The departure of Rush Limbaugh for Costa Rica is now imminent with the passage of the second health care legislation — the so-called fixes of the original bill. Limbaugh threatened earlier that if Congress dared to pass the legislation he would leave for Costa Rica, here. It was an offer that Congress could simply not pass up.
Continue reading “Vaya Con Dios, Rush: Congress Passes Fix in Health Care”
Category: International
There is an interesting story today about the startling suicide rate for British veterinarians — 400 percent the rate of the general public.
Continue reading “Why Are British Veterinarians Killing Themselves?”
This one may be a bit difficult to explain on your resume. A Bulgaria official was fired after he was spotted milking a virtual cow in a committee meeting. The official is a virtual farmer who was simply tending to his stock as part of FarmVille.
Continue reading “Sour Milk: Bulgarian Official Fired For Milking Virtual Cow”
Hugo Chavez has continued his crackdown on free speech with the arrest of one of his leading critics in the media for remarks deemed “offensive” to the wannabe totalitarian leader. Guillermo Zuloaga, owner of Globovision, was arrested for statements he allegedly made while attending an Inter American Press Association meeting on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.
Continue reading “Chavez Critic Arrested For Criticizing Chavez At Press Conference in Aruba”
The sex abuse scandal has increasingly entangled Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican in allegations of the cover-up of molesting priests. Now, one case has directly implicated the Pope after it was learned that in the 1990s then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger effectively spared an American molesting hundreds of deaf boys. The then Cardinal received letters from Wisconsin priests asking him to move against the Reverend Lawrence Murphy, who worked at the St John’s School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin. He appears to have blocked efforts to defrock Murphy.
Continue reading “NYT: Pope Spared American Priest Who Molested Hundreds of Deaf Boys”
An Islamic court in Nigeria has banned any debates on the use of amputations as punishment on Twitter, Facebook, or blogs to protect Islamic traditions from being mocked or disrespected.
Continue reading “Satanic Tweets: Sharia Court Bans Discussion of Amputation Punishment on Twitter and Facebook”
England took the remarkably light response of expelling Mossad’s representative in London over the use of false British passports in the Dubai hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January. What will be interesting is the degree to which Interpol seeks to interview the man, who is likely protected by diplomatic privilege.
Continue reading “England Expels Mossad Rep in London Over Dubai Hit”
This is an amazing video. A truck (lorry) in Yorkshire first hits a car and then speeds down the highway while the driver appears clueless that he has added a Renault and screaming driver to his load. Why does this video seem so appropriate on the morning after the health care bill’s passage? Continue reading “Video: Truck Pushes Car Down Highway at 60 MPH”
It appears that Lebanese talk show host Ali Hussain Sibat is again facing death for sorcery in Saudi Arabia. A court in Medina reaffirmed his conviction despite being reversed earlier by the court of appeals. He was convicted of claiming to be able to predict the future on his show, which is treated as a form of witchcraft in the Kingdom.
Continue reading “Saudi Arabian Court Re-Sentences Television Host to Death for Sorcery”
In the midst of apologizing for abuses of children by Catholic priests, Pope Benedict XVI used his public comments to blame liberal secularism for threatening the Church and society. The Pope appears to be joining former Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders (here and here) campaigning against the scourge of seclurism — even as he apologizes for the widespread abuses of his church. It is astonishing to watch the expanding campaign against secularists, a rather unlikely group for villification. It appears that the scandal of pedophilic priests is only a distraction from the real threat to society — people who want society guided by civic rather than religious principles.
Continue reading “Pope: The Real Threat is the Scourge of Secularism”
Dutch officials have expressed outrage at the statements by retired U.S. General John J. Sheehan blaming the Srebrenica massacre on the presence of gay soldiers in their Army. The former NATO Commander testified that he was told that the presence of the gay soldiers was a significant contributor to the troops being captured without a serious fight.
Continue reading “General Sheehan: Srebrenica Massacre Due in Part To Gays In Dutch Military”
The Indian Army is turning to native cuisine for combat. The army has decided to use its infamous bhut jolokia pepper — the hottest in the world — as the basis for a new grenade. The Chili grenade explodes in a cloud of pepper — leaving people blind and gasping for hours. It is known as the Ghost Pepper in the West and urban legends say it can be lethal.
Continue reading “Combat Cuisine: India Develops Chili Grenade”
Oprah Winfrey appears set for another defamation trial — this time in Philadelphia where she has been sued by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane, former headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Mzamane claims that Oprah defamed her in speaking about a sex-abuse scandal at the school that she created.
Continue reading “Oprah To Stand Trial For Defamation in Philadelphia”
North Korea appears to have a slightly different approach to financial scandals. Rather than handing out billions of dollars of public funds for bonuses and loans, North Korea just shot its top financial official. There appears less of an emphasis on recovery in this plan.
Continue reading “Non-Stimulus Package: North Korea Claims to Have Executed Top Finance Adviser”
We learned recently that you had to be careful how you say goodbye in Dubai (here) after a couple was arrested for kissing on the streets. It appears that you cannot even opt for texting your desires without ending up in the Dubai hoosegow. Two Emirates airlines cabin crew have been ordered jailed for three months over sexually explicit text messages. The Indian flight attendant and her cabin services supervisor were convicted of “coercion to commit sin.”
Continue reading “Coercion to Commit Sin: Dubai Arrests Couple for Sending Explicit Text Messages”