Category: Society

Bizarre, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

A Penny For My Thoughts: How The Right Uses Paid Commenters to Manipulate Public Opinion And Trash Free Speech

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Blogger

Fascinating book out by NPR media reporter, David Folkenflik, entitled Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires that explores the strange world of publisher Rupert Murdoch. Gobbler of such English-speaking newspapers as The News of The World, The Sun, The Wall Street Journal, and The Times, Murdoch is mostly known for his media collaboration with Roger Ailes in the development and promotion of Fox News, the Right’s mouthpiece of choice. Until his inglorious dismount from credibility in the London Phone Hacking scandal where a Murdoch newspaper employee was convicted of hacking the telephone voice mails of murdered British teenager, Milly Dowler, Murdoch had personified all that is unseemly about tabloid journalism. The personification of Charles Foster Kane, Murdoch fed the Right the red meat of dissention blending news with opinion and relying on practices that were criticized by honest journalists (even conservative ones) around the world calling it right-leaning tabloidism (here).

Continue reading “A Penny For My Thoughts: How The Right Uses Paid Commenters to Manipulate Public Opinion And Trash Free Speech” →

Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Predicting Obama: Is The Right Ever Right?

By Mark Esposito, Weekend Blogger

I have been reading about the latest Breitbart-inspired dire prediction of the nefarious ( and possibly illegal) machinations of the Obama Administration. You know “Green Paper-Gate.” It’s the one where the conservative blog, Breitbart,  reports that a draft solicitation proposal for purchase of green paper issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services definitely means that the Obama Administration is secretly planning a massive amnesty campaign of undocumented aliens. And, worse still,  that it’s keeping that secret until after the mid-term elections as a boon to Democratic candidates. I went back and took a look at the proposal and here is the offending language: “The requirement is for an estimated 4 million cards annually with the potential to buy as many as 34 million cards total. The ordering periods for this requirement shall be for a total of five (5) years.” A draft RFP issued a few days later contains the same language but adds the following: “In addition, the Contractor shall demonstrate the capability to support potential “surge” in PRC and EAD card demand for up to 9M cards during the initial period of performance to support possible future immigration reform initiative requirements.” You can view the proposal (here) and the RFP (here) and then read all the GSA bureaucratic verbiage for yourself. Have a good time.

Continue reading “Predicting Obama: Is The Right Ever Right?” →

Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

U.S. Kurds To Stage Mock Sex Slave Auction and Begin Hunger Strike At White House

Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

kurdish-national-congress-grieving-womanMembers of the Kurd Community residing in the United States will host a demonstration to draw attention to the plight of Yezidi and Christian women in Iraq and Syria suffering and persecuted at the hands of ISIS.

Reportedly beginning at 10:00am on Monday, October 27, members of the Kurdish Diaspora will begin a five-day hunger strike at Lafayette Park across from the White House, culminating with a march to the White House and a demonstration on Friday, October 31 from 12:00-3:00pm. The procession will include a mock Islamic State (IS) slave market, exhibiting the humanitarian disaster being faced by thousands of Yezidi and Christian women and girls currently being held captive by IS in Iraq and Syria.

Continue reading “U.S. Kurds To Stage Mock Sex Slave Auction and Begin Hunger Strike At White House” →

Politics, Society

Seattle Requiring Medical Marijuana Dispensaries To Obtain State License In Order To Remain In Business: The Problem, No Such License Exists

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Entreating the GodfatherIn another example of the bureaucratic disarray shackling the recreational and medical marijuana industry in Washington State, the City of Seattle sent a warning letter to over three hundred medical marijuana dispensaries requiring them to obtain a state license for medical marijuana by next summer or face closure. The problem is Washington does not license medical marijuana dispensaries.

