There is a fascinating free speech case developing in Alabama where Gov. Robert Bentley approved a law banning firms that boycott Israel from doing business with Alabama state and local governments. It is a measure pushed hard by pro-Israel activists and is likely to replicated around the country. However, SB81, sponsored by Republican Sen. Arthur Orr, raises core free speech and associational rights. What is ironic is that it is a Republican measure that would seem to deny the type of free speech rights recognized in corporations in cases like Citizens United. If corporations have free speech rights like citizens, could a state bar anyone who was opposed to Israel from state employment or contracts? A court challenge would raise some very difficult and frankly close questions on the right of states to make such a distinction.
Category: Society
Any Iranian judge offered another glimpse into the medieval Sharia legal system. After a man was given a trial lasting only a couple minutes, Reza Hosseini, 34, begged the judge to listen to his evidence that he is innocent. Instead, the judge told the man “if you’re innocent you’ll go to heaven.” Continue reading ““If You’re Innocent You’ll Go To Heaven: Iranian Judge Sentences Man To Hang After A Two Minute Trial”
We have previously discussed the meltdown at airports due to the latest failure of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Passengers are being asked to show up hours in advance and many are missing their flights due to endless lines. Now, thousands of bags have been lost due to a “technical problems” at TSA. The lack of any accountability for the ongoing failures at TSA is the latest evidence of the disconnect between citizens and their government.
There is an interesting study out of the University of San Francisco California by James Lightwood (associate professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy) and his colleagues on the cost of smoking. The team found that if 1 in 10 people in the US quit smoking, health care costs would drop $63 billion in next year.
Continue reading “Study: Health Care Costs Would Drop $63 Billion If Only One-Tenth Of Smokers Quit”
This afternoon, Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a final ruling in United States House of Representatives v. Burwell, the challenge to unilateral actions taken by the Administration under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Judge Collyer ruled in favor of the House of Representatives and found that the Administration violated the Constitution in committing billions of dollars from the United States Treasury without the approval of Congress. The historic ruling reaffirms the foundational “power of the purse” that was given to the legislative branch by the Framers.
Continue reading “HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WINS HISTORIC RULING IN CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE UNDER THE ACA”
In an apparent effort to be sure that he is the most hated man in America, George Zimmerman will be auctioning off the gun that he used to kill Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. He has stated that the funds will be use to fight “Hillary Clinton’s anti-firearm rhetoric.” UPDATE: the gun to be auctioned at Gun Broker appears to have been withdrawn from sale.
Continue reading “George Zimmerman To Auction Off Gun Used To Kill Trayvon Martin [Updated]”
There is a new controversy at Claremont McKenna College in California after the disclosure of a list by the activist group CMCers of Color of people who were viewed as insufficiently supportive or even questioning of protests over racism. Various minority students and teachers were listed as “shady person[s] of color” in a document that demanded various changes from the removal of the college dean to the creation of “safe spaces” for minorities. Critics have charged that such list of minority students engaged in protests would have produced calls for expulsions and investigations. I think that there is a danger of overblowing such an incident but there is a legitimate concern over differential treatment in such controversies that we have previously discussed.
There is a truly horrific case out of Texas where a mom allegedly supplied booze and pills to her son so that he could sleep with his date to a Aldine MacArthur High School prom held at the Hyatt Regency in North Houston. Eddie Herrera, 18, ended up killing Jacqueline “Jackie” Gomez, 17, in what he claims was consensual rough sex. His mother, Michelle Martinez, 40, is not only accused of lying to Gomez’s mother about her whereabouts but helped clean the room before reporting the death. Herrera was just found guilty of choking Gomez to death. He received 25 years for aggravated assault. However, it is the role of Martinez that I find most shocking.
Continue reading “Texas Man Sentenced and His Mother Awaits Trial For The Killing Prom Date”
We have previously discussed the destructive narcissism of tourists who write their names on historic locations or art. This includes the Chinese tourist who wrote on an ancient Egyptian temple or the Russian who carved his name into the Colosseum. An unidentified 55-year-old man from Missouri snapped the finger off a 14th or 15th century marble masterpiece when he decided to measure it by grabbing the hand. The latest victim is a 126-year-old statue of Dom Sebastian that crashed to the ground and shattered after man climbed on top of its pedestal to take a selfie with the 16th century Portuguese King. Now, no one else will be able to see the beautiful piece of art and history outside the ornate Rossio railway station in central Lisbon.
ISIS claimed to have cleansed a man of the sin of homosexuality in the name of Islam by stoning him and then throwing him blindfolded off the top of a building in Manbij city in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo. It is the latest atrocity committed under Islamic Sharia “law.”
Some things just don’t add up, but that has never bothered the Islamic extremists in ISIS. In Raqqa, schools have been taken over by ISIS which has reduced classes on such things as science and mathematics in favor of Sharia and the calling of the jihad. When kids do math, they also have to do without the plus sign, which has been declared as too close to a Christian cross (+) and thus a corrupting influence. Instead the kids use the letter “z”.
Continue reading “ISIS Bans The Use Of The Plus Sign As Christian Symbol”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
In September of 2014 we featured an article describing how a squad of uniformed, self appointed “Sharia Police”. Several young adults wearing orange reflective jackets embossed with the words “Shariah Police” began foot patrols of the central district of the German city Wuppertal, harassing who they perceived to be Muslim who were frequenting discos and gambling establishments.
The group held that they were promoting their Salafist beliefs and chastising others who deviated from the tenets of the religion–by consuming alcohol and engaging in gambling entertainment.
The state sought to bring criminal charges against a group of Sharia Police for violating statutes relating to the patrols. Now, the Düsseldorf State Court ruled that eight of the nine accused men can face trial for “violating laws against wearing uniforms with political messages.”
Continue reading “German Court Allows Trial To Proceed Of Accused “Sharia Police” Members”
It will be my distinct pleasure to serve as the keynote speaker today at the conference of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in New Orleans. I will be addressing the society tonight in New Orleans on the rise of the Fourth Branch and how it relates to the practice of medicine in the 21st Century. It is always fun to return to New Orleans where I started my teaching career at Tulane University, though this will regrettably have to be a short visit due to a speech in Michigan. Since today is my birthday, I will have to at least get out to a couple of my favorite haunts for some good food and drinks with the Napoleon House at the top of the list for a Pimm’s Cup . . . or two.
Continue reading “Turley To Speak At ASCRS Conference in New Orleans”
A new poll again shows what we have previously discussed as the absurdity of an election that produced the two least popular candidates as what many view as the only choices for the general election. In prior discussions, due to the duopoly on power, citizens will be told to choice between two people that they dislike to an unprecendented degree. What is fascinating is the Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman-Shultz has stated that she is opposed to independents even playing a role in primaries — the reason why Clinton has struggled despite every advantage given to her by the establishment. Wasserman-Shultz, who may be the least popular DNC head in history, sees the problem is giving too many people a voice in the candidates.
Continue reading “Poll: Negative Views Of Trump and Clinton Reach “Historic” Levels”
I have often been mystified by how some people justify the most base or hateful acts with religion. That seems to be the case with two truck driver Ken Shupe, 51, who was called to an accident where he found a disabled woman, Cassandra McWade, next to her car. He was reportedly preparing to tow the car when he spotted a Bernie Sanders sign in her Toyota Camry. He then announced that he was a conservative Christian and would not help her because she supported Sanders.
Continue reading “Tow Truck Driver Refuses To Assist Disabled Driver After Spotting Sanders Sign In Her Car”