Category: Society

Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Man Faces Paralysis Under Sharia “Eye For An Eye” Sentence

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgA Saudi court is prepared to carry out a sentence to have Ali Al-Khawahir surgically paralyzed in conformity with Sharia law’s “eye for an eye” traditions. Al-Khawahir was only 14 when he stabbed a friend and left him paralyzed. Now, his family has failed to pay the victim “blood money” to be released from jail. After ten years of negotiations over the blood money, Al-Khawahir faces total paralysis under the Kingdom’s medieval legal system.

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Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering, Society

Detroit Judge Faces New Ethics Charges After Repeatedly Having Sex With Witness In Chambers And Texting About “Skank Hoes” In His Courtroom

mccree-and-mottYou may recall Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree found our earlier discussion of his sending court personnel revealing pictures of himself. He was sanctioned for that little episode. McCree is back before a judicial ethics panel for allegedly making a false report of a felony, misrepresentations to the commission and engaging in improper bench conduct and demeanor. The latter charges involve having sex with a witness in his chambers, a relationship that he insisted did not affect his judgment in any way in the child-support case. He also allegedly impregnating Geniene La’Shay Mott (left with McCree). Despite his continual bizarre and improper conduct, McCree has remained on the bench in an indictment of the entire political and judicial system in Wayne County in Michigan.

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Congress, Politics, Society

Forever Young: Alaskan Member Apologizes After Discussing How His Family Used To Have “Wetbacks” To Do Their Work

220px-Don_Young,_official_photo_portrait,_color,_2006On the very heels of the GOP pledging to reach out to hispanics and repair the damage of the last election after an array of anti-women and anti-hispanic comments, Alaska Rep. Don Young stepped forward to show that such a face lift is not likely to occur with party leaders speaking from the eighteenth century. Young has long been a liability for the GOP with a long line of allegations of unethical and corrupt practices.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Egypt Arrests Popular Satirist For Blasphemy

mq1Satirist Bassem Youssef has sometimes been called Egypt’s Jon Stewart — a refreshing uninhibited commentators in the increasingly restricted Egyptian public discourse. That ended last week as Egypt’s Islamic government added him to the spate of blasphemy arrests in defense of Islam.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Hollande Moves To Impose Another 75 Percent Tax For High Earners

220px-François_Hollande_(Journées_de_Nantes_2012)200px-Exécution_de_Marie_Antoinette_le_16_octobre_1793I have been a critic of the tax policies of French President Francois Hollande, including his disastrous 75% tax on the rich. The tax, as expected, has resulted in an exodus from the country of many top earners and a reluctance of others to move to France. However, with his poll numbers at a historic low, Hollande is continuing his “eat the rich” campaign. Last week, he announced a desire to impose a 75% tax on companies for salaries above 1 million euros. It is yet another blow to the French economy and will further deter new business for the struggling nation.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International, Society

Thief Cuts Off Tusk From Louis XIV’s Elephant With Chainsaw

220px-Louis_XIV_of_France220px-Tanzanian_ElephantAn unnamed 20-year-old man succeeded last week in combining trafficking in the infamous ivory trade with the destruction of historical artifacts to become one of the truly vile humans on Earth. The man broke into the Paris National History museum and cut off the tusk of the famous Louis XIV elephant with a chainsaw. An alert neighbor heard the sound of the chainsaw and called police. The man was arrested as he tried to make his escape.
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Animals, Environment, Society

Peter’s Peril: New England Cottontail Facing Extinction

220px-New_England_cottontailDespite the rain, Easter was a smashing success at the Turley house including a soggy but fun neighborhood Easter Egg hunt around our house. Environmentalists however are hoping that these good feelings could translate into some support to save the erstwhile mascot of the holiday: the New England cottontail. The rabbit species faces potential extinction because its needed scrub land is being eradicated by many of those same Easter-loving humans.

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Society

Grace Under Pressure: Michael Schiavo’ s Speech

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an on-going series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously  make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes reside among us and that they serve as  quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward  – and ours, too.

