Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks")
Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth in West Sussex, has accused Disney of “exploiting spirituality” to sell its products and corrupting youth. Even worst, he says that Disneyland is now a modern day pilgrimage site.
Continue reading ‘Un-Worthy: English Cleric Accuses Disney of Corrupting the Youth’
An Arizona appeals court has reinstated an interesting lawsuit by the Havasupai Indians who alleged that researchers at the Arizona State University and University of Arizona misused blood samples taken from members of the northern Arizona tribe. The tribe insists that it agreed to the use of blood samples to look into genetic links with the high incidence of diabetes among its members. The tribe lives in an isolated village lies deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon. Among the claims, the tribe alleges that researchers were using the blood samples to establish that their predecessors migrated to the area — which contradicts the tribe’s religious belief that it originated in the Grand Canyon. The tribe and individual members are seeking $60 million in damages.
I predict palm readers will soon appear in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Alright, I had a little help from a federal court in New Orleans. A court has ruled that the parish prohibition on soothsaying, fortune telling, palm reading, clairvoyance, crystal ball gazing, mind reading, card reading “and the like” is unconstitutional. Now, the parish government has voted to rescind the law and allow the tarot cards to fall. Other cities are following suit in addressing these prohibitions.
California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has officially opened an investigation in the role of the Church of Latter Day Saints in financing and failing to report nonmonetary contributions to support Proposition 8 — the successful resolution that barred same-sex marriage. The investigation was requested Californians Against Hate.
Well-known defense attorney Walter L. Blair, who practiced with the Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and has litigated some high-profile cases, is facing very serious criminal allegations and making some controversial claims in his own defense. Blair, 57, is representing himself after being indicted for money laundering and witness tampering. He is hardly telling his client to take a low profile and avoid public controversy. Blair has filed a lawsuit alleging racism and anti-Jamaican bias is behind the indictment.
Continue reading ‘Well-Known Lawyer Accuses Prosecutors of Racism and Being Anti-Jamaican After Being Indicted for Money Laundering and Other Crimes’
An incredible story has emerged out of New York. Doreen Giuliano, 46, has admitted to assuming a fake identity to seduce Jason Allo, a contractor who lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn who was a juror on her son’s murder trial. Three years ago, John Giuca from Brooklyn was convicted with another man in the 2003 killing of Mark Fisher, a college student from New Jersey who was found beaten and shot five times.
A special education teacher in Providence, Rhode Island set himself on fire after he was fired from Lincoln High School. He had crashed his car into the side of the school and then, pushing away other teachers, dosed himself with gas and set himself ablaze.
Continue reading ‘Rhode Island Teacher Sets Himself on Fire After Being Fired’
People in Kentucky are just now hearing about one of the state’s priorities in fighting terrorism, as stated in the 2006 anti-terrorism law. The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security’s list of core duties includes “stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.” This includes the duty to post a plaque at the Emergency Operations Center praising the Almighty. It is the work of State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, who not only does not appear to accept the separation of church and state but believes that he has every right to use homeland security to advance his religious views.
Continue reading ‘Kentucky Mandates Praise of the Almighty as Homeland Security Priority’
The holiday carnage has begun. An employee at the Long Island Wal-Mart was trampled to death as shoppers stampeded to grab special deals on “Black Friday” after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, the video below shows shoppers at another Wal-Mart fighting each other over the last XBox in the store.
Continue reading ‘Stampeding Shoppers: Holiday Shoppers Kill Wal-Mart Worker’
Carl Roland Hayes, 53, appeared at a city Code enforcement hearing in Tampa, Florida and was tasered twice after becoming upset and allegedly unruly. The controversy turned on the fact that Hayes installed aluminum windows rather than wooden windows in a historic home.
Continue reading ‘Lawyer Tasered at Tampa Hearing’
Five San Antonio officers have been reassigned over racey pictures taken with young women and placed on a MySpace page. The photos, linked below, showed women in suggestive poses.
Continue reading ‘Officers Friendly: Five Officers Reassigned After Posing for Racey Pictures with Women’
The Vatican has warned that omodern technology, such as the internet and mobile phones, could be leading people from salvation. That IPhone may be networking with the Devil by reducing your spiritual advancement regardless of how many time you invoke the almighty in OMG text messages.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff has ruled that a lawsuit by Susan McBride, a Detroit planner, can go to trial on allegations that a co-worker’s perfume made it difficult to breathe and work. The claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act could produce a major new precedent for people claiming chemical sensitivity in working around anyone with cologne or perfume.
