Former “NYPD Blue” screenwriter Ted Shuttleworth, 51, is now part of a case that could easily end up on an episode of show. He seems to have answered Det. Danny Sorenson’s question “Where’s a good homicide when you need one?” Shuttleworth has been arrested after punching his poodle in the face on May 29th so hard that it died of a brain injury.
Continue reading “Poodle Puncher: Former NYPD Blue Writer Charged With Killing Poodle”
It is at times like this that political movements are known to start. The terrible fact is that if unless you are the Alpha male, the view never changes.
by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
Graphic art such as posters, paintings and film can be and often are considered works of art. Can propaganda using these mediums be considered art? Propaganda posters are considered art by many and in the design industry “propaganda” is considered a style all its own. Consider these examples and decide if you think they constitute art as well as propaganda.
Continue reading “Propaganda 102: Holly Would and the Power of Images”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
We have discussed the alleged War on Women in past blog articles here on Prof. Turley’s blog, as well as the Roman Catholic Church’s attempts to silence the Nuns over their support of Obamacare. The Vatican is now battling the good Sisters over the alleged evilness of Masturbation! The Vatican’s watchdog office called “The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith” has come out against a book written by Sister Margaret Farley’s in 2006 titled, Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, because, among other evil statements, the female author states that masturbation never hurt anyone. Such heresy! Continue reading “The Vatican Goes to War Against the Nuns over the “M” Word”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Religious Right faux-historian David Barton’s new book, The Jefferson Lies, is an attempt to portray the third President as an orthodox Christian. Barton has a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious education from Oral Roberts University. Two professors, Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter, from Grove City, a private Christian institution north of Pittsburgh, have written an e-book, Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, wherein they expose Barton’s revisionism. Continue reading “Barton’s Revisionist Jefferson Exposed”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
“Criteria for selection for this list include the quality of the tweets, the number of followers and the most active users. ” Source:
14. Jonathan Turley, @JonathanTurley, George Washington Law School. Snappy headlines link to Turley’s blog posts, offering perspectives on politics, world and legal news.
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Some people have no sense of humor. Some people find obscenity where there is none. Case in point: Earlier this year, parents of a kindergarten student in the Annville-Cleona School District made a complaint about The Dirty Cowboy, a humorous picture book that their child brought home from the school library. The parents felt that Adam Rex’s illustrations of the cowboy’s partial nudity in the book were “pornographic” and wanted it banned. In April, the school board agreed with the parents and voted unanimously to remove the book from school libraries in the district.
Note: Before the school board’s vote, the district’s book review committee voted 5-1 to remove the book, with Cleona librarian Anita Mentzer voting against it. Other committee members included Annville-Cleona Superintendent Steven Houser, the assistant superintendent, the technology director, and Cleona Elementary’s principal. (School Library Journal)
There were protests against the banning of The Dirty Cowboy by free-speech organizations and an online petition in favor of repealing the ban that was signed by more than 300 people. The National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression sent a letter to the district asking that the book be returned to school library shelves.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Liber: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber (“the free one”), also known as Liber Pater (“the free Father”) was a god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome’s plebeians and was part of their Aventine Triad. His festival of Liberalia (March 17) became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age. His cult and functions were increasingly associated with Bacchus and his Greek equivalent Dionysus, whose mythologies he came to share.”
Lib·er·ty: [lib-er-tee] noun, plural lib·er·ties. 1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence. 3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice. 4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint: The prisoner soon regained his liberty.5. permission granted to a sailor, especially in the navy, to go ashore. (from Dictionary.com)
With the ongoing discussions, cum arguments, that have flowed back and forth for years on our various threads between our Libertarian, Rand influenced commenters and people of other perspectives, I’d like to explore the similarities and differences that distinguish those three title words all obviously flowing from the same Latin Root. As we see Liber was a Roman God associated with freedom. With the definition of Liberty above we can see that the suffix ty (meaning state of) converts this freedom loving God into a concept of freedom. Al as a suffix which means pertaining to, added to Liber creates a noun connoting someone who believes in Liberty, in other words the political view called Liberal.
Now Tarian as a suffix connotes: “A believer in something. An advocate of something. (rare) A native or inhabitant of somewhere.” Thus we see that Libertarian connotes by its’ structure a noun which means an advocate of freedom. These three title words therefore all have the same root and each is evocative of the support of freedom, so how come there are not only numerous internecine battles between advocates of Liberty? Dropping etymology, which is not my area of expertise, I’d like to opine on why this disagreement between advocates of Liberty, thus in some ways disciples of Liber, have led to such angry disputations. Continue reading “Liberty, Liberal, Libertarian”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Competitive surfer, 17-year-old Patrick Ivison walked to the podium at the Scripps Ranch High School graduation ceremony and received his diploma on Thursday. Since we’re in graduation season there’s not much surprising there and a surfing teen in San Diego, California is about as newsworthy as a robin in spring. What makes Patrick unique is that he is paralyzed from the waist down. He has been since he was 14-months-old when a car accidentally back over him in a parking lot.
Continue reading “Grace Under Pressure: Paralyzed Surfer Walks At High School Graduation”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
We have previously discussed how black magician Pandit Surinder Sharma repeated attempted to kill rationalist Sanal Edamaruku (the James Randi of India) with a death-causing tantra, here. The still very much alive Edamaruku recently went to an Irla (suburb of Mumbai) Catholic church where he debunked a “miracle” where water was seen trickling down Jesus’ feet. Edamaruku identified the source of the water as a leaky drainage pipe and explained that capillary action was the cause of the water reaching Jesus’ feet.
Continue reading “Indian Rationalist Arrested For Blasphemy”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones, full of nudity and gratuitous sex, uses a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show. On the season one DVD commentary, the show’s creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss explained that one of the heads, decapitated and piked by King Joffrey, looks a lot like George W. Bush. Continue reading “Game Of Thrones Uses Prosthetic Bush”
A West Virginia lawyer Hiram C. Lewis IV, 41, narrowly lost a race to become the state attorney general in 2008 but has now found himself on the other side of the courtroom charged with malicious wounding and wanton endangerment with a firearm. Lewis is accused of shooting a man at his home in Procious, West Virgina. He is invoking the Castle Doctrine, which allows citizens to use lethal force in defense of their homes. I have been a long critic of Castle Doctrine laws, which have spinned off various extensions for the work place, cars, and other locations. Called “Make My Day” laws in some states, we now have “Make My Day Better” laws allowing people to use lethal force in defense of other property like cars as well as laws like “Stand Your Ground” involved in the Zimmerman case and other cases in Florida.
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida, have arrested a popular teacher in a bizarre alleged crime. Danielle Harkins, 35, is accused of telling students that they have demons inside them and that the only way to be rid of them is to cut themselves and then burn the wounds. They proceeded to do so and she is now charged with child abuse.
If only Butch Cassidy (left) and the Sundance Kid (right) went to an economics class. Economists at the Royal Statistical Society and American Statistical Association have published a study on the economics of bank robbery and determined that crime doesn’t pay after all . . . . at least not bank robbery.
Continue reading “It’s Official: Crime (At Least Bank Robbery) Doesn’t Pay”
I had to laugh when I saw this picture on Reddit. My dog Molly did the same thing when we bought her a nice bed.