International, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Karzai Denounces U.S. In Farewell Speech While Thanking China and Iran

225px-hamid_karzai_2004-06-14Outgoing Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai denounced the United States in his farewell speech and insisted that, despite tens of thousands of wounded and dead American service personnel (and over a trillion dollars in aid), the United States has been a curse upon his country. Instead Karzai showered praise on Iran and China as great allies for Afghanistan. This is the man who the CIA openly gave regular suitcases of cash to and led a government where billions simply disappeared.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society

China Sentences Uighur Scholar To Life In Prison After Denying Him Access To Evidence

Profesor_Ilham_TohtiChina has continued its crackdown on political speech with a truly disgraceful trial of Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti. The prominent scholar has written about the discontent in his region and lack of rights. The Chinese declared the writings as encouraging separatism. While that would not be a crime in any free nation, China handed him a life sentence after this supporters say that he was denied food and then denied copies of the evidence used against him.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Military, Politics

Semper Latte: Cup Salute Seems To Generate More Attention Than Undeclared War In National Debate

1411505445739_wps_3_Americans_weren_t_amused_It is being called “Semper Latte” and, if this is the biggest scandal that President Barack Obama has to worry about, his Administration is safe. Various people are denouncing the President for saluting his Marine guard while holding a cup of tea or coffee. From CNN to the Daily Mail to ABC to the New York Daily News to the Washington Post to the New York Post to NBC to CBS to countless others, the salute is generating heated comments across the country. YouTube clips show the salute over and over along with multiple postings expressing outrage. My reaction is a bit different. The President has launched another declared war that his aides say could last “years.” However, there seem more debate over this tempest in a tea [cup] than the fact that we are bombing another nation.

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Animals, International, Politics, Society

Not COOL: China Will Soon Be Able To Import Cooked Chicken Into U.S. Without Labels of Origin

230px-McDonalds-Chicken-McNuggetsThe Obama Administration has quietly opened up the U.S. market to Chinese chicken – a move that alarms some public interest groups. Many consumers avoid China foods, including pet foods, due to a long series of contaminated and poisoned products coming from that country. Now the U.S. will allow four Chinese poultry plants to send processed chicken to American markets while hiding their origin. The problem is that by cooking the chicken, China can avoid new country-of-origins labels (COOL) at delis and other stores — resulting in consumers eating Chinese food products without knowing it.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, International, Military, Politics

United States Bombs Syria In Latest Undeclared War

220px-B-2_spirit_bombingPresident_Barack_ObamaI just completed a two-city debate with former Bush official John Yoo on executive power with a focus on undeclared wars. It appears Yoo won the debate . . . at least with President Obama. Indeed, Yoo appears to have had Obama at “hello” to quote Jerry Maguire. Without any declaration of war, Obama has launched attacks against targets in Syria — an act of war by any measure and a violation of international law.

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Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Watts Unchained: Civil Rights Leaders Denounce Actress After They Supported Her Claims of Racial Profiling in Detention By LAPD

1411228451636_Image_galleryImage_Django_Unchained_actress_There is an interesting backlash in California where civil rights leaders are condemning an African-American actress for alleging racism in her encounter with members of the Los Angeles Police Department. Actress Daniele Watts (who was in “Django Unchained”) accused the LAPD of detaining her and her boyfriend because they are a mixed race couple. Witnesses insisted that, in fact, they were having sex in a car in plain view on a street. An audio tape below has further undermined Watt’s claims of racism. She immediately claims that the only reason that they stopped them was race on the audiotape available here. In the midst of the tape, she freaks out in a conversation with her father but admits that they were “making out” in the course of the diatribe. In a true Hollywood moment, Watts is heard saying “I know my rights, I played a cop on TV and I know that when someone asks for ID you aren’t required to give it to them.”

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Society

No Jokela: Seattle Tosses All Pot Tickets After Single Officer Opposing Legalization Goes On A Citation Spree

randy-jokela2Marijuana LeafSeattle’s city prosecutor has announced a rather novel decision to toss out all tickets issued for the public use of marijuana through the first seven months of this year after concluding that virtually all of them were written by one officer who opposed the legalization of pot. City Attorney Pete Holmes announced the dismissal of roughly 100 tickets and moving to refund those people who forked over $27 ticket. Officer, Randy Jokela, 52, reportedly addressed some of the tickets to “Petey Holmes” or wrote that he considered the pot law “silly.”

