Associate Justice Antonin Scalia is again making headlines with controversial public statements. I have previously written about Scalia and the advent of the celebrity justice. Scalia clearly relishes the public attention, even though his public controversies likely cost him the Chief Justice position on the Court. Continuing his celebrity tour before conservative groups, Scalia thrilled his “base” by declaring that the criminalization of homosexuality, abortion, and the death penalty are “absolutely easy” questions.
Category: Society
Despite widespread protests and international condemnation over his authoritarian policies, Vladimir Putin is back to his unrelenting efforts at self-aggrandizement and deification. His aides have organized national celebration of Putin turning 60 this week with fawning politicians like St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko proclaiming “Your name is a symbol of a wise politician and a strong leader in Russia and the world.” Yeah, that’s how the world views Putin. In Moscow, an exhibition dedicated to Putin is running at the art center entitled “A Man of the Kindest Soul.” Nevertheless, even if Putin has not succeeded in winning over the world or freedom loving Russians, he has appeared to win over Russian women: one in five Russian women say they want to marry the wannabe dictator. Who needs eHarmony when you can land the perfect dictator on eTyranny?
Continue reading “eTyranny: One Out Of Five Women Want To Marry Putin”
A Pew Research Center survey has shown that, despite the faith-based politics of both Democratic and Republican leaders, most citizens like separation of church and state — including separation from politics. Two-thirds said that religious organizations should not endorse or openly support candidates. For a prior column on the issue, click here.
Continue reading “Two-Thirds of Americans Polled Support Separation of Churches From Politics”
I have of course been basking in the warm glow of the ascension of the Chicago Bears, who are now tied for first in the NFC North (a position solidified not only with the 41-3 blowout yesterday against the Jaguars but the loss of the Packers to the Colts). However, nothing quite matches the final play in the game of Trinity against Millsaps College on Saturday, October 27, 2007. The play by play coverage by the announcers is enough to make this worth the watch. The two announcers appear to have a joint aneurysm at the end.
Brenda Geers may have to revisit Step One in her Alcoholic Anonymous program. Geers not only hit an eighteen-year-old college student in Boulder, Colorado but crashed into St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church while driving drunk to her Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
Colleen Lachowicz is facing a truly bizarre attack campaign from Republicans in her campaign for the state Senate in Maine. The Maine Republican Party is warning voters that Lachowicz is really “Santiaga,” an Orc Assassin Rogue on the World of Warcraft. That’s right, the GOP has adopted an openly discriminatory policy against Orcs despite their legendary tenacity and frugality.
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Seems pretty straight forward, doesn’t it? Continue reading “The Shame and Waste of Fusion Centers”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments on the affirmative action case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. Opponents of affirmative action claim that the process is inherently unfair: a non-white student gains admittance over a more qualified white student. That certainly seems unfair.
A key question in verifying the unfairness of affirmative action is an objective measure of each student’s qualifications.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
In my Social Work career I spent 37 years working primarily with people in poverty, whether from Race, ethnicity, economic situations, criminal history and/or addiction. In my Psychotherapy practice (part time) my patients were middle to upper class economically and yet as the years have passed my memory of them has faded. Still remaining though, burned into my memory, are the lives of those I met who lived in poverty. We see in this current Presidential election a sharp contrast between the philosophies of the two candidates. One believing in lowering peoples expectations for and the receipt of, what he deems “entitlements”. The other who defends what he calls self-funded programs and championing the Federal Government’s intervention to make health care more accessible. There is, however, one economic/social area where both candidates fully agree and this agreement represents exactly what is wrong with our country.
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, by their words and deeds, both believe fervently in the notion of the “American Dream”. If we look at the history of their lives we can understand how from their perspective, their lives have typified the “America Dream”. Romney was born wealthy, went to the best schools and came from a family that was highly prominent in his community. Obama, though born the child of an unwed mother, had the benefit of her intelligence, in addition to Maternal Grandparents who were relatively well to do. Their lives, though having different arcs, led them both to the point where they are competing for the highest office in the land. Neither man is lying when they extol America as the world’s shining light of opportunity for all, because their own lives bear that out. To me the problem is that reality shows that they are wrong in their belief and in their clinging to the myth of the “American Dream”, they ignore the most important issue of our time, American inequality of opportunity. Continue reading “American Dream Not American Reality”
Duluth, Minnesota Police Officer Richard Jouppi will face criminal charges for beating a man in a detox facility last month after a review by an independent counsel. Jouppi will be charged with counts of fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.
Continue reading “Minnesota Police Facing Criminal Charges For Beating Man In Wheelchair In Detox Room”
It appears that stripping naked is becoming something of the rage around the country. After a Michigan State Professor stripped naked in his math class, Sarah Butler brought her three children to a high school and stripped naked in what she believed was a logical response to the approaching end of the world.
Her attorney insisted that the incident in front of the suburban Philadelphia high school was triggered by an adverse response to a prescription drug. I can accept that but what I find intriguing is the fact that her two adult children and teenage son also stripped naked in front of the school.
We have yet another fake story that has been picked up by various sites and run as an actual news story. The latest story by the Daily Currant claimed Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann was irate in finding falafel on a menu for school lunches and called for it to be banned as an example of “jihadi food.” The story went viral and I had a number of people send it to me to be posted. It is entirely untrue but many followed the old adage that this was “a fact too good to check.” The wide circulation of the story comes after the “stench” barely cleared after a Politico story last week targeting another Republican, Mitt Romney.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo) appears to have a long-standing issue with women and reproductive issues. This video from 2008 shows Akin informing the Congress that it is a “common practice” for women “who are not actually pregnant” to get abortions. While he has claimed that he just used one word incorrectly in saying that women can physically stop themselves from getting pregnant from “legitimate rape,” this tape shows a certain pattern that is quite odd.
Continue reading “Akin on Abortion: It is a Common Practice For Doctors To Give Abortion To Women Who “Are Not Actually Pregnant””
There is an interesting law that has been proposed in Miami-Dade to require online registry of “dangerous dogs.” The law would require registration of any dogs or other pets that attack or bite people in the same way that sex offenders register to public disclosure. The registry could have significant implications for tort law and the liability for dog bites. One commissioner is even proposing a dog mug shot gallery.
Continue reading “Pug Mugs: Miami Considers Dangerous Dog Registry and Mug Shot Gallery”
Dr. Diana Williamson, 56, has a novel defense to Medicaid fraud: she says the crime was actually committed by Nala, her alternative personality. The ultimate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde defense. She claims that the disorder developed as a result of sexual abuse as a child by a Massachusetts priest. Supporting their claim is a diagnosis some 25 years ago.
Continue reading “Doctor Claims Alternative Personality Was Responsible For Criminal Fraud”