Category: Society

Bizarre, Politics, Society

Airports Grind To Halt As TSA Again Fails Most Basic Test of Competence

240px-tsa_-_logoCd07R8sWEAAX5Er.jpg-largeYou have likely been reading about the scandalous situation at our airports where TSA security points have created chokepoints due to a lack of planning and staffing in the latest failure of this agency. Thousands of passengers are missing their flights due to massive lines and the airports are now suggesting that people come THREE HOURS in advance. The reason is obvious incompetence in failing to plan for rising numbers of passengers and to properly staff security checkpoints. Yet, no one is being held accountable. The public is just again left paying billions to the government, which cannot meet the most basic obligations to the public. We no longer expect competence from our government.

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Columns, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Media, Politics, Science, Society

The Flint Charges and The Murky Legal Waters Facing Prosecutors

220px-Water_droplet_blue_bg05Below is my column in USA Today on the prosecution of three state and local officials in the Flint, Michigan water scandal. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has promised more (and higher ranking) defendants in the coming weeks. However, as discussed in this column, these cases are not as straightforward as the pictures of bottles of Flint water juxtaposed against clean water. While there are strong elements to some of the charges, the prosecution is not nearly as easily or obvious as has been suggested in the media, in my view.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Philippino Presidential Frontrunner Jokes About Pledges To Pardon Human Rights Abusers Including Himself

220px-Rodrigo_Duterte_(2009)If you thought Donald Trump was raising eyebrows in a presidential election with his support for torture and killing the families of terrorists, he appears perfectly moderate in comparison to Philippine presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte likes to comment on his genitals and recently attracted international criticism for a disgusting joke about his desire to rape a female minister who was savagely killed in 1989. Now he is being quoted as saying that he would pardon himself for mass murder if elected and hand out thousands of pardons to government officials accused of such crimes.

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Media, Politics, Society

Poll: Half of Americans View Primary System As Rigged and Undemocratic

Freedom_of_SpeechWe have previously discussed the bizarre situation of two candidates (Trump and Clinton) with historic negative polling numbers emerge as the frontrunners for the general election. Six out of ten voters say that they are unwilling to vote for either Trump or Clinton. Now a new poll shows that over half of American voters believe that the primary system is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want a new system for electing their leaders. What is remarkable is how detached the system appears from the voters. The GOP primary is advancing a candidate with high exceptionally negatives for the general election. In the meantime, the public is in open revolt of the “establishment” so the Democratic leadership has lined up to guarantee the selection of the candidate who is the ultimate establishment figure.  Now one-fourth of voters are saying that they will stay at home rather than vote for either of the frontrunners.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Society

Disgorging The Record: Russian Lawyer Caught Eating Evidence In Judge’s Chambers

338B3DF000000578-3559294-image-a-1_1461668927275Lawyers often try to take a bite out of the evidence but one Russian lawyer takes that expression to a literal degree. This Russian lawyer was caught on CCTV actually eating the report showing the level of alcohol in his client’s system at the time of an automobile accident. The video is below.

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Criminal law, Society

Indiana Burglar Sues Homeowner Who Shot Him

David Bailey There is an interesting case out of Indiana where a would-be burglar who was shot by an owner is suing over the wounding. David A. Bailey, 31, reportedly broke into the garage of David McLaughlin of Dunkirk, Ind., on April 21, 2014. McLaughlin, now 33, fired gunshots at the intruder as Bailey fled from his property — hitting him in the left arm.

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Criminal law, Religion, Society

Bangladesh Embassy Worker And Secular Blogger Hacked To Death By Suspected Islamic Extremists

UnknownThe slaughter of intellectuals and civil liberties advocates has continued in Bangladesh. A U.S. Embassy worker and editor of Bangladesh’s first LGBT magazine Xulhaz Mannan was one of two men hacked to death this week in what is believed to be the latest murders by Islamic extremists. We have been discussing the surge of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh, particularly targeting secular writers. Law student and secular writer Nazimuddin Samad, 26, was the sixth such victim recently. Then last week we had the murder of a popular professor.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Dutch Newspaper Publishes Front Page Cartoon Mocking Erdogan After The Arrest Of Dutch Journalist

Cg3jHtBWIAAAf4iAs Western leaders like Angela Merkel cave into the authoritarian demands of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in crushing free speech, journalists and cartoonists are fighting back. After a Dutch journalist was arrested in Turkey this weekend for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the most-read newspaper in the Netherlands threw down the gauntlet and published a front-page editorial cartoon that shows Erdogan as an ape crushing Europe’s free speech. Since Erdogan demands the prosecution of journalists even outside of Turkey who insult him, the publication could force another confrontation with the aspiring dictator. In the meantime, the West (including the United States) continue to prop up Erdogan as he destroys secular government in Turkey, arrests journalists, and denies the most basic forms of free speech.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Religion, Society, Supreme Court

