In the wake of the Chilean earthquake, major media has speculated (as in this MSNBC story) where “Nature [is] out of control.” It is the type of drivel that drives scientists batty.
Continue reading “When Nature Attacks: Media Asks Whether Earthquakes Are Evidence of “Nature Out of Control””
Category: International
We have been following the growing threat to free speech in the West through blasphemy and hate crime prosecutions, here. Now, Italian prosecutors in Milan have criminally charged four Google employees after a video was posted by students showing the bullying of an autistic child in late 2006.
Danish daily Politiken has issued a perfectly bizarre apology for reproducing the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2008. The newspaper reached an agreement with eight Muslim organizations to apologize without expressing regret.
Continue reading “We Apologize But Have No Regrets: Danish Newspaper Reaches Agreement With Muslim Groups Over Mohammed Cartoons”
Leading Saudi cleric Muhammad Musa Al-Sharif defended the practice of marrying nine-year-old girls as sanctioned by the prophet Mohammad in his own marriage to a nine-year-old girl, Aisha. In a truly signature moment, Al-Sharif insisted that not only does a girl become a woman at nine but when Islamic law refers to a certain issue – we don’t need human rights.
In a remarkable find, archeologists have discovered tools buried by a Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago in Northern India. Of course, where scientists see evidence of humans in the 15,000 years before earlier estimates, creationists see a pile of old tools and a gross miscalculation since the Earth is only 5000 years old.
Continue reading “Archeologists Discover 74,000-Year-Old Tools in India”
Dutch bobsledder Edwin van Calker and this four-man team pulled out of the Olympic competition after the driver said that he was terrified of using the track. It is a major slap at the Canadian designers who have been criticized since the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the luge track.
Continue reading “Dutch (Re)Treat: Bobsled Driver Refuses to Race on Canadian Course”
Question: what is the only thing scarier than one of the world’s largest indoor shark tanks? Answer: one of the world’s largest indoor shark tanks with a crack.
Continue reading “Question of the Day: What is Scarier Than One of The World’s Largest Shark Tanks?”
The United States has unveiled the design of its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London. It is an impressive design by Kieran Timberlake, the Philadelphia architect despite its hefty price (a record for an embassy). Timberlake won a competition of dozens of architects, here.
Continue reading “United States Unveils $1 Billion London Embassy Plans”
We previously read about bands of men roaming the streets of Jerusalem and other cities to break up mixed couples of Israeli women and Arab men, here. Now, there is a report that one city has created a formal program to locate such women and “treat” them outside of Tel Aviv.
Continue reading “Israeli City Establishes Program to Locate and “Treat” Israeli Girls Who Date or Marry Arab Men”
Prominent Saudi cleric Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak has issued a fatwa calling for “Modernisers” who object to the strict segregation of men and women in the Kingdom to be killed in the name of Islam.
Continue reading “Separate But Lethal: Leading Saudi Cleric Calls For The Killing of People Who Oppose The Segregation of The Sexes”
Dubai has released the names of new suspects in the alleged Israeli hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
They identified 15 new suspects including six new British names, as well as the names of three more Irish passport-holders, three French and three Australian. That brings the total to 26 suspects.
The six Britons were named as Philip Carr, Gabriella Barney, Stephen Drake, Mark Sklar, Daniel Schnur and Roy Cannon.
Police also confirmed that the credit cards were all issued by MetaBank of the United States. They believe that head of the team was using a fake French passport under the name Peter Elvinger, and used a credit card issued by DZ Bank of Frankfurt.
For the full story, click here
There is an interesting libel case out of England that once again shows what I believe is the fundamental flaw in the system’s treatment of defamation cases. Simon Singh is being sued by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) for his criticism of their profession in what would be treated as non-defamatory opinion in the United States. England has a extremely broad interpretation of defamation that chills speech and allows major corporations and associations to pursue critics with threats of financial ruin.
Continue reading “Writer Appeals Defamation Ruling For Commentary Criticizing Chiropractic Treatment for Certain Ailments”
It is a moment that may top the fall of the French skier in the first five seconds of her Olympic run, here. Top speed skater Sven Kramer lost his second gold medal after winning the 10,000m after his coach mistakingly sent him into the wrong lane — resulting in his disqualification.
Continue reading “Improper Lane Change: Olympic Skater Loses Second Gold Medal After Coach Directs Him To Wrong Lane”
I have long argued that torts professors should be assigned to the U.S. Olympic team Now, a German athlete has been injured by the fact that Olympic medals omit the warning that “biting into this medal may cause dental injury.” The victim, David Moeller was the unwitting victim when he bit into his silver medal in the luge only to break his front tooth.
An English surgeon who mistakenly removed a baby’s bladder in an operation is fighting to keep her license. Pierina Kapur, 43, a consultant pediatric surgeon, insists that her surgical performance was “inadequate” but that she did not engage in misconduct that should result in serious discipline. In the meantime, the baby will need a catheter for the rest of her life.
Continue reading “Surgeon Mistakingly Removes Infant’s Bladder But Insists She DId Not Commit Misconduct Warranting Serious Discipline”