The Saudi Kingdom has now executed yet another “sorcerer” — part of a continuing trend in Muslim countries in arrested suspecting Genies and sorcerers in the name of Allah. In this case, the Saudis appear to have arrested a garden-variety carnival healer — a woman saying that she could heal illness for $800 per session.
Continue reading “Saudi Kingdom Executes “Sorceress””
Category: International
Below is my column today in The Los Angeles Times on the conference this week in Washington on religious speech. I have previously written about the Obama Administration’s break with past policies to support Muslim countries in cracking down on speech deemed “defamatory” to religion. While the latest resolution does not repeat the defamation language, the purpose remains unchanged and the dangers for free speech are obvious. The non-binding resolution was passed in March, largely in response to the assassinations of two Pakistani officials who had spoken out against the nation’s blasphemy law. Ironically, however, the resolution will likely reinforce the right of countries to criminalize anti-religious speech and blasphemy laws.
The Supreme Court today accepted cert in the challenge to Arizona’s tough anti-immigration law. In a loss to the Administration, Associate Justice Kagan recused herself from the case.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Takes Arizona Immigration Case — Kagan Recuses”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger.
During the Cold War a phrase “The Enemy Within” became popular. It was a reference at first to Communist subversion exemplified by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt. Later it was used with other issues such as in Robert F. Kennedy’s book “The Enemy Within” which dealt with corruption in the Labor Movement, specifically Jimmy Hoffa and his teamsters. Recently, Michael Savage, right wing talk show host, wrote a book using that same title, though in this case referring to liberals and progressives as being seditious. The connotation of this phrase is that the group so labeled represents an internal movement that is so dangerous to the interests of the United States, that it can be seen as subversive.
Some may be shocked then by the title of this post. Almost all of us have grown up thinking of the Chamber of Commerce as a uniquely American Institution. Throughout the US whether in cities or in hamlets, the business community has banded together to promote local commerce and build interrelated networks. When we think of this, we think mainly of local small businesses, which are the backbone of this nation’s economy. To be honest until this week I’ve never give much thought to the Chamber of Commerce until as a MoveOn.com member I received a petition from an affiliated new organization called SumOfUs.
“SumOfUs is a brand-new global movement of consumers, investors and workers using our collective economic power for good. Together, we will work to hold the world’s corporations accountable to the public interest and move our global economic system towards social equity, democratic principles, and long-term sustainability.” http://googlequitthechamber.org/about/
The purpose of the petition was to get Google to follow the lead of other large corporations and quit the US Chamber of Commerce. The petition made various claims regarding the US Chamber of Commerce which I’ll deal with in this post.
However, I wouldn’t present this post without doing some research on the “Chamber” and its’ activity to look into the validity of the claims being made by the SumOfUs organization. In doing this research I came to realize that in my opinion the United States Chamber of Commerce is an organization that does not act in the best interests of this country and that one can call it subversive, even though it is not treasonous. These are my reasons for this belief. Continue reading “The US Chamber of Commerce, the Enemy Within?”
We have previously discussed the assault on free speech around the world, including in the West. The Thai courts have added to this ignoble trend by sentencing American Joe Gordon, 55, to two and half years for “defaming” the Thai Royal Family. Defamation law is quite different in other countries, including close allies like Italy, France, and England, and often used to punish critics of the government. Gordon was convicted for simply posting a link to an unapproved biography of the King. It is an example of the outdated use of lese majesty offenses — offense against the dignity of a sovereign.
It appears that cucumber farmers are equivalent to pornographers in some religious circles. We previously saw how a grocer in Iraq was killed for putting fruits and vegetable together that might be sexually suggestive. Now, an Islamic cleric in Europe has issued his own warning to Muslim women not to get close to cucumbers, bananas or other sexually suggestive fruit.
