IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn last week was widely viewed as heading to the French Presidency. He is now viewed this week as more likely to head to an American jail. In an extraordinary criminal complaint, Strauss-Kahn is described as a sexual predator who spontaneously assaulted a hotel maid. And we thought former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz was an embarrassment.
Continue reading “IMF President Strauss-Kahn Arrested For Assault of New York Hotel Maid”
Category: International
This weekend, Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish judge who ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, received the ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism in New York. My roughly two-hour interview with Garzón before his receiving the award proved quite newsworthy with Garzón discussing subjects ranging from the charges that he is facing in Spain to current issues of human rights violations by the United States to the threats to assassinate him. Most notably, Garzón criticized the Obama Administration for rolling back on the Nuremberg principles and violating international obligations to prosecute individuals for torture and war crimes.
Continue reading “Baltasar Garzón Receives Human Rights Award and Criticizes Obama Administration For Violations of International Law”
Last night on The Ed Show, I discussed the amazing speech and column by Senator John McCain on torture. One of the most notable aspects of the comments was McCain stating that the claim by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey that torture led to the location of Bin Laden is simply untrue and confirmed as false by CIA Director Leon Panetta.
Continue reading “McCain: Mukasey Claim That Torture Led To Bin Laden Is False”
Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of Malawi, sure showed his critics. After a cable was leaked showing that British High Commissioner Fergus Cochrane-Dyet was concerned about Mutharika’s intolerance of criticism, Mutharika responded by ordering the High Commissioner of Malawi to leave the country for the first time in history. That will show him for saying Mutherika cannot handle criticism.
Continue reading “Malawi President Responds To Claim That He Is Intolerant of Critics By Expelling Critical British High Commissioner”
For civil libertarians, there are few heroes who can match Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish judge who ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998 and later worked to identify human rights violations committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. He will be the first recipient of ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism. I will have the honor of serving as the interviewer of Judge Garzón at the award luncheon on Saturday, May 14th, and to explore his views of contemporary civil liberties issues as well as his famous career.
Continue reading “Baltasar Garzón To Receive Human Rights Award and Speak in New York”
You will notice a slight difference between the famous photos from the situation room of the White House during the Osama Bin Laden operation: Hillary Clinton has been removed from one of the shots. The altered picture ran in the Ultra-Orthodox daily Der Tzitung, which does not allow pictures of women to appease Orthodox sensitivities. Once again, the striking similarities with Islamic extremists is inescapable.
Continue reading “Clinton Erased From Famous Photo By Jewish Orthodox Daily”
There are so many reasons to investigate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the killing of protesters to the support of terrorism to the backing of countries like Syria in crushing its own citizens. Iranian legislators, however, have accused Ahmadinejad’s aides of working with genies. Various aides have been arrested this month for magic and calling forth gjinns or spirits, including chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.
Continue reading “Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s Aides Arrested For Sorcery and Consorting With Genies”
After reading this on Reddit, I had to share but you may want to get through your breakfast first. I have been repeatedly to China and have had some exotic foods (including hundred-year-old eggs) but I have never run into tong zi dan (童子蛋), or “Boy Egg.” Known also as “Virgin Eggs,” the eggs are the official food of Dongyang, China and are made by steaming them in the urine of young boys.
Continue reading “No Yolk: Boy Eggs in China Rely on Real Boys”
The shocking video below shows the attack that resulted in the lifetime ban of Kazakh player Armand Masimzhanov, 20. The Football Federation of Kazakhstan banned Masimzhanov for the flying kick from behind delivered to one of his opponents, Radmir Muksinova.
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Current members of the Obama Administration (as well as former Bush officials) are claiming that all that torture under President Bush finally paid off in supplying the leads to eventually finding Osama bin Laden’s hideout. What is striking is not only the lack of any support for the claims, but the immediate effort of Obama officials to justify torture. No doubt these are the same officials supporting Obama’s decision to bar prosecution of individuals who carried out the torture — and later barring the investigation of those who ordered the torture.
Continue reading “A Victory For Torture? Obama Officials Attempt To Justify Torture in Claiming False Credit For Bin Laden Killing”
We have another addition to our series of American Taliban, religious and political leaders who seem to struggle to match our enemies with their own brand of religious extremism and hateful speech. A blog on People for the American Way has an astonishing quote from former prosecutor and Tea Party founder Judson Phillips. Phillips wanted to tell the world that Bin Laden was wrapped in pig fat before he was buried and then questioned whether the President waited to announce the killing during Donald Trump’s The Apprentice out of spite.
Continue reading “Tea Party Founder Objects To Obama Interrupting The Apprentice For Bin Laden Announcement and Wanted Bin Laden Wrapped In Pig Fat”
This video has surfaced that purportedly shows the “imam from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem” vowing to revenge the death of Osama bin Laden and kill “the western dogs” responsible for his death. However, while this tape is getting a lot of hits, there is still no identification of the alleged imam from one of Islam’s most sacred mosques.
Continue reading “Video: Imam in Jerusalem Calls For Revenge For Bin Laden’s Death”
The video below shows Pereira defender Luis Moreno kicking an owl during a Colombian league game to the horror of many watching the game. Moreno has been given a fine of Colombian pesos ($15,173) for the kick. I just saw this video from a couple months ago and find it astonishing that some people can be so callous in the treatment of animals.
Continue reading “Fowl Play: Soccer Player Fined For Kicking Owl Mascot”
We have seen the continued political attacks from the some on the right on journalists in American politics. They are an easy target by politicians who try to get followers not to listen to independent journalists. However, the annual World Press Freedom Review shows reporters continue to serve their critical function in the world under intense threats and coercion. Last year, 102 journalists were killed.
Continue reading “Report: 102 Journalists Killed In 2010”
Below is today’s column in USA Today on the death of Osama Bin Laden.
Continue reading “Bin Laden: A Time To Reflect”