As a history buff who loves visiting France, I have previously objected to the commercialization of historical sites of a former French minister of Versailles. However, nothing quite prepared me for the new idea of former French minister Yves Jégo, who is planning the creation of “Napoleonland.” He is raising £180 million for the amusement park on the site of Napoleon’s final victory at the Battle of Montereau in 1814 just south of Paris.
Continue reading “Liberté, Egalité, Débauche: Former French Minister Pushes For Creation of “Napoleonland””
Category: International
We have followed the rising prosecution of people for blasphemy around the world, including the West. Now, Muslim groups in India are calling for the prosecution of organizers for reading from Salman Rushdie’s banned book “Satanic Verses” at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Abdul Latif, state secretary of All India Milli council refers to the mere reading from the book as “condemnable” and said that the groups are collecting evidence for prosecution.
Remember our plans to introduce a free and democratic nation in Iraq? We have been following the rampant corruption and increasing use of Sharia law in the country. Now, the Human Rights Watch has issued a report that our billions of dollars and many lives were spent to achieve . . . “a budding police state” where torture and abuse is widespread. In the meantime, we have spent ten years cutting back on essential services and programs in the United States to fund this shining example of American intervention.
Continue reading “Human Rights Report: Iraq Now A “Budding Police State””
One can certainly understand why victims of the recently wreck of the Costa Concordia were a little put out by a recent offer. The company, owned by Carnival, called to offer them a 30% discount on their next Carnival cruise after 12 people died on the last voyage and 20 are still missing. Truly savings to die for. For crash victims, it is like Ford’s Theater offering Mary Todd Lincoln “buy two, get one free” ticket deal on the next performance of “Our American Cousin.”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
American novelist Ilka Chase once wrote that, “Among famous traitors of history one might mention the weather.” Now it seems unauthorized predictions about the weather are getting the traitor treatment, too. A proposed South African law would make any weather forecast about severe weather or air pollution not authorized by the government-funded South African Weather Service (SAWS) subject to five years in prison and a $630,000.00 fine. The law would affect TV weather forecasters, online services like Weather.com, and community based weather services. Talk about a government sponsored monopoly.
Continue reading “Freeze Warning: South African Law Makes Unauthorized Weather Forecasts Illegal”
Those crazy guys in Hamas are at it again. After banning women from riding motorcycles and men working as hairdressers and other “immodest acts,” Hamas has shutdown the Palestinian version of “American Idol” as “indecent” under Islamic laws and values. However, it appears kid shows featuring dismemberment and camps for kids to learn kidnapping are perfectly decent.
Continue reading “Just Say No To Idolatry: Hamas Shuts Down Program As “Indecent” Under Islamic Law”
We have been following the increasing abuse of the legal system in Indonesia, including the application of Sharia law. Now, an atheist (identified only as Alexander) has been arrested and faced five years in jail for questioning the existence of God on his Facebook page. It is the latest blasphemy arrest, discussed earlier in a column.
I have previously questioned the historical and legal views of Newt Gingrich. However, we may agree on one recent historical claim: that Andrew Jackson tended to address enemies by killing them. As shown in the video below, Gingrich embraced this approach as a campaign pledge — eclipsing prior campaign pledges in the primary to bomb countries or torture detainees.
Continue reading “Gingrich Pledges To Kill Enemies Of The United States”
Yesterday, my column “10 Reasons The United States Is No Longer The Land Of The Free” ran in the Sunday Washington Post. I have been heartened by response to the column. However, a few commenters continue to suggest that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) does not allow for the indefinite detention of citizens. This claim is being advanced by Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.) in emails and fax messages to voters. I wanted to respond to Senator Levin’s points which are detached from language of the law and the clear intent of the majority of Senators. I would also like to address those who have stated that our liberties are not at risk when such powers will not affect most Americans.
Continue reading “Indefinite Detention of Citizens: A Response To Senator Carl Levin”
We have spent considerable time on this blog discussing the dangers of Sharia system in various Muslim countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, particularly in the treatment of women and girls. However, in any free nation, citizens should be allowed to resolve their own disputes through private mediation or religious adjudications. This is what is happening increasingly in England where Muslims are circumventing the court system in favor of Islamic courts and Sharia law. The growing influence of Sharia courts has raised concerns among women’s groups and such reliance should come with added vigilance to ensure that all of the parties are truly consenting to such faith-based adjudications.
Continue reading “English Citizens Increasingly Turning To Sharia Courts”
Foreign Policy magazine has published an article that deals with an intelligence crisis that the Bush and Obama Administration appear to have buried away from public view. Internal memos reportedly detail how Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA agents in the recruitment and running of operatives. Previously, Israel was criticized by various countries for using their passports and stolen identities of their citizens to kill a target in Dubai. The article suggests that Israel used U.S. money, passports, and identities for the false flag operation. What is fascinating is that the U.S. was accused (not surprisingly) of conducting the operation of cover support for Jundallah — a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization in 2007 and 2008.
Continue reading “Uncle Shem Wants You? Israel Accused of Using U.S. Passport and Fake CIA Identities To Recruit Operatives”
Below is today’s column in the Sunday Washington Post. The column addresses how the continued rollbacks on civil liberties in the United States conflicts with the view of the country as the land of the free. If we are going to adopt Chinese legal principles, we should at least have the integrity to adopt one Chinese proverb: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” We seem as a country to be in denial as to the implications of these laws and policies. Whether we are viewed as a free country with authoritarian inclinations or an authoritarian nation with free aspirations (or some other hybrid definition), we are clearly not what we once were. [Update: in addition to the column below, a later column in the Washington Post explores more closely the loss of free speech rights in the West].
Continue reading “10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free”
While the Obama Administration continues to block any independent investigation in this country or by other countries, Britain has angered Obama officials by confirming that a suspect was tortured as part of his interrogation by the United State in Morocco. The use of other countries to torture U.S. detainees through “extraordinary renditions” is well documented. However, the Obama Administration reportedly threatened to cut off Britain from access to intelligence if the country told the truth about the torture of Binyam Mohamed. Thus, while publicly condemning the desecration of dead Taliban as “deplorable” and promising an investigation (after the photos were published by the media), the Administration continues to use classification laws to prevent the truth from being revealed about American involvement in potential war crimes. What is particularly disturbing is that this story has received relatively little attention in the United States media, which appears to have “moved beyond” torture in favor of Tebow as a worthy subject of coverage.
We previously discussed the law passed in Oklahoma barring state judges from considering Islamic and international law in their decisions. Now the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has blocked the law. The three-judge panel upheld an injunction barring certification of Question 755. The decision has some important language for both standing and free exercise claims.
Continue reading “Too Sooner For Sharia? Tenth Circuit Rules Against Oklahoma’s Anti-Sharia Law”
A conference on “Innovations in Gynecology/Obstetrics and Halacha [Jewish law]” will be held this week to discuss such things as “how to choose a suitable contraceptive pill” but women will be barred as speakers. Bowing to ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders in Israel, the Puah Institute has barred female speakers and ordered that women are to be segregated in female-only areas. With the ongoing protests over the mistreatment of women and girls by Orthodox Jews in some areas, the conference only magnifies the tensions in the country.