Legal Commentary

Human Rights Commission To Remove Language Referring to New Zealand as Secular State Under Pressure From the Catholic Church

Posted on July 14, 2010
In an astonishing concession under pressure from the Catholic Church, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission has agreed to remove language from a draft report that simply stated that New Zealand is a secular state and that religion was only for the “private sphere...

Another Children?s Product From China Recalled

Posted on July 14, 2010
Another Chinese product has been recalled due to harmful contaminants. Children’s jewelry sold to pre-teen girls in stores like Justice and Limited Too have been found to have high levels of cadmium. Dangerous levels of cadmium were also found in January with children?s jewelry sold at Walmart stores as well as 12 million ?Shrek? movie-themed [...

France Parliament Votes to Ban the Burqa

Posted on July 14, 2010
The French Parliament has voted to become the second country (Belgium) to ban full burqas. The lawmakers voted to make it illegal for women to wear a full burqas or nijab in public. It is a direct assault on religious freedom from a nation that helped define the basic rights of all humans...

Scientology Targets CNN?s Anderson for Coverage on Church

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Church of Scientology has launched a campaign against Anderson Cooper for his coverage of controversies surrounding the church. The church has released a glossy magazine on Cooper entitled “History of Lies.” The magazine accused Cooper of speaking only to “Anti-Scientology apostates” and that “Larry King was the only CNN host qualified to interview the [...

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Former Bikini Model Loses Tort Claim Over Use of Photo in Movie

Posted on July 13, 2010
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge O. Peter Sherwood has put an end to an interesting tort lawsuit over the use of a picture in the movie “Couples Retreat.” Former bikini Irina Krupnik was disgusted when the movie showed actor Jon Favreau’s character masturbating to her picture and claimed that such use went beyond what was agreed [...

Muslim Attack Hindu Families After Boy Drinks Water In Front of Pakistani Mosque

Posted on July 13, 2010
Islamabad, Pakistan is dealing with murder that seems the Middle East version of the water fountain scene in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.. Muslims attacked Hindus and forced dozens to flee their homes in Sindh province after a young Hindu boy committed the offense of drinking water from a cooler outside of a mosque...

Oakland Police Announce They Will Not Respond To Burglary, Grand Theft, and Other Crimes

Posted on July 13, 2010
Oakland’s police chief Anthony Batts has announced that Oakland Police will not responded to 44 different crimes if planned layoffs occur at midnight. It was useful for Batts to announce the categories in advance for criminals to chose from a criminal dim sum list of free crimes including grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft [...

Bubble Bust: Toronto Officer Claims Assault When Bubble Touches Him

Posted on July 13, 2010
We have seen police charge everything from flatulence to a hug to a pillow attack as assault. However, this Toronto officer tells a young woman that if one of her bubbles touches his uniform, he will arrest her for assault. She is later shown being arrested...

Report: King Arthur?s Round Table Discovered

Posted on July 12, 2010
Researchers have announced that they believe that they found the location of the famed round table of King Arthur. They believe it was not in a castle and not actually a table but a Roman-built structure designed to house up to 1000 knights. It was, however, round...

Swiss Refuse To Extradite Roman Polanski

Posted on July 12, 2010
In a surprising rebuke to the United States, the Swiss have decided to block the extradition of filmmaker Roman Polanski on the curious grounds “that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extraditionary request...

English Schools To Stop Swimming Practices for Muslim Students to Avoid Swallowing Water During Ramadan

Posted on July 12, 2010
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has issued directives to school officials to accommodate Muslim students during Ramadan, including canceling swimming lessons, tests, and sex ed classes. Swimming practices for Muslim pupils should be canceled because of the danger of swallowing water during their fast...

Scientists Accuse Obama Administration of Continuing Political Manipulation of Science

Posted on July 12, 2010
Scientists have gone public with allegations that the Obama Administration has continued the practice of the Bush administration in blocking scientists and ignoring scientific conclusions for political reasons. While, upon taking office, President Obama ordered his advisers to develop rules to “guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch,” scientists claim that his administration has continued [...

Bangladesh Police Accused of Murder of Man Who Could Not Pay Bribe

Posted on July 12, 2010
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released a disturbing account in its monitoring of abuses by police in that country. The AHRC alleges that Babul Kazi, a mechanic, was tortured to death after he was unable to pay bribes to the police. Babul was arrested with the two men who worked for him in [...

Zombies! Witnesses Describe Car Filled With Undead in Oregon Crash

Posted on July 11, 2010
First there was the sighting of a vampire after a crash on the roads of Colorado. Now, witnesses have come forward to report of a car of zombies who first crashed their car on Interstate 84 and then got out and walked around. The occupants of the car insisted that they were merely dressed as [...

Illinois Professor in Catholic Studies Fired After Student Objects That Teachings Constitute Hate Speech

Posted on July 11, 2010
There is an interesting controversy at the University of Illinois where the university has fired adjunct professor Dr. Kenneth Howell for teaching why homosexual acts violate natural moral law under the tenets of the Catholic church. Howell taught course on the Catholic faith at the St...

