Pakistan is the latest Muslim country to ban a holiday as a threat to Islam. In this case, it is not Christmas but Valentine’s Day. The Interior Ministry has proclaimed that the harmless holiday is now deemed an “insult” to Islam and banned by order of Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan (right). Khan is one of the leading and most senior members of Pakistan Muslim League.
Continue reading “Pakistani Government Bans Valentine’s Day As “Insult” To Islam”
There is a free speech controversy brewing out of Detroit where an unnamed police sergeant is under investigation for expressing his opinion about the controversial Beyonce performance in the halftime show of the Superbowl. Beyonce dressed herself and her dancers like Black Panthers and formed a X in an apparent reference to Malcolm X. Police around the country objected to the glorification of an organization that has advocated violence against police. The sergeant compared the performance to one featuring the KKK on Facebook and is now facing possible discipline.
I had to sure this picture of Crimewatch presenter Jason Mohammad who was showing the audience the picture of convicted robber Viktor Lakatos. Viewers could be forgiven if they called in to say that they had found Lakatos.
There is a highly disturbing story out of Mount St. Mary’s University where the adviser to the school newspaper was fired after the newspaper ran a story of how university’s president, Simon Newman (left), had said that the school had to tighten its standards and get rid of less competitive students. He mocked colleagues who were resisting by reportedly saying “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies.”
Densibel Calzada, 23, and Eddy Albert, 21, have secured two distinctions in Tennessee. They have not only secured the harshest penalty ever issued by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency but they are generally viewed as this week’s worst human beings in the state or possibly nationwide. The two men have been banned from hunting in Tennessee and 43 other states after they illegally killed as many as 40 deer. They added to that carnage with sickening videos mocking suffering or dead animals.
Right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has never been the paragon of stability or reason. However, few were prepared for his raving attack on Jewish leaders who favor gun control. On his Facebook page, posted pictures of Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and other leaders next to an Israeli flag under the banner “So who is really behind gun control?” The answer, according to Nugent, is the chillingly familiar: “the Jews.” This controversy seems to mystify Nugent who later wrote “What sort of racist prejudiced POS could possibly not know that Jews for guncontrol are nazis in disguise?”
Continue reading “Ted Nugent Unleashes Rabid Anti-Semitic Rant Over Gun Control”
It is fascinating to watch the growing controversy over the Clinton speeches and the decision of the campaign to stick with its refusal to release the transcripts in its possession. Hillary Clinton last week appeared to finish “looking into” releasing the transcripts of her speeches Wall Street and other groups. Voters and reporters have been asking to read what Clinton has said to these groups. After all, Clinton has said that she has only given Wall Street straight talk and that these firms stopped given her money. The latter statement has been called “demonstrably untrue” by the Washington Post. Clinton has thus far refused to release the transcripts and instead that she would only consider the release if everyone releases every speech ever given to any group. It had a certain Macbethian feel of guaranteeing that the final reckoning will never come “Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.” The problem is that Birnam forest did come to Dunsinane. The demand has now produced the world’s worse comparison for Clinton. It turns out that Bernie Sanders has disclosed his speeches and has only given two paid speeches for $1,867.42. That is now being compared to the estimate that Bill and Hillary Clinton have made $153 million for speeches from 2001 to her announcement for the presidency. While this is just a one year period, Sanders has a lot of room to make up to reach $153 million. That is not to say that the campaign cannot argue that Sanders in the pocket of these two groups but it is clearly a very, very small pocket.
It is also being reported that Clinton was the one who insisted that the transcripts be made by her hosts and handed over to her total control. What I honestly do not understand is why the Clinton campaign continues to fit disclosures despite the failure of that strategy in prior scandals like the email scandal. Various sites have started petitions with thousands of signatures to get Clinton to release the transcripts. It would seem inevitable that she will have to release the speeches but will now be viewed as fighting any review by the public. I am interested in whether people believe that this position will be sustainable in light of the worsening environment for Clinton in the primary.
Continue reading “Report: Sanders Made $1,892 From Speeches Last Year In Comparison $153 Million for The Clintons Since 2001”
The Board of Disciplinary Appeals (appointed by the Texas Supreme Court) has upheld a state licensing board’s decision to disbar former prosecutor Charles Sebesta for his role in convicting an innocent man. Anthony Graves spent 18 years on death row for setting a fire that killed six people. Sebesta’s conduct was shocking but remains a relatively rare example of prosecutors being held accountable in such cases of prosecutorial abuse.
