Category: Politics

International, Politics, Society

Georgians Resurrect Stalin Statue To Remember “Happier Times”

stalin220px-Katyn_massacre_1We have previously discussed the disturbing fondness of some Russians for the memory of Josef Stalin — one of history’s greatest tyrants. Villagers in Georgia have taken that hero worship a step further by storing a statue commemorating Josef Stalin in his (appropriately named) birth town of Gori and are planning a monument to the dictator. Activities celebrating the “happier times” under Stalin ignore the hundreds of thousands of Russians, particularly intelligentsia, killed under this orders and the millions lost due to this policies. Gori however appears happy to have its favorite son in the tyrant’s chair. The story this month truly filled me with disgust and it was particularly poignant that these Georgians would use the Christmas season to honor one of history’s mass murderers.

Continue reading “Georgians Resurrect Stalin Statue To Remember “Happier Times”” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Justice, Politics, Religion, Society

The Latest Tea Party Darling

Tim_Scott,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress_crop

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

Lost in the headlines about the Fiscal Cliff and the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was the gubernatorial appointment to the United States Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim DeMint.  Sen. DeMint was arguably the Tea Party’s Senator and his impending departure from the Senate to accept the position to head up the Heritage Foundation would have left a gaping hole in the Tea Party’s influence in the Senate.  There is nothing to worry about because South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley named Tea Party Congressman Tim Scott to replace DeMint in the Senate.  Rep. Scott was just elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and has already made a big name for himself in the Tea Party world by suggesting that President Obama should be impeached if Obama attempted to go around the House of Representatives during the last debt ceiling fiasco! Continue reading “The Latest Tea Party Darling” →

Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, International, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Things That Tick Me Off, Uncategorized

“The Fiscal Cliff” an Example of Myth and Propaganda

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

gold-dollar-signI don’t know about you but I was certainly happy that I woke up this morning. For a few years now there has been great speculation that the world was going to end yesterday. As I fell asleep about 1:00pm last night it was with knowing that in Mexico it was three hours earlier and so that the dread prediction of the world’s end by the Mayan Calendar still may have been possible. The whole idea was a blatant misrepresentation of Mayan belief and hoax-like, yet that didn’t prevent many from making this non-story into yet another way to frighten people. Frightening people with made-up nonsense seems to be a human trait and certainly has been exploited throughout history for one sort of gain or another.

Fear not though, because just as the collective We has just bitten one bullet, another comes along to frighten us once again with disaster and that “disaster” will occur on December 31, 2012, as we come to the end of another turmoil ridden year in societal intercourse. I’m writing, of course, about the “Looming Fiscal Cliff” that has been so very prominent in what our mainstream media calls “news and commentary” and our leaders of both parties call governance. My opinion and that of many others with far more economic expertise than myself, is that the “Fiscal Cliff” is a mere “bogeyman”, used by those politicians on the Right and the Left as leverage to accomplish their particular political agendas.

Since one of the interests of this blog is the Constitution and the consequent Rule of Law that should be its’ result, this comes within our purview because serious issues of national interest are being driven by false mythology grown to myth like proportion. Let’s look at what is behind this mythology and its propaganda. Continue reading ““The Fiscal Cliff” an Example of Myth and Propaganda” →

International, Politics, Religion

Pope Again Denounces Gay Marriage As Threat To Mankind

popeThe Pope has again launched into what is becoming a disturbing mantra: gay marriage is threatening the future of mankind. Now that the Mayan apocalypse has passed, it appears the Pope is ready with a substituted menace of loving gay couples marrying. Pope Benedict XVI insisted that gender theories supporting homosexuality are false and that the world must confront “the question of what it means to be a man, and what it is necessary to do to be true men.”

Continue reading “Pope Again Denounces Gay Marriage As Threat To Mankind” →

Criminal law, Media, Politics, Society

Texas Police Officer Suspended With Pay In Roadside “Cavity Search” Case

youtube-user-urbanwarfarechannel-screenshot.nWe previously discussed the lawsuit over what was described as a roadside cavity search conducted on two women by a Texas police officer in search of marijuana possession. The Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Kelly Helleson has now been suspended with pay as the police investigate the matter, which was caught on videotape. What I fail to understand is why, once again, nothing happened until the public rose up in anger over the absurd actions of the police. Moreover, there is no mention of the first officer who used the fact that Angel Hobbs, 38, had thrown a cigarette butt out of her window to interrogate the two women on possible pot use and then searched their car.