Attorney Joe Caramagno has become an Internet sensation after showing up drunk in court (two hours late) and trying to convince the judge in the video below that he can still try the case and “play injured.” Caramagno claimed to have a concussion from an accident despite reports that he smelled of tequila.
Continue reading ‘Video: Las Vegas Attorney Shows Up Drunk in Court and Causes Mistrial in Kidnapping Case’
Iranian justice reached a new low this week with a Sharia court ordering that acid be dropped in the eyes of a man who blinded a woman for spurning his marriage proposals. The man only identified as Majid will be blinded under a system of “qisas” or fair retribution in the medieval system.
Continue reading ‘Iranian Court Orders Acid Dropped in the Eyes of Defendant’
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and thank you for making this blog such a success — and so much fun. We had over a million hits in the first year and continue to grow each month. I hope that you have a litigation free holiday. In celebration, I give you the annual Turkey Tort below and a video of the Palin Turkey slaughter.
What has not been reported in the recent collapse of Attorney General Michael Mukasey is that just before he fainted, Washington State Supreme Court Judge Richard Sanders stood up and called him a tyrant.
Those Badgers fans can be stubborn. Margaret Hiebing went to a Madison football game to watch the Badgers and found another person sitting in her seat so she sat in someone else seat. She would end up tasered and in a wheelchair.
Continue reading ‘Police Taser 54-Year-Old Woman Sitting in Wrong Seat at Football Game’
Police in Zephryhills, Florida have charged Henry Ben Morgan with a felony for obstructing the extinguishment of a fire plus a misdemeanor for resisting arrest when he attempted to run into his burning home to save his pets and put the fire out. The pets perished, his house burned down, and he is now looking at jail time.
South Korean prosecutors this week in South Korea are demanding jail time for Actress Ok So-ri for the crime of adultery. They are seeking a year and a half in prison for an affair under the country’s anti-adultery law.
Continue reading ‘Not OK: Prosecutors Seek To Jail Korean Actress for Adultery’
A Los Angeles jury made it a Happy Thanksgiving for Lori Drew this week by rejected a felony conviction and only convicting the Missouri mother of three minor misdemeanors in the case involving the suicide death of Megan Meier.
Continue reading ‘Lori Drew Convicted of Three Lesser Counts; Spared Felony Conviction’
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has struck down Florida’s ban on the adoption of children by gay people. She found that the law was unconstitutional given the absence of any legal or scientific reason that sexual orientation should be the basis for such a prohibition.
Continue reading ‘Florida Court Strikes Down State Ban on Gay Adoptive Parents’
Meleanie Hain is not a soccer Mom to be trifled with in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Other parents were a bit perturbed when she showed up to guns wearing a holstered pistol to watch her 5-year-old play. She successfully filed Second Amendment challenge after her concealed-weapons permit was revoked by the sheriff.
Continue reading ‘Soccer Mom Successfully Sues to Carry Gun to School Games’
Parents at Condit Elementary School in Claremont, California have forced the kindergarten to bar children from dressing in traditional Thanksgiving outfits as based on racial or ethic stereotypes. After 40 years of this tradition, no one Pilgrim hats, Indian outfits, or bonnets.
Continue reading ‘California Kindergarten Students Told Not to Dress Up for Thanksgiving’
Police in Mamaroneck, New York may need a refresher on basic legal process principles. After Mayor Kathleen Savolt won in court in having a traffic ticket dismissed, Officer Michael Petrillo showed up at her house that night and issued her a new duplicate ticket.
Connecticut Judge E. Curtissa R. Cofield is at the center of a firestorm after an arrest for drunk driving during which she hurled racial epithets at a black police officer. She also succeeded in striking a police cruiser with her BMW. Cofield, who is also black, is now the subject of both a criminal proceeding and a proposed legislative investigation.
