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.
Category: International
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.
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.
Continue reading “High-Ranking Morsi Aide Calls Holocaust A Hoax”
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.
Continue reading “Retreating Islamic Militants Burn Ancient Manuscripts And Destroy Temples”
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.
Continue reading “Legos or Logos? Turks Protest Latest Lego Set”