New video evidence below shows Maummar Gadhafi was alive after being seized in the operation that led to his capture. What I find rather disconcerting is the treatment of this video by the media, which covered the “joy” and “celebration” of the event while ignoring the shocking abuse of a wounded man and then the parading and stripping of this corpse. We were appalled when militants paraded the bodies of Americans in Somalia and Iraq. Yet, when it is someone we hate, it barely draws mention while newspapers taunt the dead man as being pulled “from a stinking drain.”
Category: Society
Every year, Halloween gets scarier and scarier. I am not talking about the costumes but religious writers and activists who denounce the holiday as a pagan attack on God and faith. The creepies started early this year. Bloomberg columnist Amity Shlaes has written to denounce “the pull of the pagan” and ask people to think about how Halloween fills the vacuum left from the absence of faith.
Continue reading “Amity-ville Horror: Is Halloween A Cry For Help?”
The Fontana Unified School District board is not generally a hot bed of controversy, but it is the focus of a novel controversy after member Leticia Garcia revealed that she has a “confidential marriage” to a convicted murderer who was recently released. The existence of such confidential marriages is a surprise to most citizens, but not as much as the existence of a former convict husband for a recently elected board member who reportedly had said she was divorced.
Continue reading “Parents Demand California School Board Member Resign After Disclosure of “Confidential Marriage” To Murderer”
I am pretty certain I know the favorite graduate lab in Canada. Canadian researchers have just released the genome sequence of the Cannabis sativa, better none as The Purple Kush, one of the most potent forms of marijuana.
In my torts class, we discuss the scope and purposes of dram shop laws, which expose bars and other businesses to liability for “over serving” customers who get into car crashes or other types of accidents. Washington now has such a case involving D.C. United’s Charlie Davies who is suing the owners of a local nightclub and the company Red Bull for $20 million. He is claiming that they are responsible for his injuries from a fatal car crash that dashed his hopes for joining the 2010 U.S. World Cup team.
Continue reading “Does D.C. United’s Charlie Davis Have A Valid Dram Shop Claim?”
French terrorists have landed . . . in San Antonio, Texas. That is apparently the concern of local police after arresting French teenagers who broke into a courthouse, put on a judge’s robe, played with a gavel, and ran around the hallways wearing sombreros and drinking beer. The FBI and Homeland Security have been called in to determine whether this could be an act of terrorism.
Continue reading “French “Terrorists” Break Into Texas Court, Wear Sombreros, and Play With Gavel”
Below is today’s column in The Los Angeles Times on the Supreme Court granting certiorari in the Alvarez case and the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act. I have long been a critic of the Stolen Valor Act and supported the decision of the Ninth Circuit to strike down the law. Civil libertarians have good reason to worry.
Continue reading “The Truth Police: The Supreme Court Takes Up Stolen Valor”
There is an interesting controversy in Washington where Stanley Thornton Jr., aka “Adult Baby,” has demanded an apology from Sen. Tom Coburn, who Thorton says effectively accused him of fraud when Coburn called for the Social Security Administration to review his qualification for benefits. Thornton was featured on the National Geographic channel reality television show “Taboo.” Thorton lives part of his life as an “adult baby” and collects Social Security disability payments.
Recently, I wrote a column in the Washington Post about the increasing use of faith as an issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. In the Western Republican Presidential Debate, the candidates appeared to double down on the use of politicized piety. Rick Santorum reaffirmed that a candidate’s faith was essential to his qualifications. Newt Gingrich, however, used the opportunity to again attack agnostics, atheists, and secularists – saying that you cannot trust any leader who does not pray.
Continue reading “Gingrich: You Cannot Trust Politicians Who Do Not Pray”
A lesbian couple in California has triggered a controversy by giving their son hormone blockers to delay his puberty so that he can decided whether to be a girl or a boy. The 11-year-old boy named Tommy could decide to be a Tammy now that he is approaching puberty, but many are questioning the basis for such treatment or the ability of a minor to make such a decision. I am one of them.
Continue reading “Tommy or Tammy? California Parents Give Son Hormone Treatment To Delay Puberty To Allow Him To Explore a Female Identity”
I was curious recently about a statement by Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC’s the Ed Show, that Sen. Jim Demint, R-S.C., used racist langauge in his opposition to Obamacare when he said “If we are able to stop Obama on this [health care law], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” There are ample reasons to criticize this statements — not the least of which is the notion that we will destroy health care simply to gain a political advantage. However, is “break him” a racist term?
Continue reading “Is “Break” A Racist Term?”
The Secret Service recently stopped a threat to First Lady Michele Obama during her trip to Cape Town, South Africa while sitting in her five-star hotel. They promptly called authorities to confront the culprit: the HMS Edinburgh. The agents were alarmed that the British war ships had its Sea Dart missiles turned toward the hotel . . . and the First Lady. The Secret Service is infamous for overreacting but this really takes the cake. Of course, no one will be disciplined for such an insulting and moronic objection.
Continue reading “Did The HMS Edinburgh Just Try To Murder The First Lady?”
A new Gallup poll just released shows a record number of Americans want marijuana legalized — 50 percent of those polled. This comes days after the prestigious California Medical Association called for legalization and regulation of pot like alcohol. Nevertheless, the Obama Administration has continued the aggressive position of the prior Administration in raiding marijuana shops and prosecuting people for federal drug violations.
Continue reading “Gallup: Half of Americans Now Support Legalization of Marijuana”
I have never hidden my concerns over the expanding claims of trademark and copyright protections over common names, symbols, and parodies (here and here and here and here). Now, Lady Gaga has sent in the lawyers to stomp on Lady Goo Goo, a cartoon character on Moshi Monsters, a website on which children adopt and name characters. Lady Goo Goo sings a popular parody called “Petty-razzi” below — a youtube hit.
Continue reading “Lagy Gaga Crushes Lady Goo Goo”
We have yet another case of an officer threatening to arrest a citizen for filming him in public. In the perfect libertarian nightmare, the officer was threatening a Ron Paul supporter who he had accused of distracting traffic with his sign in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Officer Threatens Ron Paul Supporter With Arrest for Filming Him in Public”