Saudi Arabia has long been an exporter of extremist Islamic values as part of its Wahhabi sect. Despite our close alliance with the Kingdom, it imposes radical Islamic Sharia principles and denies basic rights to women, non-Muslims, and dissidents. In the latest outrage from Saudi Arabia, a court has sentenced a man to ten years in prison and 2,000 lashes for merely expressing his atheism on Twitter. It appears that the Saudi and Sharia courts are terrified that people could actually inform other Saudis of alternatives to Islam or different values. The fear and anger only appeared to grow when the Kingdom could not coerce the 28-year-old who refused to repent and stood by his human right to express his faith. We previously discussed this case, but Saudi Arabia is proceeding with the whippings as this man remains defiant.
We have previously discussed trophy hunters who kill and pose with dead animals. We recently followed the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion” by an American dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota. There were other trophy hunting stories that enraged people around the world. (here and here and here) Then there was Josh Bowman who has been denounced around the world for his video from Alberta, Canada as he celebrated the slow killing of a bear with a spear. Now a 12-year-old named Aryanna Gourdin from Utah has posted a series of highly controversial pictures with dead animals and expressed her love for killing animals. One picture shows her holding a giraffe’s heart.
Continue reading “Twelve-Year-Old Girl From Utah Causes International Uproar Over Hunting Images”
I am often reluctant to criticize the work of other academics but this one seemed a bit problematic. The Old Dominion University was awarded a $1 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to conduct a study of lesbian couples to see if stress makes them drink too much. Most people would say that stress drinking for any couple would seem well established in history without a million-dollar study.
Minneapolis had to end its gun buyback program after quickly going through $25,000 in what critics have charged is a futile gesture. Some 150 firearms were collected before the organizers ran out of Visa gift cards. Some of the weapons were homemade and the sellers boasted of securing windfalls. Putting such subterfuge aside, the question is whether these buy back programs really make a material difference. Recently, a PEW study showed that 44 percent of households now have guns. While these programs offer politicians significant benefits, it is hard to see how they seriously reduce gun violence given the massive body of weapons in the country.
Ellis Doyle, 26, appears hard up for more than cash. He was caught on videotaped at an Ohio adult novelty store stealing an assortment of sex toys and lubricant and then leaving with the upper half of a $2000 sex doll. Before taking the torso however he put a $46.99 blonde wig on its head. The mannequin’s name is “Eva.” Fittingly the store, Cirilla ,advertises “Where Fun & Fantasy Meet.”
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
Even with a national herion addictions raging, Bruce Lamar Griggs, 22, appears a one-man epidemic. He is charged with heroin distribution in connection to 27 drug overdoses in five hours in Huntington, West Virginia.
Continue reading “Ohio Man Charged in 27 Drug Overdoses in Five Hours”
Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is in the unenviable position of having everyone in Washington saying nice things about him. There are two occasions when that is common: a judicial nomination going no where and eulogy. For Garland, it may be both. The Senate Republicans have already said that Garland will not receive a hearing, let alone a vote, before the inauguration of the next president. For attorney Steven Michel, that is too long. Michel has filed an action in federal court demanding a judicial order to force the Senate to take up the Garland nomination. Despite my agreement that Garland should receive a vote, the lawsuit is meritless in my view. The Senate clearly has the authority to withhold consent by refusing a hearing or a vote to a nominee.
Continue reading “New Mexico Attorney Sues Senate To Force Garland Vote”
Morocco has long been a country with a significant secular community and the persistent threat from Islamic fundamentalists and Sharia law. A recent case shows how the courts impose ridiculous prosecutions in the name of Islamic values. A nightclub manager has been charged with serving alcohol to Muslims as if a bartender can tell the difference between a Muslim and non-Muslim.
Continue reading “Morocco Charges Nightclub Manager for Selling Alcohol To Muslims”
Amy Sharp, 18, is apparently irate. It is not the reason why she escaped from an Australian correction center. Rather, it was this picture circulated by police which she considered not flattering. Thus, she sent media the alternative picture below that she much preferred.
Susan L. Terrillion, 55, found herself under arrest in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware after she left her two children unattended for 45 minutes as she ran down the street to retrieve some take out food. She is now facing two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Continue reading “Can You Guess What This Person Was Charged With?”
Moulay Omar Benhammad, 63, and Fatima Nejjar, 62, have long been figures in the Islamic community calling for chastity and advocating Islamic justice. The two Islamic politicians are now under fire after being found allegedly having sex on a Moroccan beach.
There was an interesting story recently where Minnesota experts have warned that the new Vikings stadium could be injurious to the hearing of fans. There has been an increasing push in stadium design to match the ear splitting levels of the Seahawks in fans drowning out the calls of opposing teams. However, it appears that the “twelfth man” could be rendered stone deaf in Minneapolis. While the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority said ear plugs will be available at guest services at U.S. Bank Stadium, it could present an interesting torts case for those who find their hearing reduced by attending a Vikings game.
Continue reading “Vikings Stadium Found To Be Harmful To Human Hearing”
For those of us who are fans of the the Monty Python film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, archeologists appear to have done the impossible: find the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. The Crusader hand grenade was uncovered by the late Marcel Mazliah, a worker at the Hadera power plant in northern Israel. Other artifacts originate from eras 3,500 years in the past.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.
We are now seeing the fruition of the campaign to normalize in society state legal marijuana. We’ve discussed previously how those on probation in Washington State no longer will face prosecution for marijuana usage, and where marijuana shops and billboard advertisements are seen alongside energy drinks and beach ready bodies. Now Oregon, having recently legalized marijuana, hosts at its State Fair exhibitions and competitions featuring legal weed. Let the Fairijuana begin!
I have always been proud of my alma mater, The University of Chicago, and the education that I received in Hyde Park. However, that pride has been magnified this week with a letter sent to the class of 2020. As we have been discussing how various schools have eradicated free speech protections on campus in a national trend toward speech regulation. UChicago has decided to stand its ground and reaffirm its commitment to free speech on campus. The letter warns students that they will not shielded from views that upset them or given “safe spaces” on campus. In doing so, UChicago has recommitted itself to the very touchstone of education: the free and robust exchange of ideas.