We previously saw a Santa costume malfunction in a mall, but this Santa seems a bit too tipsy for a Jolly fat man on a roof.
Continue reading “Up On The Housetop, Click, Click, Crash: Santa Lands On Car Hood With Lots Of Toys”
Category: Society
Scientists in England have declared the tune below to be the most relaxing tune in the history of human civilization. Aside from the expected lawsuit from Kenny G, the claim is based on a study of 40 women (no men) that selected the tune over pieces by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay. The claim is that “Weightless” can produce a trance-like calm. Much like Gingrich at a Tea Party Convention.
Continue reading “The Most Relaxing Tune Ever Or Really Bad Elevator Music?”
We have previously seen the trend of people who post on sites like Facebook and then find the postings used as evidence against them. The latest is Andre Curry, 21, who was charged Tuesday with aggravated domestic battery after he posted a photo of his 1-year-old daughter bound in duct tape on Facebook.
Continue reading “Facebook Felon: Chicago Man Charges After Posting Picture of Bound Child”
We have previously written (here and here and here and here) about unnecessary fatalities produced by high-speed chases by police officers — an on-going controversy over the justification for such chases. The latest such controversy occurred in California where Deputy John Swearengin drove through an intersection without his lights on and hit and killed Daniel Hiler, 24, and Chrystal Clevenger, 30. They were pushing a small motorbike across the interaction when hit by Swearengin. He was responding to a call about a stolen vehicle. The police ended up arresting relatives of the deceased who were outraged by the accident.
The North Korean media has add a new bizarre claim to the already bizarre demonstrations following the death of the “Dear One,” Kim Jong-il — a petty dictator who starved his people and destabilized a region. Now the state-run media in “the second happiest place on Earth” is proclaiming that Nature is mourning the passing of the dictator.
This year’s competition for the top opinion blog by the American Bar Association has become an intense race between our blog and one of the largest conservative legal blogs, Volokh Conspiracy. Even though VC is one of the largest blogs in the country, we are only a couple of dozen votes away with voting closing on December 31st. We need every vote so please spread the word to civil libertarians and others that we need their support to pull off the ultimate David and Goliath victory.
Continue reading “The Turley Blog Needs Your Vote! The ABA Competition Is Down To The Wire For Top Opinion Blog”
An unnamed Ohio man was cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle and decided to fire one round in the air. The round traveled over one mile and reportedly killed Rachel Yoder, 18, an Amish girl driving her horse-drawn buggy home after a Christmas party.
Continue reading “Ohio Man Shoots Gun In Air . . . Kills Amish Girl Over A Mile Away”
Newt Gingrich this week unleashed a series of attacks on the judiciary, calling for abolishing judges, getting rid of lifetime tenure, and ignoring judicial rulings that he does not agree with. We discussed yesterday his suggestion that judges could be arrested by federal officers and forced to appear before Congress to answer for their unpopular decisions. However, last night on Hardball I took Gingrich to task for what I consider a misrepresentation of not just the law but history in his reference to Lincoln.
Continue reading “Gingrich: The Great Emancipator From History?”
We have previously discussed attacks by orthodox Jews on women and others in Israel. The demand for segregation of the sexes however has triggered a national debate after accounts of women being asked to sit in the back of buses. There is also an outcry over Orthodox Jews ripping down any advertisements showing women in public areas.
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
Newt Gingrich made statements this weekend that leave little doubt he would drag the already overreaching Office of the President over the threshold of dictatorship. First, let us be clear about what a dictatorship is: a dictatorship is autocratic rule, control, or leadership; a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique; a government organization or group in which absolute power is so concentrated. Second, let us be clear that such a concentration of power in a single branch of government is clearly unconstitutional under the Separation of Powers doctrine.
Continue reading “Newt Gingrich Channels His Inner Dictator”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Sometimes a story comes around that writes itself and merely needs highlighting of certain facts to make its points. This link below will provide concrete data on why this country has become a corrupted corporatist state, along with why the federal budget deficit is so high. Its title is “For Hire: Lobbyists or the 99%? How Corporations Pay More for Lobbyists Than in Taxes”
http://publicampaign.org/sites/default/files/ReportTaxDodgerLobbyingDec6.pdf
What this document clearly shows, with highly readable charts is that 30 of the top US Corporations not only pay more for lobbying than in taxes, but in fact that they receive huge tax credits, although being highly profitable. Over a three year period 2008-2010 these companies had combined profits of $163.691 billion, received tax credits of $10.602 billion and spent $475.67 million on lobbying. Only one of these companies, FedEx, actually paid taxes. They paid $37 million in taxes, on a profit of $4.247 billion and spent $50.81 million for lobbying. As you might guess the most glaring example was General Electric whose profits were $10.460 billion, received tax credits of $4.737 billion and who spent $84.35 million in lobbying.
