With the Bush Administration seeking to execute six detainees at Cuba including one identified as the “20th hijacker,” this prior column on the line of previously identified “20th hijackers” might be helpful. Continue reading “Bush Administration Seeks to Execute the Latest “20th Hijacker””
Category: Bizarre
Exorcism is hot. At least, that is the view of Church officials in Poland who are planning to build an exorcism center in a potato field in Poland to deal with rising demand. The announcement came after the fourth International Congress of Exorcists. Continue reading “Vatican Approves Exorcism Center to Deal with Rising Demand From the Demonically Challenged”
Leave it to Hugo Chavez to make people actually feel sympathetic for Exxon Mobil. Cementing his reputation as an enemy to the rule of law, Chavez is threatening the United States with an oil cutoff if the company wins in a court of law over Chavez’s effort to seize billions of dollars in assets. Since taking over as Venezuelan president, Chavez has tried to model himself after Fidel Castro, including the latter’s contempt for checks on his power and the independence of the court system. Continue reading “Hugo Chavez Threatens to Cut Off Oil to U.S. — If He Loses in Court”
Law Student Adam Key, 23, is learning the practical elements of a first amendment case from his school, Regent University — though not under the usual clinical conditions. He is suing the University after he claims it violated his right to free speech last November in suspending for posting an unflattering picture of Pat Robertson on the Internet. Ironically, his case was heard by a judge who knows something about suspensions and discipline. Judge Samuel Kent, who was disciplined for misconduct himself and has been suspended from hearing criminal cases. He is believed to still be under criminal investigation for sexual assault and other crimes — and could face impeachment with another Fifth Circuit judge (click here). Continue reading “Disciplined Law Student Appears Before Disciplined Judge in Case Against Regent University”
Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova in Queens has been arrested for paying a hitman $20,000 to kill her orthodontist husband, Dr. Daniel Malakov. What is most striking about the attempted hit is how sloppy it was with a trail of money and evidence leading back to the wife. Continue reading “Wife Pays Hitman to Drill Dentist Husband”
The British Olympic Association wants to make sure that its athletes do not confuse pollute the games with discussions of basic freedoms while in Beijing for the Olympic Games. Athletes must sign a contract promising not to criticize China for the denial of human rights. Continue reading “British Athletes Forced to Sign Agreement Not to Discuss China’s Abuses at Olympics”
Many attorneys perfect the firm handshake and winning smile as a signature of success. For attorney Kathy Brewer Rentas, 49, it may prove to be also the basis for assault on a prosecutor. Rentas is accused to shaking the hand of Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Keene so hard that it caused injury. What is most interesting is that this is not a unique charge. Continue reading “Strong-Arming the Prosecution: Attorney Charged with Assault for Aggressive Handshake”
Anne Publicover, a Dalhousie University student, appears to have been arrested for possession of a rodent with intent to pet. Publicover was merely standing before a ban in Halifax when an officer approached her to ask why she was wearing a hoddie and scarf — and carrying a rabbit and a rat. While she explained that it was winter and these were her pets, the officer still arrested her and sent her involuntarily for observation. To make matters worse, Publicover was charged for the transport. Continue reading “College Student Arrested without Cause, Sent to Hospital, and Then Charged for the Trip”
The Bush Administration has reversed its decision to deny a visa to Amy Winehouse due to allegations of drug abuse. However, the visa’s issuance will not result in her attending the Grammy Awards. The entire incident demonstrates the disturbing degree of discretion in the visa system, discretion that can lead to the arbitrary and capricious use of the laws governing entry into the United States. Continue reading “Administration Reverses Its Earlier Denial of Amy Winehouse’s Visa”
Majority Leader Harry Reid has alleged that the Bush White House has offered to effectively trade off 84 nominees to the executive and judicial branches if the Senate confirms Steven Bradbury for head of the Office of Legal Counsel. It is another example of a made man in the Bush White House, who must be confirmed at any cost. Continue reading “Bush Reportedly Puts 84 Nominees at Risk for the Single Confirmation of Bradbury”
The most dangerous thing at Saudi Starbucks is not the caffeine — if you are a woman at least. An American businesswoman named Yara (she is withholding her last name) was arrested, strip searched and forced to sign a false confession after she was captured in the act of sitting with a male at a Starbucks in Riyadh. Continue reading “A Latte and Hold the Lashes, Please: American Businesswomen Arrested, Strip Searched, and Forced to Sign False Confession for Sitting with Male Colleague at a Starbucks”
The Ninth Circuit has handed down a very interesting decision in a case of a police officer fired because he and his wife ran a private porn site in his free time. In January of 2002, the Chandler Police Department
discovered that Officer Ronald Dible was running the site, featuring his wife , Megan Dible, who performed various sex acts with various partners and objects. It was too much for the town and he was fired. It is a case that raises some difficult constitutional questions and the decision could cut deeply into first amendment rights. Continue reading “Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Police Officer Over Private Porn Site”
In an indictment of the once-unassailable British educational system, a quarter of British citizens believe that Winston Churchill was a purely fictional character. However, half believe that Eleanor Rigby, the Beattles’ creation, was a real person.
Continue reading “Winston Who?: One in Four British Citizens Believe Churchill Never Existed”
Another vision of Iranian justice became apparent today with the announcement of a stoning sentence for two sisters accused by their respective husband and brother of adultery. In what passes for a Supreme Court in Iran, the justices upheld the sentences which are based on that country’s Islamic code. The sisters, Zohreh and Azar were originally sentenced to lashing but have been convicted a second time and sentenced to die by stoning. Continue reading “Iranian Justice: Two Sisters Sentenced to Be Stoned to Death for Adultery”
The singer Don Ho is not making any more songs after his death, but he appears to be making some interesting new law. Ho’s daughter, Dondi Ho-Costa has filed a lawsuit alleging that he violated a deathbed promise made to her mother in 1999 over Lanikai beachfront property. Continue reading “Say It Ain’t So Ho: The Late Don Ho is Accused of Breaching a Deathbed Promise to Wife”