Legal Commentary

Supreme Court Closes Front Doors To Visitors In The Name of Security

Posted on May 04, 2010
The Supreme Court justices have voted to end one of the most important symbols of American justice: the open doors of justice at the Supreme Court building. Visitors have always entered through the massive doors which represented the access of citizens to our legal system...

Obama Administration Ignored Warnings From NOAA That It Was Underestimating Risks of Spills

Posted on May 04, 2010
Officials at NOAA told the Obama Administration that it was underestimating the rate and risk of spills before the President announced his controversial decision to open up coastal areas to drilling in March. Analysts also noted that there were serious problems in responding to spills...

Shaker Down: Chicago Woman Sues Salon After Falling Through Its Front Window After Trying To Kick Her Husband

Posted on May 03, 2010
Melanie Shaker had gone out to dinner and had been drinking with her husband when she became angry with him on the walk home. She tried to kick her husband, lost her footing, and fell through the front window of Fases Salon. She is now suing the salon for failing to anticipate falling drunken and [...

Police Arrest Man in England For Calling Homosexuality a Sin

Posted on May 03, 2010
We have another case of a religious person being jailed for denouncing homosexuality. In England, Dale McAlpine was charged with causing ?harassment, alarm or distress? after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him stating that he viewed homosexuality to be a sin...

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Florida Police Defend Decision to Jail Grandmother Who Slapped Granddaughter For Telling Her To F*** Off

Posted on May 03, 2010
Theresa Collier, 73, is a grandmother in Largo, Florida who was arrested after she slapped her granddaughter for swearing at her. Felicia Collier, 18, repeatedly told her grandmother to f*** off and then called the police when the grandmother slapped...

Winterized Mammoths: Scientists Find a Type of ?Anti-Freeze? Blood Helped Mammoths Survive the Cold

Posted on May 03, 2010
This is really cool. Scientists believe that they have found a protein — hemoglobin — in mammoths that had adapted to release oxygen into their bodies like a type of “anti-freeze blood” to allow the animals to survive harsh winter conditions...

Rush to Judgment: Limbaugh Suggests Gulf Spill May Have Been Caused By ?Envionmental Wackos?

Posted on May 03, 2010
As the government deals with what may prove the worst oil disaster in the history of the country in the Gulf of Mexico, oceanographer and chemical engineer Rush Limbaugh has gone public with his theory that “enviornmental wackos” may be responsible and that pouring oil into the ocean is something that the ocean can handle [...

Baltimore Police Arrest Couple Asking For Directions to the Interstate

Posted on May 03, 2010
Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Virginia are new converts to Mapquest. The couple was returning from watching the Baltimore Orioles beat Kansas City when they became lost trying to find the interstate – a very common occurrence for people not familiar with Baltimore...

Cat and Mouse

Posted on May 02, 2010
The Bill Gates of felines. The only problem is when the owner discovered he owns 7000 copies of the book he ordered on Amazon shortly before going to bed . . . Kudos: All Creatures

Vatican Takeover: Controversial Mexican Order To Be Taken Over By Papal Envoy

Posted on May 02, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI has moved to take over a Mexican Catholic order that is responsible for widespread abuses of children. The order’s founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel, abused children and fathered three children with two women. He died in 2008. The Pope announced that he will be appointing an envoy to run the order...

Burka Bans: France Moves to Fine People Forcing Women to Wear Burkas While Belgium Approves First Public Ban on the Burka

Posted on May 02, 2010
France is about to propose a law that would fine anyone who forces a woman to wear a burka (burqa). Such individual would face a fine of ?15,000 (£13,000). In the meantime, in Belgium legislators passed Europe’s first ban on the burka in public...

Video: Christians Stops Hindu Prayer in Senate

Posted on May 02, 2010
Because this occurred before this creation of this blog, we have never reviewed this video from 2007. In an outrageous act of religious intolerance, a visiting Hindu priest was stopped twice from offering the opening prayer in the United States Senate...

Tenton Man Fells Neighbor With Arrow Over Parking Dispute

Posted on May 02, 2010
Robert Wood, 41, allegedly takes parking very very seriously. While his neighbor, Anthony Giovannini, 35, thought he was struck in the back by a rock thrown into his house this week, he soon noticed an arrow sticking out of his back. Police eventually arrested Wood who has had disputes with Giovannini over parking spaces...

Small is Beautiful: Papua Police Ban ?Enhanced? Officers

Posted on May 02, 2010
In our coverage of police related stories, this one is a bit odd. Police officers in Indonesia’s Papua now must be politically and anatomically correct. Faced with problems associated with local measures of male personal enhancement, the department is following the global business model of downsizing...

Pet of the Week: A Call for Bloggie Doggies (and Other Post-Worthy Pets)

Posted on May 02, 2010
Given the response over our new addition of Molly Turley, I have decided to create a new category for our bloggers to share pictures and stories of their pets. I will select one posting each Saturday. Bloggers can email me pictures of their pets (including pictures with their pets) for posting...

