WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowly upheld a federal law banning an abortion procedure, giving the anti-abortion movement one of its biggest legal victories in years.

The justices ruled, 5 to 4, that a law passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President George W. Bush did not violate the Constitution by imposing an undue burden on a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. The majority said its ruling reflected the government’s “legitimate, substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.”

“The act, on its face, is not void for vagueness and does not impose an undue burden from any overbreadth,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court, rejecting key arguments by opponents of the law.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about this ruling. What it means to me is that one of, if not the, most barbaric procedures in medical history will no longer be taking place in the United States. There may only be three to four thousand of these particular procedures in any given year, but by all accounts, they are unbearably gruesome.

For those who think this will snowball into a larger trend toward limiting or removing a women’s ‘right’ to choose to legally murder another human being, I really don’t think you have to worry. The judges have made it pretty clear that this was upheld because it did not interfere with that ‘right’ and that the old precedents still stand.

Regardless, congratulations to the Supreme Court on making a very good decision, and congratulations to the thousands of babies whose lives are now safe.

If you want to read the actual ruling or get more information about the case, it’s all available over at FindLaw.com.

A 76-year-old Jewish-Romanian lecturer was hailed a hero after blocking his classroom door long enough for many of his students to escape the Virginia Tech gunman, before being shot dead.

Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, pressed himself against the door of the classroom while shots were fired in the corridor and surrounding rooms. He stood firm, attempting to barricade the door, while his students clambered out of the windows.

His son, Joe Librescu, said in an interview from Tel Aviv that the professor e-mailed his wife to say that he had prevented the gunman getting into the classroom. However, the next e-mails received by the family were from students in the class informing them that Mr Librescu had not survived the shootings.

“My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee,” Joe Librescu said. “Students started opening windows and jumping out.”

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

This article really got to me. The fact that a college professor was willing to risk - and as it unfortunately turned out, sacrifice - his life to help buy his students more time to escape is probably the most touching story to come out of this terrible tragedy.

In a world where ever so many college professors seem to be soulless monsters set on indoctrinating the youth of America, it’s truly amazing to see one who clearly cared for his students and was willing to take such risks to help protect them.

May God bless Liviu Librescu, all the victims, and their families.

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, sacrificed his life to save his students

I honestly don’t know what to say about this one. The very idea that someone can have the heartless contempt for humanity and human life to engage in such a terrible act. At this point I’m not going to offer any analysis or try and politicize anything.

Thirty-two and the gunman dead. The worst single shooting, school or otherwise, in US history.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. May God bless.

Links:
Multiple Associated Press Articles
Virginia Tech Website
Wikipedia Article with many sources

This is my response, showing just how badly the Thai authorities are overreacting to videos that poke fun at and deface their king.

My message to the Thai Government?

Try leaving the middle ages behind and join the twenty-first century!

Edit: A number of YouTube users have pointed out that I used the United Kingdom and Japanese Prime Ministers as opposed to the monarchs. This new video includes Queen Elizabeth II and Emperor Akihito to further prove my point.

Edit - 5/19/2007: The above videos will no longer work. I have deleted them due to the fact that many people have been sending very rude messages and even a few threats to me as a result. If you really want to see them, e-mail me and we can talk thai_video[AT]newsvc[dot]us

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand’s military-appointed government blocked access to on-line video-sharing Web site YouTube on Wednesday after its owner, Google Inc., declined to withdraw a video clip mocking the country’s revered monarch.

Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom told Reuters he had ordered a block of the entire site, www.youtube.com, from Thailand after the ministry’s attempts to get the offending page removed last week failed.

“Since Google has rejected our repeated requests to withdraw the clip, we can’t help blocking the entire site in Thailand,” said Sitthichai, a telecoms professor who said he had spent most of his academic life researching eavesdropping devices.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSBKK17066320070404

I really don’t know what to say at this point; first Turkey blocked YouTube over the videos making fun of Atatürk, and now Thailand is blocking the site over a 44 second clip making fun of it’s king. I guess both nations have decided that they do not support freedom, and I guess that’s fine - it’s there decision, but I heavily denounce both nations for it.

An image from the offending video.

I am aware of the fact that the Thai people have a great respect and reverence for there king, but at the same time, I find it hard to believe that they find it so offensive that they must block an entire site to prevent it’s viewing. The clip, which I’ve included at the end of this post, is nothing more than a childish attempt (and really very poorly executed) at drawing faces on the King and editing photos to make him look funny. I’ll be entirely honest, the clip made me chuckle, but at the stupidity and pointlessness more than anything.

Perhaps being an American and never really leaving the country (except for a vacation in Canada ), I’ve developed extremely warped views on Freedom of Expression. Whatever the cause, I find myself almost entirely incapable of comprehending why a nation would block a video like this, let alone an entire site for hosting it. What’s more, I find a law that allows people to be jailed for 15 years simply for disrespecting the royal family beyond insane - such a law is a sign of a totalitarian dictatorship that needs to be overthrown and replaced with a democracy. This may have been acceptable three or four hundred years ago, but in this day and age, such laws are objects of antiquity and unenlightened times.

I also need to applaud Google on their decision to maintain free speech of their users and not cave to the laws of a foreign nation. Hopefully this action will set a precedent and show the world that American companies aren’t going to give in to the demands of foreign dictatorships. One can only hope.

Edit: The video has since been removed.

Although I never went anywhere.

First of all, I’d like to apologize to all my readers for not posting over the last few weeks. More than anything, I’ve been kind of busy with school and just not had the creative energy to devote to this blog. Nothing has changed, but I am now making a real effort to spend more time posting to this blog and keeping everything up to date.

I’d like to thank those readers who have continued to check this site, as well as those who will soon resuming reading. To any new readers, I’d like to welcome you and I hope you enjoy the site.

Although not particularly recent, the layout of the site has changed since my last update. Gone are the sometimes faulty menu bars, allowing the sidebar to make a comeback. In addition, all advertising has been removed, and I am no longer accepting monetary incentive for posts (if you recall the few ‘Sponsored’ posts of the past).

With all of these changes, and my renewed commitment to posting, I hope that News. Views. Common Sense. can continue to grow into a successful and popular blog.

Thank you,
Andy