Anti-Gay State Senator Resigns In Nude Photo Scandal in Puerto Rico

We have yet another politician who has resigned in the wake of the disclosure of Weineresque photos of himself. Puerto Rico Sen. Roberto Arango (Republican, San Juan) posted explicit photos of himself on what has been described as “an iPhone application for gays and bisexuals.” What makes this particularly notable is that Arango has a history of strong anti-homosexual politics.

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iPutz: Woman Buys Wooden iPad at McDonald’s

I am not sure what should have tipped off Ashley McDowell in Spartanburg, South Carolina that something was not quite right about the men selling her an iPad. First there was the price: $180. Then there was the location: a McDonald’s parking lot. Then there was the fact that salesmen were selling the iPads and computers out of the trunk of their rimless Impala. She was still surprised, however, to discover that her new iPad was solid wood.

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B.C. Law Student Resumes Classes After Leave To Serve Time For Manslaughter

The University of British Columbia law school is experiencing an intense debate over the expected return of one of its students, who took a leave of absence five years ago. Such leaves are not uncommon, but the reason is. Sasan Ansari, 32, served two years in jail for the killing of Josh Goos in November 2008 after stabbing Goos 33 times outside the upscale club.

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Beer Burkas: Utah Legislators Require Restaurants To Install “Zion Curtains” To Prevent Customers From Seeing Beers Being Opened or Poured

If you are going to Utah, you may be seeing the return of the restaurant equivalent of a beer burka. Legislators in the heavily Mormon state have reinstated the required use of Zion curtains to separate diners from bartenders. In beer-only restaurants, bartenders will now have to be shielded from public eye.
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Indelible Ruling: Federal Judge Allows Case of Free Speech Protester To Go Forward Against TSA

Aaron Tobey attained a degree of fame in carrying out a rather novel form of protest for civil liberties at an airport security point. Tobey stripped down and used a black marker to display a quote from of the Fourth Amendment on his bare chest reading “The right of the people to be secure … against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.” He was arrested for his conduct, but now federal District Judge Henry Hudson had ruled that part of his lawsuit against the TSA can go forward to trial.
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Pastor Proposes National Atheist Registry To Better Track Godless Citizens

Pastor Mike Stahl is the head of an “internet church” called the Church of the Living Water and has drawn national attention due to a proposal he made a year ago: a national registry for atheists. We have seen religious and political leaders in the last year attacking atheists and even comparing them to terrorists. Stahl’s proposed national registry is the natural outgrowth of such demagoguery.
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D.C. Police Officer Who Attacked Transgender Citizens Had Prior Alcohol Related Offenses

D.C. police officer Kenneth Furr was recently arrested having shot transgender citizens in a drunken rage. It now appears that the D.C. Metropolitan Police was aware of prior alcohol-related incidents by Furr. We previously followed a detective who brandished his gun to threaten people who hit his private Hummer with a snowball. In that incident, Assistant Chief Peter Newsham told the media that the gun in his hand (and clearly shown on videotape) was really just a cellphone.
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Put’in on the Chaps: Latest Installment of the World’s Most Visible and Longest Running Midlife Crisis

Exactly when does this get embarrassing for Russians? The latest installment of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s attempt to morph into a Russian action hero occurred with the start of the election campaign for United Russia Pary when he drove a Harley through the street. I hear the bike actually runs on his own excreted testosterone, which his Russian handlers insist is 100 times more powerful than that of a professional wrestler half is age and 10 times greater than a grizzly bear.

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Ninth Circuit Holds Firefighter Can Sue Detectives After Arrest Based on False Allegations of Child Pornography

The Ninth Circuit has handed down a major ruling that a firefighter can sue detectives who accused him falsely of creating two child-pornography websites. The Ninth Circuit panel ruled in an opinion written by Judge Richard Paez that Washington State Police officers Rachel Gardner and John Sager had shown a “reckless disregard for the truth” when they arrested Spokane firefighter Todd Chism in 2008.

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Negligence or Assumption of the Risk? Paintball Causes British Woman’s Breast Implant to Rupture

Now this is a bizarre potential tort case out of Britain. A 26-year-old woman’s gel breast implant exploded when hit by a paintball traveling at 190mph. The question is whether Paintzone Park near Croydon, or the paintball gun manufacturers, should be liable under a strict liability or negligence theory.
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Florida Driver Sues After Being Ticketed For Flashing Lights To Warn Other Drivers Of Speed Trap

The Florida Highway Patrol is the defendant in an interesting class action by Eric Campbell, who was ticketed for warning other drivers of a speed trap. Drivers will sometimes flash their lights to warn approaching cars in the opposite lane of the speed trap. However, the Florida Highway Patrol insists that that is illegal and gave Campbell a ticket for improper use of high beams.
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Giving Mercy A Bad Name? Catholic School Cancels Goodwill Ramadan Dinner

A goodwill dinner planned for Ramadan at the Catholic Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati has been cancelled after an outcry from parents. The wonderful interfaith gesture to the Muslim community ended in sectarian prejudices as parents objected it was too close to the 9-11 anniversary and “sent the wrong message.” My favorite quote came from one parent who said “I’m glad it’s canceled; it wasn’t a good thing . . . It would have really given Mercy a bad name.” Yes, Mercy now stands for something entirely different.
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El Paso County Jury Rules In Favor Of Family Of Burglar Killed By Business Owner

A Colorado jury has rendered a rare award to the family of a burglar killed in the course of a crime. Verdicts like this one are likely to be used by advocates of Castle Doctrine or “Make-My-Day laws — laws designed to protect citizens from criminal liability in the protection of their homes, or in some cases, their businesses. The El Paso jury awarded roughly $300,000 to the family of Robert Johnson Fox, who was shot in the course of an attempted burglary of a car lot.
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