like the old New England Patriots logo? pic.twitter.com/swgdHH53v6

— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) January 20, 2017

Today also happens to be Kellyanne’s 50^th birthday, so maybe she just wanted to be really dressed up in her favorite colors. The inauguration festivities will go on all day long and end with the inaugural balls tonight.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Kellyanne Conway’s Inauguration Getup Raised Some Eyebrows appeared first on Law Street.

On Sunday night at the Golden Globe Awards, Meryl Streep went after President-elect Donald Trump. In an eloquent speech in which she didn’t even mention his name, Streep made her dismay at his meteoric political rise clear, saying:

There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good. There was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life.

And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.

Streep’s speech–love it or hate–caught Trump’s attention. And as is his nature, he tweeted about it.

Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017

Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never “mocked” a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him…….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017

“groveling” when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017

But Streep is as beloved as Trump is orange, and so a lot of supporters on Twitter decided to point out some other things that Trump thinks are “overrated.” Here are some of the best tweets from the hashtag #ThingsTrumpThinksAreOverrated.

#ThingsTrumpThinksAreOverrated:
First Amendment
Morality
The Pope
Patriotism
Beyonce
Facts
Hamilton
Paying taxes
POWs
Obama
Integrity

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 9, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What are Some #ThingsTrumpThinksAreOverrated? appeared first on Law Street.

On Tuesday, the swearing-in ceremony for the new Senate took place and Vice President Joe Biden had to call the group to order twice. After the official swearing-in was over with, Senators brought their family members up to meet the VP and pose for photos. It was the last ceremony for Biden as VP, so there were a lot of photos taken, and Biden was at his most Biden-like.

Happening now: @VP Biden swears-in new Senators for the last time (a must-see Congressional tradition):: pic.twitter.com/JkRXt4BRiG

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 3, 2017

Biden was as funny as always and told the mother of Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, “When I die, I want to be reborn in Charleston.” Another senator’s mother took the opportunity to give Biden a bear hug.

Everyone is @ChuckGrassley‘s mom today. We’ll miss you Joe. pic.twitter.com/z7xS7kXVoE

— ClotureClub.com (@ClotureClub) January 3, 2017

For some members, the photo session took longer than for others. Democratic Senator Kamala Harris from California brought 15 family members who had traveled all the way from India, as well as a best friend from childhood and her mother’s BFF. “Aren’t you glad there’s not 435 senators?” Biden joked with the journalists and photographers.

“At least I wasn’t in high heels—although things are changing, man,” Biden says of the 5,500 pics he took at VPOTUS holiday parties.

— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) January 3, 2017

He blew kisses to Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth’s two-year-old daughter and tried to charm another baby, who was not as impressed.

Also this baby totally snubbed Biden pic.twitter.com/4lzdw2AIaB

— Sarah Parnass (@WordsOfSarah) January 3, 2017

After taking some photos with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Biden asked to have a photo with just the kids.

@VP Joe Biden kicks @marcorubio out of a photo op so he can take a picture with the Florida senator’s kids pic.twitter.com/AiKVSw7FSU

— POLITICO (@politico) January 3, 2017

Joe Biden will leave office later in January and told reporters that he won’t miss all the hullabaloo around official events like this. He has said that he knows what he will do next and will announce his plans soon. Many of us will miss him, and many hoped he would run for president in 2016. But maybe he’ll star in his own show instead:

Guys we need a kickstarter for a Joe Biden reality show that is just him doing this https://t.co/SS5jNmONx0

— rcohen (@rcohen) January 3, 2017

But Uncle Joe will probably make whatever decision is the best for him and his family and hopefully do a lot of good in a new role. “I’m going to try to take the VP office out of the office and establish a domestic and foreign policy piece where I can still do a lot of the stuff I care a lot about,” he said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Joe Biden Goes “Full Biden” at the Senate Swearing-In Ceremony appeared first on Law Street.

Kellogg’s–known for Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Froot Loops–has decided to no longer advertise on Breitbart. Kellogg’s said that Breitbart doesn’t “align with our values as a company.” And Breitbart accused Kellogg’s of being a “leftist company” that doesn’t like the values of the Americans who voted for Trump.

At least we can get some comic relief out of the feud. Check out some of the best #BreitbartCereals tweets:

Children of the Corn Flakes#BreitbartCereals pic.twitter.com/i1RYbOOvBB

— Christian Greco (@Jolly_Esquire) December 1, 2016

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #BreitbartCereals Trends After the Media Outlet Feuds with Kellogg’s appeared first on Law Street.

After the election results became clear, many were shocked by the outcome, and for some, that shock continues today. But ever since a hiking mom and her young daughter ran into Hillary Clinton in the woods of Chappaqua, New York just after the election, Hillary-fans have flocked to the upstate New York town, hoping to catch a glimpse of or maybe even a selfie with her. And some have been really lucky!

When you go pick up your pie and the entire Clinton family is shopping 2#shopsmallbusiness #looksgreat#happythanksgiving @HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/L9zQWLJlB2

— Linda (@lindapmgbosco) November 23, 2016

Others were determined to make a day of it no matter how long it would take.

I’m in Chappaqua!! I’ll be crouched in the goddamn woods all day, waiting for Hillary Clinton to appear & take a viral photo with me

— Zach Schonfeld (@zzzzaaaacccchhh) November 24, 2016

The chance meetings were soon called Clinton sightings, drawing parallels to some kind of game or the search for a rare animal. There’s even a Twitter account dedicated to the phenomenon that appeared recently with the handle @HRCintheWild.

Another Clinton sighting. This time at the market in Chappaqua. pic.twitter.com/xvAtGWGgCR

— Yashar (@yashar) November 24, 2016

The woman in the sun glasses received more votes for president than any white male that has ever run for the office in our history. pic.twitter.com/lPpWWvb2LO

— HRC In The Wild (@HRCintheWild) November 29, 2016

Some saw the recent round of selfies as a reminder that she should really be planning her presidency right now.

WHEN HILLARY CLINTON IS HIKING AND GROCERY SHOPPING WHEN SHE SHOULD BE PICKING A PRESIDENTIAL CABINET

— Ryan Nicole (@kangasroo) November 28, 2016

Like his wife, Bill Clinton was also happy to take some photos with fans.

Bill Clinton poses for pictures with fans in Chappaqua https://t.co/IfD3wdJ3tK pic.twitter.com/e2nwfsJEjS

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) November 15, 2016

On Thanksgiving, Hillary posted her own picture showing signs that fans had made to support her. A very heartwarming Thanksgiving message indeed.

I was greeted by this heartwarming display on the corner of my street today. Thank you to all of you who did this. Happy Thanksgiving. -H pic.twitter.com/b69mW3Oqbf

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 24, 2016

Last week, Jill Stein petitioned Wisconsin to recount the ballots cast in the state under the suspicion of election tampering, though no significant evidence of tampering has been uncovered. The Clinton campaign said it joined the recount effort but noted that there was little hope that a recount will change anything. Stein promised to also file for recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, which were pivotal states that Donald Trump won by relatively narrow margins. While the recounts will almost certainly not matter, Hillary fans will likely keep their fingers crossed and keep hiking.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hiking for Hillary? People Try Looking for Her in the Woods appeared first on Law Street.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence decided to take in a musical in New York. And what better show for our future Vice President to see than the political and history-themed hit “Hamilton”? But the cast got wind that Pence was sitting in the audience and presented him with a message after the show had finished:

Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs

— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016

The moment has caused quite a bit of controversy, with President-elect Donald Trump now demanding that the cast apologize. But, Twitter caught on to the news, and decided to come up with some new musical titles for Pence, with #NameAPenceMusical. Check out the best ones:

Avenue LGBTQ Just Kidding They’ve all been Converted #NameAPenceMuscial

— Emma Fyffe (@EmmaFyffe) November 20, 2016

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #NameAPenceMusical Trends After Mike Pence-Hamilton Cast Feud appeared first on Law Street.

After last week’s poll-defying election results, half of Americans were left stunned and feeling a bit like they’d just been cast in a Doomsday movie. Luckily meme connoisseur Josh Billinson, was there to deliver some much needed comedic relief.

Billinson, who goes by the handle @jbillinson on Twitter, created a series of viral memes with a hilarious take on Vice President Joe Biden’s response to a Trump presidency. In them Biden comes up with some pretty devious plans to prank President-elect Donald Trump before he moves into the White House, while President Obama does his best to stop him.  Pretty soon other users began creating their own takes on the trend, resulting in some of the best internet memes, ever!

So if you need a political pick-me-up or are feeling nostalgic over the end of America’s favorite bromance, then check out a collection of the best Biden/Obama memes below:

Obama: “They just called it for Trump, he won”
Biden: “Well I’m not going to call him President, ever! Not even if there’s a fire!” pic.twitter.com/eeRIMuHyEO

— Josh (@jbillinson) November 10, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Memes of Biden Trolling Trump Are Helping Us Laugh Away Our Tears appeared first on Law Street.

On Wednesday morning, writers’ rooms were probably frantically trying to re-write many of their planned monologues and sketches in line with election night’s unexpected results. Many of them probably struggled with what tone to approach the news with, as the man who had been their main source of comedic material for the past 18 months is not a joke anymore–he’s now our president-elect. While these hosts were more somber than usual, they still brought the laughs, and demonstrated that not all hope was lost.

If the election results have you stressed, hopefully these late night hosts can offer you the comedic comfort food your soul needs.

“Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver

John Oliver’s last show of the year issued some pretty serious messages and dire warnings in between its laughs. John Oliver urged viewers to “actively stand up for one another” by supporting organizations such as The Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and a myriad of others. He also advised that we constantly remind ourselves that “this is not normal” with regard to a Trump presidency. Oh, and he also “blew up” 2016 at the end, because this year has been all-around awful.

“The Daily Show” with Trevor Noah

This election cycle was seriously missing the voice of Jon Stewart, but Trevor Noah delivered on Wednesday with material that could make a viewer want to laugh and cry at the same time. Particularly moving was a bit by Hasan Minhaj, in which he almost broke down in tears while telling the story of his mother, who is currently abroad and can’t return to the U.S. until February, but wasn’t entirely sure whether she’d be let back in under Trump’s confusing and ever-changing “Muslim ban.” He needs her…and she also owes him $300.

Another moving moment from this week’s show was when correspondent Michelle Wolf also simultaneously laughed and cried as she discussed the absurdity of Trump’s win and its depressing implications for American women.

In the 2016 election, 42% of women voted for Donald Trump. @MichelleIsAWolf responds: https://t.co/lU43mqpyPz pic.twitter.com/BJZCxetT5s

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 10, 2016

“Late Night” with Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers just might be the man to blame for a Trump presidency: in 2011, he delivered scathing jabs at Trump for his “birther” comments about President Obama. He also laughed off Trump’s interest in a campaign for the presidency at the time, while cameras showed Trump was in the audience silently seething and accepting the challenge.

Despite that, Meyers received praise for his election coverage, with his “Closer Look” segments. His post election remarks were somber, hopeful, and humorous at the same time, and had Meyers himself on the verge of tears.

“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”

The central message of Bee’s show? We need to get to work. Bee was definitely angry with the results, blaming the large white voter base that voted for Trump. Bee also shushed white people who didn’t vote for him, and said “if Muslims have to take responsibility for every member of their community, so do we.”

But Bee wasn’t just angry, she was also hopeful for the “nasty women” of the future that need to step up so that we can have more and more women representing us in office.

“The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert

Another character who was sorely missed this election cycle was Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report” persona. But even though we didn’t get to hear from his alter ego, the man himself was there to support us through the tough Election Night and into the next day.

Stephen Colbert’s live election night coverage on Showtime ended before Trump’s victory was announced, but at that point it was already clear that a Clinton win was unlikely, so the night ended on a somber and uncertain note. But the next morning, after it was official, Colbert captured the nausea-ridden hangover that overcame much of the country the day after the election. Colbert was blunt about his feelings (“This suuuucks”), but if you’re feeling down, I guarantee that watching Colbert put on cat ears and pretend to be a “sexy kitty” will definitely improve your day.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

The post Here’s How Late Night Hosts Reacted to the Election Results appeared first on Law Street.

If you haven’t gotten your Halloween costume together yet and you’re not interested in blending in with a sea of people dressed as “Suicide Squad’s” Harley Quinn or Pennywise-inspired killer clowns, don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’ve gotten enough inspiration from this presidential election circus cycle to get your DIY creative juices flowing. Here are the top ten Halloween costumes for the presidential election-obsessed!

1. Nasty Woman

Katy Perry, in ‘nasty woman’ tee, drives Vegas students to the polls https://t.co/X4w8PHpjVR pic.twitter.com/Fb12FFToCy

— People Magazine (@people) October 24, 2016

When Donald Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton during the third and final debate to call her “such a nasty woman,” he probably had no idea that pissed off women everywhere would  reclaim the phrase as a Hillary rallying cry. You can join hordes of fellow “nasties” this Halloween with the simple tee donned by singer Katy Perry, seen above. Top it off with this “Make America Nasty Again” red cap, turn on Janet Jackson’s 1986 hit “Nasty,” and you’ll be ready to hiss at any misogynists you see on All Hallow’s Eve.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Top 10 Halloween Costumes for People Obsessed with the Presidential Election appeared first on Law Street.

Brock Turner was released last week from a California jail after serving just three months of a six-month sentence. He was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on Stanford University’s campus last year. His release was immediately met with outrage from people around the country who believed that both his sentence and his time served should have been longer.

Twitter users vented their frustration by mocking the sex offender’s plight with the tongue-in-cheek hashtag #ThingsLongerThanBrockTurnersRapeSentence. While Turner was never convicted of rape–prosecutors dropped the two rape charges after a preliminary hearing–the hashtag uses the term to reinforce the popular opinion that Turner’s assault was tantamount to rape. Here are some of the top tweets from the trending hashtag.

10 Things Longer Than Brock Turner’s Rape Sentence

1. Rogue Hairs

#ThingsLongerThanBrockTurnersRapeSentence — the piece of hair on my ankle i always miss when I shave.

— Kirsten King (@KirstenKing_) September 9, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Here are 10 Things “Longer Than Brock Turner’s Rape Sentence” Via Twitter appeared first on Law Street.

What was supposed to be a night of roasting Rob Lowe turned into a brutal attack on Ann Coulter, the infamous conservative pundit known for her inflammatory comments.

On Monday night, Comedy Central aired its long-awaited roast centered on Lowe, famous for his sex tape, DirecTV commercials, failed pilots, and occasional notable acting along the way. While many of the jokes jabbed at Lowe’s involvement with a 16-year-old and his acting career, the attention shifted and the rest of the roasters took their swings at Coulter.

Coulter showed up to do a promotional spiel on her new book, ‘In Trump We Trust.’ When it finally came time for her to talk about it, she was met with boos from the audience.

Coulter sat seemingly lifeless as each insult came, like a frog in a pot of boiling water unaware that it’s being slowly burned alive.

Here are 10 of the best insults sent her way:

1. Rob Lowe

“Why is Ann Coulter here tonight? Because the right-to-lifers wanted everyone to see what an abortion looks like up close.”

2. Pete Davidson

“Ann Coulter, if you’re here, who is scaring the crows away from our crops?”

It’s not going to be a good night for Ann Coulter #LoweRoast pic.twitter.com/LRuTG4w6Gi

— Nate (@BarstoolNate) September 6, 2016

3. Nikki Glaser

“Ann Coulter has written 11 books — 12 if you count ‘Mein Kampf'”

4. Peyton Manning

“I just realized I’m not the only athlete up here. As you all know, earlier this year Ann Coulter won the Kentucky Derby.”

5. Jewel

“As a feminist, I can’t support everything that’s being said up here tonight. But as someone who hates Ann Coulter, I’m delighted.”

6. Nikki Glaser

“The only person you will ever make happy is the Mexican who digs your grave.”

7. David Spade

“Ann seems stiff and conservative, but she gets wild in the sheets — just ask the Klan.”

8. Jewel

“Jeff Ross is going to party like its 1999, Ann Coulter is going to vote like its 1899.”

9. Jimmy Carr

“Ann Coulter is one of the most repugnant, hateful bitches alive — but it’s not too late to change, Ann. You could kill yourself.”

10. David Spade

“Is Pete white? Is he black? Ann Coulter needs to know so she can decide if she hates him”

Then it was Coulter’s time to speak, and she continued to plummet.

Audience reaction to Ann Coulter on the Rob Lowe roast are about perfect pic.twitter.com/SkI00cyLgZ

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) September 6, 2016

After that really rough night for Coulter, this post feels more like a eulogy.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Top 10 Ann Coulter Insults from the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe appeared first on Law Street.

Late last week, one of Trump’s surrogates, Marco Gutierrez, made a bizarre comment about how “taco trucks will be on every corner” if we don’t do something to fix immigration issues in the United States. But tacos are excellent, so most people didn’t have a problem with this concept.

Here’s the clip:

Note the host of the MSNBC program, Joy Reid, was shocked by the comment, and most of the internet has followed suit to mock it.  The Washington Post’s Philip Bump wrote an article exploring the potential economic impact of this over abundance of taco trucks. A taco truck parked outside a Trump event in Detroit had a fantastic sales day. And taco trucks have suddenly become a political concept.

But a lot of people also had some really fun responses to these bizarre comments. Check out some of the best tweets below:

See you November 8!#TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner #ImWithHer pic.twitter.com/dWCi0CGiSt

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 4, 2016

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Best ‘Taco Trucks on Every Corner’ Responses appeared first on Law Street.

At this point your guess is probably better than mine when it comes to answering the question “was Ryan Lochte lying about being robbed in Rio?” Not only has the silver-haired swimmer changed his story several times, but contradictory video footage from a security checkpoint and gas station seem to back up Brazilian authorities’ theory that the whole thing was an elaborate drunken coverup. In other words, things aren’t looking too good for the 12-time Olympic medalist.

While it might be a while before we finally learn the truth, Lochte is lucky he gets to safely sit this one out back in the U.S. The internet, however, wasted no time dubbing the swimmer guilty before ferociously mocking the scandal online. Since we can’t help but laugh (even though we kinda feel bad) at some of the memes, here are some of the funniest Twitter responses to #LochteGate and #LochMess:

Ryan Lochte lied about a night on the town to his mom and started an international incident. I’m dead.

— Ashley Weatherford (@sincerelyash) August 18, 2016

Confession: I robbed Ryan Lochte. I used my Lackawanna County Sheriff’s badge a squirt gun & a bad Brazilian accent. Sorry.

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 18, 2016

Exclusive footage of the U.S. swim team’s gas station fight https://t.co/ImltY6Ikzo

— MTV News (@MTVNews) August 18, 2016

Lochte’s fastest time was getting out of Brazil

— Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) August 18, 2016

Synchronized swimmers would keep their story straight.

— Steve Rushin (@SteveRushin) August 18, 2016

Sketch of the guy who held up Lochte pic.twitter.com/sPLUvWz5dC

— Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) August 18, 2016

There is no justice where there is Comic Sans: this is the Brazilian judge’s order in the Ryan Lotche controversy. pic.twitter.com/ZqWblg7YLS

— Dr. Anthony M. Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) August 18, 2016

If it includes the letters “LOCH” then chances are it’s a hoax. #LochteGate pic.twitter.com/3gzHltXkER

— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) August 18, 2016

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/ADDAEiqCfS

— Brendan Mackey (@Bmackey34) August 18, 2016

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/v4jMReZ2ws

— Dominique Ringle (@dringle427) August 18, 2016

Brazilian Authorities: Mr. Lochte, you story doesn’t add up.

Ryan Lochte:

#LochteGate pic.twitter.com/W1ol0S9zcR

— KristinDeLuciaMorgan (@kmorgan76) August 18, 2016

Brazilian Police: “And you made the whole story up, didn’t you?”

Lochte: pic.twitter.com/O2YKasN62s

— Chief (@BarstoolChief) August 18, 2016

Honestly, now would be the perfect time to actually rob Lochte

— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) August 18, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hilarious Online Responses to Ryan Lochte’s #LochteGate and #LochMess appeared first on Law Street.

