Legal Commentary

Chavez: U.S. Caused Haiti Earthquake With ?Tectonic Weapon?

Posted on January 27, 2010
A Spanish newspaper claims that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of causing the earthquake in Haiti by a U.S. “tectonic weapons test” that is being called “The Earthquake Weapon.” Chavez reportedly said that the Navy launched the weapon, but that this was just a test...

D?oh! Man Arrested For Possession of Pornographic Images of The Simpson Children

Posted on January 27, 2010
Police in Ipswich, Australia have arrested Kurt James Milner, 28, for possession of pornographic images of . . . Marge Simpson and the Powerpuff Girls. We have previously discussed the controversy over whether cartoon or computer generated images can be pornography...

California District Attorney Boycotts Judge Who Ruled For Defendant

Posted on January 26, 2010
Recently, we saw how San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis ordered a boycott of a judge who is deemed too protective over defendant rights, here. Now the ABA Journal is reporting below that another prosecutor has followed suit with her own boycott of a judge in Santa Clara...

Collared: Catholic Priest Arrested Shoplifting Butter and a Sofa Cover

Posted on January 26, 2010
In West City, Illinois, police were a bit surprised when they arrested a shoplifter at Wal-Mart. It was not the fact that he had curiously chosen butter and a sofa cover (or the stolen computer power pack they found later). It was the fact that Steven Poole is the Rev...

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A Secret Public Bailout? Administration Officials Reportedly Agreed To Keep AIG Bailout Plan Secret Through National Security Protections

Posted on January 26, 2010
According to the article below, administration officials sought to use national security protections to withhold the details of the details of the American International Group bailout. It is only the latest example of how the government uses such protections to conceal information to avoid embarrassment or public review...

China Leads World in Research Growth

Posted on January 26, 2010
While we continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into Iraq and Afghanistan, China is now leading the world in research growth. The recent report on Chinese investment in new science is startling in comparison to our own illogical policies of raising our debt limits to fund these foreign operations while states sell [...

How Do You Spell Absurd? School District Quarantines All Copies of Merrian Webster Dictionary

Posted on January 26, 2010
The good people of Menifee Union School District have taken a stand against indecency. Across the district in every school library Merriam Webster’s 10th edition dictionary has been locked away because one parent complained that it contained a definition of “oral sex...

Pimped Out: Filmmaker James O?Keefe and Son of U.S. Attorney Arrested in Possible Effort to Bug Office of Sen. Mary Landrieu

Posted on January 26, 2010
In what must be great news for ACORN, the filmmaker that was responsible for the recent controversy has been arrested in a bizarre effort to bug the offices of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. Filmmaker James O’Keefe (shown left) was reportedly arrested with other individuals in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New [...

S.C. Lt. Governor Bauer Compares Poor People to Stray Cats

Posted on January 25, 2010
South Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is being ridiculed for a recent speech where he appears to compare poor people to stray cats and connect having “ample food supply” to increasing welfare demand. Here is the key quote: ?My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child [...

The Offal Truth: The U.S. Lifts Its Ban on Haggis Importation After 21 Years

Posted on January 25, 2010
Robert Burns called it “great chieftan o’ the puddin-race” but the United States government just called it contraband for decades. Now, first being banned from importation, the Scots have been given a green light to send waves of haggis to our shores...

Head of the Family: Islamic Radio Station Founder Claims Wife Dominated Him Before He Beheaded Her

Posted on January 25, 2010
Muzzammil Hassan, the founder of an Islam-oriented television station, has fired his attorney and hired a new attorney who promised a “revolutionary defense” for the beheading of Hassan’s late wife. It appears to be a type of spousal abuse syndrome claim...

Vast Wasteland: Chavez Shutdown Last Major Critical Television Station

Posted on January 25, 2010
Venezuela president Hugo Chavez continued his assault on free speech and the free press with the closing of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), the last major television channel offering criticism of his regime. Previously, his government kicked the station off free television channels...

The Stark Truth: A Step-By-Step Guide on How You Die From Hypothermia

Posted on January 25, 2010
I saw this article on Reddit and found it so well-written and informative I could not put it down. It is how you die (or possibly survive) from hypothermia. It is written by Peter Stark, a contributor to Outside and author of Driving to Greenland. One of the most fascinating parts of Stark’s article [...

Times: Patients Dying From Over Exposure in Radiation Therapy

Posted on January 25, 2010
The New York Times has a disturbing article on how negligence in the use of radiology machines has led to fatal radiation overdoses. It is astonishing since most people assume that these machines are calibrated to avoid such operator error. The article below features the tragic case of Scott Jerome-Parks who died in 2007 at [...

Does The President Have A Telediction?

Posted on January 25, 2010
A recent picture of President Barack Obama speaking to elementary students with his ubiquitous teleprompter raises the question of whether it is time for an intervention to deal with his “Telediction” The President’s famous reliance on teleprompters seem to be a bit out of control when you use one to speak to the students of Graham [...

Get Horizontal: Pittsburgh Police Beat and Arrest Teenager Only To Find That Mysterious Object Was Bottle of Mountain Dew

Posted on January 24, 2010
Pittsburgh authorities are investigating a case where an 18-year-old student, Jordan Miles, was struck repeatedly by undercover officers who saw a large object in his clothing. It turned out to be a Mountain Dew (“Get Vertical”). Police say that they suspected “criminal activitity: when Miles got out of a car and that, when they identified themselves, [...

