Updates!

I was saddened to learn that the lawsuit over the death of Simon the Giant Rabbit has settled. See “Justice for Simon: Giant-Rabbit Case Survives Motion to Dismiss” (May 15, 2018). As a reminder, the approximately four-foot-long Simon died in transit from England to the Iowa State Fair. United Airlines settled with the giant-rabbit breeder, but those who had hoped to exhibit him at the fair filed a lawsuit. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Someone in Nova Scotia called the police recently to report strangers in a neighbor’s house, but it turned out they were from a cleaning company and had just gone to the wrong address. This reminded me of an older case in which somebody also showed up unannounced to perform a service the homeowner hadn’t requested. See “California Authorities Still Puzzled by Mystery Enema” (Sept. 29, 2011). So far as I can tell, though, that one still has never been explained.

In April, former lawyer and briefly successful Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein learned that he would not be getting a reduction in his 50-year prison sentence, despite having cooperated with prosecutors. See, e.g., “Guys, No Drugs at the Office—I’m Trying to Run a Ponzi Scheme Here” (Jan. 4, 2012) (discussing a couple of gems from Rothstein’s deposition). Prosecutors said, and a judge agreed, that Rothstein had not been entirely truthful with them, so the original sentence will stand.

In August 2014 the New York Legislature passed S6903, a bill I had mentioned a few weeks before because the practice it was meant to preclude was so remarkably stupid. See “New York to Ban Tiger Selfies” (June 24, 2014). The law does not specifically ban that practice, actually, but rather makes it illegal for anyone exhibiting a wild animal such as a tiger to allow a member of the public to have direct contact with the same, for photographic or other ridiculous purposes.

More recently, the Kansas Legislature passed HB 2539, which provides that beginning in 2019, any candidate for governor must be a qualified Kansas elector and at least 25 years of age. Previously, the state had virtually no restrictions on who could serve as governor, which became something of an embarrassment after the public became aware of this, resulting in a slate of candidates that included at least six teenagers and a dog. See “Kansas Bill Would Require Governor to Be an Adult Human” (Feb. 14, 2018).

Kansas might have been better off creating a competency requirement instead, because it’s entirely possible they will end up with a governor who is over 25 but a complete buffoon. That would be current Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whose previous claim to fame was running a voter-fraud commission that was shut down because it couldn’t find any, after which he represented himself in a case defending an anti-voter-fraud law and lost very, very badly. See “You Know Trial Went Poorly If the Judge Orders You Back to Law School” (June 22, 2008). Why not give one of the teenagers a shot?

Finally, well over a year has passed since the date that the throne of Great Britain was supposed to change hands, according to the guy in Colorado who took out an ad in the Times of London to say he would be returning shortly to claim his rightful place. See “TAKE HEED AND REJOICE: King Allan of Gondor Hath Returned” (Mar. 2, 2017); see also “More on the Quest of King Allan” (Mar. 3, 2017). If he did return, the current royal family doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Lowering the Bar