We recently discussed the scandal in Iran where a young girl was barred from an international competition for failing to adhere to Islamic rules requiring the covering of a girl’s hair. We now have another outrageous decision barring a girl under medieval Islamic principles. The head judge (and director) of the competition in Putrajaya, Malaysia forced a female competitor to withdraw after declaring her knee length skirt be “seductive.” Pretty sensitive for a sport with such term as
“exposed King”, “loose position,” and “flash the Queen.”
In a week, the first appellate hearing will occur in the review of the second Trump immigration order. In the meantime, the Administration is appealing the latest legal setback with the injunction of Trump’s sanctuary city order. Below is my column from the Hill Newspaper on the decision of District Court Judge William Orrick.
\As we have discussed, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is the least popular commissioner in the history of the NFL . . . for good reason. Of course, the mere fact that fans boo Goodell where ever he appears from the NFL draft to a funeral, the owners do not care because they relish the very things that Goodell stands for like putting profits over any concern for the health of players or the interests of fans. Goodell has been widely denounced for his alleged covering up of the dangers of concussions until there was no way to avoid addressing the serious medical problem facing players. He is also responsible for contracts that routinely ripped off fans like his recurring contracts with DishTV that requires fans to hand over their cable contracts at ridiculous prices if they want to watch their teams play (a contract denounced by consumer advocates). Then he was widely criticized for his own obscene salary, shaking down artists, and corrupt contracts and demands from cities who might want to host the Superbowl. In other words, he is the last person on this planet (with the possible exception of Kim Jong-un) who should be holding forth on healthy living tips. Nevertheless, Goodell declared this week that, even in states where marijuana use is legal, he will continue to ban it because it is not a healthy choice for players. He said that he is willing to study the possible medical benefits of pot.
Continue reading “Goodell Declares Pot Use To Be Unhealthy And Pledges Continued Ban”
We have periodically discussed crimes involving grave robbing and how to punish such heinous acts. The latest such case is out of New Jersey where flowers were being taken from the First Reformed Church Cemetery in Pompton Plains and authorities decided to set up a surveillance camera. Police say that the camera captured Lynda Wingate, 59, in the act. She turns out to be a former police dispatcher and the owner of a floral shop.
Continue reading “New Jersey Florist Captured on Film Removing Flowers From Graves”
Today on Face the Nation, President Donald Trump said that he was not sure if North Korean Dictator Kim Jung-un is sane, but he is clearly “a pretty smart cookie” since he was able to hold and keep power at such a young age. The statement has people around the world stunned since Jung-un has spent years killing people in a paranoid rage, including feeding people alive to animals or shooting them with anti-aircraft weapons. One does not have to be smart to rule by terror. You just have to be a murderous maniac.
Continue reading “Trump: Kim Jung-un Is “Pretty Smart Cookie””
The new catchword on campuses is “triggering.” Universities now warn students about any possible “trigger” that might upset them in curriculum or even faculty lectures. Monash University now issues triggering warnings for courses like Surgeon General warnings on a pack of cigarettes. At the University of Glasgow, theology students are being warned in advance that, in courses dealing with Christ, they may see distressing images of crucifixion.
Continue reading “TRIGGER WARNING: THIS ARTICLE ON CRUCIFIXION MAY REFERENCE CRUCIFIXION”
When the gun of Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver went off in a car and killed his wife Diane McIver, he insisted that he pulled out the gun when he thought that they have inadvertently driven into a Black Lives Matter protest. Police however believe that McIver intentionally shot his wife and then sought to cover up the crime with a friend who was driving the car. The case involves a series of factual and legal twists.
Continue reading “Atlanta Attorney Charged In Wife’s Murder”
We have been discussing (and lamenting) the rollback of free speech in France where writers and speakers are now routinely prosecuted for what would be protected political or religious speech in the United States. The latest case involves Robert Menard, mayor of Beziers and a top adviser to Marine Le Pen, who has been found guilty of inciting hatred against Muslims.
