This week involved not one but two leading lawyers nailed for shoplifting. In Wichita, Troy Ellis the former chief counsel at Invista was forced to resign after filmed allegedly stealing food from the company cafeteria. In the meantime, in Utah, former prosecutor Gary Guymon (left) was arrested for stealing a necklace from a jewelry shop at a resort.
Continue reading “Two Leading Lawyers Face Shoplifting Allegations in Two Separate Cases”
Category: Politics
Erie Police Chief Steve Franklin has a remarkably distorted view of good police work. After Erie Police officer James Cousins II, 40, in Pennsylvania was shown on a video joking about a murder and tasering someone in an unrelated case, Franklin said it was entirely appropriate to assign Cousins to participate in his own investigation and to find the person who posted his drunken boasting on the Internet.
Continue reading “Video: Police Officer Shown on Drunken Video Joking About Murder and Tasering Suspect — Later Assigned to His Own Investigation”
Finally, an Olympic event in which I could compete.
Continue reading “Synchronized Sleeping — The New Olympic Sport”
U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak has gone public with a stinging indictment of President Barack Obama’s failure to investigate and prosecute officials for the American torture program, a clear war crime under existing treaties. Obama is in open violation of international law due to his failure to uphold the clear legal and moral obligations of this country.
Continue reading “United Nations Official Strongly Suggests That Obama Is In Violation International Law in Refusing to Investigate War Crimes”
One of the more shocking revelation from the May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003. Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002. Unless I am missing something, that would mean that that KSM was tortured roughly six times a day.
Continue reading “Memo: Bush Administration Tortured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 Times”
An American journalist Roxana Saberi, 31, has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison after a closed door trial.
Continue reading “American Journalist Roxana Saberi Given Eight Year Sentence in Iran”
Bradford Campeau-Laurion is suing over his being ejected from Yankee Stadium for getting up to go to the bathroom during the singing of God Bless America. He is claiming political and religious discrimination.
The family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has long been criticized for treating King’s legacy as a private cash machine. The family members have been routinely seen in court fighting over money and suing others to give them a cut of any use of his name or likeness. Now, in a positively outrageous act, the King family is demanding $800,000 for the right of a foundation to use King’s image and words for a monument on the National mall. The solution is simple: stop the monument. If any money is paid to the King family, it would be a public outrage.
The newly released torture memos reveal the comprehensive and premeditated character of America’s torture program. It also highlights the shameful role of now Judge Jay Bybee, who distorts the current law in the area to justify a clear war crime. In the meantime, former administration officials have called the release a danger to national security. I discussed the memos onthis segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “New Torture Memos Reveal Details of America’s Torture Program”
The President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo is facing an interesting paternity lawsuit. It is bad enough when your country’s president is charged with fathering a child with a then 16 year old girl. It is even worse if you were the Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo at the time.
Continue reading “Father of His Church and Country: Paraguay President Sued in Paternity Action”
To his credit, President Barack Obama has rejected efforts at the CIA and National Security Council to prevent the disclosure of memos detailing torture techniques. However, the statement below appears to lay the groundwork for a decision to block any investigation into war crimes. While insisting at we are a “nation of laws,” Obama seems to refer to enforcing those laws as acts of “retribution.” It is a position that is strikingly similar to the view of pro-Taliban leaders in Pakistan who have blocked war crimes prosecutions in that country. In the meantime, Attorney General Eric Holder has promised that no CIA employee who tortured detainees will be prosecuted. I discussed the memos on this segment of Rachel Maddow.
Continue reading “Obama Orders Release of Secret Memos But Strongly Signals That He Will Block Any War Crimes Investigation”
Saudi Arabia has been hit with a torrent of criticism over the practice of arranged marriages involving children often ten or even younger. In a spasm of reform, Justice Minister Muhammad Issa has now announced a major reform: the government will “regulate” such marriages to avoid abuse. Of course, this is like saying that you will regulate pedophilia to guarantee that it is not abusive.
A new report establishes that the National Security Agency’s violations of federal law are much broader in scope than previously known, including the interception without warrants of the emails and telephone calls of American citizens. Once again, the question is where the congressional intelligence committee were during these continued violations and why citizens should place any trust in members who are tasked with the oversight of these programs.
Facing a tough challenge in his primary for reelection, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has taken up a curious new campaign slogan: Secession. In the audio tape below, Perry threatened that Texas reserved the right to secede from the Union in when it became a state in 1845. While Perry’s call for secession is likely to be echoed by many liberals across the country who have long criticized the state’s politics and politicians like George W. Bush, it may be a bit early to buy those Republic of Texas license plates and exchange your currency.
Continue reading “Republic of Texas: Governor Raises the Prospect of Secession From the Union”
In a rare demonstration, 300 women marched in Kabul to protest a new law that legalized marital rape and restricts the ability of women to leave their homes. Over three times the number of counter-demonstrators formed in response and showered the women with stones. Some reportedly shouted “Death to the slaves of the Christians.”
Continue reading “Afghan Women Pelted With Stones During Protest of Law Legalizing Marital Rape”