Donald Trump loves giving people nicknames. There’s “Crooked Hillary” and “Lyin’ Ted” and “Little Marco.” His love of nicknames is so infamous that there are even Donald Trump nickname generators out there (I got “Powerless Anneliese.”) In fact, Donald Trump loves nicknames so much he recently gave himself one: “Mr. Brexit.”

They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2016

No one is 100 percent sure what Trump means by that, but the leading theory is that he was referring to the fact that Brexit polls indicated the “Remain” option was winning prior to the vote. However, when the votes were actually cast, “Leave” won. Similarly, Trump is currently trailing in the polls to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton–his tweet might mean that he thinks he’s going to defy the polls just like the Brexit vote did.

But to nickname yourself anything at all, let alone “Mr. Brexit” is pretty silly. And Twitter users have been having a lot of fun poking at Trump about the name. Check out some of the best “Mr. Brexit” entries in the slideshow below:

#MrRobot is a way better show than #MrBrexit
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) August 18, 2016

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Donald Trump Nicknames Himself Mr. Brexit appeared first on Law Street.

Earlier this year, a totally bonkers transcript from Rome, Georgia made national news. It involves a defendant, Denver Fenton Allen, a murder suspect in the death of another inmate at the Floyd County Jail. Allen goes in front of Judge Bryant Durham Jr. and attempts to get a new attorney, but the conversation between the two men just turns into a bizarre series of expletives and sexually charged comments.

The defendant allegedly goes in front of the judge to try to get a new attorney because his public defender was sexually abusing him, and forcibly performing oral sex on him. Allen then got increasingly vulgar and violent with the judge, threatening: “’ll cut your children up into pieces. I’ll knock their brains out with a (expletive) hammer and feed them to you. … The babies will be going, ‘Daddy, daddy, help me.” But Durham didn’t hold back, he told Allen that he “looked like a career.” All in all it was a totally bizarre exchange, you can check out the transcript for yourself here:

Georgia Shenanigans

For those in the legal field–or people who just love good out-of-place swearing–the transcript was a riot. Apparently the creators of “Rick and Morty,” agreed, and made a “a faithful, word-for-word recreation of one colorful day in the American court system” for the show. Check it out:

And yes, all of the dialogue is taken directly from the transcript.

While this is a particularly funny court video, it’s not the first time that a ridiculous transcript has come to life through a video reenactment. A few years ago, the New York Times put together this hilarious clip, again straight from a deposition transcript.

Sometimes the best humor comes straight from the courtroom.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post State of Georgia Vs. Denver Fenton Allen Transcript Gets “Rick and Morty” Treatment appeared first on Law Street.

Katrina Pierson is a spokeswoman for Donald Trump who has previously dominated headlines when she defended some of Trump’s most seemingly indefensible positions. She also famously wore a necklace made out of bullets on air during a CNN interview.

#Trump defender Katrina Pierson wearing bullet necklace.. #orlandoshootings make it stop! pic.twitter.com/0q1CskztmG

— #ImWithHer (@utbrp) June 12, 2016

Recently, Pierson was tasked with speaking about Khizr Khan, the Muslim American Gold Star father who spoke about his son’s death in the line of duty at the DNC. Pierson took an interesting (and inaccurate approach) by blaming Captain Humayun Khan’s death on Obama’s policies. But Captain Khan died in 2004, four years before Obama even ran. Pierson’s historically inaccurate claim sparked a lot of humor on Twitter, in the form of the hashtag #KatrinaPiersonHistory. Check out some of the best entries below:

#KatrinaPiersonHistory – Obama shot Hamilton with Hillary as his second. (Broadway’s run by liberal revisionists.)

— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) August 3, 2016

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Best of #KatrinaPiersonHistory appeared first on Law Street.

We’re nearing the end of the Republican National Convention, and the seriousness of Donald Trump potentially taking over the Oval has us all in desperate need of a bit of humor this week. From Michelle Obama singing Carpool Karaoke with Missy Elliott, to Stephen Colbert crashing the RNC, here are some of the best funny political clips of the week:

Michelle Obama Gets Her “Freak On” During Carpool Karaoke

James Corden, host of the hilarious “Late Late Show,” stopped by the White House for his latest edition of Carpool Karaoke, and wound up with First Lady Michelle Obama in his passenger seat. How he got past the Secret Service, I’m not sure, but the private tour was legendary.

Corden and FLOTUS drove around the grounds and rocked out to songs like “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” by Stevie Wonder (Michelle’s favorite artist) and  “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé. Missy Elliott also made a surprise appearance, joining the pair for a rendition of Michelle’s charity anthem “This is For My Girls” and “Get Ur Freak On”–I think it’s fair to say Michelle Obama is the coolest First Lady ever.

Kate McKinnon Dresses Up as Notorious RBG to Mock Trump

“Ghostbusters” star Kate McKinnon dressed up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Republican National Convention to respond to Trump telling Twitter, “Her mind is shot–resign!“

A robed McKinnon said,

If my mind is shot then Donald Trump’s mind is shot, stabbed, strangled, put in a vat of wet cement and dumped in the Gowanus Canal. His mind is sleeping with the fishes, but it’s waking up to a Ginsburn.

Trump’s tweet came after the real Notorious RBG recently made headlines for calling Donald Trump “a faker” in a recent interview. The 83-year-old Supreme Court Justice said, “I can’t imagine what this place would be–I can’t imagine what the country would be–with Donald Trump as our president.”

Stephen Colbert is Hungry For Power Games at RNC

On Sunday, Stephen Colbert crashed the Republican National Convention for another edition of  the “Hungry for Power Games” that was later streamed Live on Monday night’s “Late Show.” A blue-wigged Colbert showed up to the RNC as Julius–his best impersonation of “The Hunger Games” host Caesar Flickerman–and toured Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena with his fake pet weasel, Caligula, in hand.

Colbert’s mocked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, North Carolina’s bathroom laws, and Trump’s immigrations plans before later seizing the stage to make fun of Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence–which ended with him being escorted off stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFjDBvRxcbM

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Funny Political Clips of the Week: FLOTUS Singing, SNL x RBG, & Colbert appeared first on Law Street.

Melania Trump delivered a speech last night at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and it was great. So heartfelt and inspiring….and oddly familiar? When she spoke about her values and work ethic, people couldn’t help but get a weird sense of deja-vu. But from where? As it turns out, Donald Trump’s wife seemingly plagiarized some of Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech, and people are not happy about it.

Here’s a side by side comparison:

Shortly after people discovered where Melania and her speech writers got their (*ahem*) “inspiration” from, social media users began compiling other famous quotes that the potential future first lady could also take credit for. Since they are all pretty hilarious, here are some #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes:

“I was born a poor black child.” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Eric Benet (@ebenet) July 19, 2016

Special Shoutout to Malia and Sasha,My husband Barrack and my speech writers Copy & Paste #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/ibN7XwSKVH

— Aron Mtunji (@mtunjiaron) July 19, 2016

“Put some respek on my name” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Loni Love (@LoniLove) July 19, 2016

“I don’t want no scrub, A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Kandi Burruss (@Kandi) July 19, 2016

“In west Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Lamorne Morris (@LamorneMorris) July 19, 2016

“I have had it with these mothahfuckin’ snakes on this mothahfuckin’ plane” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) July 19, 2016

“I wanna be the very best like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test. To train them is my cause.” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— DeStorm Power (@DeStorm) July 19, 2016

Ok, this is pretty funny… #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/Mpe8wkytSL

— Siefe (@Siefe) July 19, 2016

“Four score and 7 years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation…” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/VKcAlYtzU8

— Ethan Fixell (@EthanFixell) July 19, 2016

“Our routines are 100% original” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/Da5jjEgppb

— Ian Warren (@ijwarren) July 19, 2016

But the award for best catalog of compiled #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes goes to… Jesse Williams! The “Grey’s Anatomy” actor and outspoken Black Lives Matter supporter had fun remembering plenty of famous quotes from Melania.

“Work, work, work, work, work, work
He say me have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

“I was told by AppleCare that I could walk in the store and get the part!!!!” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

“All right stop
Collaborate and listen
Ice is back with my brand new invention…” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

“What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

“I have a dream” #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

All jokes aside, the Trump campaign released a statement saying that they are not planning to fire anyone in connection with the plagiarism of Michelle Obama. They even went as far as to blame the scrutiny over Melania’s speech on Hillary Clinton going full Regina George on women she feels “threatened” by.

Normally, if a candidate’s team were to be caught red-handed plagiarizing, it would mean the end of the campaign–but there’s nothing normal about this election cycle. Donald Trump has been highly successful in his strategy of doubling down on controversies, rather than apologizing. However, there are still three days left in Cleveland, so we’ll have to wait and see if this major snafu ends up alienating voters.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post “Famous Quotes” From Melania Trump’s Copy + Paste Speech appeared first on Law Street.

It seems like there’s always a new speech from one of the presidential candidates on TV, trending on YouTube, or live streaming on Facebook. Sure, Trump’s speeches are bombastic, spittle-flecked, and nonsensical, making them much more fun to watch–but Clinton’s speeches contain their own bits of fun. After watching hours of footage on Clinton campaigning over the last few months,  I’ve noticed that the same thoughts come to me with every speech I watch. So here are the 10 thoughts I have when I watch a Hillary Clinton speech.

1.Wow, I’m Totally Hypnotized By Her Metronomic Nodding

The sun sets, the tide comes in, Hillary nods. It’s a force of nature.

Whether she’s grooving on the crowd’s positive vibes, or listening to an interviewer, moderator, or ‘everyday American,’ Secretary Clinton’s head bobs along with mechanical timing. Could she really be paying such close attention to the other person talking?  Either Hill is a very, very patient person, or the nodding is her way of rewinding the large spring in her spine that provides her with energy. Alternate Theory: She’s always got “Smooth” by Santana stuck in her head, and is following the beat at all times.

”My muñequita, my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa”

2. Is It Weird If I Say “Girl Power?”

Pictured: Hillary Clinton and Meryl Streep, BFFs.

I’m a dude, which means I don’t fully appreciate how cool Hillary’s candidacy is–this is really the first time everyone in the country is listening to what a woman has to say as a presidential candidate. So when H-Dawg refuses to back down from supporting women, it reveals a little glimpse of a female-positive future. We’ve got female Ghostbusters now, and the world didn’t end, so can’t we let a woman lead this country?

3. Oh Boy, Here Comes The Pun

This is exactly how I laugh when I remember something funny I saw online earlier, and can’t explain it to others.

You know the lines I’m talking about. The jokes written into her speeches that are just funny enough to include, but provide a little dose of cringe as well. Doing her best 1992-era Ellen impression, Hillary riffs:

Trump U. That doesn’t sound appropriate, does it? I am going to use that more. Because if he gets anywhere near the White House, you know what he is going to do? He is going to Trump U.

Oh, I get it! It’s like “F. U.” but with Trump’s name? Brilliant. How about saying that if “playing the woman card is fighting for equal wages, women’s health, and paid family leave, then deal me in!” I’m clapping for the cause, but I’m sort of faking the laugh.

4. Don’t Hurt Yourself!

“Rough, rough, rough”–Clinton describes the effect her busy speaking schedule has on her voice.

I’ve got mad love for Secretary Clinton, but I’ve got to be honest; sometimes she shouts a bit too much. I hope that’s not sexist to say, considering I think Bernie Sanders always shouts too much. Being on the campaign trail has got to be tough for many reasons, but in the day and age of the microphone it shouldn’t be tough on your vocal cords. Hillary’s voice is already sore and hoarse from all the talking she has to do, so please, leave the yelling to Trump, it doesn’t pantsuit you, Hill. Plus, haven’t promising Democratic candidates been burned by yelling in the past?

5. Her Hand Motions Are So Precise

If I had photoshop abilities, I’d add some googly eyes and feathers to Hillary’s hand to make an emu. I don’t. So I didn’t.

Every speaker has their own set of hand motions. You’ve got Trump’s little fists doing a lot of sliding and pointing, Bernie pawing and petting the air with both hands in different directions, and Obama’s measured gestures. Hillary’s got her own set–the most notable one being the pinch-and-poke. Her hand forms the beak of an emu, and it snaps in the air with each syllable.

6. I Start Imagining A Trump Presidency

“A wall? And WHO’S gonna pay for it?”

Trump can’t be president. I mean, there’s just no way something that cataclysmic could actually happen. A guy with no political experience, policy savvy, or common sense certainly can’t con the country into giving him the White House? Then again, today on my walk to work I ran into no fewer than a dozen Pokémon trainers, so maybe the end-times are upon us. Either way, you just have to laugh, if only to keep from crying.

7. I Do A Wardrobe Moral Double Take 

She gets mega-points for calling out sexism in reporting. I lose mega-points for creating sexism in reporting.

This might also be dangerous territory. As with any speech, at a certain point I get a little lost and focus on the visuals, forming my opinion of what Hillary is wearing. Do I do that for male politicians? Short Answer: No. (Long Answer: Only if they’re wearing a tan suit.) Sometimes I think what she’s wearing looks great, or I notice that I like the current hairstyle better than the one she had a few months ago. But then I start to worry, “is it alright for me to have an opinion on this?” I’m undoing all the great feminist work that Susan B. Anthony and Alanis Morissette fought for! So I stay positive, and try to focus my attention on the ideas being shared, rather than the fabric being worn.

8. Start Vibing Off Of The Nuanced Discussion Of The Issues

That bulb in the background is bursting the same way my head does when I hear “this problem has systemic causes” this election cycle instead of “We’re losing. We’re gonna win.”

I’ve got these large, honkin’ headphones with an eight-foot long cord, and they block out the outside world entirely. This might be a guilty pleasure, but sometimes when I’m watching a speech live on my computer, I slide on those headphones, close my eyes, and bask in the nuanced language and detailed discussion. Hours in front of the TV have filled my ears with dozens of soundbites played over and over, and simplified solutions (a twelve-billion dollar wall, anyone?) Because of this barrage, it’s nice to hone in on a reasonable person speaking reasonably about reasonable ideas. Ahhh, knowledge truly is bliss.

9. Oh My God That Face

My face, the minute I’m accused of absolutely anything, while deciding how honest I’m gonna be when I respond.

You can’t spell serious without “Clinton.” Or maybe you can–I’m not gonna try. The point is, for a ‘boring candidate,’ she’s got a whole catalog of hilarious facial expressions. Watching her speeches easily inspires a drinking game–one sip for every emu-peck, clapping-laugh, funny face, or Donald Trump diss. (Actually, please drink responsibly…don’t play games designed to make you binge drink)

10. Hey, She’s Not So Bad At This

Is there a way to make my computer background a gif? There must be. If so, I’d like to use this one please.

Hillary Clinton will tell you that she’s not a natural campaigner, and not a gifted orator. While she does seem to be better suited for a conference or situation room than a sold-out arena, every once in a while her speeches contain moments of excellence. Even the most logical supporter might get a little carried away at points during her nomination announcement speech, where the energy of the room is through the roof. It’s enough to make you shout “Yaass!” and then feel self-conscious for saying yaass out loud. Don’t worry, you won’t have to be self-conscious on inauguration day.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post 10 Thoughts I Have While Watching a Hillary Clinton Speech appeared first on Law Street.

The Supreme Court handed down several major rulings yesterday and, as is the case whenever the court decides to weigh in on a social issue, a lot of people got really mad. While watching people get angry on social media is always good fun on its own, this time, there was an added level of entertainment as people tweeted their dissatisfaction at SCOTUSblog’s twitter account, thinking that it was the actual Supreme Court.

SCOTUSblog, a website dedicated to tracking all things related to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), is not, in fact, operated by or in any way affiliated with the actual Supreme Court. But that doesn’t stop the flood of angry Twitter mentions that it receives at the end of each court term. In fact, its Twitter bio features a nice disclaimer, “A private blog. NOT THE JUSTICES OR THE COURT.” Thankfully, its Twitter account sets aside some time on each of these special nights to respond to many of the mistaken Twitter users.

On Monday afternoon, it started off with a warning to its current followers (who are presumably aware that it is not the actual Supreme Court) as well as some satire to set the scene:

You have one minute to unfollow us before we fill your Twitter feed.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

#BREAKING: facing constitutional crisis, in an unprecedented move, a blog was named to the empty ninth seat on the Supreme Court.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

And then it began. Here’s a collection of some of the best responses from yesterday:

We don’t rule “against the Constitution.” We twist it however we want. MT @pswise1 @SCOTUSblog Is RACIST &Again Rules Against Constitution

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

So funny bc we’re just flipping coins. Math says we’ll eventually get one right MT @somhrd50 @SCOTUSblog always on the wrong side of history

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

No! Expose who killed Vince Foster, indict Clinton, THEN impeach him. MT @hendog127@SCOTUSblog -Your first OBLIGATION IS TO IMPEACH OBAMA

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Here’s someone calling SCOTUSblog dumb (while at the same time confusing SCOTUSblog for the actual Supreme Court):

What makes you look dumbest, Bets’? MT @BetsyKerr Nothing makes @SCOTUSblog look dumber than a judge dissenting w/irrelevant opinion.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

I’ll let you unpack this one:

Keep it? Most men will prolly oblige. #nadaforzada MT @zadabee @SCOTUSblog Stop killing sperm! Man controls the sperm: KEEP IT~

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Here’s a nice reference to SCOTUSblog’s Twitter bio, which pretty clearly states that it is not affiliated with the actual court. But hey, who takes the time to read Twitter bios before angry tweeting?

Twitter descriptions are good reads too MT @carryabigstaff @SCOTUSblog If you read the Constitution, you know there is no right to privacy.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Not all of the tweets were angry–some were happy with the court’s decision to strike down provisions in Texas’s HB 2, a law that placed what the court deemed to be undue restrictions on abortion providers.

Honestly, we were 5-3 on selling you to @zombieblog. MT @slclaridge Thanks @SCOTUSblog for continuing to let ME have control over MY body.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

To cap it off, SCOTUSblog ended up trolling unknowing Twitter users so well that Twitter actually suspended its account thinking that it was hacked. The blog posted an update explaining what happened and after a couple of hours, everything was back to normal: it returned to tweeting serious court news. Apparently the annual “running of the trolls” worked too well this time around.

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post No Twitter Users, SCOTUSblog is not the Supreme Court appeared first on Law Street.

“If _____ gets elected, I’m moving to Canada!” Sound familiar? This “threat” casually seems to get thrown around every election cycle in the U.S., but has seemingly become more common in this year’s tense political climate. Even corporations have gotten in on the joke: Esurance’s April Fools Day ad jokingly offers “election insurance” to anyone who feels the need to escape for the next four years. A tourism campaign for Cape Breton Island in Canada offers refuge to people who fear an America under Donald Trump.

With the possibility of a Trump presidency becoming realer and scarier by the day, a move to Canada is seeming less like a bad joke and more like a genuine option for many Americans. After Trump won a string of Super Tuesday victories this past March, Google reportedly received a 350 percent surge in searches related to moving to Canada. According to NPR, thousands of Americans already move to Canada for political reasons, and there’s no telling how that number could rise if Trump is victorious in November.

While the land that brought the world Drake and Tim Horton’s looks much more appealing with the potential of an impending Trump regime, don’t pack your bags yet: it’s a lot easier said than done. The Canadians may be known for their hospitality, but they’re not just going to let anyone waltz through their doors.

If you really are seriously considering an escape to the Great White North, you probably should start planning now, because immigrating to Canada will take a considerable investment of time and will require you to make some serious life decisions. Here’s some options to earn your ticket in:

Find a job or start a business in Canada

Get your employment locked down now, because competition may become fierce once the influx of Trump-related immigration hits its peak. For skilled workers, Canada’s Express Entry program allows an expedited path to permanent residence for select candidates, and you can also use the Government of Canada’s Job Bank to help line something up.

The Canadian government is also very supportive of entrepreneurship: the country offers a start-up Visa to anyone who has a business idea that could benefit the country. Certain Canadian provinces also have their own respective business immigration programs called Provincial Nominee Programs.

If you’re a wealthy individual with some money lying around, you can also invest it in Canada’s economy to earn your permanent residence.

Marry a Canadian

Not exactly a straightforward solution, but if you can find yourself an eligible Canadian bachelor/bachelorette, they will be able to sponsor you for immigration.

