The New York Times has a striking account today of Scientologists who allegedly faced threats and coercion in seeking to leave the church. Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, gave a detailed account of they were effectively raised to serve the ultra-secret Sea Organization, or Sea Org in the Church. After signing a “billion year contract,” they say that they were faced with fines and forced confessions in seeking to break free from the Church.
Category: International
Romanian diplomat Dr. Silviu Ionescu fled Singapore after allegedly racking up three victims in two separate hit-and-run acidents on Dec. 15, 2009. He was seen fleeing from a black Audi belonging to the Romanian Embassy in Singapore. One of his victims, Tong Wai, 30, died on Christmas Day.
Nathan Michael Wilkie, 19, has a curious rap sheet that now includes the offense of listening to rap. He was charged under a new law for the offense of offensive behavior for listening to music by underground rapper Kid Selzy on his car stereo.
Continue reading “Taking the Rap: Teenager Arrested for Playing Rap Music Degrading Toward Women”
Moscow police have arrested a plus-sized felon. They believe that a sumo wrestler yanked a 200-pound cash machine off the wall and carried it off for the $850 cash inside.
Continue reading “Sumo Arrested After Ripping Cash Machine Out of a Wall”
Angelo Balducci, “Gentleman of His Holiness” Pope Benedict, has been fired after reportedly being caught by Italian police arranging for male prostitutes to be brought to him. The young men reportedly include one who is studying for the priesthood.
This is the newest technological advance out of Japan: the Dog Washing Machine. It seems more popular with owners than dogs.
Continue reading “Sit, Spin, Rinse: Japan Introduces Dog Washing Machine”
Gaza’s Islamic Hamas government has banned men from working in women’s hair salons as part of its move to impose strict Islamic law and traditions on Gaza’s 1.5 million people.
Continue reading “Hamas Bans Male Hairdressers From Women’s Hair Salons”
Some of our kids pester us for a new Wii game. For the eleven-year-old son of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, a shopping spree includes $44 million worth of mansions in Dubai. That is the equivalent of what an average citizen in Azerbaijan would make in 10,000 years.
Continue reading “Eleven-Year-Old Boy Buys Nine Mansions in Dubai for $44 Million”
We have another story out of the worker’s paradise in North Korea. A North Korean factory worker named Chong was executed by firing squad for passing along information on rice and living conditions to a friend who defected to South Korea.
Continue reading “North Korea Executes Man For Passing Along the Price of Rice to Friend in South Korea”
Sawsan Salim went to court to file harassment complaints against her local government in 2007. Her papers were in order but she was missing one detail. She had ventured out without a male family escort. For that crime she has been sentenced to 300 lashes and 18 months in jail.
First, animal rights activists wanted to euthanize Knut as a polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo, here. Now, they want to castrate him. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Knut (now grown) to be castrated to avoid his mating with another bear who is his cousin. Giovanna has been placed in the same area as Knut and they are getting quite close. That has led to call to neuter Knut.
Continue reading “Calls for Knutering: PETA Demands German Polar Bear Be Castrated”
Today, the Turley Blog is posting early due to the shortening of the day after the Chilean earthquake. The reason that many of our regulars are likely to feel a bit groggy this morning is that the earthquake has shortened the day by one-millionth of a second. Yes, you are right: you did get less sleep last night.
Political opponents have charged that Iraqi Prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, was come up with a unique version of a “chicken in every pot”: a gun in every home. Critics have released pictures of al-Maliki handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders to win votes. The guns reportedly have personal messages engraved into them from al-Maliki.
Continue reading “Bullets for Ballots: Maliki Accused of Handing Out Guns for Votes”
A Hindu wedding in New Delhi experienced the ultimate wedding crasher when the elephant used in the ceremony spotted a female elephant in a nearby field. The elephant proceeded to smash 20 cars, tried to mate with a truck, and then smashed through a shopping mall during a 15-hour rampage.
Dubai police now say that they have identified 26 suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh — widely believed to be a Mossad operation. The government also released toxicology reports that show that Al-Mabhouh was first drugged and then suffocated.
Continue reading “Dubai Police: Al-Mabhouh Was Drugged and Then Suffocated”