Continue reading “Seattle Requiring Medical Marijuana Dispensaries To Obtain State License In Order To Remain In Business: The Problem, No Such License Exists” →

Congress, Media, Politics, Society

Less Than Earnest: White House Calls CBS “Crazy” In Asking For Confirmation Of Immigration Plans After Reports Of Massive Preparation For Post-Election Change

President_Barack_ObamaWe have been discussing the extraordinary and public decision of President Barack Obama to withhold any information on his promised changes in immigration until after the election. While immigration remains one of the most important issues of this election, Obama officials have admitted to preparing for the changes while refusing to give any details or even summaries of what is being planned, as we discussed again yesterday. There has been surprisingly little hard reporting on the decision to withhold this information from voters until after they have voted. However, yesterday White House CBS reporter Major Garrett broke from the mainstream pack and pressed White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on a report that the Administration has order material for a “surge” of immigration IDs of up to 9 million in one year. Ernest called the questions “crazy” and encouraged everyone not to speculate . . . before the election obviously.

Continue reading “Less Than Earnest: White House Calls CBS “Crazy” In Asking For Confirmation Of Immigration Plans After Reports Of Massive Preparation For Post-Election Change” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

The New Spousal Immunity Defense? Justice Department Reportedly Invokes Executive Privilege Over Holder’s Communications With Wife Related To Fast and Furious Controversy

holderericThere is a new release out of Judicial Watch, which has been meeting with success in its effort to defeat extreme privilege assertions by the Obama Administration in seeking records related to the infamous Operation Fast and Furious. The Obama Administration has been repeatedly criticized for expansive claims of presidential power and privilege. I have been one of those critics. A federal court has expressed growing impatience and even anger with the Administration’s claims and obstruction — recently ordering production of evidence over the vehement objections of the Justice Department. However, nothing likely prepared them for what they claim is the privileges asserted on the “Vaughn index” produced by the Justice Department. The Administration is now reserving the claim of executive privilege over emails between Attorney General Holder and his wife Sharon Malone – as well as his mother. That’s right, executive privilege over communications with your family. It captures the lack of any sense of limitation or logic to the Obama Administration’s view of presidential power, which now overshadows the claims not just of George W. Bush but Richard Nixon.

Continue reading “The New Spousal Immunity Defense? Justice Department Reportedly Invokes Executive Privilege Over Holder’s Communications With Wife Related To Fast and Furious Controversy” →

Criminal law, Media, Society

Report: Brown Was Not Shot With His Hands In The Air

1408390089660_Image_galleryImage_Officer_DARREN_WILSON_pic1408392017717_Image_galleryImage_Piaget_Crenshaw_who_livesMore evidence is emerging supporting Ferguson officer Darren Wilson’s claims in the shooting of Michael Brown. The most recent story states that Brown did not have his hands up in the air, as supporters have long claimed, when he was shot. The image of people holding her hands in the air has become the unifying symbol of case and the new evidence represents a new contradiction of the account of Brown’s friend, Dorian Johnson, who insisted that Brown was not shot in a struggle in the car and was shot with his hands in the air.

Continue reading “Report: Brown Was Not Shot With His Hands In The Air” →

Criminal law, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Viral Video Showing New York Police Profiling Arab Men Revealed As Hoax

videoguysRecently, a YouTube video caused outrage after two filmmakers showed how they were subject to raw and insulting profiling by a New York police officer as Arabs. They posted the video and called for people to rise up against such profiling. The problem is that it turns out to be a hoax. Adam Saleh and Sheikh Akbar appear to have staged the entire scene. They have now achieved the very opposite of their intentions. They have undermined efforts to show that profiling is a serious and prevalent problem. Instead, many in the future may question the legitimacy of future stories or videos — much like the equally juvenile antics of the National Report that we have discussed previously.

Continue reading “Viral Video Showing New York Police Profiling Arab Men Revealed As Hoax” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Pakistani Court Upholds Death Sentence For Mother of Five Who Was Accused Of Insulting Mohammad

We have previously discussed the outrageous case of Asia Bibi who is the latest victim of a death sentence under the medieval Sharia law system imposed in Muslim countries — sentenced to death for insulting Mohammad. Now, a court in Lahore upheld the verdict and affirmed the death sentence for the 50-year-old motion of five. She said that her nightmare began when she took a drink of water from a bucket being used by Muslim women. As a Christian, she was viewed as unclean and the women assailed her and later accused her of saying something insulting to Mohammad. Not only did leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan support her execution but one offered a reward for any faithful Muslim to murder her.