How can you find this special person? There’s an app for that: Maple Match is an app specifically designed for “Americans to find the ideal Canadian partner to save them from the unfathomable horror of a Trump presidency.”

One of the (many) downsides to this option is that it will take a long time, so you will probably be stuck in the U.S. potentially living under Trump’s presidency while your spouse is working to bring you over. Do not recommend this option.

Become a student in a Canadian school

Many Canadian universities are highly ranked globally, making this a good solution for anyone looking to go to school. However, this will only work so long as you are still enrolled in school. Once you graduate, you will need to find another way to stay (see above options).

You will also need to go through the admissions process to earn your place in one of these universities, so this also a time-consuming and tedious option.

Alternatively, don’t go

Don’t just run away from the burning house, help put the fire out! While the thought of a Trump America  may be terrifying, having a large number of people flee the country is not going to help solve any of our problems. And moving to Canada, as shown here, is probably not going to be a quick and easy solution. (It’s also highly unlikely you will be able to claim political asylum, sorry).

In the case that Trump wins in November, don’t let fear force you out of your home. If you still decide you want to make the leap and become a Canadian, you should probably start your immigration applications and your Maple Match profile now.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

The post How to Actually Move to Canada if Trump Gets Elected appeared first on Law Street.

When you’re making a crossword puzzle, it’s very easy to create a difficult puzzle with next-to-impossible clues. It is also incredibly difficult to make a crossword puzzle that is easy to solve, fitting only common words into the grid. Conspiracy theories work pretty much the same way–with a lot of careful effort, you can create a theory that just might be easy to swallow. It sounds totally crazy but maybe, just maybe there actually was a second shooter behind the grassy knoll. It would be completely bananas, but it’s possible that the NBA rigged the championship because of a blood-oath with LeBron. These are conspiracies, but there’s enough fact surrounding them to give them the veneer of truth.

Since politics can get boring, let’s take a break from all the facts and figures for a moment and have some fun crafting our own conspiracy theory. But what type to choose?

When it comes to current-day political conspiracies, no theory is more widespread or worse-explained than the Illuminati. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or have been brainwashed into sheeple by the mainstream media, the Illuminati were essentially members of a really nerdy book club in the 1770s that lasted for about ten years before being shut down. To conspiracy theorists, the Illuminati is still alive, and its members are pulling all of the world’s strings behind closed doors. They’re meeting in person in top-secret locales and exercising unimaginable influence over world leaders. They also leave fun hints and clues for us to find, because apparently they prefer fun I-Spy games more than actually staying secret.

Actual footage from the moon landing, cut from broadcast for suspicious reasons.

So what does this have to do with the 2016 Presidential Election? I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

Only joking. You might have seen thumbnails in your recommended videos section on YouTube featuring Hillary Clinton dressed in demonic fashion, or perhaps George W. Bush surrounded by pyramids, and wondered where they come from. Essentially, Americans who are frustrated with our political system, or likely confused by it, concoct clandestine backdoor reasons for every major event in history, claiming that it is all part of a grand scheme for “New World Order.” That’s basically a spooky way of saying a world government designed to oppress all people.

Why should we let the crackpots have all the fun? Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating your own conspiracy, and getting one step closer to the “ultimate truth.”

1. Pick an event you didn’t like.

Feel free to choose something like a famous atrocity, or something like alleged voting discrepancies from North Dakota’s democratic caucus. Explain that the explanation the general public has been fed is not only untrue, but supported by false-flag evidence planted by someone important, like the Koch brothers, or Oprah.

2. Diagnose the real cause

Clearly the BP oil spill and Vince Foster‘s death were both decided in a boardroom by old men in suits. There’s an underlying reason for every random, senseless event, and it’s usually a stepping stone to the ultimate plan.

3. Tie it back to a easily vilified celebrity figure

Either go for the typical “Kenyan Muslim President” route, or think of something more interesting. If you need inspiration, I still trust this conspiracy site I found–I know the source is from 2 years ago–that says Clinton is “a 6th level Illuminati witch & sadistic Monarch slave handler.”

A rare glimpse into the bunker below the White House where the real meetings happen.

So why do people believe in these theories? Illuminati conspiracy theorists are typically people who find it frustrating to believe that either hard work or luck is good enough to propel someone to powerful positions. They take comfort in the idea that there is no hope changing the status quo unless you’ve been pre-selected by the chosen few. Plus, by virtue of “knowing the truth,” you’re smarter than all of your friends.

The most disappointing part of conspiracy theories like this is that it looks remarkable similar to the real non-conspiracy world we live in now. The idea that a select few meet to discuss powerful changes to the world is already true, and it happens all the time. Of course Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, and Xi Jinping control what happens around the world–that’s their job! Hillary Clinton is smart enough to orchestrate secret society cover-ups and rig an entire election, but apparently not smart enough to become as powerful and influential as she currently is by virtue of her own actions.

“Silly Season” is meant to only last a few weeks during the primaries, but given the tone of the 2016 General Election so far, silly season has been extended indefinitely. Why not amp up the chaos a bit more, and introduce some really crazy ideas? It’s not enough to say Trump might be a plant by the Clinton family to ensure a Democratic victory–make sure it’s part of a world-wide conspiracy as well.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Anatomy of An Illuminati Political Conspiracy appeared first on Law Street.

Legal counsel is expensive, but your Twitter feed is free. Check out our round-up of some of the best tweets from #BestAdviceFromMyLawyer.

Well to Start Off…

#BestAdviceFromMyLawyer
When he finally tells you the truth:
Stop Breaking the Law! pic.twitter.com/FU0OhiDPU6

— R.E.Marsh (@eREM1600) June 9, 2016

Samantha Reilly

Samantha Reilly is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. A New Jersey native, she is pursuing a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. Contact Samantha at SReilly@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Top Ten Funniest #BestAdviceFromMyLawyer Tweets appeared first on Law Street.

People love to joke that the Kardashian/Jenner clan is taking over the world, but some in Iran have genuine concerns.

Iranian officials have accused the family’s top bread winner, Kim Kardashian, of being a secret agent. On an Iranian news program Sunday night, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Organized Cyberspace Crimes Unit (OCCU) accused Kim of conspiring with Instagram to corrupt Iranian women with “un-Islamic photos.”

OCCU spokesman Mostafa Alizadeh explained that the reality star “targets” Muslim women with photos that are contradictory to an Islamic lifestyle:

They are targeting young people and women. Foreigners are behind it because it is targeting families. These schemes originate from around the Persian Gulf and England. When you draw the operational graph, you will see that it is a foreign operation. Ms. Kim Kardashian is a popular fashion model so Instagram’s CEO tells her, ‘make this native.’ There is no doubt that financial support is involved as well. We are taking this very seriously.

This comes just as eight women working as online models for social media platforms such as Instagram were arrested in Iran as part of the country’s larger crackdown on “un-Islamic” photos.

But now that I think about it, this is not the first time Kim K has been accused of espionage-like involvement. I decided to do some digging to see if Kim could in fact be a spy, and came to the conclusion…possibly? So, without further adieu:

Here’s Three Reasons why Kim Kardashian Could Actually be a Spy

1. Kim’s Favorite Television Shows are Very Suspicious

Once, when asked by a fan what TV shows she likes to watch, Kim answered, “I love investigating shows like ‘Dateline,’ ‘Forensic Files,’ [and] ‘I Survived…'” NBC’s “Dateline” regularly airs true crime stories, “Forensic Files” shows how scientists use forensic science to solve crimes, and “I Survived…” profiles people’s near death experiences.

I’m noticing a suspicious theme here.

2. Kim Loves Investigating Her Own Family

If you watch “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” you’d know that Kim has a history of investigating her family and hiring private investigators. In an episode of the KUWTK’s spinoff “Kourtney & Kim Take Miami,” Kim is suspicious of Kourtney’s then-boyfriend Scott Disick, so she hires a P.I. to track him.

Watch her shady sleuthing in the clip below:

If she’d investigate someone she considers to be family, who’s to say she wouldn’t be down for investigating entire countries like….idk IRAN!

3. Tina Fey is Convinced There’s Something Amiss 

Tina Fey joked that the reality star was “made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes” in her comedic bestseller “Bossypants.”

I mean #NuffSaid. You may be on to something, Iranian officials. We’ll have to keep an eye out.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Iran Officials Think Kim Kardashian is a Secret Agent: Maybe They’re Right? appeared first on Law Street.

Hillary Clinton is white. I mean, I’m white, but Hillary is super white, like banana-and-mayo sandwich made by Dale Earnhardt Jr. level white. But much like her husband, Hillary is widely supported by black voters, who voted for her over Bernie Sanders in New York by over 50 points. Even in the face of this support, Hillary has been accused of pandering to minority voters, such as when her team posted a listicle explaining how Secretary Clinton is just like your abuela, or when she dabbed, whipped, and nae-naed on The Ellen Show. During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, Clinton was told that when she acts this way, it reeks of her trying too hard. In her defense, she said it was not her idea. “It looks like I’m trying too hard because I am trying too hard! I can’t do it!” She admitted to dancing in private, but said that she had learned to avoid it in public.

Then, Hillary raved about Beyoncé, which in all fairness is a popular activity among all people. She has even said before that she “want[s] to be as good a president as Beyoncé is a performer:” a tall order considering that I’m still recovering from a Beyoncé concert that took place two years ago. But it was her last answer on the show that is raising some eyebrows (and catching some shade.) Clinton was asked what item she always carries in her bag. Without missing a beat, Clinton responded “hot sauce.” Funnily enough, that’s probably the same answer that Beyoncé gave to the question: “What’s 2016’s version of ‘surfboardt’ going to be?”

“Are you getting in formation?” Charlamagne Tha God asked, referencing the lyric in Beyoncé’s surprise southern-black-woman-pride anthem “Formation.” Clinton laughed, and responded, “I’ve been eating a lot of hot sauce — raw peppers, and hot sauces … because I think it keeps my immune system strong. I think hot sauce is good for you, in moderation of course, don’t go overboard.”

That’s right, much like an insane person, Hillary Clinton eats raw peppers–jalapeños, according to her staffers. Side note: is that the reason Papa John’s always adds those spicy green ones alongside my pizza? I always assumed those were delivered for late-night pizza party dare purposes. But it may be true that spicy food boosts your health: the LiveStrong website provides some pretty dope facts about the health benefits of spicy peppers.

Because he’s the walking, talking shouting version of a YouTube comments section, Donald Trump decided to lead the charge against Hillary’s phony claims of hot-sauce-having, saying:

It’s the same thing that she always does. She carries hot sauce like I carry hot sauce. It’s just, I don’t know, it’s just so phony and so pandering and so terrible.

The trouble is, Hillary was waxing rhapsodic about hot sauce for years before Beyoncé was. In a 1995 lunch interview with The Washington Post, she called hot sauce her “secret passion.” So maybe Secretary Clinton isn’t trying to become Hillaré, but Bey has simply paved the way for her to be open about her love of hot sauce. Chalk it up to yet another example of Beyoncé being a source of inspiration for Americans everywhere.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hot Sauce Lands Hillary In Hot Water appeared first on Law Street.

Good news everyone! In case you were worried or concerned (although, honestly, with this year’s presidential candidate pool, who isn’t concerned?) Paul Ryan has made it very clear that he will not be running for president. That’s right. You’ve heard it correctly. Paul Ryan will not be the next President of the United States, so don’t even think about voting for him.

In a weird press conference last week, Ryan announced his lack of desire for the presidential nomination and his refusal to accept the nomination if it comes down to that. Check out his refusal at the 30 second mark:

He made it very clear in this video that he does not want the delegates nominating him and that he believes only candidates who ran in the primaries should be considered by those delegates, should the nomination decision go to convention this July. “I should not be considered. Period. End of story,” Ryan says affirmatively, before he proceeds to again emphatically state that he is “not going to be our party’s [the republican party’s] nominee.” It’s okay Paul! Calm down! No one is going to force you to be president if you don’t want to be, buddy!

Why was Ryan being so oddly repetitive and assertive as he announced his non-candidacy for president? Well, if we think back to last fall, Ryan pulled the same stunt when there were rumors flying around of him stepping into John Boehner’s role as Speaker of the House. Time after time, Ryan denied any desire to be the Speaker. There was even Twitter evidence that Ryan was dead set on not accepting the Speaker position.

Ryan spox to NBC News: "Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he's getting from his colleagues but is still not running for Speaker."

— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) October 9, 2015

And, what happened in that situation? Less than a month later, Ryan flopped and stepped into his new role as Speaker of the House, despite numerous attempts to convince the public he really did not want the job.

This sudden change in heart last fall makes it hard to believe Ryan’s current media pleas, no matter how earnest and heartfelt they seem. But, don’t worry America, not too many people are falling for this shenanigan Ryan has pulled–even “SNL” called Ryan out on his nonsense in a skit that parodied his not a campaign announcement.

This “anti-campaign ad,” which features Taran Killam as Paul Ryan, hams up Ryan’s not running for president shtick. What starts as Ryan claiming he will not be America’s next president, under any circumstances, quickly transforms into what is essentially a campaign ad. This hilarious spoof directly mirrors Ryan’s “not running” campaign announcement, where he began by claiming he wasn’t running and then basically gave a presidential campaign speech immediately following the announcement. It’s a brilliant example of why satire and parody really are the best kinds of humor.

Will he be the nominee? Won’t he be the nominee? It really is too hard to tell in the midst of Ryan’s broken “not running” promises and confusing not campaigning announcements. The one thing that is certain, is that the Republicans are gearing up for a Convention nominee because it’s looking like that’s what the end of the Republican race will require. And, even though Paul Ryan is “not running,” I think we all know he could be just what this country needs after months and months of watching the zodiac killer (read: Ted Cruz) and America’s biggest bully (read: Donald Trump) duking it out.

So, anyways, we get it Paul! You’re not running for president just like we’re all not voting for you and not sick of the rest of the Republican presidential candidates. Your secret is safe with us.

Alexandra Simone

Alex Simone is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street and a student at The George Washington University, studying Political Science. She is passionate about law and government, but also enjoys the finer things in life like watching crime dramas and enjoying a nice DC brunch. Contact Alex at ASimone@LawStreetmedia.com

The post Paul Ryan is Not, Under any Circumstances, Running for President appeared first on Law Street.

It’s been a good day for conspiracy theorists. Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Chair John Podesta believes that the truth is out there—and wants it shared with the American public. During a recent appearance on “The Lead” with Jake Tapper, Podesta argued that the American people are being kept in the dark about UFOs.

“The U.S. government could do a much better job in answering the quite legitimate questions that people have about what’s going on with unidentified aerial phenomena,” he said. When probed further on the question, Podesta said, “That’s for the public to judge once they’ve seen all the evidence that the U.S. government has… There are a lot of planets out there, the American people can handle the truth.”

Podesta served as a counselor in the Obama Administration and lamented that his greatest failure of 2014 was not being granted permission to disclose the White House’s files on UFOs.

John Podesta’s reaction when told that he can’t release the UFO information.

It’s not totally crazy for the Clinton campaign to address the American people’s concerns about UFOs and alien contact. About half of Americans believe that there is extraterrestrial life, according to a YouGov poll. And there are likely many citizens who don’t firmly believe in UFOs but are open to the idea. Let’s call them “sky-curious.”

Responding to some of these concerned voters, Clinton said in an interview, “I’ll definitely get to the bottom of it… Maybe we could have, like, a task force go to Area 51.” Although she was joking and laughing while making those suggestions, she is serious about declassifying as much Area 51 material as possible. Podesta wants to make sure that Hillary wouldn’t forget that promise, saying “I think that’s a commitment that she intends to keep and that I intend to hold her to.”

This serves as excellent motivation for me to finish my spec script for the X-Files reboot where Hillary Clinton is the sitting president. I’ll provide an excerpt:

[ Secret Bunker Beneath The White House, Interior.]

MULDER: You’re telling me that I’ve been working on the X-Files for 23 years, and we’ve had a complete list of all real extraterrestrial and paranormal encounters just sitting in a filing cabinet?

CLINTON [Nodding metronomically]: Yes, that’s exactly right. It turns out that everything you’ve seen is real. Except for the killer trees, and most of the werewolf episodes. Those weren’t great.

SCULLY [poring over documents stained by Nixon’s Cheeto-dust]: This is incredible… detailed autopsies of creatures with organs completely unlike our understanding of terrestrial life. And there’s this fascinating report about lizard-people wearing human disguises to attain positions of pow—

CLINTON: Actually, I’m gonna need that one back.

Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox continues to send me cease-and-desist letters, rather than job offers.

It’s like they can’t see true talent staring them in the face.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post President Hillary Clinton Would Release The X-Files appeared first on Law Street.

You open up your email after getting to work on Friday morning, and you see that right above an email from Amazon asking you to finally buy the panini press that’s been sitting on your wish list for months, you have an email from Reince Priebus. Confused, you open the email, and you realize that it’s an evite. “Who uses evites anymore?” you wonder. The message, in no-nonsense, 11-point Arial, says:

Paul Ryan and I are throwing a big party tonight at 10 p.m., and you’re invited. I was gonna co-host with John Boehner, but he got cold feet and decided he’d rather not be responsible for what happens. So anyway, there’s gonna be beer, foosball, and absolutely no marijuana—even for medical purposes. We’ve invited basically everyone we know, so get here, early because it’s probably gonna be crowded.

Sincerely,

Reince Priebus,
Chairman, RNC

Your only other plans for the night were stream “X-Files” and decide which Trader Joes dinner to microwave, so you figure—why not? When work ends, you head home, eat some leftovers, and get stuck for a moment on what to wear. How do you dress for a Republican party? You briefly consider some bullet casing jewelry or your favorite “right-winger bitter-clinging” spangly jacket, but you decide on a Reagan/Bush ’84 T-shirt with a blazer. Hip.

Around 10:20 pm, you arrive at the house and see 17 cars in the driveway, so you park further down the street to avoid the inevitable chaos that leaving the Republican party will cause. When you approach the front door, you see a handwritten sign that reads, “We accidentally got the front door stuck. We know it’s not too safe, but we’ve requested that the backdoor remain opened. We’re all cool with this.” You trudge around the side of the house, thinking that this must be what it feels like to be Apple.

Once you walk inside, you’re immediately deafened by the volume of chatter in the crowded basement. Reasonably, there should only be a few people here, but instead, there are so many faces and names that you can barely keep track. This is going to be a long night.

You venture into the fray and see Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham all huddled in a corner, quibbling about how to get people to notice them. Rick Santorum meanwhile, is involved in a furious debate over whether Muslims or gays are more dangerous. He comes to the conclusion that a gay Muslim would be the most dangerous. He is talking to himself.

Carly Fiorina is being a bit of a buzzkill, because she won’t stop telling people about a found-footage horror movie she just saw, giving some pretty gory details about bloody baby parts. Someone asks her for the name of the movie, but Carly mumbles something about not remembering and quickly walks away. You hear Ben Carson telling George Pataki that the pyramids were built for grain, that he once attacked a man in a murder attempt, and that prisons are gay conversion camps. George responds, “Alright, but I just asked if you knew where the bathroom was.”

Jeb! Bush seems to be flitting between groups of people, trying to tell them a joke or ask how they feel about his cowboy boots. No one seems to be engaging with him, so he sits at the table eating some of the guacamole he brought. He gets excited when Marco Rubio comes over to the table, but after a scoop of guacamole, Marco retreats back to his corner and visibly winces as Chris Christie ambles over to him with a menacing look.

John Kasich is rifling through the CD rack, looking for some Linkin Park to play. Reince doesn’t have any Linkin Park CDs in his house because he isn’t a 15-year-old who’s mad at his dad. You ask John why he wants to play Linkin Park and he says, “they’re really good and I like those guys.” John looks sad.

Sitting on the couch, holding the bible in one hand and “The Catcher in the Rye” in the other, is Ted Cruz. It’s a huge couch—large enough to hold at least six or seven people–but for some reason, no one is sitting with him. Literally every person at this party is standing. Many look tired, but they refuse to sit with Ted. Ted is shouting but you can’t tell at whom, and the only phrase you hear is “radical Islamic terrorism.”

