Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
“I should have anticipated the optics.”
–President Barack Obama
President Obama claimed in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that he regretted playing a round of golf immediately following a press conference in which he spoke of the murder of captured Journalist James Foley by ISIS terrorists. This comes after weeks in some media circles of condemnation for showing lack of sincerity and being aloof to what had taken place.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
I guess I should not be surprised anymore, but it still saddens me to read that our old friend, Halliburton, has pled guilty to destroying evidence concerning their participation in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and the subsequent environmental disaster in 2010. If they pled guilty why should I be upset? I am upset that the Department of Justice agreed to a $1.1 Billion fine instead of jail time. Once again a corporate “citizen” has committed a crime and no one is going to jail. Continue reading “Halliburton Commits Crimes and Gets a Fine”
Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
To the surprise of some, polls are indicating that Scotland could become an independent nation as there are predictions, especially on YouGov, that 51% will vote yes.
Pursuant to an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Scottish Parliament both governments after years long negotiations formed the referendum process giving Scots the ability choose between independence and continued allegiance to the UK. A simple question posed on the ballot will most definitely bring profound changes:
“Should Scotland be an independent country?”
On September 18th that question will be answered.
Continue reading “Polls Show Yes Vote Could Prevail In Scottish Independence Referendum”
Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Several young adults wearing orange reflective jackets embossed with the words “Shariah Police” began foot patrols of the central district of the German city Wuppertal, harassing who they perceived to be Muslim frequenting discos and gambling establishments.
The group held that they were promoting their Salafist beliefs and chastising others who deviated from the tenets of the religion. By consuming alcohol and engaging in gambling entertainment.
The German Federal Government reacted swiftly to the reports. Members of Angela Merkel’s coalition government immediately chastised the group and declared that the German State would not tolerate ad-hoc quasi-police patrols such as these. An Interior Ministry spokesperson told the newspaper Rheinisher Post that concerning the Shariah Police “In this way they are demonstrating that they do not recognized our law-based state.” Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands, or CDU a major German political party, Security Advisor Peter Biesenbach described the situation as an “alarm signal”.
The founder of the Shariah Police, thirty three year old Sven Lau claims the Shariah Police never existed and that the group was only a few men spending a few hours bringing attention to the issue of Sharia law in Germany.
There is a fascinating political shift occurring in Washington this weekend after President Barack Obama walked back from this pledge to act by the end of summer on his unilateral immigration actions and said that he will now wait until after the elections. The move has been openly discussed as an effort to support struggling Democratic candidates who are facing huge opposition to the immigration proposals and are leery of the President taking any action given his own record low polling numbers (which now stand at 38 percent according to Gallup). Various Democratic candidates have been complaining that they are losing ground due to the immigration proposal and that Obama’s pledge could further worsen the currently bleak picture for losses in Congress (and possibly losing both houses to the GOP). While the White House originally saw the proposal as a no-lose proposition and popular with the base, it has proven far less popular around the country, particularly in battleground states. Polls show far greater opposition than support for the proposal. Immigration advocates are denouncing the delay as putting “politics over people.”
The thrust of the decision is that the changes will be made but not until after voters are no longer able to express their opposition in the upcoming elections. That would seem to be a highly insulting proposition for voters, but it has not been treated as anything other than politics as usual by the media. It is a curious approach for a President who ran on the change slogan like “Time for A Change” and “Change You Can Believe In.” It is a “change you can count on [but not vote on]” approach to politics.
There is a bizarre case out of India this week where four people were arrested after they allegedly converted to Islam without state approval. In India, under the ironically named Freedom of Religion Act, you must get state approval before changing religions. The law is meant to guarantee that people are not coerced into conversions. In light of the ongoing forced conversions of ISIS or the Islamic State, that is a legitimate concern. However, it would seem a problem that can be addressed by just criminalizing forced or coerced conversions as opposed to forcing everyone to get state permission to change faiths. The obvious concern is that in the largely Hindu nation, such permission can itself be coercive for those who want to leave the Hindu faith.
Last year, I wrote a column about how there appears to be little accountability in government for gross negligence, as shown by the response to the debacle over the rollout of the Obamacare website and billions wasted or lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. Egypt has shown that this is not just a problem in the U.S. Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh Eldamaty, is under fire after rehiring a company named Shurbagy for restoration of one of Egypt’s oldest pyramids after the firm caused damage and major deterioration to the very same structure in an earlier botched job.
A Youtube video is going viral showing an Inglewood (CA) man, Avel Amarel, confronting police officers who were demanding to enter his home without a warrant. He recorded the encounter with his cellphone and the incident captures the growing concern of some regarding police powers. It also reveals the level of animosity that can arise in such cases between officers and citizens.
Continue reading “Video Shows Confrontation With Police Over Demand For Warrantless Search of Home”
We have been following the alarming rollback on environmental protections under Australia’s conservative Abbott, including the repeal on the carbon tax (the first of a major Western power). Tony Abbott has pledged to reverse environmental measures from the protections of the country’s famous reefs to opening up pristine areas for development. Now, just two months after the repeal of the tax on emissions, a study shows that (not surprisingly) carbon emissions and electricity demand in Australia have risen after a nearly six-year long trend of decline. This comes a week after the report of scientists who found an over 99% likelihood that humans are causing climate change.
Ok, I may lack credibility since I am a Bears fan (and was raised to cheer for two teams: Da Bears and anyone playing the Packers). However, the Seahawks have taken on the thugs who increasingly occupy our football games. For tonight’s game (yes, finally, the season has started), police officers will go undercover wearing Packers jerseys to try to catch abusive or violent fans. I previously praised a similar effort by the Seahawks.
Continue reading “Go Hawks: Police To Go Undercover To Catch Football Thugs”
Nick Olivas was justifiably a bit surprised when he received papers for $15,000 in back child support for a six-year-old child that he never knew that he had fathered. He was even more surprised that the demand and threat of jail was triggered by a woman who had had sex with him when he was 14. That would constitute statutory rape and make the woman a rapist but he never reported the crime to the police. Now he could go to jail at the behest of the woman.
Continue reading “Statutory Rape Victim Ordered To Pay Child Support Or Face Jail”
It is a rather bizarre week for the California bench after two judges were separately sanctions for sex in their chambers. Orange County Superior Court Judge Scott Steiner (right) was censured for such multiple trysts with women. Kern County Superior Court Judge Cory Woodward (left) magnified the sanctionable conduct by not just having multiple trysts with his court clerk from July of 2012 until May of last year but engaging in such conduct in both his chambers and in public places. Both were censured but allowed to continue on the bench. Both are former prosecutors.
Continue reading “Two California Judges Sanctioned For Sex In Chambers”
There is a new report on global climate change this week that addresses many of the claims being raised against the theory by critics. Despite the overwhelming agreement of the scientific community, people continue to cite anecdotal observations of cool temperatures to refute predictions. The new report crunches the climate numbers and concludes that there is less than 1 chance in 100,000 that global average temperature over the past 60 years would have been as high without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue reading “Report: There is a 99.999% Certainty That Humans Driving Global Warming”
It appears that Colorado has come up $21.5 million short in taxes on marijuana. The state was expecting $33.5 million. The reason is an interesting reflection of the market and the means for marijuana users.
