An Egyptian court has ordered a one-month ban on YouTube due to the refusal of the company to remove material insulting to Islam — the latest example of the growing battle between religious orthodoxy and free speech. Hassouna Tawfiq has also ordered other sites banned if they show the controversial “The Innocence of Muslims.”
Continue reading “Egyptian Court Bans YouTube Over Anti-Islamic Film”
Category: International
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Sometimes an idea hits me leading to an epiphany. Epiphanies for me usually take the shape of the realization that a 
belief I’ve held for a long time, is actually more important in the scheme of things than I had previously thought about. This happened with me some few years ago when the opposition to gay marriage defeated a voter initiative. I had been a believer in the need for equality for Gay men and women since I was a teenager. After all the bullies who were beating me up kept calling me a “fag, or “queer” and while I wasn’t, I got insight into what it must be like to be homosexual. In life you have the choice of identifying with the bully, or those who are bullied. I’ve always chosen the latter. So as a young adult I cried tears of joy when “Stonewall” happened and the police found that Gays would no longer be easy targets. Working for NYC’s Human Rights Administration and then living in Manhattan gave me the privilege of meeting and befriending Gay people of both sexes. When AIDS hit the scene I had many friends die and I worked to help the Division of Aids Services as a Budget Director. Yet while I always completely supported LGBT rights, for a while I believed the focus on Gay Marriage, shouldn’t be in the forefront of the movement. The argument over Proposition 8 in California http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_8 gave me an epiphany that led me to see that not only was the right to marriage an essential part of ensuring the Constitutional Rights of Gay people, but it was the key element. Being unable to assist in the health care choices of long term partners, in some cases even being barred from the funerals, or participating in ones’ partners Health Plan are important Constitutional issues and the essence of the battle. Continue reading “The Most Important Human Rights Issue: Women”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
This week I read a story at my favorite investigative journalistic website http://whowhatwhy.com . It concerned the back story about the abrupt fall from grace of CIA Director General David Petraeus, which occurred when it was discovered that his biographer was also his mistress. I’ll provide a link to the story below and a brief synopsis of its conclusions, but it is less the reality of Petraeus’ fall, than the rise of military “heroes” that interests me. A theme that is closely woven into human history since the beginnings of civilization is the myth of the great military leader who rises up to gain command and “saves” the country from evil, external enemies. As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars became a harsh reality of our existence after the trauma of 9/11, one military figure appeared to capture our attention and become invested with the intelligence and the courage to fight our “enemies” and protect the American Way of Life. David Petraeus became that “hero”, was generally given bi-partisan deference and credited with wisdom and talents far beyond his peers. While our governmental system is based on civilian leadership of our military, in the person of the President and his appointees, it seemed that throughout the prosecution of these two ill-starred conflicts the Bush and then Obama administrations deferred to a position of “what would Petraeus do?” Continue reading “Petraeus: The Problem with Heroic Hagiography”
We have previously discussed rulings where fathers have contested the obligation to pay child support for children conceived in affairs or where they were simply sperm donors. The latest case in Canada involves a man who was ordered to pay child support for three out of four children who were proven not to be his own biological offspring. Indeed, DNA tests found that his ex-wife had the three girls by three different fathers. Only the boy was found to be his biological progeny.
This may be the most bizarre party of all time. The former local officials and prison wardens at the notorious Usolsky prison camp in the Urals held a 75th anniversary celebration of their gulag and the “traditions in the camp that still hold value today.” We have previously seen efforts to rehabilitate Josef Stalin but the reunion of gulag guards is a bit much to take.
Continue reading “Stalin’s Camp Guards Throw Anniversary Party To Celebrate Gulag Pride”
One could think of a variety of pressing issues for the Prime Minister of Egypt Hisham Qandil from civil unrest to the loss of religious freedom to regional instability. Prime Minister Hisham Qandil however took last week to address what he considered the growing problem of women not washing their breasts. Qandil, a hydrology expert with a degree from North Carolina State, blamed dirty breasts for a diarrhea epidemic in the latest example of a country that seems to be de-evolving in front of our eyes.
Continue reading “Egyptian Prime Minister Blames Unclean Women For Diarrhea Epidemic”
For those who have gone to Italy, this video should bring back fond memories. It starts with an Italian driver getting wedged in a narrow street. What follows is quintessentially Italian.
