Category: Politics

Congress, Politics, Religion, Science

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA): An Anti-Science Legislator Who Serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

In August, Todd Akin—Republican candidate for the US Senate from Missouri—got into hot water with his party and became the “laughing stock of the planet” for remarks that he made about how women who are “legitimately raped” rarely get pregnant. Akin said the following during an interview on KTVI-TV:

First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. . . But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. You know I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.

Writing for Wired, Brandon Kleim said of Akin:

Aside from the sheer biological ludicrousness of Todd Akin’s ideas on female physiology, one unsettling subplot to the debacle is his presence on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

That’s right: A man who, to put it gently, ignores what science tells us about how babies are made, helps shape the future of science in America. It would be shocking, but for the fact that many of the committee’s GOP members have spent the last several years displaying comparable contempt for climate science.

Kleim also wrote about other Republicans on the committee who seem to show a contempt for science and scientists:

The committee’s chair, Ralph Hall (R-Texas), lumps “global freezing” together with global warming, which he doesn’t believe humans can significantly impact because “I don’t think we can control what God controls.” Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) thinks cutting down trees reduces levels of greenhouse gases they absorb. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) still trots out the debunked notion that a scientific consensus existed in the 1970s on “global cooling,” which he portrays as a scare concocted by scientists “in order to generate funds for their pet projects.”

‘We ought to have some believable science.’

Dan Benishek (R-Michigan) strikes that climate-scientists-as-charlatans note, dismissing contemporary research as “all baloney. I think it’s just some scheme.” Paul Broun (R-Georgia) says that “Scientists all over this world say that the idea of human-induced global climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community.”

Continue reading “Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA): An Anti-Science Legislator Who Serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology” →

Academia, International, Media, Politics, Society, Things That Tick Me Off, Uncategorized

American Dream Not American Reality

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

In my Social Work career I spent 37 years working primarily with people in poverty, whether from Race, ethnicity, economic situations, criminal history and/or addiction. In my Psychotherapy practice (part time) my patients were middle to upper class economically and yet as the years have passed my memory of them has faded. Still remaining though, burned into my memory, are the lives of those I met who lived in poverty. We see in this current Presidential election a sharp contrast between the philosophies of the two candidates. One believing in lowering peoples expectations for and the receipt of, what he deems “entitlements”. The other who defends what he calls self-funded programs and championing the Federal Government’s intervention to make health care more accessible. There is, however, one economic/social area where both candidates fully agree and this agreement represents exactly what is wrong with our country.

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, by their words and deeds, both believe fervently in the notion of the “American Dream”. If we look at the history of their lives we can understand how from their perspective, their lives have typified the “America Dream”. Romney was born wealthy, went to the best schools and came from a family that was highly prominent in his community. Obama, though born the child of an unwed mother, had the benefit of her intelligence, in addition to Maternal Grandparents who were relatively well to do. Their lives, though having different arcs, led them both to the point where they are competing for the highest office in the land. Neither man is lying when they extol America as the world’s shining light of opportunity for all, because their own lives bear that out. To me the problem is that reality shows that they are wrong in their belief and in their clinging to the myth of the “American Dream”, they ignore the most important issue of our time, American inequality of opportunity. Continue reading “American Dream Not American Reality” →

Media, Politics

The Myth Of The Statistical Tie

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

This campaign season we’ll hear a lot about “statistical ties.” The “statistical tie” misnomer is used to refer to the situation where one candidate leads another candidate but that lead is within the margin of error (MOE). However, what we’re really interested in is the probability that one candidate leads the other candidate.

Continue reading “The Myth Of The Statistical Tie” →

Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics

New Orleans Prosecutor Resigns After Joint Drops Out of Pocket In the Middle of Court In Front of Cop

Jason Cantrell, an assistant city attorney in New Orleans, has resigned after being given a summons for marijuana possession. Cantrell was in court when a joint fell out of his pocket in front of a New Orleans police officer. The incident not only cost Cantrell his job but has put his wife, New Orleans City Council candidate LaToya Cantrell in a difficult spot.