Continue reading ‘Connecticut Judge Arrested for Drunk Driving After Hitting Police Cruiser and Hurling Racial Epithets at Black Officer’
Rico Todriquez Wright, 25, was delighted with the popularity of his latest rap song, “Hitting Licks for a Living.” However, one person noticed one line from the song: Living’ and there’s a line that says ‘Chad Blue knows how I shoot’.” Licks is slang for a robbery and Chad Blue was shot in 2006 by Wright. Now, Wright has been given 20 years in jail and 20 years of probation for the crime. The guy who found the song particularly interesting? You guessed it: Chad Blue
Continue reading ‘Bad Rap: Rapper Convicted After Song Incriminates Him in a 2006 Shooting’
The symbolism is perfectly exquisite. President George Bush, who has given out fewer pardons than any modern president, felt that he could not leave office without releasing Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo., who pleaded guilty in 1995 to unlawfully killing three bald eagles in southeast Missouri. Bush is generally viewed as the most hostile president to environmental protections in modern times. His pardons seemed to reflect that profile with another pardon going to a hazardous waste violator who was given a mere probation sentence. I will be discussing the Bush pardons with Rachel Maddow tonight.
Continue reading ‘Bush Pardons Man Who Killed Three Bald Eagles’
In Osaka, Japan, Manabu Mizuta, 35, repeatedly released hundreds of beetle larvae near woman on trains to scare them. He stated “I wanted to see women get scared and shake their legs.” It makes for an interesting case of the definition of assault.
Continue reading ‘Man Arrested for Releasing Hundreds of Worms in Effort to Scare Women on Train’
The murder trial of Lillo Brancato seems like life following fiction for the actor from the Sopranos and The Bronx Tale. Brancato, 32, is accused of killing an off-duty police officer, Daniel Enchautegui, who came upon him and his drug dealer friend, Steven Armento, breaking into an apartment. Armento shot Enchautegui, but the prosecutors are seeking to prove that Brancato knew his friend was armed and therefore shares in his guilt.
Continue reading ‘Wasted Talent: Sopranos Star Lillo Brancato Stands Trial for Murder’
The campaign may be weeks over but the ads for Sarah Palin are about to begin again. A new political action committee has formed and is running the “Thank You Sarah Palin” ad below praising Sarah Palin and thanking her for being her.
False imprisonment cases are relatively rare but Boy George is standing trial in England for the false imprisonment of a male escort. In addition to the crime of false imprisonment, it is possible for Norwegian escort Audun Carlsen, 23, to sue civilly. The trial is unfolding in an appropriately named Snaresbrook Court and Boy George, 47 (whose real name is George O’Dowd) denies the charges.
Continue reading ‘“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”: Boy George Stands Trial for False Imprisonment’
Just when you thought that football star Michael Vick’s reputation could not get any worse than after his conviction for dog fighting, it does. A new report states that Vick personally killed at least seven of his fighting dogs by hanging or drowning. The report also says that Vick failed police polygraph tests in which he denied killing animals.
Continue reading ‘Report: Vicks Personally Hanged and Drowned Dogs’
Phillip Sherman has a super-sized problem. He went to a Fayetteville, Arkansas restaurant and left his cell phone on the table with nude pictures of his wife. While he said the store promised to hold the phone for him, the pictures and embarrassing information appears on the Internet. He is now suing McDonalds for $3 million dollars.
In what may be the first acoustic Eighth Amendment violation for cruel and unusual punishment, Fort Lupton Municipal Judge Paul Sacco has sentenced noise violators to listen to music that they do not like. I can barely stand hearing I Write the Songs once a year in an elevator. I often claw at the door to get out a floor early. On the serious side, it is the latest in a dangerous trend of novel punishments where judges appear to have sport with citizens pulled before them.
Continue reading ‘I Write the Sentence: Judge Sentences Noise Violators to Listen to Barry Manilow’
Waukegan radio station WXLC is being sued after having women compete to go on a date with a “great guy” Travis Harvey, 46. The radio station did not mention that Harvey had been convicted of violating an order for protection. He has now pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the “winner” in the contest, a 24-year-old who went on the date in February 2007.
Continue reading ‘Woman Sues Radio Station for “Win-a-Date” With a Rapist’
The Chinese regime is perfectly happy with sex, guns, and rock ‘n roll. However, it has banned the latest Guns N’ Roses album for one word that is strictly forbidden for Chinese consumers to contemplate, let alone dance to: democracy. The Chinese have banned the new album, “Chinese Democracy” for its offensive content. Here is your Zen for the morning: if a billion Chinese dance to Chinese Democracy, but do not officially hear it– does it make a sound?
Continue reading ‘New Chinese Music Standard: All Beat and No Lyrics’
American elected officials showed a shocking lack of knowledge about government, history, and basic constitutional principles in a national survey. They scored a failing grade of just 44 percent on a basic test of knowledge of our nation in a quiz by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). Average citizens scored 49 percent. Note: many of these people scored less than a random or blind selection of answers — quite an achievement.
