Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Fox Reporter Faces Potential Jail In Protection Of Her Sources

jana-winterPrisonCellA classic confrontation is occurring in Arizona over the freedom of the press. FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter is standing by fundamental principles of journalism in refusing to disclose who gave her a notebook that a judge had put under a protective order in the case of Colorado shooter James Holmes. Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour is pursuing other avenues for the time being in trying to find out who leaked the notebook, but Winter could still be put on the bench and held in contempt for a failure to disclose her source.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Religion, Society

Saudi Man Faces Paralysis Under Sharia “Eye For An Eye” Sentence

200px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saudi_Arabia.svgA Saudi court is prepared to carry out a sentence to have Ali Al-Khawahir surgically paralyzed in conformity with Sharia law’s “eye for an eye” traditions. Al-Khawahir was only 14 when he stabbed a friend and left him paralyzed. Now, his family has failed to pay the victim “blood money” to be released from jail. After ten years of negotiations over the blood money, Al-Khawahir faces total paralysis under the Kingdom’s medieval legal system.

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Bizarre, Courts, Lawyering, Society

Detroit Judge Faces New Ethics Charges After Repeatedly Having Sex With Witness In Chambers And Texting About “Skank Hoes” In His Courtroom

mccree-and-mottYou may recall Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree found our earlier discussion of his sending court personnel revealing pictures of himself. He was sanctioned for that little episode. McCree is back before a judicial ethics panel for allegedly making a false report of a felony, misrepresentations to the commission and engaging in improper bench conduct and demeanor. The latter charges involve having sex with a witness in his chambers, a relationship that he insisted did not affect his judgment in any way in the child-support case. He also allegedly impregnating Geniene La’Shay Mott (left with McCree). Despite his continual bizarre and improper conduct, McCree has remained on the bench in an indictment of the entire political and judicial system in Wayne County in Michigan.

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Bizarre, Politics, Science

Former Nevada Legislator Arrested After Car Chase

imageStevenBrooksSteven Brooks has had what is clearly a bad month. The former Nevada lawmaker was arrested hours after being thrown out of the legislature by his colleagues as too dangerous and unstable. He then took California officers on a car chase ending in his being tasered and arrested near Victorville, California. He also alleged threatened a Democratic leader and tried to grab the gun of an officer and attacked a dog. Describing himself as “a fiscal conservative and liberal democrat,” Brooks was recently reelected with over 68 percent of the vote.

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Congress, Politics, Society

Forever Young: Alaskan Member Apologizes After Discussing How His Family Used To Have “Wetbacks” To Do Their Work

220px-Don_Young,_official_photo_portrait,_color,_2006On the very heels of the GOP pledging to reach out to hispanics and repair the damage of the last election after an array of anti-women and anti-hispanic comments, Alaska Rep. Don Young stepped forward to show that such a face lift is not likely to occur with party leaders speaking from the eighteenth century. Young has long been a liability for the GOP with a long line of allegations of unethical and corrupt practices.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Egypt Arrests Popular Satirist For Blasphemy

mq1Satirist Bassem Youssef has sometimes been called Egypt’s Jon Stewart — a refreshing uninhibited commentators in the increasingly restricted Egyptian public discourse. That ended last week as Egypt’s Islamic government added him to the spate of blasphemy arrests in defense of Islam.

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Bizarre, Politics, Society

Hollande Moves To Impose Another 75 Percent Tax For High Earners

220px-François_Hollande_(Journées_de_Nantes_2012)200px-Exécution_de_Marie_Antoinette_le_16_octobre_1793I have been a critic of the tax policies of French President Francois Hollande, including his disastrous 75% tax on the rich. The tax, as expected, has resulted in an exodus from the country of many top earners and a reluctance of others to move to France. However, with his poll numbers at a historic low, Hollande is continuing his “eat the rich” campaign. Last week, he announced a desire to impose a 75% tax on companies for salaries above 1 million euros. It is yet another blow to the French economy and will further deter new business for the struggling nation.