Hunched over in the center of the room, is a familiar face. Donald Trump is actually, literally vomiting on the carpet, and everyone around him begins to cheer for some reason. Reince sees you gawking at him, and shouts in your ear over the music, “We didn’t invite him! He’s been really rude, but for some reason he seems to be really popular, so we’re scared that if we kick him out, everyone will leave. Don’t worry, we’ve got it under control.” You see him pour some club soda into a sprayer bottle and hustle over.

After the cleanup effort, Reince and Paul turn off the music and say that some people have to leave. They’ve gotten a noise complaint from their “lamestream” neighbors. Dolefully, Rick Perry and Jim Gilmore head out the door. Wait, who is Jim Gilmore? And Rick Perry was here? You could have sworn that he went to last year’s party, but didn’t expect him to show up again after that party foul. Following Perry, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, and George Pataki all get up to go. Then, in a mass exodus that feels like it takes months, everyone slowly files out. On their way out, you see Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee. Were they here too? How many evites did Reince send?

All that’s left now is Donald, Ted, and John. Mitt Romney comes downstairs and starts to lecture Donald on behaving maturely. Is Mitt Romney the GOP’s dad? you find yourself wondering. Donald hears this but listens to none of it. Mitt heads back upstairs, to resume his DVRed Jeopardy! episode and finish his glass of milk, you assume. You see Donald pull out his phone and bark into it: “Hey Sarah? Yeah, this party is very low energy–sad! I need you to come over here and liven it up a bit.”

You realize that you’re now standing in a room with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich when you have a Netflix account and there’s a perfectly good armchair at your place underneath your poster of George H. W. Bush. You head to the bathroom, sneak out the window, and high-tail it to your car. On the drive home, you hold back a tear.

Sean Simon

Sean Simon is an Editorial News Senior Fellow at Law Street, and a senior at The George Washington University, studying Communications and Psychology. In his spare time, he loves exploring D.C. restaurants, solving crossword puzzles, and watching sad foreign films. Contact Sean at SSimon@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post If the Republican Party Was an Actual Party appeared first on Law Street.

Stop what you’re doing!

You heard me: stop it right now. I mean it.

Why? Because you absolutely need to watch this video.

Yesterday the indie culture/style magazine Nylon posted on its Facebook a video titled “Mean Girls Reading Donald Trump Tweets,” and let me tell you, it’s everything.

Now, I’d say Donald Trump’s tweets have always been pretty sassy. Case in point:

Low energy Jeb Bush just endorsed a man he truly hates, Lyin’ Ted Cruz. Honestly, I can’t blame Jeb in that I drove him into oblivion!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Yet somehow when paired with the entitled attitude of your quintessential high school “mean girl,” the tone of Trump’s tweets is elevated to to the sassiest of levels.

Trump has always been a bully (as seen in the tweet above, the man frequently refers to his fellow candidates as “lyin Ted Cruz,” “low energy Jeb Bush,” and “little Marco Rubio.”) Stephanie Cegielski, Trump’s Communications Director for the Make America Great Again Super PAC and self-described “top strategist,” said his antics were so bad that they forced her to abandon his campaign. In an open letter Cegielski writes,

Imagine Trump wronged you, even in the smallest possible way. He would go to the grave denying he had ever done anything wrong to you — ever.

[…]

No matter how many times he repeats it, Trump would not be the ‘best’ at being a president, being in shape, fighting terrorism, selling steaks, and whatever other “best” claim he has made in the last 15 minutes.

Still, many “Make America Great Again” supporters have no problem turning a blind eye to his offensive rhetoric. Hopefully this video put his language just a little bit more into perspective.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post This Video of Teenage Girls Reading Donald Trump’s Tweets is Everything appeared first on Law Street.

Remember last year when we told you that the Hershey’s Company was plotting to make all British-chocolate-loving Americans’ lives harder by making it virtually impossible to buy “authentic” Cadbury chocolate in the U.S.?

Well the conspiracy doesn’t stop there!

In a special Easter web exclusive of “Last Week Tonight,” comedian John Oliver paid homage to his favorite type of online video by creating his own mind-blowing YouTube conspiracy theory video that ties Cadbury Creme Eggs to the Illuminati.

Yes the Illuminati!

Oliver claims he can link the illuminati to the fondant filled chocolate egg that he says “tastes like mermaid placenta covered in candle wax,” by just following the money.

With the help of a few graphics and a bit of ingenuity, Oliver followed a trail of conspiracy breadcrumbs that linked the movie “Miracle on 34th street” to Germany, Bono, and a plot to take over the world.

In the end Oliver declares that, “Cadbury Creme Eggs appear in our stores for the financial benefits of illuminati elites such as Jay Z, Beyonce and Al Sharpton.”

Even though Oliver admits that most of his theory is probably “completely false,” it’s still pretty amazing and creepily kinda makes sense.

But don’t take my word for it. Watch the full video below, and judge for yourself.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post John Oliver Confirms Our Suspicions That There is a Cadbury Conspiracy appeared first on Law Street.

Ted Cruz–he’s just your typical guy running for president of the United States. Or is he? He was born in Canada and is really only eligible because his mother is American. I think I’m going to need a birth certificate for this one…

But Cruz continues to captivate the masses with his allegedly non-human features, such as his melting-off-the face waxy skin, lizard-like appearance, and disturbing alien-like facial expressions.

Some on the internet are seriously doubting his humanity…but that’s fine, right? After all, an alien can run for president as long as they’re not illegal.

He Makes Unusual Facial Expressions

@kevinmaisto you forgot that Ted Cruz is a lizard pic.twitter.com/CnIdqQ3MoF

— // CJ // (@CJZOLANSKI) February 7, 2016

One of the ideas floating around theiInternet is that Ted Cruz is simply a lizard man in a human suit, and I really can’t say that I don’t believe it. Look at that face. If that is a normal human facial expression, then I have seriously been sending some mixed signals over the years.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post 5 Times We May Have Doubted Ted Cruz’s Humanity appeared first on Law Street.

Being the president of the United States comes with quite a few perks. For example, exclusive access to Air Force One, 24-7 cooking staff, and the ability to meet with Beyoncé and Jay Z at the drop of a hat.

However, with great power also comes great responsibility–and the major downside that everyone can now blame you for just about anything.

President Obama is so often scapegoated that he became the focus of inspiration for Tuesday’s trending hashtag #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo.

While some social media users have used the hashtag seriously to air their grievances with POTUS, the overwhelming majority of people have used it as an opportunity to poke fun at all of the president’s wrongdoings.

So without further adieu, here are some of the things Obama is to blame for, according to Twitter.

Matt Damon was stuck on Mars for OVER a year, and Obama did nothing. Not a thing. #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Jeff Holth (@RaceReadyJ) March 15, 2016

Every coupon you find expired two weeks ago #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Eternal Fat Kid (@EternalFatKid) March 15, 2016

#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo
My cookie doesn’t fit into my glass of milk. pic.twitter.com/cQ7H1AM9Ee

— Carlos Marquez (@Dr_C_LOS) March 15, 2016

#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo my car crash, because it has nothing to do with tweeting while driving. pic.twitter.com/CwpnPIDFgg

— Regina Spacola (@gigirules7) March 15, 2016

For not being able to keep my eyes open while sneezing #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Digital Jørdøn (@BadJordon) March 15, 2016

#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo so many cat videos online. Before his presidency I never saw a cat video. pic.twitter.com/RNNGIkCyG4

— Regina Spacola (@gigirules7) March 15, 2016

Obama said “YES WE CAN!”; yet I can’t touch my right elbow with my right hand. He’s a liar!…
LIES LIES LIES #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Mr. Brightside (@Will3K85) March 15, 2016

People who microwave fish in the office #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Belinda Klein (@BeLiNdAoOx) March 15, 2016

#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo
Obama went out for ice cream without @JoeBiden and he was like pic.twitter.com/CBD372Yx5S

— WesleyZ3 (@50th_President) March 15, 2016

Rap game SO DIVISIVE
#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo pic.twitter.com/VX3upQGqEC

— Kabir Iyengar (@kabiriyengar) March 15, 2016

WHERE TF IS WALDO #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo pic.twitter.com/TDsVvzJdTy

— Kabir Iyengar (@kabiriyengar) March 15, 2016

I haven’t gotten laid in over a year. #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo

— Brandon Cloud (@theclobra) March 15, 2016

Unfortunately, it will be released exclusively on Tidal #LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo pic.twitter.com/kunXW0dzH7

— Kabir Iyengar (@kabiriyengar) March 15, 2016

Future Tattoo Regret Syndrome.#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo#p2 pic.twitter.com/doOcdIX0IW

— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) March 15, 2016

But let’s also remember:

#LetsBlamePOTUSForThisToo Low unemployment. Low gas prices. Health care for all Americans. Ended Iraq & Afghan wars. Marriage equality.

— Lisa Bee (@lisabenjamin) March 15, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post We Have Obama to Blame for Cat Videos & Drake v. Meek Mill, Says Twitter appeared first on Law Street.

I was so distracted during Trump’s speech that I almost missed it entirely. No, it wasn’t from looking at videos on my computer or even using my phone…it was because I was fixated on Chris Christie, nestled in the back left-hand corner of the TV screen, who looked far from okay.

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump addressed a crowd in Florida after garnering some lofty Super Tuesday wins. Former presidential hopeful and current governor of New Jersey Chris Christie introduced Trump, but it wasn’t the introduction that made observers concerned for Christie’s safety.

It was in the time after he spoke, while Trump gave his spiel, when it happened. Christie stood behind Trump, expressionless, gazing off into the distance as if to ponder why he had made the decision to speak at the rally.

.@ChrisChristie just gave what looked like a coerced confession.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 2, 2016

Chris Christie trying to figure out how the hell this happened to him https://t.co/5buKrSM9pG

— Nick Robinson (@Babylonian) March 2, 2016

He looked like he was forced to be there, and his strange mannerisms quickly manifested themselves into a meme all over Twitter–trending with #FreeChrisChristie.

Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri put it best:

“Chris Christie spent the entire speech screaming wordlessly. I have never seen someone scream so loudly without using his mouth before. It would have been remarkable if it had not been so terrifying.”

— Matt Viser (@mviser) March 2, 2016

So lifeless, yet so full of regret.

Many have likened his appearance and strange facial expressions to that of a hostage video.

My gooodness Chris Christie looks like he’s appearing in a hostage video. #SuperTuesday

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 2, 2016

Gonna need Chris Christie to hold up a copy of today’s newspaper to prove this is not a prerecorded hologram hostage video

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) March 2, 2016

Christie endorsed “Mr. Trump” this past Friday, a move that shocked many after he had been so critical of the front-runner’s tactics and rhetoric.

As a man who had once said Trump was running not for commander-in-chief but instead for “entertainer-in-chief,” his comments Tuesday night were, to put it mildly, a complete 180.

There’s just one question on Chris Christie’s mind. #SuperTuesdaypic.twitter.com/sSDnCXgxBE

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) March 2, 2016

Maybe it’s because the New Hampshire Union Leader recently apologized for endorsing Christie, or because six New Jersey newspapers just asked for his resignation. Maybe we’ll never know. Regardless of what was really going through his head during the speech, we are worried about you Chris Christie.

SEE IT: The many faces of @GovChristiehttps://t.co/GzmrwggTfzpic.twitter.com/T4Vod1wjwk

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 2, 2016

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Is Chris Christie Okay? appeared first on Law Street.

This election year is the year of the conspiracy: Antonin Scalia’s lack of autopsy prompted some to think he was murdered by President Barack Obama, Donald Trump is supposedly part of the Democratic Party’s attempt to  infiltrate the GOP to make it destroy itself, and now some people are theorizing that Ted Cruz is none other than the Zodiac Killer.

The Zodiac Killer… we all know him as the infamous and mysterious serial killer who wreaked havoc in California in the 1960s and early 70s–who killed five people for sure but may have killed as many as 37. The killer also sent letters to California papers with coded messages, referring to himself as “Zodiac.”

A tweet in 2013 seems to be the origin of the theory, according to the Daily Dot, which traced the meme.

#CPAC Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: ‘This Is The Zodiac Speaking’

— Red Pill America (@RedPillAmerica) March 14, 2013

As Cruz became more famous so did the theory. There is even a hashtag dedicated to the similarities between the two: #ZodiacTed.

Wake up America #ZodiacTedpic.twitter.com/l7qqqXpDQk

— Griffin (@NotGriffinNope) February 2, 2016

This was an amazing moment from the #GOPDebate tonight. #ZodiacTedpic.twitter.com/4DUgyxAo2k

— Bill Wetzel (@billthebutcher2) February 26, 2016

People are starting to finally ask the real questions, like: if he isn’t the Zodiac killer, then why hasn’t he denied it?

If Ted Cruz isn’t the Zodiac Killer, then why hasn’t he denied it? https://t.co/jCm2uRWOux#ZodiacTedpic.twitter.com/3EWcxDoecx

— Esquire Magazine (@esquire) February 25, 2016

Public Policy Polling, a polling firm that made a name for itself by adding funny questions onto the end of its surveys, included a question about Ted being the Zodiac Killer in a recent poll in Florida.

We are finding many Floridians can not rule out the possibility, although few are convinced of guilt https://t.co/OPsWIl97Sy

— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) February 25, 2016

According to PPP, nearly 40 percent of respondents think it’s possible that Cruz is the famous serial killer–10 percent believe for sure that they are one in the same, and 28 percent just aren’t sure yet. On the other hand, 62 percent of Floridians don’t believe he is the Zodiac Killer (well, +/- the 3.1 percent margin of error).

Maybe they just haven’t seen the evidence yet.

Unfortunately, as the Washington Post reports, Ted Cruz is probably too young to be the Zodiac Killer. The first confirmed killing was back in 1968 when Cruz was a young negative two years old–according to his released birth certificate. But those things can be modified, right?

Ted Cruz also just wasn’t in the right place at the right time. He was born in Canada and the killings took place in California. And as a youngin, creating a cipher would probably have been far too advanced. However, what if the cipher was really just a bunch of baby babble? (Is that why it still hasn’t been broken?!)

I have no choice, though, to say that Ted Cruz is likely NOT the Zodiac Killer, but until he denies it, we really can’t rule it out completely.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Ted Cruz Hasn’t Denied that He is the Zodiac Killer appeared first on Law Street.

We’re not even a full month into the new year yet, but without a doubt the armed Oregon protestors (aka terrorists) occupying a federal wildlife refuge building are poised to go down as the most mocked protest of 2016.

Why?

Well, for several reasons:

1. Their prolonged efforts to force the freedom of two local ranchers convicted of arson are pointless.
2. The federal government clearly has no intention of handing over federal lands to local authorities, per their request.
3. They forgot to bring the one essential thing they’d need to keep their lengthy stand going–food.

The OR militants have updated their wish list. pic.twitter.com/ZmDB3XC4Ag

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) January 9, 2016

After realizing their error, the Oregon militiamen desperately took to social media to beg supporters for snacks. Once they presumably started receiving care packages from sympathizers, the protestors expanded their wish list to include luxuries like shampoo, french vanilla creamer, digital cameras, oven cleaner, and cigarettes.

People responded by sending dildos instead.

Oregon militia member Jon Ritzheimer scolded the sex toy-givers in a Facebook video message, in which he dramatically flung a pile of dicks on the floor.

Ritzheimer wrote,

It’s sad that there are people who would spend this kind of money on this rather than spending it to do good in the world. I’m done living in fear of an oppressing force.

Clearly, this guy can’t take a joke.

But package senders shouldn’t take it too personally, since he’s probably more pissed about the $70,000 a day a judge says he’ll order the group to pay in order to reimburse Harney County for security costs related to the ongoing occupation.

I’m still baffled as to why authorities aren’t being more aggressive in expunging the armed ranchers. However, recent reports claim the standoff could be nearing its end as occupiers prepare to hold a meeting explaining their exit strategy.

Needless to say, if these guys want to preserve what’s left of their dignity and their wallets, they should pack up their protest (and dildos) and head home.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Oregon Militiamen Ask for Snacks, Get Dildos Instead appeared first on Law Street.

It’s an interesting case that refuses to die. Described by NPR as “the legal saga of the monkey selfie,” U.S. District Judge William Orrick just issued a provisional opinion that a macaque named Naruto can’t legally copyright some selfies he snapped in a nature reserve in 2011.

The pictures in question do have all the attributes of a selfie.

Judge rules on whether monkey owns rights to famous “monkey selfie” photographs https://t.co/b6vY3jDLiupic.twitter.com/bSNKXtdivi

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 7, 2016

They were taken with wildlife photographer David Slater’s camera, in a wildlife reservation on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. However, Slater wasn’t the one who “took” the pictures, Naruto did. PETA, who filed the lawsuit on Naruto’s behalf, claimed that the monkey knew what he was doing. The lawsuit argues that Naruto had seen guests to the reserve taking photos, and that his actions included “purposely pushing the shutter release multiple times (and) understanding the cause-and-effect relationship between pressing the shutter release, the noise of the shutter, and the change to his reflection in the camera lens.”

But Slater claims that he has the rights to the pictures, and that he was holding onto the tripod while Naruto took the photos. He used it in a 2014 book of wildlife photography, and has a British copyright license for it. But some media sites, including Wikipedia, have argued that the photos are public domain because no one owns the copyright.

But despite all that confusion, one thing is clear: Orrick wasn’t going to let PETA get away with filing a copyright on behalf of a monkey. Although a formal opinion will be issued by the judge later, he did issue a provisional opinion Wednesday. Orrick stated: “while Congress and the President can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act.” On that note, the U.S. Copyright Office has actually officially started listing “a photograph taken by a monkey” as something that specifically cannot be copyrighted. 

So, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be seeing an influx of monkey (or for that matter, other animal) copyrights anytime soon. But since monkeys can apparently take selfies, maybe this is a law that Congress will need to consider changing.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Monkeys Can’t Copyright Selfies…Yet appeared first on Law Street.

What do you get when you combine dozens of armed white terrorists and bored employees trolling Twitter the Monday after New Years?

Some puntastic trending hashtags, that’s what!

After news broke that dozens of armed ranchers were occupying a national wildlife refuge in Oregon on a vague mission to fight federal “government tyranny,” it didn’t take long for Twitter users to begin mocking the homegrown terrorists with the clever hashtag #YallQaeda.

We’re not sure who exactly to credit with coining the term, but whoever they are should know that the internet thanks them. Other creative users followed suit with more Jihadist puns such as: #YeeHawdists, #YokelHaram, and my personal favorite #VanillaIsis.

If you don’t have time to surf the web and weed out the inevitable really racist tweets, we’ve collected some of the best from the hashtags for your viewing pleasure below.

Every successful revolution starts with takeover of closed visitor center with gift shop. #OregonUnderAttack #YallQaeda

— Lars Petticord (@fatdownjacket) January 3, 2016

Wow this is really making me sympathetic to the plight of Oregonian ranchers who burn our federal lands to conceal deer poaching. #YallQaeda — summer (@summersumz) January 3, 2016

If your master plan is to overthrow the world’s most powerful government and you attack a remote bird sanctuary you might be #YallQaeda

— annie post (@apwriter) January 4, 2016

White people demanding that land that never belonged to them be returned to them, which is just the white-est. #YallQaeda — Daniel La Spata (@therealDFLS) January 4, 2016

Stop Mobilize and listen #VanillaISIS back w/ a brand new militia BLM grab the land so tightly Illegally graze my cattle nightly #YallQaeda — Tristan R. Salazar (@trslzr) January 3, 2016

The emergence of #VanillaISIS in Oregon sparks fears of radicalizing disaffected hipsters in Portland. — Khaled Bey (@KhaledBeydoun) January 4, 2016

Sorry folks. No coffee being sold this morning. The #YeeHawdists say our Starbucks beans are too liberal for consumption. #YallQaeda — Malheur Gift Shop (@MalheurGiftShop) January 4, 2016

Don’t worry Oregon I’ve got this one covered. #YallQaeda pic.twitter.com/76vCf0NZiL — Philip H. Beauregard (@fundatoris) January 3, 2016

Dumb dumb dumb da da dumb dumb. Dumb dumb dumb dumb da da dumb dumb #VanillaIsis baby! — W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) January 3, 2016

The difference between a militiaman and a terrorist #YallQueda #YokelHaram #BLM pic.twitter.com/OHcmgXhJBN — Peacebird (@Peacebird9) January 4, 2016

Apparently I owe Hillary an apology. Turns out I’ve been featured prominently in several #YallQaeda and #VanillaISIS recruitment videos — Donald J. Drumpf (@RealDonalDrumpf) January 4, 2016

True fact: #YeeHawdists believe that when the die defending their homeland, 72 Vestal strippers named Brandi await them in heaven #YallQaeda — Drew Gibson (@SuppressThis) January 4, 2016

“What do we want? Ambiguous land rights! When do we want it? After we takeover a forest!” – #YallQaeda #VanillaISIS and the #YeeHawdists — ñïčk (@dongleganger) January 4, 2016

#YallQaeda #YeeHawdists #VanillaISIS next thing you know, Shania law pic.twitter.com/3SKZwY2rUh — Kas Thomas (@kasthomas) January 4, 2016

Whoever came up with #YallQaeda and #YeeHawdists–you are welcome in my house. — Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) January 4, 2016

If all of those fantastic Vanilla Ice puns left you craving a bit of 90s nostalgia, feel free to liven up your post-holiday slump with the global hit that skyrocketed him to one-hit-wonderdom. Happy Monday everyone!

