We have previously discussed how history is being forgotten in the United States, England, and other countries. We can now add Germany to the list. While one would hope that there are certain historical facts that are indelible, one in five young Germans has no idea that Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp.
Continue reading “One in Five Young Germans Do Not Know Auschwitz Was A Death Camp”
Former Bronx prosecutor Bernadette Greenwald, 37, has been criminally charged after she pulled a gun on a teen and fired a shot in anger over teenagers ringing her door bell in the “ding-dong ditch” game. Police say that Greenwald fired her pink 9mm handgun to show the teen she had (in her words) “balls.” Greenwald practices under her maiden name, Bernadette Nicchia.
This week’s most frivolous lawsuit was filed by Dr. Randeep Dhillon of Bakersfield on behalf of himself and Bol Punjabi All Regions Community Organization in California. Dhillon is suing Jay Leno for showing a picture of the Sikh holy shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar, India as the image of Mitt Romney’s summer home. The obvious parody is entirely protected but Dhillon has claimed that it constitutes libel.
Continue reading “Sikhs Sue Leno Over Joke Involving Sacred Temple”
I previously criticized Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for suggesting that she has dirt on Newt Gingrich but would disclose it later. She has returned to that ignoble theme in an interview with CNN, saying that Gingrich will not be elected because “There is something I know.” I have been a vocal critic of Gingrich on this blog, but once again I view this low-grade form of politicking to be grossly unfair to Gingrich and a further degrading of our political system. If you want to attack Gingrich, then do it. Do not constantly suggest that you have severed heads in a duffel bag or some other evidence against the man.
Continue reading “Pelosi: Gingrich Unelectable Because “There Is Something I Know.””
Country singer Garth Brooks has prevailed in his lawsuit to force the IntegrisCanadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon, Oklahoma to return half a million dollars from a prior gift. The case will likely be examined closely by universities and hospitals as a cautionary tale on the handling of donor money. What is clear is that, after taking one of its largest donors to court, the IntegrisCanadian Valley Regional Hospital can expect a rather chilly response from future donors. Here is the get part: the jury decided that he was a Victim of the Game and made the damages a cool $1 million dollars with punitive damages. Now that was a smart legal strategy for the hospital.
This video on YouTube raises serious questions over the necessity of shooting a man outside of a Carl’s Jr. in Monterey Park, California. The man was smashing windows with a pipe and failed to yield to commands from officers. When he turned toward one officer and raised the pipe, he was repeatedly shot by the other officer in the video.
As a history buff who loves visiting France, I have previously objected to the commercialization of historical sites of a former French minister of Versailles. However, nothing quite prepared me for the new idea of former French minister Yves Jégo, who is planning the creation of “Napoleonland.” He is raising £180 million for the amusement park on the site of Napoleon’s final victory at the Battle of Montereau in 1814 just south of Paris.
Continue reading “Liberté, Egalité, Débauche: Former French Minister Pushes For Creation of “Napoleonland””
Former Florida prosecutor Aaron Slavin, 34, has received a three-year prison sentence for accepting more than 200 oxycodone pills as payment for legal services in 2010. His wife Eryn Slavin, 34, was also convicted of drug possession, but under the deal with her husband she will avoid jail time. His mug shot sheet shows an arrest in 2010.
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I previously wrote about the pending case of United States v. Jones and the effort of the Administration to establish precedent allowing the government to follow citizens with Global Positioning Devices (GPS) without any showing of probable cause. I am happy to report that the Court has ruled unanimously against the government and found the practice to be unconstitutional under the fourth amendment. It is a stinging defeat for the Obama Administration but a roaring victory for privacy and civil liberties at a time when good news is rare.
We have followed the rising prosecution of people for blasphemy around the world, including the West. Now, Muslim groups in India are calling for the prosecution of organizers for reading from Salman Rushdie’s banned book “Satanic Verses” at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Abdul Latif, state secretary of All India Milli council refers to the mere reading from the book as “condemnable” and said that the groups are collecting evidence for prosecution.
Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, has apologized after running a column that lists three options for Israel to deal with its current threats that included killing Barack Obama. The column went out of its way to make sure that readers “read ‘three’ correctly” — “U.S. based Mossad agents” should kill the president. The column is just one more example of how religious writers and politicians use faith as a vehicle for hate and violent speech. Given our discussion of Santorum’s honorary campaign chairman (who denounced gays as making God want to vomit), one has to wonder about the intestinal fortitude of the Almighty during periods of sectarian extremism.
Continue reading “Editor of American Jewish Magazine Calls For Israel’s Mossad To Kill Obama”
Rick Santorum has long been ridiculed for his anti-homosexual views, but he appears to have someone who can actually extend the extreme of the spectrum to his right: Rev. O’Neil Dozier. Dozier has told his flock that gay “make God want to vomit.” He appears to know a great deal about things that make God vomit. His website describes him as “a prayer warrior who faithfully spends time in his own prayer closet and teaches his flock to pray.” This is one American who might be better off staying in the closet.
This week, Steven Tyler — formerly of Aerosmith and presently of American Idol — has made my Things That Tick Me Off list. I watched the two playoff games last night, but the Ravens-Patriots Game began with one of the most painful renditions of the national anthem in the history of mankind by Tyler, who appeared to be offering a rendition (below) of what the song if it was played by strangling a cat. Of course, now that he has made our “Things That Tick Me Off” list I expect his television and singing career will now be over.
One can certainly understand why victims of the recently wreck of the Costa Concordia were a little put out by a recent offer. The company, owned by Carnival, called to offer them a 30% discount on their next Carnival cruise after 12 people died on the last voyage and 20 are still missing. Truly savings to die for. For crash victims, it is like Ford’s Theater offering Mary Todd Lincoln “buy two, get one free” ticket deal on the next performance of “Our American Cousin.”
This film is the result of an experiment of locking a fully loaded bike in New York City and then taking one picture every day for 365 days.