The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered Urban Outfitters to remove a picture of a model as showing an impermissible “inner thigh gap” that encourages what is viewed as an “unhealthy” diet for girls. It is the latest example, in my opinion, of a wholesale regulation of speech — both political and commercial — in England.
Continue reading “British Agency Bans Urban Outfitters Picture Over “Inner Thigh Gap””
The National Fraternal Order of Police has launched a campaign to change federal law to add attacks on police as a hate crime. In a letter to President Barack Obama and Congress, the powerful union cites the murders of two New York City police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The demand would treat an attack based on status as the same as an attack based on race. Given the Administration’s expedited investigations of civil rights violations involving deaths caused by police officers in Missouri and New York, the change would create an interesting situation where both future suspects and officers would be arguably protections under federal hate crime laws.
Like most of the world, we have watched the rapid decline of civil liberties in Turkey after the election of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his coalition of Islamic parties. Just last month, we discussed the arrest of Mehmet Emin Altunses, 16, who allegedly committed the crime of “insulting” Erdoğan. calling people who use birth control “traitors” and saying Muslims discovered America, you are not allowed to be disrespectful or insulting in discussing Erdoğan. The situation is even more dire for journalists who have found themselves threatened or arrested for reporting on Erdogan or his cronies. Now, Turkish police have arrested Dutch reporter Frederike Geerdink on terrorism charges. Erdoğan responded with one of his signature delusional statements, saying that this is just one more “false” report from Western media since it is about terrorism not journalism. It is his statement about the record of Turkey on press freedoms that truly takes Erdoğan’s menacing comments into the realm of madness.
Former federal judge and University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell is facing a rare threat of a bar complaint over his representation of a client in the notorious case of billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Even more rare is the source of the threatened complaint: retired law professor Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School. Epstein is good friends with Bill Clinton and Duke of York Prince Andrew, 54, who have been mentioned in litigation over allegations of the use of underaged “sex slaves” and Epstein’s alleged penchant for watching (and filming) people having sex with these girls. Dershowitz’s name has appears on the ignoble list contained in motions before a federal court in Florida. Dershowitz is now threatening to initiate disbarment proceedings against Cassell and Bradley Edwards, a Florida attorney who also represents Jane Doe #3 in the controversy.
The attack on free speech continues unabated around the world. The latest violation occurred in Tunis where a military court has handed down an absurd three year jail sentence to a blogger, blogger Yassine Ayari, for “insulting” Army officers. That is what free speech means in Tunisia. You can be criminally sentenced for “undermining” the Army through criticism.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
The instances of reported abuse of our country’s laws by our Intelligence services seems never-ending. The National Security Agency, or NSA is at the top of the list when it comes to violations of our laws and even its own rules and procedures that are allegedly designed to protect our privacy.
Pursuant to a court order in a case brought by the ACLU, the NSA is required to provide a list of its abuses on a quarterly basis. Of course, the NSA redacts most of what it puts in its own disclosures. Continue reading “NSA Abuses Never End”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB), charged with administering the state’s legalized marijuana industry, has shown once again its detachment from common sense and business acumen by increasing Initiative 502’s restrictions through crafting administrative rules that border on absurdity.
It is a small example of the duality of the LCB in how it proffers its desire to see windfalls of tax receipts for the state but acts to suppress the same industry it extracts these taxes from.
Continue reading “Washington Revises Marijuana Advertising Rules: What Were They Smoking?”
By Darren Smith Weekend Contributor
The intrigue after the fallout generated by State Supreme Court holding the state, and essentially the legislature, in contempt for failing to adequately address their constitutionally mandated funding of primary education, the legislature refused to allocate time to allow Barbara Madsen, the Chief Justice, to give the State of The Judiciary Address.
Legislators claimed, among other issues, it was due to the historical lack of attendance by members and not an insult directed at the Supreme Court.
The appetite of Chinese consumers for endangered and threatened species is considered one of the greatest threats facing environmentalists and animal activists. Even Chinese diplomats have been accused of massive violations of laws protecting these species. As Chinese consumers acquire more disposable income, the demand for such products is increasing. The depth of this problem is illustrated in the recent prosecution of a wealthy real estate developer, identified only by his surname Xu, who (according to police) has “a special hobby of grilling tiger bones, boning tiger paws, storing tiger penis, eating tiger meat and drinking tiger blood alcohol.” He was convicted of killing and eating three rare tigers in the Chinese version of the Gourmet Club from The Freshman.
