Category: Politics

Mandatory Health Care Provision Struck Down As Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia had struck down the centerpiece of the national health care plan: the mandatory requirement that all citizens get health care coverage. The lengthy 42-page opinion details how the law falls outside of interstate commerce jurisdiction — the concern that I previously voiced in a column.

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UC Berkeley Police Officers Allegedly Arrest Journalist for Taking Their Picture

We have yet another arrest of a citizen for simply photographing police officers. We have been following this trend of abusive arrests (here and here and here and here), which are tolerated by legislators and police officers in clear violation of constitutional rights and good public policy. David Morse, 42, is a photojournalist who was arrested when he took pictures of a protest. Two UC Berkeley police officers allegedly wrongfully arrested him for taking their pictures.

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Columbia Professor and Huff Post Blogger Accused of Incest

In academia, we often like to study and report on the crimes and controversies in society as if our world is separate and apart from matters. The arrest of well-known Columbia professor David Epstein, 46, has shattered any such illusions. Epstein, who teaches political science and writes for Huffington Post, is accused of incest –stemming from a sexual relationship with a relative over a three-year period. Some are reporting that it was a relationship with his daughter, 24.
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Night At With The Apollo

This clip has been widely shown of Vladimir Putin playing piano and singing “Blueberry Hill.”  Shown on various networks, it has been played with spans of the audience of thrilled actors and celebrities from the West. I must confess that, as a civil libertarian, I had a distinctly different reaction.  I hesitated to post the clip because I did not want to appear a Killjoy.  However, watching all of these American and European actors gush over Putin singing made me a bit ill.  Here is a guy who had destroyed democratic reforms in Russia, re-militarized his country, and incorporated the security services to every aspect of Russian life.  But he can sure belt out “Blueberry Hill” on a piano.

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The Curious Death of George Wythe: “I Am Murdered!”

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Author’s note: This is my third submission about events of historical significance following pieces about George Washington and The Boston Tea Party. It is quite lengthy and for that I apologize, but the story and the people involved are both larger-than-life and fascinating. I hope you enjoy reading  this history as much as I do writing about it.

Clutching the mahogany bannister of his elegant  home located in the Shockoe neighborhood of Richmond’s River District, the old man haltingly descended the steps. Sweating profusely, and  doubling up in pain, he could not even summon the energy to cry out. Almost falling numerous times, the  ‘father of American  jurisprudence,”  finally reached the kitchen only to find his freed-slave housekeeper, Lydia Broadnax, and her son, Michael Brown, writhing in distress and afflicted with the same intestinal ailment. Hours later when one of the triumvirate of Richmond’s elite medical establishment would arrive, the Judge would purposefully sit-up in his bed to declare, “I am murdered.” It was May 25, 1806. Fourteen agonizing days and numerous repetitions of the charge later, that prediction would come true.

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Ron Paul Speaks about Wikileaks on the Floor of the House

Recently, Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took to the floor of the House to talk about Wikileaks, transparency in government, and the case of Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and the New York Times. He spoke about how the Iraq War was based on lies.  He asked how the U. S. government should prosecute a citizen of Australia for publishing classified U. S. documents that he did not steal. Paul also said the following: “Revealing the real nature and goal of our presence in so many Muslim countries is a threat to our empire, and any revelation of this truth is highly resented by those in charge.”

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Crowd Screams “Off With Their Heads” As Prince Charles and Duchess Are Mobbed In Their Car


Prince Charles and his consort, the Duchess of Cornwall were attacked by a mob protesting tuition hikes screaming “Off With Their Heads” and “Tory Scum” on Thursday as seen in this extraordinary video. One protester reported was able to poke Camilla with a stick through a window left open by security.

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Child Abuses Allegations Hit The Orthodox Jewish Community

We have previously followed complaints from families in the Jewish Orthodox community that pedophiles continue to receive protection from disclosure or prosecution — even as the Catholic Church is forced to deal with its own scandal. This has come to another flashpoint with the hunt for Brooklyn Rabbi Gershon Kranczer and his 21-year-old son Asher for the sexual abuse of four family relatives.
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Jaws V: The Mossad Menace

I have always marveled how everything in the Middle East can be reduced to a conspiracy theory. This week, however, Egyptian authorities are exploring the possibility that the recent shark attacks in Sharm al-Sheikh were the result of Mossad using GPS technology to guide the sharks. That’s right, shark attacks at a beach resort so the Jews did it.
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Most Popular Pol Poll

A new Gallup poll ranks the popularity of American presidents, and taking the number one spot with an 85% approval rating is that “liberal” the conservatives love-to-hate, John F. Kennedy. The lore of Camelot “has legs” as they say, even to today’s generation. In close proximity with a 74% approval number, is that darling of the Right, Ronald Reagan. In the “Place” position, Bill Clinton has nudged out Jimmy Carter from last year. Carter still makes the top 10 with a sixth place showing.

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Fourteen-Year-Old Girl Marries Man in Malaysia in Latest Child Bride Case Under Sharia

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, families are celebrating the marriage of a young couple. Well, one of the couple is young by any measure. A 14-year-old girl, Siti Maryam Mahmod, has been married to a 23-year-old man in what we would classified as a case of obvious pedophilia in the United States. However, in Malaysia, intimate relations with a 14-year-old girl is called marriage rather than pedophilia.
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Whose Pal Are You Anyway? Company Cuts Off Financial Support for Wikileaks Through PayPal

The pressure continues to find ways to cut off support and access to WikiLeaks material. PalPal was the latest company to move against Wikileaks by cutting off the ability of people to make donations to support the whistleblower disclosures. The company waited until Friday (when coverage would be reduced) to make the move.
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