We have been discussing the ever-expanding copyright and trademarks claims on what seems every object and observation in modern life, including such things as pictures taken of public scenes in London and in New York. Now one of the most iconic public images is being claimed as protected: the Eiffel Tower at night. Under EU law, the tower light display constitutes an “art work” and is therefore copyrighted. Thus, you can take a picture during the day but at night the copyright lawyers come out and roam the streets to see if you are taking pictures of the lights of the city of the “City of Lights.” (To show my innate sense of legality, I took this cunning picture just before the lights came on at dusk in Paris a few years ago. Ha!)
Category: International
Of all the victims of the Islamic State, none are more horrific than the girls captured by the jihadists and treated as sex slaves or forced to “marry” fighters. That is the fate of girls from the minority Yazidi towns and we have first-hand accounts from girls who recently escaped from IS forces. What is most striking is that clerics have justified their rape and slavery as consistent with the Koran and expressly justified under the extremist views of Islam and Sharia law. The girls are being declared “chums” or war spoils and their rape is being defended as allowing pure Islamic fighters from committing adultery. Kidnapping and raping thousands of girls is considered a better alternative than the scourge of adultery to these clerics.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan appears to have the same fluid understanding of history as he does civil rights. Erdogan became the latest — and certainly highest ranking — person to proliferate the myth that Columbus not only found that Muslims had discovered the New World before him but that there was an actual mosque left on a mountain in Cuba to greet the explorer.
Continue reading “Erdogan: Muslims Discovered America Before Columbus”
I have previously written about the array of added fees and costs associated with every aspect of air travel from seats with minimal leg room to meals to even bathrooms on some flights. One of the most profitable however is to charge for wifi. Like high-end hotels (another pet peeve of mine), airlines charge for this basic service. However, Jeremy Gutsche, a Canadian entrepreneur, never imagined how much when he received a $1,200 bill from Singapore Airlines for exceeding his wifi package. It appears that it does not simply cut off but continues to charge you — a useful glitch if you want to fleece customers.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
In the past, I have written about the Big Banks continued unlawful actions that only result in “slap on the wrist fines” that in many cases are passed on to the shareholders and/or used as a tax deduction. It seems that Wall Street and the Banksters have not learned a thing. Or have they?
The latest wrinkle in Banksters taking advantage of American citizens is noted in a Crooks and Liars report which detailed an investigation into several Big Banks and their alleged refusal to honor the orders of Bankruptcy judges across the country. Of course, the “usual suspects” have been named in the latest investigations. Continue reading “Banks Ignore the Bankruptcy Laws”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Congress is drafting legislation to deny Social Security benefits to those accused of participating in persecutions of others by the Nazis. HR 5706 directs the Justice Department to provide names of individuals suspected as such to the Social Security Administration which would then terminate all social benefits to these individuals. This could occur despite payments by these individuals into the social security system and who are presently receiving such benefits.
The Bill, titled the “Nazi Social Security Benefits Termination Act of 2014,” came into being after the Associated Press reported that millions of dollars in benefits have been provided to those beneficiaries, many of whom the AP claims received the promise of social benefits on the condition they removed themselves from the United States. The Justice Department disputes this claim.
While there is no question that those who participated in genocides should be held accountable for their actions, the steps Congress is taking has substantial long term risks to due process rights, entitlements, and using retirement benefits as a form of collective punishment to individuals deemed undesirable by the U.S. Government.
Adrian Acevedo-Hernandez, 36, Jose Luis Montufar-Canales, 31, Jose Manuel Ortega-Torres, 30, and J. Nemias Reyes Marin, 31, are in need of some “friends” after their Facebook postings led to their arrest. The men were shown on pictures with an assortment of dead animals. One picture from Hiko, Nevada below shows Ortega-Torres carrying off a mule deer in Nevada but game officials were struck by the background of the picture that was clearly not in the hunting season. That prompted a 16-month state and federal probe that finally led to the arrest of the men who are described as carrying out “a systematic killing, illegal killing, of wildlife.” Authorities believe that Acevedo-Hernandez, Montufar-Canales and Marin are illegal immigrants.
