In what may be the most dangerous and potentially explosive act since the storming of the Bastille, French leaders are taking on French models and declaring war on airbrushing. The French Parliament (and members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party) is proposing to force magazines and other publishers to print a warning for photographs that have been touched up or photoshopped. It appears that while President Nicolas Sarkozy can insist on only short people appearing behind him to appear taller, the French politicians say “staging Oui, brushing non!” The new campaign for realism has already taken its toll with the untouched up picture on the right of Marianne in La liberté guidant le peuple (Liberty Leading the People).
Continue reading “Sacrebleu! The French Move Against Air Brushing and Photoshopping of Magazine Pictures”
Category: Media
A Polish court has awarded Alicja Tysiac $11,000 against a Catholic magazine, Gosc Niedzielny, after the magazine compared her to a child killer and a Nazi. While it is impressive to see a court levy such damages against a Catholic publication in this very Catholic nation, the ruling does raise freedom of speech issues.
Continue reading “Polish Court Awards Damages to Woman Who Was Compared in Article to the Nazis for Trying to Obtain an Abortion for Health Reasons”
This video raises an interesting question for educators and lawyers alike. These students at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ are being taught to chant and sing praises of President Barack Obama. Is that an appropriate exercise in a public school or does it smack of the type of cult of personality that we see in other nations?
Continue reading “Video: New Jersey Children Taught to Sing Obama’s Praises”
As we discussed earlier, ACORN has decided to move forward with a lawsuit against the independent filmmakers who showed its employees engaged in potentially unlawful conduct. While insisting that it is terribly sorry for the actions of its employees, ACORN is pursuing the people who forced the misconduct into the open: filmmakers James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. It is curious method of contrition but ACORN is seeking massive damages for nonconsensual surveillance.
Continue reading “Contrition Through Aggression: ACORN Sues Filmmakers While Claiming Regret Over Misconduct of its Employees”
There is an interesting case developing in Florida where Robert Brayshaw is facing a year in jail under a law that makes it a crime to post a local police officer’s phone number and address. The law raises serious constitutional questions under the first amendment. Brayshaw posted the information on a site called ratemycop.
Continue reading “Florida Man Challenges Law Criminalizing the Publication of Address and Telephone of Police Officers”
Below is today’s column on the aftermath of the Joe Wilson controversy. The threat of the Democrats to punish members using certain words to criticize the President raises some novel and unresolved constitutional questions.
This video of a reporter hit by a studio light somehow missed our “perils of the press” series.
The perils of being on Dr. Phil. Matthew Eaton, 34, and his wife, Laura, 26, appeared on the “Dr. Phil Show” and bragged about how they shoplifted and then sold stolen items on the Internet. The parents of three young children boasted how they had made as much as $1 million. Now, they can go back on talk about how they were arrested after going on Dr. Phil.
It took a jury only two hours to acquit Denver Police officer Cpl. Michael Cordova of excessive force, even though a videotape (below) of his actions breaking the teeth of John Heaney caused public outrage. Cordova faced a charge of third-degree assault after he slammed Heaney’s face into the pavement while Cordova served as a member on an undercover anti-scalping Vice unit.
Buffy Wicks, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement has been accused (with others) of encouraging artists supported by the National Endowment for the Arts to produce works supporting President Obama and his policies. The story first appeared in BigGovernment.com.
Continue reading “Buffy The Propaganda Payer? Obama Administration Accused of Asking NEA Artists To Promote the President and His Policies”
Fox News has announced that it has punished a producer who is captured on this video rallying crowds in a 9/12 protest. According to Huffington Post, the employee is Fox News producer Heidi Noonan.
Continue reading “Fair and Balanced . . . and Staged? Fox Producer Found Rallying 9/12 Protesters”
The nation of Nigeria is shocked that Sony is making fun of the country’s reputation as the haven for Internet fraud. The country is demanding an apology for this commercial — and the transfer of money to help release $10 million from the account of a deceased wealthy uncle.
Continue reading “Nigeria Demands Apology From Sony for Commercial”
The White House was the scene of a bio-hazard attack today when NBC White House reporter Chuck Todd sneezed into his hand rather than into his government-approved, network-supplied sleeve. The shocking violation of health security rules was captured on the video below and immediately caught by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who called for Purell and police (Ok, just the Purell).
Continue reading “Sneezegate: Chuck Todd Contaminates White House With Unguarded Sneeze”
Today, I have the honor of being the Constitution Day Speaker for the Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. A recent poll in Oklahoma City, however, suggests that before we celebrate the Constitution, we may have to explain what it is. This includes gaps in such basis knowledge as “who was the first president of the United States?” Only 23 percent could name George Washington.
Continue reading “Happy Constitution Day (Explanation Below)”
The video below shows what would be considered rude and brutish conduct in every culture from the American society to the Klingon society. But was it actionable?
Continue reading “Legal Question of the Day: Can Kanye West Face Legal Action For His MTV Conduct?”