CUNY Trustee Under Fire After Nixing Honorary Degree For Tony Kushner

The trustees of City University of New York have finally approved an honorary degree for the playwright Tony Kushner after a controversial trustee blocked the degree over his personal disagreement with Mr. Kushner’s views on Israel. Many are now calling for the resignation of trustee Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld (left) who has suggested that Palestinians are not human and said that a “teach in” about the 9/11 attacks at the school was an act of “sedition.”
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High School Student Criminally Charged For Ranking Girls on Facebook

There is a disturbing case out of Illinois where a teenage boy has been arrested for posting his ranking of 50 female students at Oak Park-River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois “by their sexual characteristics and alleged sexual behaviors” and posting it on Facebook. It is another example of the criminalization of our society and raises serious first amendment questions.
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Former Virginia Legislator Convicted In Scheme With Old Dominion University

There is a revolving door theme in today’s posts. We saw yesterday how Communications Commissioner Meredith Baker was made senior vice president of Comcast-NBC, Phillip A. Hamilton, a former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, has been convicted of leveraging his office to secure a paying position with Old Dominion University. He now will be sentenced for federal program bribery and extortion under color of official right.
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Putting the Doctor Back Into Juris Doctor: Lawyer Arrested For Performing Unlicensed Surgery

Carmen Olfidia Torres-Sanchez, 47, is a lawyer with the Colombian attorney general’s office, but she appears to take the doctor in juris doctor a bit too literally. Torres-Sanchez and her husband Ruben Dario Matallana-Galvas, 55, were arrested in the latest case of unlicensed cosmetic surgery — a surgery that led to the death of Elena Caro, 42. They face charges of second-degree murder. We previously looked at the case, but I was unaware that one of the defendants is actually a lawyer with the attorney general’s office. They were indicted yesterday.
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Revolving Door: FCC Commissioner Votes For Comcast/NBC Merger And, Four Months Later, Given Position As Senior Vice President in Comcast-NBC

Critics are charging this week that Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Baker has given this swamp-based city another glaring example of how to turn public service into personal gain. Just four months after voting to allow the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, she has been given a high-paid job as senior vice president of governmental affairs by . . . you guessed it . . . Comcast-NBC.
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Try The 4-H Club Instead: Wisconsin Board Refuses To Approve School-Sponsored Club for Gay Students

In Wisconsin, there is now record of the West Bend School Board ever rejecting an application for a student club at a high school . . . until now. You guessed it, students wanted to form the Gay-Straight Alliance clubs at East and West high schools but were denied approval by a 3-3 vote of the board. Board President Randy Marquardt opposed approval of the club.
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Bin Laden’s Son Reportedly Announces Possible Lawsuit Against United States Over Killing and Burial of His Father

Omar bin Laden, bin Laden’s fourth eldest son, has allegedly issued a statement that calls the killing of his father as a “criminal” act and a humiliation for his family. Notably, he indicated the possibility of a lawsuit against the United States.

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Majority of Americans Still Want Third Major Party

A Gallop poll shows that fifty-two percent of Americans want a third party — a continuing majority from earlier polls showing as much as 58% who oppose the monopoly of power by the two leading parties. The question is how we can call ourselves a democracy when the two parties are able, through ballot barriers and other means, to prevent a major third party from emerging in the United States. I previously wrote about these barriers and the need for a third party.
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Sooner Justice: Oklahoma Murder Conviction Overturned Due To Comments By Judge That Jurors Should Not Be “Hardheads” In Delaying A Verdict

There is an interesting case out of Oklahoma where the murder conviction of Kassie Lakei Bills was overturned due to the comments at trial by Judge Ray Elliott of Oklahoma County. Elliott told the jurors to reach a quick verdict and not be “hardheads” by keeping everyone at the court. I guess that is why they call folks in Oklahoma “Sooners.”
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I’ll Have What She’s Having: Leading Atheist Arrested For Making Sexual Noises

We previously saw how police charged atheist activist Ellen Beth Wachs, 48, with unauthorized practice of law after she confronted local politicians over prayer at public meetings. Now, Wachs (the legal coordinator for the Atheists of Florida) has been arrested with a sexual performance in the presence of a child. The police, however, admit that no one saw any sexual act. Rather, she is accused of making sexual noises.
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The Postman Never Rings Twice: Postal Service Suspends Door-To-Door Mail Service For Whole Neighborhoods After Separate Dog Attacks

A Los Angeles neighborhood is objecting after the Postal Service stopped all mail delivery to an entire neighborhood after a mail carrier was bit on hand by a dog at a home. It appears that the apparent collective punishment approach is not unique to this San Pedro neighborhood. Dozens of families have had suspended service due to the attack of Broxton owned by Gibran and Alisa Hawkins.
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