BULLYING – Page 2 – When The Abuser Goes To Work…

Wimpy Women Of The Ivy League

Lia Thomas, a 6-foot-4 transgender woman from the University of Pennsylvania, has become the Ivy League’s 2022 Champion for female swimming, smashing records previously set by biological women.

Thomas previously competed on UP’s men’s team but failed to distinguish himself. Now, as a trans woman who has yet to have gender reassignment surgery, she has risen to the pinnacle of women’s swimming. Onward to the NCAA championships!

How can this be? It might have something to do with Thomas’ pathetic, wimpy female teammates.

Too Fearful To Sign

Sixteen out of 40 female UP swimmers wrote an anonymous letter earlier this month complaining about Thomas’ obvious “unfair advantage over competition” but not a single one of these privileged young women had the guts to sign it.

Can The Richest Man In the World Be Bullied?

Apparently, the richest man in the world is not exempt from bullying.

At least that is how Tesla CEO Elon Musk interprets a Feb. 7 subpoena from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking information about Musk’s compliance with a 2018 settlement that requires Musk’s tweets on “material information about the company” be vetted by company lawyers prior to posting.

Musk clearly has irritated the SEC and, more generally, the Biden administration by controversial opinions that seem to have little, if any, relationship to TESLA.

Freedom Convoy

Musk has exercised what many would consider to be his First Amendment right to communicate with his 63 million followers on Twitter (twice as many as Pres. Biden).

No Immunity For Officials Who Retaliated Against Police Capt’s Free Speech

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that a trio of Wood County, TX, officials must answer charges they conspired to retaliate against a police captain because he exercised his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to deny qualified immunity to the defendants, local Judge Jeff Fletcher, Sheriff Tom Castloo and former District Attorney James Wheeler.

Quitman Police Department Captain Terry Bevill has charged the trio with conspiring to have him fired and arrested for agreeing to a lawyer’s request to sign an affidavit for a friend

Bevill signed the affidavit in his personal capacity to support a venue transfer for the criminal trial of former Wood County Jail Administrator David McGee. Bevill said McGee would not get a fair trial in the county for facilitating the escape of an inmate and tampering with government documents because of the close personal relationship between Castloo, Wheeler and Fletcher.

The affidavit described Belvill “[a]s a longtime resident and law enforcement officer” who was “familiar with the local players and political climate.”

Castloo, Wheeler and Fletcher subsequently demanded Quitman Mayor David Dobbs fire Bevill, allegedly threatening to refuse to take future cases and to deny support for the police department. After pressure from Dobbs, Police Chief Kelly Cole fired Belvill on the grounds he violated a policy that bars police from interfering with courts.

Meanwhile, McGee’s case was not transferred and a jury found him guilty.

What Does The Palin Verdict Really Mean?

Sarah Palin lost her libel trial against The New York Times on Tuesday but a question lingers about whether she was treated fairly.

Palin, a 2008 GOP candidate for vice president, is not beloved by the powers that be. She is a gun-toting hick from Alaska who is not well read and who makes hokie references to “hockey moms” and “lipstick on a pig.” Palin, a former Alaska governor, is especially loathed by Harvard grads and urban elites.

Still, the beauty of the American justice system is that even the most despised are entitled to basic fairness and justice under the law.

It rankles that U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, 78, the semi-retired judge who presided over the trial, announced Monday that Palin had not met the high standard for malice to prevail in the case. He said he would dismiss the case regardless of the jury’s verdict.

The jury was deliberating at the time. Reuters reported Wednesday that jurors received phone notifications that the judge had decided to dismiss the case regardless of their verdict. Clearly Judge Rakoff’s pronouncement could have prejudiced the jury.

Timing Is Everything

It was Judge Rakoff’s job to tell the jury what the law is and the jury’s job to apply the law to the facts in the case.

The jury was in the process of deciding whether the NYT showed actual malice in 2017 when it published a preposterous allegation that a political ad by Palin’s political action committee incited the 2011 shooting of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and 18 others at a constituent meeting in Tucson. Indeed, the editorial said “the link to political incitement was clear.” The editorial was written by two NYT editorial writers and cleared by a NYT fact checker.

Another Nail In The Coffin Of England’s Upper Class?

It’s hard to find a guy with less class than Prince Andrew, who allegedly raped a 17-year old American girl several times in 2001 while he was in his 40s.

When the girl, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, now 38, made public accusations against Andrew in 2015, he denied them. He claimed he couldn’t remember even meeting her, though a photo showed him with his arm around her bare midriff.

After Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit, Andrew, now 61, claimed he could not be held liable because pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who allegedly trafficked Giuffre to Andrew, had entered a settlement with Giuffre in 2009. Although he wasn’t a party to the settlement, Andrew argued that it absolved “other potential defendants” like him. The judge disagreed and set a civil trial date.

Meanwhile, the royals began sweating that Andrew’s difficulties would cast a shadow on the upcoming Platinum Jubilee commemorating his mother, Queen Elizabeth’s, 70 years on the throne in June.

Reuters announced Tuesday that Andrew and Giuffre have reached a settlement in principle. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed but the New York Post reports it was $12 million. The settlement must be approved by the court.

It remains to be seen where the money will come from to pay the settlement, and whether public funds will be used.