Now here is a remarkably depressing study. According to a study published in the Annals of Epidemiology, black men are half as likely to die when they’re in prison than if they are free in society. According to the study of North Carolina inmates, they lived longer if they were incarcerated.
Continue reading “Study: Black Men Live Longer If Incarcerated”
Category: Society
Harvard University Professor Dr. David Ludwig is under attack for his public call this week for some obese children to be taken from their parents to protect their health. Ludwig stated that “[i]n severe instances of childhood obesity, removal from the home may be justifiable, from a legal standpoint, because of imminent health risks and the parents’ chronic failure to address medical problems.” That legal standpoint may need a bit more work.
Continue reading “Harvard Professor Under Fire After Calling For Obese Children To Be Removed From Homes In Severe Cases”
The presidential campaign of Michele Bachmann has raised the question of what is relevant for scrutiny for the media. At issue is the business run by Bachmann and her husband, Marcus: Bachmann and Associates. It is a Christian counseling service and Bachmann has previously referenced the business as her credential as a “small business job creator.” However, reports have emerged of how the clinic offers to “cure” homosexuals and reporters have questioned the veracity of past statements about the clinic. Bachmann, however, insists she wants to talk about job creation and the stories are not relevant to what matters in the campaign.
Continue reading “Bachmann Under Fire For Clinic’s “Cure” of Homosexuality”
Republican Jeff Stone is a member of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and wants to be a citizen of South California, the 51st state. Stone is part of a movement in thirteen conservative counties to cleave off the conservative part of California into its own state. Of course, that could have a wee problem under the United States Constitution without congressional consent.
Continue reading “California Legislators Ask To Form 51st State”
Today, we filed the complaint below in the challenge to Utah’s criminal polygamy law. I am still in Salt Lake City for the filing. With me today is our local counsel Adam Alba, an outstanding young attorney and one of my former students. As noted earlier, the lawsuit is on behalf of my clients, the Brown family. The Browns are featured in the TLC program Sister Wives as an openly polygamous family.
Continue reading “Brown Family Challenges Utah’s Polygamy Law”
As reported by The New York Times and National Public Radio, I will be traveling to Salt Lake City today to file (on Wednesday) a challenge to the Utah statute criminalizing bigamy and cohabitation. The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of my clients, the Brown family. The Browns are featured in the TLC program Sister Wives as an openly polygamous family.
Continue reading “Brown Family To File Challenge To The Criminalization of Polygamy In Utah”
For years, the Bush Administration was denounced for the false statements and intelligence that led to the Iraq invasion. Even after it was shown that there were no weapons of mass destruction, many Americans continued to believe that Iraq was being invaded as a response to the 9-11 attacks. Now, in the latest morphing of the Bush and Obama Administration, our new Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wasted no time in re-casting Iraq in the same flawed image. In a public appearance, Panetta told troops that they were in Iraq because of the attack on 9-11.
Continue reading “Panetta: Iraq Really Was A Response To 9-11”
It appears that Vladimir Putin is not just an action hero but an actual gift of God. First deputy administration chief Vladislav Surkov set a new standard for sycophants and lickspittles everywhere by announcing that Putin was sent here by God to lead the Russian people. Wow, I thought he was just sent by Marvel.
Continue reading “Putinodox Faith: Russian Official Proclaims That Putin Was Sent By God”
Many have objected that the Casey Anthony trial and verdict has displaced attention to every thing from three wars to a growing economic crisis. Now, however, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that the impact of the Anthony verdict may extend to national security trials and serve as an excuse to deny terrorism defendants a federal trial. McConnell stated that the verdict shows that we cannot trust our court system in trying terrorism suspects. The clear import is that we should use the widely ridiculed military tribunal system because we cannot risk defendants actually prevailing in court.
Attorney David Manilla received a sentence of 10-25 years behind bars for a hunting accident in which Barry Groh was killed. Normally, such accidents are tragic but routine — without criminal charges. However, Manilla was barred from owning guns due to a prior conviction. Manilla, 49, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and firearms offenses, including possession of a gun as a felon. Manilla’s effort conceal the crime aggravated the underlying crime.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Lawyer Gets 10-25 Years After Hunting Accident”
The town officials of Bolungarvik have been plagued by construction delays and accidents in their effort to complete a tunnel and an avalanche barrier. Local citizens believe the problems are the work of angry elves and have begun singing songs and offering prayers to appease them.
Continue reading “Icelandic Town Discovers Source of Construction Problems — Angry Elves”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
I’ll compress the facts of this case in order that I get to the heart of what is wrong here. A Massachusetts Accountant’s wife has Stage IV Lung Cancer, with a prognosis of months to live. He went to his employer of 13 years, with whom by their own admission he had an exemplary record, to request a flexible schedule so that he could assist his wife. He was fired by them instead and has been unable to get another job. Friends of the family have expressed interest in assisting but are daunted by the task of setting up a fund. Continue reading “Wife Gets Cancer, Husband Gets Fired”
Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Britain’s largest weekly tabloid, News of the World, closes today, but not from lack of advertisers or readers. Instead, the Rupert Murdoch led tabloid succumbed to its own excesses amid shocking allegations of interceptions of cellphone voice mails of the families of a murdered 13-year-old girl, servicemen and women slain in Afghanistan, and victims of the 2005 London terrorist bombings. Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator who worked for News of the World, is accused of the electronic hacking.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger
Last night Ann Coulter, a person I loathe, appeared on the Bill Maher Show. She was pushing her new book “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America.” Cringing as I watched her the thought nevertheless occurred to me that “She really believes this crap she sells.” This minor epiphany led me on to other thoughts. The battle in American politics has essentially devolved into a two sided affair between opponents convinced of the “demonic,” to use Ann’s term, nature of their ideological opposites. In this ongoing struggle one can’t merely disagree with us on a given political/societal issue, without our believing them to be hateful and worthy of being despised. Their motivation must undoubtedly be sociopathy and/or undemocratic. I must admit that I myself often feel that way about those who disagree with me and I say this with the rueful knowledge that when I do I am allowing myself to engage in stereotypical behavior.
Continue reading “America’s Eternal Internal Battle”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In Israel, archeologists began a dig this week at the remains of the Philistine city of Gath. Long regarded in the Hebrew Bible as the “bad guys” of the ancient world, the Philistines are emerging as a complex civilization with Hellenistic roots. In fact, the Philistines arrived from ancient Greece about 1200 BCE, and gained control of the major seaports of Ashkelon and Ashdod, as well as the Gaza strip. The ancient city of Gath stood on the far frontier of the coastal-bound Philistine empire and adjacent to the Israelites, who occupied the inland hills. Gath had been inhabited since prehistoric times and the conquering Philistines were all too happy to take up residence in a ready-made encampment.