Assorted Stupidity #97
- "'That house belongs to me,'" Williams said on the witness stand, wearing a royal blue robe with contrasting red front, a paper crown decorated in gold glitter and a headlamp." (Hawaii Tribune-Herald, October 13) Surprisingly, the jury did not agree.
- It appears that the village of Whitesboro, New York, still does not have a new official seal. See "Village Votes to Keep Poorly Drawn and/or Racist Symbol," Lowering the Bar (Jan. 15, 2016). It has, however, decided to ditch the old one and is reportedly considering a specific proposal designed by a local student. The new design is said to depict a peaceful country scene, devoid of anything that could be mistaken for "a white man throttling an Indian."
- Speaking of throttling Indians, or at least their freedom of speech, Reason magazine reports on a lawsuit challenging an Oklahoma law that forbids marketing art as "American-Indian-made" unless the artist's tribe is on a list maintained by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Peggy Fontenot's tribe is recognized by Virginia but isn't on the BIA's list-though state-recognized tribes are covered by the federal Indian Arts & Crafts Act. "So, Fontenot is an American Indian artist under federal law, but she can't call herself that under Oklahoma state law because of a list maintained by a federal bureaucracy." The lawsuit argues the state law violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause.
- It is of course often necessary to keep people from falsely claiming Native American heritage, as we have discussed before. See "Judge Finds Alleged Indian Tribe to Be 'Complete Sham,'" Lowering the Bar (May 13, 2008); see also "Random Update: Convictions in Sham-Indian Case" (June 29, 2016).
- I don't think I mentioned that despite the United States' purportedly strong stance against illegal immigration, about 1,500 undocumented Americans entered Canada in a single incident this summer. See "Drunk Americans illegally float into Canada," Washington Post (Aug. 24, 2016). The Canadians politely returned them.
- Tip: even if there might be a valid point somewhere in the decision (and I'm not saying there is), you should consider whether another case (or six) making that point might be available before citing Dred Scott v. Sanford, which as the article notes "is often referred to as the worst ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court's history."
- I'd put this guy's "beanie with eyeholes" on the Bad Disguises list except that he pulled it up to reveal his face anyway. Bonus points: the place he tried to rob didn't have any cash on hand, but he did get away with a dongle.
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