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Twitter Mocks Oregon Gunman with #YallQaeda and #VanillaIsis appeared first on Law Street.

On Monday, while touring Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, Pope Francis gave a heartfelt speech to a crowded mosque where he spoke of unity saying, “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.” However, it wasn’t the speech that resonated most with people, but the photo of him speaking that went viral.

An image of the Pope gesturing while cupping a microphone quickly began to circulate social media, and it didn’t take long before users started saying the picture looked like the pope was prepping to spit a few rap bars.

Cue #PopeBars.

People quickly started using the picture and the trending hashtag to showcase some of their favorite papal-themed rap lyrics–and yes, they were hilarious. So without further ado, check out the slideshow below for ten of the top papal-themed rap lyrics from the hashtag.

#PopeBars I like it when you call me Big Papal (Throw your hands in the air, if youse a true pray-er) pic.twitter.com/tBiEUXCFMx

— BigHeadSports (@BigHeadSports) November 30, 2015

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post #PopeBars: Pope Francis Sparks Viral Lyrical Hashtag appeared first on Law Street.

A 21-year-old Irish comedian has skyrocketed to internet fame after posting a hilarious long-winded open letter to ISIS that has gone viral. Finchie Cova penned the 800+ word letter on his Facebook after the terrorist organization announced last week that it plans to attack Ireland, labeling it “Europe’s weakest link.”

Irishman writes open letter to ISIS warning dire consequences if they destroy a single pub. https://t.co/iSfcmM0ki3 pic.twitter.com/E9uiFgjlO7

— someecards (@someecards) November 30, 2015

In the letter Finchie explains to ISIS that he and his countrymen are “only here for the craic” (aka good times) and that Ireland is too neutral to join a fight they “clearly don’t want to be apart of.” But if for some reason the terrorists still plan to come to Ireland and “piss in their cornflakes”, he has a slew of a tips on how to proceed, i.e. don’t even think about bombing any pubs or Leo Burdocks!

Finchie’s effort to make light of the situation quickly resonated with others, causing it to to be shared more than 22,000 times and liked by more than 300 people so far. So if you need a nice post-Thanksgiving afternoon pick-me-up keep reading and enjoy.

The letter in full reads:

So after the past few weeks of shite that’s been floating around on Facebook iv tried to stay out of it. But I can’t, not anymore. Finchie needs to speak.

MY OPEN LETTER TO ISIS

What’s the craic lads! I don’t think we have officially met. Finchie here from Ireland, we are that non aggravating, laid back post English island to the west of the bullshit.

So how’s yourself? Been busy I hope. I see from the shallow media outlets and “copy paste” fear posting on social media that ye have been up to your neck in it the past few months. Good for you!

Sorry to be bothering ye boys while ye are busy planning the world’s biggest burning man festival in the name of Alan, (or what ever he’s called) but something has come to our attention to past few days that we need to have a quick “chat” about it.

What’s this I hear about ye adding us to a list of countries called “The Global Coalition” in some mad 80’s themed propaganda video? Ah lads come on will ya, shtep down from 3 legged horse now for a second and rewind the cassette cuz I think ye got it wrong.

First of all, lads were only here for the craic! We have been through too much shite hawking over the past couple of thousand years to be goin all “rouge and shit” and joining in fights we clearly don’t want to be part of. It’s like when a fisht fight breaks out in primary school between Vince and Iano Kelly. Most of us just watch, shout a bit and kick a bin to make noise or whatever, but we don’t bother getting involved (well Vince is English so any sly opportunity for a shneaky kick to the shins and were all over it) we couldn’t be arsed with the hole thing, we’re simply too laid back.

Now keeping that in mind let me let you in on a few tips if you do decide to come over here and piss in our cornflakes.

Don’t judge us on the actions of the lads across the pond. We don’t like that craic. I get that ye have yer fight an all, but dont drag us into it, we don’t give a left bollock for Alan and what he tells ye to do.

Sharon’s law, (or whatever it is) won’t work here. I know a Sharon, and she’s a cunt. We don’t like her either.

Don’t bomb our shit. We just finished building it back after breaking free from the very enemy you also have on your hit list. (if you want tho you can destroy leitrim, absolute shitehole lads I’m not joking)

We have more than one army. 1 official army (actually went training in north cork recently to prepare for your arrival. And yes north cork is exactly like Damascus, especially fermoy on a Friday night).

We also have a few non official, highly secretive, multi talented armies all with the same name (you get used to it after a while) who hate each other but have one very important thing in common…all mad bastards. Let that sink in

By the way the unofficial armies are all trained in guerrilla warfare. Meaning your fucked. Like actually fucked. Unless you want to buy weapons, then some of them will turn a blind eye to ” the cause” and sell ya a few AKs while you visit.

Don’t even think about blowing up Leo Burdocks!!! Consider this your harshest warning!

If any single pub is damaged during your short stay here, we will consider this an act of war!!! And we praise to our God Arthur, we will strike down on you with great vengeance and furious anger on those who attempt to destroy our drinking patterns during a time of crises!.

On a final note, remember these and you should be fine:

1. Offies close at ten
2. Don’t leave the immersion on
3. PM me for Bono’s address
4. Don’t bomb shit when the toy show is on
5. Start with leitrim
6. If your looking for virgins you won’t find any on Harcourt street
7. Get a Tesco clubcard. Trust me.
8. If you want to blow up a stadium, go to dalymount please.
9. Go to a water protest, they don’t judge you for where your from, just if you pay or not.
10. Finally, if asked for change, eyes down and keep Fucking walking!

So ISIS its good to meet you. Do yourself a favour and us, stay where you are. You don’t want to come here, were not bothered with the issues you have.

But if you do, we will beat the shit out of all of you using mammies wooden spoon, kilkenny hurlers and the bouncers from the copper faced Jack’s.

Yours unintentionally

Finchie and the rest of Ireland

EDIT: offaly, offaly too!

Clearly Finchie is enjoying his 15 minutes, taking the time to post a screenshot of an ISIS Google search on his Facebook accompanied by the caption,

Google: ISIS

Results: Finchie

Troll level: 1,000,000

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Finchie Cova: Irish Comedian Pens Hilarious Open Letter to ISIS appeared first on Law Street.

Here at Law Street, we do a run-down of the best legal tweets each week. Check out this week’s best legal social media quips in the slideshow below:

A Bad Combo

To state the obvious, baseball playoffs and rapidly approaching homicide trials are a bad combination. #lawyerproblems

— Alison Craig (@lawandchocolate) October 13, 2015

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Best Legal Tweets of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

South African comedian Trevor Noah really seems to be coming into his own as the new host of the “Daily Show.” Fresh faced and full of “millennial approved” banter, Noah has confidently revamped the hit satirical news show, while frequently paying homage to his famed predecessor, silver fox Jon Stewart.

However, during last night’s show Noah managed to outdo himself by perfectly tackling two heated issues currently center stage in American politics–abortion and gun control. In the video clip below, Noah criticized “pro-life” GOP primary candidates that fail to fight for gun control, which is also another potentially life-saving measure.

Noah said that “when it comes to restricting access to abortion, they’re killing it.” And he’s right, they are. Despite abortion being legal, anti-abortionists have managed to impose intrusive mandates in some states, such as forced vaginal ultrasounds and mandatory three-day waiting times, that aim to make obtaining an abortion more difficult.

Noah goes on to say,

It’s truly amazing how much the pro-lifers have been able to accomplish in the anti abortion fight. Just imagine what they could do with an issue where the facts are actually on their side?

 

At this point the segment truly came to life. Noah began by presenting scenarios where pro-lifers negatively addressed efforts to promote gun violence, and then asked “imagine if we could bring some of that pro-life passion into being more pro-life.” He then started swapping in pro-life soundbites from the same candidates as appropriate alternative responses to mass shootings.

Noah’s newscast ended on a somber note with this powerful closing message:

The point is, if pro-lifers would just redirect their power towards gun violence, the amount of lives they could save would reach superhero levels. They just need to have superheros’ total dedication to life, because right now they’re more like comic book collectors–human life only holds value until you take it out of the package and then its worth nothing.

However, not everyone was crazy about the clip. Vox argued that Noah’s segment fails by oversimplifying GOP ideals when it comes to gun control. Vox reporter German Lopez writes,

The fault of Noah’s critique of pro-life conservatives who oppose gun control lies in the fact that they don’t believe gun control can save lives. In fact, many gun rights advocates genuinely believe that gun control can get people killed — since without guns, they won’t be able to, for instance, defend themselves from home invaders.

While his point is valid, it doesn’t make Noah’s point any less so. As a comedian on the “Daily Show,” he’s allowed some leeway when it comes to using hyperbolic statements in order to make a point about a current issue at hand. In a little over a week in Stewart’s former chair, he’s making waves by doing just that. As the presidential race continues to heat up, it will be interesting to see what else Trevor Noah has to say.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Trevor Noah Points Out Huge Hypocrisy of Pro-Lifers on Gun Control appeared first on Law Street.

If you ever wondered if spelling, grammar, and punctuation were really important, the answer is yes. Not only will using them make you look halfway literate, it will make law enforcing just that much easier.

You have to be a smooth talker in order to talk your way out of paying a parking ticket on a grammar-cality. Andrea Cammelleri, then, must be one smooth talker.

It’s a Comma Mistake

In Ohio, there are certain types of things that cannot be parked for more than 24 hours in certain spots. The village thought that Cammelleri’s pickup truck was one of those things that could not be parked where she chose. That is why they so happily provided her with a ticket when she failed to follow the whole ‘don’t park here for more than 24 hours’ law that they thought was so clear.

They were apparently wrong–both in that Cammelleri’s truck was not one of the vehicles that made the don’t park here list, and because the law was not as clear as they had assumed.

The reason they thought that Cammelleri was illegally parked was because a pickup truck is a motor vehicle and the way the village reads the law in question, motor vehicles were included in the list of covered things. However, they were missing one vital piece of information to make that assumption true: a comma.

If you have ever gotten into a debate about commas (this is a real thing that happens all the time when you are a writer and/or editor), then you will be happy to know that the debate has finally found its way to court with a definitive, legal answer.

What the law actually says is that motor vehicle campers could not park in the spot for that long. What exactly is a motor vehicle camper? A fancy term for RV? Or just a long way to say camper?

Cammelleri said that she wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew here truck wasn’t one. Therefore that ticket she got for illegally parking should be tossed.

The village had a different argument. Come on, they told the court. It’s pretty obvious we meant to say “motor vehicle, camper” and not “motor vehicle camper.” This woman’s just trying to weasel out of paying up. Let’s just fine her, and use the money to fix the law. (Okay. That last part was completely editorialized.)

Who did the court side with? If you read the headline, and I am assuming you must have in order to have gotten here, then you already know the answer. The court sided with Cammelleri.

Why? They ruled that while contextually the law might be understandable, technically it could be read both ways. If they want the court to interpret the law the way the village does, then they better go change it to be both contextually and technically right. Otherwise, they should start saving their parking tickets for illegally parked motor vehicle campers, whatever those might be.

Proofread or Lose Money

What can you learn from the forgotten comma? If you want to get paid, you better proofread. Otherwise, you miss losing more money than a Macy’s mispriced mailer.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Thank the Grammar Police For This Dismissed Parking Ticket appeared first on Law Street.

Today the Supreme Court handed down an historic ruling on marriage, striking down state laws that ban same-sex marriage. Always one to out-do himself, Justice Scalia delivered a dissenting opinion of immense rhetorical heft, perhaps even better than his Obamacare dissent. Here are the highlights:

10. “The stuff contained in today’s opinion has to diminish this Court’s reputation for clear thinking and sober analysis.”

Hey, Ginsburg was drunk at ONE State of the Union, don’t hold it against her.

9. “Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court.”

No, I’m pretty sure this guy still rules everything that the light touches.

8. “Hubris is sometimes defined as o’erweening pride; and pride, we know, goeth before the fall.”

Hey, as long as you fall with style, it’s all good.

7. “The opinion is couched in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic.”

Good thing Scalia’s got his glasses on.

6. “But what really astounds is the hubris reflected in today’s judicial Putsch.”

Putsch. noun \ˈpu̇ch\ :  a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government.

Is Ginsburg the Mockingjay?

5. “Buried beneath the mummeries and straining-to-be-memorable passages…”

Yikes. I hope they have some ice at the Supreme Court

4. Referring to the makeup of the Supreme Court: “Not a single South-westerner or even, to tell the truth, a genuine Westerner (California does not count).”

You’re not even real California, just get over it!

3. “…but anyone in a long-lasting marriage will attest that the happy state constricts, rather than expands, what one can prudently say.”

Scalia’s wife may have some words for him when he gets home today.

2. “The substance of today’s decree is not of immense personal importance to me.”

I don’t think he found any.

1. “Ask the nearest hippie?”

Upon inquiry, the hippie responded, “Who’s Antonin Scalia?”

Bonus:  (Huh? How can a better informed understanding of how constitutional imperatives [whatever that means] define [whatever that means] an urgent liberty [never mind], give birth to a right?)

Takeway of the day: Scalia is very confused. And those brackets certainly aren’t helping.

To read more Scalia fun, make sure to check out the Top 10 Most Creative Quotes from Antonin Scalia’s Obamacare Dissent.

Maurin Mwombela

Maurin Mwombela is a member of the University of Pennsylvania class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer 2015. He now blogs for Law Street, focusing on politics. Contact Maurin at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Top 10 Most Creative Quotes From Antonin Scalia’s Marriage Equality Dissent appeared first on Law Street.

Today the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold important provisions of the Affordable Care Act. But in his strongly worded dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia used some of the most creative and entertaining language in Supreme Court history. Here are the top 10 funniest quotes from the dissent:

10. “The Court’s insistence on making a choice that should be made by Congress both aggrandizes judicial power and encourages congressional lassitude.”

I absolutely agree. Not to mention the vociferous remonstrance the Court will face after their incongruous conjecture.

9. “Words no longer have meaning.”

Finally, we can all throw away our dictionaries.

8. “Could anyone maintain with a straight face that §36B is unclear?”

Sorry, I tried my best, but I couldn’t

7. “What are the odds, do you think, that the same slip of the pen occurred in seven separate places?”

Well if we take the number of words written in the bill at 381, 517 and multiply that by the chances of a writing error at 1 in 1000 words, but account for the flux of the earth’s gravitational field using Gauss’s theorem as it pertains to the Capitol Building, then the chances are 1 in 999, BUT multiplying by the chance of it occurring in the exact places where the issue is mentioned using a factorial… it’s not very likely.

6.”We should start calling this law SCOTUScare.”

It does have a nice ring to it, but I don’t know how Obama would feel about that.

5 “Understatement, thy name is an opinion on the Affordable Care Act!” Later, “Impossible possibility, thy name is an opinion on the Affordable Care Act!” (tie)

Rhetorical mastery, thy name is Justice Scalia

4. “A sense of belt-and-suspenders caution.”

I hope the Court isn’t ruling on any fashion issues anytime soon.

3. “The Secretary of Health and Human Services is not a State.” Later, “Because the Secretary is neither one of the 50 States nor the District of Columbia.” (tie)

image courtesy of Gage via Wikipedia

Image Cortesy of Carol Norquist via Flickr

I don’t know. I’m definitely seeing some resemblance here.

2. “Pure Applesauce”

Really, just for me!? No additives or anything!?

1. “The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery…”

It’s jiggery-POkery, not jiggery-poKERY

Bonus Quote:

“Imagine that a university sends around a bulletin reminding every professor to take the ‘interests of graduate students’ into account when setting office hours, but that some professors teach only undergraduates. Would anybody reason that the bulletin implicitly presupposes that every professor has ‘graduate students,’ so that ‘graduate students’ must really mean ‘graduate or undergraduate students’? Surely not.”

Besides how random this reference is, of course not. Professors don’t care about undergraduates.

Maurin Mwombela

Maurin Mwombela is a member of the University of Pennsylvania class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer 2015. He now blogs for Law Street, focusing on politics. Contact Maurin at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Top 10 Most Creative Quotes from Antonin Scalia’s Obamacare Dissent appeared first on Law Street.

It’s been a long, hot week in many parts of the country, but that still hasn’t stopped criminals from doing stupid things. Check out the slideshow of the weirdest arrests below.

Always Be Realistic About Your Skills

Courtesy of Willem van de Kerkhof via Flickr

Alexander Katz, of Logan, Utah, was arrested after he stole a car this week. Unfortunately, the heist didn’t quite go as planned–the car Katz stole was a manual, and he didn’t know how to drive it. His girlfriend, who was underage, was also arrested after the couple ditched the car and ran to gas station to call a cab.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Check out the best of the week from lawyers and law students on Twitter in the slideshow below.

Whistle When Angry

My judge once told me to whistle when angry at work. Feel like a dwarf following Snow White today after so much whistling. #lawyering

— Ryan Ashley (@Ripe_Ryan) June 15, 2015

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Best Legal Tweets of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

What would you do if you almost drowned in molasses? Obviously, you would sue the owners of the cow.

What? That doesn’t make any sense. Well, then, take a minute to read about Thomas Hooten.

The Story

Truck driver Thomas Hooten was driving down the road when he saw John Johnson–and no, that is apparently not an alias–backing his truck onto the highway. Hooten, or Thomas as the case oddly calls him, swerved to avoid Johnson and instead ran smack into a black Angus cow that had, in Hooten’s words, escaped and entered the highway in “the dark of night.” Seems like a rather poetic thing for a cow to do.

Courtesy of Giphy.

The cow did  not survive the accident, and Hooten almost didn’t either. After the hit, the truck rolled over into a ditch and trapped Hooten inside. This on its own was not enough to kill him, but the next part was.

You see, the truck he was driving was filled with molasses, and the molasses started emptying into the cabin of the truck where Hooten was trapped. In other words, the man was drowning in a sea of molasses.

Looking out the window though, Hooten saw his chance to survive when a pair of legs emerged into his vision. He cried for help. The owner of the legs cried back. But not to say help was on the way. Instead, the man decided to go a different route.

“You killed my f**ing cow!” Or maybe just “you killed my cow,” Hooten said were the words yelled at him. He could not be sure which were actually said. And then the man left. I guess he decided to let the man stew in the molasses as a means to think about what he had done to that poor cow.

Luckily, all hope was not lost. The fire department eventually got there to let Hooten go free. And good thing he escaped. If he hadn’t, he would never have been able to file the suit his time in this sticky situation had allowed him to plan. But since he escaped, he got to.

He is suing both Johnson and the cow’s owners for a whole lot:

• Medical affairs
• Lost income
• Physical impairment

And those are just the starters. Add in his wife’s suit for loss of consortium, and you have yourself a big lawsuit.

Final Thoughts

This case has given me a lot to think about, and I am going to share some of these thoughts with you.

