The Absurdity of the Hunter Biden Defamation Case
Posted By: Beardo, 7/13/2026 5:45:51 PM
I have taught torts, including defamation for over 30 years, but I have never seen the like of the Hunter Biden defamation case. The defendant made defamatory statements and then just refused to appear. That led to an equally bizarre $1.7 million award by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California to Biden, consisting of just $1 in nominal damages and the rest in punitive damages. Here is the most interesting line of the opinion: “the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation is difficult to calculate.” It may be the single greatest understatement in the history of judicial opinions.
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James Cox Chambers Jr., a prominent US billionaire and activist, was detained in Ibiza under an international warrant. (snip) Chambers Jr. is closely linked to Cox Enterprises, a major US conglomerate with interests in media, automotive, and investments. (snip) The party argues that the warrant is politically motivated, allegedly stemming from the Trump administration’s stance on Chambers Jr.’s left-wing activism and his support for the Palestinian cause. (snip) According to sources close to Chambers Jr. and his supporters, the warrant reportedly accuses him of international money laundering to support terrorist organizations, with potential charges carrying up to 30 years in prison.
I have taught torts, including defamation for over 30 years, but I have never seen the like of the Hunter Biden defamation case. The defendant made defamatory statements and then just refused to appear. That led to an equally bizarre $1.7 million award by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California to Biden, consisting of just $1 in nominal damages and the rest in punitive damages. Here is the most interesting line of the opinion: “the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation is difficult to calculate.” It may be the single greatest understatement in the history of judicial opinions.
This Massachusetts Town Ended Its Shotspotter
Program to 'Protect Migrants,' Now a Man
Is Dead 5 replies
Program to 'Protect Migrants,' Now a Man
Is Dead 5 replies
Back in May, the Cambridge, MA City Council voted to end the city's participation in the ShotSpotter program, a network of microphones that alert authorities to gunshots. It not only helps police catch criminals, it helps first responders locate and save the lives of victims.
The woke Leftists on the City Council did it to protect migrants and Black community members. (snip) Now a Cambridge man is dead, because he was shot and police weren't called for an hour. Xavier Bautista was engaged to be married and had a five-year-old son. He was 32 years old and worked for the Cambridge Department of Public Works.
Earlier this week, we told you how a gay cruise operated by Atlantis Events was denied docking in Turkey precisely because the passengers are gay men. The cruise, which left from Athens on July 5, said it would dock in Cairo, Egypt, instead.
There's just one problem: Egypt denied them, too. (snip) The Scarlet Lady's 2,000 passengers, including the Broadway performer Patti LuPone, woke on Thursday morning to find a note placed under their cabin doors informing them that the ship was urgently looking for alternative ports.
'Early this morning, we were informed that Scarlet Lady has been denied entry into Egyptian waters,
Two teenage boys who identify as girls withdrew their lawsuit in New Hampshire following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld state bans on boys competing in girls' sports.
Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle filed lawsuits against New Hampshire's ban on males competing on female sports teams, and in 2024, they amended their complaint to include a challenge to Trump's executive order last year that aimed to protect females from having to compete against males in sports, the Associated Press reported.
A federal judge had granted a court order that allowed the boys to compete against girls while the case proceeded.
Venezuela, as an oil-producing country, appears to be making its comeback as the Trump administration’s efforts to reform the country’s oil law come to fruition.
The South American country appeared to take another big step in that effort this week when acting President Delcy Rodriguez signed regulations reforming Venezuela's main oil law.
Under the new regulations, the country’s national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), effectively loses control of Venezuela’s vast oil resources.
Under the former communist regime, the country’s oil industry (snip) was producing less than 600,000 barrels of oil a day, (snip) This past May, it was producing nearly 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.
Nearly seven years ago, a campus speech hosted by conservative students featuring famed economist Arthur Laffer abruptly ended as vocal leftwing protesters interrupted his talk and campus police got involved.
Next week, a jury is scheduled to decide if that shutdown in November 2019 was a violation of students’ First Amendment and equal protection rights. (snip) As Young America’s Foundation has previously stated about the controversy: “Instead of removing the disruptors, the university chose to escort Laffer out of his own lecture. The university’s use of a heckler’s veto violates the students’ constitutional rights.”
A new report sparked backlash over the rapid growth of the United Kingdom’s Muslim population.
