Like most of the world, we have watched the rapid decline of civil liberties in Turkey after the election of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his coalition of Islamic parties. Just last month, we discussed the arrest of Mehmet Emin Altunses, 16, who allegedly committed the crime of “insulting” Erdoğan. calling people who use birth control “traitors” and saying Muslims discovered America, you are not allowed to be disrespectful or insulting in discussing Erdoğan. The situation is even more dire for journalists who have found themselves threatened or arrested for reporting on Erdogan or his cronies. Now, Turkish police have arrested Dutch reporter Frederike Geerdink on terrorism charges. Erdoğan responded with one of his signature delusional statements, saying that this is just one more “false” report from Western media since it is about terrorism not journalism. It is his statement about the record of Turkey on press freedoms that truly takes Erdoğan’s menacing comments into the realm of madness.
Former federal judge and University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell is facing a rare threat of a bar complaint over his representation of a client in the notorious case of billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Even more rare is the source of the threatened complaint: retired law professor Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School. Epstein is good friends with Bill Clinton and Duke of York Prince Andrew, 54, who have been mentioned in litigation over allegations of the use of underaged “sex slaves” and Epstein’s alleged penchant for watching (and filming) people having sex with these girls. Dershowitz’s name has appears on the ignoble list contained in motions before a federal court in Florida. Dershowitz is now threatening to initiate disbarment proceedings against Cassell and Bradley Edwards, a Florida attorney who also represents Jane Doe #3 in the controversy.
The attack on free speech continues unabated around the world. The latest violation occurred in Tunis where a military court has handed down an absurd three year jail sentence to a blogger, blogger Yassine Ayari, for “insulting” Army officers. That is what free speech means in Tunisia. You can be criminally sentenced for “undermining” the Army through criticism.
It appears that when in Rome, you should do as the Romans do on New Year’s Eve. For Roman police, that means calling in sick. The problem is that this year, the police left the city virtually undefended. Some 83.5 percent of Rome’s police scheduled to work on New Year’s Eve called in sick. Not since the sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigoths have the walls of Rome been so sparsely defended.
Like many others, I watched both NFL games yesterday. However, the Cowboys/Lions game proved far more exciting than the Ravens-Steelers game. It was only because we could not get a good view of the stands. Steelers fan Jake Berlin was also a bit bored and decided to tweet that he was going to run onto Heinz field. Among his frenemies on social media was Steelers’ security which promptly located him and threw him out of the stadium — leaving him with these before and after selfies.
By Cara Gallagher, Weekend contributor
Being with family over the holidays resulted in harmonious interactions and your typical familial dust ups. One such kerfuffle, this one of the generational sort, arose when we volunteered to upgrade my father’s iPad 1 to a newer model. We’ve tried to do this before, for his birthday, and he repeatedly denies our offer. Yes, that’s a first edition iPad that he still uses and refuses to give up. Most would react to the upgrade with a swift “YES” and a maybe a backflip. His dismissive reaction is likely attributable to the glimpse he’s seen of a future where he’s forced to alter past practices in order to integrate new technology. That tension doesn’t look appealing. The possibilities of increased efficiency and productivity aren’t worth the challenges that come with new technology like learning new tricks, updating skills, and encountering hurdles along the way. After reading Chief Justice John Roberts’ year-end report, I imagine his mindset is fixed in very much the same way my father’s is when it comes to outfitting the Court with 21st century technology. Continue reading “Technology loses at the Supreme Court, again.”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
The instances of reported abuse of our country’s laws by our Intelligence services seems never-ending. The National Security Agency, or NSA is at the top of the list when it comes to violations of our laws and even its own rules and procedures that are allegedly designed to protect our privacy.
Pursuant to a court order in a case brought by the ACLU, the NSA is required to provide a list of its abuses on a quarterly basis. Of course, the NSA redacts most of what it puts in its own disclosures. Continue reading “NSA Abuses Never End”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB), charged with administering the state’s legalized marijuana industry, has shown once again its detachment from common sense and business acumen by increasing Initiative 502’s restrictions through crafting administrative rules that border on absurdity.
