In a rather shocking appeasement of anti-Muslim activists, Lowe’s home improvement store withdrew advertising from the reality show, “All-American Muslim,” a show featuring various Muslim families in the United States. The show is being targeted by the Florida Family Association as “dangerous” and Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock decided to yield to such prejudices in pulling out of the advertising on the show.
Continue reading “Lowe Blow: Retailer Bows To Anti-Muslim Campaign And Withdraws Advertising From TLC’s “All-American Muslim””
Category: Politics
Respectfully Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty(rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
Now that I have gotten over the Bears overtime loss to the Bronco’s, it is time for the Night Shift to get to work. I imagine that most of us remember the so-called “Gang of Fourteen” that came to prominence during the George W. Bush Administration. This group of Senators actually decided that the Senate should give all Judicial nominees an up or down vote in the full Senate except in some very extreme circumstances. “In 2005, a group of senators known as the “Gang of 14” determined that all judicial nominees should receive an up-or-down vote absent “extraordinary circumstances.” As Senator Lindsey Graham explained the agreement at the time,’ “ideological attacks are not an ‘extraordinary circumstance.’ To me, it would have to be a character problem, an ethics problem, some allegation about the qualifications of a person, not an ideological bent.” ‘ American Constitution Society It is a shame that the Gang of Fourteen, or at least the survivors of that group have decided that politics is more important than fairness! Continue reading “Filibusters Gone Wild”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger.
During the Cold War a phrase “The Enemy Within” became popular. It was a reference at first to Communist subversion exemplified by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt. Later it was used with other issues such as in Robert F. Kennedy’s book “The Enemy Within” which dealt with corruption in the Labor Movement, specifically Jimmy Hoffa and his teamsters. Recently, Michael Savage, right wing talk show host, wrote a book using that same title, though in this case referring to liberals and progressives as being seditious. The connotation of this phrase is that the group so labeled represents an internal movement that is so dangerous to the interests of the United States, that it can be seen as subversive.
Some may be shocked then by the title of this post. Almost all of us have grown up thinking of the Chamber of Commerce as a uniquely American Institution. Throughout the US whether in cities or in hamlets, the business community has banded together to promote local commerce and build interrelated networks. When we think of this, we think mainly of local small businesses, which are the backbone of this nation’s economy. To be honest until this week I’ve never give much thought to the Chamber of Commerce until as a MoveOn.com member I received a petition from an affiliated new organization called SumOfUs.
“SumOfUs is a brand-new global movement of consumers, investors and workers using our collective economic power for good. Together, we will work to hold the world’s corporations accountable to the public interest and move our global economic system towards social equity, democratic principles, and long-term sustainability.” http://googlequitthechamber.org/about/
The purpose of the petition was to get Google to follow the lead of other large corporations and quit the US Chamber of Commerce. The petition made various claims regarding the US Chamber of Commerce which I’ll deal with in this post.
However, I wouldn’t present this post without doing some research on the “Chamber” and its’ activity to look into the validity of the claims being made by the SumOfUs organization. In doing this research I came to realize that in my opinion the United States Chamber of Commerce is an organization that does not act in the best interests of this country and that one can call it subversive, even though it is not treasonous. These are my reasons for this belief. Continue reading “The US Chamber of Commerce, the Enemy Within?”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
If Republican Sen. Bill Heath’s bill, Senate Bill 293, is enacted the phrase “In God We Trust” will be printed in the area where the county name used to go. While many states sell, at an extra cost, specialty plate with the phrase, the Georgia plate will be the default plate.
Continue reading “Georgia Bill Will Put “In God We Trust” On All License Plates”
Yeshiva University has taken a step that appears to affirm that it is religious first and a university second. The school’s study body stripped an online student newspaper of funding over a column that discussed a sexual encounter between two students. The attack on free speech and free press occurred after the students rightfully refused to censure their own newspaper and writer. It is a shameful act by Yeshiva that puts the university squarely in the category of intolerant, orthodox institutions — a blow to many faculty and students who have struggled to make Yeshiva something more than a school teaching Jewish values.
Continue reading “Yeshiva University Strips Newspaper Of Funding For Standing Up For Journalistic Principle and Refusing To Retract Article”
We have previously discussed the assault on free speech around the world, including in the West. The Thai courts have added to this ignoble trend by sentencing American Joe Gordon, 55, to two and half years for “defaming” the Thai Royal Family. Defamation law is quite different in other countries, including close allies like Italy, France, and England, and often used to punish critics of the government. Gordon was convicted for simply posting a link to an unapproved biography of the King. It is an example of the outdated use of lese majesty offenses — offense against the dignity of a sovereign.