Like many Bears fans, I watched the NFL draft with two expectations. First, there is the annual booing of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who is justifiably the least popular commissioner in history for his years of ripping off fans and filling his own pockets (and those of his aides) at the expense of the game. Second, there was the third spot draft selection of the Bears. To everyone’s surprise, the Bears traded for a one spot jump with the 49ers, which took the team to the cleaners in the trade. It was the shocker of the draft to give away so many slots for Mitchell Trubisky from North Carolina, who was hotly debated as a top QB candidate given his limited playing time as a starter. I do not question Trubisky’s selection but the deal strikes me as much too sweet for the 49ers when they only dropped one slot. The Bears must have had intelligence that other teams were going to grab the second slot and Trubisky. Fans were still scratching their heads when the scandal broke. In 2015, Trubisky tweeted “Hell yeah, Go Packers.” The fans can deal with most scandals in the past of a GQ draft pick. Killing a hobo along the Ohio railroad tracks? Youthful indiscretion. Selling heroin to school children? Excessive entrepreneurial spirit. However, tweeting “Go Packers” as part of anything other than an ironic or menacing threat is a serious problem in a city where we are raised to root for two teams: the Bears and anyone playing the Packers. Trubisky has pledged to delete the tweet, but the damage is done. He is a cheesehead . . . and he is not even from Wisconsin.
There is a truly horrific crime in North Carolina. Former Spc. Marinna Rollins, 23, and Spc. Jarren Heng, 25, were charged this week with shooting Rollins’ PTSD service dog on videotape as they laughed. After tying Rollins’ therapy animal (a pit bull named Cam), the two giggle and laugh as Rollins shoot Cam five times.
Continue reading “Couple Arrested After Filming Their Laughing As They Killed PTSD Service Dog”
Altheia Richardson, Clemson University’s director of the Gantt Multicultural Center has triggered a controversy with a proposal that all students should pass an “intercultural competency” test before they’re allowed to run for office or hold positions in the South Carolina college’s student government. Clemson students are already required to to take a social justice course following enrollment. Richardson’s proposal has enraged some students as an ideological test for office — a position that Richardson denies.
I am a notorious news junky who prides himself on keeping abreast of news and issues around the world, particularly stories dealing with free speech and human rights. It was therefore with some shame that I listened to presentations yesterday at the ABA’s program on the horrific treatment of Myanmar’s Muslims. I was asked to moderate a panel on Rohingya by the Hon. Delissa A. Ridgway, Judge of the United States Court of International Trade, who remains one of the most influential figures globally in bringing together legal, political, and academic figures to discuss pressing problems in our world. Judge Ridgway is not just a friend but an inspiration for her tireless work for the rule of law around the world. You do not say no to Delissa Ridgway if you want to have any shot at the afterlife. However, I was not prepared for the heart wrenching account of the killings, rapes, and beatings of Muslims by extremist Buddhists in Myanmar. It is an on-going crime against humanity being committed on a daily basis in plain sight. The panel entitled “While the World Stands Idly By: Myanmar and the Threat of 21st Century Genocide” met at the Capital Hilton and was sponsored by the ABA Section on International Law. Below is a videotape on their worsening conditions in government camps.
Continue reading “ABA Holds Panel On The Plight of Myanmar’s Muslims”
I recently posted a blog column on the troubling image of President Donald Trump calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his success in securing what are viewed as near dictatorial powers in the close recent referendum. Erdogan did not waste any time in using the powers. Turkish police have arrested 1,000 people suspected of being supporters of Erdogan’s main opponent, US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Continue reading “Erdogan Quickly Uses New Sweeping Powers To Round Up His Opponents”
Harry Truman famously said that “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Trump campaign counsel Don McGahn appears to have given the same advice to international businessman Carter Page, who is at the center of the Russian influence scandal. While Page was referenced as an adviser during the campaign, McGahn sent him a letter telling him to stop calling himself “an advisor” — current or former. In other words, he was now not just a non-adviser. Page was now a non-entity for the purposes of the Trump team. As continued denials this week of any role of Page confirm, he has now joined a rather lamentable group in Washington: political orphans who wander the Beltway without a home or a friend. They are our untouchable class; people who move from high-profile existences to utter non-entities in the space of a news cycle. Continue reading “Carter Page and the Beltway Untouchables”