A Salinas, California woman was killed by Salinas police early Sunday morning when she threatened officers with a metal crochet hook. Her family says that Maria Irma De La Torre, 45, was disabled and suffered from seizures.
Continue reading “California Police Shoot and Kill Woman Approaching Them With Crochet Hook”
In Martha’s Vineyard, they sure know how to punish a prince. Saudi prince, Bader Al Saud, 26, killed Orlando Ramos, 37, in a crosswalk while driving drunk without a valid license. His punishment was a year in a converted home and then he simply disappeared while on probation. He will not, however, be allowed to attend next year’s masked ball or “silly dress” event.
Windsor Hills Baptist had to cancel its plan to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle to a teenager because one of the organizers hurt his foot. While the church has been ridiculed nationally for the event, it is planning to give away the assault rifle next year instead as part of its promotion for its weekend youth conference.
In a long-delayed action, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has filed genocide charges against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur. It is a great moment for the rule of law and justice.
Continue reading “Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir Charged with Genocide”
When Ahmad Batebi appeared on the cover of the Economist nine year ago, the world was struck by the image of his holding up a shirt covered in the blood of another protester. The religious fanatics in Iran responded by arresting Batebi and torturing him. He was sentenced to death and then given a commuted sentence of 15 years. He recently escaped Iran to Iraq and is now in the United States.
The council of elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints likes its mission Mormons in white shirts and black ties, thank you very much. On Sunday, the council excommunicated Chad Hardy for producing his “Men on a Mission” calendar — showing hunky Mormons sans shirts who are on different missions around the world.
Dominic DiAngi, 7, received a fractured skull this week from a foul ball hit by Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly. Dominic needed CPR and only recently was transferred from intensive care in Chicago.
Continue reading “Foul Ball: Boy Injured from Hit at Wrigley”
It appears that the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not amused. Mormon Chad Hardy has been summoned to a Church disciplinary hearing for possible excommunication after he produced a popular “Men on a Mission” calendar showing Mormon hunks without shirts. The new missionary position is that such photos are completely unacceptable — even if they do help with door-to-door outreach programs.
Continue reading “Mormon Church Cracks Down on “Men on a Mission” Calendar”
The family of Martin Luther King are at it again. The siblings are in court alleging misrepresentation and self-dealing in the handling of the MLK estate. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are accusing Dexter King of effectively transferring “substantial funds” from Bank of America to accounts he controls.
Continue reading “I Had a Dream [Trust Fund]: King Kids Fight Over MLK Estate”
In Dublin, Ireland, Sharon Collins, 45, a divorced mother-of-two, has gotten a bit too comfortable with Internet shopping. Collins arranged to hire a hitman on wwwlhitman.com only to have the assassin-for-hire, Egyptian Essam Eid, contact her former husband to bargain for a no-kill contract.
In Winnipeg, a white nationalist mother thought it was fun to draw a swastika on the arm of her seven-year-old daughter. When a teacher rubbed off the mark, the mother drew it back on. The second time, the school reported the incident and child welfare officials took both the daughter and a two-year-old boy away from the mother. It is a case that raises very serious questions of free speech balanced against child welfare.
Continue reading “Children Taken Away From Nazi Mother in Canada”
Kentucky pastor, Gregory James Coots, 36, is in jail this week after wildlife officers found dozens of snakes in his possession. He was one of 10 people arrested in the sweep. Coots is the head of Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro — a snake handling sect that recently came under investigation with the death of a woman bitten by one of the venomous snakes.
Continue reading “Laying Hands On Religious Snake Handlers: Police Arrest Pastor of Fundamentalist Church”
The Washington Redskins won another victory over Native American litigants challenging its name as racially disparaging and offensive. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the name was permissible and not sufficiently insulting to justify stripping it of trademark protection. The Redskins name has been protected since 1967.
Continue reading “Redskins Win Lawsuit Against Native Americans Over Name”
Former Fox anchor and White House spokesman Tony Snow has died. Tony was a friend too many and I was privileged to be among them. Despite our differences of opinion and politics, Tony was a wonderfully person — always engaging and funny. He was truly a wonderful person and will be missed. He was 53.
A prior entry discussed the refusal of Disney and Universal Studios to comply with a new Florida law allowing citizens to bring guns to work. (SeaWorld is allowing armed employees). Now, Edwin Sotomayer has sued Disney after he was fired for packing at the Animal Kingdom and the matter will move to the courts.
Continue reading “Disney Sued Over Gun Ban at Animal Kingdom”