Criminal law, Society

Utah Police Shoot Man Dressed in Anime Costume and Carrying Sword

210ba04e-d6d3-49fe-8e61-41cc9735b6b8-620x372There is a highly disturbing controversy outside of Salt Lake City where Darrien Hunt, 22, was shot six times by police officers who claimed that he charged them with a sword. Hunt was dressed in a Japanese anime costume with a 2 ½ foot steel sword that the family insists was nothing more than a prop. An autopsy released this week shows that several of the shots entered in the back of his body. The case has raised racial concerns since Hunt was black and the officers were white.

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Academia, Environment, Science

Meet Rana Kauffeldi: The New Frog Species Named After The Man Who First Found It 80 Years Ago

81581_relCarl Kauffeld image 450 pxFor many years until his death, Carl Kauffeld, the director of the Staten Island Zoo and at the American Museum of Natural History, insisted that he had discovered a new species of frog leaving in New York and New Jersey, but faced widespread dismissals from his colleagues. Kauffeld died in 1974, but this week he received not just vindication but a new species named after him: Rana kauffeldi. The frog was found living in wetlands from Connecticut to North Carolina near I-95.

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Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion

Saudi Man Says That He Sat With Muhammad . . . Saudi Police Arrest Him As Clerics Demand His Punishment Under Sharia Law

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgThe Saudi morality police are back in the news with another attack on free speech and the free exercise of religion. The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) police arrested a man who believed that he could see Muhammad and believed that he was walking among us. It is an expression of faith but in Saudi Arabia you must believe what the government believes or face arrest or even death.

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Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Indian Woman Secretly Videotapes Husband Engaged In Homosexual Relations And Then Turns Him Into The Police For Possible Life Sentence

India flagflag-rainbow1There is a bizarre and disturbing case out of India where an Indian man has been criminally charged after his wife filmed homosexual liaisons in their home and took the evidence to the police. It is a crime punishable by life in prison to engage in homosexual relations in India. The case is an insight not only into the abusive Indian criminal code but the traditions of such arranged marriages. What is interesting is that the wife, a dentist, has also charged her in-laws with a crime after alleging that they had to know that their son was gay before the marriage.

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Academia, Environment, Religion, Science

New Research Purports To Blow Away The Great Wall of The Midwest Theory

300px-F5_tornado_Elie_Manitoba_2007tao-greyThere was much coverage recently about the claim of physicist Rongjia Tao (left) of Temple University that tornados could be curtailed dramatically in the Midwest by the construction of 1,000-foot walls across the middle of the country. Meteorologist Brice Coffer of North Carolina State University says that his research blows away that theory.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International

Englishman Charged With Bestiality Over Video That Proved To Be A Man In A Tiger Costume

220px-Garry_Moore_Tony_the_Tiger_1955Bus driver Andrew Holland said last year has been a nightmare. He has spent six months on bail, hired an attorney, and stood accused of a heinous crime. People ridiculed him and shunned him for allegedly possessing a film that showed a woman having sex with a tiger. The police charged him with possession of an extreme pornographic image. No one however appeared to actually watch or analyze the film. The film turned out to be a man in a tiger costume who kept saying ‘That’s grrrrrreat’ – the catchphrase of Frosted Flakes cereal mascot Tony the Tiger. All charges have now been dropped, but one has to wonder how the police or prosecutor could have missed this small detail. Putting aside the fact that a man in a tiger outfit hardly looks like the real thing, a talking tiger might have been a clue.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

Saudi Arabia Jails Lawyers For Criticizing Court System On Twitter

Twitter Logo200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgDespite claims from the government (outside of Saudi Arabia) that it is seeking to modernize its legal system, the Sharia-based Saudi system continues to churn out abuses that shock the conscience. The latest victims are three lawyers who have been jailed for Tweets denouncing the Saudi court system — widely ridiculed by lawyers around the world as a medieval anachronism.

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International, Politics, Religion, Society

Pope Francis: Evolution Is Consistent With Being Catholic

300px-god2-sistine_chapelI have previously discussed my admiration for Pope Francis, who strikes me as a truly holy man in every true sense of that term. Francis has pulled the Church into the Twenty-First Century with massive reforms and new approaches. This week saw one of the most remarkable such changes: Pope Francis announced that it is perfectly consistent to be a Catholic and an evolutionist. For many Catholics who cannot deny the evidence that the Earth is billions rather than thousands of years old, the announcement shows that it is possible to believe in both God and evolution.

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Free Speech, Politics, Society

Hail To The Redskins . . . In Red Mesa

350px-Washington_Redskins_logo.svgHaving watched the Redskins-Cowboys game last night, this story caught my eye. I previously wrote a Washington Post column on the controversy over the Redskins name. In the column, I mentioned that a large number of both Native Americans and non-Native Americans do not view the team name to be offensive and explored the issue of of who should decided such questions. A story in the Washington Post discusses a vocal opposition to changing the name “Redskins” in Red Mesa, Arizona. It is the other “Redskins” team from Red Mesa High School — a school composed of largely of Navajos.

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Science, Society

Semi-Sweet: Study Finds Chocolate Compound Can Reverse Memory Loss . . . At The Cost Of Obesity

220px-Chocolate02Finally, a study that we can believe in and truly get behind. A study published in Nature Neuroscience found that chocolate has a natural compound from cocoa that can reverse age-related memory loss. The problem is that you have to eat so much that you immediately remember that you have a serious weight problem.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Science

Nurse Reportedly Moving Toward Lawsuit Over Ebola Quarantine Rules

ICS_Lima.svgebolaThere appears to be a race by politicians to show who is more serious about Ebola by imposing greater and greater restrictions on anyone suspected of being a carrier. It now appears that we may have our first court challenge to these limitations and there are viable claims to be made. The American Civil Liberties Union is acting on behalf of a nurse, Kaci Hickox, who has been under quarantine after she arrived at Newark International Airport. I will be discussing the case on CNN this afternoon with Wolf Blitzer.

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Criminal law

“You Have Some Weed?”: Felon Arrested After Texting Probation Officer In Search of Pot

1414105385489_Image_galleryImage_A_criminal_in_Georgia_is_Alvin Cross Junior is the poster child for the perils of texting. Junior was on probation for possession of cocaine when he decided that he wanted to buy some pot. However, he inexplicably texted his probation officer to ask to sell him marijuana. He is now serving an additional year for violating his probation.

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Politics

Poll: Support For Congressional Democrats To Record Low

220px-nancy_pelosi225px-harry_reid_official_portraitThere is an interesting poll out by the Washington Post and ABC News showing support for Democrats in Congress failing to a record low. Given the even more unpopular GOP, that is not necessarily surprising. The parties have long given up being popular and have focused on simply being less unpopular than the other party in our duopoly. However, what was particularly surprising was that some 47 percent of blacks now oppose the Democrats.

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