Former Corporate General Counsel Sentenced For Bank Robbery

steven-cormierSteven Cormier of Walnutport, Pennsylvania, has reached a very sad and unexpected conclusion to a once distinguished career. Cormier, 58, previously agreed to disbarment after his arrest  for bank robbery in a truly heart-breaking story of a former general counsel who found himself in a free fall.  He has now pleaded guilty to robbery, theft and receiving stolen property.  He also pleaded no contest to making terroristic threats.  He was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison

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First Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia Filed Since Congressional Override Of Sovereign Immunity Bill

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.

Osama_bin_Laden_portraitPlaintiff Stephanie Ross Desimone filed suit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alleging the nation provided material support to Al-Qaida in its terror attacks against the United States on September 11th, 2001. This represents the first of such filings–there–are almost certainly to be many following, since the United States Congress last Wednesday overrode President Obama’s veto of a sovereign immunity bill allowing foreign governments to be sued in the United States for supporting terrorist acts within the US borders.

Stephanie’s husband, Navy Cdr. Patrick Dunn, was murdered when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

The full text of the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, is attached below:

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Kurdish Journalist Fears Execution If Sweden Deports Him To Iran

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor.

While it might seem to many a prima facie case where a dissident, Kurdish Journalist will risk their safety if deported to a country known for its ghastly mistreatment of members of the press, a Swedish Migration Court ruled that Journalist Kamran Mirzaian will be instead deported to Iran, citing no proof that he will suffer threats to himself or his freedom.

Iran is an internationally recognized pariah with regard to its oppression of journalists and is ranked the 11th worst of 180 countries according to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. Journalists subject facing capital crimes in Iran include Briton Salman Rushdie, the seven-year imprisonment of an economics journalist critical of the government’s financial policies, and horrific murders of journalists arrested for “crimes” involving ordinary journalism

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New York Attorney General Moves Against Trump Foundation

495px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreWe have been discussing the serious allegations against Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, which have been used in transactions that are linked to Trump’s businesses rather than charities.   — which has been sustained for years by donors outside the Trump family — has never obtained the certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from the public, according to the state attorney general’s office.  Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) has made the surprising allegation that the Donald J. Trump Foundation does not have the necessary registration and annual audit to operate as a large foundation.  I have been critical of Schneiderman in his investigation of climate change skeptics.  However, the failure to obtain this necessary registration and comply with basic auditing is quite surprising. Once again, I am unclear how any attorneys representing Trump could continue to maintain the charity without satisfying such basic legal requirements, particularly one (the auditing) designed to prevent the very type of intermingling of funds that been raised by critics.

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University of Wisconsin – La Crosse: Students Encourages To Submit Their Halloween Costumes For Review For Possible Racist Elements

unknownThe University of Wisconsin – La Crosse has been much in the news these days and, for some, the news is not good.  The school seems at the heart of a national trend toward hyper-sensitivity and intense scrutiny over the use of free speech.  In one recent inside, a student objected to a Harry Potter mural that was condemned as depicting  “Man power. Cis power. Able power. Class power.”  Then there is the school’s “Hate Response Team” which has investigated such alleged offensive terms as “All Lives Matter” and “Trump.”  Then last December, the Vice Chancellor apologized for the “fear and angst” caused by a truck that drove through campus with a rebel flag on its grille.  Now the Ethnic and Racial Studies Department of UW LaCrosse have posted signs for the review of Halloween costumes to determine if they are racist.

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Saudi Arabia Arrests Teenager for Participating In An “Enticing” Video Chat With American Blogger

imgresSaudi Arabia continued this week to prove to the world that it is every bit as extremist as counties like Iran and radical Sunni groups.  Our closest Arab ally arrested a teenager named Abu Sin for engaging in “unethical behavior” by appearing in online video chats with an American vlogger named Christina Crockett.  The video was deemed “enticing” under the Kingdom’s medieval morality laws.

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Queen’s Gambit: Top Women Chess Players Planning To Boycott World Championship In Iran After Being Told To Wear Hijabs

unknownTop women chess players are considering a boycott in the face of a decision by the World Chess Federation (or “Fide”) to hold the world championship in Iran where female grandmasters will be required to play in hijabs to avoid arrest by the Islamic morality police.  It is another example of an international organization disregarding the interests of competitors in cutting deals with countries like Iran.  Not only is Iran an authoritarian theocracy, but the country denies women, journalists, political dissidents and others basic rights.   One would think that a condition of being considered as host would be a guarantee that competitors will be afforded their human rights.

