Month: May 2010

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

Nun Excommunicated After Supporting Abortion To Protect Life of Mother

While the Catholic Church may be criticized for covering up crimes by priests and resisting efforts to discipline offenders, it seems to waste to time with errant nuns. Sister Margaret McBride has been excommunicated for the offense of approving an abortion to protect the life of a mother as a senior administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. There does not even appear to be any room for mitigating circumstances in such a case. Bishop Thomas Olmstead (left) immediately excommunicated McBride.

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Bizarre, Religion, Society

Court Orders Additional Jail Time for Couple Arrested in Alleged “Eunuch Wedding”

Pakistani fertilizer dealer Malik Mohammad Iqbal, 42, and his eunuch partner “Rani” Kashif, 19, are at the center of a controversy over whether they were throwing a party with other “eunuchs” or throwing a wedding party. They have been charged with trying to wed and unnatural acts under a Sharia-based law.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Israel Arrests Activists Yelling Insults at Rahm Emanuel

Two Israeli activists were arrested for shouting insults at White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in Israel this week. The activists spotted Emanuel in Jerusalem’s Old City with his family and shouted “Jerusalem is not for sale.” Heck, Rahm Emanuel is known to say worse stuff in a shower, here. That would be protected speech in the United States, but it appears that you can be arrested for shouting at celebrities and high-ranking officials in Israel.
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Academia, Bizarre, International, Society

Coming to a College Campus Near You: Vodka Eyeballing

There was a time when we got things like the Beatles and Monty Python from our British cousins. The most recent import from England, however, is far less redeeming: vodka eyeballing. Upset that vodka shots took too long to be absorbed into their blood streams, British drinkers have discovered that pouring vodka directly into your eye socket results in a faster avenue to inebriation.
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Environment, International, Society, Torts

BP Official Takes the Fifth While New Details Emerge of Argument Shortly Before The Deepwater Horizon Explosion

The legal situation over the Deepwater Horizon explosion appears to be getting more serious as accounts emerged that there was a serious argument between Transocean and BP officials shortly before the blast — with references to the possible use of the blowout preventer. One BP official, Robert Kaluza, has become the first known person associated with the blast to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to refuse to answer questions.

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Bizarre, International

Dial M for Murder: Telephone Company Suspends Number Due to Deaths of Prior Owners

It appears 0888 888 888 is the cellphone version of the monkey’s paw — bringing disaster to all those who acquire it. The Bulgarian mobile phone company has removed the number from circulation after all of its previous owners died within the last ten years.

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International, Military, Politics, Society

Amnesty International Issues Report Accusing Israel of War Crimes

Amnesty International (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) has issued a 430-page report accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. While few have any illusions about Hamas and its violation of international law, the accusations against Israel are quite damaging and join those of the United Nations investigation by the Goldstone Commission.

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Bizarre, Society

Question of the Day: What is Worse Than an Accident with a Truck?

Answer: A truck carrying 17 million bees.

A truck hauling 7,000 hives was involved in a four-car accident in Minnesota. A report says that “rescue crews were using fire hoses to douse an angry swarm of bees.” That does not seem like a good way of calming irate bees.

In my younger days, I worked as an assistant to a bee researcher at the Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Research in Maryland. We would use smoke to quiet the bees, but that might not appeal to firefighters.

For the full story, click here.

Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Sharia Police in Indonesia To Issue Islamic Skirts To “Offending Women” on Street

AFP is reporting that Sharia police in Indonesia’s Aceh province have been armed with 20,000 skirts in its battle against unIslamic figure-hugging or short outfits on women. Women will be told to put on the skirts to adhere to Islamic values.

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