Like many people, my family held a Superbowl party with friends (and my signature Chili dish) to watch both the game and the commercials. The group is about evenly divided between which is the greater draw, though with a relatively dull game the commercials took on a heightened level of scrutiny. The commercials were not a bumper crop this year but there were a few particularly funny spots. I liked the Doritos baby commercial, the Christopher Walkin commercial, the Willem Dafoe/Snickers commercial and the Prius commercial the most. They are posted below. However, NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading advocacy group on the issue of abortion, quickly sent out tweets denouncing various commercials in an apparent effort to show critics that the organization is truly incapable of humor or restraint at such moments.
Continue reading “NARAL Denounces Superbowl Ads as “Transphobic” and “Sexist””
Spanish Puppeteers Alfónso Lázaro de la Torre and Raul García Pérez could be headed to prison after a decision by Judge Ismael Moreno Chamarro. The Court noted that the two men performed for children in a play that included “the hanging of a doll dressed as a judge, the stabbing of policeman, the rape of a nun and her later stabbing with a crucifix”. That is certainly a large measure beyond the Punch and Judy shows that we grew up with. However, the question remains whether such shows, as disgusting as they are, should be turned into criminalized speech or left to civil liability and public pressures.
Continue reading “Spanish Court Orders The Arrest of Puppeteers For Glorifying Terrorism”
Quentin Tarantino did not have to do much to get me into “The Hateful Eight.” I am a Cowboy movie addict and like the Tarantino films generally. However, I really appreciate movies that combine entertainment with real litigation to bring my world together. That function was performed brilliantly by Kurt Russell who, in a scene, destroys a guitar that he is playing in the movie. The guitar was borrowed by Tarantino from the Martin Guitar Museum in Pennsylvania and was viewed as a highly valuable 145–year-old period piece. It was supposed to be replaced by a prop instead to the horror of the museum, it was smashed beyond repair.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
When you are at the top of your class, you can cop an attitude and shake ’em down.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Annette Novey knows how to strut her stuff, and score “Best Academic” of her crew at a recent WSP Academy graduation.
While the Patrol is known for its clean-cut, military style discipline, Trooper Novey can bust a move and a perp.
Continue reading “Washington State Patrol’s Top Diva Busts A Move”
I have found the Democratic debates really interesting to watch. For the first time in my lifetime, these debates actually have some substance and drama. There was a couple of interesting moments last night, including the suggestion by Hillary Clinton that it is out of bounds for Sanders to raise the money that she has taken from Wall Street as a “smear.” I thought that Clinton did a good job on various points with strong responses, including the progressive label issue. However, one of the most intriguing moments was Clinton saying that it was ridiculous to call her the “establishment” candidate because she is a woman. For many, the Clintons are the personification of the establishment with huge donors, PACs, control of the DNC, and a massive political machine. Even the Washington Post responded with “Come on” to the suggestion that she is not the ultimate establishment candidate. Yet, Clinton’s point is that she is also the trying to become the first woman president and thus must be considered an outsider candidate. It seemed to resonate with the crowd, though Sanders appears to have tied Clinton in a national poll despite an concerted campaign from Democratic leaders and politicians aligned with Clinton. I thought it would make for an interesting discussion on the blog.
Continue reading “Clinton: I Cannot Be Part Of The “Establishment” As A Woman Running For President”
We recently talked about how a poll showing that 17 percent of the federal government workforce would resign if Donald Trump were elected. It seemed to me a perfect pitch for Trump to make to conservatives that he has already delivered on shrinking the size of government. Now Bernie Sanders may have been given the greatest possible gift from a past donor for the Clintons. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, has given an interview and warns that Sanders is “dangerous.” If that is not the next political ad from the Sanders campaign, they are asleep at the switch.
It seems like our allies in Egypt and Turkey have a particular intolerance for cartoonists and satirists in their parallel crackdowns on free speech. In Turkey, the Miss Turkey was arrested for repeating a satirical comparison of President Erdogan to Gollum. In Egypt, a teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears (shown left). Now a leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, has been arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive el-Sisi government.
Continue reading “Leading Egyptian Cartoonist Arrested After Satirizing Ally Of President El-Sisi”
