Category: Politics

Leading the World by Example: Obama Legal Position on War Crimes Adopted for Taliban in Pakistan

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamapic_claire21After his recent trip to the Middle East to reach out to Muslims appears to have born fruit. A Pakistan leader has adopted the position of the Obama Administration on war crimes. Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi chief Sufi Mohammad has announced that Taliban murderers who have been accused of such crimes as burning schools, throwing acid in the faces of school girls, and killings should not be prosecuted because “[w]e intend to bury the past. These things will be left behind and we will go for a new life in peace.” It is the very logic that our President has been trying to advance as an excuse for not allowing an investigation into the torture program. Obama has insisted that “no one is above the law” while immediately guaranteeing that Bush officials are above the law by stating “My orientation’s going to be to move forward . . . getting things right in the future as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past.”

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“Judge” Mathis Goes Video: Fun With Prison Rape and Other “Justice Issues”

gam_judgemathisgta_580-500x238-customI have long been a critic of the faux judges on television who turn criminal justice into a form of caricatured entertainment. Now, “Judge” Greg Mathis is opening his own video game to compete with such games as Grand Theft Auto. His game includes such fun risks as prison rape.
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Report: Container Ships Produce the Same Pollution 760 Million cars and Cause 60,000 Deaths Each Year

250px-wuhan-boat-0156There is an interesting report offering striking figures on the level of pollution caused by container ships, which use extremely low-grade fuel. United States researchers have found that a single container ship can release the equivalent of 50 million cars and that these ships kill 60,000 people a year in the U.S. alone. The report follows new measures by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has added pressure on the European Union.
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Appellate Court Throws Out Murtha Defamation Lawsuit On Immunity Grounds

160px-john_murtha_official_photoNA-HadithaA federal appellate court has tossed out the lawsuit by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Rep. John Murtha for defamation after the congressman said that his Marine unit killed Iraqi women and children “in cold blood” in Haditha.
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W.A.R. (What is He Good For?): Sarah Palin’s Attorney General Triggers Firestorm

default3There are reports that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be backing off of her nomination of Wayne Anthony Ross for state attorney general Palin’s nominee has long been a controversial and far-right figure. Various groups have come forward with extremist and bizarre statements attributed to Ross, who like to drive around in his Hummer with W.A.R. on this license plates (his initials)
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Spanish to Seek Criminal Charges Against Six Bush Officials While Court Asks If Obama Will Investigate

225px-alberto_gonzales_-_official_doj_photograph180px-bybee1Spanish prosecutors reportedly will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzales, Federal Appeals Court Judge and former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, University of California law professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, former Defense Department general counsel and current Chevron lawyer William J. Haynes II, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff David Addington, and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith. In a particularly embarrassing moment for the United States, the Audencia Nacional court in Madrid asked if or when the United States was going to investigate and said that it would not order the investigation if such an investigation is begun — yielding to the United States. This is precisely what was discussed in previously on Countdown.

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Baptist Church Accused of Using Florida Detective to Uncover and Identify Critical Blogger

brunson1Thomas A. Rich was an anonymous blogger on www.fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com who complained to other parishioners about such things as First Baptist Church Pastor Mac Brunson’s huge $300,000 salary, his construction of a lavish office for himself, and his putting his wife on the payroll. The church turned to Detective Robert Hinson who not only works for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office but is on the payroll of the church. Hinson allegedly opened a criminal investigation that identified Rich and then informed the church. Rich and his wife were promptly banned from the church.

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Obama Opposes Right for Detainees in U.S. Military Prisons to Challenge Their Detention

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obama225px-george-w-bushAfter seeking adopting Bush positions on unlawful surveillance last week, President Obama has adopted another controversial Bush policy: opposing basic legal rights for detainees held in U.S. military prison in Afghanistan. Some of the most egregious allegations of torture and abuse have focused on such prisons as the one at Bagram Air base. President Obama is now claiming that access to courts and review in such cases would threaten national security.

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Shiite and Sunni Religious Leaders Support Afghan Law Legalizing Marital Rape

150px-muslim_woman_in_yemen158px-flag_of_afghanistansvgBoth leading Shiite and Sunni religious leaders have come forward to defend the infamous Afghan law that legalized spousal rape. Mohammad Asif Mohseni, a top Afghan cleric and one of the law’s main drafters, insists that the law is actually a progressive reform and proudly notes that the law was a major reform of women’s rights by allowing wives to decline soon after giving birth, fasting for Ramadan, or preparing for a pilgrimage.
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Le Whif is Good for Les Hips: Harvard Professor Announces Creation of Inhalable Chocolate

lewhif_249x305Just in time for Easter, a Harvard professor David Edwards has announced that he has invented “Le Whif”: the world’s first inhalable chocolate. Not only can you now take in your chocolate with an inhaler, but “whiffing” comes with no calories. Le Whif will not give you Le Waddle. You can then grab an e-cigarette to have a whif and a sniff for the perfect night.

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No Briefs, No Ruling: Law Student Strips in Protest of Ruling on Sale of Leavened Bread

180px-fd_1Religious yeshiva student Aryeh Yerushalmi had a novel way of protesting a decision of an Israeli court to allow the sale of leavened grain products. The Court ruled last year that the Israeli law only prohibits the sale of hametz (bread and leavened grain products) in public on Passover. By ruling that stores are closed spaces and not public in that sense, the court loosened up the law. Yerushalmi decided, therefore, to strip in a supermarket in Tel Aviv since it cannot be viewed as “public indecency.”

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Saudi Court Upholds Marriage of 47-Year-Old Man to 8-Year-Old Girl — Barring Divorce

Saudi Arabia flagA Saudi court has ruled that the marriage 47-year-old man to an 8-year-old girl — upholding the controversial decision in December. Sheikh Habib Al-Habib rejected the mother’s effort to secure a divorce for her child.

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Unholy Mess at the Holy See: Vatican Rejects Three Candidates For U.S. Ambassador Over Abortion Views

120px-bentoxvi-30-10052007225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamaThe Vatican has reportedly rejected at least three of President Obama’s candidates for the position of U.S. ambassador to the Holy See because they support abortion. It appears that the representatives of the United States must agree with the policies of Pope Benedict XVI.
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