The Iranian courts have produced their weekly outrage. The leading blogger in Iran, Hossein Derakhshan, 35, was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison for his writings. Derakhshan was the founder of one of the first Farsi-language blogs and helped instruct others in how to create their own blogs. The authoritarian regime views such blogs as a threat to its control over the population.
Continue reading “Iran Sentences Leading Blogger To Almost 20 Years in Prison”
Category: International
Dalai Lama has given researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison a donation of $50,000 to study happiness. Once again, I remain unclear why I am not the recipient of such academic grants. I could show that giving me just $25,000 would produce considerable happiness.
Continue reading “Hello Dalai: Spiritual Leader Hands Out $50,000 To Study Happiness”
Google and its chief executive Eric Schmidt have been convicted of defamation in France in a decision that, in my view, defies logic and legal principles. The company was convicted due to the results of its “suggest” function which lists words commonly used by users. In this case, the plaintiffs’ name produced automatic suggested words of “rapist” and “satanist.”
Continue reading “French Court Convicts Google and Schmidt of Defamation”
It appears that, before the Queen asked the government to take over responsibility for the finances of her palace, she had asked for the government to use energy-saving grants for low income families to heat the palace.
Continue reading “We Are Not Amused: Queen Sought Low-Income Funds To Heat Palace”
The Washington Post is reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to extend a freeze on new settlements in exchange for the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. It is an astonishing offer, if true, since the settlements have long been a major barrier to peace negotiations but under this deal would be frozen in exchange for a spy’s release. It would seem to undermine the substantive arguments in favor of such settlements.
Continue reading “Report: Israel Offers To Extend Freeze on Settlements in Return for The Release of Convicted Spy Jonathan Pollard”
Russian politicians appear to be adopting the methods of some Sharia courts in proposing that corrupt Russian officials be branded with the letter K (the Russian symbol for a bribe taker) on their left hands.
Continue reading “Russian Party Leaders Call For Branding Of Corrupt Officials”
For civil libertarians, the decision by President Obama to bar the prosecution of Bush officials for the torture program was always a flagrant choice of politics over principle. Now a poll ratifies that decision. A poll commissioned by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that Americans are accepting torture in greater numbers. The study also shows a decrease in support for Israel in any military conflict and two-thirds saying that they would like the U.S. to be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Continue reading “Poll: Americans More Supportive of Torture — Though Still a Minority”
A top party leader and associate of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is under fire this week for arguing that Poland may have been as responsible as Hitler for the outbreak of World War II. Erika Steinbach said Poland had mobilized its troops months before the Nazis invaded in September 1939.
Continue reading “German Leader Suggests Poland Partially Responsible for Nazi Invasion”
Senior Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, has denounced the Holocaust of Jews as nothing more than a “superstition” of the West. The cleric insists “[t]he Holocaust is nothing but superstition, but Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this.”
Continue reading “Iranian Senior Cleric Calls Holocaust a “Superstition””
The Japanese continue their efforts to undermine or eliminate the moratorium on hunting whales, including allegations of bribing officials from other countries. What is fascinating is that the government’s obsession with killing whales has not diminished despite falling appetites in Japan for whale meat. Unwilling to allow its population’s tastes to change with the world around it, the government is now feeding whale meat to school children.
Continue reading “You Can’t Have Recess Until You Finish Your Whale: Japan Feeding Whale Meat To Schoolchildren”
We have followed the dubious work of Michael O’Leary, chief executive officer of Ryanair as he has struggled to make aircraft into human cattle cars and to charge from every possible convenience like use of a toilet. Demonstrating that he has even less regard for safety than he does comfort, O’Leary is calling for the elimination of co-pilots — suggesting that flight attendants could be trained to land planes where a pilot dies or becomes incapacitated.
Continue reading “Ryanair CEO Calls For The Elimination of Co-Pilots To Save Money”
Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had some curious advice for citizens to help with the economic recovery in that country: drink and smoke heavily. Kudrin has told citizens that the government needs the taxes so they should party hearty, including the added benefit of “upholding birth rates.” It appears that you drink first and smoke later in the expansion of the Russian population.
Continue reading “Drink, Smoke, and Be Merry: Russia Unveils Its Recovery Plan”
The world has rallied to the defense of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. We have been following the case closely on this blog with a mix of both horror and anger. However, the Iranians continue to yield to their bloodlust over her fate, even recently calling for the death of the French First Lady after she called for mercy. Now, the regime is again applying Sharia law and Mohammadi-Ashtiani, 43, was given 99 lashes because a picture was published of her without her veil.
Continue reading “Iran Reportedly Gives Mohammadi-Ashtiani 99 Lashes for an English Photo Without a Headscarf”
Iranian authorities are seeking a potential death sentence for a human rights activist and journalist, Shiva Nazar-Ahari, 26, for the crime of “warring against God.” Since the regime views itself as the expression of Allah’s will on Earth, Sharia law allows virtually any opposition to the government to constitute “warring against God” in the twisted logic of the Iranian regime.
Continue reading “Warring Against God: Human Rights Activist and Journalist Tried Under Sharia Law”
In perhaps the most frightening example of how life in Iraq has been permanently mutated by the war, a reality television show has gained popularity with the angle that they plant a bomb in a celebrity’s car and then have the bomb discovered at a checkpoint. The laughs just keep rolling like bodies from a blast.
Continue reading “Reality TV Iraqi Style: Show Plants Fake Car Bombs on Celebrities”