Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
When I hear Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s name, I usually think of a moderately progressive Democratic Senator. What I don’t expect to hear from someone with Durbin’s pedigree are statements to the effect that cuts to Social Security are “on the table”. But that is exactly what he said recently when asked about his work with the so-called Gang of Six. Continue reading “Senator Dick Durbin We Hardly Knew Ye”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
You remember Standard & Poor’s, they’re the credit-rating agency that blessed the fraud-based mortgage securities issued by Wall Street banks with AAA ratings, deceiving gullible investors around the world. Senator Carl Levin (chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) recently named this company a “key cause” of the economic crisis.
Continue reading “Standard & Poor’s Downgrades Outlook On US Debt”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The GOP hearts Ayn Rand. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), all mention the works of Ayn Rand as being influential in their lives. Even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas references her work as influence in his autobiography. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is an acolyte of Rand’s thinking and knew her personally.
I would like to focus on one aspect of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, and its implications for Christianity.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Twenty five year-old Ryan James Stephens will probably never be confused with actors Rex Harrison or Eddie Murphy but he may be the new Dr. Doolittle. Stephens has been charged with violating Cincinnati’s ordinance prohibiting citizens from “talking” to police dogs.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has issued an interesting decision concerning the prerogative of police to order a suspect to exit a car after smelling marijuana smoke coming from within. Seems the opinion turned on the Bay State’s decision to decriminalized possession of less than one ounce of the wacky weed in 2008.
Continue reading “Odor Of Marijuana Not Enough For Probable Cause”
Anthony Garcia may be the ultimate example of corpus delicti evidence. The body of evidence in the case is his own body — or least the tattoos on his body that depict the 2004 murder scene where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down.
Continue reading “Corpus Delicti: California Gang Member Implicated In Murder By His Own Tattoos”
The disturbing video below shows a women being beaten by two other women as McDonald employees do virtually nothing to help her. While a manager makes a minimal effort to stop the fight, he then walks away and does not offer help to the woman on the ground. The girls then return and resume the beating. Other employees are shown doing nothing but watching the scene. The attack occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. The victim has now been identified as Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, who has been identified as a transgender woman. A manager at the Rosedale McDonald’s said she was “not allowed to speak to a reporter.”
Continue reading “Fast Food, Slow Rescue: McDonald’s Employees Shown Standing By As Woman Is Repeatedly Attacked In Restaurant”
There is a very sad story out of Princeton where Professor Antonio Calvo, 45, has committed suicide after the university refused to renew his contract — a decision that not only meant the loss of his directorship of the Spanish program but his having to leave the United States since the move terminated his visa. He had taught at Princeton for ten years.
This is the quintessential French story. Anyone who has gone to France knows that you can expect that someone will be striking and shutting down parts of Paris. However, the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) police force is taking a stand on a matter of French privilege — the right to drink while on duty. After all, if the French cannot have a glass of wine while fighting terror, the terrorists have won.
Helen Beard, an English tourist in Orlando, caught more than a tan in Florida this week. Beard showed that legendary English backbone when she caught a 2-year-old child who fell from a fourth-floor balcony of at the Econo Lodge on International Drive in Orlando. Beard is an inspiration to us all and a fine representative of that stalwart people of Britannia.
Continue reading “British Tourist Catches Falling Baby in Florida”
Two-term Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has announced he is resigning from the Senate, effective May 3rd. This follows a prior pledge to remain in the Senate and a rather forced defense that he had not “done anything legally wrong” after he allegedly had an affair with the wife of his top staffer, Doug Hampton.
Continue reading “Ensign Announces Resignation From Senate Due To On-Going Investigation Into Affair”
The consumption of dogs in China has long been a point of disgust with many Westerners. Animal rights activists have a particularly difficult time in China, but succeeded this week in forcing action to save hundreds of dogs being sent to a slaughterhouse in terrible conditions on a truck from Henan province.
Continue reading “Taking Dogs For a Wok: Chinese Animal Activists Stop Truck Load of Dogs Sent To Slaughterhouse”
Now that Georgetown’s Washington Harbor complex has dug out and dried out after the “Great Flood of 2011,” there remains the question of the liability of MRP Realty, the company responsible for raising the flood walls at the complex. The walls were not raised despite forecasts of flooding.
President Barack Obama has been unabashed in his close association with General Electric CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt, including naming him to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Obama has continued to shower such honors and attention on Immelt despite the fact that GE has avoided paying ANY taxes. Indeed, GE has demanded a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. Now, GE has posted a 77% increase in profits while paying less taxes than any of its factory workers.
Continue reading “General Electric Profits Up 77% But Company Avoids Paying a Penny in Taxes”
We have another controversy over a police officer shooting a pet. Sherronda Aycox’s 8-month old blue pit bull Capone was killed in a hail of bullets that also hit vehicles and houses, including one house with a family inside. This is only the latest in a long list of such cases.
Continue reading “Camden Police Reportedly Fired Over 30 Rounds To Kill 8-Month-Old Puppy — Hitting Homes and Cars in Terrified Neighborhood”