How Not To Make An Impression on Your Girlfriend?s Mother: Indiana Man For Allegedly Running Over Woman After Dispute Over the Car Radio

Posted on May 01, 2010
Brent Heitz, 30, likes his music loud and apparently doesn’t like his girlfriend’s mother at all. After Connie Farr told Heitz to turn down the music in his car, Heitz reportedly ran her over and left her on the road. Farr reportedly got out of the car when Heitz tried to hit her...

Georgia Man Charged With Strangling Dachshund

Posted on May 01, 2010
A dog may be a man’s best friend, but some men are a dog’s worst menace. Dewayne Green, 49, is accused of taking out his anger on a 2-year-old Dachshund named Rocky who was left with a fractured skull and broken bones. He strangled and beat the dog in front of his two young children...

Report: Christian Barber Beaten and Sodomized for Trimming Beard of Sunni Teenager

Posted on May 01, 2010
There is a disturbing report out of Pakistan that a Christian barber was beaten and then sodomized by eight Muslim men after he agreed to trim a Muslim teenager’s beard in violation of Sunni traditions. Marwat Masih, 29, was hospitalized and his shop destroyed by local Muslims for the trimming...

Palin Hacker Convicted on Two Counts

Posted on May 01, 2010
David Kernell, 22, the college student and son of a Democratic Tennessee state legislator who hacked into the e-mail account of Sarah Palin was convicted Friday on two counts. After four days of deliberations, a federal jury found Kennell guilty of obstruction of justice and unauthorized access of a computer, a misdemeanor...

Answering the Call: Lady Gaga ?Telephone? Remake From Afghanistan Becomes Instant Hit

Posted on April 30, 2010
This is what shock and awe is all about. This is also why the Taliban do not stand a chance. The two initial dancers are Aaron Melcher, 21, and Justin Baker, 21. I can only hope that they are from Bravo company. Bravo, boys, Bravo.

I Help Orphans: ?Finder? of 4G IPhone Identified and Expresses Regrets

Posted on April 30, 2010
Wired Magazine has identified the “finder” of the next generation IPhone given to Gizmodo for $5000. He is Brian Hogan, 21, whose lawyer has stressed that he regrets his actions and is a good kid who helps orphans in Kenya. I will be discussing the case on NPR’s On The Media today...

Ox Tale: Chinese Gymnast Stripped of Medal After Officials Find China Lied About Her Age

Posted on April 30, 2010
For years, experts have accused China of lying about the age of its gymnasts in using underaged girls at the Olympic Games. Now, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed that China did lie to the world about the age of gymnast Dong Fangxiao who won the bronze medal in the Sydney Games...

Iran Elected to the United Nations Women Rights Commission

Posted on April 30, 2010
Women of the World, rest easy! The United Nations has chosen the next country to join the Women Rights Council to defend your rights: Iran. That’s right, the nation that beats women in the street, allows the raping of women in custody (here), raids human rights organizations (here), stones women to death (here), arrests women [...

It Came From Inner Space: NASA Balloon Goes on Rampage in the Outback

Posted on April 30, 2010
People in the Australian outback found themselves dodging a massive 400-foot balloon carrying a payload of scientific equipment this week when the launching of NASA’s Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT) went awry. The balloon crashed through a fence and turned over a sports utility vehicle before stopping its rampage...

Norton: Justice Thomas Just ?Proposes? To Be African-American

Posted on April 30, 2010
D.C. Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton made a shocking comment about Associate Justice Clarence Thomas this week, stating that ” We’ve got someone who proposes to be African-American on the court.” It is a shocking insult directed at Thomas and it is unworthy of Norton...

Spill, Baby, Spill: White House Remains Committed To Off-Shore Drilling Plan As Spill Destroys Gulf Coast

Posted on April 30, 2010
The White House is under attack on its plan to open up areas for drilling off the East Coast — a plan long opposed by environmentalists and now attracting renewed criticism with the growing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill is now believed to exceed the Exxon Valdez but some experts — gushing [...

Will Gizmodo Set the Standard for Journalistic Privilege?

Posted on April 30, 2010
This interview on National Public Radio explores the two cases of Jason Chen and James Risen in the news this week. With the outing of the “finder” of the phone (here), it will be interesting to see how the Chen search controversy evolves.

English Court Rules Against Counselor Who Objected to Working With Same-Sex Couples

Posted on April 29, 2010
Gary McFarlane, 48, from Bristol triggered a heated court fight when he challenged his termination as a counselor with Relate Avon, a counseling service, due to his religious conflict with assisting homosexual couples. An English court ruled against him in a case that led to sharp condemnations on both sides...

Video: Ft. Lauderdale Officer Arrests Man After Being Asked for Badge Number

Posted on April 29, 2010
This video shows a disturbing scene as a man, Brennan Hamilton, who is arrested after he asks for the name and badge number of a Fort Lauderdale police officer who is identified as Jeff Overcash. On the video, Overcash is asked why he is arresting Hamilton for just asking for his badge number and he [...

They Chip Horses, Don?t They? Iowa GOP Candidate For Congress Calls For Micro-Chipping Illegal Aliens

Posted on April 29, 2010
Pat Bertroche, a physician and GOP candidate for Iowa’s Third District primary, has called for a program in which illegal aliens are forced to be micro-chipped to keep track of them. He asked an audience recently, ?I actually support micro-chipping them...

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