In a disaster for many parents during the holiday, Build-a-Bear has issued a recall for roughly 300,000 “Colorful Hearts Teddy” bears due to a choking hazard. The culprit, shown left, contains “substandard fabric” in some runs that may allow an eye to break free, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Continue reading “Recall-A-Bear: Popular Children’s Store Recalls 300,000 Colorful Hearts Teddy Bears”
Category: Society
On the heels of the release of papers that contradict him on his claims regarding his first divorce, Newt Gingrich is now being challenged by a former and a current member of Congress who say that it is not true, as Gingrich has claimed, that he did not lobby Congress after leaving as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1998.
Continue reading “Former and Current Members of Congress Contradict Gingrich Claims That He Did Not Lobby Congress After Leaving As Speaker”
Catholic bishops in Illinois have followed their colleagues in other states and shutdown adoption centers rather than comply with anti-discrimination laws requiring equal treatment for gay couples. Despite my support for gay rights and same-sex marriage, I have previously written that anti-discrimination laws are threatening the free exercise of religion. There is a possible distinction between areas like tax exempt status as opposed to contracting with the state. While I strongly disagree with this tenet of Catholic faith, I do not believe that religious organizations should be forced to abandon such principles under anti-discrimination laws as a general matter. Yet, it becomes a more difficult argument in the context of a state contract where the church has decided to compete for government contracts.
Continue reading “Catholic Church In Illinois Closes Adoptions Centers To Avoid Anti-Discrimination Laws”
In Lahore, Pakistan, police arrested Amanat Masih while he was in church on Christmas day. Masih, 50, was arrested for blasphemy — the second such arrest based on what he insists are trumped up charges by one man. He was previously sent to jail for more than three years for blaspheming Islam.
Continue reading “Pakistani Police Arrest Christian For Blasphemy in Church on Christmas”
We have previously seen fights between monks at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The video below, however, shows monks going Medieval at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity — taking brooms and sticks to each other in the ongoing dispute of who has rights to the holy ground. The response of the Palestinian police chief is rather interesting.
Continue reading “When Monks Attack: Orthodox Priests Go Medieval At Church of the Nativity”
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the federal government has spent almost a billion and a half dollars to explore politically popular but scientifically dubious claims such as $666,000 to determine if distant prayer could heal AIDS. It didn’t. I would be interested in how this was tested. I cannot get the image of Lyn Cassady praying at a goat in a secret military lab.
Just as Henry V rallied the thin, tired troops on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, it is time to make that final call for votes in this year’s competition for the top opinion blog by the American Bar Association. There are now just two days left and, while we have pulled ahead in the last week, the contest remains very close with one of the top five largest legal blogs. If you like our blog, it is time to pony up and vote.
Continue reading “Just Two Days Left In The ABA Competition: We Need Your Vote!”
There is an interesting lawsuit filed by a military contractor, American K-9 Detection Services, against Indian Creek Enterprises Inc. and Live Animal Transportation Services for the death of 14 bomb-sniffing dogs being shipped to Afghanistan.
Continue reading “Military Contractor Sues Over Death of 14 Dogs In Unventilated Truck”
One of the most difficult problems faced by Newt Gingrich in appealing to religious voters is his record of adultery and three marriages. His campaign insists that it was his first wife, Jackie, not Gingrich, who wanted the first divorce. However, recently released papers contradict that claim and indicate it was Newt Gingrich who wanted the divorce.
Continue reading “Court Papers Reportedly Contradict Gingrich On First Divorce”
In Texas, a family in Snyder is suing the city and five police officers after the family called paramedics that Benny Bollinger was having a heart attack on December 6, 2009. The family alleges that police showed up instead and promptly stopped his daughter Debra Bollinger, who was performing CPR. They then allegedly prevented the wife Darlene Bollinger from resuming the CPR. Benny then died later at the hospital.
We have been discussing the disconnect between citizens who have repeatedly opposed continued rollbacks of civil liberties and the Democratic and Republican leadership pushing for such rollbacks, including the recent provision allowing indefinite detention of citizens under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA). Now Montana citizens have decided to try another approach given the non-responsive attitude of our leaders — they are moving to remove their two Senators from office over their votes in favor of indefinite detention powers.
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. Continue reading “Merry Christmas To All”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
It’s Christmastime again and since my childhood, long ago, the Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life” has been shown time and again in this season, providing a message of redemption, hope and joy that we associate with this time of year. You all know the plot about selfless George Bailey (James Stewart) a man who has sacrificed his dreams for others and because of his selflessness winds up running the Bailey Building and Loan Association, of Bedford Falls, NY. Because of George this institution has provided home loans for the poor of this rural community and serves as its bank. With the Company on the verge of bankruptcy, through duplicity, George is on the verge of suicide distraught over the losses to those he loves and worried by needs of the average people of his town. You all know this plot and if you don’t its summary is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life#Plot . I must warn you, perhaps it’s the time of year but I choked up reading the plot, yet again, as I do every time I see this beloved movie.
This introduction has not been made because I’m about to write about banks, or the depredations of the banking industry. Others here and our host have already written extensively on the predatory nature of the banking industry and the harm it has caused to our country. My point of this opening is that we have all grown up with certain mythologies about businesses that provide financial services to the public. This film has had a place in defining that American mythology, in this instance about a bank of sorts, whose leader believes in aiding the community first and profits second. Myths shape our thinking and from my youth I still remember the ad slogan “You have a friend at Chase Manhattan”.
We’ve discovered that banks are anything but our friends. Their bottom line has surpassed service to the point that each customer is looked at as a “cash cow”, to be plundered incessantly with usurious interest and fees for what should be free services. But what about “You’re in Good Hands with Allstate”, “Nationwide Is On Your Side”, or “Like A Good Neighbor State Farm is There”? Surely the Insurance industry supplies the safety net we want for our homes and cars. Do they? Last week I was sent an article by the Independent Claims Adjuster handling my interminable case for mold damage to my home. He’s helping greatly so this isn’t about me, but the article he sent certainly puts into context all the delays in the process and how property insurance companies are maximizing their profits at the expense of their customers. Continue reading “The Real Insurance Frauds”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
This year, Chicago-area Dave Nosek decided not to participate in the annual competition of lights with his neighbor.
India’s Jet Airways has been fined for an alleged policy not to serve alcohol to women on its flights. The Indian consumer court awarded only 50,000 rupees ($925) to the Canadian woman, Mrs. Jennifer Robinson, but it is the policy that strikes me as truly bizarre.
Continue reading “India Jet Airways Loses Challenge Over Policy Not To Serve Women Alcohol On Flights”