It is a small example of the duality of the LCB in how it proffers its desire to see windfalls of tax receipts for the state but acts to suppress the same industry it extracts these taxes from.
Continue reading “Washington Revises Marijuana Advertising Rules: What Were They Smoking?”
By Darren Smith Weekend Contributor
The intrigue after the fallout generated by State Supreme Court holding the state, and essentially the legislature, in contempt for failing to adequately address their constitutionally mandated funding of primary education, the legislature refused to allocate time to allow Barbara Madsen, the Chief Justice, to give the State of The Judiciary Address.
Legislators claimed, among other issues, it was due to the historical lack of attendance by members and not an insult directed at the Supreme Court.
A few days after the tragic shooting of a mother in Wal-Mart by her two-year-old son in Idaho, we have two additional negligent shooting in California and Georgia. These cases present differences how such shooting cases are handled. In California, a man was arrested after his girlfriend was hit by a celebratory New Year’s shot while in Georgia a wife was hit by a round fired by a local police chief. [Update: Sheriff McCollum now says that he was moving the gun while in bed when it discharged twice].
Continue reading “The New Year Brings New Accidental Shootings”
If Darwin wanted proof of natural self-selection, he would would need to look no further than Darwin, Australia where two men broke into the restaurant and loaded up a wheelie trashcan with 151 bottles of booze and eight cases of beer. However, the men aged 33 and 44 decided to stop and have a few for the road. Police later found one of the men passed out in front of the store with empty bottles scattered around him. The other man was not hard to find: he left his backpack with his ID card inside the store. They have competition in any race for the bottom of the criminal evolutionary scale this week with two master criminals of our own.
Continue reading “Natural Self-Selection: New Year Brings Arrests Of The Criminally Challenged”
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died Thursday at 82, just shortly after his son Andrew was sworn into his second term as Governor of New York. I can’t say that I knew Cuomo well, but I had the great pleasure of speaking with him a number of times over the years. I liked him a great deal and I always thought it was a terrible loss to the country when he stepped aside from a run for the White House — leaving the path clear to Bill Clinton to run. He was a deeply caring and intelligent man. While many picked up a genuine quality about him from television, it was even more evident in person where he would put people at ease and convey an honest interest in their views and concerns.
The appetite of Chinese consumers for endangered and threatened species is considered one of the greatest threats facing environmentalists and animal activists. Even Chinese diplomats have been accused of massive violations of laws protecting these species. As Chinese consumers acquire more disposable income, the demand for such products is increasing. The depth of this problem is illustrated in the recent prosecution of a wealthy real estate developer, identified only by his surname Xu, who (according to police) has “a special hobby of grilling tiger bones, boning tiger paws, storing tiger penis, eating tiger meat and drinking tiger blood alcohol.” He was convicted of killing and eating three rare tigers in the Chinese version of the Gourmet Club from The Freshman.
Continue reading “Chinese Man Sentenced After Organizing Trips To Kill and Eat Endangered Tigers”
The Chinese government again proved that little has changed in the People’s Republic in the denial of basic civil liberties and human rights. Filmmaker Shen Yongping has become the latest and more poignant example of the totalitarian regime’s continued crackdown on free speech. Shen produced a documentary on the 100-year struggle of the Chinese for constitutional government. Chinese officials responded by arresting him and now sentencing him to a year in jail. It appears that a sequel is in the making.
Happy New Year to all of our blog community from around the world. The four kids made it to midnight again this year even though the parents were beginning to fade. This is a double celebration for me since it is also my 17th – or 25th if you count 8 years of dating as I do (over the objections of Leslie) anniversary. We eloped in Alexandria, Virginia on New Year’s Eve in 1997. With the start of 2015, I thought I would share a few of our annual statistics and successes on the blog.