Algeria’s highest court (in a country supposedly committed to secular values) has imposed prison sentences on three men caught smoking during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In a purported triumph of the rule of law, the Algiers appeals court reduced the prison sentence from three years to two months. However, the men were still convicted for “offending religion.”
Continue reading ‘Smokin’ Sharia: Men Sentenced to Prison for Lighting Up During Ramadan’
Gary Khera, went with his wife to the Union Mission in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina to give money to charity. The church, however, told him to take off his religious turban while inside the mission — Sir, you have to take your turban off. This is the United States. The Church stands by the demand that religious headwear have the same status as a baseball cap. A typical turban, or dastar, (as shown left) should not be removed by a religious Sikh.
Continue reading ‘North Carolina Church Demands Sikh Remove Turban Before Donating to the Poor’
Tabitha Mullings is suing Brooklyn Hospital Center after a “medical mistake” allegedly led to the loss of all of her limbs during a visit over a simple kidney stone. Mullings was sent home with painkillers, leaving an infection untreated due to the failure to have a blood test performed. She collapsed in a matter of days into a semi-coma, only to wake without any arms or legs.
Continue reading ‘Quadruple Amputee Sues Brooklyn Hospital Center for Malpractice Leading to Loss of All Limbs’
Malaysia’s top Islamic body has banned Muslims from practicing yoga, saying that yoga can corrupt Muslims and introduce them to elements of Hinduism. The decision was made by the National Fatwa Council, which says that yoga is based on elements of Hindu worship and chanting.
Continue reading ‘Staying Fat With Fatwas: Muslim Clerics Embrace Rigidity in Ban on Yoga’
Former Republican legislator Robert A. McKee, 59, has been sentencing to more than three years in prison for possession of child pornography. McKee was not just a First Christian Church trustee and executive director of the Hagerstown Big Brothers Big Sisters — he was a key sponsor of the Child Protection from Predators Act this year.
When Kenyatta Hillman and his friend were stopped by an Orange County deputy sheriff for speeding, he thought it was a simple matter of a ticket. Then the officer spied a new Xbox in the backseat. The officer insisted on checking if the Xbox serial number showed that it was stolen. It wasn’t, but the officer said he wanted to keep it anyway and took off with the Xbox and various games. When Hillman went to retrieve it, the station initially said it had no such item.
Continue reading ‘Police Officer Stops Car for Speeding and Then Takes Driver’s Xbox’
Florida School officials at the Stuart’s Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School had a twelve-year-old Florida student arrested for “deliberately passed gas to disrupt the class.” What is astonishing that that there were not only clueless teachers who would call police on such a matter, but that they found abusive police officers who would make an arrest on such grounds. This is not the first arrest due to flatulence in the first degree.
Continue reading ‘Twelve-Year-Old Student Arrested for Passing Gas in Class’
The good people of Vineland, New Jersey are demanding that an elementary school cafeteria worker and playground monitor be fired from her $5,772 a year part-time job because of her prior work in the adult entertainment industry. Louisa C. Tuck, 32, was known as Crystal Gunns and the parents want her fired despite the fact that her prior job was legal and she has done nothing wrong as a part-time worker. Indeed, the only problem is likely to be the number of father’s crowding the lunchroom in a sudden interest in having a meal with their children.
Continue reading ‘Gunn Control: Parents Demand that Porn Star Be Fired As Lunch Lady’
This video should be a classic for years to come. Gov. Sarah Palin gave an interview this week after giving a turkey the annual reprieve — a photo op that all politicians crave. This is not exactly what they strive for. As she speaks to reporters, look over her shoulder. A man proceeds to slaughter less politically connected turkeys behind her.
Continue reading ‘Talkin’ Turkey: Palin Gives Interview as Man Slaughters Turkeys Behind Her’
In bombshell testimony, Ashley Grills, a co-worker and friend of Lori Drew, admitted under a grand of immunity that it was her idea to set up Megan Meier, 13. Grills also admitted that she was the one who sent the terrible final message that told Meier that the world would be better without her — just before Meier committed suicide.
Sgt. Steve Smith has been fired by East Bank, West Virginia after the city council learned that he had used a taser on a pregnant teenager and a firefighter. Smith was still on probation as a new officer after joining the Kanawha County department less than a year earlier.