• I would hate to die by molasses drowning. It just has to be one of the most embarrassing and least fun ways to go.
• Why was Hooten driving fast enough down this road that he would have to swerve when he saw another car and kill the cow–cows are pretty tough–upon impact? That alone does not seem safe.
• On second thought, at least drowning by molasses would be a tasty way to die.
• Unless, wait. What flavor was it? That would make a huge difference.

Anyway, who knows what will happen next. However, I will say, no matter the outcome, this is a weird story.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Near-Death by Molasses: Driver Sues After Truck Crash appeared first on Law Street.

The June 2015 LSAT is over, and approximately 20,000 people are eagerly–or anxiously, depending on how they did–waiting on their results. In the meantime, users of law school forums like Top Law School (TLS) and PowerScore have created post-test impressions and waiter’s threads to pass the time. In particular, user basedvulpes on TLS launched a “War Stories” thread focusing on funny or unusual events that occurred while taking the LSAT. Check out some of the best ones below.

“Wake Me Up When September Ends” 

Also, there was a dude who showed up to my test in a full suit and bowtie, talking on a cell phone in the hallway. Five minutes before we checked in someone told him that there were no cell phones allowed, so he ran out to his car and ditched it. Then when he went up to check in he didn’t actually have his ticket, just the receipt from his registration. He begged the admins to let him run to a computer lab and print it, but they said it wouldn’t work because of time and because it wouldn’t have a picture. He insisted that he had a picture in his wallet that he could use, and awkwardly stood off to the side emptying the entire contents of his wallet and pockets while the rest of the people checked in. Turns out he didn’t even have a picture. Admins told him to register for October. – Contributed by basedvulpes

“Do It, You Won’t”

In the box that says “Do not write your essay in this box”, I wrote “your essay”. – Contributed by Whnlifegvsulmns

“Bubble Trouble”

another anecdote: proctor yelled at me for bubbling in my name before she finished reading instructions and said she could cancel my score if she were “not being nice.” she swatted the pencil out of the hand of this other student who was doing the same thing. another student got scared and raised his hand to ask about which sections he could bubble in. – Contributed by lsatkillah

“On a First-Name Basis”

On my drivers license, the last letter of my first name is missing because my name has too many letters for them to all fit and on my admission ticket all the letters were there. The proctor checking me in got all worried and had to ask another proctor if this was okay and if I was allowed to take the test. Thankfully it was okay, but I think it was ridiculous that it was almost an issue. – Contributed by JackelJ

“The Hunger Games”

Some jamoake came in just in the nick of time, sat down next to me and proceeded to start munching away at a full burrito whilst we were doing LR. Needless to say the proctors told him to put it away.

Anyway, same thing happened during RC – proctors ask him to put it away.

… During LR2, he gets the burrito (3/4 eaten) out AGAIN, needless to say the proctors went into full-scale meltdown, think their heads were doing cartwheels down Piccadilly Circus by the end. – Contributed by Topszn

Hyunjae Ham

Hyunjae Ham is a member of the University of Maryland Class of 2015 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Hyunjae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Most Ridiculous LSAT Stories of the Year appeared first on Law Street.

I recently went to my cousin’s high school graduation. As I rode with her to the civic center where the grand event would take place, I informed her that I had every intention of embarrassing her by being the person who cheered and whistled (or, since I can’t whistle, making whistle-like sounds) when they called her name despite the fact that they would clearly request at the beginning of the graduation to hold all cheering and applause until the end.

She told me she was fine with me doing this so long as I met one requirement: I could only cheer for her if someone made a lot of noise for any of the graduates before her.

I’d like to take a minute here to thank Emi for being smart. Since she graduated at the top of her class, very few students went before her. Which means that the cheering did not start until later in the program. Which means I kept my big mouth shut when her name was called. And that’s good because apparently you can get in a lot of trouble for screaming like a banshee in the middle of a dignified graduation ceremony.

All Those S’s in Mississippi Must Stand For Sssssshh!

Before Superintendent Jay Foster started reading names at the Senatobia High School graduation, he warned everyone that they better shut up until all the graduates’ names had been read. After all, Mississippi and dignified go hand in hand (is that the first time anybody has ever said that?), and he wanted this dignity reflected in the ceremony.

Now, as a member of a large family, I have been to way too many graduations. I have had to force myself to stay awake through some truly awful speeches and long lists of people of whom I only knew one. I can walk you through the steps of a graduation. And if there is one thing I know, it is that no matter how nicely you ask, there are going to be screamers in the audience.

Courtesy of Giphy.

(Disclaimer: the graduations I attend tend to be at small, Southern, extremely country schools, so if more ritzy schools don’t have this problem, please excuse my ignorance. Also, please excuse my earlier dig at Mississippi, where I am sure people really are generally dignified. But I’m from Alabama, and Mississippi jokes are all we have.)

Anyway, I have yet to hear of a school properly shushing the rowdy crowds that graduations tend to attract. That is, until I learned what Foster did when people disobeyed his direct orders.

You see, Foster was not joking when he told people to hold their applause. A few people must have thought he was, though. Because they cheered. And all sorts of chaos began.

Courtesy of Giphy.

As the ceremony progressed, the people who cheered when told not to cheer were escorted out. Okay. A little tough, but understandable. And it sent others the message. After all, only four people had to be asked to leave. Assuming the graduating class had more than a handful of graduates, that is not all that bad. So mission accomplished, Mr. Foster. Good job!

Wait! You don’t think that was enough punishment? You don’t think it will stop people from cheering at next year’s ceremony? But what else could you possibly do to teach them this valuable lesson on respect?

Hmm. I hadn’t thought about tracking three of them down and going to the police to press charges against them for disturbing the peace. That will teach them!

Foster thought of it, though. And more than just thinking about it, he actually did it.

What Will the Verdict Be?

Can cheering ever lead to an actual charge? (One which, by the way, could be punishable with up to six months in jail and fines of up to $500.)

We may never know. Because on Monday, the school district decided to drop the case–a day before the court appearances were set and more than three weeks after the infamous ceremony. And I don’t know how I feel about this. In order to sort through my feelings, I made a pros and cons list.

Pros of dropping the case:

• The school will not be wasting their own time or that of the defendants and the court with a case they probably do not have much chance of winning. After all, in the words of one of the defendant’s lawyers, “You don’t yell fire in a crowded theater. That said, you are entitled to clap.”
• They will stop getting the bad press associated with their actions, which many for some reason believe to be too harsh.
• They could avoid a lawsuit or two from the harassed cheerers.
• People might think a little bit better about Mississippi in general.
• It is just plain right–and smart–to do.

Cons of dropping the case:  

• People might find out that charges won’t be pressed, and so they might actually risk the wrath of the school district next year and–I don’t even want to think about it–clap in excitement for the accomplishments of somebody they love even if it is rude to the rest of the attendants.

After reviewing my list, I see that there is a clear winner. Should we really be encouraging all those cheerers by not pressing charges against them? I don’t think so. Stop being so soft on these criminals, people. If we let them get away with things like this, we might not ever get a quiet graduation. And that is a thought just not worth contemplating.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Mississippi Superintendent Hates Fun, Presses Charges Against Cheerers appeared first on Law Street.

There are a lot of reasons you should be discrete when you rob people. The most important one is that if you are not, then you might get caught red-underweared. Just ask Taykim Ross, whose flashy undies led to his arrest.

The Fashion Police–or, the Events Leading to Arrest

Taykim Ross has been accused of stealing $200, some electronics, and a pair of blue Air Jordans from an apartment. And once he got his hands on those sneakers, he could not wait to get his feet in them.

So instead of getting out of there as fast as he could, he decided to take a break in the backyard to change shoes. I do not know what he was thinking when he did this, but I have to assume that he thought he was in for a high-speed chase and that the only way for him to run fast enough to escape was if he had on more athletic gear. Perhaps he had previously been wearing sandals. Perhaps, even, that is why he grabbed the shoes in the first place.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Really, it is hard to say what he was thinking. All we can really do is say that he should have thought a little more. Or that maybe he should have nabbed a belt while he was creating his new purloined wardrobe. Because his fashion choices ultimately turned out to be his downfall.

You see, the neighbor of the victim happened to be looking outside that day and happened to see Ross changing kicks. So he shot a picture of him. What was clearer than anything else in the shot was Ross’ prominent red boxers hanging out of his jeans.

Red undies and blue shoes? And perhaps he had on a white shirt. Maybe he was just trying to pull together a patriotic outfit. America is the land of the free to dress how you want, after all. However, in this case, Ross should have been worrying a little less about style and a little more about stealth.

Pull Up Your Pants!–or, How He Was Nabbed

Later that day, Officer Russell Harris was returning from a neighborhood canvas when he noticed a young man being responsible and doing household chores. To be more specific, the boy was taking out the trash.

On most days, Harris would not have thought all that much about such an innocent activity, but this time he did. You see, he noticed something about the kid that made him a little suspicious. Something was flashing in his mind making him believe everything was not alright.

Over the top of the kid’s baggy pants, the officer saw a pair of bright-red underwear. Because this happened to be the same color boxers being worn by the possible robber, Harris had to take a closer look.

Upon examining the picture and the person, the officer determined that it was an exact match. And not with just the underwear. The person was a match as well.

After this embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, Ross was arrested and arraigned on a burglary charge.

Harris said that if Ross had been wearing a belt–or presumably had changed boxers after the theft–he probably would have gone unnoticed; however, apparently the red undies acted like a giant target that even the worst dart player could hit.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Ross, maybe it is time for a makeover because your fashion choices are just plain humiliating. You might not ever be able to live this down, my friend. I hope next time you go shopping, whether at a store or in someone else’s house, you make some better decisions. Follow some fashion guidelines; don’t fly by the seat of your pants.

Dress to Impress–or, What You Can Learn from Ross

Here is what you can take away from poor Ross.

• Always wear a belt. Not only will it make sure your pants don’t fall off if you have to make a quick getaway, they will also protect your showy undies from prying neighbors’ eyes.
• Do not stop for a wardrobe change in the middle of a robbery. If you do, you might give the prying neighbor a perfect shot of your thieving behind.
• After a robbery, change. Lady Macbeth scrubbed her hands to get out a red spot of blood that she imagined was there. So, at the very least, you should take the time to rid yourself of the giant red spot that is going to stick out like a clown’s nose and lead to your arrest.
• Just don’t rob people or commit similar crimes. If stupid criminals have taught us anything it is that there is always a newer and dumber way to commit a crime. So to avoid these embarrassing faux pas, let’s all just stop trying to commit stupid crimes. Also, you know, for moral reasons.

For all of my Friends fans out there, this is the story of the real Red Ross.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Red Underwear is Thief’s Downfall appeared first on Law Street.

The problem with online dating is that it might lead to an STD.

At least, that was the case with a woman who used the It’s Just Lunch dating site where the idea is you might find someone great, but if you don’t then it’s no big deal. After all, it’s just lunch.

In a lawsuit, the unnamed plaintiff found out that it could be a big deal and it was not just lunch when she left the date with Herpes II.

Her Story

Woman goes on date set up by It’s Just Lunch. Date goes well. Woman goes on second date. Date goes really well. Woman confirms that man was STD free, and informs him she is as well. Man and woman ‘enjoy each other’s company’ if you get my meaning. Woman finds out she has Herpes II. So maybe that date did not go as well as she had thought.

Now, after reading this, I am sure you are thinking, wow! I’m never using this dating service, not if they let things like this happen on the dates. I mean, there they are forcing people to have sex on second dates, and they don’t even require STD panels first. What kind of business is that?

The plaintiff in this suit felt the exact same way about the company, which she called the world’s #1 STD service. And since she is stuck with the consequences of the company’s irresponsible actions, she is obviously entitled to the big bucks.

The Court’s Rejection

 In court, It’s Just Lunch came up with a pretty shocking defense that might just shake you to your very core. They do not require you to have sex when you go on one of their outings. I know. If this is true, it changes everything.

Apparently, all they promise their users is a nice lunch with a stranger. If you follow up that lunch with a passionate workout that will burn the calories of the lunch and potentially leave you with a life-long memory of your experience, then that is not on them.

I guess they stop holding your hand after your introduction to the person because they think you are adults. So if you participate in adult activities, that is solely your choice.

The court agreed. It dropped her claim against the company and told her to put all of her eggs in one basket. Win against Norman, the poor, potentially STD-spreading dater, or do not win at all.

 Norman’s Story

Most of this case happened a few years ago (2011-2012 range). However, in an appeal filed earlier this year, we got some new light on the whole who-gave-who-what case.

Norman claims that he had undergone a medical exam not that long before this outing in which he was given the all-good-to-go stamp of approval from his doctor.

The court decided that the fact that he didn’t have Herpes II a couple of months before the fateful date didn’t mean he did not have it at the time of the date. Therefore, they ordered him to get a medical exam to find out his current condition.

Of course, the problem with this is that even if he did not have it then, he could have subsequently caught it. Or maybe she passed it to him. Either way, Norman is probably not going to be using It’s Just Lunch anytime soon–even if none of this was their fault.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Woman Gets STD on Date, Sues Dating Service appeared first on Law Street.

If I were to ever become a thief, my first choice of items to steal probably would not be pasta. I suppose perhaps if I was a really hungry thief and there was a plate of spaghetti sitting right there on a counter with nobody looking at me it would be a different story. But in general, I cannot see myself ever joining the illegal pasta game. So I feel it is pretty safe for me to say that I would definitely never try to steal a trailer filled with thousands of dollars worth of pasta. (Aside: is there some sort of black market for pasta that would make this worth it? I could always be convinced to change my mind if I had the right motivation.)

Apparently, though, these four guys from New Jersey do not have the same life goals as me. Because they were recently arrested for doing just what I would never do: stealing a trailer full of pasta.

Now, if I just had a need to discuss pasta-related crimes, I could have talked about the guys who got caught after robbing a Build-a-Burger in New York when the police followed their trail of macaroni salad, which I’m sure they left in a Hansel-and-Gretel-type plan to eventually find their way back to the Build-a-Burger and return their steal. So, thanks for ruining that act of conscience, police.

However, I’m not as interested in how pasta can foil your robbery attempts as I am in how it might influence you to start a life of crime. Thus, the trailer full of pasta theft.

Here is what happened:

Four men stole a trailer of pasta. Said trailer was parked on the street. Said street contained police doing surveillance. The thieves pulled up to the trailer in a car and a tractor. They hooked the trailer to the tractor and tried to drive away where they were no doubt going to fence the pasta for big bucks.

However, this is where the whole “police surveillance” hurt them: this particular trailer had been reported stolen a few days before the tractor pulled up to haul it away. Ergo why a pasta trailer was getting so much cop scrutiny and why it was so suspicious to see four guys attempt to remove it from its parking spot.

The tractor was pulled over and the men were arrested. Police ask that anyone with more information on this crime come forth with it by calling 908-474-8538. But even if you do not have information on this particular crime, if you just have any information on the pasta theft world in general, please contact me. Because it is really a confusing matter to me. I have to ask again, is there a thriving underground pasta ring out there that would make stealing this many carbs worth it? And if so, why? You know you can buy that stuff fairly inexpensively at most grocery stores, right? It just does not seem worth the jail time, if you ask me.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Men Buck the Atkins Diet Trend, Steal Trailer Full of Pasta appeared first on Law Street.

Something is rotten in the city of Akron, and we finally know what (or rather who…unfortunately we’ve known the what for a while). That’s right, it’s official. After years of reported sightings, elusive behavior, and terrorized citizens, we have finally gotten a real picture of the legendary creature. He does exist, and if you park your car in his territory, he will mark it. So whatever you do, be careful.

Courtesy of Giphy.

I’m not talking about Big Foot, just in case that is where your mind went. Nope. The weirdo that was finally caught on film was the mysterious car pooper–in no way related to the party pooper. The car pooper is a guy who has been terrorizing the Akron, Ohio area for the last three years, using people’s vehicles as his own personal toilet.

Here’s a video clip of an interview with the man who caught the priceless photo–the only image captured of the culprit.

In middle school, my entire school was pulled into a meeting with the vice principal where we were told, “Stop wiping your feces all over the bathroom walls. The janitors shouldn’t have to clean that up.” I remember very clearly thinking how ridiculous it was that we needed to have this conversation at our advanced pre-teen ages. So imagine how I feel about this guy.

Mr. Crapper, which as far as I know is not his real name, has reportedly pooped on at least 19 cars in the last three years. Some of those cars have been defaced more than once, more than twice even. At what point does finding feces on your car in the morning just become part of your regular routine? I hope I never find out. I’ve walked to my car many times before and found something weird that made me say, “What is that crap?” But I have never had the answer to my question actually be crap. I didn’t realize that this was something to be thankful for.

Anyway, if this was not bad enough on its own, if you were unwise enough to leave your door unlocked, you might not find a package on the hood of your car, you might just find one on your passenger seat. So imagine being the person complaining about his bad day because he had to wash crap off of his car that morning, literally, and still not being able to win the worst-story-of-the-day award because some other poor sucker had to scrub crap out of his cloth seats. That’s a smell that cannot be easy to get rid of.

While the culprit had left his mark all over town, he has in the past been as hard to find as the mythical Yeti. Nobody has even gotten a picture. But that all changed earlier this year, when photographic evidence of the man finally surfaced. A man caught him mid-deed in what was hopefully the weirdest photo he has ever taken or will take again. Now that police know who they are hunting it will hopefully not be that long before the cops catch him.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Waking up to find your car has been pooped on (or worse, in) is a crappy way to start your day–and I refuse to apologize for my bad pun here. I hope for the sake of the people in this neighborhood, this man is placed behind bars and given toilet training rehabilitation lessons while he stinks up his cell.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Akron Police One Step Closer to Catching Serial Car-Pooper appeared first on Law Street.

Sometimes, you read about some event and you think, “What?! No way! That’s such a freak occurrence, it could only happen once!” You think this, and then you see Facebook’s related stories and realize that not only did said thing happen once, it happened several times. And then, if you are me, you write about it. That leads us to this week’s topic …

I like to eat as much as the next guy (well, maybe not as much as the next guy if the next guy is any one of the people I’m about to talk about) and when I am really hungry, I get grumpy. I might pout and be snappish and generally act like a five year old, but that is the extent of my ire. I would never attack anyone over food; however, as my Facebook-related stories has pointed out to me, this is a much more common thing than one might think. So here are seven (yes, I have found seven, and I am sure I did not find them all) food fights that you need to know about.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Don’t Mess With Her Pork Chops

A mom in Ohio was arrested earlier this year when she threw knives at her 15-year-old son, hitting his thumb with one badly enough that he had to be taken to the hospital for stiches. What did he do that caused her to get so mad that she threw multiple knives at his head? According to her, he pushed her–which even she admitted did not justify the act. However, if you ask him, he claims there was even a stranger, less justifiable reason: they had an argument about pork chops. Specifically, he had eaten the leftover pork chops and when his hungry mom asked about them, he lied. I guess the lesson here is this: never lie to this woman about eating her food–and also, maybe just don’t eat her food at all.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Fried Chicken Mayhem

Let me start out this one by saying that there is never a good reason to beat up your wife (or girlfriend or husband or boyfriend or pretty much anybody with few exceptions); however, the following has to be one of the worst reasons I have ever heard. A man in Florida was recently arrested for beating up and choking his wife who escaped and called 911. While there were a couple of reasons for his alleged attack, the one that stands out is the fried chicken. The couple got into an argument when the husband accused the wife of not having enough fried chicken leftovers. What exactly do you think is the appropriate amount of fried chicken leftovers one should have?

Beer, Please!

This one is the most bizarre by far: a woman in South Carolina stabbed her common-law husband when he came home on Christmas Eve without beer. Okay. So far this one does not seem any more bizarre than the others. But that’s only because I have not yet told you what she used in the alleged stabbing: a ceramic squirrel. This woman, who does not like to spend Christmas sober, took a ceramic squirrel, hit her husband in the head with it, and then stabbed him in the shoulder and chest. The man had not bought the beer because the store was closed. Maybe this would have been the only good reason to rob a store: to avoid domestic violence by squirrel.

