Mishawaka Police officer Jason Barthel has been told to stop selling T-Shirt in his spare time. There is nothing illegal about the Indiana officer selling shirts, but these t-shirts say “Breathe easy, don’t break the law.” They are in direct response to t-shirts being worn in protest over the decision of a New York grand jury not to indict officers in the death of Eric Garner who died in Staten Island from a chokehold while saying that he could not breathe. “I Can’t Breathe” has become a rallying cry for those protesting police abuse of minorities. However, Barthel wants to sell a counter message that supports police. While there has been vandalism of stores selling the t-shirts, they reportedly remain high selling items.
A Philadelphia Fire Department paramedic is under fire for posting this picture with the caption: “Our real enemy.” The caption also said “Need 2 stop pointing guns at each other & at the ones that’s legally killing innocents.” Marcell Salters has also published highly antagonistic language toward police officers. He has since apologized but some have called for his punishment or termination. In the meantime, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is under attack after Ismaaiyl Brinsley effectively executed two police officers over his anger with the recent decisions by grand juries in Missouri and New York. police have been protesting what they view as de Blasio’s unfair portrayals of police after the decision, including turning their backs on the mayor when he came to give a press conference on the murders.
Turkey was long viewed as a symbol of secularism in the Islamic world — an alternative to the rigid Islamic governments imposing medieval Sharia laws to their populations. Then came the election of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has steadily broken down secular tradition and introduced more and more Islamic influences in government. (You may recall Erdogan recently declaring that Muslims discovered America and that there was proof of a Mosque in Cuba when Columbus arrived) The fines imposed this week by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) have reaffirmed those concerns. RTUK officials imposed as fine of 410,000 Turkish lira ($177,000, 145,000 euros) against The game show, “I Don’t Know, My Spouse Knows.” The episode in question showed wives pictures of their husbands dancing with foreign women. That was deemed “contrary to public morality and the Turkish family structure.”
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been widely criticized (including by the author) for his comprehensive attack on environmental protections in Australia from stripping pristine areas of protection to his selection of pro-development environmental officials to his endangering of the Great Barrier Reef. However, even when others change the subject, Abbott returns to one of his most controversial measures. When asked on the country’s leading morning show what he thought was his biggest achievement as Australia’s Minister for Women, Abbott said . . . repealing the carbon tax.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Hacktivism seems to be taking place in the aftermath of Sony declining to release The Interview. The Interview portrays a comic plot to assassinate North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. The decision follows a security breach where afterward extortionists attempted to induce Sony to halt distribution of the film. Many regarded this decision to be a surrender of free speech rights.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We previously discussed HERE the concern that condom requirements imposed upon the adult film industry would have a chilling effect on the First Amendment but a court challenge to the public health compelling interest of the state likely would prevail. A circuit court of appeals addressed such matters recently.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the District Court denying an injunction against Los Angeles County regarding the Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, including the enforcement of mandatory condom use in certain situations. The lower court ruled that the requirement of condom use constituted a de minimis effect on expression and was “narrowly tailored to achieve the substantial government interest of reducing the rate of sexually transmitted infections, and left open adequate alternative means of expression.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)- Weekend Contributor
It should not surprise any of the regular visitors to this blog that I have written many articles detailing the abuses of many of the Big Banks and the resulting fines that they have paid on multiple occasions. When a taxpayer reads about Billion dollar settlements being paid by Banks and financial companies as a result of a Justice Department investigation, they probably assume that the entire amount of the fine is being paid.
Those very same taxpayers may be surprised to learn that in many cases, the Banks are able to deduct from their taxes up to 75% of the fines and settlements made with the Justice Department. Continue reading “Just How Much of Big Bank Fines Are Actually Paid and Who Profits?”
Written by Cara L. Gallagher, Weekend Contributor
It is rare we get to hear the backstories of the people behind the big Supreme Court cases that change history. One of those people, Dollree Mapp, died this week. Technically she died a month ago, but minor coverage of the news didn’t catch up to me until this past week. “Dolly” was the petitioner in the fake-warrant blouse-stuffing 4th Amendment Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio. Dolly’s scuffle with police and the subsequent search and seizure of pornographic literature from her home made it all the way to the SCOTUS in 1961. When you’ve stopped trying to imagine what qualified as “pornographic literature” in Cleveland, Ohio in 1957 (medical books with pencil drawings), try to guess how many times detective Lenny Briscoe sassed some ne’er-do-well who asked to see a search warrant before letting him into his home on Law & Order. (By my estimates, 282, as that’s the number of episodes Detective Briscoe appeared.) We can thank Dollree Mapp for that. Her case established the protected right we all have to ask that critical question – Can I see a warrant? – before police search our homes. Continue reading “The death of the “Rosa Parks of the 4th Amendment””
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In an interview, American civilian Dean Parker of Colorado tells of his mission to help the Kurdish people battle the ISIS. He joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) after seeing a BBC News broadcast showing the rescue of civilians from the war torn regions in the Levant and felt compelled to join the resistance to save the Kurds and the Yezidi people from genocide at the hands of the Islamic State.
His interview brings a new facet to the difficulty the YPG and others face along with some insights into what the Kurdish people value in their respect of other religions and creeds falling under their umbrella and in need of protection.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We recently reported HERE arrests made around Turkey of journalists, police, and opposition critical of President Erdogan. Now, an arrest warrant has been issued against Cleric Fethulla Gülen who is presently residing in the United States as an exile.
The Turkish government accuses Gülen of orchestrating a terrorist plot to seize power in Turkey. He has been an outspoken critic of the president and that certainly appears to be a motivator in another campaign to eradicate political opponents of the leadership of our NATO ally.
Continue reading “Turkish Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Dissident Under “Terrorism” Accusations”
University of Michigan Communications Professor Susan Douglas is at the center of a controversy over a column that she wrote for In These Times entitled “It’s Okay To Hate Republicans.” The title was changed after Douglas complained that it did not represent the content of her column which began with the line “I hate Republicans.”
Continue reading ““I Hate Republicans”: Michigan Professor Under Fire For Provocative Column”
Mexico is fixated on an extraordinary murder case involving psychologist María Alejandra Lafuente Caso, 40. Lafuente Caso is accused of drugging, murdering, and chopping up the body of her husband Allan Carrera Cuellar, 41. She has claimed spousal abuse as a defense.
Meet Genard Trey Dupree, 27, and Tarus Bernard Scott, 30. These two men are accused of not just stealing almost $400 worth of items from a Wal-Mart in Lake Wales, Florida but using a fake heart attack to distract customers. I am not sure what is more depressing, these two thieves preying on decent people who want to help a stricken man or the fact that very few people actually stopped in the video below. The men stole a motorized Barbie Power Wheels, a Barbie vacation house, and a LeapFrog tablet
Police are looking for these two women who used the stolen credit cards of another woman to rack up more than $8,500 in gift cards in eight minutes in Rockville, Maryland. The women casually went into a Target store and allegedly spent thousands before strolling out of the store. However, this time the police say that they have very good pictures of the culprits.
Below is my column that ran today in the USA Today. It ran earlier on the web and this is a slightly expanded version of the piece on the spat of apologies around the country.
Continue reading “Collegia Apologia: Academic Apologies Abound In The Aftermath Of Ferguson”