Who needs eharmony? Evangelina Paredes found a match in a handwritten note on her windshield. It was from Stickney police officer Chris Collins who used the information that he recorded on a $132 speeding ticket to track her down and ask her out. Collins pointed out “I did cost you $132 — least I can do is buy you dinner.” It is a police version of the slogan “fall in love for the right reasons.”
Continue reading “efelony: Illinois Police Officer Uses Ticket To Ask Woman On Date”
We previously discussed how the Saudi government has ordered that men can no longer work in women’s lingerie or cosmetic departments or stores. Such work is viewed as an insult to Islam and, on Thursday, the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) will be sweeping through stores looking for any male workers. The religious police also recently announced that they will be cracking down on women with “sexy eyes.” So covering up in a burka is not enough if you have Bette Davis eyes. Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, spokesman of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, declared that “[t]he men of the committee will interfere to force women to cover their eyes, especially the tempting ones.”
Continue reading “Saudi Morality Police Set To Crackdown On Lingerie Stores and Bette Davis Eyes”
The ultra-secret world of the Church of Scientology has been rocked by a rare internal dissent — gone public by an even more rare decision to leak internal communications to the media. The dispute focuses on an email by long-standing Scientologist Debbie Cook calling on 12,000 fellow members to withhold contributions to the church as violative of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.
Continue reading “Scientology Embroiled In Internal Dispute Over The Amassing of Wealth Under Miscavige”
Just when you thought litigation could not get more gruesome after the Illinois flying body part case. I just came across articles in this 2009 case where the lawyers for Pepsi came up with a novel defense against a product liability claim of an Illinois man who alleged that he found a dead mouse in his Mountain Dew. Impossible, they insist, because our product would have dissolved any mouse in a can. It is the type of legal argument that wins a case and loses a market. It certainly was consistent with the original slogan of the company: “It’ll Tickle Yore Innards!”
Continue reading ““It’ll Tickle Your Innards”: Mountain Dew’s Mouse Dissolving Defense”
While this is unlikely to surprise many civil libertarians, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued its annual report card called “Liberty Watch 2012” and gave President Obama a failing report (earning the full four “torches” only on the issue of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy). The Republican candidates were equally dismal but it is rare for the Democratic candidate to be on par or lower than his GOP counterparts on civil liberties. Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson secured the top civil liberties spot while Republican Ron Paul came in second ahead of Obama.
Continue reading “Obama Given Low Marks In Annual ACLU Report For Civil Liberties — Ranked Lower Than Paul”
President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country . . . and citizens partied only blissfully into the New Year.
Continue reading “Final Curtain: Obama Signs Indefinite Detention of Citizens Into Law As Final Act of 2011”
India is facing yet another case of human sacrifice. Lalita Tati, 7, became the latest victim of tribal sacrifice — murdered in order to offer up her liver to the gods to improve crop growth.
Continue reading “Human Sacrifice in India Claims Seven-Year-Old Victim”
I just saw this video of a man painting on water that is so amazing that I had to share it.
Continue reading “Cézanne Was A Wimp . . . This Is True Water Colors”
Today the kids and I will formally withdraw the colors — taking down our large Bears banner in front of the house to mark the end of the season for our team. My only concern is that the performance of the Bears lends credence to the Mayan prediction of the end of the world in 2012. As God’s team, it is only natural that the apocalypse would begin with this catastrophic season for the Bears — and countervailing success of the Packers. For Bears fans, we will now welcome the End of Times . . . if it will only happen before the Packers win a second Superbowl.
