The Malaysian High Court has issued a ruling that confirms the virtual eradication of free speech rights in that country, one of our closest allies in Asia. The Court upheld an absurd edict from Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi banning T-shirts with the word “clean” in Malay as a national security threat. That’s right. A t-shirt calling for clean government has been declared a threat to national security and High Court Judge Muhammad Yazid Mustafa has declared that there is nothing preventing the government from barring such speech. The t-shirts were a response to reports that nearly $700 million had been deposited in the personal bank account of Prime Minister Najib Razak (left).
Category: Bizarre
Federal and state courts have handed down a virtually uniform line of rulings protecting the right of citizens to film police in public. That is until the February 19th decision of U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney. Kearney was only put on the federal courts in 2014 by President Obama but has written his first major ruling in curtailing the rights of citizens under the First Amendment. Kearney used that there is no First Amendment right to film police unless they can show that they are challenging or criticizing the police conduct.
After excerpts from Ahmed Naji’s novel Istikhdam al-Hayat, or Using Life, were published in a literary newspaper, a reader brought charges against the author and said that reading sexually explicit passages caused him distress and heart palpitations. An Egyptian court has now sentenced the author to two years in jail for public indecency. Notably, Naji was first acquitted by a court in Egypt on the basis of free speech, however the prosecution appealed. He was retried and convicted.
We recently discussed the difficulty faced by the lawyers for Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent). While claiming bankruptcy, 50 Cent posted an image of himself with piles of money spelling out the word “broke.” Just to make sure that the court did not miss the disconnect, 50 Cent also posted himself on a bed covered with piles of money. Judge Ann Nevin responded by ordering 50 Cent to appear in court to explain. Despite the court order, 50 Cent published a new picture that shows him in front of a tower of money while referencing his song “Too Rich for the B—h.”
While the Obama Administration has staked a great deal on moderates in the Iranian regime, it is hard to see much progress in the Islamic Republic. That was made clear this week with the news that forty state-run Iranian media outlets have jointly offered a new $600,000 bounty for the death of British Indian author Salman Rushdie. Ayatollah Khomeini, the First Supreme Leader of Iran, issued the fatwa against Rushdie on charges of blasphemy for his novel The Satanic Verses on 15 February, 1989. Ayatollah Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in 2005 in the hateful fatwa remains in full force not just against Rushdie but anyone associated with the book. The fatwa captures the continuing problem that Islamic countries have with basic free speech and free exercise rights.
Yesterday we discussed the Argentinians who thoughtlessly passed around two rare dolphins for selfies, killing at least one of the dolphins. Now a Florida man has outdone the callous disregard of those beachgoers but gleefully being filmed as he pulled a shark out of the water and then pinned it in the sand for photographs. The man shows absolutely no concern for the pain that he is causing the animal or the possible lethal exposure outside of the water.
Continue reading “Florida Man Pulls Shark Out of Water and Then Poses On Top Of It For Photographs”
I have made no secret of my dislike for monarchies — an illogical and wasteful system of government, including the maintenance of “figure head” royal families as in England. The lunacy of such systems was brought home with the visit of Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to one of Cambodia’s poorest areas (where sanitation is virtually unavailable). The government will spend over $40,000 to build her a luxury toilet for one night with silver railings, tile roofing, and air conditioning. It will them be disassembled after her departure. This is taking the concept of a hereditary throne too far.
A sex offender was sentenced this month in one of the more frightening criminal plans. Patrick James Fredericksen, 31, pleaded no contest to charges that he stole a school bus in Emery County, Utah and tried to pick up children.
Continue reading “Convicted Sex Offender In Utah Steals Bus And Tries To Pick Up School Children”
It is bad enough to represent a guy in a bankruptcy case named “50 Cent.” It is even more difficult when your client says that he is broke and then posts an image of himself with piles of money spelling out the word “broke.” Just to make sure that the court did not miss the disconnect, Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent) also posted himself on a bed covered with piles of money. It worked. Judge Ann Nevin and his creditors took notice and now 50 Cent has been called to court. Jackson seems to be competing with the bankrupt Kanye West for the world’s greatest certifiable numbskull. The pictures however raise a question of the significance of such pictures used to maintain the “bad boy” image of such personalities.
We have yet another TSA agent arrested for theft this month. Daniel Ortiz, Jr., 39, was caught removing a $1,000 watch from a passenger’s bag during a security screening and putting it in his pocket at the Newark airport.
Continue reading “TSA Officer In Newark Caught Swiping $1000 Watch At Security Gate”
A Nigerian lawyer is testing the belief that you can never have too many lawyers. Prominent lawyer Rickey Tarfa is charged with the obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Justice Aishat Opesanwo was expected a robust defense but not a 90-lawyer team to show up in his court. Yet, as Oscar Wilde noted, “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.”
President Barack Obama and other leaders have stressed that the greatest victims of Islamic extremism are not Christians and Jews but Muslims. This week produced another tragic example. Yemen’s top Salafi cleric Samahan Abdel-Aziz, also known as Sheikh Rawi, was found in the southern port city of Aden, Sudan after he gave a sermon denouncing the Islamic State and Islamic extremism. He had been tortured before he was killed.
There is a shocking interview circulating on the Internet that purportedly (I have no way to confirming the translation) shows the “Grand Mufti of Gaza” Hassan Al-Laham holding forth on such subjects as how to best beat your wife, including the advice not to hit them in a way that “makes the face ugly.” He also reminds women that they cannot refuse sex with their husbands under the Koran and must please him in accordance with the principles of Islam. He is also asked for guidance on such issues as whether to allow women to shop during the holidays. Of course, this discussion strikes most sane people as two raving lunatics engaging in a delusional fantasy. Yet, this is a high ranking cleric who apparently holds sway with many people. You are left with the bizarre image of people dutifully writing down such advice as “beatings — yes; but try not to make her ugly.”
ISIS again caused international outrage with pictures this week of its beheading of Ayham Hussein, 15, who was reportedly executed for listening to Western music. ISIS considers such influences to be anti-Islamic and subject to death under the medieval Sharia law system enforced by the militants.
Continue reading “ISIS Beheads Teenage Boy Caught Listening To Western Music”
Mallam Luthfi Jamal-Baba, an Imam and exorcist from Ghana, has warned that beautiful women are more likely to be possessed by evil “jinns” or spirits or genies. It appears that beauty is a jinn magnet.