Continue reading ‘West Virginia Police Officer Fired After Using Taser on Pregnant Teenager’
Extremist Hindu groups have reportedly offered rewards or bounties on killing Christians in India. There has been a sharp increase in attacks on Christians in India. This controversy has sprung up in England after the government refused to bar entry to members of such groups as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), despite their allegedly offering such bounties as $250 for killing a pastor and other such rewards.
Continue reading ‘Hindu Extremists Offer Rewards to Kill Christians in India’
Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed last night at a Federalist Society dinner. As shown in the video below, he was caught by two nearby men who noticed him slumping at the podium.
Continue reading ‘Mukasey Collapses at Federalist Society Function’
The Supreme Court has refused to grant review of the strange case of Jarek Molski, an advocate for the disabled who has been barred from filing any more lawsuits after bring over 400 complaints under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
The Indian caste system has produced another atrocity and another victim. Manish Kumar, 15, was like any other teenage boy with his first crush. He wrote a love letter to a girl in his village. However, Kumar was from a dairyman community, which is a higher caste than the girl’s washerman community. Accordingly, the dairymen shaved his head, beat him savagely, and (as his mother begged for his life) they threw him under a moving train.
Continue reading ‘Teenage Boy Savagely Murdered In India for Writing Love Letter to Girl From Lower Caste’
One of England’s first black female judges is embroiled in a bizarre fight in the court with her daughter. The case has the English bar all atwitter and has finally reached this side of the pond. Carmen Briscoe-Mitchell, 74, has sued her daughter Constance Briscoe (who is s part-timejudge) for libel over a tell-all book– pitting two judges against each other in a judicial version of Mother Dearest.
Continue reading ‘Mother Jurist: English Judge Sues Barrister Daughter Over Tell-All Book’
This picture sums up how a bad day can become suddenly far worse. This picture is worth seeing to put one’s day into perspective. No matter how bad today may be going, you are not as bad off as this driver. [Warning: the picture has a bad word that I cannot remove].
President George Bush is moving ahead with a new plan to strip away key protections for endangered species to finalize the changes before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. The plan is to remove scientists and experts from using their pesky findings and data to prevent development.
The video below is highly disturbing. It shows adults egging on two crying infant boys to get them to fight each other. An unidentified soldier at Fort Bragg, North Carolina is now under investigation. Alicia Scheideger, the boy’s mother, told ABC News her ex-husband, had custody of her son and she reported him after finding the video.
Continue reading ‘Soldier Under Investigation for “Baby Cockfight”’
Iran has blocked access to more than five million Internet sites in a crackdown on immoral and antisocial viewing. Abdolsamad Khoram Abadi, an advisor to Iran’s prosecutor general, explained that “The enemies seek to assault our religious identity by exploiting the Internet.” Of course, any site catering to post-Sixth Century life would seem to challenge Iranian values at this point. The country has also arrested Hossein Derakhshan, a leading blogger, on the charge of spying for Israel.
Continue reading ‘Surf’s Over: Iran Blocks Millions of Internet Sites and Arrests Iranian “Blogfather”’
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s office had a neat idea of how to arrest Gladwyn Taft Russ III, 42, for threatening his wife. When his father died, they waited until he was putting the casket in the hearse on the way to the cemetery and swooped in to grab him. When they ended up kneeing him in the back and tasering him in front of the shocked mourners, who said that the officers pointed guns and tasers at them. The family canceled the trip to the cemetery.
Continue reading ‘Step Away From the Corpse: Police Taser Pallbearer at Funeral’
Home Depot’s founder Bernie Marcus appears done building a customer base. In a conference call, Marcus said that retailers who did not support “Norm Coleman and these other guys . . . should be shot.” This gives the store’s “you can do it, we can help motto” a bit more menacing meaning.
Continue reading ‘What a Tool: Home Depot Founder Says People Who Do Not Support GOP “Should Be Shot”’
Who would have thought it? It turns out Al-Qaida (Al Qaeda) is not just anti-Semitic, homophobic, anti-Christian, anti-women, and of course murderous. They are also racists, as shown in the recent attacks by Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri of Barach Obama.
Richard Peters of Marysville, Washington has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter after shooting his 6-year-old daughter Stormy while he was cleaning his guns — and drinking double shots of vodka.