Continue reading “Chinese Man Sentenced After Organizing Trips To Kill and Eat Endangered Tigers”
The Chinese government again proved that little has changed in the People’s Republic in the denial of basic civil liberties and human rights. Filmmaker Shen Yongping has become the latest and more poignant example of the totalitarian regime’s continued crackdown on free speech. Shen produced a documentary on the 100-year struggle of the Chinese for constitutional government. Chinese officials responded by arresting him and now sentencing him to a year in jail. It appears that a sequel is in the making.
MIT professor Jonathan Gruber has produced a firestorm of controversy over remarks made in various settings about the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) and how drafters like himself relied on the “stupidity” of voters in passing the legislation. It appears that the Gruber hits keep coming, even as he prepares for another round of questioning in Congress. The latest comments from 2009 reveal Gruber saying that Obamacare would not produce affordable health care for many citizens since its focus is coverage not costs. This statement made five months before the passage of the Act from a key architect is in stark contrast to President Obama’s repeated assertions that premiums would go down dramatically. The latest statement will fuel questioning before Congress on whether the White House knew that premiums were unlikely to do down and that people would not be able to keep their current policies as promised by President Obama in selling the program.
An Egyptian court has permanently banned the three-day festival celebrating the birth of Rabbi Jacob Abu Hasira in Egypt’s Nile Delta region of Buheira. The judge cited unspecified “moral offenses” as the reason for the ban. It is the latest example of Egypt’s devolution from a secular to a sectarian legal system. While the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi were ousted in 2013 after pushing the country toward an Islamic, sharia-based system, the country still has seen the steady erosion of secular values and the separation of religion and state.
Continue reading “Egyptian Court Permanently Bans Jewish Celebration For “Moral Offenses””
Now this would make for a great movie (certainly better than “The Interview”). Here’s the plot. A reportedly awful movie is produced by Sony with little expected success. Then the company is hacked with threats not to release the movie. All fingers are pointed at North Korea, including statements from the White House and the FBI. There are widespread reports of the U.S. shutting down the North Korean Internet in retaliation. However, the real culprits are actually laid-off Sony staff. In the meantime, the suppressed movie racks in millions as viewers (including my kids last night) rush to see the forbidden movie. Now that’s a movie plot. It is not clear however if it should be fiction or non-fiction. Media is reporting that experts believe that North Korea was in fact innocent of the hacking and that the culprits were former employees of that other hermit kingdom, Sony.
The rapid decline of civil liberties in Turkey continue this month under the expanding control of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his coalition of Islamic parties. The latest sign came with the arrest of Mehmet Emin Altunses, 16, who allegedly committed the crime of “insulting” Erdogan. That is what free speech has become in Turkey. It is a crime to write or say things insulting about Erdogan who is viewed around the world as a menacing clown destroying secularism and civil liberties in Turkey. Despite such moments as Erdogan’s calling people who use birth control “traitors” and saying Muslims discovered America, you are not allowed to be disrespectful or insulting in discussing Erdogan.
Continue reading “Turkish Government Arrests 16-Year-Old Boy For Insulting Erdogan”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains one of the most controversial leaders in Turkey’s history. A devout Muslim, Erdogan has steadily dismantled the secular traditions of country — a rare alternative to the Sharia systems or Islamic republics common in Muslim nations. As in those other countries, the insertion of Islamic rules have been accompanied with crackdowns on civil liberties, press freedom, women’s rights, and religious minorities. Recently, that included heavy fines for a television program for showing the immorality of a man dancing with a Western woman. Erdogan also attempted to rewrite history (with human rights) by recently declaring that Muslims discovered America . As criticism has mounted, he has inflamed his religious followers over a vast media conspiracy against his righteous policies. Now, Erdogan has attacked the use of birth control as a form of “treason” and said that women must commit themselves to having three or more children in the interests of the nation: “One or two is not enough.”
Continue reading “Erdogan: People Using Birth Control Are “Traitors””