Former Prime Minister Tony Blair subjected to citizen's arrest at top London restaurant Tramshed over 'war in Iraq'

Did not see that coming..

By Felicity Morse and Jonathan Owen – 20 January 2014

- One of the world’s most controversial political figures had an unlikely brush with reality on Friday, with Tony Blair subjected to a humiliating citizen’s arrest by a DJ working as a barman at trendy London eaterie the Tramshed.

It appears Blair was caught off-guard during an intimate meal with family and friends. The former Prime Minister has been haunted for almost a decade by the legacy of what many term an illegal war which saw up to a million Iraqis die and the country left ravaged by rival militia groups.

While Blair is used to facing protests wherever he goes, from high level conferences to book signings, he has never been ambushed in a social setting – until now.

Minnesota: Duluth store criticized for MLK sale

 Will the racism ever end?

(Kare11) - DULUTH, Minn. -- A downtown Duluth store is under fire after they held a Martin Luther King Junior Day sale that has offended many customers.

Global Village, a store that sells everything from clothes to instruments, promised 25 percent off everything black as part of their sale.

Many people took to social media to express their outrage. Comments continued to pile up on the store's Facebook page, saying the sale is offensive and disgusting.

Store owner Rachel Mock says she has never had complaints about the sale until now.

"This is the fourth year we've done this sale, and we did it to honor and respect someone we admire."

She continued to say that it is no more offensive than other stores holding Columbus Day sales.

Mock says that because of the feedback, she doesn't plan on continuing the sale.

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Mexico says it nabbed cartel leader in Michoacan

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican government official says federal forces have detained three members of the Knight Templar drug cartel, including one he describes as a leader who was behind a lot of the bloodshed in the state.

National Public Safety System secretary Monte Rubido said Sunday that 37-year-old Jesus Vazquez Macias was detained along with two other men as part of the strategy to bring security back to Michoacan state.

But the spokesman for vigilante groups says Vazquez Macias was not a cartel leader, but rather a top hit man. Spokesman Estanislao Beltran says the "self-defense" groups will applaud the federal government's work in Michoacan only after the cartel's top four leaders are arrested.

Rubido also says 1,209 local police officers are being checked for possible links with organized crime.

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Malaysian king backs court ban on non-Muslims using ‘Allah’

Damn Catholics ruining it for all of us!

- Malaysia's king gave his backing on Sunday to a court ruling barring non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” to refer to G-d, weighing in for the first time on an issue that has fanned religious tensions in the multi-cultural country.

Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam, whose role as head of state is largely ceremonial, alluded to the issue which has raised questions over miniority rights during his birthday speech to the Southeast Asian nation.

A court in October ruled that the word was exclusive to majority Malay Muslims, overturning an earlier decision allowing a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language edition.

The court ruling has since prompted Muslim leaders to call for demonstrations against Christians who do not comply. Christians make up about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million people.

“In the context of a pluralistic society, religious sensitivities especially related to Islam as the religion of the federation should be respected,” Sultan Abdul Halim said in the speech released by state news agency Bernama.

“Confusion and controversy can be averted if there is adherence to the provisions of the law and judicial decisions.”

Police are currently investigating a Catholic priest under sedition laws for insisting the word can be used by non-Muslims in Malay, the country's national language.

Police: Second woman charged after 2 children killed during attempted exorcism

(CNN) -- A second Maryland woman has been charged with murder in connection with the Friday stabbing deaths of two children during an exorcism attempt, authorities said.

Two children died of multiple stab wounds and two others are hospitalized with undisclosed injuries, police said.

Monifa Denise Sanford, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, Montgomery County Police said.

Earlier, authorities announced that the children's mother, Zakieya L. Avery, 28, also faces the same charges. Police said Saturday that Avery stabbed two of her children to death and wounded two others while attempting an exorcism.

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Portugal Decriminalized All Drugs Eleven Years Ago And The Results Are Staggering

businessinsideraustralia.com.au

- On July 1, 2001, Portugal decriminalized every imaginable drug, from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin. Some thought Lisbon would become a drug tourist haven, others predicted usage rates among youths to surge.Eleven years later, it turns out they were both wrong.

Over a decade has passed since Portugal changed its philosophy from labelling drug users as criminals to labelling them as people affected by a disease. This time lapse has allowed statistics to develop and in time, has made Portugal an example to follow.

First, some clarification.

Portugal’s move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are “decriminalized,” meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal. While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offence, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender’s unique situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the U.S.), reports Fox News.

The resulting effect: a drastic reduction in addicts, with Portuguese officials and reports highlighting that this number, at 100,000 before the new policy was enacted, has been halved in the following 10 years. Portugal’s drug usage rates are now among the lowest of EU member states, according to the same report.

One more outcome: a lot less sick people. Drug related diseases including STDs and overdoses have been reduced even more than usage rates, which experts believe is the result of the government offering treatment with no threat of legal ramifications to addicts.

While this policy is by no means news, the statistics and figures, which take years to develop and subsequently depict the effects of the change, seem to be worth noting. In a country like America, which may take the philosophy of criminalization a bit far (more than half of America’s federal inmates are in prison on drug convictions), other alternatives must, and to a small degree, are being discussed.

For policymakers or people simply interested in this topic, cases like Portugal are a great place to start.

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Mexico says Texas execution of Mexican man would violate international accord

(Reuters) - Mexico on Sunday strongly objected to the scheduled execution in Texas on Wednesday of a Mexican convicted of killing a U.S. police officer, arguing that by executing him, the United States would be in "clear violation" of international treaties.

Edgar Tamayo was convicted of shooting dead a Houston police officer in 1994 when he was in the United States illegally. But Tamayo was not informed of his right, enshrined in an international treaty known as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to diplomatic assistance.

In 2004, the United Nations' International Court of Justice ordered the United States to reconsider the convictions of 51 Mexicans, including Tamayo, who had been sent to death row without being informed of their consular rights.

So far, two of that group have been executed; Tamayo would be the third.

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