This video has people talking about whether Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, knowingly used the five-finger discount to take a ceremonial pen during a state visit to Chile — as 5 million people watched. You be the judge.
Continue reading “The Czech is in the Mail: Czech President Accused of Palming Pen”
Category: Politics
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Poets know how to say things best–and the best poets know how to pack a punch with their words, which are often quoted. As Samuel Taylor Coleridge once said: “I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of
prose and poetry; that is, prose,—words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order.”
When speaking, politicians don’t always use the best words. They tend toward uttering their “talking points” and “staying on message.” They are often caught off guard when someone asks them an unexpected question that they aren’t prepared to answer. Rick Santorum found himself in an awkward position recently. Santorum was speaking at an “ECON-101” Town Hall meeting-style event Thursday sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement at New England College in New Hampshire when he was tripped up by a student who asked him if he knew that his campaign slogan “Fighting to make America America again,” was borrowed from the “pro-union poem by the gay poet Langston Hughes.”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
It has been almost 4 years since the economy crashed in 2007, causing what some people have referred to as the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Since that time there has been little or no action on indicting the alleged participants in the cause of the disaster. Maybe now, that dismal record will change. Continue reading “Could Some Banksters be Going to Jail…Finally?”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The push by Republicans to deny funding of Planned Parenthood has been justified by citing the abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood. However, the contraceptives provided by Planned Parenthood prevent abortions. Cutting funding for contraception would actually
increase abortions.
Arizona legislators are again wading into national politics. With the controversial immigration bill moving toward the Supreme Court, House has passed a bill that would require all presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S. by producing their birth certificates. It is a bill that this clearly crafted to exclude the current documents produced to show the birth of President Barack Obama. I am currently scheduled to discuss this legislation with Lawrence O’Donnell tonight
Continue reading “Arizona Bill Would Require Proof of U.S. Birth For Presidential Candidates”
Tommy R. Bennett, a former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow Push Coalition and Barack Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council, has filed a wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against Jesse Jackson with Chicago’s Commission on Human Rights. It is scathing filing that alleges that Jackson routinely forces staffers to arrange (and clean up after) his trysts with women as well as other demeaning jobs. Jackson previously had to admit in 2001 to an affair with staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley. He swore that he had again found God and the Rainbow Coalition paid Stanford money to resolve the scandal.
Well, it now appears we are at war for regime change after all. President Barack Obama joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a rare article appearing in International Herald Tribune, Le Figaro, and Times of London to say that they will not accept anything less than changing the government in Libya. We are now officially parties in a civil war to overthrow a government — without a declaration of war from Congress.
Continue reading “It is About Regime Change After All: Obama Changes Rationale for Libyan War Once Again And Demands Libyans Change Their Government As A Condition For Ending Combat Operations”
Forbes Magazine today condemned President Barack Obama for his choice of a location for his speech on national debt: George Washington University. Staff writer David Whelan objects that the school is the most expensive college in the nation but Forbes ranks it only as the 291st best college. While I agree that tuition at this school and other schools is too high, the ranking by Forbes is absurd and is not followed, as far as I can tell, by anyone other than Forbes staff writers.
With all of the stimulus floating around, no one can give Vice President Joe Biden a cup of coffee? A cup of Joe, anyone?
Continue reading “In Need of Stimulus: Biden Naps Through Obama’s Budget Speech”
Texas state Rep. Leo Berman (R) has finally acted to combat one of the biggest threats to Texans. No it is not pollution, unemployment, or crime. It is Sharia law. Following 15 other states, he has introduced a bill to ban state court from considering religious or cultural law — an ill-conceived legislative initiative advanced by counterparts in Oklahoma.
Continue reading “Texas Legislator Introduces Anti-Sharia Law To Protect Texans From Islamic Hegemony”
There is a report by Pro Publica that has not received the attention that it deserves. The group looked at charges against BP and found gross overcharges that would seem to constitute nothing short of fraud — including charges by the parish sheriff. They are listed as the new “spillionaires” who cleaned up while others were suffering from the spill.
Senator James Inhofe (R, Ok.) has remained the world’s most staunch critic of global warming — refusing even minor concessions on curbing pollution to reduce the danger. He appears to follow the same blind approach to flying. New released documents from the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that Inhofe intentionally landed landed his Cessna on a closed runway at a south Texas airport. The move reportedly endangered construction workers who had to scatter from his path as he “hopped” over them and at least six vehicles.
Continue reading “Senator Inhofe Allowed To Keep License After Landing on Construction Site and Almost Killing Workers”
A senior United Nations official is condemning a country’s refusal to allow the UN to speak to an alleged whistleblower being abused by the government. The same government recently fired a high-ranking official who denounced the treatment of the whistleblower and has openly defied international treaties requiring the prosecution of officials responsible for a torture program. Syria? Iran? China? Of course not. It is the United States of America and the administration of Barack Obama.
The hate speech trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders has resumed today amid some serious questions over the impartiality of the judge who overruled the prosecutors and a trial judge who had decided to drop the case. I have long been a critic of these blasphemy prosecutions, particularly in the West. However, these concerns are even greater in light of the actions of appeals judge Tom Schalken.
Continue reading “Blasphemy Prosecution: Wilders Trial Resumes Over Limits On Free Speech”
The International Monetary Fund has finally stated the obvious: the United States lacks any “credible strategy” to stabilize its mounting debt — and our lack of restraint is now posing a threat to the world economy. The IMF does not mention President Obama’s decision to launch a third war and spend billions in Libya.
Continue reading “IMF: United States Lacks Credibility on Debt Reduction”