Fathi Shihab-Eddim, a senior aide to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, has tackled a key problem for Holocaust deniers: where did all of the Jews go? His answer? America, of course.
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Category: International
We have continued to follow the abuse and killing of women in countries like India, including so-called “honor killings” where parents murder their children to maintain their honor. Now Indian caste leaders have given a glimpse into the perverse perspective in such cultures with a submission to their Supreme Court.
Continue reading “Indian Caste Leaders Praise Parents Who Kill Children For Honor”
Vladimir Putin has worked hard to maintain his carefully constructed image of a macho authoritarian figure, including sending away the members of Pussy Riot for speaking out against him and his alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church. However, he continues to distinguish himself among budding dictators. For example, anyone can prosecute whistle-blowing lawyers. China continually does it. Iran does it. However, Russia is prosecuting a whistle-blowing lawyer after he died. Now that is a tough guy.
Continue reading “Dead Men Don’t Blow Whistles: Russians Prosecute Dead Lawyer”
We have another shocking act of cultural destruction by Muslim militants in Mali. As Islamist insurgents retreated from Timbuktu, they set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts — some dating back to the thirteenth century. They also destroyed statues and temples in the name of Allah.
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We have been following the increasing crackdown on passengers wearing T-Shirts on airlines deemed offensive or threatening. These cases often raise free speech questions, but also raise serious questions of the increasing irrationality of airline staff and some passengers. The t-shirt of Wynand Mullins is a good example. Mullins wore a t-shirt on a Qantas flight from Sydney with the well-known quote from Princess Bride by character Montoya (played in the film by Mandy Patinkin): “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.” Some passengers became alarmed by the t-shirt, presumably convinced that a terrorist would not only advertise his intent but choose a fictional character from a children’s book to represent his deep homicidal beliefs. Flight staff insisted that he change his shirt. Presumably, there was a passenger with five fingers that felt personally threatened by the quotation.
Austria’s Turkish community has launched an international campaign against Lego because it insists that a Lego model sold as “Jabba’s Palace” is based on the sacred Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul. It is a curious argument since the only similarity is the use of a classic domed palace structure. I have been to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (which is spectacular) and I fail to see the clear duplication. Ironically, the original church was dedicated to the Logos not the Legos, which might be the source of the confusion.
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We have previously discussed the horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old student. The trial is now beginning. However, the court has ordered that it be conducted behind closed doors despite the fact that the victim is dead. In addition, the judge has imposed a gag order on the lawyers. It is a poor decision by the judge and denies the public’s interest to view such trials. While India may not have the same right to public proceedings that we have in the United States, the denial of public access to the trial in such an important case is a terrible judgment on the part of the Court. This case has galvanized public opinion and forced Indian officials to deal with a long-ignored problem of rape in the country. Those officials would prefer for the trial to be conducted in secret.
Continue reading “Infamous Indian Rape Trial Begins Behind Closed Doors and Under Gag Order”
Australian Catholic priest Thomas Byrne, 80, pleaded guilty in court this week to a rather shocking case of laying hands (and teeth) on another priest. Byrne bit off the ear of fellow priest, Father Thomas Smith, 81, in a parking space dispute.
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We have previously discussed the cruelty shown by Chinese to animals in zoos and circuses. The article below offers a further glimpse into this national and cultural disgrace after a man strangled an ostrich to death in a zoo. Another report shows that a zoo in Shenzen is down to just two crocodiles from a dozen because people are killing them by throwing rocks at them and garbage into their pools.
The Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is a religious police force that has been a constant presence in the Kingdom arresting woman having coffee with colleagues or forcing young girls to burn to death in fire rather than run out without their scarves. Now the religious police in Dammam marched into a popular dinosaur exhibit and shut it down without any explanation of why the dinosaurs threatened the virtue of good Muslims.
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This was the unsettling scene this weekend after a man walked up to the head of an ethnic Turkish party in Bulgaria and tried to fire in the head of Ahmed Dogan, 58, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The gun used by Oktai Enimehmedov, a 25-year-old Bulgarian national and ethnic Turk, was a non-lethal “gas pistol” which will lower the potential charge for the assailant.
Continue reading “Bulgarian Politician Attacked In Public Speech”
When responding to a fire, most firefighters would not expect a small avalanche as a peril though it is hard to see how the danger was not obvious for this firefighter. Nevertheless, he went to rescue people in the fire and his colleagues ultimately rescued a child. The firefighter is thankfully doing well and was close to falling four stories after the hit.
Continue reading “Russian Firefighter Survives Close Call After Being Hit By Snow In Fire”
There is something about the statement “move closer to the rhino” that should give most everyone pause. What is bizarre in a case out of South Africa is that the highly suspect suggestion came from a game keeper who was taking pictures of a couple from Johannesburg. You guessed it. The picture was the last record of the couple shortly before the rhino attacked Chantal Beyer, a 24-year-old woman.
Continue reading ““Move Closer To the Rhino” And Other Telltale Signs Of A Tort In Progress”
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Cassius tells Brutus,
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves.” When dealing with dictators and tyrants, that may often be the case but recently the fault in part seems to be our “stars.” In Russia, French actor Gerard Depardieu accepted Russian citizenship directly from the hands of Vladimir Putin after leaving France over its high taxes. Depardieu not only embraced the man who has destroyed the democratic movement in Russia but actually criticized Putin’s opposition which has risked jail and beatings to fight for free speech and other basic rights. In the meantime, actor Jackie Chan has again held forth in defense of China’s authoritarian government — telling Chinese that they need to stop criticizing the government in front of foreigners and that the U.S. is more corrupt than China.
While I have enjoyed my trips to China, I always hesitate to accept invitations due to the incredible pollution levels, particularly in Beijing. Every visit, I assume that it cannot get worse but it does — often you cannot see across a street due to the pollution. Many foreigners in Beijing often use the U.S. embassy’s pollution index to determine whether to go outside because of the Chinese government’s consistent underreporting of pollution data. It is common for people to remain inside all day because the pollution levels are so dangerous. Last week, even the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center said on its website that the density of PM2.5 particulates had surpassed 700 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of the city. The World Health Organization considers a safe daily level to be 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The level of pollution in the city is now beyond the measurements of standard pollution devices.
Continue reading “Beijing’s Pollution Literally Goes Off The Chart”