American Insurance Group executives have been ridiculed for spending $440,000 for entertaining themselves at a spa only days after receiving $85 billion in a public bailout. It appears that they have gotten the message. They went hunting partridges instead in England at a cost of $86,000. That is over three times the average income of the American citizens bailing them out for poor business decisions.
Continue reading “A Huntin’ We Will Go: AIG Throws Itself a Hunting Party After the Public Bailout”
Category: Politics
Previously classified memos from the White House confirm that torture was directly approved at the highest level of the government. The Administration has previously suggested that it rescinded the infamous torture memo signed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and treated that memorandum as an aberrant mistake. However, it is now confirmed that the White House approved a known form of torture to be used on detainees.
Continue reading “White House Directly Approved Torture in Newly Disclosed Memos”
Republican officials in the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, New York are insisting that a typographical error led to absentee ballots being sent to at least 300 voters giving them the choice of either voting for John McCain or “Barack Osama.” Worse yet, if a voter corrected the spelling, the vote is nullified.
The on-going (never-ending?) prosecution of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has taken a bizarre twist as a serious disagreement between justices has broken into the open. Justice Jan Patterson, a Democrat, is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene after she accused Chief Justice Ken Law, a Republican (first picture), of refusing to file her dissent in a case looking at the possible bias of fellow Justice Alan Waldrop, also a Republican (third picture).
Former New York State Republican Assemblyman and National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Chris Ortloff has been arrested for attempting to lure a minor into having sex with him. Ortloff is currently on the state parole board and was arrested at a hotel in Colonie, N.Y.by the New York State Police Internet Crimes Task Force. He allegedly was trying to set up a sexual encounter with fictitious 11- and 12-year-old sisters.
Continue reading “Former Journalist and Politician Arrested In New York for Attempted Sex With Minor”
There is an interesting feud in San Francisco after first-grade students to the wedding of their Lesbian teacher’s wedding. Opponents of same-sex marriage object that this is a major religious and political controversy and that the event (where students threw rose petals on teacher Erin Carder and her now wife Kerri McCoy) was “indoctrination.”
The Democrats may have just lost a seat that was going for them. Florida Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney, who replaced Mark Foley after his page scandal, is now embroiled in his own sex scandal. That is fast work for a politician. Foley only resigned in 2006. In D.C., it usually takes an average of three years for members in engage in a lobbyist scandal, five years for a sex scandal and ten years for a criminal conspiracy.
The New York Times has an interesting profile of the man who is credited with fueling the false stories that Obama is a Muslim. What has been astonishing for many of us is that being a Muslim would even be an issue — even if it were true. What is even more astonishing is the man who has appeared on national television pandering this story. Andy Martin, 62, is someone barred from a court for frivolous lawsuits, barred from becoming a practicing lawyer for mental problems, and accused of hateful and antisemitic ravings in the past. He was just on Fox News as part of a story on Obama’s possible secret Muslim identity.
Continue reading “Meet Andy Martin: The Man Behind the Obama is a Muslim Rumors”
When the military tribunals were being created at Guantanamo Bay, some of us publicly stated that we would not take cases because the rules written by the Administration were fundamentally unfair and did not recognize core principles of due process. Since then, there have been a steady stream of prosecutors and defense lawyers in the military who have resigned in protest. The latest is Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld, who decided that he could no longer live with himself as a person or an attorney to participate in such a sham legal system.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has filed an important case. On Friday, the group filed a lawsuit on behalf of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. The charity was founded in 2002 after the Administration shutdown other Muslim charities, including the very controversial action taken against the Holyland Foundation. Now, the Administration has frozen this charity “pending investigation.” It appears that any major Muslim charity is presumptively frozen by this Administration in a trend that should be the subject of a congressional hearing.
Continue reading “Lawsuit Filed to Unfreeze Assets of Muslim Charity”
Many Americans have been taken aback by the racist and hatred seen at recent McCain/Palin rallies from calls to “kill him” to openly racist displays. This guy attended a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania with a stuffed monkey with a Barack Obama bumper sticker on its forehead. As shown in this video, he seems to see the video camera and quickly removed the sticker and gives it to a child. The family said that they did not know the man.
In another flagrant violation of international law and human rights, Iran is set to execute Ramdin Soodmand for the crime of converting from Islam. Sharia law mandates such punishment and Islamic countries continue to apply the penalty despite the fact that it violates core international principles. Indeed, Rashin’s father was executed eighteen years ago previously for the same Sharia crime.
Continue reading “Iran Set to Execute Another Christian for Converting From Islam”
In a major civil liberties ruling, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that gay and lesbian couples have the right to get married. While conservatives like Sarah Palin have insisted that we should leave questions like abortion to the states, this ruling is likely to increase calls for a federal constitutional amendment to prevent states from deciding the question as a matter of federalism.
Continue reading “Connecticut Rules In Favor of Same-Sex Marriage”
A bipartisan investigation has found that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as Alaska’s governor and violated state ethics law. The allegations stem from effort to get Palin’s ex-brother-in-law fired from the state police. While Palin originally agreed to cooperate with the investigation, she refused to comply with a lawful subpoena issued by a bipartisan committee once she became a national candidate. She now represents something of a novelty. While Dick Cheney was accused of various forms of federal violations, he waited until he was in office to start breakin’ the law. Palin is now running for the second highest constitutional office in the land while refusing a valid subpoena and facing a finding of ethical violations in office.
Continue reading “As the Waters Rise, McCain Keeps Palin’: Running Mate Found Guilty of Ethical Violations But Will Remain on Ticket”
The video of “Obama Youth — Junior Fraternity Regiment” (shown below) has become a favorite of the Internet. The video is the work of a middle school teacher in Kansas City, Mo. and shows kids in military uniforms addressing “President Obama” and chanting his “yes, we can” campaign line.
Continue reading “No, We Can’t: Missouri Teacher Suspended Over “Obama Youth” Video”