The National Park Service has a curious way of protecting history. The Service cut down four “witness trees” from the Gettysburg battlefield. The white oak trees were between 160 and 229 years old and were present at the battle. They were supposed to be protected, but the NPS appears to chop now and ask questions later on matters of history. The NPS policy appears to be to cut down and let God sort them out.
Continue reading “Letting God Sort Them Out: National Park Service Cuts Down Gettysburg “Witness Trees””
Washington is electric this morning. It is morning in America as literally billions around the world celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President.
Continue reading “OUR 44TH PRESIDENT”
Israel is caught up in an interesting controversy involving a Rabbincal Court. Rabbi Yissachar Dov Hagar, a judge on Jerusalem’s Rabbinical Court, ruled that Yossi Fackenheim, son of the famous Canadian academic and Reform Rabbi, Emil Fackenheim, is not really Jewish. The ruling came as part of a divorce decision and has caused a firestorm of controversy.
Continue reading “Hagar The Horrible: Son of Leading Reform Rabbi Declared Non-Jew”
In Amsterdam, New York, police have charged Walter U. Tessier with a unique case of petit larceny after he bought a lobster, eat it, glued the pieces together, and returned the lobster. He may have gotten the wrong idea from the name of the star: Price Chopper.
Stanislav Markelov, a leading human rights lawyer, and reporter Anastasia Baburova have been assassinated in Moscow — the latest fatalities of critics of the government. This assassination was done with a silencer on a public street just a half of a mile from the Kremlin — as if meant to send a message to other lawyers, reporters, and civil libertarians.
Continue reading “Human Rights Lawyer and Russian Reporter Assassinated in Moscow”
The Wise and The Commission on Judicial Performance in California is worried about the work ethic of Riverside Superior Court Judge Christopher Sheldon. Years ago, Sheldon was admonished for spending too much time jogging on the courthouse stairs and too little time judging in the courthouse. Now, he is again the subject of an investigation into his habit of blowing off the court around noon everyday.
Amnesty International has entered the controversy over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus in civilian areas of the Gaza Strip. The use of white phosphorus in a civilian area — let alone a compacted urban area like Gaza — would violate international law. Amnesty’s own investigation found what it claims to be clear evidence of such violations.
On his last full day in office, President George Bush issued commutations for former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. These were notably commutations and not full pardons. He has not yet issued any pardons on the torture program. I will be discussing the possible investigation of war crimes under the Obama Administration tonight on Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Bush Pardons Former Border Patrol Officers Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean; Nothing on Torture Pardons”
There is a very interesting tort case filed in Tucson over a Dutch tourist, a javelina, and a desert museum. Rene Zegerius experienced a real desert encounter when he was attacked by a javelina, a pig-sized member of the peccary family. While the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has javelinas, they insists that this must have been someone else’s javelina or a wild javelina. This is what torts professors dream of when they go to bed at night.
Continue reading “Dutch Treat: Tourist Sues Museum After Javelina Attack”
You have to love this false imprisonment case. Tracey Fox, 42, snapped when a repair man told her that he could not fix her washing machine, which had broken down twice this year. Fox then took matters into her own hands and locked the man in the house and would not let him leave until the machine was working.
A Swiss lawyer has cited threats to the life of Muntadhar al-Zeidi and beatings in custody as the basis for a request for political asylum in Switzerland. The Iraqi journalist is still in prison after throwing his shoes at George W. Bush.
Skolu Isieskojimo Biuras, a Lithuanian debt collecting firm, has announced that it has retained the services of Vilija Lobaciuviene, the country’s most famous witch, to pursue people who do not pay their debts. The firm in Vilnuis expects a touch of witchcraft will help the bottom line.
Continue reading “Purse or Curse: Lithuania Turns To Witch To Pursue Deadbeats”
In yet another outrage by the Thai government’s use of the country’s Lèse majesté (prohibiting offenses against the crown), Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the crown in his 2005 book Verisimilitude. The sentence was originally six years but cut in half because of his guilty plea. In the meantime, British reporter Jonathan Head was charged under the laws for remarks that he made on a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
In what appears the first time that an Arkansas Supreme Court justice has been reprimanded, the Court sanctioned Justice Jim Gunter for hitting and shoving his sister of hitting and shoving at his father’s home in September 2007 in Hope, Arkansas.
Continue reading “Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Gunter Sanctioned For Attack on Sister”
Utah police have a novel case on their hands after a man shot a toilet at the Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Centerville, Utah. The man was in the men’s room and was pulling up his pants when his concealed handgun discharged — shooting the toilet, wounding himself, and sending a woman in a nearby Ladies Room to the hospital.
Continue reading “Man v. Toilet: Utah Man Shoots Toilet and Injures Both Himself and Nearby Woman at Carl’s Jr. Restaurant”