Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has admitted that he was romantically involved with a former staffer when he recommended her earlier this year to become the next U.S. attorney for Montana. Baucus only recently separated from his second wife, Ty Matsdorf, and had a romantic relationship with his former staffer Melodee Hanes starting in the summer of 2008. He nominated her for the appointment in March but they later agreed to withdraw the nomination when they moved into the same house.
Category: Politics
Iran has continued its crackdown on critics domestically and internationally. It has sentenced protesters to death over the demonstrations contesting the presidential elections. It has also reportedly created a unit to monitor critics abroad and threatened students on Facebook. Others have been forced to surrender their access codes at airports to allow police to review their sites.
Continue reading “Big Mullah is Listening: Iran Threatening Critics on Facebook and Other Internet Sites”
The twenty-two-year old called Foxy Knoxy, Amanda Knox, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 26 years in an Italian prison. Her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Meredith Kercher was killed Nov. 1, 2007 in the cottage she shared with Knox.
Continue reading “Amanda Knox Found Guilty of Murder and Sentenced to 26 Years in Prison”
Answer: Macaca . . . Question: What single word ended the career of a United States Senator? That is one question that Shekar Ramanuja (S.R.) Sidarth would likely nail on Monday when he appears on Jeopardy. Sidarth is the student who brought down Senator George Allen in Virginia when Allen referred to him as Macaca — a racial slur in South Africa and other countries. Sidarth is of Indian descent. He is one of my current students in torts. [Update: Sidarth came in second].
Continue reading “GW Law Student to Compete on Jeopardy This Monday”
Georgia’s House Speaker Glenn Richardson ran on a family values platform as a Republican, but has been embroiled in a scandal involving his alleged affair with a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas and Light. He later tried to commit suicide and now has resigned after his ex-wife came forward with alleged proof of the affair.
Continue reading “Pressing the Flesh: Georgia House Speaker Resigns Amid Sex Scandal With Lobbyist”
Col. Van T. Barfoot, 90, is one of the nation’s oldest Medal of Honor winners but has found himself in another desperate struggle: against his neighborhood association. Barfoot put up a 21-Foot flagpole to hoist Old Glory only to be told by the Sussex Square homeowners’ association that he will be sued if he does not take down the flagpole. It appears that the flagpole is a bit too flagrant a display for the “aesthetics” of the association.
Continue reading “Barfoot and Flagrant: War Hero Fights For Right to Fly Flag”
In the Book of Genesis, the tree of knowledge was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) from which God directly forbade Adam to eat (Genesis 2:17). In Philadelphia, religious advocates would prefer that it not be seen, let alone touched. The tree of knowledge is an atheist display showing books (including the Bible) as part of secular humanist values. The tree has been vandalized and hit with a series of harassing demands. These include that the 18 foot tree be cut down to ten feet — since no display can be higher than the Christmas tree. Officials also declared that the creche won a “first come, first served” status — allowing them to move the tree to a less visible spot.
It is enough to make you blush, but don’t . . . it’s against the rules. The medieval troglodyte known as the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a new directive. The state television authority has announced that it will bar any women wearing makeup from appearing on television as well as unIslamic “abnormal” music.
Continue reading “Seeing Rouge: Iran Bans Women With Makeup From Television”
There is a disturbing case out of Orlando, Florida involving a curious ruling on child support. John Nelson is a father who had lost his six-figure salary as a software executive. Nelson secured a lower paying job as a teacher to support himself and pay his child support. He waited a year to get a hearing before Family law Judge Julian Piggotte to reduce his $2200 monthly payments in light of his lower income. Instead, Piggotte increased the payments and left Nelson with just $200 a month to survive. She then recused herself because her husband works with Nelson’s ex-wife at the state attorney’s office.
Continue reading “Father Loses Job, Seeks Reduction in Child Support So Florida Judge Increases Payments By $300 and Then Recuses Herself for a Conflict”
Usually privilege fights focus on testimony of White House staffers on conversations with President or military and state secrets. President Barack Obama, however, has invoked the separation of powers to block the testimony of Desiree Rogers, the White House Social Secretary, on the recent controversy over Michaele and Tareq Salahi. It appears that nothing less than Article II and the integrity of the Executive Branch is at stake in hearing from someone who arranges parties for the First Couple.
There is an interesting torts suit stemming from the pirating of the Maersk Alabama in the Gulf of Aden. Crew members are now accusing the celebrated captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, of causing the incident by ignoring repeated warnings to sail around the area after earlier pirate attacks.
Continue reading “Crew Member Sues Maersk Over Hijacking of Vessel By Pirates”
Many conservative pundits are up in arms over MSNBC host Chris Matthews calling West Point the “enemy camp.” However, what has been ignored is the impact on the status of Gen. Benedict Arnold.
Continue reading “Benedict Arnold Cleared! West Point Found to Be Enemy Camp”
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barraga, Mexican Cardinal and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the Roman Catholic Church, has declared that there are no homosexuals or transsexuals in heaven. If they want heaven, they have to change their sexual partners to members of the opposite sex.
Continue reading “Cardinal: No Gays Go To Heaven”
One of the most famous federal judges in the country lashed out at the New York Police Department this week, accusing the department of a proven record of “widespread falsification by arresting officers.” The criticism came with Judge Jack Weinstein’s decision not to throw out a lawsuit by two men busted on false narcotics charges, Maximo Colon and his brother Jose Colon. We previously discussed this arrest.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Criticizes NYPD For “Widespread Falsification” of Arrest Reports”
There is an interesting tort case out of Minnesota where a mother mistakingly received a return letter stamped “DECEASED” after she wrote to her son serving in Iraq. Joan Najbar is a critic of the war and is suing the military for negligent infliction of emotional distress and other claims. Her son, Sam Eininger, was serving with the National Guard in Iraq in 2006 and was very much alive.