NewsMax CEO Christopher Ruddy’s cynical and sensational selection of Donald Trump to moderate the next presidential debate has backfired. Ruddy united conservative and liberal commentators and candidates in denouncing him and NewsMax for the obscene idea — with Ron Paul and Jon Hunstman leading the way in immediately refusing to participate in such a circus. Perry, and Romney were the next (rather belatedly) to refuse to participate. Bachmann has now also declined to participate on a program with look of The Apprentice and the dignity of the Jersey Wives. That leaves Santorum and Gingrich who have confirmed that they will appear with a carnival snake charmer to get on TV.
Continue reading “NewsMax Flames Out: Trump Debate Down To Gingrich and Santorum”
We have yet another blasphemy case. A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced Australian national Mansor Almaribe to 500 lashes and a year in jail for insulting Muhammad during prayers in a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Continue reading “Saudi Court Orders Australian To Be Flogged 500 Times For Insulting Mohammad — and Sent To Jail For One Year”
As if American politics could not become more “impulse buy” for fringe voters, Newt Gingrich has made a new pitch for ultra-conservative votes by filling one spot on this cabinet before securing the Republican nomination (a win that he recently said was virtually inevitable). Gingrich appeared before the Republican Jewish Coalition and promised to appoint former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to be his Secretary of State. Bolton is viewed internationally as a type of scary clown who repeatedly calls for military action over anything from missile developments in Iran to Canadian fishing trawlers off of Maine. Ok, he hasn’t called for a war against Canada, but he has been busy with demands for military strikes against other targets.
Continue reading “Our Next Secretary of State?”
This week, we witnessed an extraordinary appearance from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who told reporters that she has dirt on Newt Gingrich and would reveal at some later date — suggesting that the embarrassing disclosure would come from her service on an ethics review of Gingrich when he was House Speaker. I have been a long critic of Gingrich for some of his statements and policies, but I find Pelosi’s statements to be reprehensible and unethical. What concerns me, again, is the relative absence of criticism from Democrats who should show more principle in denouncing this type of politics.
Continue reading “Did Pelosi Violate House Rules or Commit Defamation In Claiming Dirt On Gingrich?”
It appears that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has found the secret to winning the hearts and minds of voters: invade their territory and install a corrupt pocket government. In the midst of widespread allegations of voting fraud by Putin’s United Russia and massive protests against the authoritarian Putin, the government has announced that United Russia secured a whopping 99.48 percent of the vote with 99.51 percent of the citizens voting. Of course, the chances of Putin discovering votes in Chechnya is about as likely as finding two ancient artifacts lying in the open on the ocean floor in his first scuba diva.
Continue reading “Chechnya Loves Putin: Russian Government Announces 99.5 Percent of Chechens Voted For Putin”
I have previously criticized Virginia Tech for its well-documented failures in the massacre of its students and faculty in 2007 while commending the actions of individuals like Professor Liviu Librescu who surpassed the school’s negligence with their own selfless heroism. One of the most outrageous aspects of the aftermath of the massacre was the use of ridiculously low liability caps of $100,000 in Virginia to deny recovery of reasonable damages by the families — and avoid full accountability over the school’s negligent conduct. Now the school is challenging a mere $55,000 fine for its negligence — a pittance in terms of the millions that it avoided through liability caps. While the school motto is Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), it views that in strictly non-monetary terms.
Continue reading “Virginia Tech Challenges $55,000 Fine For Negligence in 2007 Massacre”
We have been watching the national and international campaign by leaders against atheists, who appear to be fair game for hateful, ill-informed rhetoric. Even Newt Gingrich (who has been criticized for violating two oaths to God in having affairs while married) has campaigned on the need for any candidate to be faithful. Recent polls show these statements are playing to the majority bias against non-believers. Now, researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Oregon have released the results of a study that shows that religious people would just as soon trust a rapist as they would an atheist or non-believer.
Continue reading “Poll: Atheists Trusted As Much As . . . Rapists”
NewsMax succeeded against all odds this month in finding a way to actually lower the standard of American politics even further with an invitation to Donald Trump (reality television star and professional uber-egotist) to moderate the next presidential debate. Not surprisingly, only two candidates immediately declined on the grounds that the presidential office demands a modicum of dignity: Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. These two men continue to try to bring some level of principle to the debate and have been rewarded by being continually marginalized by the media. Newt Gingrich just accepted the invitation.
Continue reading “The Presidential Apprentice: NewsMax Selects Donald Trump To Moderate Next Presidential Debate”
The Senate of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has passed a new law that will impose 14-year sentences on citizens found to be homosexuals. In addition, anyone who aids or “abets” same-sex unions will face 10 years in prison. The latter provision seems directed at human rights groups that work to help gays and lesbians who often face violence and discrimination in the country.
Continue reading “Nigerian Legislators Pass New Law Imposing 14-Year Sentences For Homosexuality”