Having finally made it home and reunited with my children after being stranded in New Orleans, it was a shock to learn that Sandy was not a natural disaster but, according to various Syrians, a vehicle of Islamic justice sent by their special forces with the help of the Iranians. Getting stuck in the blizzard in the mountains with Leslie in our rented jeep, I should have seen the hand of the Bashar al-Assad given the wanton destruction caused by the storm. Yet, somehow I like this better than Hurricane Katrina being sent by God to punish us for homosexuality or earthquakes sent to punish “pacts with the Devil,” according to Pat Robertson.
Category: Politics
The corruption in China is legendary as communist officials acquire huge homes and wealth in assisting businesses take land and create industries. The Chinese government regularly responds to such corruption stories with executions but they are viewed as little more than a lethal form of public relations. Now, however, the family of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has retained lawyers after a New York Times report that the family has amassed a massive amount of wealth in accounts spread around the world. It is an ironic moment given the government’s continued refusal to allow ordinary Chinese to have real legal recourse to contest their treatment, including the lost of land. The Times article details Wen’s relatives have alleged amassed assets worth at least $2.7bn (£1.7bn) around the world.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz this weekend added his voice to the call of Muslim leaders for an international blasphemy standard that criminalizes anti-religious speech. The monarch demanded the law in light of recent insults to Mohammad: “It is our duty and that of every Muslim to protect Islam and defend the prophets.” Of course, Saudi Arabia does not even allow the building of churches in its country and routinely metes out draconian sentences for those who attempt to convert followers to other religions or commit apostasy.
Continue reading “Saudi King Demands International Blasphemy Law From United Nations”
Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger
Barbara Pariente graduated with highest honors from Boston University, finished fifth in her law school class at George Washington University and served on Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal for almost fifteen years prior to her appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Peggy Quince earned a zoology degree from Howard University, a law degree from the Catholic University of America and was a judge on the Second District Court of Appeal for five years, the first African-American woman ever appointed to an appellate court in Florida. She has been a Florida Supreme Court Justice since 1998. R. Fred Lewis is an honors graduate of Florida Southern College and was named outstanding senior in his class for his academic, athletic and service accomplishments. He received his law degree, also with honors, from the University of Miami and served as a law review editor. He joined the Florida Supreme Court in 1999.
These three jurists, with over thirty years of combined experience on Florida’s highest court, have received numerous awards for their commitment to the law, to their profession and to their communities. All have received favorability ratings of 90% from members of the Florida Bar. And all have been targeted for removal in next month’s merit retention election. Continue reading “The Tea Party and the Florida Supreme Court”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
This blog post is the result of our well known regular contributor Blouise sending me a link, sent to her by one of our other long time contributors GBK. I thank them for not only the vital information they shared with me, but also for the inspiration it gave me. When people ask me what kind of blog to I write for, I explain to them that it is the creation of the well-known Constitutional Law Professor and Civil Rights Advocate Jonathan Turley. The common thread that links most of us here is our support for Jonathan’s work and our belief in upholding the Constitution. The topic raises is vital to all of those purposes.
On May 4th, 1970 I was twenty-six years old. I worked for NYC’s Department of Social Services (welfare) as a caseworker in Brooklyn. Was active in the Peace Movement and had in the last year lost in my bid for the Presidency of the radical welfare caseworkers union. Long haired, full bearded and habitually wearing shirts open to almost my waist, with tight-fitting bell bottom jeans. I was a happy and carefree imbiber of psychedelics and had a great social life. I had failed my Draft physical four years prior due to high blood pressure, which would later turn into severe heart trouble requiring me to have a transplant, but back then I was just grateful that I didn’t have to make the choice between my ideals and the Selective Service Law. So many young men whose lives were drastically changed for the worse by being drafted into that conflict, were less lucky than I because they were my contemporaries, I felt I needed to help bring them home.
Even with the 60’s decade of assassinations, Civil Rights protests ending in violence, Nixon’s election and the Viet Nam escalation, I was still hopeful that my generation would really change things for the better in this country and that the future would bring great changes in economic freedom and social justice. So hopeful was I, that I was attending my first year of Law School at night and envisioned myself becoming a Legal Aid attorney in the future. Then I heard the news about Kent State, the murder of four students and shooting of nine during what was a relatively peaceful protest. Suddenly, this brought home to me the reality of what we were facing in our country. My optimism for change died that day, but not my commitment to fight for it.
