Boris Johnson, the conservative Mayor of London, has declared George Bush a persona non grata — asking him to stay out of London with his new torture-touting memoir. The question is whether such international shunning will become actual effort to prosecute Bush, who just confessed to war crimes. I discussed the controversy on Countdown.
There is a fascinating case out of England where an officer has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a woman died following a road-rage argument. Christine Roche, 64, had a heart attack at the wheel after being confronted by the unnamed off-duty officer who was yelling at her for clipping his car mirror. The yelling reportedly induced the heart attack and led to the manslaughter charge.
Continue reading “London Police Officer Charged With Manslaughter After Yelling At Driver Caused Heart Attack”
International physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have a photo of perhaps the most camera-shy element in the universe: anti-matter. In an incredible breakthrough, CERN was able to capture atoms of antimatter for a tenth of a second.
Continue reading “Smile! Anti-Matter Finally Isolated and Photographed”
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has issued the results of a national survey that found more than 45 million Americans, or 20 percent of U.S. adults, had some form of mental illness in 2009. Of those, 11 million had a serious mental illness.
Continue reading “Study: One in Five U.S. Adults Suffer From Mental Illness”
In this video, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) suggests that he would like to see both FOX and MSNBC taken off the air so that people felt better about Congress and their government. This is coming from a Senator who led the effort to kill dozens of public interest lawsuits suing telecommunication companies for violations of their privacy and supported the effort to bar any investigation into the torture program. The problem, it seems, is the new coverage.
The trial of alleged Al Qaeda accomplice Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has resulted in an acquittal on all major terrorism charges in New York. Ghailani was charged with crimes related to the 1998 suicide bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. I will be discussing the verdict tonight on Hardball.
A Montgomery County police officer Jason Cokinos is back walking the beat after hitting and paralyzing 14-year-old Luis Jovel Jr. Cokinos was speeding to his off-duty job when he hit Jovel and received only a $185 speeding ticket. The county paid $400,000 in damages.
Continue reading “Montgomery Police Officer Given $185 Ticket After Paralyzing 14-Year-Old Boy”
An independent prosecutor has found Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas had no basis for their public-corruption charges against critics and judges who sought to curtail their abuse of their offices. Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon reached the same conclusion as virtually all outside observers, including this blog. In the meantime, Arpaio continues his use of this office to pander to public sentiments and legitimize vigilantism. He announced this week that he had added “Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno and actor Steven Seagal to his anti-immigration posse.
New York Police swept into a park in bulletproof vests to arrest men trying to kill royals including two kings, two queens, four knights and even four bishops. The men had set up chess boards in a park that was empty at the time. It turns out that they were sitting in an area restricted to children or adults with children. They were given summons to appear to answer for their crimes in court and not allow to “castle” laterally to a nearby park.
Continue reading “New York Police Nab Chess Felons in Park”
Bristol Palin has been implicated in a rampage in Dane County, Wisconsin. Her latest alleged victim from her appearance on Dancing with the Stars is Steven N. Cowan, 66. Cowan shared the view of millions that Palin was not much of a star and even less of a dancer. So, when she again escaped being voted off the show, Cowan snapped. He grabbed his shotgun and shot his own television. His wife fled after he demanded his handgun (presumably for a tradition coup de grâce she ran and returned with the police.
Continue reading “Bristol Palin Triggers Rampage in Wisconsin”
As expected, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has prevailed in retaining the top leadership position — a surprise move after many, if not most, pundits expected she would resign after the devastating loss of at least 61 seats and record low popularity ratings for both herself and Congress.
The city of Roselle, New Jersey has passed a new law criminalizing the act of sleeping in public. Police Chief Paul Morrison insists that he is only going to use it against homeless people but that may be a statement that city lawyers will come to regret in court.
Continue reading “Constitutional Nightmare: New Jersey Town Bars Sleeping in Public”
Parents in San Jose, California are upset over an astonishing decision made by a high school principal to stop an ambulance from driving onto a football field to help an injured player at Del Mar High School on October 29th. The principal Liz Seabury reportedly says she was following district orders to protect the school’s recently remodeled field from motorized vehicles.
Continue reading “California Principal Blocks Ambulance Sent to Help Student To Protect Recently Remodeled Field”
NYU Professor Wafaa Bilal finally has the solution for all of those spit balls that come flying whenever he turns his back in class: he is having a camera implanted in the back of his head. That’s right, a camera. It is part of a project commissioned by a new museum in Qatar which will broadcast the live images to museum visitors.
Continue reading “Lens Louse: NYU Professor To Have Camera Installed In Back of His Head”
Last night on Rachel Maddow, I discussed the controversy over Supreme Court justices attending political fundraisers. Specifically, Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito have been criticized for their participation in such events. Most recently, Justice Samuel Alito was identified by Think Progress at a fundraiser for American Spectator. Alito reportedly said that “it’s not important” that he attends such events. I disagree.
Continue reading “Alito Criticized For Participation In Another Conservative Fundraiser”