Continue reading “Texas Police Officer Suspended With Pay In Roadside “Cavity Search” Case” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

Let Them Eat Football: Oakland Fires One-Fifth Of Police Department Due To Budget Crisis . . . But Gives NFL and MLB Over $17 Million

115px-CA_-_Oakland_Police250px-Oakland_Raiders.svgOakland, California is in the midst of a crime wave and remains the fifth-most crime ridden city in America. Nevertheless, the city fired one-fourth of its police department — over 200 officers. However, in the latest example of the lunacy of public subsidies for professional football and baseball teams, the city is forking over $17.3 million for the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders and Major League Baseball’s Athletics. These owners are racking in huge profits but Oakland and other cities continue to subsidize the teams despite studies (here and here) showing that these teams do not bring in enough revenue to pay for the huge debt associated with new stadiums. However, the teams grab of millions from an economically crippled city explains why the team is called “the Raiders.”

Continue reading “Let Them Eat Football: Oakland Fires One-Fifth Of Police Department Due To Budget Crisis . . . But Gives NFL and MLB Over $17 Million” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics

Congress Posts Critical Copyright Report . . . Then It Vanishes

260px-capitol_building_full_viewWe have repeatedly discussed the absurdity of U.S. copyright laws and how law firms have become virtual thug patrols threatening average citizens with ruin over small copyright violations. President Obama has been repeatedly criticized for being in the pocket of “copyright hawks” and lobbyists who have used the Administration to increase the penalties and scope of these laws. The Congress has also been a virtual extension of industry groups and lobbyists in the area. For that reason, many people were shocked when Rep. Jim Jordan published a critical report entitled RSC Policy Brief: Three Myths about Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix it.” It was a strong condemnation of how these laws are not stifling creativity and various industries. It was the first such report anyone could remember that was not written by lobbyists for draconian copyright laws. Then it was gone. Gone. According to various sites, the eight page document was removed from the website. Some sites opined that the various industry groups saw it and quashed it — but not before some sites like the one below copied it.

Continue reading “Congress Posts Critical Copyright Report . . . Then It Vanishes” →

Bizarre, Congress, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Lieberman Calls For Action On Violent Video Games After Connecticut Murders

121217-adamLanza-vsmall.380;380;7;70;0220px-joe_lieberman_official_portrait_2Yesterday, we discussed how various people have used the massacre in Connecticut to call for everything from gun control to new social programs and prayer in school. Now, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a long advocate for censoring music and speech, added his own take: crackdown on violent video games. Lieberman described Adam Lanza of having a “hypnotic involvement” with the games and called on Congress to get involved.
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Military, Politics, Society

Farewell To Daniel Inouye

DKInew3Yesterday, a great man in this country passed: Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye. He was a GW grad, a war hero, and the U.S. Senate’s most senior member. Through the years, I had numerous occasions to sit down with Inouye and I liked him a great deal. He was to put it simply: a good man. He cared about people and was deeply worried about the direction of our political system for both parties. He was 88 and he will be missed. His last word was reportedly “Aloha” — both “hello” and “goodbye” in traditional Hawaiian.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

National Petition Drive Seeks To Strip Westboro Church Of Tax Exempt Status

180px-westboro_baptist_church_in_new_york_by_david_shankboneIt takes a lot to get most of us to give a Tinker’s damn for the homophobic extremists at the Westboro Baptist Church. However, the people may be close of doing just that. Citizens are passing around petitions to have the church declared a hate group and strip it of its tax exempt status. This type of political movement targeting an unpopular vote raises all types of alarms for civil libertarians. Declaring certain groups as “hate groups” by popular demand smacks of majoritarian dominance. It also reaffirms the concerns, which I have written about previously, that hate laws are increasingly being used to stifle free speech. It is equally troubling to find the petition on the White House website.

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Criminal law, Politics, Society

Send God, Guns, and Money: Sandy Hook Shooting Becomes Rallying Point For Political Advocates

praying_hands[1]300px-M4-TransparentThe murder of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary has spawned an array of commentary from calls for new gun controls to greater funding for mental illness in the United States. However, Fox commentator and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that the shooting was not surprising after the removal of prayer from public schools. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, did one better, he wished God ensured that Principal says Dawn Hochsprung had an M-4 assault rifle at the school before she was killed.
Continue reading “Send God, Guns, and Money: Sandy Hook Shooting Becomes Rallying Point For Political Advocates” →

Animals, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Bird Brained: Chicago Alderman Moves To Make Feeding Pigeons A Crime

220px-JCappleman250px-Rock_dove_-_natures_picsIt appears that Chicago has emerged wiped crime, the bad economy and the educational crisis. Even a district attorney who seems to spend much of her time stripping rights from citizens as opposed to locking up criminals appears to has appeared as a danger. The only issue left it appears for Ald. James Cappelman (46th) (my old ward in Chicago) is to criminalize feeding pigeons. That’s right, Cappelman wants to make feeding the bird a crime — joining a national movement toward the criminalization of annoying or commonplace acts that I have previously criticized in columns (here and here) and numerous blogs on the criminalization of using artificial turf to growing vegetable gardens to eating french fries in the subway. Politicians like Cappelman are turning America into a nation of felons as everyday acts are regulated through the criminal code.

