Category: Politics

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabia Uses Position On Human Rights Council to Block Human Rights Measures

125px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svg220px-United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council_Logo.svgThe elevation of Saudi Arabia (in what appears now a secret deal with England) in 2013 to the United Nations Human Rights Council was to say the least controversial. After all, the Kingdom denies basic rights to women, bars basic religious freedom for non-Muslim (including the construction of any church in the Kingdom), engages in torture, and applies a medieval Sharia law that imposes grotesque and draconian punishments. It is widely viewed as the appropriate target (not a member) of the Council. Saudi Arabia has not wasted time in obstructing human rights measures. This week for example the Kingdom blocked plans for an international inquiry into human rights violations by all parties in the war in Yemen despite massive death counts among civilians in the last six months. It also announced at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that it will opposed any and all protections for gay people as anti-Islamic.

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Bizarre, Free Speech, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Journalist Attacked For Being Anti-Women For Story Questioning Training of First Female Rangers

army-rangers-1024It would seem a straightforward journalistic piece when Susan Keating at PEOPLE Magazine decided to inform readers that Congressman Steve Russell, R-Okla., and others were questioning the qualifications and training of the first women to pass the Army Ranger school. Russell has asked the secretary of the Army for documentation pertaining to the passage of 1st Lt. Shaye Haver and Capt. Kristen Griest after he said various sources complained that (in direct contradiction of official Army statements) the women were given help in passing the rigorous tests. Keating, however, has been attacked as “anti-woman” for writing the story in a strong backlash as the Army denies all of the allegations.

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Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

Pennsylvania Rep Takes Pope’s Glass and Then Dispenses The Water To His Family and Staff

2CC3B29000000578-3249286-image-a-9_1443204120212This week, there has been considerable discussion of a series of pictures released by the office of Representative Bob Brady that shows him pouring water in the mouths of family members and staff from the glass used by Pope Francis after speaking in Congress. Yesterday, Brady admitted to taking the glass and sharing the water (while insisting on holding the glass himself) but proffered that he asked permission to take the glass. He also confirmed that he did the same with a glass used by President Obama. What is really astonishing is that Brady not only took these pictures but instructed his staff to release them on social media.

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Academia, International, Military, Politics

Russian Ambassador: Poland Responsible For German-Russian Invasion in 1939

225px-adolf_hitler_cph_3a48970stalinRussian Ambassador Sergey Andreev has caused an outcry in Poland after stating that Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 was an act of self-defense prompted by the failure of the Poles to join a coalition against Hitler. It was a bizarre claim was not only politically disastrous but historically moronic. The Russians have often omitted from their accounts of the heroic Russian war with Germany that they were first and foremost an ally of Hitler and sought to carve up Europe with him. it was only when Hitler betrayed Stalin that the Russians fought against Germany in its invasion.

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Academia, Politics, Society

Turley Blog Hits 27,000,000

200px-Crowd_in_streetJust last June, we passed the 26,000,000 mark and today we hit 27,000,000 views. We used these milestones as a time to reflect and give thanks to our many regular readers around the world and give you an idea of the current profile of readers on the blog. This remains a unique place for many of us to gather and exchange ideas and values. I feel enormously privileged to host this site and to have such wonderful weekend contributors and regulars. As our site motto states, “the thing speaks for itself” and that is certainly true of our success. The success of this site is due to this entire virtual community at RIL. We continue to rank in the top legal blogs in the world and we are continuing to see a growing international readership. Indeed, we are currently competing for the top legal blog in a global competition and have moved up to third place despite starting much later to call for votes. If you haven’t voted, it only takes a couple of seconds and you can vote with a single click right HERE.

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Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Egypt President Pardons Imprisoned Al Jazeera Reporters

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Flag of EgyptWe have followed the plight of several reporters for the news medium Al Jazeera who were imprisoned and subjected to various appeals on behalf of the prosecution to ensure their place amongst the incarcerated, accused under dubious evidence of involvement with terrorist organizations and the crime of reporting of false information. The courts even went so far as to accuse them of doing the work of the devil. (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE)

For over a year there has been much outcry in the world media and the public about the abuses against free speech, journalists, and citizens; especially focused it was on these reporters. Now, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi grants a pardon to these Al Jazeera reporters.
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Politics, Society

Mayor Proposes Law Requiring Identities Of Welfare Recipients Be Made Public On State Website

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

robert-e-macdonaldLewiston Maine Mayor Robert Macdonald advocated enacting a state law that would require welfare recipients’ “names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected” be enumerated on a state website that is made accessible to the general public. Mayor Macdonald claims that because recipients of public pensions, they are government employees, that if this information is public record then the people have a right to know where the money is being spent on welfare recipients.

It is rather difficult in reading the mayor’s letter to the editor of the Twin City Times to accept his notion that his actions are in the public’s interest to see where tax dollars are paid, when he simultaneously makes many references disparaging recipients and those who advocate their plight. Yet, he claims to support privacy rights in other respects.

