Category: Politics

Bizarre, International, Politics, Society

Video: Chinese Political Adviser Trashes Airport After Missing Flight

This is a video of how a Chinese official deals with news that he has missed his flight. The man is identified in news accounts as Yunnan Mining Co. Vice Chairman Yan Linkun, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the political advisory body in the People’s Republic of China. Linkun reportedly missed a flight from Kunming to Guangzhou because he was eating breakfast. He then missed the second flight when he didn’t hear an announcement. It then went from bad to worse.

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Bizarre, International, Politics, Religion

Saudi Cleric And Others Denounce Women Serving In Advisory Council As “Prostitutes” and “Filth”

150px-muslim_woman_in_yemenMuslim cleric Ahmed Al-abedulqader is a member of the Islamic Ministry for Da’wah, Guidance and Endowments and he clearly has “issues” with women, particularly when they served in public positions.  Recently, women were allowed to serve on the Shura Council, a formal advisory body  to the King of 150 members who can propose laws and advise him.  It was a significant and commendable act by the King — a hopeful sign of reform for women’s rights.  That appears to be the very reason that Al-abedulqader and other clerics unleashed sexist tirades.  In Al-abedulqader’s case, he took to Twitter to call the women “prostitutes.” Dr. Saleh al-Sugair, a former teaching assistant at King Saud University, also went public and called the women the “fifth of society” for their historic achievement.

Continue reading “Saudi Cleric And Others Denounce Women Serving In Advisory Council As “Prostitutes” and “Filth”” →

Criminal law, Justice, Politics

Just Fine: Don’t Bank on the Justice Department to Prosecute Big Banks

DeptofJusticeSubmitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

Last December, I wrote a post titled You Call This Justice? DOJ Criticized for Its Settlement with “Too Big to Jail” Bank HSBC. It appears that the US Justice Department isn’t too keen on bringing criminal charges against ANY wealthy bankers—not just those who work for HSBC, a huge international bank that has knowingly laundered money for drug cartels and murderers. The unethical shenanigans of the banksters of Wall Street that led to the near collapse of the US economy and to a recession don’t seem to merit jail time for the perpetrators—just a slap on the wrist and a fine.  No individual fines are paid though. The mega banks pay the fines and the banksters continue to go about their business…and continue to earn hefty salaries and bonuses.

At “Wall Street Reform: Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections,” the first Banking Committee hearing attended by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA), Warren asked bank regulators how tough they really are on the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street and about the last few times they actually took any banks all the way to a trial.

Continue reading “Just Fine: Don’t Bank on the Justice Department to Prosecute Big Banks” →

Congress, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Catfood Commission Part Two

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

Now that the infamous Sequestration cuts are likely to kick in next week, I find it both hilarious and scary, that Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the co-chairmen of the deceased debt commission that failed to produce a plan that their own committee could accept, are back in the news calling for cuts to Medicare and Social Security and reduced taxes for the wealthy and corporations as our only way out of our so-called debt crisis!  Where have I heard that song and dance before?  The so-called Catfood Commission is now back at work trying to do a reverse Robin Hood on the poor and middle class.  The only difference this time is that they have a new name, The Fix The Debt Coalition and they are funded by Billionaire Pete Peterson. Continue reading “Catfood Commission Part Two” →

Academia, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Politics, Religion, Science, Society

Evolution, Religion and Science

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

220px-Charles_Darwin_seated_cropA topic that probably causes among the most heated discussions on this blog is the attempt to either displace evolution from Public School Curriculum, or to at least give “intelligent design” equal footing to evolution. My own opinion is that “intelligent design”, or “Creationism” as some call it, has no place in our public school system. Those who would force it on our schools would be destroying the Constitutional separation of Church and State. We saw a blog post by Professor Turley  a week ago discussing some crazy State Legislator in Missouri introducing a bill to teach “Creationism” as a scientific theory and to teach “Evolution” as a philosophy, almost all who commented were not only outraged, but some disparaged Missouri as a backward state. A few of the comments belittled religion in general. http://jonathanturley.org/2013/02/15/missouri-legislator-introduces-bill-to-teach-creationism-as-a-scientific-theory-and-to-teach-evolution-as-a-philosophy/ . Another blog post by Professor Turley in October 2012, about Missouri Senate Candidate Todd Akin brought a firestorm of angry comments, also disparaging Missouri. http://jonathanturley.org/2012/10/15/akin-disproves-evolution/#comments  Interestingly this Conservative State voted for Todd Akin’s opponent when Election Day came around. Continue reading “Evolution, Religion and Science” →

Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Justice, Politics

Old Times There Are Not Forgotten But Sometimes Paperwork Is: Mississippi Abolishes Slavery Two Weeks Ago! [UPDATED]

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger


imagesWell better late than never, y’all. The great state of Mississippi officially ratified the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution on February 7, 2013. For those counting, we’re now 50 states out of 50 against human bondage. Who says no progress is being made? And to whose credit is this crowning achievement? Why Abraham Lincoln, of course. Well, sort of.

