Category: International

International, Military, Politics, Society

Biting The Hand: Afghan Government To Tax United States Aid

The Washington Post is reporting that the Afghan government is moving to tax U.S. aid to his country — notifying U.S. contractors that the government wants a piece of the aid given . . . to them. The Karzai government is taking this action over the objections of the Administration and conflicting U.S. law. It is also taking this action after Karzai has shutdown corruption investigations against his government. The Karzai family has been denounced as a virtual criminal enterprise with his brothers stealing anything that they can lay their hands on.

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Criminal law, International, Society

English Woman Sentenced To Two Years For Accusing Four Men of Raping Her

Under pressure from women’s groups, English officials recently backed down in giving the same anonymity protections to men accused of rape as they do to their alleged victims. Emma Blunden, 21, of Reading, Berkshire should give them second thoughts. Blunden received two years after repeatedly accusing men of raping her.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Czech Prosecutors Issue International Warrant For Arrest of Qatari Royal Accused of Child Molestation

We have another Middle Eastern royal on the lam. Various sites are reporting that a Prague court has issued an international arrest warrant for Prince Hamad bin Abdallah bin Thani al-Thani, a Qatari prince convicted of sexually abusing Czech girls.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Religion, Society

Irish Justice Orders Baby Saved Over Objections of Religious Parents

Justice Gerard Hogan of Ireland’s High Court held a novel hearing on December 27th in his own home. Hogan ordered that the government give a lie-saving blood transfusion to a baby boy born in August 2010. His parents are both Jehovah Witnesses and had refused the procedure to save their son.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Military, Politics, Society

Cheney: Obama Has Adopted Bush Policies on Torture and Gitmo

As many of us expected, President Obama’s decision to block any investigation or prosecution of war crimes has led Republicans to rehabilitate George Bush’s legacy.  The latest claim came from former Vice President Dick Cheney who previously boasted about the torture program in public — unconcerned about any prosecution from Attorney General Eric Holder.  Now, Cheney is boasting that Obama has “learned from experience” that some of the Bush administration’s decisions on terrorism issues.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

“Spiritual Corruption”: Chávez Jails Judge Who Granted Bail To Banker

Hugo Chávez continues his assault on political and legal protections in Venezuela. In a move that has been denounced internationally, including by Amnesty International, Chávez demanded the arrest of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni after she granted bail to an accused banker. He is demanding 30 years in prison even though his prosecutors could find no bribe (as he originally alleged on the radio). Instead, they found “spiritual corruption” and threw her in jail with many convicts that she previously incarcerated.
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Academia, Bizarre, Environment, International, Science

Are Males Obsolete? Female Dragonflies Go It Alone

OK, this is bad. Just as many wives are at their wits end with husbands who have turned to couch potatoes during the playoffs, scientists have found another species that made males obsolete. Spanish investigators have discovered that dragonflies are capable of parthenogenesis, asexual reproduction without fertilization by a male. While plenty of women are avid football fans, the announcement of this discovery during the playoffs can only be viewed as a direct threat to the male gender.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, International, Justice, Military, Politics, Society

Their Rights As Englishmen: A Brief History of the Second Amendment-Part I

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Few words have sparked as much emotion on the blog –and may have even cost it a victory lap in the ABA blog voting this year — as the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Seems the history of the Amendment was just as jumbled and ferociously fought, or so contends Law Professor David E. Vandercoy, in his short history of the Second Amendment.

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Academia, Bizarre, International

Teacher Fired After Allowing Students To Sled After Class

In Wales, Design teacher Richard Tremelling has been sacked. He was not fired for poor teaching or hitting on students or even habitual lateness. He was fired because he let two 15-year-old students go sledding after his class at Cefn Hengoed Community School in Swansea — failing to prepare a “risk assessment” and getting prior written approval. That’s right, the students asked if they could try out a sled that he brought into class as a design object. He said yes and now he is unemployed.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Italian Man Sneezes Out Bullet

Italian Darco Sangermano, 28, took matters into his own hands literally while waiting in an emergency room to be seen after being shot in the head. Sangermano was hit in the head by a bullet fired by one of those morons who like to shoot their guns on New Year’s Eve. Sangermano suddenly sneezed in the Naples hospital and the bullet came out his nose.
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Bizarre, International, Society

Australian Pastor Blames Prime Minister for Causing Disasterous Floods as God’s Vengence

It appears Pat Robertson is not alone speaking for God in the use of nature to punish the sins of man. A Christian pastor in Queensland, Daniel Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries, has announced that the devastating floods in Australia are actually divine judgment against Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd because he “spoke against Israel” in December 2010.

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Bizarre, International, Military, Society

GAO: U.S. Has Fired 250,000 Rounds For Every Insurgent Killed

There is an amazing (and startling) statistic out of Iraq and Afghanistan: the United States has fired an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed. The U.S. is going through so much ammo that manufacturers are struggling to keep up. In another milestone, U.S. troops in Afghanistan now surpass the number in Iraq.
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International, Politics, Society

Let Civil Liberties & Freedom Ring!

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

In his speech Restoring British Liberties (dated January 7, 2011), Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg talked about the freedom and the “hard-won liberties” that people in Britain have held dear. He talked about the standards of a nation that have been the hallmarks of a civilized society to which people who are victims of oppression in other places around the world have looked to as a beacon of hope…as an example of a better way of life.

Clegg claimed that in recent times under Labour many of Britain’s best traditions have suffered—and that many of its civil liberties “have been undermined, eroded, lost.”

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International, Justice, Politics, Society

Egypt Demands Return of “Cleopatra’s Needle.”

Submitted by Mark M. Esposito, Guest Blogger

Dr. Zahi Hawass is none too happy with New York Mayor Bloomberg. The Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council on Antiquities has sent the Mayor a letter demanding the City preserve a 3500 year old obelisk known as “Cleopatra’s Needle”  or send it back. Since 1881, the red granite monument has stood in Central Park near the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is nearly 68 feet high.

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