Month: March 2009

Florida Senator Raises Alarm Over Animal Husbandry

s039When I worked as the constitutional consultant for the Florida House of Representatives, I was told a story about a certain Senator who threatened to call “General Revenue” as a witness after being told that “general revenue will not allow this appropriation.” Now, Senator Larcenia Bullard (D.-Miami) has topped that story by expressing alarm that women were marrying animals when “animal husbandry” was raised in legislation.

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Two Centurions Go Into a Bar . . . Researchers Uncover 1700-Year-Old Roman Book of Jokes

180px-forum_lp_coverA funny thing happened to researchers on their way to the Roman forum, they found a 1700-Year-Old Rome joke book. While found in Roman, Philogelos (or Laughter Lover) is written in greek and contains 265 jokes. The greatest academic contribution is final proof that there has not been a new joke told in two centuries.
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Method Acting: Felon Goes Hollywood Between Murders

images1Clifton Bloomfield was perfect for the role in casting director David Córdova’s movie “Felon,” a violent prison film starring Steven Dorff and Val Kilmer. After all, he had already killed two people and was the ultimate method actor. Indeed, it was difficult to see where Bloomfield’s method acting ended and his actual murders began.

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Iraqi Journalist Gets Three Years For Throwing Shoes At Former President Bush

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Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush, has been sentenced to three years in prison — sixteen months per shoe. The decision has already produced protests in Iraq where the vast majority of citizens view him as a hero for his act.

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Obama Issues Signing Statement — Only Days After Negating Such Bush Statements

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obama225px-george-w-bushLiterally days after proclaiming that change had come to “signing statements” with a new policy, President Obama has issued a very Bush-like signing statement with his signing of the appropriations bill. The signing statement reserves the right to treat literally dozens of provisions as presumptively unconstitutional.

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Federal Judge Chastises Harvard Professor Charles Nesson For Effort to Hold Deposition In a Classroom

gertner_nancynesson-04Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson was the subject of a judicial rebuke from United States District Court judge Nancy Gertner over his request to hold a deposition before a live law school audience in a classroom. Nesson is a respected academic and founder of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. He has tried to incorporate his pro bono representation in a file-sharing case into teaching in novel ways.
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Police Union Accuses William Ayers and His Wife (and Law Professor) Bernardine Dohrn of 1970 Terrorist Bombing

300px-professor_william_ayers bill_ayers_mug_shotA San Francisco police union has accused William Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground, and his wife Bernardine Dohrn of a 1970 bombing that killed a sergeant and injured eight other officers.

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Afghanistan Supreme Court Upholds 20-Year-Sentence For Journalism Student Who Asked Questions About Equal Rights For Woman

Afghan courts have produced yet another example of its de-evolution into a medieval Sharia system. The country’s Supreme Court has upheld the 20-year-sentence of Parwez Kambakhsh for blasphemy. He was convicted of asking questions in a university class about women’s rights under Islam and downloading an article on equal rights for woman. We are about to send thousands of more troops into the country to preserve it from . . . radical Islamic influences.

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Time Will Tell: Secret Civil War Message Found In Abraham Lincoln’s Pocket Watch

1_61_a320As a history nut, this story is simply too good to be true. For decades, there has been a rumor that the pocket watch of Abraham Lincoln contained a secret message from the Civil War. The National Museum of American History finally decided to check the story out and carefully opened the back of the watch. The story proved to be true.

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Somalia Sharia Justice: Court Sentences Rape Victim to Death While Gang Rapists Laugh as They are Given Light Flogging

125px-flag_of_somaliasvgIn Mogadishu, Somalia, gang rapists laughed as they were publicly flogged under orders from a Sharia judge. However, they were light flogging through their clothes that did not break their skin. They laughed as people watched the largely symbolic flogging. In the meantime, last October the Sharia court sentenced a rape victim to death by stoning.

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Bernard Madoff To Plead Guilty to 11 Counts and Face 150 Years in Prison

gavel2Bernard Madoff will plead guilty this week to 11 counts, including money laundering, perjury and securities, mail and wire fraud. He would face 150 years. Prosecutors insist that there is no deal. Indeed, this may be a plea given in the absence of any cognizable defense.

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio Under Federal Investigation

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    Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is under federal investigation for possible constitutional violations and discrimination. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is looking into whether his office is engaging in “patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.” Arpaio bills himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” though he may be the country’s most expensive sheriff. The people of the county will now have to pay from additional legal costs as Arpaio again defends himself against allegations of abuse. In the meantime, a recent report indicates that Arpaio is too busy to serve felony warrants in his county.

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