Israel is caught up in an interesting controversy involving a Rabbincal Court. Rabbi Yissachar Dov Hagar, a judge on Jerusalem’s Rabbinical Court, ruled that Yossi Fackenheim, son of the famous Canadian academic and Reform Rabbi, Emil Fackenheim, is not really Jewish. The ruling came as part of a divorce decision and has caused a firestorm of controversy.
Continue reading “Hagar The Horrible: Son of Leading Reform Rabbi Declared Non-Jew”
Amnesty International has entered the controversy over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus in civilian areas of the Gaza Strip. The use of white phosphorus in a civilian area — let alone a compacted urban area like Gaza — would violate international law. Amnesty’s own investigation found what it claims to be clear evidence of such violations.
A Swiss lawyer has cited threats to the life of Muntadhar al-Zeidi and beatings in custody as the basis for a request for political asylum in Switzerland. The Iraqi journalist is still in prison after throwing his shoes at George W. Bush.
In yet another outrage by the Thai government’s use of the country’s Lèse majesté (prohibiting offenses against the crown), Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the crown in his 2005 book Verisimilitude. The sentence was originally six years but cut in half because of his guilty plea. In the meantime, British reporter Jonathan Head was charged under the laws for remarks that he made on a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
With congressional Democrats and the Obama campaign struggling to avoid the investigation and prosecution of torture, a Bush official just made it a bit more difficult. Susan J. Crawford has publicly admitted that they did engage in clear torture at Guantanamo Bay. With the hearings for Eric Holder on Thursday, the admission by Crawford could make the torture question hard to avoid. I will be discussing the Holder hearing on Countdown tonight.
Continue reading “Bush Official Admits That Administration Tortured Detainees”
Iran has continued its medieval legal practice with two additional stonings. It was supposed to be three stonings, but one of the men named Mahmoud accused of adultery was able to dig himself out of the hole and run free. The stonings occurred in the city of Mashhad in late December.
Continue reading “Two Men Stoned to Death and One Escapes After Iranian Sentence of Adultery”
Police in Greenfield, California are dealing with a considerable cultural disconnect. Macelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, was arrested after he arranged for a marriage of his daughter, 14, into a marriage for beer and cash. When his son-in-law, Margarito de Jesus Galindo, 18, stopped paying, he went to police to try to get his daughter back. Both are reportedly illegal immigrants from Mexico and now face criminal charges and possible deportation.
President-elect Barack Obama appears to be signaling that he is not inclined to investigate crimes committed by the Bush Administration. In an interview with ABC News program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos”, he picked up on the recent Democratic spin that we should all “look to the future and not the past” even if the past happens to contain war crimes committed by his predecessor. I just finished an interview on Talk of the Nation on which I debated the issue with Harvard Professor and former solicitor general Charles Fried. I also discussed the issue on MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “Obama Indicates That He Will Not Investigate Bush Crimes”
Stephen Buttafuoco, 23, is the subject of a rather curious criminal charge. He was a waiter at a wedding at the Woodbury Jewish Center when the guests suddenly began to hear an Arabic chant praising Allah. Buttafuoco, who aptly lives in West Babylon, New York, insists that he was playing a recording for a friend and did not realize that it was being amplified to the room. He was charged with felony harassment.
Continue reading “New York Waiter Charged Criminally For Playing Arabic Chant at Jewish Wedding”
Authorities have discovered the body of a Somali pirate who drowned after receiving his share of a ransom to release a Saudi oil tanker. His is one of five pirates who reportedly drowned after leaving the boat when $3 million was dropped by parachute on to the vessel
Continue reading “Liquid Assets: Body of Drowned Somali Pirate Washes Onshore with $153,000 in Ransom Money”
The Bush Administration appears intent to go out on a low note. The United States has asked for as many as 15,000 Iraqi prisoners to be held without charge in Iraq even though the authority to hold the prisoners expired at the beginning of the New Year. I discussed the plan as well as the investigation of war crimes on Rachel Maddow in this segment.
In a largely overlooked ruling, a federal judge in Washington awarded more than $65 million to sailors of the USS Pueblo who were captured and tortured by North Korea in 1968. The men — William Thomas Massie, Donald Raymond McClarren, Dunnie Richard Tuck and the estate of Lloyd Bucher — and were given the judgment by U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. after North Korea failed to respond to the lawsuit.
Continue reading “Court Awards $65 Million for the Men of the USS Pueblo”