There is a revolving door theme in today’s posts. We saw yesterday how Communications Commissioner Meredith Baker was made senior vice president of Comcast-NBC, Phillip A. Hamilton, a former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, has been convicted of leveraging his office to secure a paying position with Old Dominion University. He now will be sentenced for federal program bribery and extortion under color of official right.
Continue reading “Former Virginia Legislator Convicted In Scheme With Old Dominion University”
Category: Society
Critics are charging this week that Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Baker has given this swamp-based city another glaring example of how to turn public service into personal gain. Just four months after voting to allow the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, she has been given a high-paid job as senior vice president of governmental affairs by . . . you guessed it . . . Comcast-NBC.
Continue reading “Revolving Door: FCC Commissioner Votes For Comcast/NBC Merger And, Four Months Later, Given Position As Senior Vice President in Comcast-NBC”
In Wisconsin, there is now record of the West Bend School Board ever rejecting an application for a student club at a high school . . . until now. You guessed it, students wanted to form the Gay-Straight Alliance clubs at East and West high schools but were denied approval by a 3-3 vote of the board. Board President Randy Marquardt opposed approval of the club.
Continue reading “Try The 4-H Club Instead: Wisconsin Board Refuses To Approve School-Sponsored Club for Gay Students”
Omar bin Laden, bin Laden’s fourth eldest son, has allegedly issued a statement that calls the killing of his father as a “criminal” act and a humiliation for his family. Notably, he indicated the possibility of a lawsuit against the United States.
A Gallop poll shows that fifty-two percent of Americans want a third party — a continuing majority from earlier polls showing as much as 58% who oppose the monopoly of power by the two leading parties. The question is how we can call ourselves a democracy when the two parties are able, through ballot barriers and other means, to prevent a major third party from emerging in the United States. I previously wrote about these barriers and the need for a third party.
Continue reading “Majority of Americans Still Want Third Major Party”
A Los Angeles neighborhood is objecting after the Postal Service stopped all mail delivery to an entire neighborhood after a mail carrier was bit on hand by a dog at a home. It appears that the apparent collective punishment approach is not unique to this San Pedro neighborhood. Dozens of families have had suspended service due to the attack of Broxton owned by Gibran and Alisa Hawkins.
Continue reading “The Postman Never Rings Twice: Postal Service Suspends Door-To-Door Mail Service For Whole Neighborhoods After Separate Dog Attacks”
In light of the distasteful reminder of Monica Goodling and Alberto Gonzales today, it may help to clear the palate by voting for your favorite lawyers in the annual poll of lawyers by Law Dragon has begun. You can vote for your favorite lawyers and judges here.
Continue reading “FEED THE DRAGON: TOP LAWYERS POLL IS NOW OPEN”
For civil libertarians, there are few heroes who can match Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish judge who ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998 and later worked to identify human rights violations committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. He will be the first recipient of ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism. I will have the honor of serving as the interviewer of Judge Garzón at the award luncheon on Saturday, May 14th, and to explore his views of contemporary civil liberties issues as well as his famous career.
Continue reading “Baltasar Garzón To Receive Human Rights Award and Speak in New York”
Two Muslim religious leaders were tossed off a Delta flight in Memphis after a pilot refused to take off with the men on board. Imam Masudur Rahman and Imam Mohamed Zaghloul, of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis were told that they could not reboard the flight after it returned to the gate. It is the latest example of discrimination against Muslims due to their appearance.
Continue reading “Flying While Muslim: Two Imams Thrown Off Flight To Conference To Discuss Islamophobia”
I have previously written about my concerns over the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act — concerns that led to the act later being struck down. This week, we have another faux warrior. After the killing of Bin Laden, the Patriot-News interviewed a minister, Rev. Jim Moats of Newville, Pa., who spoke at length about his service in Vietnam as a Navy Seal.
Continue reading “Seal Not Found in Moats: Minister Admits Lying About Military Service”
You will notice a slight difference between the famous photos from the situation room of the White House during the Osama Bin Laden operation: Hillary Clinton has been removed from one of the shots. The altered picture ran in the Ultra-Orthodox daily Der Tzitung, which does not allow pictures of women to appease Orthodox sensitivities. Once again, the striking similarities with Islamic extremists is inescapable.
Continue reading “Clinton Erased From Famous Photo By Jewish Orthodox Daily”
I have previously written about the roughly two dozen states with criminal adultery or immorality provisions still on the books. Colorado joined the states refusing rescind such laws despite their presumptive unconstitutionality after Lawrence v. Texas. A Colorado committee refused to rescind two such laws by a one vote margin — a vote supplied by Democratic Rep. John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins) who joined the Republicans (except for one Republican member) in defeating the measure.
There are so many reasons to investigate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the killing of protesters to the support of terrorism to the backing of countries like Syria in crushing its own citizens. Iranian legislators, however, have accused Ahmadinejad’s aides of working with genies. Various aides have been arrested this month for magic and calling forth gjinns or spirits, including chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.
Continue reading “Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s Aides Arrested For Sorcery and Consorting With Genies”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Induction is the type or reasoning from specific examples to general statements about reality. Induction is often used to justify the claims regarding the future. The problem of induction was first formulated by David Hume (left), though he didn’t use the term “induction.” The problem of induction occurs when we ask ourselves “how do we know that induction is a reliable rational tool?” The usual answer is that induction has worked in the past. But that answer justifies induction inductively, using circular reasoning (a logical fallacy).
How can we justify using induction to predict the future non-inductively?
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers and to the mothers of our regulars! I think it is no exaggeration to say that we could not have this blog without them and our blog mothers are widely viewed as the smartest, cleverest, and beautiful mothers in all of motherdom.
Continue reading “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!”