Continue reading ‘Father Shoots and Kills Daughter While Cleaning Guns and Drinking Shots of Vodka’
John Grisham should be booking a ticket to India. Sixteen years after the body of Sister Abhaya was found in the well at the St. Pius convent in Kottayam, India, two priests and a nun have been arrested for murder. Father Thomas Kottor, Father Joes Phthrukayil and Sister Abey are being held on charges in the death of the 21-year-old sister. A court ordered the investigation re-opened after concluding that a “hidden hand” was a work to hide the truth in the case.
A French appeals court has reinstated the marriage of a Muslim man who sought an annulment because his bride lied about being a virgin. A lower court granted the annulment but the appellate court has declared that they are still unhappily married.
Continue reading ‘French Court Rules That Muslim Man Cannot Divorce Wife For Faking Virginity’
There is absolutely no legal, policy, or religious content to this posting. I just love this picture and it is my blog. I am convinced that this goat has achieved a level of mystical tranquillity that has escaped all but the oldest and most devout Buddhist monks.
Continue reading ‘A Happy Goat’
Senator Ted Stevens (R. Alaska) appears to have avoided an expulsion vote in the Senate on Thursday by losing his seat in Alaska on Wednesday. The convicted felon had vowed to continue in office while challenging his federal conviction. The election, however, showed that roughly half of Alaskan remains pro-family and pro-felon.
Continue reading ‘Sen. Ted Stevens Loses in Alaska — Awaits Sentencing on Corruption Charges’
It appears that the economy is hitting evangelical groups and universities — once thought to be recession-proof. Both Oral Roberts University and Focuc on the Family have announced major layoffs. The Oral Roberts layoffs come shortly after a settlement with the founder’s son.
Continue reading ‘The Lord Will Not Provide: Religious Organizations Firing Employees Due to Lack of Contributions’
Arizona State Law Student Alex Botsio was willing to part with his wallet and guitars when faced with an armed robber but intruder Gabriel Saucedo learned that he would have to pry away his cold dead fingers from his laptop containing his class notes. Botsio defended his case notes with the passion of a mother mink and ultimately put Saucedo in the hospital in a act of heroism that has brought tears to the eyes of law professors around the globe.
Continue reading ‘When Law Students Attack: IL Puts Robber Into Hospital to Protect His Case Notes’
Recently, there has been a steady and worrisome trend of stories in Western countries restricting free speech in the name of tolerance of religion, sexual orientation and other values. Now, United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann has called for a world ban on anyone defaming any religion. A suspended Nicaraguan priest, D’Escoto is little concerned about the devastating blow to free speech and free press in such a rule — dangers already realized in various countries where speaking against a religion has resulted in criminal penalties and even death. In making this outrageous call, D’Escoto has given critics of international legal systems a great boost — showing the dangers of such rules in restricting cherished constitutional rights.
In Swan Lake, New York, Edward Taibi, 45, of Queens, New York has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after firing at a deer too close to a home and killing 16-month-old Charly Skala inside the grandparents’ trailer home. It is only the latest such killing, but a relatively rare case of a hunter being criminally charged.
Continue reading ‘New York Hunter Charged With Manslaughter After Killing 16-Month Baby in Home’
For those shocked by the lawsuit by an Iowa magician and hand model over an allegedly defective product, the dark truth over Stewart’s menacing merchandise was foretold in the column below in 2002.
Continue reading ‘Martha Stewart and the Great Salmon Rose Caper’
This is the story of Martha Stewart, the Lounge Chair, and the Magician’s finger. In Des Moines, Iowa, Patrick Albanese is suing Kmart Corp. and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia after he lost the tip of his right index finger while carrying the Martha Stewart Everyday lounge chair on his deck. Albanese claims to be a hand model, magician, and banjo player — making the loss a devastating blow, even after it was put back on by surgeons.
Ever wonder who would fall from those Nigerian scam artists that ask to give you millions of dollars? Well, now we know. It is Janella Spears among others. Of course, few other people would give $400,000 to the scam, but sitting in Sweet Home, Oregon, Spears thought this was a good investment. Of course, given my current stock market fortunes, it may not be crazier than giving it to a broker.
Continue reading ‘Oregon Woman Gives $400,000 to Nigerian Scam’
There was more speculation this weekend that Guantanamo Bay would be closed under President Barack Obama. However, there are also reports that some of this closest legal advisers are balking at the notion of serious investigations of abuses and torture under President Bush — a position previously voiced by close Obama adviser Professor Cass Sunstein during the campaign. I will be discussing the issue tonight on Countdown.