Continue reading “New Orleans Prosecutor Resigns After Joint Drops Out of Pocket In the Middle of Court In Front of Cop” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics

Police Chief Suspended In Latest Scandal To Grip Detroit

Detroit has yet another high-ranking scandal this week. This time it is the Police Chief Ralph Godbee who has been suspended with pay after a subordinate officer Angelica Robinson was seen on Twitter with her service weapon in her mouth. Godbee replaced Police Chief Warren Evans, who was fired in 2010 after . . . you guessed it . . . he had an affair with a subordinate officer. By the way, Robinson worked at Internal Affairs, the office that investigates misconduct by officers.

Continue reading “Police Chief Suspended In Latest Scandal To Grip Detroit” →

Bizarre, Media, Politics, Society

The Stench of Falafels: Bachmann Never Called For Banning Falafel As “Gateway Food”

We have yet another fake story that has been picked up by various sites and run as an actual news story. The latest story by the Daily Currant claimed Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann was irate in finding falafel on a menu for school lunches and called for it to be banned as an example of “jihadi food.” The story went viral and I had a number of people send it to me to be posted. It is entirely untrue but many followed the old adage that this was “a fact too good to check.” The wide circulation of the story comes after the “stench” barely cleared after a Politico story last week targeting another Republican, Mitt Romney.

Continue reading “The Stench of Falafels: Bachmann Never Called For Banning Falafel As “Gateway Food”” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

Akin on Abortion: It is a Common Practice For Doctors To Give Abortion To Women Who “Are Not Actually Pregnant”

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo) appears to have a long-standing issue with women and reproductive issues.  This video from 2008 shows Akin informing the Congress that it is a  “common practice” for women “who are not actually pregnant” to get abortions. While he has claimed that he just used one word incorrectly in saying that women can physically stop themselves from getting pregnant from “legitimate rape,” this tape shows a certain pattern that is quite odd.
Continue reading “Akin on Abortion: It is a Common Practice For Doctors To Give Abortion To Women Who “Are Not Actually Pregnant”” →

Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society, Torts

Pug Mugs: Miami Considers Dangerous Dog Registry and Mug Shot Gallery

There is an interesting law that has been proposed in Miami-Dade to require online registry of “dangerous dogs.” The law would require registration of any dogs or other pets that attack or bite people in the same way that sex offenders register to public disclosure. The registry could have significant implications for tort law and the liability for dog bites. One commissioner is even proposing a dog mug shot gallery.

Continue reading “Pug Mugs: Miami Considers Dangerous Dog Registry and Mug Shot Gallery” →

Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion

IKEA Deletes The Images Of Women From Catalogue In Saudi Arabia

People looking at the IKEA catalogue in Saudi Arabia thought that there seemed something was missing: women. IKEA decided to airbrush out every picture of women in the catalogue while leaving men and children. In one example of the deletion the father, daughter and son are still shown in a bathroom scene but the mother has been removed. The ultimate symbol of women being invisible in the Kingdom.

Continue reading “IKEA Deletes The Images Of Women From Catalogue In Saudi Arabia” →

Bizarre, Military, Politics, Religion, Society

Hagee The Historian

We have previously seen Rev. John Hagee and his rather twisted sense of the divine (here and here). Now it appears that he is turning to military history and explaining how prayer and fasting clearly ended the civil war. Hagee was introduced recently by Glenn Beck as “a prophet of our times” and sat enraptured as Hagee explained how Lincoln was able to bring an end to the civil war with a day of prayer and fasting.

Continue reading “Hagee The Historian” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

The Overwhelming Choice of 9 Out of 17 Economists?

It just might be the worst endorsement ever. Seventeen top economists were asked who would be better for the economy: Romney or Obama. It was clearly viewed as a question of the lesser of two evils by the economists. Nine out of 17 economists selected Romney but Bill Watkins, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at Cal Lutheran University, selected Romney with the world’s best example of damning with faint praise: “Romney’s policies would likely be less bad for the economy than Obama’s.” Like five others, Gary Rosenberger of EconoPlay, simply refused to “pick your poison” between the two men.

Continue reading “The Overwhelming Choice of 9 Out of 17 Economists?” →

Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics, Uncategorized

Deja Vue in Florida?