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
Augusta State University (ASU) of Georgia was taken to court by a clinical psychology student, Jennifer Keeton, who refused to do coursework necessary for completing her degree. The coursework in question dealt with LGBTQ population. “In her brief, Keeton describes herself as a Christian who is committed to the truth of the Bible, including what she believes are its teachings on human nature, the purpose and meaning of life, and the ethical standards that govern human conduct. She holds several beliefs about homosexuality that she views as arising from her Christian faith. She believes that ‘sexual behavior is the result of personal choice for which individuals are accountable, not inevitable deterministic forces; that gender is fixed and binary (i.e., male or female), not a social construct or personal choice subject to individual change; and that homosexuality is a ‘lifestyle,’ not a ‘state of being.’” ASU’s officials became aware that Keeton held these beliefs when she expressed to professors in class and fellow classmates in and out of class that she believed that the GLBTQ population suffers from identity confusion, and that she intended to attempt to convert students from being homosexual to heterosexual. Keeton also said that it would be difficult for her to work with GLBTQ clients and to separate her views about homosexuality from her clients’ views. Further, in answering a hypothetical posed by a faculty member, Keeton responded that as a high school counselor confronted by a sophomore student in crisis, questioning his sexual orientation, she would tell the student that it was not okay to be gay. Similarly, Keeton told a fellow classmate that, if a client discloses that he is gay, it was her intention to tell the client that his behavior is morally wrong and then try to change the client’s behavior, and if she were unable to help the client change his behavior, she would refer him to someone practicing conversion therapy.” Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 10-13925, D.C. Docket No. 1:10-cv-00099-JRH-WLB (Dec. 16, 2011)
This raises some interesting questions concerning free speech, free exercise and educational and professional accreditation.
Continue reading “Science and Education Win . . . in Georgia”
Happy New Year’s Eve to all of our blog family. We will be spending New Year’s Eve at home this year — preparing for our annual New Year’s party on January 1st. I will be toasting to everyone on our extended blog family. It has been quite a year with a number of changes on the blog, including the addition of our extraordinary team of weekend bloggers. We are now approaching 10 million hits and 10,000 posts. It is hard to believe how far we have come on the blog and yet manage to retain our civility and good humor. I am deeply appreciative to each and every one of you — your contributions and camaraderie on this blog.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The World Trade Center cross was discovered in the debris of the collapsed buildings by construction worker Frank Silecchia who declared “it’s an act of God.” The cross was removed from the debris pile, erected on a concrete pedestal, and placed nearby in a prominent position during the years of reconstruction. During the removal, Fr. Brian Jordan, a Roman Catholic Franciscan priest, blessed the cross with holy water. In june, 2002, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking cleric, and New York’s Cardinal Edward Egan participated in a ceremony at the cross.
Christians For A Moral America really do not want you to see the Hobbit. It appears that really bad things come in really small packages. Producer Sir Peter Jackson is a self-proclaimed atheist. It would appear that he would have been better off proclaiming that he was an orc.
Continue reading ““Satan’s Little Helper”? Christian Group Calls For Boycott Of Movie “Hobbit””
The New Year brings a host of new laws that kick in on the first. For citizens in Utah, the New Year will bring an end to Happy Hours. That’s right, the heavily Mormon state has continued its harassment of citizens who drink and outlawed “drink specials.”
Continue reading “The Day Happy Died: New Year To Bring End To Happy Hours In Utah”
It seems like every election we have another extreme religious figure who becomes a campaign issue for a candidate. Obama had Rev. Wright and McCain had Rev. Hagee and Parsley. Sarah Palin has an actual Kenyan witch hunter. Now Ron Paul has his own embarrassing association. The preacher is Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a pastor at the Dominion Covenant Church in Nebraska, who has a following in Iowa. The Paul campaign issued a press release (that it later removed from its site) heralding the endorsement of Kayser. The problem is that Kayser believes that gays should be executed according to biblical law. It was a a highly destructive endorsement for Paul who is attracting civil libertarians to his campaign. No one can stop someone from endorsing you, but the campaign clearly sought this endorsement from an extremist with reprehensible views. Unlike Wright, Kayser is not Paul’s personal minister, but the press release made him Paul’s problem in reaching out to civil libertarians.
Continue reading “Paul’s Preacher Probem: Meet Phillip G. Kayser”