A leading Muslim cleric in India has issued a decree barring females from attending soccer matches. Why? Mufti Athar Kasmi, head of a strict Indian seminary, has declared that the exposed knees of players is an unIslamic influence on females.
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Attorney Nichole Collins has been suspended by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after she was accused of breaking into her firm, stealing credit cards from fellow employees, and vandalizing equipment. She is facing charges that include burglary, forgery, access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking. It is remarkable that the Board views this as a suspension case as opposed to a disbarment case, but it could seek a more permanent action against Collins. Making this all the more awkward: she is married to Deputy District Attorney Joel Hogentogler.
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The early departure of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has led to a spasm of speculation and criticism ranging from Comey’s warning of the destruction of FBI knuckling under President Donald Trump to overwrought analogies to the rise of Hitler by one CNN commentator. However, there are indications that McCabe may have been shown the door by FBI Director Chris Wray and even told that he faced demotion in light of an internal investigation. Notably, on the eve of this disclosure a story was leaked that detailed the conversation between McCabe and Trump where Trump taunts McCabe about his wife being a political “loser.” If true, the comments were shocking and distasteful but the emergence of these conflicting accounts show the intense struggle in Washington to control the narrative following McCabe taking leave pending his retirement. There have also been allegations of leaks by McCabe as both sides seeks to frame this controversy.
What is also notable is the continued leaks from Trump’s inner circle. A new report describes Trump having a “tirade” on Air Force One because a top Justice Department official objected to the release of the four-page memo. The content and speed of his leak is clearly meant to damage Trump and has to be coming from within his close staff — a recurring problem. The motivation behind these leaks is an interesting question. It is not clear if it is meant to simply damage or somehow to deter the President .
Continue reading “CNN: McCabe’s Abrupt Departure May Be Tied To Internal Investigation Findings”
The Polish legislature has joined other Western countries in criminalizing free speech, including threatening to jail people who challenge the state-supported view of history. The legislature approved a bill making it a crime to use statements suggesting Poland bears responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by Nazi Germany. You could receive up to three years in prison for calling Auschwitz-Birkenau a “Polish death camp.”
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There is a disturbing study by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which found that there is a chronic problem at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities with shockingly low graduation rates. The newspaper found that the six-year graduation rates at 20 schools were 20 percent or lower in 2015. Some of the schools showed a rate of only five percent — raising serious questions over not just the performance of these schools but the treatment of their students.
Vicente Rodriguez-Ortiz, 22, may win the prize for the worst arraignment in history. In Grand Rapids, Mich,, the defendant was facing a charge over the murder of Andre Hawkins. When the judge finished explaining the arraignment, Rodriguez-Ortiz asked about his “other murder case.” That led police to link him to the March 2017 murder of Laurie Kay Lundeberg. Now he is facing two murder prosecutions.
According to the Daily Beast, a top Swiss police investigator identified only as Victor K was fired last week in a case that some are describing as an effort by Russians to make him a virtual double agent. Against the direct orders of his superiors, Victor went to Russia and was put up in a luxury hotel to meet with the office that allegedly offered dirt on Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump Jr. in the infamous Trump Tower meeting. In Washington, he was promptly put into a meeting with the main figure from the Trump Tower: Natalia Veselnitskaya. Once again, she wanted to talk about the whole Magnitsky controversy where huge amounts of money reportedly were generated for powerful Russian figures in a $230 million fraud scheme. The Swiss were zeroing in on that money which may have been laundered through Swiss accounts.
Jeffrey Wertkin seemingly had it all. At 41, he was a partner at the powerhouse law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He came to the firm after a successful career as a corporate fraud prosecutor. He had one more thing, however, that his colleagues were not aware of. He had the non-public files of sealed lawsuits by whistleblowers. His intention was to use the pilfered files to sell his inside information and services to companies. He is now likely going to jail. When the undercover agent told him that he was under arrest, he simply said “My life is over.”
Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the news that former FBI Director James Comey will be teaching a course at William & Mary on “ethical leadership.” While I believe that having their alum teach a class would be a terrific opportunity for their students, this particular subject is obviously controversial. Moreover, it seems to fit an agenda by Comey to address criticism over his ethical choices. There is nothing in Comey’s past that would have made this an obvious choice for his expertise that clearly encompasses national security, surveillance, privacy, and other area of constitutional and criminal law. Curriculum should not be a vehicle for public relations.
Here is the column
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In Santa Ana, James Anthony Lawlor, 35, was arrested with the help of this hand-drawn picture from a homeless person of the man who kicked him in the face and burned down his tent. It will make for an interesting piece of admissible evidence, though the police have ample evidence against Lawlor including the image below.
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For many, the recent video of Hillary Clinton thanking “activist bitches supporting bitches” was a cringe-worthy moment as Clinton continues to struggle to be accepted as a leader (or even a plausible member of) the “resistance.” What is curious is that there seems to be a conscious decision in the Democratic ranks to become more profane. DNC Chair Tom Perez has clearly used profanity as a way of connecting with the younger generation. As people on this blog are aware, I am admittedly a bit old-fashioned about crude language used publicly by public figures and politicians. I find it truly off-putting but I recognize that the rising generation does not share that inclination. Indeed, there is a new book calling for the use of more profanity.
We have previously seen protests on colleges to end yoga classes as “cultural appropriation.” Now Michigan State University professor Shreena Gandhi has written a long critique of white people who practice yoga as promulgating a “system of power, privilege, and oppression.” Gandhi insists that yoga is an extension of white supremacy and the “yoga industrial complex.” Ganhdi co-authored the piece with Lillie Wolff who describes herself as “an antiracist white Jewish organizer, facilitator, and healer.” Wolff has called for “decolonizing” yoga.
In the aftermath of the report that the White House Counsel Don McGahn had to threaten to resign to prevent President Donald Trump from firing Robert Mueller last June, new reports from four sources say that Trump has raised his desire to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The story would be particularly worrisome since many have defended the President (who denied the Mueller story) on the basis that the order was given during an early chaotic period where he made a series of missteps. This story, if true, would suggest that the President is still considering the same type of move against Rosenstein — a move that would have obvious and immediate negative impact for him and his Administration.
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A privately owned, New Zealand-based space company in under fire after after it secretively put a satellite that will function like a giant disco ball in orbit. Critics have likened the act to “space graffiti” and the launching should trigger an international conference on preventing such unilateral actions in the future.
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At the Davos conference in Switzerland, President Donald Trump denied the New York Times account that he ordered the firing of Special Counsel in June but was prevented by doing so when White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign. It is a highly disturbing allegation since such an act would have been catastrophic for the Trump Administration. Now however President Trump is denying the story — responding to reporters with “fake news, fake news.” What is curious is that the White House and particularly the White House Counsel did not deny the story.
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