It seems Ranjan Batra, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, just finished watching Steven Spielberg’s Oscar nominated movie, Lincoln (filmed here in Richmond, you know). That got the academic wondering  if the Magnolia State ever did ratify the law to free over half its citizens. Batra consulted Ken Sullivan, an anatomical material specialist at UMC, who sliced right into the subject (pun intended). Sullivan’s sleuthing found that while the legislature passed the bill authorizing ratification in 1995, one final requirement had never been met. Mississippi’s secretary of state had forgotten to send a copy of the bill to the federal register’s office for inclusion. On January 30, 2013, the Honorable Delbert Hosemann corrected the oversight and  mailed the bill. On February 7 the bill officially became law and Mississippi joined the rest of us. Welcome back!

Continue reading “Old Times There Are Not Forgotten But Sometimes Paperwork Is: Mississippi Abolishes Slavery Two Weeks Ago! [UPDATED]” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Pakistan’s U.S. Ambassador Charged With Blasphemy

HE_AmbSherryRehmanPakistan has been working with the Obama Administration in an effort to create an international blasphemy standard. Now one of its diplomats in Washington is accused of blasphemy herself. She has been accused of blasphemy by a businessman, an offense that carries the death penalty in Pakistan.

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Academia, Animals, Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Free Speech, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Religion, Science, Society, Supreme Court, Torts

15,000,000

This morning, our blog passed our 15,000,000 viewers. Since just a few weeks ago that we passed the 14,000,000 mark, it is obvious that the blog continues to grow at an impressive rate. We continue to rank in the top ten most viewed legal blogs in the world and I would like to think that our civility policy adds to the appeal of the blog for new viewers.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Politics

Missouri Republican Proposes Bill To Make It A Crime To Introduce A Gun Control Bill

thumb_weapon_gun_smith_and_wesson_hand_ejectorMemberPhoto.aspxMissouri Rep. Mike Leara has a curious concept of democracy, let alone free speech. Leara has proposed a law that would make it a crime for any of his colleagues to introduce gun control legislation.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

Mississippi Bill Pushes For School Prayer . . . Again

praying_hands[1]Mississippi politicians have long allowed their state to rest at the bottom of state in educational quality. Now they have finally decided to act: a new bill would legalize school prayer so children will presumably be able to pray for a day when politicians in the state will actually support public education.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

The Connecticut Effect

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

In the weeks since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the call for more action in controlling military style guns and large capacity magazines has increased, but as of yet, nothing concrete has been done on the national level.  In fact, the NRA was recently quoted as suggesting that nothing will be done, once the country gets over the “Connecticut Effect”!  “The National Rifle Association will wait until the “Connecticut effect” has subsided to resume its push to weaken the nation’s gun laws, according to a top NRA lobbyist speaking at the NRA’s Wisconsin State Convention this weekend.” Think Progress  Continue reading “The Connecticut Effect” →

Congress, Courts, Justice, Politics, Religion, Society, Uncategorized

The Anti-Women 22

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Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty(rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

This past week a vote was taken in the United States Senate and it was not a vote to end a filibuster!  The vote that I am referring to was a vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.(VAWA)  It was noteworthy that the vote actually took place at all, but the results of the vote were especially interesting.  The vote to reauthorize VAWA, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy,  passed by a 78 to 22 margin.  All 22 votes against the measure were by male Republican members of the Senate. Continue reading “The Anti-Women 22” →

Academia, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

CNN Cruising Towards Inanity

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

200px-Cnn.svgI must admit that I gave up watching CNN years ago, even before they attempted to become FOX News lite. Originally, as they created the standard for Cable News, they were an informative leader in providing television journalism. Because of their devotion to the news alone, they became the preferred alternative to Broadcast Network News, which at each network had been put under the “Entertainment Division” and thus viewed as a profit center, rather than a public information service. At the beginning and “golden age” of Television Network News, the FCC had mandated that each network was to provide “news” as a public service, in exchange for their license to control a band on the airways. The leader in this was CBS, a network under the aegis of William Paley, who hired war tested Journalists such as Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. CBS News was independent of the “Entertainment Division” and as a public service wasn’t expected to turn a profit. While it is true that there was an establishment bias on all news programming yet the coverage ranging from Joe McCarthy, to the Civil Rights Movement and to the Viet Nam War informed the public of great issues and brought home the realities through pictures indelibly imprinting horrific images on the public mind. Reactionary elements within the Corporate/Military Plutocracy viewed all of this with alarm. Their continued success depended upon an uninformed public, lulled by jingoistic propaganda and unaware of who really controlled our nation. There was a determination in these elite circles that the network news, the preferred means by which the public was informed on current affairs, must be reined in. William F. Buckley had already created the meme of a “liberal news bias” by this time as an explanation of why his philosophy of the supremacy of the elite was being bought by the general public. Building upon this meme networks were bought out by conservative corporations, news operations were put under the entertainment divisions and the FCC stop requiring news broadcasting as a condition of licensing.

