-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
In Indiana, an intoxicated passenger in a car pulled over by police, is guilty of public intoxication.
Indiana code defines public intoxication as being “in a public place or a place of public resort in a state of intoxication caused by . . . use of alcohol . . . .”
Continue reading “The Interior Of Your Car Is A Public Place”
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.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Section four of the Fourteenth Amendment, known as the public debt clause, states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned.” The clause was included to prevent Southerners or their sympathizers from preventing payments owed to Union soldiers or their widows. However, the language goes beyond the narrow issue of Civil War debts.
Continue reading “Does Congress Have A Constitutional Obligation To Raise The Debt Ceiling?”
Here is today’s column on the Casey Anthony trial (the print copy runs next week). Anthony is to be released in a matter of days, though the original calculation of next Wednesday appears to be incorrect.
Continue reading “Casey Anthony Case: Hate the Facts, Not the Jury”
In selecting Police Officer David Britto in 2010 as “Officer of the Year,” many cited his “uncanny knack” of tracking down drug dealers. It become less uncanny this week after he was arrested as a drug dealer of methamphetamine.
We recently saw a video of a New York woman arrested in her own front yard for videotaping officers in the course of an arrest. Now, a video has been released of a Jonesboro, Arkansas man who arrested after filming police conduct a search of a neighbor’s vehicle and body. The video was taken last year.
Continue reading “Video: Arkansas Man Arrested After Videotaping Police From His Own Front Yard”
We have often marveled at the extraordinary discoveries and pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. However, a panel of the House Appropriations Committee Science has moved to cut the successor to Hubble — the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is part of a $1.6 billion cut into NASA — an agency already slashed deeply in prior budgets.
Continue reading “Tomahawks Over Telescopes: Congress Moves To Scrap Hubble Successor To Save Money”
As the country struggles to pay billions for three wars, states continue to shutdown basic services and programs. Chicago this week joined other jurisdictions in dropping writing as part of the standardized exam for students to save $2.4 million a year. It is not clear if children will be given lessons on the oral tradition of story telling and refreshers in cave drawing.
Continue reading “Chicago Cuts Writing From Standardized Testing To Save Money”
Transportation Security Administration employee Nelson Santiago, 30, allegedly had a keen eye and an even quicker hand in manning a TSA security checkpoint at the Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Santiago is accused of stealing $50,000 worth of electronics over the last six months from passengers — often selling the items before the end of his shift. Police say that he was nailed after a Continental employee saw him steal an iPod and stuff it down his shorts.
No it’s not another bar joke. This picture is from Lefty O’Doul’s in San Francisco and the man in question appears to be the culprit in a bold theft of Picasso’s 1965 drawing entitled “Tete de Femme.” The man simply walked into the Weinstein Gallery and walked out with the valuable drawing. He proceeded to hail a cab and disappear — but not before passing in front of Lefty O’Doul’s.
Continue reading “A Man Walks Into An Irish Bar Carrying A Rare Picasso . . .”
Andrew David Thompson, 24, is studying to be a doctor at Michigan State University. His career, however, in osteopathic medicine has been delayed a bit by an anger issue and his tendency to kill dogs. Police say that Thompson has admitted to killing more than a dozen dogs — all Italian Greyhounds — out of anger by beating them on the floor or against the walls.
Continue reading “Michigan Medical Student Admits To Killing More Than A Dozen Dogs Out Of Anger”
Two North Carolina State Highway Patrol officers, Senior Trooper Edward Wyrick and Trooper Andrew Smith, have been suspended pending investigation after Gina Tessener said she was arrested despite blowing a 0.0 on a breathalyzer test. She then alleges that the officers arranged to pull over her husband, attorney Hoyt Tessener, who followed his wife to the magistrate. Recently released exchanges between the officers show profanity and hostility in dealing with the couple.
Wondering where the money is coming from for our three wars, including the over $1 billion for the latest war in Libya? Well, as we spend billions on the wars (including one for an oil-rich nation which has refused to re-pay any of the costs), the White House is slashing domestic programs. A good comparison is that the cost to date of the Libyan war is basically what Congress is about to cut from the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Continue reading “Tomahawks Over Turtles: Congress and Obama Administration Move To Slash NOAA Budget”
Many people thought it was a bit odd when Governor Rick Perry indicated that he might run for President of the United States after previously suggesting that Texas may want to secede from the United States. Perry seems not only want to be the John C. Calhoun of presidential aspirants, but he has also decided to add the violation of international law and treaties as a resume booster. Over the objections of President Obama and a host of leading international figures, Perry has refused to stop the execution of of Humberto Leal Garcia — a Mexican national denied his rights under the Vienna Convention.