The New Yorker article by Lawrence Wright on the Church of Scientology is getting a great deal of attention. The article details the departure of screenwriter and director Paul Haggis from the church after 35 years. However, I found one of the most interesting aspects to be Wright’s confrontation of Church officials over the alleged heroic record and severe battle scars of founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Continue reading “Scientology Officials Accused of Falsifying Hubbard War Records”
Category: Society
In yet another slap at civil libertarians and the rule of law, the Obama Administration has promoted the CIA officer responsible for one of the most embarrassing scandals of the Bush Administration: the kidnapping and abuse of Khaled el-Masri.
Continue reading “Obama Promotes CIA Officer Responsible For El-Masri Abuse”
Muslims in Indonesia are outraged by a five-year sentence given a man accused of blasphemy. They wanted death, so they responded by burning three Christian churches. On Sunday (as shown in the graphic video below), three members of a minority Muslim sect were killed by a mob.
If you have to commit murder, you may want to consider re-locating to the Northwest Territories (NWT) in Canada. Claude Harry, 37, murdered a man but received less than five years in jail despite a record of 21 prior crimes (19 of which were violent crimes).
Continue reading “Man Admits To Unprovoked Murder And Is Given Less Than Five Years — Despite 21 Prior Crimes”
When city officials called upon the public to name their new government center in Fort Wayne, the public responded overwhelmingly in selecting a former mayor. That would normally seem an ideal choice for officials . . . unless the former mayor’s name is Harry Baals (pronounced “Balls”). Officials said that they have decided not to let the voters pick after all to avoid a sign reading “the Harry Baals Government Center.”
Continue reading “No Baals in Fort Wayne: City Officials Refuse To Name Center After Former Mayor Harry Baals”
While watching the Super Bowl, I remarked to the kids on the curious concept of a flyover by Navy jets for a closed stadium where the fans watched on jumbo screens. My mirth turned to madness when I just saw on Reddit, however, that it cost the public $450,000. I am also pleased to announce the scheduled flyover (left) planned for this year’s Turley Turkey Bowl.
While he has received little or no criticism from the media, President Barack Obama has continued the practice of awarding major donors with plum diplomatic postings. Now, his ambassador to Luxembourg, Cynthia Stroum, has resigned after an investigation showed such poor management and conduct that embassy staff are in need of emotional counseling.
Continue reading “Obama Ambassador Leaves Office After Brief But Disastrous Tenure”
China is being accused of pulling the “Beauty of Xiaohe” over concerns that the remarkably well-preserved 4,000-year-old mummy because she is too Western looking. People who have seen the mummy have noted that she looks remarkably Caucasian — a problem for Chinese officials who have long denounced theories that that China’s Tarim Basin, in Xinjiang province, was actually settled by Europeans.
Continue reading “Whose Your Mummy? China Reportedly Pulls Mummy Due To European Features”
Sarah Palin has made a name for herself as a reality television star and grizzley Mom. Now she is trademarking that name as is her daughter Bristol Palin.
Continue reading “Coming Soon To Stores . . . Palin™: Palin Trademarks Herself”
Christina Aguilera has become the latest star to apparently blow the national anthem. In her case, she left out the “O’er the ramparts we watched” — a critical and noticeable line. However, the real question is why we have a national anthem that only a castrato with a photographic memory can sing.
Continue reading “O Say Can You Sing? Christina Aguilera Accused of Butchering National Anthem”
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Author’s note: Another in a series of obscure American history viginettes.
Bush’s multi-trillion dollar bailout was nothing new in American history; the money just flowed in a different direction. In America, where the banking monarchy has long memories and keeps ledger books going back centuries, it was just repayment of a debt incurred before the turn of the last century to a new generation of our financial princes.
Continue reading “J.P. Morgan And The Reverse Bailout That Saved The U.S.”
Are you like me and constantly complaining about having to reach to separate bowls for my bacon and my cheese dip while trying to watch the Superbowl? Well, problem solved.
Continue reading “Just in Time For The Super Bowl: The Bacon Mug”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The 7-year-old boy was a student at Hammonton Early Childhood Education Center in Hammonton, NJ. The police were called after a report of “suspicious activity.” The “suspicious activity” involved a $5 toy gun, similar to a Nerf toy gun, that the child brought to school. The boy was charged with possession of an imitation firearm in or on an education institution, a misdemeanor offense.
The real offense is that the police took this incident seriously.
Continue reading “Criminal Charges for a 7-Year-Old Who Brought a Nerf-Style Toy to Class”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
EMTALA is an acronym for Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act passed in 1986 and signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan. It requires hospitals and ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing emergency healthcare treatment regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. Since there are no provisions for reimbursement, it’s often cited as an example of an unfunded mandate. EMTALA applies only to “participating hospitals”, those who accept funds under the Medicare program, which for practical purposes, is all hospitals. EMTALA was enacted to prevent the practice of “patient dumping”, where, because of the inability to pay or insufficient insurance, hospitals would discharge emergency patients. Hospitals and physicians can incur a $50,000 fine for each violation.
EMTALA provides access to the health care system for everyone.
Alabama Municipal Judge Carlton Teel is packing more than legal principles under his robe. When a defendant Brian (Bryant) Keith Ford reacted badly to a sentence and started swinging his crutches at the judge, Teel whipped out a gun and then a deputy shot Ford in the side.
Continue reading “Alabama Judge Pulls Gun On Violent Defendant”