Happy Independence Day!
Category: International
In Burlingame, California, citizens are fighting to protect their cherished town’s symbol: the giant Pez dispenser. Pez Candy Inc. is suing to force the town to tear down the super-sized Pez — which is recorded as the world’s largest in the Guiness Book of World Records. The company insists that it is dispensing huge servings of trademark infringement.
Continue reading “Dispensing Justice: Pez Sues Town Over Giant Pez Dispenser”
The Israeli High Court has ordered the Military Advocate General to file more serious charges against an Israel Defense Forces officer who ordered a soldier to shoot a bound Palestinian with a rubber-coated metal bullet. Lt. Col. Omri Burberg, the officer, and Staff Sgt. L., the soldier, were formally charged with “improper conduct” over the incident, a mere misdemeanor.
Karen Mulder has been accused of an almost stereotypical crime for a “supermodel.” Mulder, 39, was arrested in Paris today after allegedly threatening to attack her plastic surgeon. French police say that Mulder made “vicious telephone calls” over a recent cosmetic surgery.
Continue reading “From Catwalk to Perpwalk: Supermodel Arrested in Paris for Criminal Threats”
India is on the verge of a major victory for civil liberties: repealing a ban on homosexuality that was first introduced by the British 150 years ago.
Continue reading “India on the Verge of Repealing 150 Year Ban on Homosexuality”
Boom! Studios is alleging that its comics writer Mark Sable was detaining by the TSA at Los Angeles International Airport because of his script for a new issue of his comic miniseries Unthinkable.
Continue reading “Doing the Unthinkable: TSA Accused of Detaining Comic Script Due to Script”
The Iranian government has continued its crackdown on protests, including the arrest of dozens of university professors for merely meeting with opposition leader Hossein Mousavi. Senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami has called for the execution of some protesters and harsh treatment of all leaders of the protests.
Continue reading “Leading Iranian Cleric Calls for Execution of Some Protesters”
The world has another example of justice by extremists using Sharia law. In Mogadishu, Somalia, an Islamic court held a public ceremony where the hands and feet of weeping thieves were cut off in front of hundreds of onlookers.
Continue reading “Sharia Court Cuts Off Hands and Feet of Petty Thieves in Public Display”
There are new reports of beatings and shootings as the Iranian government tries to crush protests by citizens demanding more freedoms and democratic rights. The violence is little surprise after it was disclosed this week that the person behind the crackdown is the notorious “Butcher” Saeed Mortazavi. He is a religious extremist previously called upon to do the dirty work of the mullahs.
Continue reading “Meet The Butcher: Iranian Mullahs Enlist Controversial Figure to Crackdown on Protesters”
Belgian Kimberley Vlaminck caused an international outrage when she blamed tattoo artist Rouslan Toumaniantz for tattooing her left side of her face with 56 stars while she slept inside of the three that she asked for. She insisted that Romanian-born Toumaniantz did not understand her French and English instructions and threatened to sue. She now admits that she asked for 56 stars and lied because her father was “furious.”
Some of Iran’s most famous football (soccer) players have been banned for life due to their courageous show of solidarity with protesters in the recent World Cup games. The players wore green wrist bans and four refused to take off the bands at half-time when told to do so by the government or face punishment.
Acting true to it authoritarian form, the Iranian government is seeking to erase evidence of Neda Solton, the 26-year-old woman who died during protests when government forces used live rounds to disperse crowds.
Continue reading “Negating Neda: Iranian Government Seeks to Erase Memory of Iranian Martyr”
>Israel has a case that would make for an interesting false light and defamation claim in the United States. Indymedia Israel, a news site popular with civil libertarians, ran a picture of a soldier with the caption “murderer” and said that he was responsible for the death of Bassem Abu Rahma, who was hit in the chest with a tear gas grenade in Bilin near the West Bank. The government says that the soldier was not involved in the incident.
Continue reading “Website Under Investigation in Israel For Featuring Soldier As Alleged Killer”
There English media has been pursuing a series of stories about police abuse, particularly at protests. A new video (below) has surfaced showing the arrest of two such protesters, Val Swain, 43, and Emily Apple, 33, who claim that they were arrested and roughed up after demanding the badge number of an officer.
Continue reading “Video: Two Women Arrested After Asking for Officer’s Badge Number”
At the Boston Massacre, an unlikely figure emerged as one of the heros, a man of black or Indian parentage named Crispus Attucks. In Iran, women have played a key role in the protests and protesters have rallied around a female martyr named Neda Soltan, 26. Just as blacks in the United States were fighting from a position of slavery and discrimination, Iranian women have been throwing off of restrictions of the harsh Islamic regime and taken to the street. One such courageous young person was filmed as she died after being shot by Iranian security. The video is making it through the blackout curtain established by the Iranian government.
Continue reading “Iran’s Crispus Attucks: Demonstrators Chant the Name of Neda”