Continue reading “Bagged: Four Men Arrested After Posting Pictures Of Poached Deer On Facebook”
There is a truly disturbing report out of Chicago that highlights the massive wealth gap in our country. The Springleaf Financial Strength Survey, found that 33 percent of Chicagoans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and have less than $250. Nationwide 43 percent of families are living paycheck to paycheck.
Indian officials are investigating a shocking case where 10 women have died and dozens of others hospitalized after participating in a state-run mass sterilization. The over 80 women underwent sterilizations by a single doctor in a single day in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday. The most remarkable statement came below from the chief medial officer who promised an investigation.
Horrific stories of food contamination have become almost commonplace in China from oil skimmed from sewers to rat meat to fake eggs (here and here and here and here and here and here). While the Chinese government has jailed food safety advocates and censored many stories, it is struggling to combat massive corruption and criminal elements in its food supply system. A story this week out of the province of Shandong in eastern China tells just how massive this problem is. A criminal gang in eastern China has sold almost 100 metric tons (110.23 tons) of toxic tofu. The tofu was mixed with rongalite powder, a cancer causing chemical banned in all foods. The gang was using it to make the tofu look whiter and fresher. The gang was selling tofu sticks called “fuzhu”, a popular snack in China.
There is an interesting case of free speech out of South Africa where Chester Missing has been gagged from sending out any more tweets or messages criticizing singer Steve Hofmeyr. The court order is based on the country’s hate speech laws, a continuation of a trend where free speech is being curtailed under antidiscrimination or hate speech laws. What is a bit different in this case is that Chester is a dummy . . . a real dummy . . . like a puppet dummy.
M. Indira Gandhi is a Hindu mother in Malaysia who is living a nightmare after her Muslim husband took her 11-month daughter after she refused to convert to Islam. The husband, who had only converted to Islam shortly before, then went to a Sharia court. The “court” refused to hear from the wife since she is not Muslim and ruled for her husband. She went to a real court, which ruled for her. However, it does not matter. It has been five years and the police in his largely Muslim nation have refused to enforce the real court order.
Continue reading “Malaysian Police Refuse To Enforce Court Order Of Custody For Non-Muslim Mother”
A New York jury has convicted Adam Tang, aka “AfroDuck,” who posted the video below from “AfroDuck Productions” showing him circling Manhattan at speeds up to 100 mph. Tang, 31, however, has now added being a fugitive to being a reckless idiot — he has fled to Canada. Remarkably, this is only a misdemeanor with a potential sentence of up to a year, but prosecutors insist, understandably, that he needs to spend time in jail. Tang turned down a two-month jail sentence in a plea offer saying that he is married to an American woman and wanted to avoid any criminal record in case it would cause immigration complications. Of course, filming himself speeding at 100 mph through Manhattan did not seem to be a “complication” for his immigration status. Nor did his later arrest history.
There is a tragic and rather bizarre fatality at a large English estate where gardener Nathan Greenaway, 33, died after being rushed to the hospital. The cause appears to be a plant that many may recall from medieval stories — wolfsbane (aka Devil’s helmet, monkshood, leopard’s bane, women’s bane, devil’s helmet or blue rocket). Aconitum is so poisonous that even if brushed against without protection it can cause can vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, heart palpitations, and, in severe cases, paralysis of the heart and airways. The case would present an interesting tort action in the United States against the retired venture capitalist who owns the $6 million estate. The question is whether Christopher and Kathy Ogilvie Thompson were negligent to have such a lethal plant on the premises if there were no barriers or warnings. The name aconitum comes from the Greek meaning “without struggle”.
Continue reading “Death of English Gardener Linked To Wolfsbane Plant”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A controversy has erupted in academic and student circles over the University of British Columbia’s Vantage College. The college’s campus is under construction and expected to cost the university C$ 127 million but is beginning its enrollment
Canadian Citizens are prohibited from enrolling at Vantage College. The college is marketed toward wealthy foreign students mostly from China. Tuition and living expenses are stated to be over fifty thousand dollars per year for the privilege of attending Vantage. The university offers higher perks to these students than what is afforded the university’s common students.