Continue reading “Do Not Handle The Fruit: European Cleric Warns Muslim Women Not To Handle Cucumbers, Bananas, and Other Sexually Suggestive Produce”
We have yet another blasphemy case. A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced Australian national Mansor Almaribe to 500 lashes and a year in jail for insulting Muhammad during prayers in a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Continue reading “Saudi Court Orders Australian To Be Flogged 500 Times For Insulting Mohammad — and Sent To Jail For One Year”
It appears that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has found the secret to winning the hearts and minds of voters: invade their territory and install a corrupt pocket government. In the midst of widespread allegations of voting fraud by Putin’s United Russia and massive protests against the authoritarian Putin, the government has announced that United Russia secured a whopping 99.48 percent of the vote with 99.51 percent of the citizens voting. Of course, the chances of Putin discovering votes in Chechnya is about as likely as finding two ancient artifacts lying in the open on the ocean floor in his first scuba diva.
Continue reading “Chechnya Loves Putin: Russian Government Announces 99.5 Percent of Chechens Voted For Putin”
The Senate of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has passed a new law that will impose 14-year sentences on citizens found to be homosexuals. In addition, anyone who aids or “abets” same-sex unions will face 10 years in prison. The latter provision seems directed at human rights groups that work to help gays and lesbians who often face violence and discrimination in the country.
Continue reading “Nigerian Legislators Pass New Law Imposing 14-Year Sentences For Homosexuality”
In one of the greatest attacks on civil liberties in this country’s history, Democratic and Republican Senators voted yesterday to approve a measure as part of the $662 billion defense bill that would allow for the military to hold both citizens and non-citizens indefinitely without trial — even those arrested on U.S. soil. In a welcomed change, President Obama has committed his Administration to fighting the measure as inimical to the rule of law. The measure was pushed by Carl Levin (D – Michigan) and John McCain (R – Arizona). While some members of Congress like Ron Paul (R., Texas) have denounced the bill, the measure passed at the same time that Administration lawyers publicly declared that the military and intelligence agencies alone should decide whether a citizen should be killed without a charge or hearing (including killing citizens on U.S. soil) — a position supported by President Obama who has ordered the killing of U.S. citizens under his claim of inherent authority.
Continue reading “Senate Votes Overwhelmingly To Allow Indefinite Detention of Citizens”
Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University, and the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, have issued a “scientific” report that the proposed lifting of the ban on women driving will result within ten years in “no more virgins” in the Kingdom as well as “a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce.”
The ABA Journal has released its list of the top 100 legal blogs in the world and we are once again in this august group of blogs. Congratulations to all of our regulars contributors and weekend bloggers. This blog’s success is due entirely to the consistently high level of commentary among our readers and, I believe, our commitment to civil and substantive (if at times passionate) dialogue on the legal and political issues of our day. We are again placed in the “opinion” category and facing two of the top five most popular blogs. You can vote at You can vote at this site by clicking on the “opinion” category and we need your vote. A quick registration is needed to prevent cheating in the competition.
Continue reading “Turley Blog Selected As A Top 100 Legal Blog — Now We Need Your Vote!”
There is an interesting lawsuit filed against the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., which stands accused of discriminating against a Muslim employee by barring him from serving an Israeli delegation — claiming a “national security exemption” for such religious and cultural discrimination. The man, Mohamed Arafi, was previously cleared in a security check with the FBI and handled other foreign guests, including dignitaries. He is of Arab ancestry. He is a naturalized citizen of Moroccan descent. I will be discussing the case today on CNN.
Archeologists in Israel have shocked religious officials with a new finding that the revered Western Wall in Jerusalem is not what people have long believed: a wall built by the Jewish ruler Herod. Newly discovered coins underneath wall strongly indicate that it was built long after Herod’s death.
Continue reading “Oops: Archeologists Discover Western Wall Was Probably Not Built By Herod”
This video shows Yves Rossy testing his jet pack by flying with a couple of military jets. The result is spellbinding in the Alps.
Continue reading “Meet Yves Rossy: Rocket Man”