As the news proliferated the story just didn’t add up. Supposedly the young National Guardsmen heard sniper shots and in a panic returned fire. That the students shot were at a distance of at least three hundred feet and the ammunition was armor-piercing rounds. It was claimed that there was no order to fire given and that the young National Guardsmen thought they were firing in self defense. As it turned out these were lies and propaganda foisted to cover the fact that those in power in the administration and their follower, the Republican Governor of Ohio, wanted to send a message to those opposing the War, that we were in mortal danger if we dared to try to thwart their murderous rampage in South East Asia. Continue reading “Murder at Kent State”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Richard Mourdock, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Indiana, made the following statement during a debate: “but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” Mourdock later explained that he doesn’t believe that God “pre-ordains” rape.
Mourdock’s view of God attempts to deal with the conflicting concepts of the goodness of pregnancy and the evil of rape. His view is incoherent.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
You Don’t Own Me was written by John Madara and Dave White, and produced by Quincy Jones.
H/T: Juan Cole.
While we continue to struggle with questions of the most humane methods of execution, North Korea (the second happiest place on Earth) has implemented a new approach: death by mortar. Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, was executed by mortar for partying during the official mourning period following the death of the “Dear One,” Kim Jong-il.
Continue reading “North Korea Executes Ranking Army Minister By Mortar Shell”
Below is a powerful response from a man with Down’s Syndrome to Ann Coulter who recently called President Barack Obama a “retard.” He is Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens. He is also the antidote to today’s hateful political discourse.
Continue reading “A Response To Ann Coulter From An Extraordinary Man”
The world has watched as Russian President Vladimir Putin destroys the fledgling democracy movement in Russia and reinstates authoritarian government to that nation. While actively (and admittedly) crafting a cult of personality around manufactured Superhuman exploits, Putin has striven to reinstate the oppressive laws from the Soviet era. In the face of continuing protests, Putin appears intent to show that he can and will do anything he wants with critics. This month his underlings arrested the best known protest organizer Sergei Udaltsov while his government has shutdown international human rights organizations and NGOs. At the same time, his government has passed a new law in the lower house of the Duma to radically expand the definition of treason in Russia. Udaltsov led the largest protests against Putin as part of a campaign of “Russia Without Putin.”
Honestly, what is the problem with rape and Republican candidates this year? First, Rep. Todd Akin loses a lock on a Senate seat by holding forth on “legitimate rape” and how women possess some magic ability to prevent pregnancies by rapists. Now, Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (who defeated respected Senator Richard Lugar) has proclaimed with only a few weeks to go in the election that the impregnation of women in rape is part of God’s plan. What happened to the good old day when GOP candidates primarily followed a formula campaign based on lower taxes and longer criminal sentences?
Continue reading “GOP Senatorial Candidate: God Intended Rape Victims To Get Pregnant”
There is an interesting decision out of Chicago in which Judge William Bauer (left) finds that a Chicago zoning inspector is innocent of federal bribery because the bribes were too modest to constitute the prescribed crime. Dominick Owens was convicted under a federal statute for taking two $600 bribes to issue certificates of occupancy for four homes. However, the federal law states a $5000 threshold and the court ruled that the value of the bribes fell below that definition. It is a curious bribery statute that effectively distinguishes between federal non-criminal and criminal bribes on the basis of their worth.
You many recall the demand of Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi for a new anti-blasphemy law at the United Nations. One of Mursi’s chief aides, Emad Abdel Ghaffour, “we call for legislation or a resolution to criminalize contempt of Islam as a religion and its Prophet. The voice of reason in the West will prevail if there is mutual respect, dialogue and efficient lobbying for this critical resolution.” That does not appear to be a two-way street with Morsi or his followers. Morsi was shown this week attending prayers and listening to cleric Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour calling for the destruction of all Jews and their supporters. Observers report that Morsi not only did not object or distance himself from the remarks, but appears to say “Amen” after the specific call for death to all Jews.
One of the most common complaints by civil libertarians is that prosecutors who abuse the system or rights of defendants are rarely held accountable when convictions are later thrown out. Some like Nancy Grace actually make television careers based on their checkered record as prosecutors. One exception is the Texas proceedings against Texas judge and former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, who is accused of withholding evidence and making false statements during the 1987 trial of Michael Morton for the murder of his wife. Despite the allegations of his abuses as a prosecutor, Anderson was elevated to the bench to mete out justice as a judge.
Continue reading “Texas Judge Faces Bar Hearing Over Alleged Abuses As District Attorney”
Turkey was long a bastion of secular politics — a rare position in the Muslim world. After the ascension of an Islamic party-controlled government, however, religious extremism is taking hold in a variety of areas to the alarm of civil libertarians in Turkey and around the world. The most recent example is a series of books issued to schoolchildren that are filled with anti-Semitic and anti-Darwinian references. Darwin is actually described as a Jew (he wasn’t) with a big nose and a weird fetish for monkeys.
Continue reading “Turkish Schoolchildren Issued Anti-Semitic and Anti-Darwin Textbooks”