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

It seems that trouble is brewing again in the State of Florida since election officials have discovered suspicious voter registration forms in at least 10 Florida counties.  “Florida elections officials said Friday that at least 10 counties have identified suspicious and possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the Republican Party of Florida, which has filed an election fraud complaint with the state Division of Elections against its one-time consultant.”  LA Times  Continue reading “Deja Vue in Florida?” →

Bizarre, Politics

Romney’s Catholic Problem

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Just this past summer, American Roman Catholic bishops were decrying the Obama Administration for forcing its ancillary institutions like colleges and hospitals to pay for reproductive health services for its women employees. Lawsuits were filed, press releases were released, and commentators were assembled on cable news to express the outrage. The holy fathers even channeled Rev. Martin Luther King (never a favorite of the Catholic hierarchy — how could he be with that name?) calling for civil disobedience to contest the mandates of the new law. Letters were written to the flock (with approved language, of course) from the bishops bellowing, ““We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law.” The bishops even marketed a catchy name for their protest:  the flag waiving, patriotic sounding,  Fortnight for Freedom. (Yes, His truth was marching on in full display!)

Continue reading “Romney’s Catholic Problem” →

Academia, Environment, Media, Politics, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

“The NFL and what’s wrong with America”

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

I’m a fan of professional football and I’ve followed it for almost 60 years. Many of those who come to this site, especially our Proprietor, are football fans as well. The game is exciting to watch lending itself perfectly to television viewing, as compared to the other professional sports. However, this is not a post about the sport, the players, its violence or its merits. This is a critical look with the overarching corporate structure of the National Football League. The NFL has become the most lucrative sports business organization in the United States, receiving approximately $8 or $9 Billion a year from TV networks and its revenue from all other sources, including licensing, radio and satellite TV. On average each of the NFL’s 32 teams earns an average of $175 million per year which includes ticket sales. Under the collective bargaining agreement, won after a threatened “player lockout” in 2011, each team has what is known as a “hard salary cap”, which means that the total each team pays to its players is capped at a fixed amount which cannot be exceeded. Currently the cap per each team is about $130 Million per year. Therefore the average NFL team probably makes a profit of at least $30 Million per year after other expenses. Given the state of business, any corporation of medium size that would receive a guaranteed net profit of $30 Million yearly must be considered very fortunate.

The NFL has a rule barring corporations from team ownership:

“Ownership groups must contain twenty-four or fewer individuals, and at least one partner must hold a thirty percent or greater share of the team. The Green Bay Packers are an exemption to the current policy, since they have been a publicly owned stock corporation since before the rule was in place.”

At first glance this may seem a salutary policy, but in operation the League’s ownership consists mainly of billionaires, who are either football fans, publicity seekers and/or both. In fairness I must admit that some of the current owners are descendants of their teams’ founders, such as the Rooney’s in Pittsburgh, the Mara’s in New York and the Halas family owners of Professor Turley’s beloved Bears. Mainly the teams are run by people who made their money in other professions and decided that a football team would make a great hobby. The problem is that the “hobbyists” have and are exhibiting the type of business philosophy that seems to have taken hold in America, which is a ruthless model, in which their employees and even their customers, the fans, are merely pawns to be run over roughshod as they satisfy their egos and their greed. After the break I’ll explain my thinking on this and show why I see the NFL as a metaphor of what’s wrong with our country. Continue reading ““The NFL and what’s wrong with America”” →

Bizarre, International, Military, Politics, Society

Yes, Indeed Mr. Prime Minister, This is a Bomb

One of the things that we teach law students is how to address a jury in understandable terms without talking down to them. It is sometimes a delicate balance in dealing with complex questions or fact patterns. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed how not to strike that balance when he took the entire United Nation’s General Assembly through a “this is a bomb, this is a fuse” demonstration that instantly became a mockery around the world. That was a real missed opportunity when following Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who never fails to offer a clownish, absurd performance. It is one of those debates that you win by showing up and just stating your case . . . until you pull out cutout from the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.

Continue reading “Yes, Indeed Mr. Prime Minister, This is a Bomb” →