Police are searching for two men shown below after a shocking video was posted on the Internet showing an attack on a woman at a strip mall in Sacramento. The attackers wanted to show others how they attacked this woman — listing the credit first as “Dylan G The Kid” and later as “Rhekidd.” Here is the video.
Continue reading “Sacramento Police Search For Men Who Beat Disabled Woman on Video”
. Joseph Sun, the actor who played Random Task in the first Austin Powers film, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, has outdone himself. Serving for life for one felony count of torture, Sun is now accused of murdering his prison cellmate, a sex offender at the Wasco State Prison.
Continue reading “Random Task: Austin Powers Actor Charged With Murder of Cellmate”
Why does this sign seem to capture the current state of American politics?
Continue reading “End of the Road?”
A Georgia teacher, Ashley Payne, has lost her lawsuit seeking damages after she said she was forced out due to a Facebook picture taken of her drinking in Europe. A teacher or parent had filed an anonymous complaint against Payne for photos showing her holding drinks in Europe — not normally a shocking image.
Continue reading “Georgia Court Rules Against Teacher Who Lost Job After Posting Facebook Pictures Drinking in Europe”
This is an amazing video that one of our regular readers sent to me. It shows a boy falling from a high escalator only to be caught by a passing man in what could have been a crippling or fatal fall.
Continue reading “Video: Man Catches Boy In Fall From Escalator”
Florida Governor Rick Scott is messing with the wrong people. Recently, Scott used anthropologists as an example of the type of degree that the state could do without. Anthropologists have reacted across the country, suggesting that Scott should be re-classified as a Homo Moronus. I would be careful before you tick off people (in the case of forensic anthropologists) who dig up bodies for a living. In the academy, we have long viewed our anthropologist colleagues with a certain fear and intimidation. When you confront one of these guys at a faculty senate meeting, they make it clear that there are “a lot of still active tar pits around the country where mammals can disappear for thousands of years.” When a critic for another department disappears, they just shrug and say, “Louie, is sleeping with the aquatic vertebrate.”
Continue reading “Florida Governor Campaigns Against . . . Anthropologists”
As complaints rise over mass arrests by Boston police in the Occupy Boston protests, Mayor Thomas Menino decided to add a rather draconian note by announcing ” “Civil disobedience will not be tolerated.” It was a moment reminiscent of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announcing in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests that “the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”
Continue reading “Boston Mayor: Civil Disobedience Will Not Be Tolerated”
You know the economy is in a free fall when repo men are taking away city property for failing to make their bills. That was the scene this week when DTE Energy officials ordered the repossession of street lights from the city of Highland Park due to overdue bills.
Continue reading “City Lights Repossessed For Failure To Pay Utility Bills”
I have seen a few angry lawyers in court, but Chicago Thomas Guadagno, 66, may take the cake. Guadagno has agreed to a month suspension of his license after calling opposing counsel “gay scum” and a “child molester,” among other bizarre statements.
Continue reading “Chicago Lawyer Faces Suspension Over Calling Other Attorney “Gay Scum” and “Child Molester””
For those who have complained about the growing “nanny state” laws in the European Union, it may not come as a surprise that your kid now needs a nanny to blow up your balloon or blow a whistle. Under new EU rules, balloons can no longer be blown up by unsupervised children under the age of eight as well as prohibitions on other party favorites for young children like whistle blowers.
Continue reading “EU Bans Unsupervised Children Blowing Up Balloons”
Chris White, 45, has become the latest victim in a trend in the United States (here) and England cracking down on citizens taking pictures in public. In White’s case, he was simply taking pictures of his daughter at a shopping center in Glasgow, Scotland when he was detained as a possible terrorist threat.
Continue reading “Toddler or Terrorist? Father Detained For Taking Picture of Daughter in Mall”
Today, I will appearing on the National Public Radio (NPR) program, Talk of the Nation to discussing my column in the Los Angeles Times on Barack Obama’s disastrous impact on civil liberties in the United States. The piece has generated some interesting discussion on the LA Times blog as well as other blogs. Despite my disagreement with some of the commenters, any discussion of civil liberties is welcomed in this political atmosphere. Ironically, the day of the column (which specifically discussed the President’s assertion of his right to kill citizens he considers terrorists), President Obama ordered the killing of U.S. cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi and reportedly a second U.S. born cleric. [Update: Here is the TOTN interview].
Continue reading “Obama and Civil Liberties: Talk of the Nation”
The Iranian courts have responded to a film detailing the repression of artists in Iran by ordering the flogging and imprisonment of an actress, Marzieh Vafamehr. Vafamehr will be given 90 lashes and imprisoned for a year for her role in “My Tehran for Sale,” a film that tells the story of a young actress in Tehran who cannot perform due to government repression.
For years, civil libertarians have objected to the United States losing lives of our military personnel and hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan as the country imposed rigid religious laws, suppresses minority groups, and denies women basic freedoms and protections. Now the United Nations has found Afghans returning to another prior habit: torture.
Continue reading “United Nations: Afghan Government Torturing Prisoners”
There is an interesting debate occurring in Washington — not over the continuing cuts in core health and environmental programs, but one of the programs that was protected from cuts. The Obama Administration has continued the funding of programs encouraging marriage and promoting fatherhood . . . to the tune of over $120 million. It was part of a large effort of the Bush Administration funding both faith-based programs and family-oriented projects.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Awards $120 Million To Promote Marriage”