With Sen. Ted Stevens (R. Alaska) and Rep. Don Young (R. Alaska) both asking to create funds to allow contributors to help pay for their legal defenses on corruption charges, Sen. David Vitter (R.La) wants to go one step further — to use actual campaign funds. It doesn’t seem to matter that voters thought that they were giving money to help a senatorial candidate, not a busted john.
Category: Politics
As if to fulfill the worst stereotypes of itself, the International Olympic Committee issued a statement today insisting that there is no evidence of any falsification of the age of Chinese gymnasts — citing the simple fact that they have valid Chinese passports. This is also the first indication that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been put on the IOC. In the meantime, the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) — the organization will do the investigation — has previously said that a passport is all that is required to “prove” age despite prior falsifications of that very document.
Continue reading “FIG leaf? The OIC Insists That There is No Evidence of Underaged Chinese Gymnasts”
The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into the mounting evidence of an official campaign by the Chinese government to falsify the age of gold medalist He Kexin. Recently uncovered Chinese documents reinforce the widespread view that China has lied to the OIC and, again, altered government documents to qualify an underaged athlete.
Continue reading “Formal Investigation Launched into Age of Chinese Gymnast He Kexin”
A U.S. hacker has gained access to closed Chinese documents that allegedly prove what has long been alleged: China is lying about the ages of its gymnastic team. The documents relate to He Kexin, who edged out American Nastia Liukin for the gold on uneven bars. The disclosure is the work of “Stryde,” a computer security expert for the New York-based Intrepidus Group. The site Stryde Hax revealed a detailed forensic search for He’s age. Stryde was identified by Information Week as Mike Walker.
Continue reading “U.S. Hacker Hits Gold: Documents Appear to Confirm Falsified Ages of Chinese Gymnast”
Police in Denver are now authorized by the city council to arrest people who are found carrying feces or urine for nefarious purposes. Denver officials are expected protesters at the convention and have adopted an openly hostile attitude toward such demonstrations. Indeed, they might want to read today’s story on how the Chinese handle such nuisances at great events like the Olympics, here.
Continue reading “Denver Bans the Carrying of Feces and Urine for Nefarious Purposes”
In a further demonstration of China’s complete failure to honor its promises on the treatment of protests, two elderly women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, are facing a year of “reeducation through labor” because they applied for permits to demonstrate during the Olympics.
Andrew Carter thought that he was performing a public duty when he photographed an English police officer going the wrong way down a one-way street. Officer Aqil Farooq did not agree — upon seeing Farooq, he jumped out of the van, knocked the camera to the ground, handcuffed and arrested Carter. Carter was then taken in the very same van to jail.
Under Senate ethics rules, a Senator can establish a legal expense fund and accept contributions if it is related to his “official duties.” Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has asked the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to approve such a fund to help him defend himself against claims that he sold his official duties to the highest bidder. He is not alone. His equally ethically challenged colleague, Don Young (R-Alaska) has created such a fund to help him fight allegations of corrupt practices.
Today, the New York Times ran a book review that I wrote on The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power by Jonathan Mahler. The book details the development of the Hamdan case, which ultimately ended in the Supreme Court with a defeat for the Bush Administration.
Continue reading “How a Jihadist Curtailed a President’s Authority”
God may be technically an independent, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that he is the power behind the selection of Barack Obama as our leader. It was God who “blessed us” with the elevation of Obama — a remark that seems designed to justify a controversial video below on Obama being divinely chosen for good or evil.
Afghan justice was once again on display with a recent visit of journalists who visited a women’s prison in Lashkar Gah where two-thirds of the women were convicted of illegal sex offenses with many simply being victims of rape.
Continue reading “Afghan Justice: Rape Victims Jailed for Illegal Sexual Contacts”
From pollution to crackdowns on reporters, the Olympics have served to highlight many of the aspects of Chinese life that officials wanted to conceal. Now, a group of American Christians are refusing to leave an airport after the Chinese seized hundreds of bibles in their luggage. A custom official insists that they are merely “taking care” of the Bibles for them.
Continue reading “China “Taking Care” of Hundreds of Bibles Seized at Airport”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has come under increasing attack for the brutish approach that it has taken to deportation cases, often refusing medical care and coercing people to waive their rights. In the case of Chinese computer engineer Hiu Lui Ng, the abuses may have killed him.
Continue reading “The ICE Man Cometh: ICE Sends Notice to Wrong Home, Then Arrests Him for Failiure to Respond, and Holds Him Until He Dies From Untreated Cancer”
Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht was required to appear before the Texas Ethics Commission on a new ethics charge: that a substantial discount given to him by a Texas firm resulted in a violation of campaign finance laws. Hecht had raked up $440,000 in legal fees in defending himself against charges that he violated judicial ethics when he advocated the selection of Harriet Miers for the United States Supreme Court.
Continue reading “Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht Charged with New Ethics Violation”
In Andalusia, Alabama, Covington County Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan has struggled to find ways to interject his faith into court proceedings. He had the Ten Commandments embroidered on his robe and,
as discussed earlier he asked the parties and staff in his courtroom to join in a prayer circle during a hearing earlier this year. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed ethics charges against him over the incident.
Continue reading “Ethics Charges Filed Against Praying Alabama Judge”