Ted Turner realized that the traditional network news had been reduced in size and homogenized into a rather unpalatable product. He founded CNN under the paradigm of a 24 hour network dedicated solely to examining the news. Following CNN was the entry of Rupert Murdoch and the “tabloidization” of Cable News along with FOX News becoming a propaganda provider for his Conservative views and allies. This was nothing new for Murdoch who bought out the New Post and the Village Voice, turning them both into neo-conservative propaganda operations, sensationalized with gossip and racy pictures. Sadly, in terms of return on investment, it was a winning strategy for cable news as FOX shot to the top of the ratings. CNN the former ratings leader faltered and tried to become “a little” more like Fox News in order to regain their stature. In the process they became a failure as a serious news provider and have become every bit as inane as shows like “Entertainment Tonight”, even in their coverage of “hard” news stories. At this time in our country’s history with so many serious problems that need to be dealt with, CNN has proven not only incapable, but uninterested in providing coverage of issues that affect us all and of which we the public require more information.

Today, as with many Americans who try to be informed, almost all of the “news” I pay attention to comes from the internet. While I occasionally will watch Rachel Maddow and MSNBC coverage of important events, their coverage too seems lacking of content or even intelligent analysis. There are exceptions at MSNBC when they go away from their usual pundit crew to have on original thinkers undaunted by the need to parrot the establishment. Indeed, the first time I became familiar with Jonathan Turley’s work was seeing him on MSNBC. Since this is the case I had to discover something about CNN’s recent coverage from two articles I read in the Huffington Post, one of which made me snort with amusement, while the other just made me shake my head in disgust as to the current state of CNN, as a representative of mainstream Cable News Continue reading “CNN Cruising Towards Inanity” →

Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Science, Society, Supreme Court

Tea Party: A Phony Movement Mantled as Legitimate

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

9.12_tea_party_in_DCIn August 2011 I wrote a guest blog titled: Tea Party and the Myth of a Grassroots Movement”.  Using various newspaper and internet sources I showed that the meme created about the “Tea Party” that it was a “grassroots uprising” of ordinary citizens to take back their country from the out of control liberals, was simply not true. The “Tea Party” is a movement fabricated by certain plutocratic corporate interests to maintain themselves as relatively tax free and maintain control over the fiscal state of our country. I’m revisiting it today because of the guest blog I’ve just submitted about CNN and the rest of the news media, in light of a post by Al Gore at Huffington Post, publicizing his new book which deals with the back-story of the creation of the “Tea Party” and its negative influence upon our country. Some of Al Gores’ evidence and that forming the basis of my original guest blog overlap, but the important difference is he’s Al Gore, former Vice President and a centrist. I on the other hand am merely an aging ex-hippy, who remains a political radical. The truth of the “Tea Party’s” inception is not hidden from view and the facts are blatantly out there. What is important though is that the cable news media, press and the Washington punditry continue to describe the “Tea Party” in terms of its meme and myth as a grassroots entity and thus are complacent in a deception of the American people.

Daily we see stories about these “Tea Party” legislators elected to office on all levels of our government. They are falsely portrayed as populists, who are “fed up” and ran for office to “change things” and return to our Constitution. Large percentages of “Tea Party people in polls still believe that Barack Obama was born in Africa and is a Muslim intent on destroying Christianity and America. They see him as a communist, socialist and fascist simultaneously intent on dismantling our capitalist way of life and crushing American exceptionalism. I understand that one can be a reasonable person an oppose Barack Obama’s activity as President. I oppose some of his positions strongly and I voted for him. However, if you believe the “birthers” and those who call him radical names, then I must say in my opinion you are delusional. He is a slightly right of center Democrat, hawkish on foreign policy and deferential to the Corporate Plutocracy. He may be a Constitutional Scholar, but he certainly hasn’t done enough to protect our Constitutional Freedoms. Yet we see this ultra right wing faction of the Republican Party thinking Obama as the anti-Christ and believing they are part of a spontaneous revolution performed in the interests of “protecting” America. Here’s why that isn’t true. Continue reading “Tea Party: A Phony Movement Mantled as Legitimate” →

Politics, Religion, Science, Supreme Court

The Evangelical Right’s Roots

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

religious rightThe Evangelical Right arose from the moral outrage triggered by the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. That compelling portrait of their origins glosses over the movement’s less-than-heroic inception. While Roman Catholics condemned the ruling, W. Barry Garrett of Baptist Press wrote, “Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court abortion decision.” Wayne Dehoney, Southern Baptist Convention president in the 1960’s, noted, in 1976, the difference between Protestant and Catholic theology when he said: “Protestant theology generally takes Genesis 2:7 as a statement that the soul is formed at breath, not conception.”

Continue reading “The Evangelical Right’s Roots” →