Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continues his steady move toward totalitarian rule with his crackdown on critics, the media, and now judges. After Judge María Lourdes Afiuni issued a ruling that Chávez did not like, Chavez attacked her on television and had her arrested and thrown into jail.
Continue reading “Chavez Cracks Down on Judges and Journalists”
George Jolicur in England has succeeded in avoiding jail by emphasizing not the weight of the evidence but the weight of the culprit. Jolicur is listed as weighing “42 stone” — for yanks, a stone is 14 pounds. That would make Jolicur 588 pounds.
Continue reading ““The Beef Jerky Got Me”: Man Avoids Jail With Weighty Argument”
Both American (here) and foreign politicians (here) have recently blamed atheists and secularists for everything from plagues to plaque. Christian (here) and Jewish (here) have joined in the growing chorus that secularists are a threat to the future of our species. Bishop Anthony Fisher of Parramatta has added his own bizarre list of ills from secularism, blaming it for Nazism, Stalinism, mass murder and abortion in his Easter message.
Continue reading “Archbishop: Secularism is the Cause of Nazism, Stalinism, Mass Murder, and Abortion”
The annual Easter tradition of the Philippines has begun with devout Cahtolics nailing themselves to crosses and allowing themselves to be flogged as part of Good Friday.
Continue reading “Stuck on Jesus: Filipinos Celebrate Good Friday With Crucifixions and Floggings”
I just saw this video and would love to know the back story but all of the comments appear to be in Russia. It is being billed as a ballet dancer who decides to go out with a splash . . . and a dance.
Continue reading “When Ballet Dancers Quit . . .”
Giuseppe dalla Torre, head of the Vatican’s tribunal, has reportedly declared that efforts to question Pope Benedict on the widening abuse scandal would be refused on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
Continue reading “Vatican Invokes Diplomatic Immunity to Bar Questioning of Pope On Abuse Scandal”
We have been following the latest Sharia outrage in the death sentence given to a television show host who was accused of sorcery for discussing people’s future on Lebanese television. Ali Hussain Sibat was arrested while visiting Saudi Arabia and his lawyer has reported that he is scheduled to be beheaded on Friday absent some reprieve or reversal.
Continue reading “Lawyer: Saudi Arabia Scheduled Beheading of Television Host for Friday”
We have another odd criminal case out of England where pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, has been charged criminally, fined, and forced to wear an ankle monitor for two month after the crime of selling a single goldfish. Her son Mark was also convicted criminally and forced to do 120 hours of community service.
Comedian Guy Earle has been called before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal for violating the human rights of a lesbian couple with insulting comments at a nightclub. Lorna Pardy, 32, filed the complaint after she was insulted at dinner with her partner. She alleges Earle, restaurant owner Salam Ismail and Zesty Food Services Inc. “discriminated against her in the provision of a service … on the basis of her sex and her sexual orientation.”
Continue reading “Comedian Charged With Human Rights Violation By Lesbian Insulted At Club”
Sumo suits, a common sight on school campuses, have been declared prohibited racist objects by the student government of Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. The student body declared the suits to be both racist and dehumanizing toward the Japanese.
Continue reading “Sumo Suits Barred at Queen’s University As Racist and Dehumanizing”
Police in Exeter have a curious way of encouraging people to lock their doors — they burglarize the homes. The Exeter police have been going into unlocked homes and putting valuables in “swag bags” and leaving them with crime prevention information as a lesson to the home owners.
Continue reading “Police Burglarize Homes to Teach Lesson to Citizens”
There has been growing unease in Dubai, particularly among foreigners, over that country’s increasing enforcement of morality codes under Sharia-based laws (here). The latest victim is Simon Andrews, 56, who is facing six months in jail for flipping the bird in public.
English are quickly replacing the Russians for mindless bureaucracy. Here is the latest. The teachers at Manor School in Melksham, Wiltshire found a child had climbed a 20 foot tree. However, health and school policy barred them from rescuing the child so, under the policy, they retreated to inside the school to observe. When Kim Barrett, 38, (a mother with a six-year-old child at a different school) passed by, she immediately rescued the child. The teachers then promptly called police to have her charged with trespass.
Continue reading “Teachers Refuse to Rescue Boy in Tree and Then Call Police When Passing Mother Get Him Down”
Moscow officials have refused a birth certificate to a six-year-old boy because of his name: BOCh RVF 26062002. Officials were ok with Simply a Hero and Viagra but BOCh RVF 26062002 was simply too much.
Continue reading “BOCh RVF 26062002 . . . And We Thought Moon Unit Was Over The Top”
We have another case of English teachers accused of terrorizing students with a fake violent crime. We previously saw this curious pedagogical technique in Sheffield, here. Now, teachers at Blackminster Middle School in Evesham, Worcester are under attack for faking the killing of a teacher in front of screaming children aged 10 to 13.
Continue reading “Lock and Learn: English School Fakes Shooting Death of Science Teacher As Lesson”