Louisiana State Rep. Kenneth Havard is under fire this week for a measure that would have required strippers in Louisiana to be no older than 28 and weigh no more than 160 pounds. The amendment was . . . well . . . stripped from the bill after objections.
Category: Society
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards has denounced Kim Kardashian as being a Western agent. Of course, crazed fatwas and threats coming from the Islamic Republic is hardly news. However, in this case, a country is suggesting that Kim Kardashian has a job other than just being a Kardashian. The Kardashians are rightfully viewed as the death of American culture as a group of people without a single discernible talent. The Kardashians literally made being a celebrity as basis for celebrity status — without the need of actually being successful as a dancer, singer, or some other actual skill. The fact that the Iranians view Kim Kardashian as actively engaged in some substantive effort other than being Kim Kardashian shows how out of touch they really are with reality.
Continue reading “Iran Accuses Kim Kardashian Of Being Secret Western Agent”
Anyone who has been China returns with hair-raising stories of people driving on the sidewalks and trucks careening around with massively overloaded beds. However, even for China, this truck driver had people shocked after he tried to save money in transporting trucks separately and instead stacked them on top of each other.
We have been discussing the meltdown at airports due to the latest gross negligence by the Transportation Security Administration. At O’Hare, passengers are facing three hour delays with thousands missing flights and even having to rent hotel rooms when unable to make it to their gates in time. What is incredible is that Homeland Security Secretary not only denied that there was any crisis in grinding airports to a standstill but also seemed to blame passengers for failing to yield to the pressure to accept the expedited screening program called PreCheck. Many people object to the program as yielding privacy under coercion from TSA: share personal data or face hours of waiting as punishment. TSA admits that it assumed more passengers would yield to the pressure. They did not. It also admits to failing to properly staff security in a ten percent cut of screeners — a colossal blunder of under-estimating travel numbers. Yet, again, no one appears to be accountable for this massive failure that has left thousands stranded and airlines struggling to reschedule flights, including a separate TSA failure that resulted in the loss of thousands of bags.
We previously discussed how the government has kept 28 pages classified in the 9-11 Report to protect Saudi Arabia from a public backlash of its alleged involvement (or at least the involvement of Saudi officials) in the attacks. Now, a report on the treatment of U.S. sailors by Iran in seizure of Navy boats earlier this year will reportedly remain classified for some time. That is rather curious since Iran already knows how it treated the sailors. Again, there is a suspicion that the Administration simply does not want the public to know the full details of the mistreatment, which Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says are far worse than has been made public. Recently, the Navy fired the commander in the incident.
Continue reading “Why Is The Iran Report On The Treatment Of U.S. Sailor’s Still Classified?”
We previously discussed the suspicious claims made by a gay Texas pastor, Jordan Brown, who accused a Whole Foods store of changing his order for a cake reading “Love Wins” to “Love Wins Fag.” Various people seeing the cake immediately began raising questions over Brown’s claims and a videotape seemed to contradict his account. Whole Foods countersued Brown. Brown has now fessed up that he did alter the cake and made the whole thing up. After he dropped his lawsuit, Whole Foods has decided to drop the countersuit though a strong case could be made for seeking damages in such a hoax.
Mike Webb is running for Virginia’s 8th District but has run into a bit of trouble. First, he ran for the Republican nomination but lost. He then ran as an independent but people noticed something a bit odd on this website. A screenshot showed open tabs to what appears to porn sites on his campaign Facebook site. I checked and it was still on the site after various sites reported the sighting. Whatever “Ivone” and “Layla Rivera” are offering, it is not the usual fare for campaign promises. Update: Webb has responded as discussed below.
Avery Davis, 26, appears to believe that a dog is a man’s best friend but there are just some things a canine will not do: like attack police officers to protect a suspected felon. After Davis told his pit bull to attack police trying to arrest him, the pit bull instead turned around and attacked Davis.
We previously discussed the protest held by Black Lives Matter at the library of Dartmouth — and the relative lack of any punishment from the college. Now, Black Lives Matter activists have torn down a display honoring police officers and then reportedly stood guard over the board to prevent the College Republicans from re-posting their memorial . . . in the name of not being silenced.
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.
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]”