The Good Faith Defense: Cherie Booth (Wife of Tony Blair) Under Fire For Sparing Man Due to the Fact That He is Religious

After her husband former Prime Minister Tony Blair declared secularists to be an equal or greater danger than terrorists (here), his wife Cherie Booth is under fire for granting leniency to a man accused of criminal assault because he is religious. Her statement in court would suggest that, if the man were an atheist or agnostic, such leniency might not be appropriate.
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Family Group Accused of Using False Picture of Lesbian Couple

Scott Maxwell at the Orlando Sentinel has an extraordinary story about the lengths that social conservatives and anti-gay advocates will go to block the adoption of children by gay couples. Vanessa Alenier and her partner, Melanie Leon, are affluent and loving parents who were awarded custody of a child who was in their foster care in Florida. One problem for the Florida Family Policy Council, it appears, is that they are also attractive, so (on the left) is the picture the council posted with their calls for opposition to the adoption while (on the right) is the actual couple.

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New York Court to Decide Whether Human Genes Can Be Patented

There is an interesting case developing in New York where a court is being asked to declare that companies cannot patent human genes. The case involves a patent claim by Myriad Genetics, and the University of Utah Research Foundation, In 1994, the company and foundation isolated the DNA sequence for the BRCA1 and later the BRCA2 genes — mutations that greatly increase a woman’s chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The patent protects a test that the company and foundation are selling to detect the genes.

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Aged Shackleton Scotch: Crates Found Buried in Arctic Ice Under Shackleton’s Shack

For those of us who are Sir Ernest Shackleton groupies, this story is wonderful. Five crates of whisky and brandy belonging to Shackleton have been recovered from under the Antarctic ice after 100 years. Just for the record, as we wait to receive our estimated 30 inches of snow today, I am burying crates of my favorite wine under the house for the regulars of my blog to recover after my demise.

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Obama Administration Claims Right to Kill Americans Suspected of Terrorism

Today in a congressional hearing, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged that the U.S. may, with executive approval, deliberately target and kill U.S. citizens who are suspected of being involved in terrorism. I discussed this story in the segment on MSNBC Countdown below.
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