In St. George, Utah, a 17-year-old student at Washington County high school died after firing a blank-shooting prop pistol used in the performance of the Oklahoma! musical. Police stated that the gas from the prop can have the same energy as a bullet, which would seem to raise some obvious negligence and product liability issues.
Continue reading ‘Utah High School Student Dies After Being Shot With Blank Prop Gun’
Over the last seven years, Walter Andre Sharpe Jr. has been forced to pay $12,000 in child support, jailed four times and estranged from his four children. It all began to unravel seven years ago when he signed a certified letter from Dauphin County Domestic Relations in 2001 and found himself covering the support of a child of another man. In the meantime, the real father — Andre Sharpe — has been living with the girl for the last four years.
A curious demand was made of the Supreme Court last week in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, where the Court is considering a seven Aphorisms monument in a city park where a 10 Commandments monument already stands. Robert Ritter, president of the Jefferson Madison Center for Religious Liberty, asked the Court to postpone the scheduled oral arguments “until such time as the Court publicly discloses … that a literal translation of the Hebrew on the tablet that Moses is holding on the Court’s South Wall Frieze is opposite of the Ten Commandments….” The Court appears to have ignored the demand.
Whatever happened to impressing girls with a nice car or back stage tickets to a Guns and Roses concert? Anthony Zitnick allegedly wanted to impress a 16-year-old girl by unlawfully entering the private home of Alan Rigerman, who legally keeps two cougars, several snakes and an alligator. A 150-pound cougar named Chaos attacked her while Zitnick apparently froze and did little.
Continue reading ‘Bringing Order to Chaos: Trespassers Attacked by Privately Owned Cougar’
Traveling Christian evangelist James Deferio believes what is “noise” to some is “salvation” to others. He is challenging the application of the noise ordinance against his preaching in the city of Ithaca, New York. It is part of a trend of evangelists challenging such ordinances.
Jesse Nieto is a veteran who served 25 years in the Marine Corps, including two combat tours as an infantryman in Vietnam. He is also the father of a sailor killed in the 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole. The contractor at the base at Camp Lejeune is now suing the Marines after he was told to remove offensive bumper stickers — an act that he claims violated his free speech rights to trash talk Islam.
The Catholic Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina has repudiated the actions of Father Jay Scott Newman who told his parishioners that anyone who voted for Barack Obama should confess and do penance before receiving communion. So that there is no mistake, the Diocese released both a statement and a video denouncing the actions by Rev. Newman.
Continue reading ‘Church Repudiates Priest Who Demands Penance Before Obama Voters Receive Communion’
In the last few years, the military has been repeatedly accused of altering photographs — causing policy changes in the military. However, the Associated Press suspended the use of photos provided by the Defense Department after it discovered major digital alteration of a photo of Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, the U.S. military’s first female four-star general.
Continue reading ‘Four-Star Fraud Allegation: AP Suspends Use of Military Photos After Another Photo Alteration’
In Logan, Utah, a jury had a literal case of blood money in the hands of a murderer. Glenn Howard Griffin, 51, was found guilty of murder after a bloody dollar bill was traced to him from the robbery and killing of a service station attendant in 1984.
Continue reading ‘Blood Money: Man Convicted on the Basis of a Bloody One Dollar Bill’
By any measure, Hannah Jones is a remarkable 13 year old. Smart and articulate, she seems to have matured faster than the vast majority of teenagers. She had to. She has battled leukemia and heart disease. She now wants to die and her parents are supporting her decision over the outcry of many in London.
Continue reading ‘Hannah’s Choice: England Debates Right of 13-Year-Old to Decide Right to Die’
Now, this one will push a few legal doctrines to their limit. Amy Taylor, 28, is seeking a divorce from husband David Pollard, 40, after finding him with another woman — sort of. Pollard was allegedly having a virtual affair with an animated prostitute. The once happy couple first met in a chat room online, but the computer now has brought another woman into Pollard’s virtual life.
A Kentucky teenager mistakenly believed to be an illegal alien and beaten by the Ku Klx Klan has won $2.5 million in a tort action against the Imperial Klans of America and its founder. Jordan Gruver’s lawsuit is the latest win by the Southern Poverty Law Center that seeks to bankrupt racist organizations through litigation.