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Bizarre, Society

The Perils of Excessive Celebration: Detroit Lions Stephen Tulloch Injured While Gloating Over Sack

Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 11.43.14 PM 1We have previously discussed the excessive celebration rule in the NFL (I am rather old school and I do not like seeing the growing signature celebrations of players). However, not since Bill Gramatica has a player put himself on the injured list due to his celebratory dance. That distinction rests with Detroit Lions middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch.
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Academia, Criminal law, Society

Lawsuit: School Officials Convince 14-Year-Old Special Ed Girl To Be Bait For Sexual Predator . . . Girl Is Raped and School Officials Deny Any Responsibility

Sparkman Middle SchoolThere is a horrific story out of Huntsville, Alabama, where school officials are being sued after a 14-year-old girl with special needs was allegedly used as bait to catch a student sexual predator. A lawsuit states that the girl reluctantly agreed, but that she was then trapped by the boy and anally raped in a bathroom. The school later suggested that the sex may have been consensual and denied responsibility. The case has prompted the Justice Department to file a brief in favor of the girl in the litigation, a relatively rare move in such a case.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Poll: Egyptians Want Democracy . . . and Stonings

1024px-Election_MG_3455stone-1I had a fleeting sensation of hope yesterday when a poll of 1,000 Egyptians by the Pew Research Center found that 59% percent said that their preferred form of government is democracy. Then a little below the poll found that 82% feel adulterers should be stoned and 84% believe that apostates from Islam should face the death penalty.

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Criminal law, Society

Chicago Gang Members Allegedly Murder 9-Year-Old Boy Who They Thought Warned Opposing Gang

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My home town of Chicago continues to be plagued by gang violence. Children are often the victim of drive by shootings and gang gun fights. However, the intentional killing this week of 9-year-old Antonio Smith Jr., known as “Fat Baby” and “Hamburger,” has shocked many in the city. The four men are reportedly members of the Sircon City faction of the Gangster Disciples street gang and murdered Smith because they thought he had warned their intended victims, rival members of the Pocket Town gang.

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Bizarre, Politics, Religion, Society

Peshmergettes and Paradise: Islamic State Fighters Terrified Of Being Martyred By Women

Flag_of_the_Islamic_State.svgscreen-shot-2014-09-21-at-11-39-59-pm-e1411358791217It is a perilous path to attempt to understand the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants who justify massacres and beheadings as the height of moral Islamic conduct. However, the perverted sense of logic that goes into such views continues to amaze many of us. This week, the press is reporting that Islamic State fighters are deeply worried. No, not about U.S. air strikes or the training of their opponents. According to reports, IS fighters are terrified that they are facing female Peshmerga fighter (“Peshmergettes”) and, here is the poetic justice, if they are killed by one of them, they will not get the 72 virgins that they were promised in paradise.

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Criminal law, Society

Rap Sheet: Three Georgia Men Accused Of Kidnapping, Raping, Beating, and Burning Woman Who Beat Them In A Rap Competition

3-men-arrested-woman-beat-rap-battle

If their indictments are true, Joey Betrail Garron, 28, Robert Carl Johnson, 23, and Ketorie Glover, 23, represent some of the most depraved of a highly depraved class of criminals. The three men in Columbus, Georgia challenged a woman to a hip hop rap battle at a house party. When the woman won, the three were so outraged that they allegedly kidnapped the woman at gun point, took her to a parking, and gang raped her. They then beat her and doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, according to police. She survived and the three were arrested.

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Free Speech, Society

Passenger Removed From Flight Allegedly Over Notebook Doodles

Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

tiger-airways-logoAn Australian passenger was removed from a flight and detained by the Federal Police allegedly after doodling in a notebook.

Passenger Oliver Buckworth claims he was removed from a Gold Coast bound flight on Tiger Airways after another passenger glanced over his shoulder and complained to the flight crew. The offending text? “TerrorISm ade up,” and “Tyrannosaurus Rex. Terodactyl. Tarantula. Terrorist,” spoken by an image of a child with his hands on his head .

The interior designer also drew a picture of a chandelier.

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