Lorianne Updike Toler, lawyer and head of the Constitutional Sources Project in Pennsylvania, has found a rare early draft of the United States Constitution in the hand of James Wilson. It is a major historical and legal find at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Early Draft of Constitution Found”
Category: Politics
Donna Rock is accused of one of the lowest possible crimes: raising money for a 5-year-old girl with cancer and then keeping the money for herself. This week, Rock was arrested and charged with theft of the money raised for Serena Lambert.
Continue reading “Between a Rock and A Hard Place: Baltimore Woman Accused of Raising Money for Cancer Victim and Then Keeping It”
The good people at The Laughingsquid showed the world how to deal with fanatics like the hate-mongering Westboro Church crowd. Westboro loves to show up at funerals and other events with large signs proclaiming such things as “GOD HATES FAGS.” A bunch of counter-demonstrators showed up recently with signs of their own proclaiming such things “I WAS PROMISED DONUTS” and “GOD HATES SIGNS.”
Continue reading ““God Hates Signs”: Westboro Protest Triggers Theater of the Absurd”

A federal court may have to decide who owns the “who dat” phrase in footnote. The NFL, which has a reputation of claiming a wide array of trademark rights against fans, has sent letters to various companies and fans telling them not to use the phrase “who dat” in combination with the Saints’ fleur-de-lis logo. It has led to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (fresh from his prostitution scandal) to cry foul and demand that “who dat” belongs to the people. In the meantime, two fans have claimed ownership to the phrase since 1966.
Leading Iranian Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati used his Friday prayer sermon to celebrate the recent executions of protesters and to call for more executions as the will of God. Jannati explained that the Koran (Qur’an) expressly allows rulers to execute critics.
Continue reading “Iranian Cleric Calls for Execution of More Protesters As Sanctioned By God”
We have another curiosity out of London where police arrested Michael Mancini, 39, for blowing his nose in his van while it was stopped at a traffic light. The police officer insisted that he was not in control of his vehicle.
Continue reading “A Nose for Crime: London Police Arrest Man For Blowing Nose at Traffic Light”

Attorney General Eric Holder suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday when the White House ordered the Justice Department to find another location for the trial of the 9/11 suspects. If true, this would be a troubling intervention of the White House into a pending criminal case and seems to follow political pressure on the venue for the trial.
Continue reading “Obama Reportedly Orders Justice Department to Consider Alternative Sites for Terror Trial”

For those who wanted President Barack Obama to address the issue of pork in the State of the Union, the speech of Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez this week shows just how much Obama is withholding from the public. Fernandez not only praised the benefits of eating pork but encouraged that a little pork in your diet can spice up your love life. What do we get? A discussion of market recovery and jobs initiatives.
Continue reading “Obama Avoids Pork Issue in State of the Union”
The Culpepper County Public Schools has become the latest addition to the dubious list of schools banning Anne Frank’s ‘Diary of a Young Girl.” The move to pull the books from all of the shelves in the county reportedly came after one parent found a passage to be sexually explicit.
Continue reading “Virginia School Pulls Diary of Anne Frank From Shelves After Objection to Sexual Explicit Reference”
It appears that conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe is continuing to comment on his case. Raw Story and other sites are reporting that O’Keefe tweeted shortly around midnight last night that “Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap.” In the meantime, it appears that the stunt in New Orleans may have been an effort to cut off the telephones or film their operation as opposed to wiretapping calls. I discussed this story on Hardball and Rachel Maddow.
Continue reading “Filmmaker O’Keefe Tweets on Pending Charges”

In a breach of protocol, Associate Justice Sam Alito was filmed during the State of the Union address last night shaking his head and mouthing “not true” in response to the President’s criticism of the Citizens United ruling on corporate campaign finance limits. Ironically, Rep. Joe Wilson promised to restrain himself during this speech and not scream “you lie” again during the President’s speech. For a justice, this breach (shown below) is no less remarkable. It is, in a word, injudicious.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to free its famous groundhog and use a robotic animal to stop what it views as cruelty to Phil. In response, the town insists that Phil lives a better life than most children in Pennsylvania — which raises some serious questions about the lives of kids in that state that live below the standards of a large caged rodent.
Continue reading “Punxsutawney PETA: Animal Rights Organization Wants Town To Use Robotic Groundhog”

We have been following the arrival of Scientologists and Evangelicals in Haiti to spread their faith with needed aid to survivors. Now, Haiti’s top Voodoo priest is objecting to the use of the aid efforts to spread the off-island faiths.
A Spanish newspaper claims that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States of causing the earthquake in Haiti by a U.S. “tectonic weapons test” that is being called “The Earthquake Weapon.”
Continue reading “Chavez: U.S. Caused Haiti Earthquake With “Tectonic Weapon””
Police in Ipswich, Australia have arrested Kurt James Milner, 28, for possession of pornographic images of . . . Marge Simpson and the Powerpuff Girls. We have previously discussed the controversy over whether cartoon or computer generated images can be pornography. This case will answer that question in Australia.
Continue reading “D’oh! Man Arrested For Possession of Pornographic Images of The Simpson Children”