Continue reading ‘Jury Awards Klan Beating Victim $2.5 Million’
An interesting case has been filed in Seattle where four students have sued over the disclosure of details of their sex lives in the student newspaper. Many of us are often criticizing schools for censorship of articles and punishment of free speech. This case represents the flip side of such stories, charging that the school should have exercised greater supervision of the Emerald Ridge High School newspaper, the JagWire, to prevent the invasion of their privacy and exposure to severe sexual harassment, humiliation and embarrassment.
Darlene Gardner was charged with animal abuse after she was found to be living with her family (no problem) and 30 animals, including two deer, (big problem) in Northern Idaho. After many of the animals were euthanized and others released into the wild, Gardner has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $2 million. Among other things, she alleges that the original search was conducted without a warrant.
Continue reading ‘Idaho Woman Found Living With Deer in Double-Wide Sues for $2 Million’
Jeffrey P. Rosato, a senior aide to Boxer and a senior policy adviser on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was fired after his arrest for the distribution and receipt of child pornography. He is only the latest of government staffers to become entangled in such investigations.
Continue reading ‘Boxer Aide Arrested for Child Pornography’
While he appears to have avoided criminal charges despite some highly suspicious taped demands for money, Al Sharpton is not out of the woods yet with the federal government. The government estimates that his campaign owes half a million dollars for for illegal donations and other financial improprieties. This includes matching funds that he received for his presidential run, which the government wants back after discovering that he violated federal laws.
Continue reading ‘Al Sharpton’s “Love Offerings”: IRS Demands Roughly $500,000 in Fines for Illegal Contributions’
The City of Plattsburgh, New York has an increasing problem with public urination. However, the biggest problem is that the city kept only five percent of the money streaming out of these arrests to the state. It may be a sign of the economic times that cities and states are fighting over urination fines as a new stream of revenue.
Continue reading ‘Liquid Assets: City Claims Public Urination Revenue’
Let no one say that our President does not lead by example. An aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy disclosed that he got Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to pull back from Georgia by saying that he would end up looking like Bush. Putin who pledged to hang Georgia President Saakashvili by his balls, immediately conceded the point.
Continue reading ‘Leading By Example: Sarkozy Convinces Putin to Pull Back in Georgia So Not to “End Up Like Bush”’
With the resurgence of the Taliban and the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, we have seen an increase in the Taliban’s attacks on “unIslamic” acts. Women and girls are, once again, the focus of these disgusting acts of public punishment. Girls are not going to schools are a series of acid attacks by Taliban supporters in Kandahar.
Continue reading ‘Afghanistan Schools Empty of Girls After Acid Attacks by Taliban’
Philadelphia has another television anchor scandal. It appears that journalists in the city prefer to cover themselves in a perpetual motion machine of media stories.
Continue reading ‘Anchors Away: Philadelphia Embroiled In Another Television Anchor Scandal’
This was not mentioned on those voting machines. It appears that if you voted for Obama as a Catholic, you need to go to confession and do penance for your electoral sin. Otherwise, Obama will go to the White House and you will go to hell — at least in Greenville, South Carolina. Just ask Rev. Jay Scott Newman.
Continue reading ‘Obama Goes to the White House, You Go to Hell: Catholic Priest Asks for Penance from Parishioners Who Voted for Obama’
Recently, we have seen students being punished for statements and actions outside of school. At the same time, we have teachers fired for their outside jobs, here and here. Now, North Carolina teachers hat the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School are facing discipline over comments and photos that they put on their Facebook sites, including “I hate my students!”
Continue reading ‘North Carolina Teachers Disciplined for Facebook Comments and Photos’
Shaving every morning might be something of a challenge for one Pittsburgh police officer. The officer has been found to have shot a mirror after seeing a man pointing a gun at him. It turned out to be his own image.
This is one for the video library. A driver first run over the front of a parked car with one of those giant SUVs. The driver then continues to drive away despite the fact that a police car is sitting directly across from the hit and run.
Continue reading ‘Parallel Parking in Parallel Universes: The Case for Mass Transit’
John Samuel Ricci, 33, of Connecticut was arrested in Jensen Beach, Florida after trying to steal communion wafers during a church service St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.
There is growing speculation that President Bush will issue pardons for the unlawful domestic surveillance program and torture program in his waning days in office. Such a pardon would be welcomed not only by his allies but some Democrats who have previously blocked any serious investigation into alleged crimes by the Administration. The pressure for pardons may be increasing with some in the Democratic ranks are publicly talking about serious investigations. I discussed this with Rachel Maddow.
Continue reading ‘Will President Bush Issue a Blanket Pardon?’
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