There is a curious class action lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco that seeks an order to force movie studios to use a minimum of an R rating for movies depicting the smoking of tobacco. The lawsuit filed by Timothy Forsyth and others strikes me as entirely meritless. The lawsuit cites various movies like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as warranting an R rating. Not all that gruesome decapitations and gouging mind you. It is the fact that characters like Gandalf smoke.
The Iranian Supreme Court has again shocked the world with the application of the medieval Islamic Sharia law. In the most recent case, the court literally ordered “an eye for any eye” in sentencing a man (identified only as 28-year-old Saman) have his eye gouged out in retribution for blinding another man.
There is a story out this week that shows just how porous our borders have become and how relatively little is done against repeated offenders who smuggle people over the border. Efrain Delgado-Rosales, 35, was sentenced to five years in jail by a federal judge in San Diego for bringing an illegal alien into the U.S. for financial gain. However, the case reveals that Delgado-Rosales, an abusive and dangerous smuggler who is believed to have conspired to rob undocumented immigrants, had been arrested 24 times dating back to 1999. That’s right, 24 times.
Just when you thought that this campaign season could not get more weird, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with misdemeanor battery over allegations he grabbed the arm of then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. A video does in fact show Lewandowski grabbing the arm of Fields though it seemed to pass fairly quickly (though Fields showed a bruise left in the aftermath). Most people would not view the encounter as battery and the delay in reporting the alleged crime may be raised at trial. That might not matter for the misdemeanor charge given the definition, as discussed below. The video is also below.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is back in the news again this week to dispel any doubt that he is hellbent on assuming authoritarian powers. The latest subject of his wrath none other than Britain’s consul general Leigh Turner over a “selfie” taken at the espionage trial of two journalists. We previously discussed the outrageous prosecution of Can Dündar, editor of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and his colleague Erdem Gül – a direct attack free speech, free press, and political dissent. Turner with other diplomats showed up to support civil liberties in Turkey at the start of the trial. That led to another tyrannical outburst from Erdoğan who has added diplomats to the list of undesirables in his new Islamic dominated government.
Russia under Vladimir Putin has seen a dramatic rollback of civil liberties, including free speech and free press. The government has little tolerance for anyone voicing opposition views, but the most recent action after a board game reached a new low for the Putin regime. The game is Kolejka or “Queue” which widely popular as a type of “Communist Monopoly.” It requires players to fight for limited resources under the prior Polish communist regime. In an ironic move, the Putin regime has banned the game for its critical depiction of communism — thereby showing the striking similarity between Putin’s regime and the one depicted in the game.
Continue reading “Putin Government Reportedly Bans “Communist Monopoly” Game As “Anti-Russian””
Japan continues to defy the world in its slaughtering of whales despite international prohibitions and a 2014 ruling of the International Court of Justice that its claim of “scientific research” is transparently fraudulent. The latest outrage involved the killing of 333 minke whales on a four-ship, 115-day expedition — death toll that included 200 pregnant females.
Continue reading “Japanese Fleet Kills 333 Whales Including 200 Pregnant Females”
ISIS-linked extremists in Yemen has reportedly carried out their threat to crucify a captured priest, Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, after he was taken hostage during a massacre at a Catholic home. Some 15 people were killed on March 4th after four Islamic extremists posed as visiting family members and then murdered the occupants, including four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard. Also, in Pakistan, at least 70 people are dead in an ISIS attack during the Easter holiday that targeted a playground filled with mothers and children. A Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has sworn allegiance to ISIS, took “credit” for the Easter bombing — using bombs loaded with ball bearings to maximize the killing of the children and mothers gathered in the park for the holiday. Islamic extremists who are willing to riot and kill for any slight of their religion have little problem with targeting religious buildings and holidays of other faiths. While such inconsistencies are hardly surprising for a group willing to crucify priests and shoot elderly nuns, the belief that such grotesque acts please Allah remains inconceivable to most people.
There is a tragic story out of Scotland where Muslim shopkeeper Asad Shah was murdered after posting good wishes to his neighbors for Easter. Police say that the attack by another Muslim man was “religiously prejudiced.” Shah represents the best of Islam and humanity. He appears to have died for his desire to build social and religious bridges to his Christian neighbors. In the meantime, Imam Maulana Habib Ur Rehman of Scotland’s largest mosque has been calling out to the worst elements of the faith in praising an Islamic extremist who murdered as politician who opposed blasphemy laws. While the Imam insists that he was taken out of context, it is hard to see how the quoted responses can be given any moderate meaning. They are two opposing images of Islam: one of tolerance and one of extremism. In the meantime, thousands of Muslims have gone into the streets not to denounce the murderer but to demand the adoption of Sharia law and the punishment of blasphemy.
It has been fascinating to watch the rapid political and economic changes favoring the legalization of marijuana, including the growth of a market worth billions in sales and taxes. The most recent polling by Associated Press and the University of Chicago has found a record-high percentage of Americans — 61 percent.
Continue reading “Poll: Sixty-One Percent of Americans Favor Legalization of Marijuana”
Saudi Arabia UN Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi has finally resolved the rather glaring inconsistency of the Kingdom demanding elections in Syria while denying full elections to Saudi Arabians. The reason is simple according to Al-Mouallimi: Saudi citizens are the happiest in the world and would not want a democratic choice.
Happy Easter to all of our bloggers and readers that are celebrating today. The bunny came to the Turley house and left baskets overflowing with chocolates and candies. He even left a basket for Luna overflowing with dog treats. We were in Chicago all week and returned to Virginia a day early so it was good that the bunny found us. He must have been up really really really late. He left riddles for the kids like “what gets bigger the more you remove from it?” (Answer below)
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Proving once again that no occupation or level of society is immune from intrigue and bizarre behavior a Port Townsend, Washington high school principal was arrested for Burglary and Harassment for an incident in which he allegedly made threats to kill the school’s principal.
I have to admit that since a case involving two dentists fighting each other in their dental office years ago, not much surprises me. But the type of attitude allegedly demonstrated by this teacher makes me wonder how perplexed the faculty must have felt when it was the students, who are usually the ones to be treated as criminals in today’s zero tolerance schools, were not the culprit and instead it was one of their own–who was arrested for an real violation of the law.
Continue reading “High School Teacher Arrested After Allegedly Threatening To Murder Principal”
Police have arrested a British man, Matthew Doyle, for “suspicion of inciting racial hatred on social media.” Doyle was arrested after posting tweets in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks. He described how he confronted a Muslim woman in south London and asked her to explain the Brussels attack. After she said, understandably, that she had nothing to do with the attacks, Doyle said she had given “a mealy mouthed response” and later used an anti-Muslim epithet.
Continue reading “Englishman Arrested After Posting Anti-Muslim Views On Twitter”
A 12-year-old girl, Breana Evans, from Milwee Middle School outside of Orlando, Florida was arrested and booked after she allegedly pinched a boy’s butt in school as part of a popular game. While the boy did not want to press charges, the boy’s mother reportedly insisted on criminal charges being brought against the girl.