I could certainly provide you with commentary on this report, but the starkly written manner of the report and the easily read charts do a far better job of explanation, than would my rhetoric. The next time someone comments on the “theft” that is taxes and the need to defend the 1% and their corporations from government intrusion show them this. If they defend the inequity shown here then you will know they are either part of the 1%, brain-washed or brain dead. It isn’t of course that many of us haven’t known the state of things, or these facts, we have discussed them here repeatedly. Nevertheless, each time the message of the destruction of our Constitution, our America and our people in the service of greed and ego is shown to me, my blood boils. Please check out the link and share your thoughts.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
A man in Portland, Oregon, may hold the answer to indiscriminate use of Tasers by police in his hands. Seems the 33-year-old was shopping at Toys-R-Us, when he seized a toy light saber and began swinging the “weapon” at shoppers and mumbling incoherent statements. Police responded and the man met them in the parking lot seised for battle. A few swings later and the police whipped out their Tasers. Simultaneously, feeling and then opposing “The Force,” our Skywalker wannabe apparently mentally disabled the first taser when it failed to work. He then manually disabled the second with a well-placed blow of the plastic sabre breaking one of its wires. Sheer numbers ultimately led to the man’s capture. None of the shoppers in Toys-R-Us were harmed in the making of this episode. The cosmic lesson seems to be that if you’re anticipating an encounter with Taser-wielding police, arm yourself with 1977 toys and sally forth!
Source: Yahoo News
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Christopher Hitchens died on 16 Dec. of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer. With eloquence and reason, sprinkled generously with wit and wisdom, his talks were a joy to listen to. His unique insights into religion will resonate long after his voice has been silenced.
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” – The Mourning Bride, Act III, Sc. VIII, by William Congreve
“The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Your rights end where the rights of others begin is a maxim that posits you are free to exercise your rights until such exercise infringes upon the rights of others. It seems like a straight forward proposition, but like many seemingly straight forward propositions, sorting out the primacy of rights when they are equally valid yet conflicting is the basis of many a lawsuit. An interesting case from Minnesota provides an example that illustrates the balancing act between competing individual rights. The decision also provides a solution that while it may address the problem at bar may also be overreaching and a threat to the rights of all.
Submitted by Mike Spindell, guest blogger
“Ian Fletcher is Senior Economist of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, nationwide grass-roots organization dedicated to fixing America’s trade policies and comprising representatives from business, agriculture, and labor.” http://www.prosperousamerica.org/2011/02/23/ian_fletcher/
Mr. Fletcher wrote an article in HuffPost this week titled ” Why Is the American Left So Ineffective in Economics?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-fletcher/why-is-the-american-left-_b_1142615.html?ref=politics&ir=Politics . On my first reading of this article, I sped through it cursorily, with general agreement and approval, book marking the link for further reference. As the day went on the article remained stuck in the back of my mind, for there was something about it that disturbed me, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. I looked up Mr. Fletcher’s credentials and they seemed good and certainly not one of being a Corporatist economist. The Coalition for a Prosperous America appears a worthwhile middle-of-road organization, whose supporters include labor unions, as well as medium and small businesses. They look askance at current US trade policies and that is a view with which I agree. Mr. Fletcher has a book titled: “Free Trade Doesn’t Work” http://www.freetradedoesntwork.com/ which people I respect like Fritz Hollings and Thom Hartmann have praised. In it he discusses how there is a free-trade hegemony of both Democrats and Republicans representing the Washington establishment and marginalizing all the voices who disagree with free trade policies. This hegemony is what I describe as the Feudalist Corporatocracy. This is a man with who I’m in general agreement, why then my discomfort with his thesis in this article?
This article opens up with the following paragraph: “Anyone who’s still in a state of denial about the thesis implied by the title of this article can stop reading right here. I’ll just assume it’s obvious enough that we can take it as a given.” He’s right, the thesis implied in the title is indisputable. The Left has been ineffective in combatting the economic policies started by Ronald Reagan’s election and has been in constant retreat from the onslaught of right-wing economic policies. This has been true to such an extent that Bill Clinton reaffirmed Alan Greenspan as the head of The Federal Reserve and Barack Obama reaffirmed G.W. Bush’s choice of Ben Bernake. Both of these men are little more than philosophical minions/co-dependents of Wall Street and the Big Banks. Where I take issue with Mr. Fletcher is in why he believes the Left’s economic weakness has come about. To me his view of the origins of this Left Wing retreat is shortsighted and ignores the 800 pound gorilla in the room. If we don’t understand the causes of problems we face, then no matter how prescient the analysis of their nature, we are almost powerless to combat them. Since the article in question is rather brief, I’m going to dispute it point by point. Continue reading “Is the American Left Ineffective in Economics?”