Brown Family Asks Entire Tenth Circuit To Review Sister Wives Decision

240px-sister_wives_tv_series_logoLate Monday, the Brown family filed their appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Brown v. Buhman, No. 14-4117. The Sisters Wives case raises core issues of free speech and free exercise — constitutional violations found by the trial court in striking down the Utah cohabitation law. This “en banc” petition is to the entire Tenth Circuit in seeking review of the recent panel decision vacating the earlier decision on standing grounds.

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Bizarre, International, Society

Winnipeg Mother Faces Child Welfare Inspection and Questioning After Allowing Her Children To Play Alone In Their Fenced-In Backyard

Coat_of_arms_of_Manitoba.svgWe have another bizarre case of child welfare overreach on the same week as a story where child welfare officials appear to have ignored one of the worst cases of child abuse in recent memory in Washington state. In Winnipeg, Jacqui Kendrick, a stay-at-home mom, was called out by Child and Family Services because she let her children play in her fenced-in backyard. That’s right, a neighbor called to complain that children were playing on their own in their own fenced-in backyard.

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Courts, Society

Sacked: Second Circuit Reinstates Brady Suspension

Today a federal court reinstated the four regular season game suspension for New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady in the “Deflategate” scandal. The decision of the lower court to strike down the suspension was in my view facially wrong at the time so this decision is not much of a surprise. The key to the suspension — Brady destroying his phone — was ample support for such a suspension and was never fully explained by the quarterback.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

Turkey Arrests Western Journalist For Criticizing Erdoğan

220px-EbruUmar220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganOur close ally in Turkey this week is continuing his comprehensive attack on free speech and free exercise. A Dutch journalist, Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist, is the latest victim of the crackdown by Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan was recently given a boost to his scorched earth campaign by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to first apologize to him for a comedian making fun of him in Germany but also approved a prosecution of the comedian . As Merkel abandoned any semblance of free speech in Germany to appease Erdoğan, the authoritarian leader set out to punish Western journalists in his own country who dared to criticize him. Umar recently wrote a piece critical of Erdoğan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted. Her last tweet chillingly said “Police at the door. No joke.”

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabia Sentences Civil Libertarian To Nine Years In Prison In Terrorism Court

The Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights is a respected organization established by intellectuals who seek to protect human rights in the Kingdom and the creation of both democratic and legal institutions that guarantee such rights. Not surprising, the Saudi government has treated such ideas as terroristic threats and has jailed many of its members. The latest is one of the founders Issa al-Hamid who was convicted of inciting people to breach public order, insulting the judiciary, defaming the kingdom’s senior religious clerics and establishing an unlicensed organization. Our close ally in the Middle East has once again shown how it stands in direct opposition to the most basic rights of free speech and free exercise. Rather than actually move its laws and government out of the Middle Ages, the Kingdom has hired a variety of top firms, including leading establishment figures like Tony Podesta, to improve its reputation with the American public (particularly with the expected release of the long withheld 9-11 reports pages that reportedly implicate Saudi officials in the attack.

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Free Speech, Society

History of Rock & Roll In 100 Riffs

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

stratocaster-red-hotFor something different from the news, here is a history of Rock & Roll in 100 riffs.

This repertoire played by accomplished guitarist Alex Chadwick begins with
Mr. Sandman by Chet Atkins and concludes with Cruel  by St. Vincent.

In addition to presenting a tribute toward the changing techniques and styles of pop guitar music, I found it good at predicting which generation the listener belongs based upon where their interest begins and where it wanes. So from the silent generation to millennials, enjoy!
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion, Society

Tehran Announces Creation Of Undercover “Morality Police” Force

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

125px-Flag_of_Iran.svgTehran Iran’s police chief, Hossein Sajedinia announced and defended a controversial decision to form a seven thousand strong undercover police service charged with enforcing morality codes and, reportedly, assisting regular police forces with criminal matters.

Domestic and international civil libertarians project an Orwellian abuse about to unfold in that a largely unseen monitoring system will encompass the Iranian capital and generate the continual worry of being arrested for ordinary acts the government deems objectionable.

I suspect that if the powers to be view this program to be successful, other municipalities throughout the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon follow, further repressing whatever freedom currently remains in their country.
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