If Pets Are Criminal, Only Criminals Will Have Pets

Posted on July 11, 2010
San Francisco’s Commission of Animal Control and Welfare has proposed a ban on the sale of any pets with the exception of fish. The new ordinance would make it unlawful to sell dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, and other pets. Chairwoman Sally Stephens insisted that pets are often “impulse buy[s] ...

Dangerous Liaisons

Posted on July 11, 2010
Since I am in Vancouver for a speech, I had to select this picture for our Sunday animal pic. Vancouver is truly an amazing city and Leslie and I are having a ball. The hiking areas and whale watching areas are spectacular. People here are exceptionally nice and the food is awesome...

Pentagon Questionnaire on Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell Called Homophobic

Posted on July 11, 2010
The Pentagon has sent out a questionnaire for troops, including questions on how they feel about the lifting of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban. The questions have been challenged as homophobic and designed to enrage the troops. The military insists that it is merely trying to gather data on the views of the troops [...

Justice Thomas Reportedly Outraged By Nephew Being Punched and Tasered In New Orleans

Posted on July 10, 2010
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is reportedly outraged and maybe heading down to New Orleans after his nephew, Derek Thomas, was punched and tasered at a Louisiana hospital after refusing to put on a gown. Derek Thomas may have been admitted after a possible suicide attempt and suffered a ?massive seizure...

Ashes to Ashes, Flush to Flush: Belgium Considering Dissolving Rather than Burning Bodies

Posted on July 10, 2010
Belgium will soon be giving people a funeral more befitting deceased goldfish than people. Undertakers are planning to dissolve dead bodies in caustic solutions and then flush them into the sewers. In addition to space limitations, the government notes that 573lbs of carbon dioxide are released by each cremated corpse...

Evil Clown: Mexican Clown Arrested For Allegedly Assaulting Stepdaughter

Posted on July 10, 2010
If you (like me) had a certain fear of clowns as a kid, Pedro Artega Velazquez, 53, should re-ignite those fears. In the world’s most creepy mug shot, Velazquez is shown after his arrest for allegedly assaulting his teenage stepdaughter. Since the purpose of a mug shot is to get a good likeness of the [...

Federal Court Strikes Down Defense of Marriage Act As Unconstitutional

Posted on July 09, 2010
In a major ruling, United States District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro has struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining lmarriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. The bill was supported and signed by former President Bill Clinton...

U.S. Scientists Isolate Antibodies Effective Against 91% of HIV Strains

Posted on July 09, 2010
We have an extraordinary breakthrough in the fights against AIDS. U.S. scientists have reported that they have isolated three powerful antibodies for HIV — one of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains. This could be the basis for an eventual vaccine for AIDS...

Citizens Donate Half a Million Dollars to Arizona to Fight Federal Lawsuit

Posted on July 09, 2010
The Obama Administration is continuing to feel the heat over its decision to challenge the Arizona immigration law — a move making immigration a rallying cry for the November elections. With polls showing that citizens oppose the federal lawsuit two to one and that over sixty percent want similar laws in their own states, some [...

Dentists Issue Warning Over Jaw Damage Caused By Supersized Burgers

Posted on July 09, 2010
It appears that ever-expanding hamburgers are outstripping our physical capabilities. Dentists in Taiwan have issued a warning that giant hamburgers are causing jaw damage from over-extension. It is a short-sighted move by dentists since these burgers are likely to push humans to new evolutionary breakthroughs by favoring people who can unhinge their jaws like snakes...

The Importance of Being Ernest: Wisconsin GOP Candidate Seeks To Outlaw Homosexuality, Abortion, and Pornography

Posted on July 09, 2010
Ernest J. Pagels is a politician who is not just satisfied with balancing the budget. He is campaigning on a promise to “outlaw” homosexuality as well as abortion and pornography. You may think he is running for Kandahar city council on the Taliban ticket, but he is one of the candidates vying for the GOP [...

Just Say Yes To Drugs: Drug Lobby Pumps Money and Ads Into Nevada Race for Reid

Posted on July 08, 2010
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is struggling for reelection this year and his friends have lined up to help him. This week, Nevadans saw a series of glossy, high-priced ads for Reid paid for by his friends in the pharmaceutical industry. Reid fought to include huge benefits for drug companies in the health care bill [...

Ohio Woman Arrested For Allegedly Posing as 14-Year-Old Boy To Lure Girls Into Relationships

Posted on July 08, 2010
Patricia J. Dye, 31, has been arrested on the bizarre crime of posing as a 14-year-old boy in an effort to have relationships with underaged girls. Dye is charged with corruption of a minor, importuning and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor...

Criminalizing Art: Two Prominent Art Curators Face Three Years in Jail for Offending Orthodox Church

Posted on July 08, 2010
Two prominent art curators in Moscow, Yury Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, are facing three years in prison for showing art that insulted the Russian Orthodox Church. It is the latest example of blasphemy prosecutions, a growing trend in the West and industrialized nations...

Collared Priest: Connecticut Catholic Priest Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $1.3 Million to Pay for Male Escorts and Hotels

Posted on July 08, 2010
Police in Waterbury, Connecticut have arrested Rev. Kevin J. Gray, 64, of Sacred Heart parish for allegedly not just stealing $1.3 million from the church coffers but spending it on male escorts, hotels, and even tuition at Harvard for a male friend. He reportedly told police that he “had grown to hate being a priest” [...

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