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Academia, Free Speech, Politics, Society

Wesleyan Student Writes Column Criticizing “Black Lives Matter” Movement And Critics Respond By Demanding The Defunding Of The Newspaper And The Editors Apologize

200px-Wesleyan_University_Shield.svgThere is a first amendment controversy that has erupted at Wesleyan University over a column written by Bryan Stascavage, a 30-year-old student who served two tours in Iraq, penned an op-ed in the school newspaper that criticized the Black Lives Matter movement. Stascavage is a sophomore majoring in philosophy and political science at Wesleyan and staff writer for the Argus. He wrote a piece criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement — a position shared by many who view some in the movement as espousing anti-police sentiments and, as discussed on this blog, often denouncing people for declaring that “all lives matter” as racists. However, Stascavage and the editors of the college newspaper were met by a torrent of criticism and calls for funding for the newspaper to be withdrawn. To its credit, the University stood strongly with free speech. However, the editors then issued an abject apology that clearly portrayed the decision to publish Stascavage’s column as a mistake.

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Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

State Department Contradicts Clinton’s Long-Standing Account On E-Mails

170px-Msc2011_dett-clinton_0298StateDepartmentThe Clinton email scandal continues to get worse by the day with State Department officials directly contradicting the long-standing account given by Hillary Clinton. Clinton has long maintained that she turned over a portion of her emails (those not deleted as “personal”) after receiving a letter that went to her and three of her predecessors: Madeline Albright, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice as a routine inquiry. The gist is that there was nothing alarming about her exclusive use of a server under her control rather than the secured State Department system. State Department officials now confirm that the request was specifically related to the discovery that Clinton was using a personal email system as her exclusive means of communication. This revelation occurs the same week that the FBI has announced that it has already retrieved some of the emails and that the Clinton staffers who “wiped” the system did a poor job that left the material easily accessible — deepening the earlier concerns over the presence of what is now confirmed to be classified material on Clinton’s unsecured server. The FBI sources described Clinton’s IT person as “not very good.”

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Le Pen To Stand Trial For “Inciting Racial Hatred” Due To Criticism of Muslims In France

Le_Pen,_Marine-9586Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, has been criminally charged with inciting racial hatred in the latest example of the rollback on basic free speech rights in France and other European nations. I have been a critic of the crackdown on free speech in France, including the hypocrisy of the government in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. In this case, Le Pen compared Muslim street prayers to a Nazi-like occupation, a statement that should be clearly protected as political speech in France. Instead, she will be pulled before a tribunal in another example of how free speech is being eviscerated by anti-discrimination and hate speech laws.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Muzzling Ole Mizzou: Missouri Law Professor Challenges Ban On Guns On Campus

University_of_Missouri_sealBarondes-RoyceUniversity of Missouri associate professor of law Royce de R. Barondes has placed himself at the forefront of the gun rights debate with a lawsuit challenging the ban on guns on campuses in the state. The lawsuit follows the gunning down of history professor Ethan Schmidt on the Delta State University campus. Schmidt was unarmed and Barondes does not intend to go so easily, it appears.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Science, Society

CEO Buys Rights To AIDS Medication And Immediately Jacks Up Price From $13.50 to $750 . . . Then Calls Reporter A “Moron” For Asking Why

CMN7JlVUYAAzwS5Turing chief executive Martin Shkreli (shown here) has become an overnight villain after public interest organizations raised alarm over his company buying a long-used medicine, Daraprim, in the treatment of AIDS and immediately raised the price of $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. When a reporter asked him to explain the increase for a drug that has been on the market for 62 years, Shkreli called him a “moron” and refused to answer the question. The company has now become a target in the presidential election as an example of how companies are still profiteering on these drugs.

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Academia, Bizarre, Politics, Society

Oklahoma Teacher Forces 4-Year-Old To Stop Writing With Left Hand Because It Is Considered “Evil”

220px-Alexander1256President_Barack_ObamaZayde did something evil this week in his class in Oakes Elementary in Okemah, Oklahoma. He wrote with his left-hand. That prompted a teacher to explain that the left hand was “bad” and should not be used. When his mother wrote to inquire, the teacher sent an article explaining how the left hand is associated with the devil and is deemed evil. Of course, a few left handers who seemed to do all right range from Alexander the Great to President Obama.

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Academia, Environment, Politics, Society

2015 Already Set To Be Hottest On Record

290px-The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASA's_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory_-_20100819earth-screensaver_largeThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released new data on global warming that, again, the data supports the over-whelming view of scientists that climate change is a dire reality. The world has experienced record-breaking hot weather every month in 2015 and the year is all but guaranteed to be the hottest on record.

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Environment, International, Media, Politics, Science, Society

Rare Earths Mining And Processing Leading To Much Pollution In The East

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Neodymium
Neodymium

The BBC presented an engaging and informative report concerning how the unprecedented demand for rare earth elements is leading to environmental degradation, especially in developing countries. It proposes that one of the ironic tragedies of manufacturing green technologies is that it is leading to concentrations of pollution in specific areas. This also brings forth the importance of having a conversation about advanced, consumer societies needing to engage in much self reflection on the causes of the insatiable appetites consumers have for top of the line electronics.  Of which are designed with quick obsolescence as a business model.

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