Muhammad was the top baby name in England and Wales in 2025, the Office for National Statistics posted Thursday. This marks the third year in a row that name topped the charts.
“‘Muhammad’ has comfortably topped the list for the most popular boy name for the third year running,” Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe posted. “You can call me Islamophobic, I really don’t care … This is awful and demonstrates the rapidly changing demographics of our country.”
Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant through her jury room door as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sought to arrest him in a courthouse hallway.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman fined her $5,000, describing the case as a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.
Disgraced Former Milwaukee Judge Hannah
Dugan Was Sentenced Today, and It's a
Miscarriage of Justice 7 replies
Dugan Was Sentenced Today, and It's a
Miscarriage of Justice 7 replies
Disgraced former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah was found guilty in December of one charge of felony obstruction for her role in aiding an illegal alien named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz with evading ICE after Flores-Ruiz appeared in Dugan's courtroom on domestic violence charges.
Before her trial, Dugan had argued she enjoyed judicial immunity for her acts. But after she was convicted, her defense team tried to get the verdict thrown out, then they argued she deserved another trial or a dismissal of the guilty verdict. Federal Judge Lynn Adelmann denied both of those motions, but rescheduled Dugan's June 3 sentencing to today.
A high school in Northern California is pushing back on Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest law that forced it to remove its "Indians" mascot on Wednesday.
In 2024, Newsom signed into law an extension of the California Racial Mascot Act, which prohibits public schools from using "any derogatory Native American term, as defined, as a school or athletic team name, mascot, or nickname" except for schools operated by an Indian tribe or tribal organization or with consent from a federally recognized tribe.
The law officially went into effect on Wednesday, leading Marysville High School to retire its "Indians" mascot after nearly 100 years.
The Smithsonian's Patriotism Problem
15 replies
"Warning: The exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don't want you to love your country." (snip) Yet Anthea Hartig, director of the museum today, has other priorities, including using history as a "prime tool of social justice."
Hartig is white, but rather than punishing herself for her "privilege," she's trying to lay a guilt trip on the whole country, using taxpayer dollars to "problematize" the history she's supposed to preserve.
(snip) can the public trust that responsibility to someone like Hartig, who claims to have been "propped up ... by the cushions of whiteness and the pillows of the bourgeoisie"?
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In the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that left 11 Israeli coaches and athletes dead at the hands of Black September terrorists (bonus question: the Palestinians and which other nation were involved in "Black September?"), Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir unleashed Operation Spring of Youth, a raid on Palestine Liberation Organization camps in Lebanon that killed over 50 terrorists. She also went after the Munich massacre organizers. Operation Wrath of God unleashed Mossad hit squads on Black September terrorists cowering in Europe, under the illusion they were safe there. This operation continued until its final hit on February 14, 1988, in Cyprus. Between nine and 11 key
The Scourge of Teen Takeovers
17 replies
This past Memorial Day, more than 1,000 teens swarmed the blocks around Lake Michigan in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. A resident described the scene: “Hundreds of people were walking and running down our street, jumping on top of cars, twerking, smoking blunts.” One group twerked on the top of a city bus.
At about 9 pm, the Chicago Police Department closed Lake Shore Drive. As sirens wailed, the Hyde Park resident armed himself with bear spray to retrieve something from his car. An hour later, a gunman shot three teens a block from the resident’s home. The suspect remains at large, though police made 13 arrests for illegal gun possession,
Democrats have many problems, not the least of which is an inability to understand, and for some the refusal to accept, basic economics. If they did, there wouldn’t be proposals to raise the federal minimum wage to a preposterous $25 an hour.
House Resolution 8555 would “place the federal minimum wage on a durable path toward a living wage,” requiring “large, highly profitable corporations to lead the transition.” Under its yoke, large employers would have to raise their lowest wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027, a more-than-double spike that would shock the market.
Large companies,
CNBC sounds like a business channel, but it’s really just another liberal channel. When it thinks about the best “states for business,” they’re matching that with what they call “quality of life.” Some measures – health care, crime – make nonpartisan sense, but CNBC adds grades for “inclusiveness,” “protections” against discrimination, anti-gun "reforms," and naturally, “reproductive rights.” They touted their ongoing winner -- Vermont, the Bernie Sanders State: The best states to live in for 2026: No. 1 has a six-year winning streak The best states are the most liberal states? Scott Cohn's report on Minnesota gives you a flavor:
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger says concertgoers want to escape from politics and everyday worries rather than sit through political speeches.
