Ontario media are in a frenzy over a report that city employees in Mississauga were taped up, spanked and humiliated. The report indicated that the city’s transportation and works department employees were hazed and humiliated. It is not clear whether, during the spanking, workers were expected to chant Ontario’s motto “Loyal she began, loyal she remains”.
Continue reading “Loyal She Began, Loyal She Remains: City Department Officials Under Scrutiny for Allegedly Taping and Spanking Workers”
Category: International
There has been global criticism of a Chinese factory making Apple products after a rash of suicides and complaints that workers are paid little and worked hard. Finally, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. has acted: it has had workers sign that they would not kill themselves. It is a major breakthrough since overworked employees may be willing to take their lives but they would think twice before breaking a contract in China.
Former President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed this week “Yeah, we water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . . I’d do it again to save lives.” Fortunately, he will not be given another chance but, due to the actions of President Obama and Attorney General Holder to bar any investigation or prosecution of torture, future presidents may well indeed to do it again.
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The Saudi religious police have cracked down on a popular reality show on MTV that follows the lives of three Saudi youths. Saudi officials have alleged that the three are guilty of the crime of “openly declaring sin” by criticizing Saudi restrictions over the segregation of the men and women and other complaints.
Continue reading “All Too Real: Saudi Religious Police Crackdown on MTV Reality Show”
We have seen diplomats fired for milking virtual cows (here) and virtual affairs leading to divorces (here). Now, Finnish police are investigating the theft of virtual furniture from a social networking site.
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International outcry over the commando raid on a flotilla bringing food and medicine to Gaza continues to grow. Israel insists that its soldiers were merely defending themselves in the shootings that left 9 people dead. Human rights activists insist that the troops opened fire on civilians onboard the ships. Whatever the final facts, the tragedy has brought even greater scrutiny of the long-condemned blockade in Gaza that has led to a humanitarian crisis.
Continue reading “Gaza Raid Triggers International Outcry and Question of International Law”
Hollywood stars appear to be yearning for some authoritarian relief. This week, Oliver Stone proclaimed his deep admiration of Hugo Chavez, who has stifled dissent and cracked down on journalists in his country. In the meantime, Woody Allen stated that Obama should be given dictatorial powers.
Continue reading “Hollywood Goes Authoritarian: Stone and Allen Long For a Dictator With the Right Stuff”
New Zealand’s new Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code has banned kosher slaughtering by requiring that all animals slaughtered commercially be stunned prior to killing. The law still allows kosher meat to be imported from other countries.
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In a little reported story, scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against Ebola — the often fatal “bleeding disease.” Thomas Geisbert of Boston University and a team of researchers have developed an experimental drug that appears to protect monkeys from the most lethal strain of Ebola.
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Two Israeli activists were arrested for shouting insults at White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in Israel this week. The activists spotted Emanuel in Jerusalem’s Old City with his family and shouted “Jerusalem is not for sale.” Heck, Rahm Emanuel is known to say worse stuff in a shower, here. That would be protected speech in the United States, but it appears that you can be arrested for shouting at celebrities and high-ranking officials in Israel.
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There was a time when we got things like the Beatles and Monty Python from our British cousins. The most recent import from England, however, is far less redeeming: vodka eyeballing. Upset that vodka shots took too long to be absorbed into their blood streams, British drinkers have discovered that pouring vodka directly into your eye socket results in a faster avenue to inebriation.
Continue reading “Coming to a College Campus Near You: Vodka Eyeballing”
The legal situation over the Deepwater Horizon explosion appears to be getting more serious as accounts emerged that there was a serious argument between Transocean and BP officials shortly before the blast — with references to the possible use of the blowout preventer. One BP official, Robert Kaluza, has become the first known person associated with the blast to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to refuse to answer questions.
It appears 0888 888 888 is the cellphone version of the monkey’s paw — bringing disaster to all those who acquire it. The Bulgarian mobile phone company has removed the number from circulation after all of its previous owners died within the last ten years.
Amnesty International (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) has issued a 430-page report accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. While few have any illusions about Hamas and its violation of international law, the accusations against Israel are quite damaging and join those of the United Nations investigation by the Goldstone Commission.
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Bank robbers in Germany went a bit overboard with the explosives in trying to break open a cash machine in Malliss. They destroyed the bank. The only thing remaining intact was the bank’s cash machine.
Continue reading “Bank Robbers Destroy Bank, Leave Cash Machine”