Prince William Del. Bob Marshall, R-13th, has offered his own rather dark explanation for birth defects and child disabilities: divine retribution for women who have had abortions. Marshall told a crowd that the Bible says that the first born is a gift to God, resulting in “special punishment” for those who have abortions.
Category: Politics
An alleged neo-Nazi in Louisville is pushing the constitutional envelope with a poem that resulted in a criminal charge as a threat to kill the President. Johnny Logan Spencer Jr. is charged with threatening the life of the President with his poem that refers to killing a black president but not Obama by name.
Continue reading “Felonious Verses: Louisville Man Charged With Threatening The President In a Poem”
While we often follow the painful stories of mistreatment and discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia, there is a story today that shows some progress. The Kingdom is about to release a law that would allow women to argue limited cases in court and even perform some simple legal procedures without a male guardian.
The Sunday Telegraph has published a report that the false passports used in the assassination of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai were copied by airport officials from the originals in Tel Aviv. The allegation would add evidence of a government plan to steal the identities of the British citizens living in Israel.
Continue reading “Newspaper: British Passports Were Copied By Airport Official in Tel Aviv For Hit in Dubai”
Olympia Mayor Pro Tem and incoming Thurston County Treasurer Joe Hyer was arrested this week for allegedly selling pot on the side. Hyer, 37, was arrested after a two-month investigation that involved both undercover agents and an informant.
Continue reading “Getting Hyer: Mayor Arrested for Selling Pot”
Olympic skater outfits continue to trigger protests. First there was the controversy over U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir’s wearing real fur as part of his outfit, here. Now aboriginal advocates in Australia are protesting the costumes of Russian ice dancers Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin. While I thought Weir’s costume was the ugliest that I had seen, that was before I saw the Russian costumes. I am not sure if it is a case of “cultural offense” but it is certainly offensive to the eye. The costume is shown in the linked articles below.
Continue reading “Russian Dancers Accused of Cultural Insult and Disrespect Over Outfits”
While dolphins continue to be slaughtered in Japan (here and here), those same humans may have their lives saved by a new discovery that dolphins can turn on and off diabetes. Scientists believe that humans may have once had this ability and that dolphins could lead to a breakthrough treatment for humans.
Continue reading “Dolphin May Possess Cure For Diabetes”
Britain has denied the story in the Daily Mail that British officials knew about the use of false British passports (and reportedly stolen identities) for the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai (here).
Continue reading “Britain Denies Report That It Knew of Use of False British Passports in Dubai Assassination”
A Pennsylvania school is accused of a remarkably abusive intrusion into the lives of its students. Papers in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, state that the laptops given to high-school students were equipped with webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators. The lawsuit claims that officials not only activated the surveillance capability but disciplined young Robbins for “improper behavior in his home.” The Vice Principal reportedly used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence.
A University of Texas and Texas Tribune poll has found that roughly one in three Texans believe that humans and dinosaurs walked the Earth at the same time and more than half reject the theory of evolution. According to the poll, 38 percent agreed with the statement “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”
Continue reading “Poll: One-Third of Texans Believe Men Once Co-Existed With Dinosaurs and Over One-Third Believe That Man Was Created by God 10,000 Years Ago Without Evolution”
If you wanted further evidence of the self-perpetuating work of the duopoly, Sarah Palin (after wooing the Tea Party) has told Tea Party members that they have no choice but to side with one of the two major political parties — presumably the Republicans.
Continue reading “Palin: Tea Party Members Must Pick Between The Two Major Parties”
The Obama Administration continued the tradition of the “Friday night dump” by just releasing the Justice Department report on former Justice officials John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury. The report is linked below. The Justice Department confirmed that the investigation originally found professional misconduct by Yoo and Bybee, but an unnamed high-ranking official at the Office of Professional Responsibility overruled the finding to avoid any professional action against them. I discussed the story on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Justice Department Declines Punishment for Bush Officials for “Poor Judgment””
The Daily Mail has run with an explosive story after public protestations from British officials over the use of false British passports (and reportedly stolen identities) for the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai (here). The question now is whether Parliament has the courage to order an investigation in whether the British government not only acquiesced to the operation but then actively misled the public by pretending to be outraged.
Interpol has posted wanted pictures of the eleven suspects in the assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in the Dubai hotel on January 19, 2010. In what could be a serious problem for Israel, both Britain and France are demanding answers on the use of fake passports and stolen identities in the plot while Dubai continues its criminal investigation. This is occurring at the same time that Israel is resisting an international investigation into possible war crimes in its campaign in Gaza, here.
Juventus‘ goalie, Gigi Buffon, is facing punishment for saying “Dio” or “God” after a critical play went poorly. You cannot use the Lord’s name in vain in Italy where officials have used replay tapes to determine if he said “Dio” or, as he now claims, “Zio” or “uncle.”
Continue reading “Dios Mío: Leading Soccer Player To Be Punished for Blasphemy”