Jagger made the remarks during an interview on The New York Times podcast after being asked about Bruce Springsteen, who has repeatedly used his current tour to lambast President Trump.
Host David Marchese noted that Springsteen “clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth” with audiences before asking Jagger what his own relationship with fans means to him.
Jagger said his priority is giving audiences a break from the outside world.
Carville’s Presidential History Lesson
14 replies
On Saturday former Clinton advisor James Carville took to YouTube and delivered what purported to be a “Presidential History Lesson.” It was a fairly typical Carvillian rant, yet quite revealing about how worried the Democratic establishment is about the damage the DSA insurgency is doing to their party. He begins his diatribe with the 2000 election and insists that every Democrat loss from then on was caused by leftist attacks on the centrist candidates the party nominated. Consequently, George W. Bush won in 2000 because Ralph Nader attacked Al Gore from the left.
Lindsey Graham's sister, Darline Graham
Nordone, set to be tapped to serve out
Senate term 13 replies
Nordone, set to be tapped to serve out
Senate term 13 replies
Washington — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is set to appoint the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister Darline Graham Nordone to finish his Senate term, which ends in January, sources familiar with the decision tell CBS News. McMaster is holding a press conference at 4 p.m. to announce his appointment for the vacant seat left by Graham's death. The replacement will be able to serve until at least Jan. 3, when a new Congress convenes. President Trump, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and others have voiced their support for Nordone. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN that selecting Graham's
Zohran Mamdani Accused of Sabotage: How
NYC’s Mayor Gutted the Biggest US Navy
Parade in 50 Years 13 replies
NYC’s Mayor Gutted the Biggest US Navy
Parade in 50 Years 13 replies
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is facing accusations of undermining what was intended to be the largest U.S. naval parade in 50 years during the Sail4th 250 events celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.Maritime expert, CEO of gCaptain, and a member of the Pentagon Press Corps, John Konrad, alleges that Mamdani’s administration used multiple city agencies to create obstacles, including complicating Navy permits, deploying barricades that misdirected crowds, and shutting down ferry service to the sold-out Governors Island viewing area following a minor overnight storm.
Konrad cites multiple military sources, ranging from O-5 ranks to admirals, in laying out a long string of allegations on X.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham served in Congress for more than three decades, but public disclosure estimates show he died with a modest net worth compared to many of his longtime Washington colleagues. The senator died with a net worth of about $1.4 million, with congressional disclosures from May showing a lower-end estimate of just over $600,000 and an upper estimate of a little more than $2.2 million. Despite serving in Congress for 31 years, Graham ranked at 294th in wealth among the 535 voting members of Congress, according to data from the Quiver Quantitative.
'Jurassic Park' actor Sam Neill dies at 78
11 replies
Actor Sam Neill, known for his roles in the "Jurassic Park" films and "Peaky Blinders," died on Monday, according to his official social media account. He was 78.
"Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life," the statement, which was posted early on Monday, said. "The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free."
Downer Ending? Iconic Hollywood Studio
Considering Ditching Tinseltown for Friendlier Waters 11 replies
Considering Ditching Tinseltown for Friendlier Waters 11 replies
Hollywood has been considered the king of the movie universe for over a hundred years now, influencing world culture, international filmmaking, and even the U.S. presidency (thinking of you, Ronald Reagan).
In recent years, however, the Los Angeles district itself has faced struggles, with the one-party Democrat rule in L.A. and the rest of California makes life more and more miserable for companies trying to actually get things done and make a profit. Production in Hollywood has cratered as more and more studios film overseas or in tax-friendly film havens like North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. Surprisingly, even
‘Princess Moss’ Declares National
Education Association ‘Must be the Most
Powerful Force in America’ 10 replies
Education Association ‘Must be the Most
Powerful Force in America’ 10 replies
National test scores are down to the lowest level since testing began and school spending has shot up, passing $1.1 trillion, while urban schools dole out such lavish benefits to teachers’ unions as six figure salaries, free Ozempic and abortions, and public school students suffer.
‘Princess Moss’, the new president of the NEA, announced that the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union, “can be and must be the most powerful force in America.”
Why make the NEA, which destroyed education for a generation of students during the COVID lockdowns, into the “most powerful force in America”? Is it to help the students? Obviously not.