Leading Saudi cleric Muhammad Musa Al-Sharif defended the practice of marrying nine-year-old girls as sanctioned by the prophet Mohammad in his own marriage to a nine-year-old girl, Aisha. In a truly signature moment, Al-Sharif insisted that not only does a girl become a woman at nine but when Islamic law refers to a certain issue – we don’t need human rights.
Category: Politics
Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has been found guilty of violating ethics rules in accepting Caribbean trips from a corporation. In a classic move, the House ethics office has decided not to find violations by four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus who also took the free trip in 2007 and 2008 because they were unaware that it was paid for by the corporation. How about the idea of not going on paid trips at all? I have long argued for a complete ban on such travel, here. The other four members were Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee; Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan; Donald M. Payne of New Jersey; and Delegate Donna Christensen of the Virgin Islands.
Continue reading “Rangel To Be Admonished For Violating House Rules on Free Trips”
Zombies are free to again walk the streets of Minneapolis due to another zombie-friendly decision from the federal courts. The federal court of appeals ruled that a group of protesters dressed as zombies could sue the police department and individual officers for wrongful arrest in a 2-1 decision. The dissenting Judge Colloton immediately had his brains sucked out after being pursued by rampaging zombies.
Continue reading “Zombies! The Undead Return to the Streets of Minneapolis”
The United States has unveiled the design of its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London. It is an impressive design by Kieran Timberlake, the Philadelphia architect despite its hefty price (a record for an embassy). Timberlake won a competition of dozens of architects, here.
Continue reading “United States Unveils $1 Billion London Embassy Plans”
A Montgomery County Middle School teacher had a 13-year-old girl escorted from the classroom after she refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in clear violation of federal law.
Continue reading “Maryland Teacher Orders Student Escorted From Classroom By Police After Refusal to Say the Pledge of Allegiance”
We previously read about bands of men roaming the streets of Jerusalem and other cities to break up mixed couples of Israeli women and Arab men, here. Now, there is a report that one city has created a formal program to locate such women and “treat” them outside of Tel Aviv.
Continue reading “Israeli City Establishes Program to Locate and “Treat” Israeli Girls Who Date or Marry Arab Men”
Dubai has released the names of new suspects in the alleged Israeli hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
They identified 15 new suspects including six new British names, as well as the names of three more Irish passport-holders, three French and three Australian. That brings the total to 26 suspects.
The six Britons were named as Philip Carr, Gabriella Barney, Stephen Drake, Mark Sklar, Daniel Schnur and Roy Cannon.
Police also confirmed that the credit cards were all issued by MetaBank of the United States. They believe that head of the team was using a fake French passport under the name Peter Elvinger, and used a credit card issued by DZ Bank of Frankfurt.
For the full story, click here
Ever wondered how many members it would take to be told about torture before anyone went public or cried foul? Well, we now know it is somewhere above 68. The CIA has revealed that at least 68 U.S. lawmakers between 2001 and 2007 were briefed on torture. That obviously included many Democrats who later worked to avoid investigating torture and have been relatively silent as the Obama Administration has blocked any prosecution for torture or war crimes.
Continue reading “The Shameful Sixty-Eight: CIA Papers Reveal 68 Members Knew of Torture Program”
There is an interesting controversy that has erupted over a recent speech by Martin Kramer, a fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Critics at Electronic Intifada denounced Kramer’s speech as a call for genocide when he called for the West to end support for Palestinian clinics and hospital for “pro-natal” care.
Arizona State lawmakers in the Senate approved a measure to get rid of the statute of limitation for victims of child abuse to file lawsuits. However, this lifetime right to sue has one notable exception: for the church and school districts. If you are suing the Church for its failure to act to stop a pedophile, you still only have two years.
Continue reading “Church Secures Exemption from Proposed Arizona Law To Eliminate Statute of Limitations for Child Abuse”
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.
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”