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Comey: Combetta Insisted That He Acted Alone In Destroying Evidence After He Was Given Immunity

I recently wrote a column on FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal and revised my view as to the handling of the investigation in light of the five immunity deals handed out by the Justice Department.  I had previously noted that FBI Director James Comey was within accepted lines of prosecutorial discretion in declining criminal charges, even though I believed that such charges could have been brought. However, the news of the immunity deals (and particularly the deal given top ranking Clinton aide Cheryl Mills) was baffling and those deals seriously undermined the ability to bring criminal charges in my view.  Now, Comey has testified before both the Senate and the House. His answers only magnified concerns over the impact and even the intent of granting immunity to those most at risk of criminal charges.

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Michigan Orders Faculty to Use Student Designated Pronouns Including “They” and “Ze”

university_of_michigan_medical_school_835605The University of Michigan this week have issued a new directive to faculty that they must accommodate students in their preferred pronouns, including “they” and “ze.” Those pronouns will appear on class lists and professors are told to acknowledge any mistaken pronoun use and correct the mistake as “one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their identity and to cultivate an environment that respects all gender identities.” That may not sit well with faculty who have deep-seated objections to the use of pronouns like “they” to refer to a single person as a matter of personal, religious, or intellectual matter.  However, the university added that “If there were a persistent pattern of ignoring a student’s preference, we would address that as a performance matter.”  One student has already registered his protest by changing his pronoun to “His Majesty.”

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Comey: Clinton Aides Refused To Cooperate Without Immunity

Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_BenghaziHillary Clinton’s position on the email scandal has repeatedly changed from its first emergence in the presidential campaign from denial of bad judgment to the denial of the use of the private server for any classified information to the denial of any material “marked” as classified to the denial of seeing or understanding classified markings. However, one claim has remained unchanged. Clinton has maintained that she and her staff have “cooperated fully” with investigators. That claim was previously shown to be untrue when it was revealed that neither Clinton nor her staff would agree to speak with State Department investigators even though they said that such interviews were needed to determine the scope any damage to national security or security breaches. Now, however, the lack of cooperation has been put into sharper relief with the testimony of FBI Director James B. Comey this week. My column this week raised serious misgivings over the handling of the investigation with the disclosure of five immunity grants by the Justice Department, including one given to Cheryl Mills. Those misgivings were raised with Comey before the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee where Comey revealed the extent to which Clinton aides refused to cooperate, including an assertion of the privilege against self-incrimination raised before answering questions about a key telephone conference conversation before the infamous “bleaching” over email records being sought by Congress. Comey testifies today before the House Oversight Committee. I am currently scheduled to discuss these issues tonight on the O’Reilly Factor.

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Gun In Charlotte Shooting Reportedly Was Stolen and Scott Had A Violent History

gun-use_20160924224445060_6155669_ver1-0_1280_720 The controversy over the death of Keith Lamont Scott continues to get more complicated. While the family insisted that Scott was unarmed, that now appears false. Not only was a gun found at the scene but it reportedly had his DNA and fingerprints on it. Now, reports now indicate that Scott’s gun was stolen and bought illegally from the thief. In the meantime, however, protesters are now calling for the resignation of the mayor and the police chief in Charlotte.

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Advocates Help Workers Win Pay Wage Benefits . . . China Then Sentences The Advocates For Criminal Conduct

unknownChina is a land of gross contradictions and crippling ironies from its “Red Aristocracy” to its billionaire communists to its luxury lifestyles for party members. However, perhaps the greatest irony is how the “Worker’s Paradise” regularly arrests those who advocate workers rights. The latest such case involves Zeng Feiyang, director of the labor rights group the Panyu Workers’ Center and his colleagues Tang Huanxing and Zhu Xiaomei. Their crime was tied to their successful advocacy for better worker wages and benefits. After the workers were given the benefits, the government arrested the three advocates.

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WHO Study: 9 Out of 10 People Live In Unhealthy Polluted Environments

220px-Factory_in_China240px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17The World Health Organization has released the latest global report on air pollution and it is highly disturbing. Nine out of 10 people worldwide now live in places where air pollution exceeds health standards and face higher risk of heart disease, strokes and cancer.

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks