Another religious group this month made a moral statement through an act of unspeakable violence. In Southern Pakistan, a mentally ill man was accused of burning a copy of the Koran. A mob proceeded to storm a police station and grab the man, beat him to death, and burn him to death.
Category: Uncategorized
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Happy Holidays from me and the Muppets!
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
I don’t know about you but I was certainly happy that I woke up this morning. For a few years now there has been great speculation that the world was going to end yesterday. As I fell asleep about 1:00pm last night it was with knowing that in Mexico it was three hours earlier and so that the dread prediction of the world’s end by the Mayan Calendar still may have been possible. The whole idea was a blatant misrepresentation of Mayan belief and hoax-like, yet that didn’t prevent many from making this non-story into yet another way to frighten people. Frightening people with made-up nonsense seems to be a human trait and certainly has been exploited throughout history for one sort of gain or another.
Fear not though, because just as the collective We has just bitten one bullet, another comes along to frighten us once again with disaster and that “disaster” will occur on December 31, 2012, as we come to the end of another turmoil ridden year in societal intercourse. I’m writing, of course, about the “Looming Fiscal Cliff” that has been so very prominent in what our mainstream media calls “news and commentary” and our leaders of both parties call governance. My opinion and that of many others with far more economic expertise than myself, is that the “Fiscal Cliff” is a mere “bogeyman”, used by those politicians on the Right and the Left as leverage to accomplish their particular political agendas.
Since one of the interests of this blog is the Constitution and the consequent Rule of Law that should be its’ result, this comes within our purview because serious issues of national interest are being driven by false mythology grown to myth like proportion. Let’s look at what is behind this mythology and its propaganda. Continue reading ““The Fiscal Cliff” an Example of Myth and Propaganda”
We have previously seen tragic cases of cancerous organs being used for transplants. The latest transplant victim is Jennifer Wederell, 27, of Essex England, a woman
born with cystic fibrosis. She was given a lung transplant, but it appears the donor was a smoker. Wederell then died from lung cancer on August 24 — 16 months after received the diseased lung.
We previously discussed the horrific gang rape and beating of a young woman on a city bus in Delhi, India. A senior law enforcement official in India sparked outrage Thursday after his comments on preventing rape amid widespread protests following the brutal gang rape of a student on a public bus. The rape and beating was so severe that the woman is on a ventilator and her intestines were so severely ruptured that doctors had to remove them to prevent gangrene. Now, Commissioner KP Raghuvanshi, head of police in Thane, has come forward with a solution: women should not go out at night and, when they do go out, they should carry chili powder to throw at rapists. Women in India have responded angrily to the idea of fighting off gangs of rapists with chili powder.
Continue reading “Indian Police Official Responds To Latest Brutal Gang Rape: Women Should Carry Chili Powder And Not Go Out At Night”
There is an interesting and tragic case out of Northern Illinois University in Dekalb where 22 members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity have been criminally charged in the death of student David Bogenberger, 19, after a frat event with excessive drinking. It is one of the largest such prosecutions, if not the largest, that I have seen for a hazing or frat drinking death. The question is whether this is a matter that should be addressed on the criminal opposed to the civil docket as well as school proceedings for expulsion.
Belgium is considering an expansion of its decade-old euthanasia law to allow minors and Alzheimer’s sufferers to seek permission to die. The Socialist Party’s proposal appears likely to be approved to remove the age limit (of 18 years) for electing euthanasia.
Continue reading “Belgium Considers Euthanasia Law For Minors”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
I originally had a guest blog planned for today on a completely different topic, but I ran across an article in Friday’s Huffington Post, that changed my direction. Since I was a youth I have been aghast at the fact that I grew up in a country where such things as homosexuality and abortion were prohibited by law. It seemed like this was too personal an interference by the State into the personal affairs of people and that this interference often ruined people’s lives. Then too, I grew up in New York State, where for so many years divorce was unobtainable leading to such ridiculousness as Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s wife having to establish Nevada residence in order to obtain a divorce from him. It seemed to me then, as it seems to me now, that religious dogma had no business invading our legal system.
Although there were many prior years of a movement building up in support of abolishing Abortion Laws, the decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade was a breathtaking and welcome surprise. Immediately after, however, there started the blow-back against that decision that almost forty years later continues with fervor and intensity. The opposition cites “The Bible” as the source of their angry opposition and claims that their religion, as encoded in “The Bible” describes abortion as murder, with the life of the child beginning at fertilization. When they quote “The Bible” of course they mean the “New Testament” and what they call “The Old Testament”. Jews actually don’t recognize the term “Old Testament”, to us it is called the “Torah”, since Jews believe that their “Torah” was never replaced by a “New Testament”. The anti-Abortionists need to cite the “Torah” for their beliefs, since the Gospels don’t discuss the abortion issue. Like much that exists in Christian Dogma today, there is a need to cite the “Torah” for their beliefs since there is no evidence in the Gospels that Jesus ever spoke on some matters. Christian “Torah” citation though is haphazard in that they choose what portions to recognize and what portions to ignore. The sentiments of those Christians against abortion are based in the “Torah”. What if their citation of this venerable book stemmed from an incorrect translation of it many, many centuries ago? If they cited it incorrectly in the first instance, doesn’t that destroy their whole argument that abortion is murder in God’s eyes, especially if the writers of the “Torah” never understood abortion to be murder? This is what I’d like to discuss. Continue reading “The Specious Roots of the Anti-Abortion Controversy”
The tragic death of Jerry Brown, Jr. a linebacker on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, and the arrest of nose tackle Josh Brent, 24, adds another tragic note to this season after the murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. Given a prior DUI conviction and the high visibility of this case, Brent is unlikely to be able to avoid a serious sentence for this alleged homicide unless the blood-alcohol tests can be challenged.
Continue reading “Cowboy Charged With Manslaughter In DUI Accident That Killed Fellow Team Member”
Israeli officials are being quoted today of accusing the United States of fostering protests against the decision of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to build 3,000 settlers’ homes and develop an area of the West Bank. The renewed settlement plans are widely viewed as destabilizing the area and attempting to undermine a viable Palestinian state.
Continue reading “United States Accused Of Fueling Protests . . . By Israel”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week, I wrote a post (The Case of the Confidential Police Confetti) about shredded Nassau County Police Department documents containing confidential information that were discovered among the colorful confetti that showered down upon onlookers of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The shredded documents included the “social security numbers and banking information for police employees, some of whom are undercover officers.” They also contained police incident reports. The Nassau County Police Department said it would launch an investigation into the matter to find out what happened. Well, it turns out that a police department employee was the culprit who tossed the confidential confetti onto parade watchers.
Continue reading “Find Out Whodunnit: UPDATE on The Case of the Confidential Police Confetti”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
One of the sad lessons one learns, if they live long enough, is that permanency is an illusion. There was a time when most Conservatives in the United States actually cared about the country and its’ people. It’s not that I’m wistful for some bygone era that exists only in my mind, because I’m well aware that the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s were tumultuous times for many including myself. Nor do I have any great love for Dwight Eisenhower and/or Barry Goldwater who I did not vote for in 1964. Yet with all their conservative beliefs, these were men who actually understood something about the needs of people and the motives of some who would call themselves religious leaders. Many of us who have lived long lives remember when the public political discussion in this country contained actual, factual debate, containing depth of ideas, rather than the invective we hear today. The Republicans of the Eisenhower era understood that there was a social contract that existed in this country to ensure that there was a healthy, financially flourishing Middle Class, which is the engine that drives a prosperous modern society. Also Barry Goldwater, who was known as “Mr. Conservative” understood the danger that the Religious hucksters had for his party and the necessity of politicians to compromise. He would ridicule those prominent politicians in his party who would reject the ideas of evolution and blind themselves to science. He also really did believe that government had no business prying into essentially private matters. I disagreed with him on most things, but I at least could respect him, which I can’t do for many prominent politicians of today.
What happened? You know I’ve written about my theories in many of my guest blogs, what are yours?
Egyptian judges are in the news for their resistance to the attempt of President Mohammed Morsi’s claim of unchecked power. However, progressive values can mean radically different things in some parts of the world. An Egyptian court this week convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor of insulting Islam and sentenced them to death.
We have yet another case of a pet paying for the bad relationship of humans. Richard J. Atkinson, 63, pleaded guilty to stabbing the parrot, Bailey, of his former girlfriend with a serving fork. He then trashed the house. For the crime, he has received a six month jail sentence.
Continue reading “Washington Man Receives 6 Months in Jail for Killing Parrot of Ex-Girlfriend”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Confetti rained down upon people who had gathered in New York City to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday. Some onlookers were surprised—and alarmed—when they discovered shredded police documents among the colorful confetti that had fallen from above. The documents contained confidential information that was still legible. The “police confetti” included the “social security numbers and banking information for police employees, some of whom are undercover officers.”
Tufts University freshman Ethan Finkelstein and a friend noticed that a strip of confetti that had landed on his friend’s shoulder had stuck to her coat. Finkelstein was concerned—“so he and his friends picked up more of the confetti that had fallen around them.” Finkelstein said, “There are phone numbers, addresses, more social security numbers, license plate numbers and then we find all these incident reports from police.”
Continue reading “The Case of the Confidential Police Confetti”