Hans Gruen

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there has been enormous shock and anger that a known MS-13 gangster with prior arrests for violent offenses could have been let loose on the streets by a grossly permissive sanctuary city policy.

Edwin Ramos was recently arrested for the triple murder of Tony Bologna, and his sons Michael and Matthew, in what is now described as a mistaken gang shooting.

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Studying a Practice: An Inquiry into Lapidation

By Darius Rejali

How can one make sense of what people are doing when they practice violence?  I propose to examine here a single violent practice, lapidation, or death by stoning (rajm in Arabic and sangsari in Persian). My first goal is to make sense of this form of capital punishment.  It is not hard to explain what people are doing in the course of lapidation:  killing another human being whom they believe has committed a crime.  Asked another way, the issue is not so simple: Not “what are you doing?” but “why are you killing a human in this way for this crime?”  Typical answers to this question show how difficult it is to understand the logic of lapidation.  What people say about violence does not rest well with what we know people are doing or have done.  Making sense of what is said and done turns out to be challenging.

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Most haughty Europeans look down their nose at we “violent Americans.” They sniff the air at the ugly American and assume that they are, one and all, more “civilized” than we gauche colonials. Look at all the gun violence in America, they say. They tsk. tsk us for the deaths by gun. Certainly they are better than we?

Now shocking news emerges out of England this month. It is estimated that 25,000 stabbings have occurred in Jolly, more civilized ol’ England in the last 12 months alone. You read that right, there have been 25,000 incidents of knife violence in England in the last year.

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Rush Limbaugh's 20-year domination of talk radio is a remarkable testament to the durability of conservative ideas as well as to Limbaugh's skill and courage in explaining controversial conservative principles in an entertaining style.

Limbaugh has been the top-rated radio talk show since rankings started 17 years ago, and nobody else is even close. Listeners realize his extraordinary talent for timing and relevance anytime he uses a substitute host.

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Barack Obama has styled himself a centrist, but does his record support that claim?

In this series, we examine Senator Obama's past, his voting record and the people who've served as his advisers and mentors over the years. We'll show how the facts of Obama's actions and associations reveal a far more left-leaning tilt to his background — and to his politics.

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Barack Obama calls it "Universal Voluntary Public Service." We call it a plan for national involuntary servitude. Kennedy asked us what we could do for our country. Obama has ways to make us volunteer.

Sen. Obama's call to public service is quite different from JFK's. JFK knew America was already a nation of givers and volunteers, perhaps the most charitable and altruistic nation on Earth. Entities such as the Peace Corps would give Americans an outlet for their kindness and generosity, an opportunity to share what the freest nation on Earth had given them. Obama will force you to share.

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"Will race be an issue in this campaign?"

Hearing the cable talk-show host solemnly pose the question, I could not suppress a belly laugh.

For the anchor was fearful that some white folks might reject Obama because he is African-American -- even as a Rasmussen poll was reporting that Barack is beating McCain among black voters 94 to 1.

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The story of Rush Limbaugh reminds me of a movie you wouldn’t believe could ever happen in real life. Forging his own path against all odds and under constant attack, in the end, the hero triumphs!

I knew about the prominent Limbaugh family before I ever heard of Rush. I clerked for a federal appeals court judge in Kansas City after law school, and every lawyer in the Midwest has heard of the Limbaughs–the Limbaugh judges, the Limbaugh lawyers, the Limbaugh courthouse.

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