O.J. Syndrome

I feel like all I really need to give you here is the headline about this Louisiana man: Dad Shoots Son in Butt During Fight Over Orange Juice. I mean, wow! (Oh yeah, one last thing I want to add: the 18-year-old son did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, which makes it okay, in my opinion, to laugh at such a weird tale.)

Fiery Italian

I had a horrible roommate in college–well, one of them was horrible, not all of them–and so I know the absolute rage that a bad roommate can cause in a person. That being said, I never once set my horrible roommate on fire. A woman in Florida cannot say the same. And this woman is 33, so we cannot even add on a, ‘stupid immature college kid’ to this horrible story. When this woman found out that her roommate had thrown out her leftover meal of spaghetti and meatballs, which she was saving for later, she doused her roommate in nail polish remover, and then set him on fire.

Sassy Salsa

Courtesy of Giphy.

So here is another stabbing story: a woman in Ohio (Ohio and Florida just keep popping up as places you never want to live if you like to eat) was arrested for stabbing her boyfriend, allegedly over the fact that he ate all of her salsa. For this heinous crime, the woman stabbed him repeatedly with a pen. His injuries were not life-threatening. I hope that salsa was really, really good.

I Want Bacon, I’m Not Faking

This is the story that you are most likely to have already heard about. A woman in Michigan was arrested and convicted of shooting at a McDonald’s that twice forgot to put bacon on her bacon cheeseburger. Apparently the bacon is the most important part of a bacon cheeseburger. The woman was charged with shooting at an occupied building (she shot at the Micky-D’s, not at a person in the restaurant) and carrying a concealed weapon.

So there you have it. Seven good reasons why you should not mess with anybody’s food!

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Top Food Fights Ending in Arrest…Seriously, Food Fight Arrests appeared first on Law Street.

There are a lot of stories about idiots who are wanted for one crime or another who get caught through social media. This might be because the police post their searches on Facebook and people see them and report the fugitives’ whereabouts. It could be the girl who posted a video on YouTube talking about everything she had just stolen. Or the guy who posted a pic of himself siphoning gas from a police car. Basically what this shows us is that many crooks are stupid and arrogant, and the man in this week’s story is no exception.

Christopher Wallace was recently apprehended in his home. This was a big score for the police since they had been looking for him for weeks after linking him to a burglary. How, you wonder, did they finally find him? It actually turned out to be quite easy. He spurred his own downfall by using the app Snapchat.

Wallace is obviously a big fan of the kid’s game Hide and Seek because it was a giant version of this game that he played with the cops. First he sent a Snapchat, which the receiver sent to the cops (never forget that phones are screenshot capable, people, because if you do, you might have some embarrassing Snapchat photos leaked just like this guy). In it, Wallace said he returned to his house. So the police took that as an invitation.

Courtesy of Giphy.

When they got to the Wallace household they were told that he was not, in fact, home. The police were not content at leaving it alone, so they decided to search the premises. That is when they got their next Snapchat message: Wallace knew that the police were searching, and, oh yeah, also, he was hiding in the cabinets.

According to the sheriff office’s Facebook page, “a search of the kitchen cabinets turned up some food, some pots and pans, and also a pair of feet.” Now, I assume that the investigating cops figured one of two things when they saw these mystery feet: either Wallace was guilty of a much worse crime than burglary or else he had not lied in his post and they had just won this weird game of Hide and Seek.

As it turns out, it was the latter. Connected to those feet, as the Facebook page relayed, was Christopher Wallace. As you might imagine, he was quickly arrested.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Peek-a-Boo! Cops Find Crook Who Snapchatted His Location appeared first on Law Street.

Do you need a break? Are you tired of the day-to-day life? Have you and your husband or wife been constantly fighting over the little stuff … and let’s not even get started on the big stuff? If you answered yes to these questions, then you need a vacation. Gideon Putnam Resort is the ideal vacation destination for you. Stay for just one weekend, and your biggest problems will be solved.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Relieve your stress as you are pampered in the luxury spa. Sleep in and wake up for a nice brunch. Then head down to the casino for some additional fun. Plus, go play golf, swim, and hike. They offer it all. And when you leave, they guarantee they will have stopped all of your marital bickering. Just select the divorce package, and you can leave on Sunday marriage-free. No need to worry about all the legal matters–Gideon Putnam will do that for you! See? You can’t fight with your spouse if you don’t have a spouse to fight with!

At Gideon Putnam, a popular wedding location, you can have your marriage come full circle and end it at the beginning. First, go there to get married. And then, when you are ready, go back and get divorced. That’s right: the resort has recently started offering divorces on its premises. You can come cut the tie that binds you to an unwanted spouse even if you got married at some other place. For just $5,000, you can start your new single live in comfort and style.

The idea is that you check in for the weekend (don’t worry: you get your own room), have a stress-free vacation, talk to some mediators, sign some papers, and hopefully leave on Sunday having had a stress-free divorce. They will even do their best to keep you away from all the happy weddings going on during your stay. Who needs a court when you can go to a resort?

Courtesy of Giphy.

While this idea seems pretty bizarre (at least to me), it has been going on in certain resorts in Europe for a while (which I suppose does not necessarily negate its bizarreness). I guess it must be working over there for people to want to move it here. So maybe this unique option is the right thing for you. Next time your spouse is getting on your nerves, do not lose your temper. Take a deep breath, count to ten, and calmly say, “Honey, I think we need a weekend getaway. Have you heard of Gideon Putnam Divorce … errr … I mean Resort?” And then relax: let them take care of the rest!

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Resort Now Offering Vacation Divorce Package appeared first on Law Street.

Jordan Meir of Nebraska thought he found the perfect way to disguise his stash–just mark it up as ‘not weed.’ After all, labeling it as weed is a sure fire way to get caught, so the opposite must be the solution, right? Maybe in the rest of the world, but the cops in Nebraska must be extra smart because this ingenious scheme actually did not end up working in their neck of the woods.

Twenty-one-year-old Meir was cruising around town one night when he was pulled over for suspected drunk driving. He was not worried. Sure, he was riding dirty, but in such a way that he knew he could not be caught. So when the officer saw a sour cream container labeled ‘not weed,’ Meir was probably as surprised as everyone reading his story that, in the words of the cop, containers labeled ‘not weed’ are what they in Nebraska call “a clue.”

Courtesy of Giphy.

When the cop opened it up, it turned out that the container had indeed accidently been mislabeled. Inside was 11 ounces of marijuana. (This really could have been an innocent mistake, by the way. If Meir is anything like me, he probably just reuses containers when he is done with them. When this specific container was first labeled, it probably was not stashing weed, and he just forgot to re-label when he was done.)

Courtesy of Giphy.

Meir admitted that it was his–are you surprised that he was so honest? Whatever gave you the impression that he was a liar?–and was fined $100 and arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

It is a pity that the world has become so dishonest that nobody can trust anybody anymore. I dream of a day when we can see someone’s sour cream tub labeled “not weed,” and just take it for a tub of pot-free sour cream instead of being suspicious and untrusting. I want to live in a world where we can rely on others and take what they tell at face value. I want honesty and trust to be our guiding forces.

But until that day, I probably need to go re-label some sour cream jars…

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Man’s ‘Not Weed’ Label Does Not Fool Nebraska Cops appeared first on Law Street.

Heated arguments over The Dress swept the country this week, pitting couples, friends, and coworkers against each other. So naturally the epic battle of white and gold vs. blue and black hit Congress just the same, and wouldn’t you know it, they don’t agree about the color of The Dress either. Shocking, right? To their credit, they weren’t quite as heated as some of us regular folk, considering they had some actual issues to deal with this week with DHS on the brink of shutdown and continued slow-rolling on Loretta Lynch’s nomination.

Take a look at the slideshow below for a full picture of all the members of Congress who weighed in on Dressgate via Twitter. One thing that seems to unite many of them? A love of giving careful non-answers. But hey, that’s how you get elected, right?

Even experts disagree over #TheDress—see what the two we spoke with have to say: http://t.co/EMg1Z2byID pic.twitter.com/iDfYyUp0aC

— Harper’s Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) February 28, 2015

[SlideDeck2 id=35224 ress=1]

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Know What Else Congress Can’t Agree on? The Dress appeared first on Law Street.

Do you know what is lurking beneath the crawl space of your house? Even if you think you do, you should probably go check because you might find some surprising things. Recently, Dwayne Melton found this out the hard way. You see, buried beneath the belly of his house lay 13 tarantulas. As you might expect, he was horrified when he realized this. There were supposed to be 18 tarantulas hibernating under there. And he would not even have realized that five of his pets had been stolen if he hadn’t gotten a call from the exotic pet store from whence the arachnids had originally been purchased. See? This is why you should do regular crawl space investigations.

Courtesy of Giphy.

(Now, before I say more about this week’s weird story, I have a couple of disclaimers: 1. I went to college in Cobb County where the criminal in this story resides; and 2. I, like most middle school girls, had a pet tarantula when I was growing up. His name was Harry, and I was never so scared in my life as I was the day I learned tarantulas shed their skin, making what appears to a 12-year-old girl a second, cloned tarantula that showed up miraculously overnight.)

A lot of what happened here is unknown as the Cobb County man being charged is still at large; however, what is known is that Melton was going about his day, thinking everything was good and his tarantulas were hibernating peacefully deep below his house. But those spiders were not the only ones that lurked there. A spider thief had found his way to the spider’s den.

This would have been the perfect crime. Since the tarantulas were hibernating, Melton was not checking them as often as he might, and it is possible that by the time the theft was discovered, the thief would have been long gone. However, this particular robber made a fatal flaw that led to him not getting the payback he would have received and might also get him arrested: he went to the local exotic pet store, Animart, to try to sell the tarantulas.

This is something that should go without saying, but I see now that it does, in fact, have to be said: if you steal an exotic pet from someone who is clearly a collector/breeder, do not go to the local exotic pet store to sell them. Go out of town for that.

If a pet is exotic, that probably means it is not as common a household pet, which means that someone who purchased 18 of them from a store is probably a pretty well-known client. Of course, Melton could have gone to another store or purchased them out of town or any number of other things, but why risk it? Make the chance of you getting caught that much lower and just go three towns over or something.

Not doing this is, at least partly, what got this man caught. (I don’t know enough about the tarantula trade to confidently say that no exotic pet store would find it suspicious to have a person try to sell it five tarantulas at once. However, if it wasn’t for the fact that the store knew the owner, I have to imagine it is much less likely this plan would have been foiled.)

When the thief took the animals to Animart, they looked at them, thought they might be Molten’s, and bought them for $60. Does it seem like a life of crime might be for you if money is the result? Well, since the spiders were worth about $60 each, it was not such a good payday for this man.

After the sale, the store called Molten and told him they thought they had his pets and asked him to come ID them (which shows this guy knew what he was doing in the spider world, because to me, one tarantula looks exactly like the one next to it–especially when the one next to it is actually the shell of his old tarantula skin that had been shed). He rushed home to check on his other 13 spiders and found them safe in their containers.

Courtesy of Giphy.

So there you have it, if you want to get rid of your spider problems in a more humane way, just cross your fingers and hope you have a spider thief lurking somewhere underneath your home.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Tarantula Thief Wanted in Georgia appeared first on Law Street.

As Romeo said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” True, Shakespeare, true. However, I am going to pose an argument to you some 400-plus years too late. A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but it might not smell as realistic, plausible, or common. Like when I wrote last week about how Nutella is not a legit name in France unless you are actually a jar of the chocolaty spread. But the same is also true in cases when you try to change your name–say, for example, to have a bunch of fake prescriptions filled–where you might actually want to think twice when picking your new nomenclature. Because I can tell you what might be in a name: a charge for defrauding the government.

Now, I would like to say up front that most of this story is not very funny or amusing because it did lead to a lot of deaths. The tainted steroids discussed in this story allegedly led to the Meningitis outbreak a couple of years ago, where many people died or were sickened; however, this post is focusing on the alleged idiots who got caught, thank goodness, in part by being idiots. (Also, this paragraph is the last time I am going to use the word alleged, so please just insert it throughout the rest of this alleged story.)

A Framingham, Massachusetts pharmacy was linked with giving out bulk fake prescriptions under false names. The cofounder had a good plan on how not to get caught, and wrote it up in an email for the employees. In it, he said, “All names must resemble ‘real’ names… no obviously false names!” Good advice, I say.

So, here are just some of the names that the employees decided were real and not at all false:

• Jennifer Lopez;
• Filet O’Fish;
• Baby Jesus;
• Harry Potter;
• Coco Puff;
• Alec Baldwin;
• Bud Weiser; and
• Samuel Adams.

Courtesy of Giphy.

All of these are clearly real names, as I have heard of every single one of them. (Even Samuel Adams, who is not just a beer but actually a real person and not just in this story. And also, this is not the first time I have had to take the time to explain this as American History classes are apparently not doing their jobs!) So, it is quite shocking that our government caught them when they use such good pseudonyms, right?

Despite how well disguised these fake prescription recipients’ names were, last December, 14 employees were arrested under the charge of defrauding the government, and apparently their names had a part in leading to their arrests.

Courtesy of GIFSoup.

So, kids, the message here is that names are more important than Shakespeare claims. That which we call Chester Cheeto by any other name might make it less obvious that what we are doing is illegal.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Coco Puff and Sam Adams Charged With Defrauding the Government appeared first on Law Street.

College alone these days is very expensive. Now, add grad school on to that, and I don’t care what you are going to make in the profession in which you were just trained, you are going to be in a whole lot of debt when you get out of school. Then, you have to go through the whole resume, interview process. And let’s face it, that is no fun. Which is why I think the teenager in the following story has the right idea: just skip the schooling portion of job placement. And while you are at it, just skip through the whole application process too. How do you do that? Just show up to the place you want to work, and blend in. Probably no one will ask you if you are supposed to be there.

Courtesy of Giphy.

To learn more, let’s examine St. Mary’s Medical Center in, of course, Florida–because that is where all these stories happen. A young doctor was recently escorted out of the building by security because, well he wasn’t actually a doctor so much as a teenage boy wearing a doctor’s coat.

Ok. Well, he tried and didn’t succeed. The way security is these days and the importance of safe hospitals means you couldn’t get away with such a scam for very long.  I mean, like in this story, the kid only got away with posing as a doctor for about 20 or 30…days. That is right. A month.

To be fair to the hospital, he didn’t actually work with patients in his month on staff. In fact, it was when he stepped up his game and actually went into an exam room, with a stethoscope around his neck and a mask on his face, and introduced himself as Doctor Robinson (and didn’t follow it with “I’m not a doctor, I only play one on TV”), that he got caught.

One of the real doctors noticed him and thought something wasn’t right. So he called security, who was surprised that the kid was faking it–as they had seen him around the last few weeks and thought he belonged there.

Here is the thing about this story that makes me feel a little bad about making fun of it: the kid, according to his mother, had an illness for which he had stopped taking medication. And I cannot joke about that. However, here is the part that make me feel perfectly fine joking about it: we know the kid’s excuse for doing this. What was the hospital’s excuse for not catching this kid faster? That I can make fun of.  And that is probably a big part of why the center will not be pressing charges.

This story has been told far and wide, and there is a good chance you have already heard about it. So you might be asking yourself just why I didn’t make that one obvious connection that everyone is making. And I will tell you why. Because everyone is making it, and I want to be a little more unique than that. So I will not say a word. I’ll just leave you with this picture, which will say a thousand words for me:

Courtesy of FanPop.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Doctor Who? Teen Tricks Hospital For an Entire Month appeared first on Law Street.

I have never owned a business. Truthfully, unless it is a business consisting of only me as an employee, I have no interest in owning one; however, there are some basic tenets  that all business owners should follow. For example, have a solid business plan; make sure to know, understand, and follow all applicable employment laws; and never, ever, ever slap your employees with a bearded dragon, especially if you have a video surveillance system set up (though, admittedly, that last one is pretty hard to follow when a dragon is sitting right next to you and an employee is being a sass mouth).

What? You ask. Why in the world are you telling me not to slap people with dragons? You say. That is such an obvious mistake that nobody would do it! You yell. I hate to tell you but you are dead wrong. I can say that people who assume nobody would ever use a dragon to slap another human are wrong all thanks to Benjamin Siegel. So thank you, Siegel, for your contribution to the ridiculousness that I so love to share with others.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Let’s talk a little about this interesting case. It all started (allegedly, of course) when this business-savvy pet store owner decided it would be a good idea to put a bearded dragon in his mouth, swing it around, throw it in the air, and then use it like an eighteenth century dueling glove (in other words, he slapped his employees with it).

Now, if you think this story cannot get weirder, you would once again be mistaken. You see, this is not the first time that Siegel’s store has made the news. A couple of years ago, it rose to fame as that place that held a cockroach-eating contest where the winner choked to death on bug parts. Yes, you read that correctly.

So what is being done to protect cockroaches, dragons, and people from the strange hands (and mouth) of Mr. Siegel? He was taken into custody and now faces charges of battery and animal cruelty. His attorney says he wants to hear all the facts before he comments. I assume this is just in case Mr. Siegel has a good reason for his action; however, short of ‘it wasn’t me,’ which, since it was on video, would be hard to prove, I don’t know that I will buy any excuses here.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Dragon Tails: Bearded Dragon Slapping Leads to Legal Woes appeared first on Law Street.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2015, everyone. It is the time of year that we all make some resolutions that we have no intention of actually keeping. And to help you decide just want you want to resolve to do this coming year, I am going to tell you some of mine. And if you want to avoid the old standards such as losing weight or being a better person, I suggest you take my lead on these.

So, without further ado, here are my 2015 New Year’s resolutions:

1. Don’t be stupid.

When John Doe (since this guy’s name was unreported, I will have to go with the old John Doe pseudonym) was receiving a parking ticket, I guess he got really excited. Who could blame him? Parking tickets are great, right? Anyway, I say this because as he was receiving the ticket, he apparently grabbed it from the officer’s hands really quickly. Too quickly.

Snatching a ticket from an officer is a really stupid thing to do. How do I know this? Well, as Doe was being pushed up against the wall and handcuffed, he asked just what it was he had done to lead to this arrest, and he was told he was being arrested “for being stupid.”

Courtesy of Giphy.

And since I do not want to be arrested, my first New Year’s resolution is to avoid being stupid. Though I fully admit that this is easier said than done.

2. Don’t threaten to kill dinosaurs.

Violence is never the answer. Let’s just be clear about that up front. Which is why writing stories about shooting dinosaurs is just plain wrong. Alex Stone learned this the hard way.

Sixteen-year-old Stone was supposed to write a little bit about himself and a status in the style of a Facebook page. So when the teacher saw that on the page he threatened to shoot his neighbor’s pet dinosaur, she had no choice but to take the threat seriously. After all, this was a nonfiction report, so there was no way this kid could have been making up his desire to kill that dinosaur. And killing pets in youth is the first sign of becoming a sociopath, correct? This was not something to take lightly.

Courtesy of Giphy.

After reading the essay, the teacher immediately reported the incident to the office where the kid was both suspended for a week and arrested for disorderly conduct (though to be fair, the police claim the arrest had nothing to do with the threat to the dinosaur’s life).

Stone is suing. I suppose he just isn’t an animal lover. PETA would not be pleased. And in the manner of many sociopaths, Stone’s mother could not see anything wrong with her son’s conduct. She was quoted as saying something silly along the lines of “we don’t have dinosaurs anymore.”

This story has really opened my eyes to the dinosaur awareness movement. In result, I pledge to not threaten dinosaurs even once in the year 2015.

3. Don’t point bananas at police officers.

Nathan Channing is a funny guy. Or at least he says he is. I’m inclined to think he is right because when I heard his story I did laugh. So basically a cop was driving down the road when Channing decided to take a yellow object out of his pocket, point it in the air, and then point it at the officer. The cop, in fear for his life, called for backup. The backup cop, thinking he was about to be shot, started to pull out his own, non-banana, gun when Channing finally yelled out, “it’s a banana.”

Courtesy of Giphy.

Channing said that he did this because he thought it would be funny and good as a YouTube video. The only problem, other than the whole making police officers think that you have a gun pointed at them, is that Channing did not think to record this future YouTube video. I assume he thought it was going to be acted out later documentary-style a la Drunk History. He claims the reason it wasn’t taped was because this was just the test run; however, he does admit that he now realizes his joke probably wasn’t a really good one.

