Ohio Rep. Robert Mecklenborg is a Republican legislator and former prosecutor who has made his career on family values legislation, including his opposition to abortion rights. The Roman Catholic legislator seemed to have strayed a bit after he was arrested in a car with temporary Kentucky plates in Indiana with a young stripper. Tests found he was loaded with not just alcohol but Viagra.
Category: Society
Iceland is considering a measure that could prove a real drag for smokers — prescription-only cigarettes. It is the latest effort to make smoking as unpleasant and inconvenient as possible.
Continue reading “Just What The Doctor Ordered: Iceland Considers Prescription-Only Cigarettes”
This week, Philip Contos, 55, joined a group of motorcyclists to protest New York’s helmet law by riding bareheaded. He became a symbol of a different kind when he crashed and died after hitting his head on the roadway.
Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad shocked the world community at an AIDS conference by describing homosexuality as an “unnatural disease” spreading around the world at an alarming rate. In the world’s least surprising revelation, Azad informed the crowd “There is a substantial number of men having sex with men in our country.”
Continue reading “India Health Minister Denounces Homosexuality as “Unnatural Disease” At AIDS Conference”
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, 84, has been voted off the board for Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which he founded over 50 years ago. This follows an earlier move to oust his son, Robert A. Schuller. The ministry is in debt and rife with family divisions, including one over a required anti-gay marriage pledge demanded by his daughters.
Continue reading “Hour of Power [Grab]: Robert Schuller Thrown Out Of Crystal Ministries”
This seems the week for super women. Just two days ago, we saw a story of a Chinese woman who ran over and caught a toddler in a ten–story fall. Now in Tottenham, England, this woman was caught on CCTV driving up to a fire, getting out of her car, rescuing a little boy from a burning building, and then just driving away.
Continue reading “Who Is This Woman?”
Happy Birthday America. Once again, we gather to celebrate tossing out that preening, prancing Hanover prig George III. Of course, this blog is the embodiment of everything that is noble and good in our country. It is here that we defend those rights that define us. If Thomas Paine were alive, he would be one of our regulars (after a lecture on our civility policy).
Continue reading “HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!”
Harvard has released a study in its own unique way of celebrating the Fourth of July with America. Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott and Bocconi University Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam argue that Fourth of July celebrations tend to turn people into Republicans and help advance the GOP in elections. I would differ. I think Harvard studies tend to push people toward conservative candidates.
Continue reading “Harvard Study Finds Fourth of July Celebrations Help Turn People Into Republicans”
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Officer Thad “Stu” Crisco is under investigation after a supervisor learned that he told the father of a robbery victim that one part of town was a bit dangerous for his 16-year-old daughter to be hanging around after she was robbed. Crisco has an unblemished record, but he is being hammered for the well-intentioned advice. In his comments in the article below,
Mayor Bill Foster does not appear to be concerned about an officer being disciplined for simply informing a parent about a rough area. He stated “I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light.” Well, how about a positive statement like “hey, you know this area excels in robberies and is second to none in homicides.”
Continue reading “Florida Officer Faces Suspension For Warning Father About His Daughter Hanging Around Dangerous Area”
A war of giant Jesuses has entered a new phase. A 36 meter (or 118 feet) Christ was unveiled in Poland last year. Now, President Alan Garcia has responded with Cristo del Pacifico (Christ of the Pacific), on a hill in Lima — standing 37 metres (122 feet). That’s right, four feet more than the Polish Jesus — not doubt now to be known as Jesusito (“little Jesus”) in Peru.
Continue reading “Jesus Envy: How Big Is Your Savior?”
One of the longest standing complaints among criminal defense attorneys is that the government often goes ballistic when a defense attorney makes public statements in support of his or her client. Judges often hammer private counsel under increasingly harsh gag orders. Yet, the government routinely influences cases by leaking information that could only come from the prosecutors or investigators on the case. This problem is even more acute in high-profile cases like that of Richard Jewell and my former client Dr. Thomas Butler, where leaks were used to target innocent men to try to force them to plead. Now, like clockwork, the Justice Department has again started the leak war in the case of alleged mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. However, the judge has simply asked the Justice Department for a “plan” on how to stop the leaks. If this were a private firm, there would be a contempt hearing.
In yet another merging of Barack Obama with George W. Bush, the Obama Justice Department has declared that it believes that it can (and may) prosecute licensed growers and dispensaries in medical marijuana states for violating federal drug and money-laundering laws. The position came from U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole who rejected claims that a 2009 memo by then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden gave states some protection from prosecution.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Adopts Bush Anti-Medical Marijuana Stance”
Friend of this blog (and this blogger) Frank Mascagni attended my speech to the Kentucky bar this month and snapped some pictures. One shot at the “Pursuing Justice” conference produced an ironic twist.
Michigan has implemented some sweeping changes to the role of jurors and judges in trials, including allowing jury to ask questions of witnesses. I have some reservations about the changes below, but I am most concerned over the ability of judges to summarize the evidence. This could invite considerable bias and influence into trials.
Continue reading “MIchigan Implements New Changes In Role Of Jury and Judge In Trials”
John Lennon fans may be a bit surprised to see an interview in the new documentary, Beatles Stories, with Lennon’s long time friend Fred Seaman. Seaman says that Lennon had moved away from his early radicalism and became a fan of . . . wait for it . . . Ronald Reagan.
Continue reading “Imagine: John Lennon As A Reagan Republican”