Category: International

International, Military, Politics, Society

Panetta: The Drone Strikes Will Continue Until Morale Improves

For years, the United States has danced around the fact that it has repeatedly enter the sovereign territory of other countries with drone attacks and in some cases small unit attacks without the permission of countries like Pakistan. Such acts violate international law and would be viewed by the United States as an act of war if committed on U.S. territory. This week,Defense Secretary Leon Panetta finally responded directly to those objections and said that the attacks would continue unabated. Panetta essentially stated that we can invade other nations because we can and that countries will have to come to accept that — using the same concept as “floggings will continue on ship until morale improves.”

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

Report: Americans Required By Israeli Security To Give Access To Their Personal Email Accounts At Airport

This report in Haaretz details a highly disturbing account of how Israel’s Shin Bet security service interrogated American citizens with Arab backgrounds for hours and demanded access to their personal email accounts at Ben Gurion Airport. After spending a night in custody, they were denied entry into Israel in May. If these accounts are true, why has there been no formal and public objection from the Obama Administration?

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Bizarre, International, Society

Report: Workers At Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Forced To Sleep Under London Bridge Under Medieval Conditions

The celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was filled with traditions going back hundreds of years — including, it appears, the use of serfs. The Guardian is reporting that the government bused in dozens of unemployed citizens to work at the Jubilee from out of town and then directed them to sleep under the London Bridge without access to bathrooms or changing areas. It was a good ole fashioned Jubilee with a diamond-encrusted sovereign floating by in splendor with yeomen and “villeins” working in their menial existence. Some radicals (and suspected Jacobites) are questioning the conditions for the workers and calling for an investigation.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Military, Politics

June 4th: Just Another Day In The Worker’s Paradise

Today in China, unlike twenty-three years ago, nothing happens. Nothing at all. Now check out the latest Panda pics! That appears the message going out to a billion Chinese. The government has blocked any mention of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 1989. In addition, the country is rounding up dissidents and anyone else who might mention the anniversary or utter thoughts of freedom.

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Bizarre, International, Society

Wedding Crasher: Canada To Impose Retroactive Charges For Playing Songs At Weddings

I have repeated complained about the runaway copyright and trademark laws — and the failure of politicians to protect the public from draconian penalties and thug-like actions by the industry. Now, the industry is targeting weddings — retroactively — to impose fees for playing that rendition of “Because You Loved Me” to be sure that Celine Dion gets her cut from the happy couple.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics

Saudi Princess Stopped Trying To Sneak Out Of Five Star Hotel Without Paying $7.4 Million Bill

The Saudi Royal family has long been accused of not paying their bills, but few have acquired the reputation of Maha al-Sudani, the former wife of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz.  The princess was stopped trying to flee the  Shangri-La hotel in Paris at 3:30 am without paying her  six million euro ($7.4 million) bill.  It is hard to sneak out of a hotel with an entourage 60 people.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Spanish Artist Faces Prison For Insulting The Catholic Faith

We have previously discussed the trend in the West toward an international blasphemy standard and prosecutions for insulting religion (here, and here, and here and here and here and here and here and and here and here and here and here). Now, one of Spain’s best known underground artists is facing a year in jail for a 54-second film that he did in 1978 that a Catholic group charges is insulting to them and their faith. Javier Krahe’s “how to cook Jesus Christ” was a brief satire based on a cooking show.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International

Russia Protester Jailed For Spitting On Picture Of Putin

As expected, the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russia has come with crackdowns against free speech and association.  One of the most worrisome incidents involved an activist who has been jailed for 15 days for the act of just spitting on a picture of Putin during a protest.  Dmitry Karuyev, 20, used an interesting defense that he merely sneezed on it.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

U.N. Makes Dictator Robert Mugabe An Ambassador For Tourism

He has killed scores of his own citizens and political opponents. He has devastated a nation, reducing it to unspeakable poverty while he and his family live in unrivaled luxury. He has denied everyone in his country every basic right and liberty. He has turned Zimbabwe into a pariah nation. And now Robert Mugabe is the newest ambassador for tourism for the United Nations. He will now work with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which appears interested in enlisting the help of dictators on vacation.

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Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

330 Schoolgirls And Teachers Poisoned In One Month in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the struggle for basic rights for women continues to be a struggle for life itself. Today officials confirmed that 160 were poisoned in what is viewed as another attack by Muslim extremists. Last month, 170 schoolgirls and three teachers were poisoned. Muslim extremists oppose the education of women and the Karzai Administration, while supporting such education, has been accused of rolling back on the gains of women and girls following the fall of the Taliban. These “men of God” continue to believe that killing or maiming little girls pleases Allah and makes them spiritually pure, including throwing acid in the faces of little girls. Fortunately, there is no word of deaths yet and many children have been released from the hospital.

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Environment, International, Politics

Germany Hits Record In Solar Power With 50% Of Energy During Mid-Day Hours

Germany’s economy is viewed as the most successful major economy in the world today and the key bedrock for European recovery. While many conservative leaders in the United States are calling on the tearing up of environmental protections to help our economy, Germany has shown the fallacy of that claim. The Germans continue to set new records on environmental protection. This week the German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour — literally half of the energy used through the key midday hours in the country.

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Animals, Environment, International

Experts: Bushmeat May Trigger Mass Death Pandemic

Scientists are warning that the world could face a new HIV strain as a result of the failure to stop poachers from killing great apes and monkeys for “bushmeat.” We have previously seen how bushmeat remains a great draw for Africans even in the United States. However, scientists are warning that it could be humanity itself that will bear the costs of the continuing slaughter of apes and monkeys as humans are exposed to new strains that are highly compatible with human bodies.

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Courts, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Military, Politics

Pakistani Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Bin Laden Is Reportedly Sentenced To 33 Years In Prison

The United States has long been criticized for disregarding the sovereign rights of Pakistan and other countries in launching drone attacks and military operations. Now, Pakistan has responded with a reported lengthy sentencing of the Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, who helped track down Osama Bin Laden as guilty of “high treason.”

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Society, Torts

Meet Dr. Sharad Shripadrao Pandit, The Love Doctor

Dr. Sharad Shripadrao Pandit in Birmingham, England was accused in Coroner’s Court this week in an extraordinary case of alleged malpractice. The parents of Alina Sarag reportedly called the GP more than 50 times about her ailing over four-and-a-half months. They testified that Pandit accused them of mollycoddling the girl and said that her symptoms were the result of being “lovesick.” She then died for tuberculosis.

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