China: Missing Reformer Lawyer ?Is Where He Should Be? After Alleged Torture By Government

Posted on January 24, 2010
Supporters of reformer and lawyer Gao Zhisheng have been trying to confirm rumors that he died after being tortured by the government. In a chilling response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu stated that Gao is “where he should be.” Gao was arrested after advocating legal reforms, including ending the persecution of the banned Falun Gong [...

Has Anyone Seen Kitty?

Posted on January 24, 2010
I was just lying on the couch and then he just seemed to disappear? Fortunately, the chips and missing Easter candy between the cushions were enough to sustain the cat until he was rescued.

Desperate Haitians Given Scientology Lessons and Solar-Powered Bibles

Posted on January 24, 2010
Relief has arrived in Haiti this week in the form of planes of Scientologists who will help Haitians heal spiritually and Evangelical Christians bringing solar-powered bibles. Scientologists in yellow jackets fanned out over the island to introduce Haitians to their faith as “volunteer ministers” who claim that (with the power of touch) they can reconnect [...

New York Men Jailed for Five Days After Being Caught in Possession of Coconut Candy

Posted on January 24, 2010
While in Pittsburgh a teen is claiming that he was beaten by officers who were suspicious of a Mountain Dew in his pocket (here), Cesar Rodriguez and Jose Pena claim that they were not only arrested but jailed for days for what turned out to be candy mistaken as crack...

Video: New York Police Officers Beat Handcuffed Suspect

Posted on January 23, 2010
New York authorities have suspended two police officers and are considering criminal charges after this video showed them assaulting a handcuffed man, Jonathan Baez, 28. The video obtained by the shows Officer John Cicero, 28, hitting Baez. Officer William Green, 26, is also seen hitting and kicking Baez...

Christie?s Pulls Human Skull and Cross Bones From Auction

Posted on January 23, 2010
Christie’s has pulled a human skull and crossbones from auction over a rivaling claim for the body parts — valued at $20,000. The parts were reportedly used by Yale’s secret Order of Skull and Bones (with members like George W. Bush)...

Geter Done: Georgia Mother Arrested After Forcing Son To Kill Hamster With Hammer As Punishment for Bad Grades

Posted on January 23, 2010
Police in Georgia have arrested Lynn Middlebrooks Geter who is charged with forcing her 12-year-old son to kill his pet hamster with a hammer as a punishment for bad grades (the boy’s bad grades not the hamster’s). “Killing pet with hammer” appears to be farther down on after “no television” and “no sleepovers...

English Holiday Inn To Offer ?Bed Warmers? to Travelers While Nevada Brothel Offers First Male ?Prostidude?

Posted on January 23, 2010
This is a serious case of misleading advertising. When Holiday Inn announced it would offer “bed warmers” for guests, many swingers were already packing when they found out that the employees are literally warming the bed. However, Shady Lady Ranch offers a new and different meaning of a bed warmer in [...

Teacher Suspended Over Picture With Stripper at Bridal Shower on Facebook

Posted on January 23, 2010
A Pennsylvania high school teacher has been suspended after someone at a bridal party posted pictures on Facebook. One such picture showed the unnamed teacher with a male stripper. We have been following a disturbing trend of teachers, police officers, and other employees being disciplined or fired for conduct in their personal lives...

The Best and Worst of Legal Commercials

Posted on January 22, 2010
Trolman Glaser & Lichtman, a personal injury law firm in New York city has shown that not all legal commercials have to be obnoxious. Here is another golden selection from the law firm: The question is whether people will opt for the firm with the best sense of humor...

New York Flight Diverted Over Praying Jewish Teenager

Posted on January 22, 2010
A US Airway flight from New York was diverted and the bomb squad called after a Jewish teenager was caught . . . praying. The teen was praying with a traditional tefillin on the flight and said that he explained the practice, but the flight crew went into full alert on Flight 3079...

Florida Man Charged After Killing Dog in ?Improvised Surgery? Using Super Glue and Dental Floss

Posted on January 22, 2010
William Jones has been arrested in Florida after he killed a dog in a horrific “improvised surgery.” Zoe, a two-year-old hound/retriever mix, died on a kitchen table that Jones turned into a surgery table at his house. Jones was given the dog by Danielle Vecchio after she was not allowed to keep the dog [...

Bomb Detector or Divining Rod? Device Widely Used in Iraq Denounced by Experts As Useless

Posted on January 22, 2010
The BBC is reporting on a bomb detector in Iraq that is being denounced by experts as little more than a glorified divining road (what the Brits call a “dowsing rod”). The deployment of the ADE-651A was called “absolutely immoral” and could be the basis for the loss of lives...

New and Improved Terror: Taliban Announces It Will Drop Use of Tongue Cuttings, School Bombings, and Suicide Bombings (Against Civilians)

Posted on January 22, 2010
The war on terror just got more dangerous. The Taliban has actual image consultations and is now rebranding the organization in a kindler and gentler image. In a new code of conduct, Mullah Muhammad Omar has ordered that the organization will now forego such signature methods as suicide bombings against civilians, burning down [...

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