51565bf3b7324.imageEvery year, Henrico’s (VA) Deep Run High School holds a dance marathon to help local charities. The event is wildly successful raising over $1 million since its inception in 2007. The kids start their dancing on Friday night and 27 shaking hours later the exhausted participants rightly toast their accomplishment with some donated punch and soft drinks. This year they toasted more than a marathon.

Sophomore Michael Schiavo was the top fund-raiser this year bringing in an impressive $7,161 in donations. But according to Michael, he got a lot more than he gave. Michael suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. DMD is a genetic based dystrophy that attacks 1 in 3600 boys. It usually manifests itself in infancy and causes a wasting away of muscle tissue that is replaced with fat and fibrotic tissue leading to fibrosis. The average life expectancy for patients afflicted with DMD is around 25.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

Too Big To Jail? Obama Administration Agrees To Large Penalty In Exchange For Letting Billionaire Escape Insider Training Charge While His Subordinates Plead Guilty

800px-Louis14-FamilyJohn Cassidy has a remarkable story out in the New Yorker this week about a sweetheart deal cut by the Justice Department with one of the wealthiest men in the world, Steven A. Cohen (who may be pictured here at a standard picnic, or not). Cohen’s company would pay $626 million but not have to admit any wrongdoing and Cohen would face no personal sanction. The billionaire appears to be celebrating this month with a buying spree with a Picasso painting and a huge new mansion. What is amazing is that various Cohen subordinates have pleaded guilty and Cohen has been tied directly to an insider trading allegation. Yet, he appears to “too big to jail” as a continuation of the Obama Administration’s bifurcated legal system for the super rich and the rest of us.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Over-Kill: Saudi Court Orders Man Beheaded And Then Crucified

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgSaudi Arabia has long shocked the world with its medieval Sharia justice system, but nothing prepared most of us for the recent execution in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Faced with Mohammed Rashad Khairi Hussein, a Yemeni man accused of murder and sodomy, the Sharia court ordered him first beheaded and then crucified. This is not the first such sentence under Sharia law. A man in 2009 was ordered beheaded and then crucified for being a gang leader.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

A Felon Or Just Nuts? Republican Candidate Arrested For Eating Handful of Cashews At Sam’s Club

article-nuts1-0328Dale Peterson, the Alabama Republican running for Agricultural Commissioner, has railed against “thugs and criminals.” Yet, Peterson is facing a second shoplifting charge in just five months. The latest charge however is over a handful of nuts that he ate at a Sam’s Club. Indeed, it is hard to see why either of these charges were brought rather than requiring a simple payment at the counter.

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Environment, International, Science, Society

Ecuador To Sell China More Than Three Million Hectares Of Pristine Amazonian Rainforest For Oil Development

220px-Daintree_Rainforest220px-Lacanja_burnWe have long followed the horrific record of China on the environment. The Chinese regime has continued to push for high production rates as the number of “cancer villages” and lethal pollution rises across the country. This record has made China the worse environmental violator in the world. Now, greed has combined with power to make for what could be one of the greatest single environmental losses with China expanding its destructive record to Latin America. Ecuador has announced a plan to auction off more than three million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies. The loss of such pristine areas (and unique species within it) will cause incalculable damage to feed China’s insatiable demand for energy.

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Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

Bangladesh Moves Against Atheist Bloggers In Blasphemy Crackdown

stoningIn recent weeks, Muslims in Bangladesh have marched on the capital demanding death for atheists who have simply openly blogged about their their beliefs. Islamic groups have denounced the blogs as an insult to Mohammad and Islam and demanded arrests. In the meantime, they have attacked atheists and engaged in violent attacks in the name of Islam. They have killed eight people as part of their moral crusade. Rather than arresting the culprits, the government has moved against the bloggers.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Takes Up The Defense Of Marriage Act
The U.S. Supreme Court
gay-pride-flagThe U.S. Supreme Court

Today, the Supreme Court will take up the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law signed by Bill Clinton that denied benefits and equal treatment to same-sex couples. This follows yesterday’s interesting, and at times heated, debate over Proposition 8 in the Hollingsworth case. I will be on MSNBC today discussing the case with NPR’s Here and Now at 12 and then Martin Bashir at 4 p.m.

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