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Animals, Criminal law, Environment, International, Society

Thief Cuts Off Tusk From Louis XIV’s Elephant With Chainsaw

220px-Louis_XIV_of_France220px-Tanzanian_ElephantAn unnamed 20-year-old man succeeded last week in combining trafficking in the infamous ivory trade with the destruction of historical artifacts to become one of the truly vile humans on Earth. The man broke into the Paris National History museum and cut off the tusk of the famous Louis XIV elephant with a chainsaw. An alert neighbor heard the sound of the chainsaw and called police. The man was arrested as he tried to make his escape.
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Animals, Environment, Society

Peter’s Peril: New England Cottontail Facing Extinction

220px-New_England_cottontailDespite the rain, Easter was a smashing success at the Turley house including a soggy but fun neighborhood Easter Egg hunt around our house. Environmentalists however are hoping that these good feelings could translate into some support to save the erstwhile mascot of the holiday: the New England cottontail. The rabbit species faces potential extinction because its needed scrub land is being eradicated by many of those same Easter-loving humans.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Justice, Uncategorized

Could the Banksters Grab Your Bank Deposits?

200px-FDIC_2500_sign_by_Matthew_BisanzRespectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty- Guest Blogger

The recent news about Cyprus banks confiscating depositor’s funds sent chills throughout the financial world here and abroad.  I couldn’t believe that the plan in Cyprus hinged on the idea that the bank could just steal customer’s funds to balance the bank’s books.  I muttered to myself when I read the story that something as crazy as that couldn’t possible happen here in the United States.  Unfortunately, I learned that the plan to pull a Cyprus type grab here was already in the works.  Continue reading “Could the Banksters Grab Your Bank Deposits?” →

Society

Grace Under Pressure: Michael Schiavo’ s Speech

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an on-going series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously  make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes reside among us and that they serve as  quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward  – and ours, too.

51565bf3b7324.imageEvery year, Henrico’s (VA) Deep Run High School holds a dance marathon to help local charities. The event is wildly successful raising over $1 million since its inception in 2007. The kids start their dancing on Friday night and 27 shaking hours later the exhausted participants rightly toast their accomplishment with some donated punch and soft drinks. This year they toasted more than a marathon.

Sophomore Michael Schiavo was the top fund-raiser this year bringing in an impressive $7,161 in donations. But according to Michael, he got a lot more than he gave. Michael suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. DMD is a genetic based dystrophy that attacks 1 in 3600 boys. It usually manifests itself in infancy and causes a wasting away of muscle tissue that is replaced with fat and fibrotic tissue leading to fibrosis. The average life expectancy for patients afflicted with DMD is around 25.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Supreme Court

The Myth of Black Freedom in the U.S.

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

417px-Frederick_Douglass_portraitTo some of us the transition from slave to citizenship by those Africans brought in chains to these shores for economic exploitation and horrific abuse ended with the “Emancipation Proclamation”. To others its’ end might have been marked by “Brown v. Board of Education”, or by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Those of somewhat more insightful bent may have said that the true emancipation occurred when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. In my view, as much of an impact as all those milestones (and more such as Jackie Robinson i.e.) made to American consciousness, Black people in the United States clearly still lack the benefits and rewards of citizenship. I would go further and say that in the United States, at this time; most Black people still suffer the degradation and challenges brought about by both institutional and emotional racism. This is not to say that in our country other groups, such as Latino’s and Native Americans are free of oppressive prejudice, but to assert that given their history in this country Black people are slotted into the bottom of the economic and social ladder and are still struggling to obtain even those most minimal of rights that most Americans see as their birthright. Continue reading “The Myth of Black Freedom in the U.S.” →

Supreme Court

Oral “Arguments” In The Prop 8 Case

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

500px-Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_CourtOn Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the other same-sex marriage case,  Hollingsworth v. Perrry, a case involving California’s voter approved ban on gay marriage, also known as Prop 8. UCLA professor of constitutional law Adam Winkler reminds us that oral arguments is the time when justices “hostile to a lawyer’s argument often reveal their disagreement through penetrating—sometimes devastating—questions.” Sometimes penetrating, sometimes devastating, and sometimes the court is not pleased.

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