A federal judge in Brooklyn has rejected a Liberian woman’s religious reasons for smuggling endangered monkey meat into the country. U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie ruled Wednesday that Mamie Manneh’s faith didn’t preclude her from applying for permits to import exotic food or explain why she misled officials. What possibly could be the dangers of importing (endangered) monkey meat? It’s not as though their physiology is like ours. NOT

Climate realists around the world have contended for years that the real goal of alarmists such as Nobel Laureate Al Gore and his followers is to use the fear of man-made global warming to redistribute wealth. On Monday, one of Gore’s leading scientific resources, Goddard Institute for Space Studies chief James Hansen, sent a letter to Barack and Michelle Obama specifically urging the president-elect to enact a tax on carbon

compared with another’s political ambition? While state attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who twice was convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. The crime took place in 1983. But by 1992, another man had confessed to the crime, and Burris’ own deputy attorney general was pleading with Burris to drop the case, then on appeal

Why, right here, of course! But only for a moment — and only to wish you all a happy and safe New Year! When you next hear from me, I should have the first draft of a novel(la) done, the subject of which is either intentionalism and the manipulation of interpretation brought about by its denial or dismissal as the de facto state of being for speech acts; or else

Via David Thompson, The Guardian wishes you and yours Happy Holidays: Dreams of a planet unblemished by humanity are in fact remarkably common, at least in certain quarters. The “biocentric” conservationist Paul Watson is happy to describe humanity as a “cancer” and tells us that, while vegan diets are a good thing, “curing the biosphere of the human virus will require a radical and invasive approach.” Readers may recall another

I have more self-control than you do! I have more self-control than you do! “Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,” he said. “The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.” In a

Eartha Kitt, RIP. The woman just emitted positive sultrinos.

It was a request. What we do know, now, though, is that Rick Roberts’ web admin and possibly Mr. Roberts himself ignored repeated requests over the course of almost a month to remove or attribute the Iowahawk material, and then finally took it down after the posters at AoS went after him again. This situation could have been solved without much ruckus in the first place if they’d had the

To any commenters or bloggers who made your year brighter, in the comments here, with links, if appropriate. Thanks, of course, to Jeff, and alla yas, and hoping happyfeet’s turtles are doing all right.

Customer book review at Amazon on a controversial screed about “Palestine”: 5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT TRANSACTION, June 9, 2007 By Deborah Daughenbaugh “Debbie” (Beaverton, OR) – See all my reviews (REAL NAME) Couldn’t ask for a better transaction. Fast shipping & book in great condition! I don’t know if she’s a gifted comedian or a goofball, but if you’d like to go recommend this book review (as I