As BP flacks try to stem criticism of Tony Hayward going yachting during the crisis in the gulf, many have surmised that Hayward and his staff are living on a different planet. That seemed confirmed by Planet BP — the company’s in-house magazine — which quoted a local seafood businessman as saying “[t]here is no reason to hate BP” and insisting that “[m]uch of the region’s [nonfishing boat] businesses — particularly the hotels — have been prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oil emergency response teams.”
Continue reading “BP: The Disaster is the Relief”
Category: International
The Dutch city is now famous not just for its cheese, but its “decoy Jews” In an effort to combat attacks on Jewish citizens, the police are disguising officers as Jews to capture anti-Semitic hooligans.
The Supreme Court rejected first amendment claims and upheld a federal law on providing “material support” to foreign terrorist organizations in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project. The material support law (found in the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA)) is the darling of prosecutors and widely ridiculed by civil libertarians for allowing virtually any act to be classified as material support. The ruling is a victory for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and a loss for civil liberties. Notably, however, even the conservatives on the Court found the interpretation of the Obama Administration to be too extreme.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Expansive Reading of Material Support Law”
It appears that allegedly murdering two young women in Aruba and Peru makes you something of a chick magnet. Murder suspect Joran van der Sloot, 22, has received multiple marriage proposals from Peruvian women. In the meantime, one woman (his mother) says “he is not right in the head.”
Continue reading “Most Eligible Murderer: Peruvian Women Send Marriage Proposals to Van der Sloot”
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is facing a possible death sentence in Pakistan for hosting the “Draw Muhammad” day contest. Pakistani police have opened an investigation under a section of the penal code that carries the death sentence for blasphemy against the “prophet” Mohammed. Tragically, President Barack Obama can be cited by the Pakistanis as supporting such blasphemy laws — and their enforcement.
How does it feel to know that little Luiz Otavio is less than two years old and can dance you under a table?
Continue reading “Samba Baby”
A special Canadian prosecutor will consider criminal charges against four officers after an investigation found that they were not justified in tasering a Polish immigrant who later died. Robert Dziekanski was tasered five times at Vancouver airport in 2007.
Continue reading “Canadian Prosecutors Consider Criminal Charges Against Four Officers in Taser Death”
Iranian clerics are campaigning for a continued crackdown on “badly veiled women” who are being compared to drug traffickers. Ironically, conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is being described as something of a libertine for suggesting that the government may try to emphasize a “cultural campaign” over the recent public measures taken against women who have been pulled from cars or off the street due to hair showing beneath their veils.
Continue reading “Iranian Clerics Call For Increased Crackdown on “Badly Veiled Women””
We have seen dangerous Chinese products reach the United States ranging from children’s toys to drywall to baby food. Now, officials are warning that millions of fake Trojan condoms have made it to U.S. markets — raising the risk of exposure to disease or unwanted pregnancies.
Continue reading “From China With Love: Prosecutors Crackdown on Condom Counterfeiters”
Mirza Zukanovic, 20, was sent to jail in Australia this week for blowing a bubble in court. Magistrate judge Rodney Crisp wants 30 days in jail for Zukanovic to break him of his bubble habit.
Continue reading “Crisp Justice: Man Jailed For Blowing Bubble in Court”
Dee Darwell, 56, had a lifelong fear of primates due to the British woman being raised in a house with her father’s chimpanzee pet — which she described as “positively evil.” Darwell finally decided to overcome her phobia by going to Thailand to visit “Monkey Island” — where she was promptly attacked by monkeys and repeatedly bitten.
Continue reading “Phobia Realized: Woman Seeking to Overcome Fear of Primates Is Attacked on “Monkey Island””
The Israeli Supreme Court has become embroiled in another religious controversy. Last week, the Court struck down subsidies for religious students. Now, tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews are protesting in various cities after the Court ordered the jailing of some Ashkenazi parents of European descent who refused to send their daughters to a school with girls of Middle Eastern, or Sephardi, descent. Ironically, both groups are protesting the order.
We have another shocking honor killing. The murder of a couple identified as Asha and Yogesh occurred outside Delhi when the family of Devi took revenge for her marrying a man from a lower caste. Even after his arrest, her uncle Omprakash Saini, proclaimed “I’m not sorry. I would punish them again if given a chance.” The bodies showed signs of torture before they were killed.
Continue reading “Indian Family Tortures and Kills Couple After Daughter Marries Lower Caste Man”
A German man outside of Munich has been arrested after a bizarre scene where he stormed into a clubhouse of Hell’s Angels, dropped his pants and threw a puppy at gang members. He then stole a bulldozer and tried to make an extremely slow getaway.
Below is today’s column exploring the growing anger of voters and the possible linkage of controversies ranging from the bank bailouts to immigration to the BP oil spill.