The Saudi legal system has a new outrage for the world. This case involves a prominent cleric who confessed to beating his 5-year-old daughter to death. Reports say that Fayhan al-Ghamdi doubted the girl’s virginity. Various sources reported that she had a crushed skull, broken ribs, broken back, burn marks, and had been repeatedly raped, while others reported that Lama al-Ghamdi was raped and burned. Fayhan al-Ghamdi often appears on television to discuss Islamic and moral questions. He was freed after paying just $50,000 in “blood money” under the primitive Saudi legal system.
We have previously discussed the President’s “kill list” policy under which Obama claims the right to be able to kill any American based on his sole judgment and discretion. A confidential Justice Department memo now sheds more light on that policy and states a broader basis for such killings than previously suggested by the Administration. It is also not clear why this memo was kept secret by the Administration since it deals only with legal interpretations — not classified operational information.
Continue reading “DOJ Memo: Obama Administration Claims Broader Authority To Kill Americans”
This is an extraordinary video below out of Tel-Aviv where a woman parks legally. City inspectors then appear and paint a handicap parking box around the car. They then tow away the car because it is illegally parked in a disabled parking spot.
Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdullah Daoud reportedly has a solution to the sexual molestation of baby girls in the Islamic world: force babies to burkas. It is the latest fatwa on Islamic morality from the extremists in the Kingdom — the problem is not Saudi men who molest girls but the fact that babies do not cover themselves out of modesty.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Former Senator Nebraska Chuck Hagel has been nominated by President Barack Obama as Secretary of Defense. Conventional wisdom would no doubt be that Hagel would have an easy path to the position. Hagel, a twice wounded Viet Nam War Sergeant and self-made millionaire, was elected to the Senate in 1996. His charismatic personality and blunt talk allowed Hagel to rise quickly within the Senate Republican hierarchy and his voting record was considerably conservative. He had a “a lifetime rating of 84 percent from the American Conservative Union and consistent A and B grades from the National Taxpayers Union “ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hagel Initially had few misgivings about attacking Iraq, but supported the war and George W. Bush’s prosecution of it. By 2007 though, Hagel’s misgivings had turned into opposition to the war and he was one of three Republican Senators who voted for a failed resolution that would have ordered the withdrawal of American Troops within 120 days. Chuck Hagel’s clarity on Iraq extended to opposition to the morass in Afghanistan as well. Continue reading “Why “They” Hate Hagel and American Mythology”
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
One of the key concepts of advertising is “get ’em while they’re young”. Building brand loyalty in a child can make for a lifelong customer. The same adage applies to propaganda. Young minds are impressionable. There was valid psychology behind the Nazi’s formation of the Hitler Youth. Just so, there is valid psychology behind the production of war toys. When you teach children that American military might is always right (as well as hours of fun!) and that violence is not only an acceptable but the preferred method of dispute resolution, they are getting the message. You don’t see a lot of “Ambassador” or “Diplomat” toys. The G.I. Joe toys and plastic Army men of my youth were little more than jingoistic bits of plastic designed to give children the chance to vicariously be a “real American hero” without the trauma psychological and physical that we all eventually learn usually accompanies being an actual war hero in real life.
Continue reading “Propaganda 101 Supplemental: Child’s Play”
While we often criticize our government on this blog, it is important to remember that there remains great differences between this government and those around the world in areas like the environment. In an extraordinary decision, the United States Navy has decided to disassemble the $277 million USS Guardian, an important minesweeper, rather than further damage a coral reef by pulling it off the reef. This follows an equally impressive approach to drilling in the Antarctic by U.S. explorers.
We have previously discussed the corrupt regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his globe-trotting wife. So Mugabe and his friends and family have reportedly stolen hundreds of millions (particularly from diamond mining), but they decided to leave $217 in the bank for the rest of the country — that is far more restraint than they have been known for in the past. Now In the meantime, many are celebrating the world’s first female billionaire. She is Isobel Dos Santos. A considerable achievement to be sure until you learn that she is the daughter of Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, the second longest-serving leader on the continent and like Mugabe has been openly draining the country of wealth for decades for his family and friends.