Ned Kelly, the Irish Australian bush bandit, is one of the great characters from the nineteenth century. Now, researchers have identified the headless remains of Kelly, who was captured after one of the most spectacular shootouts in history.
Continue reading ““Such is Life”: Ned Kelly’s Headless Body Found In Australia”
Category: International
Glenn Beck has brought his unique message to Israel as part of his “Restoring Courage” world tour. The born-again Mormon and former Fox anchor addressed a huge group of American Evangelical and Israelis in Jerusalem under the shadow of dome of the al-Aqsa mosque to denounce the United Nations, Arabs, and human rights organizations. That’s right, human rights organizations.
Continue reading “Beck Travels to Jerusalem To Denounce Human Rights Organizations”
Gibson Guitars are some of the best known instruments in the business. However, the company could soon make some interesting law as well after it was raided by federal agents investigating possible violations of the Lacey Act, the law barring the illegal trade in wildlife, fish, and plants. The company is being investigated for the allegedly unlawful importation of sawn ebony logs from India. This is the second time in two years that the company has been accused of Lacey Act violations.
Continue reading “Gibson Guitar Raided For Possible Lacey Act Violations . . . Again”
Exactly when does this get embarrassing for Russians? The latest installment of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s attempt to morph into a Russian action hero occurred with the start of the election campaign for United Russia Pary when he drove a Harley through the street. I hear the bike actually runs on his own excreted testosterone, which his Russian handlers insist is 100 times more powerful than that of a professional wrestler half is age and 10 times greater than a grizzly bear.
Many people have been concerned about the Obama Administration’s intervention into the Libyan Civil War with little knowledge of the character of the emerging new government, including indications of strong influences of religious extremists. The concern is that, as in Afghanistan with Al Qaeda, we are supporting the ascension of potentially more dangerous elements. That concern was heightened this week when the new Libyan government flatly rejected any possible extradition of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi — the terrorist mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. In the meantime in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s party has already announced sweeping proposed changes to structure society under Sharia law, including limits on tourists, banning bikinis and sunbathing. Other Islamic parties are calling for the removal of art and artifacts as non-Islamic.
Continue reading “Extreme Elements in Libya and Egypt Appear in Wake of Revolutions”
Here is our picture of the week from our erstwhile colleague in the City of Light, Eric Tenin.
For months, critics have observed that the rebels in Libya contains worrisome elements of religious extremists and that the rebel forces have been accused of war crimes (as have the government forces). The concern is that, like our work in Afghanistan (ultimately helping Al Qaeda and the Taliban), we have little understanding of who we are bringing to power in Libya in our intervention into that civil war. That concern is magnified this week by the release of the draft constitution, which (unless changed) would make Sharia law the governing law of Libya.
Continue reading “Proposed Libyan Constitution Would Make Sharia The Governing Law”
Here is our picture of the week from our erstwhile colleague in the City of Light, Eric Tenin.
Judging from this video, the Spanish have retained a Francoesque approach to dealing with the public and the concept of free assembly. The attacks on these young people appear entirely unprovoked. The police are preparing for the arrival of the Pope.
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The death of Irzen Octa in interrogation in Jakarta has raised an outcry internationally. What is a bit surprising is that his interrogators were not Indonesian police but Citibank employees. The company who proclaims “your Citi never sleeps” appears to harshly interrogated the man for hours in a tiny room over just $5,700 on his Citibank credit card.
Continue reading “Citibank Accused Of Killing Indonesian Man in Harsh Interrogation”
It is getting to the point that you have to wear waders on flights these days. We just saw a recent case of Robert “Sandy” Vietze, 18, (a member of the U.S. Olympic ski Team) peeing on the leg of an 11-year-old girl. Now, famed actor Gerard Depardieu forced a plane to return to the airport after he relieved himself in the middle of the plane aisle in first class. The actor from Green Card and such masterpieces as Cyrano de Bergerac appears not to have been charged in contrast with other cases.
Lawyer Jorge Hernandez Marin had a novel alleged approach to an opposing expert in litigation on behalf of drug maker Baxter International: take this ticket, money, and don’t call me in the morning. Marin was reportedly caught on tape offering to double the fee of the opposing expert, accountant Rafael Aspuru Alvarez, and giving him a free ticket to Las Vegas or some other city if he made himself unavailable.
The British government has formally asked China, Vietnam and other Asian countries to tell their citizens that rhino horn has no medicinal value to try to save the rhino from extinction. The belief that the horn holds medicinal value is deeply grained within Asian culture, as I discovered years ago in Taiwan.
Continue reading “Britain Calls On Asian Governments To Move Against Sale of Rhino Horn”
Blogger Asma Mahfuz has been arrested by Egypt’s military for defaming the military council on the Internet. It is a part of an expanding trend of governments cracking down on first speech by using defamation and blasphemy laws.
Continue reading “Blogger Detained in Egypt For Defamation Of Military”
The United States continues to pour foreign military aid and other funds into Pakistan by the billions despite years of knowledge that the Pakistani intelligence service was protecting terrorist suspects. Now, a report has surfaced that our erstwhile allies arranged to have the Chinese inspect the wreckage of the secret Stealth helicopter used in the operation — even as the U.S. was trying to recover the wreckage from Osama Bin Laden’s compound.