Environmentalists have been fighting the expanding use of fracking operations in the United States as a harmful practice, particularly for water contamination. The practice involves injecting millions of gallons of chemical-laced water and sand deep underground to crack shale formations to extract oil and gas. Not only does it use a huge amount of water in areas of water shortage but the chemicals contaminate both surface and underground water resources. Now a study in the journal Endocrinology has found a linkage to chemicals that have been linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer as well as elevated levels of the hormone-disrupting chemicals in the Colorado River.
Former CIA Director James Woolsey has one wish for the holidays: for Edward Snowden to be tried for treason and “hanged.” That was Woolsey’s response to the suggestion of amnesty for Snowden.Of course, the National Intelligence Director can commit perjury and CIA officials can lie to Congress without nary an investigation let alone prosecution. Intelligence officials can run a torture program in violation of treaties and international law without punishment. CIA officials can openly destroy evidence so that it cannot be used against them in a criminal case and continue in office without penalty. The CIA director can even reveal classified evidence to a filmmaker working on a pro-torture movie. All of that is perfectly correct, but Snowden must die.
Continue reading “Ex-CIA Director Calls For Snowden To Be “Hanged By His Neck Until He Is Dead””
How dogs engineer accidents for unwanted owners . . .
Continue reading “Rex Makes His Move As She Approaches A Busy Intersection”
Now this would make for an interesting torts case in the United States. In Cabo Frio, Brazil, doctors performed a cesarean section on a 37-year-old woman only to discover that she wasn’t pregnant. The hospital later said that they were relying on the woman who said that she thought that she was pregnant and that they panicked when they could not hear the baby’s heartbeat.
Zachary Golob-Drake, a 5th grader at the Patel Partnership School in Tampa Florida was elated recently when he won first place with a speech and an invitation to compete in the 4-H Tropicana Public Speech Contest. However, his assistant principal then told him that he would be stripped of his honor because she did not like the topic of the speech, the history of people using religion to justify murder. It is the latest example of how free speech principles are routinely denied to students in public school. Here is a boy who takes on a difficult and highly advanced subject, but is told that he must either give up the first amendment or his first place prize.
Scientology has long been accused of thuggish treatment by former members who say that they are followed and harassed if they go public with disclosures about the church. The latest such accusation comes from Monique Rathbun, wife of former high-ranking church member Marty Rathbun. She alleges that the Church set up a surveillance system next to their home and followed the couple when they tried to find a remote hideaway from the church. What is different is that she claims to have pictures of the Scientology operatives responsible for the harassment. Rathbun filed her lawsuit in Texas and detailed how the Church maintains a group that it calls “squirrel busters” who track down and harass former scientologists. Continue reading ““Squirrel Busters”: Scientology Accused Of New Campaign Of Abuse Against High-Ranking Defector”
There is a major development in the movement among universities and colleges to boycott Israeli universities over objections to its treatment of the Palestinians. The influential American Studies Association on Monday endorsed the boycott with mover 3000 of its members voting and 66 percent supporting the action as a response what they view as a pattern of human rights violations by Israel. It is a major victory for academics pushing for cutting off ties to Israeli educations institutions.
Continue reading “Major U.S. Academic Group Joins Boycott Of Israel”
Of all of the pitiful mug shots that we have seen through the years, the sorrowful Santa’s helper in Louisiana. Indeed, Brandon Touchet, 34, who apparently got a bit too jolly while dressed as Buddy the elf. He brought back some fond memories of my old home of Lafayette where I lived while clerking for Judge Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon has handed down a blockbuster decision this afternoon finding that the massive National Security Agency surveillance program is unconstitutional – a view shared by many constitutional scholars including myself. The decision is not only a courageous defense of privacy but a reaffirmation of the integrity and independence of the courts. While President Obama often insists that his authority for such surveillance is clear, the Justice Department has fought mightily (and until now successfully) to block all major challenges of the program from securing judicial review. The decision is also an embarrassment to the “reform” boards set up by the White House, including one that just released its findings on the NSA program (including the assurance that the NSA program is perfectly legal).
Continue reading “Federal Court Declares NSA Program Unconstitutional”
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was irate this Sunday in declaring that the CIA lied to him and to Congress about a retired FBI agent, Robert Levinson, being held in Iran. However, unlike demands for the jailing of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden for revealing government abuses, McCain notably did not even suggest prosecuting CIA officials who allegedly consistently and repeatedly lied to Congress. No, he suggests that the latest example of false statements to Congress might require a reexamination of congressional oversight. Now that must be chilling for people who could be charged with federal crimes ranging from perjury to obstruction to false statements to federal officers.
Continue reading “McCain: The CIA Lied To Congress About American Hostage”
The intolerance and abuse of religious minorities in Pakistan reached a new low this case with the incarceration of Dr. Masood Ahmad, 72, a British doctor who is has been charged with the ridiculous crime of “posing as a Muslim.” In 1984, a law was passed declared Ahmadis to be “non-Muslims.” He could face three years in prison after being caught reading and interpreting the Koran.
The University of Colorado is reeling from the disclosure that its cultural diversity coordinator with the Ethnic Studies department, Resa Cooper-Morning, is under investigation for allegedly operating a phone sex business while working for the university. Cooper-Morning, 54, is on paid leave while the University is investigating the matter. In 2008, the University of Colorado honored Cooper-Morning for her work at the university and how “her engaged and respectful participation in department dialogue touches the intellect and spirit of everyone involved.”
Before the Jones suddenly came home early one evening, the dog had been repeatedly punished for his feral behavior . . .
Submitted by Darren Smith, Guest Blogger
With the coming legalization of marijuana consumption, growing and distribution in Colorado and Washington and other states that are likely to follow it seems many politicians in these states have converted from promoting themselves as generals in the War on Drugs to wanting significant tax revenue from the public who uses, is it possible this might lead to a failure on controlling organized crime and smuggling? Continue reading “Heavy Taxation In The Marijuana Industry: Will It Be Successful In The War On Drugs?”
Submitted by Charlton Stanley (aka Otteray Scribe), Guest Blogger
“It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”
– Sir William Blackstone KC SL, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765)
One of the oldest cliché movie scenes of the past half century is the Gestapo agent, wearing a monocle, slapping a riding crop against his gloved hand, saying with a leer, “Ve haf vays of making you talk…..” Unfortunately, that caricature figure has come to life in in recent years, taking the form of rogue psychologists, unscrupulous investigators, and even the Vice President of the United States.
My motivation to write this is because of a phone call a few weeks ago. An old case I worked on back in the 1980s resurfaced with that phone call out of the blue. Of all the cases I ever worked on, the one I got the call about has been the most bothersome. It involved a murder, a coerced confession, a judge with a troubled psychological burden of his own, and a jury that would not believe confessions could be coerced. Plus, a district attorney with a reputation of wanting to win at any cost. Since this case has resurfaced and the new investigation is still under way, I can’t say too much about it now. As details become public, I will be writing more.
Let me start off by saying that most confessions may be legitimate, but since we have no way of knowing how many are false, no solid statistics are possible. The simple fact that so far, over three hundred people have been released from prison due to wrongful convictions is enough to give one pause. It is reasonable, based on the number exonerated so far, to assume there are a lot of them. We just don’t know which ones. Not all those overturned convictions were due to false confessions, but about a fourth of them were. If a defendant does make a false confession, and there is solid DNA evidence showing the defendant to be innocent, juries convict over 80% of the time, despite the physical evidence. One thing I find curious is the fact some prosecutors continue to prosecute cases even after the physical evidence proves they have the wrong person.
Continue reading ““We have ways of making you talk…..” Confessions and false confessions.”