We have been discussing the rapid decline of civil liberties in Venezuela after the socialist takeover by Hugo Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro. The denial of free speech and free press protections only increased as Chavez/Maduro destroyed one of the most productive economies in Latin America and turned it into an economic basket case. Now, the “red revolution” can take credit for reducing the judicial system to a virtual caricature of itself. The Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled this week that the media cannot publish videos of lynchings because such true images would produce “anxiety and uncertainty” among citizens. The Maduro government has been trying to prevent citizens from seeing such images as it denies the social and economic meltdown in the country.
Category: International
We have been discussing the destruction of national parks and artistic works. However, the acts of vandalism in Tasmania this week are truly shocking after someone gratuitously destroyed 8,000-year-old Aboriginal artworks.
Continue reading “Ancient Tasmanian Hand Prints Destroyed By Vandals”
British student Natasha Uttamsingh, 22, has been found guilty of lying about being raped by her boyfriend and sentenced to jail for 15 months. We have previously discussed how false rape accounts are often not punished (as in the case of the infamous Duke Lacrosse rape case) or lightly punished. There has been a variation of sentences for false rape charges but they vary greatly, including just a few weekends in jail. (here; here; here; here; here; here; here; here; and here).
Continue reading “English Student Given 15 Months For False Rape Claim”
An Emirati man has taken vanity to a disgusting extreme — spending $5 million for a plate with the number 1 on it. For the vast majority of people struggling to feed their families, the auction price is obscene. Yet for local businessman, Arif Ahmad Al Zarouni, it was just something that he had to have as a matter of pride.
In yet another example of how similar extreme groups in Judaism and Islam can be, an ultra-orthodox Jewish leader has reportedly banned girls aged five and older from riding bicycles;claiming it is “immodest” and too “provocative” for men watching girls as young as six on a bicycle.You may recall the outrageous move by the city of New York to remove bike lanes in an area in New York to protect the sensibilities of Hasidic men. Previously, an influential rabbi moved to block women from driving –just as his Islamic counterparts have done in places like Saudi Arabia.
The corruption of Nigeria has long been breathtaking. Indeed, what would normally be alarming (like a politician with millions in cash in his room) is treated as perfectly understandable in Nigeria. Take the recent theft reported by Senate President Bukola Saraki, who said that ₦300 million(about $1.6 million) disappeared from his room. Police are questioning aides as well as some members of the security detail but not pressing on the fact that Saraki had huge amounts of cash sent to his hotel room.
For those supporting the British exit from the European Union, a new video could not come at a better time. EU critics have argued that Britain is being ruled by five “presidents” that no one can name and Brits have little voice in selecting. As if on cue, one of those five –Luxembourgish politician Jean-Claude Juncker — appeared in public in what appears to be an inebriated state — even playfully slapping people.
Continue reading “President of EU Commission Caught Apparently Drunk in Public Event”
You may recall the controversy of a press conference at the State Department was later edited to remove an embarrassing question and answer regarding the Iran negotiations. When the exchange with Fox New Reporter James Rosen was found missing, Elizabeth Trudeau, director of the press office insisted that “Genuinely, we think it was a glitch.” Now, the State Department is admitting that it was not a glitch but an intentional editing of the transcript to remove the exchange. However, State Department spokesman John Kirby insists that they cannot determine who ordered the deletion.
In another disgraceful move related to environmental damage, the Australian government has stripped out any reference to the Great Barrier Reef, the Northern Territory’s glorious Kakadu national park and Tasmania’s forests in a report on climate change. Equally disgraceful was the willingness of Unesco to knuckle under to any country that objected to such references in the report entitled “Destinations at Risk: World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate.” The massive “bleaching” of the Great Barrier Reef has horrified people around the world as we watch the loss of this natural wonder to climate change and poor governmental policies, as we previously discussed.
Continue reading “Problem Solved? Australia Succeeds In Stripping All References To The Great Barrier Reef From Climate Change Report”
A Saudi husband’s view of the strict Islamic code led to his shooting a doctor despite the successful delivery of the man’s son. The doctor was also a man and the husband was irate that a female was not asked to deliver the baby in accordance with Islamic values. Muhannad Al Zabn, delivered the baby at the King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh and was later treated for his own gun shot wounds.
Any Iraqi migrant spotted a t-shirt that seemed to capture the feelings of many Muslims who face assumptions that they are dangerous or unhinged. The 23-year-old wore the t-shirt reading “I’m Muslim, Don’t Panic” back to his asylum home in Berlin and was promptly almost beaten to death by three Muslim refugees who decided that the t-shirt was anti-Islamic.
Muslim cleric Mallam Abass Mahmud in Ghana has explained the real cause of earthquakes. Never mind those pesky seismologists and tectonic plates. The real cause it appears are gays and specifically gay sex. It is not clear if the level of gay relations corresponds to the Richter scale in the intensity of earthquakes.
Continue reading “Muslim Cleric In Ghana Proclaims That Gay Couples Cause Earthquakes”
Iran this month reminded the world that it remains entirely committed to the medieval Sharia legal system. Over 30 college students participated in a graduation party but were arrested by Iranian police for participating in a mixed gender party. Each of the students was given 99 lashes under the Islamic law.
Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, is moving back to Germany after shifting its operations to Asia for cheap labor. However, wages are increasing even in Asia so Adidas has found workers even cheaper: robots. Adidas will be making shoes again in Germany by 2017 but will employ relatively few actual Germans.
The rapid decline of free speech in England accelerated further this month with a ruling of the British high court banning The Sun newspaper from naming celebrities involved in a sordid sex story despite the fact that all three names are widely known and discussed on the Internet and non-British newspapers. Indeed, papers like the Toronto Star have running virtually mocking accounts of Elton John, his Toronto-born husband David Furnish, and British businessman Daniel Laurence. Elton John is obviously the quintessential public figure who has participated in a wide range of stories and programs on his family life with Furnish and their children. It is a chilling example of England’s rollback on basic free speech and free press protections.