Continue reading “Pakistani Court Upholds Death Sentence For Mother of Five Who Was Accused Of Insulting Mohammad” →

Bizarre, Society

Thank You For Voting [Democratic]: Illinois Voting Machine Changes Republican Votes Into Democratic Votes

votingtouchscreenAs a Chicago native, I am often faced with references to dead people voting and rigged elections. Unfortunately, having grown up under the original Daley machine, they are largely true. My parents helped found the Independent Voter movement and documented some unbelievable cases of fraud. I recall on precinct where the captain actually produced more votes than registered voters. In one percent where I was an observer, a voter discovered that her dead husband had voted before her. For that reason, the controversy with voting machines this week could not have come at a worse time or place — particularly with polls showing the Democrats approaching what could be a disaster. When Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to cast his vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library, he experienced a Homer Simpson moment when every time he tried to pick his name, the machine registered the vote for his Democratic opponent.

Continue reading “Thank You For Voting [Democratic]: Illinois Voting Machine Changes Republican Votes Into Democratic Votes” →

Free Speech, International, Religion, Society

Leading Muslim Cleric: Twitter is “The Source Of All Evil and Devastation”

Twitter Logo200px-Codex_Gigas_devilSaudi Arabia’s top Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh has announced that he has found “the source of all evil and devastation” in the world. It is no small achievement. The source you ask? Twitter. That’s right, Twitter is “the source of all evil and devastation.” This is one of top ranking Islamic cleric in the most powerful Muslim nation on Earth.

Continue reading “Leading Muslim Cleric: Twitter is “The Source Of All Evil and Devastation”” →

Constitutional Law, International, Politics, Religion, Society, Uncategorized

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Attack Buses and Riders Over Ads Calling For Equal Rights For Women To Pray

10258065_10152705666090673_8596767114169859453_oBus riders this week found themselves under attack by dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews who hurled stones and slashed the tires of their buses. The reason? Some buses featured ads supporting the right of women to worship at a holy site in Jerusalem. This is only the latest such attack by ultra-Orthodox Jews who have manned “modesty patrols” on the streets and attacked women who call for equal access at sites like the Western Wall.

Continue reading “Ultra-Orthodox Jews Attack Buses and Riders Over Ads Calling For Equal Rights For Women To Pray” →

Constitutional Law, Religion, Society

Alabama Pastor Removed After Admitting To Use Of Drugs And Having Sex With Women In The Church Without Telling Them That He Was HIV-Positive

635484776486452861-Alabama-pastor-100914It is relatively rare for a judge to be placed into a position of having to determine who gives a sermon at a church but that unenviable position was forced upon Montgomery County Circuit Judge Charles Price who was faced with an uprising against Rev. Juan McFarland, 47, at his Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. They had good cause to want McFarland out. The not-so-good reverend has admitted to using drugs, having sex with church members in the church building and having HIV but not telling sex partners. Price, a GW grad who was honored for this service by having the courthouse named after him and , ordered him to step aside.

Continue reading “Alabama Pastor Removed After Admitting To Use Of Drugs And Having Sex With Women In The Church Without Telling Them That He Was HIV-Positive” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

“Bad Hijab”: Iranian Women Reportedly Being Attacked By Acid For Not Being Properly Veiled

150px-muslim_woman_in_yemen220px-Hydrochloric_acid_ammoniaWe often discuss the disconnect of religious fanatics who rape or beat or kill women and girls in the name of morality. Often such abuses seems to be condoned by governments like Iran. However, after a series of acid attacks on women for not being properly veiled, the Iranian government is actually investigating and denouncing the attacks.

Continue reading ““Bad Hijab”: Iranian Women Reportedly Being Attacked By Acid For Not Being Properly Veiled” →

Criminal law, Society

Report: Mississippi Incarcerates More People Per Capita Than Russia and China . . . Combined

Flag_of_Mississippi.svgA_Southern_chain_gang_c1903-restoreThere is a rather shocking statistic being reported out of the International Centre for Prison Studies this week: Mississippi locks up more people per capita than China and Russia combined. It turns out the “Hospitality State” may continue to have one of the lowest rankings in public education and employment but they will put you in jail faster than Vladimir Putin can say do svidaniya.

Continue reading “Report: Mississippi Incarcerates More People Per Capita Than Russia and China . . . Combined” →