Continue reading “Bird Brained: Chicago Alderman Moves To Make Feeding Pigeons A Crime” →

Criminal law, Justice, Politics

You Call This Justice? DOJ Criticized for Its Settlement with “Too Big to Jail” Bank HSBC

DeptofJusticeSubmitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

Federal officials appeared quite pleased with themselves earlier this week when they announced their $1.9 billion settlement with HSBC. HSBC, the world’s third largest bank, has been accused of laundering money for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels and clients with ties to terrorists.

Lanny Breuer
Lanny Breuer

In July, a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report about its probe into HSBC and its shady financial dealings. The subcommittee found that HSBC and its affiliates in the United States “exposed the U.S. financial system to a wide array of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing risks due to poor anti-money laundering (AML) controls.”

Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the subcommittee, said:

“In an age of international terrorism, drug violence in our streets and on our borders, and organized crime, stopping illicit money flows that support those atrocities is a national security imperative. HSBC used its U.S. bank as a gateway into the U.S. financial system for some HSBC affiliates around the world to provide U.S. dollar services to clients while playing fast and loose with U.S. banking rules. Due to poor AML controls, HBUS exposed the United States to Mexican drug money, suspicious travelers cheques, bearer share corporations, and rogue jurisdictions. The bank’s federal bank regulator, the OCC, tolerated HSBC’s weak AML system for years. If an international bank won’t police its own affiliates to stop illicit money, the regulatory agencies should consider whether to revoke the charter of the U.S. bank being used to aid and abet that illicit money.”

Continue reading “You Call This Justice? DOJ Criticized for Its Settlement with “Too Big to Jail” Bank HSBC” →

Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Science, Society, Supreme Court, Uncategorized

The Specious Roots of the Anti-Abortion Controversy

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

ImageI originally had a guest blog planned for today on a completely different topic, but I ran across an article in Friday’s Huffington Post, that changed my direction. Since I was a youth I have been aghast at the fact that I grew up in a country where such things as homosexuality and abortion were prohibited by law.  It seemed like this was too personal an interference by the State into the personal affairs of people and that this interference often ruined people’s lives. Then too, I grew up in New York State, where for so many years divorce was unobtainable leading to such ridiculousness as Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s wife having to establish Nevada residence in order to obtain a divorce from him. It seemed to me then, as it seems to me now, that religious dogma had no business invading our legal system.

Although there were many prior years of a movement building up in support of abolishing Abortion Laws, the decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade  was a breathtaking and welcome surprise. Immediately after, however, there started the blow-back against that decision that almost forty years later continues with fervor and intensity. The opposition cites “The Bible” as the source of their angry opposition and claims that their religion, as encoded in “The Bible” describes abortion as murder, with the life of the child beginning at fertilization. When they quote “The Bible” of course they mean the “New Testament” and what they call “The Old Testament”.  Jews actually don’t recognize the term “Old Testament”, to us it is called the “Torah”, since Jews believe that their “Torah” was never replaced by a “New Testament”. The anti-Abortionists need to cite the “Torah” for their beliefs, since the Gospels don’t discuss the abortion issue. Like much that exists in Christian Dogma today, there is a need to cite the “Torah” for their beliefs since there is no evidence in the Gospels that Jesus ever spoke on some matters. Christian “Torah” citation though is haphazard in that they choose what portions to recognize and what portions to ignore. The sentiments of those Christians against abortion are based in the “Torah”. What if their citation of this venerable book stemmed from an incorrect translation of it many, many centuries ago? If they cited it incorrectly in the first instance, doesn’t that destroy their whole argument that abortion is murder in God’s eyes, especially if the writers of the “Torah” never understood abortion to be murder? This is what I’d like to discuss. Continue reading “The Specious Roots of the Anti-Abortion Controversy” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics, Society

The Wrong Fight At The Wrong Time

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

ImageThe horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut have left us all with a sense of shock and helplessness. Twenty elementary school children dead, six educators slaughtered, and a place we all like to think of as a safe haven from the misery of the world polluted by horrific violence wrought  by weapons more properly used on a battlefield.  Politicians from President Obama to New York Mayor Bloomberg have called for “meaningful action” to combat gun violence which is endemic to America.

Continue reading “The Wrong Fight At The Wrong Time” →