In honor of Channing’s lately-developed wisdom, I now resolve to not point bananas, or any other gun-looking item, at any law enforcement member.

So there you have it, a complete list of resolutions that I encourage you all to follow. Of course, I’ll probably be doing all of these come mid-January. Especially the dinosaur one. Who can ever keep these resolutions anyway?

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Get Arrested appeared first on Law Street.

Happy New Year! Get ready for a full day of listening to your friends, family, and every D-lister on the morning shows drone on and on about their 2015 resolutions. Diets, new jobs, and all the usual suspects will make the rounds no matter who you talk to, but here are some resolutions celebrities and politicians should be making if they were really being honest with themselves.

Rep. Michael Grimm

Start paying taxes; stop threatening to throw reporters off balconies.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Sony Co-Chair Amy Pascal

Leave racially insensitive comments to unfiltered grandparents during the holidays and not in emails to colleagues.

Latest Sony email hack shows Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal making racist jokes about Obama http://t.co/RrNLdhplvR

— NY Daily News Gossip (@NYDNgossip) December 11, 2014

Justin Bieber

Start the Justin Bieber “Center for Kids Who Can’t Give Depositions Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.” Also, avoid Interpol.  

President Obama

Figure out a way to differentiate the Baltimore Ravens roster from the Freaks and Geeks cast.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Kim Kardashian

Learn how the internet works; determine whether or not it’s actually “breakable.”

The 10 most popular stories of the year on http://t.co/M1Ru3U4Ixe http://t.co/SQUr0yv8JQ pic.twitter.com/OwzDevBv0Y — PAPER Magazine (@papermagazine) December 31, 2014

Zooey Deschanel

Don’t break any more horses.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Sen. Ted Cruz

Stop practicing puppy dog face in mirror. Face is beginning to get stuck that way.

Courtesy of Twitchy.com.

Taylor Swift

Bring back surprised face–people seem to miss it.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Shonda Rhimes

Take over ABC, rename Shondaland. Make sure all programming includes strong female lead with some flaws, an emotional kiss scene, and an improbable natural catasrophe.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Charlie Crist

Track down promised campaign donation from the United Fan Makers of America.

Hon. John Dingell

Keep being awesome.

Proud Michigan resident & dear friend @grahamdavis got a bulldog today and named it Dingell. I see no similarities. pic.twitter.com/aqKwGwMM9Y

— Rep. John Dingell (@john_dingell) October 19, 2014

Mama June Shannon

Take a break from dating.

Courtesy of Giphy.com.

Former Rep. Trey Radel

Stop throwing stones from glass house.

Ya give him a breathalyzer test every-time he votes…duh http://t.co/lX5ojfqnqu — starchy (@me_starchy) December 31, 2014

What other resolutions do you think they should make? Let us know in the comments.

Chelsey D. Goff

Chelsey D. Goff was formerly Chief People Officer at Law Street. She is a Granite State Native who holds a Master of Public Policy in Urban Policy from the George Washington University. She’s passionate about social justice issues, politics — especially those in First in the Nation New Hampshire — and all things Bravo. Contact Chelsey at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post New Year’s Resolutions Celebs & Politicians Should Make for 2015 appeared first on Law Street.

It’s Christmas! And in honor of the spirit of the day, I am going to give you all a present. (For everyone who does not celebrate Christmas, I am still giving you a gift just because it is more fun to give than to receive.) My gift is some free advice that could change your life: do not go to Indiana if you plan on drinking and being annoying. Because that’s illegal.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Now you know those laws that were created four hundred years ago and are never enforced, but also never repealed, so we all like to make fun of them? You know what I’m talking about. Like how in my home state of Alabama, there may or may not be a law against wearing fake mustaches that cause laughter in church. Or how in Arkansas, you can’t keep an alligator in the bathtub (incidentally, famed critic Dorothy Parker once bought two baby alligators and put them in a bathtub while she decided what to do with them. She came home one day to find a note from her ex-maid saying she quit because she “cannot work in a house with alligators” and that she would have told Parker this earlier, but that she “never thought the subject would come up.” So maybe this law is a good idea if you want to keep good help, but I digress … ) The one I’m writing about today is not one of those archaic laws. This one was actually upheld quite recently.

Rodgregus Morgan was drunk when he was arrested, it is true. However, that alone was not why he was arrested. You see, the cops thought that he was being annoying and, really, in Indiana, that is all it takes. Indiana has a public intoxication law – enacted in 2012, so, again, not an archaic one – that says you cannot be drunk in public and harass, annoy, or alarm another person.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Morgan, as mentioned before, was drunk. So when he wouldn’t leave the bus shelter where he had fallen asleep, even though a cop asked him to do so, he was arrested because, well, that is just plain annoying, right? I mean, it really annoys me when people don’t do what I ask.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Morgan had a different take on the matter: he “wasn’t being annoying;” he was “waiting for the bus.” Hmm. That’s harder to classify as annoying, but I can try to make it work. Maybe the bus would have been really overcrowded and let’s face it, when I cannot get a seat and have to stand, that’s pretty annoying. But would that really be Morgan’s fault? Or is it a product of the situation itself?

At any rate, let’s see what the courts have to say about this situation. Well, an appeals court said annoying is too hard to define, and so they overturned the conviction. I’d disagree with this ruling. I may not be able to give annoyingness a concrete definition, but, like pornography, I for sure know it when I see it.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Luckily, we can move on to the Indiana Supreme Court to find some common sense. In that high court, they basically agreed with me. Which, in my book, makes them the exact opposite of annoying, because I am always right. They said that you can tell what being annoying is by using the reasonable person test and that the statute was perfectly legit. However, they then said that Morgan wasn’t being annoying and so they dropped his conviction. But that is actually beside the point in this morale tale. The point, of course, being that you can be arrested for being drunk and annoying. Which means that many people I know should stay far away from this state because I know a heck of a lot of annoying drunks.

Anyway, I hope everyone has benefited from my present whether or not you are celebrating today. And for the many of you who found a paid vacation to Indiana as your stocking stuffer, I am sorry if I put a damper on your exciting present.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Annoying Drunks: Stay Far Away From Indiana appeared first on Law Street.

It’s Christmas time. And that means it is the best time of the year to go shopping. No crowded stores, no long lines, no fighting over a pair of on-sale shoes that I want to buy someone–definitely not myself, though, all my Christmas shopping is for my loved ones–with a lady who also wants to buy those shoes for someone–definitely not herself. Oh wait! That doesn’t sound like any Christmas shopping that I have ever done. Mine sounds more like this story (which took place in January 2011 not at Christmas, but which stills sounds like something that would happen at Christmas).

Frank Maio saw what my sisters would tell you was Princess Parking out in front of a Deerfield Beach shoe store. (Princess Parking, as defined by Urban Dictionary, is “just like rock star parking or prime parking; when one finds the perfect parking spot, right next to or in front of the entrance to wherever he or she is going.”) But when he went to claim the spot, something horrible occurred: Clausel Pierre pulled into the spot first!

Now, we all have experienced and/or caused this event. When it happens to me, I yell things I am not proud of yelling and fume about it for hours while plotting a revenge that I have absolutely no intention of actually enacting as big as I talk. So imagine how much I cheered when I heard what Maio did to handle this situation.

Courtesy of Giphy.

He asked Pierre to move. Tough, right? I wouldn’t have the guts to confront the guy at all; however, that actually was not the end of it. Pierre said no. I mean, he claimed something along the lines of it wasn’t reserved and he got there first and blah blah blah a whole lot of stuff that might have been true but certainly did not get Maio the royal parking spot he felt he deserved. So then he had to go a step farther.

Did I happen to mention that Maio was an off-duty cop who was at the shoe store to do some moonlighting as a security guard? Well, that is exactly what was happening here. And believe me, this cop was not afraid to use his power for his own gain. Park in the spot he wanted? Well, do not think he would be too mature to arrest you for that. Don’t believe me? Ask Pierre. Because yes, he was arrested for parking in the spot this police officer wanted.

Pierre was so confused that he was being arrested, that he called 911. You can listen to a recording of the call below. According to Pierre, the officer not only arrested him, he roughed him up a bit too.

Pierre has been fighting the charges against him (including battery against law enforcement and resisting arrest) for two years and finally he had some success! The charges were dropped (since apparently a judge realized that Maio’s statements over the last couple of years were conflicting); however, Pierre was not throwing a party over his victory. He said he’d been hurt and he wanted payback. So he recently initiated a lawsuit.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Will he win? I don’t know. But I do know that this whole thing has taught me a lesson: when someone takes a spot I think belongs to me, it might seem like a good idea to fight for it, after all, it is the principal of the thing, but if I am still fighting for it years later, it might have been an even better idea to just park a couple of spots down. Oh. And if I ever become a cop, I am going to do my best not to arrest people on trumped up charges no matter how tempting it might be to arrest the person who got in front of me at the grocery store with 500 million items when I only had like two and then wouldn’t let me cut–but I am digressing, because really, abuse of power only comes back to sue you in the long run.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Off-Duty Cop Arrests Man for Taking Parking Spot appeared first on Law Street.

With a name like FastTrain College, you probably expect a top-notch education system along the lines of Harvard or Yale; however, what you apparently get is a different type of top entirely. When FastTrain wants you (so basically if you are a man), it will send out its top admissions officer. And by top officer, I of course mean an exotic dancer dressed provocatively in an effort to lure you into the school. Because every life decision should be made by the size of the breasts and attractiveness of the faces you will see when you get there. (Though since I chose my college strictly on the size of its dorm rooms, I suppose I cannot really judge.)

Courtesy of Giphy.

Strippers aside, the school was not as morally motivated as you might expect from an organization that got you to attend by showing you sexy women. The school had a few questionable practices, too. For example, it would apparently give you a high school diploma if you didn’t have one so that you could attend college, which really is very nice even if it is not legal. Let’s all pretend that the real reason isn’t so that the new high school “graduate” can now apply for student loans that will go to the school to pay for their higher “education.” The school also asked students to lie on their government forms. All in all, it stole a whole lot of government money–meaning millions–which led to an FBI raid, criminal charges against the owner, and an ongoing civil suit.

Courtesy of Giphy.

This is a pretty titillating subject don’t you think? (Yes that pun was intended.) More than 100 students from this now-defunct school (only open a few years) are in default on their loans; however, the students going there during the raid will not have to pay. Because of a closed door provision, the government will do the following to a loan from this time: drop it like it’s hot.

I have a feeling this school will not win its lawsuit and will have to repay the money it took. Lucky for FastTrain, it has a real clear way to collect those fees: strip show on campus!

Here is my advice to prospective college students: do not go to a school that is run by strippers unless you are going to school to become a stripper or a stripper-voyeur. I promise you will not regret this advice as ludicrous as it might seem now.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post BS in Dancing: When Strippers Work Admissions, It Might be a Scam appeared first on Law Street.

I have a quiz for you (don’t worry, it’s only one question, it isn’t math, and it’s multiple choice): If your four pit bulls break through a fence and enter the neighbor’s yard, then kill Bailey the ten-year-old beagle that resides there, what do you do?

a. Apologize.

b. Offer to buy the neighbors a new dog.

c. Both a and b.

d. Sue the neighbors for $1 million.

Now this is kind of a trick question, I have to admit. You see, the answer depends in large part on the type of person you are. If you are anyone in the population other than Emerald White, you will probably choose a, b, or c (or whatever else normal people do when their dogs have just killed another dog). However, if you are Emerald White, you will choose option d.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Before you judge White (and I assume we you are all judging her and calling her crazy), let me tell you her side of the story. You see, she actually has a pretty legitimate claim: she was injured while trying to stop her dogs from killing Bailey. Her injuries were both physical and mental (she says the mental injuries are anxiety, fear, and trepidation, but I think her mental problems are something different entirely), and since her dogs cannot pay for her pain and suffering nor can the beagle, she has to find someone who can pay. Clearly it must be the Bakers, her neighbors.

During the dog attack, White received dog bites and “scratch-type injuries” as would be expected in the midst of this type of an event. She had to pull her dangerous dogs (as subsequently declared by the police) off of the beagle who had the audacity to both live next door and stay in his yard instead of laying around locked up in a kennel where all dogs should have the decency to stay–other than, of course, dangerous pit bulls.

All of this could have been avoided, White claimed, if the Bakers had done their job and kept Bailey better confined. Never mind that they had recently had part of the fence fixed to make it safer and more secure. It was not enough–if it had been, none of this would have happened. I mean, the Bakers had to have known they lived by these four dogs. I assume they were probably doing scary things behind the fence all the time like that dog from The Sandlot. So, since they knew all that, they had a duty to keep Bailey locked up inside because clearly the Whites could not keep dangerous animals inside their house.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Basically the Bakers were just asking for a fight, and White was the one that had to face the consequences when her neighbors got what they wanted. For example, outside of her injuries, she is now required to register her dangerous dogs annually, get a six-foot fence, and pay $100,000 liability on the dogs.

I have some advice for Ms. White. If for some crazy reason you do not win this case, I have someone else you can sue. In 1996, a Kentucky man threw a boomerang that then returned and hit him in the head, so he sued himself and won (and then his insurance had to pay the money, so all in all, it was actually a pretty smart idea by a guy stupid enough to hit himself in the head with a boomerang). Thus, Ms. White, maybe you should take a page from that guy’s book and drop the suit against the Bakers and sue someone who might actually be at fault: yourself.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Woman Sues Neighbors After Her Own Pit Bulls Kill Their Beagle appeared first on Law Street.

Sometimes in life you hear stories to which the only way you can respond is to say, Huh? Maybe even, What? How? Why? I am sure this has happened to all of you before, and everybody should know exactly what I mean. So, this week’s post addresses this very issue with bad lawsuits that make you say all of the above — What? How? Why?

What?!: Me, Myself, and I

A city employee in St. Paul, Minnesota, while performing her duties, hit and damaged Megan Campbell’s car. As most reasonable people would, Campbell expected the city to pay for the damage and, to further this point, she filed a claim asking for reimbursement of it. Sounds reasonable, right? Nobody in his right mind could deny the validity of of this claim. This should be an open-and-shut case, but if I have not already convinced you of this, let me add some details for you.

Megan Campbell, a St. Paul Parks and Rec employee, was driving a supply van for the city when she turned and hit a parked car belonging to one Megan Campbell. Campbell was upset that the city would hire such reckless drivers, and she was angry that Campbell was allowed to drive a city vehicle. Campbell decided that she would not get much from Campbell, so she went after Campbell’s employer.

Courtesy of Giphy.

Following?

In case you are having trouble, let me clear up the details for you: city employee Megan Campbell hit her own personal car while driving a city vehicle and then filed a claim saying she thought the city should pay for the damage since it was a city employee who hit her car. What?

How?!: This Club Is on Fire

Katelyn Sobon is proof that with enough effort you can definitely heat up a dance floor. Sobon was sitting at the Trilogy Nightclub and Hookah Lounge in Philadelphia while people danced wildly on the nearby stripper pole — which, as the club later clarified, was not actually a stripper pole, but a regular pole that patrons — specifically girls — could pose in front of and take pictures looking like a stripper; but, again, it was not a stripper pole. In their gyrating, one of the dancers hit the leg of Sobon’s table, knocking the hookah over and spilling hot coals down the front of her top, causing her breasts to be burnt. I’m sure this is not what she wanted people to mean when they said, “You look hot in that dress.”

Sobon is suing for the pain and embarrassment of the whole situation, but the club manager does not buy it. He wants to know why she has come back to his club several times since the incident, asking for free admission in lieu of a lawsuit — even after she filed — if she was so embarrassed. I don’t know who will win, though I have my guesses, but I do know that Alicia Keys said it best when she sang, “This girl is on fire.” But really, how does stuff like this happen?

Why?!: Micro-Management

When it comes to microwave journalism, you had better do your research. You wouldn’t want to mess that stuff up. The makers of the movie “American Hustle” are learning that lesson the hard way. I’m about to tell you about a scene from the movie, but if you have not seen it, note that this is in no way a spoiler: at one point in the movie, Jennifer Lawrence’s character said she does not believe in the technology behind the microwave. She claimed that contraption just zapped the nutrition out of the food, and she had proof: an article written by Paul Brodeur. She even hands the magazine with the article over to Christian Bale’s character.

Who cares, you ask? I’ll tell you who. Paul Brodeur cares, that’s who. The real journalist behind the real article stomped his foot, crossed his arms over his chest, and said with a poked out lip, Hey! That’s not what I said. You lied! I said that the technology was shaky and unproven not that it zapped out the nutrition. I’m gonna tell on you. Now all the scientists hate me and nobody wants to play with me and it’s all your fault. I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! And then flung himself to the floor before filing a million dollar lawsuit for libel and defamation. (Disclaimer: this is in no way a direct quote or reaction from Paul Brodeur. Mr. Brodeur, please do not sue me. I do not have a million dollars to give you.)

My final thoughts: really, Brodeur, really? Just … why?

Courtesy of Giphy.

So there you have it. The what-how-why stories from the legal world. I just don’t even know what else to say.

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Have an Irrational Hatred of Your Microwave? This Bad Lawsuit’s For You appeared first on Law Street.

My guess is that a lot of you out there — especially those of you in Washington — are suffering from what I call a “political hangover.” It’s a lot like a regular hangover–you wake up in the morning having indulged in a gratuitous amount of your vice (in this case politics), feel groggy and slightly ashamed, and now have to deal with the ramifications. Whether you had a good night or bad, the morning after midterms is bound to be a little rough.

So, here’s a handy-dandy guide to making it through your post-election political hangover. Fair warning, while many of these tips are bipartisan, some apply more directly to those suffering a painful-Democratic-defeat hangover right now.

• Imagine you’re somewhere else

We get to indulge in a pop-culture version of politics that is very different than what the political atmosphere actually looks like. Whether it’s the West Wing, Parks and Rec, House of Cards, or Scandal, maybe today’s the day to indulge in a little bit of fantasy.

Just an example.

• Look at dog videos. Or cats. Or babies? Really, whatever calms you down. 

There’s no better way to get over disappointment and/or exhaustion than by watching something cute to take your mind off of it for a bit. That’s definitely a scientific fact and not a theory that I use to excuse my frequent YouTube watching of puppies frolicking. Anyway, here’s my puppy video of the day for your enjoyment:

• Take a break

This is not me telling you to take a nap at your desk. Unless you work at one of those cool offices with nap pods or something. I mean more in the general sense–take a break from the political coverage. There are some recounts and run-offs, but for the most part nothing big is going to be happening for the next couple of days. Go outside. There are people there. And things to do. Stop refreshing your browser for the elections that have not been called yet.

Because as much as we all obsess over the news and politics, those real people are the reason that we do it. For each of us who sits here arguing over the minutia of education policy, there are countless kids for whom education is the only possible lifeline they might get. We parse quotes from politicians about the economy, and it’s easy to forget about the decent number of people who are unemployed or too demoralized to look for jobs. We obsess over the potential of a recount when a lot of people in our justice system don’t really get second chances.

This isn’t to say that people who follow politics don’t think about the people–I think the vast majority of the time that’s pretty far from the truth. But there is something to be said for the political sensationalism that our modern media allows. At the end of the day, politics and the media that covers it is an industry unto itself. Media outlets, pundits, observers, and sometimes even politicians make money off of their political brand. After the 24/7 media slam of  these elections, the most expensive midterm elections in the history of the U.S., and what will presumably be an exhausting 2016, I can’t imagine that a palate cleanser would be a bad thing.

• Ask, “What’s Next?” 

Many apologies for the double West Wing gif in this article, but I can’t help myself.

There’s a whole new crop of politicians coming to Washington, state capitals, and Governors’ mansions. And I think all that America wants is for them to do something. Granted, I probably won’t like what most of them do, but wow, do we all really need to do something. Partisan gridlock, government shutdowns, and petty politics are all useless.

I’m probably being overly optimistic here, but just remember this: there’s always more work to do. For those of us who were disappointed with what happened last night, we need to keep working. We can’t give up trying to make our voices heard. And for those who were pleased with the election results…show us you earned it.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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