International, Military, Politics

Campaign Against Islamic State Now Tops $1 Billion

Flag_of_the_Islamic_State.svg220px-Predator_and_HellfireWe have been discussing the trillions of dollars spent on Iraq and Afghanistan while we cut environmental, scientific, and educational programs on the state and federal levels. Now, we are only a couple of weeks into the newest war against Islamic State but we have already spent an estimated $1.1 billion. Of course, President Obama has stated that he does not require any congressional approval for the war, which has been described by his Administration as having an indefinite duration. In the meantime, our latest war has been a bonanza for weapons manufacturers, including a $251 million deal to buy more Tomahawks from Raytheon Co after we unloaded on the Islamic State.

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International, Travel Blog

Day One: Italian Travel Blog (Rome)
Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II
Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

We arrived this morning (October 8th) on an all-night flight at 9:00 am in Rome. Unfortunately despite two glasses of wine and an Advil PM, my record of never sleeping on planes remained unchanged. However, Leslie and I resolved to stay the course and not take a nap after checking into our hotel, Villa Pinciana. We set out immediately in what proved a great day of walking all over Rome. I have included some of the pictures from my iPhone from today.

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International, Society

Marriott Fined $600,000 For Blocking WiFi Access To Force People To Pay It For Internet Access

MarriottInternational.svg220px-Wi-Fi_Logo.svg

 

 

I am happily ensconced this morning at that beautiful Villa Pinciana not far from the Roman steps in Roma, Italy. Besides the beauty of this location and this hotel, one other thing is likely to stand out for American travelers not just at this but virtually all hotels in this country: free wifi. As many of you know, I have long complained about the practice of high-end hotels charging ridiculous fees for wifi while cheaper hotels (and countless coffee shops, restaurants, and other establishments) offer it for free.(Here and here and here) It is an open gouging of business travelers but these hotels which are charging hundreds of a night only to demand that guests pay them for something free on the street. Now there is a small victory against the corporate greed of high-end hotels. Marriott has agreed to pay a $600,000 fine after the Federal Communications Commission found the company blocked consumer Wi-Fi networks last year during an event at a hotel and conference center in Nashville. Of course, nothing changes in Marriott ripping off guests for wifi generally, but they stand to do the electronic version of poisoning wells to force travelers to drink at their well.

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International, Politics, Religion

Nigerian Islamic Militants Reportedly Torch Over 180 Churches

220px-Lewes_Bonfire,_discarded_torchThe Islamic group Boko Haram has a new outrage to its credit. According to Reverend Gideon Obasogie, the director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State, the group has burned down over 180 churches in the West African country. It appears that the group views Islam as allowing for no other form of faith.

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International, Society, Travel Blog

All Roads Lead To Rome: The Turleys Invade The Italian Peninsula

Hannibal3Today, Leslie and I leave for a 10-day trip to Italy and Sicily. I will be attempting to post daily travel blogs, but there will be fewer postings during this trip. We will start with three days in Rome followed by six days in Sicily and then one final day in Rome. I will be visiting the village of both of my grandparents Josephine and Dominick Piazza (I am half Irish and half Sicilian). The village of Cianciana is located about two hours from Palermo. We will also be staying at Syracuse and Catania in Sicily. Not since the likes of Hannibal and Garibaldi has a force in the field attempted such an ambitious campaign.

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Pennsylvania Legislature Moves To Pass Injunctive Law In Wake Of Abu-Jamal Commencement Speech

220px-Mumia03-1220px-Goddard_SealThere has been some predicable and understandable objections to the selection of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted killer of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981, as this year’s commencement speaker for Goddard College in Vermont. Faulkner’s widow and others have decried his recorded appearance from Mahanoy state prison in Frackville, Pennsylvania. However, as is all too often the case, politicians have responded to such good-faith objections with a highly questionable, poorly crafted law that allows victims to seek injunctions in future such cases.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Military, Politics

Operation Voldemort: The War Which Must Not Be Named

220px-Lordvoldemort220px-B-2_spirit_bombingThere is an interesting dimension to the ongoing circumvention of the Constitution over our latest undeclared war. While some Administration officials are finally calling our attacks in Syria as a “war,” the discomfort over defining this indefinite campaign has led to equal discomfort over naming it. After two months of airstrikes and statements that the campaign will likely go on for years, the Administration still have not named this war. The choice would now seem obvious: Operation Voldemort, the war which must not be named.

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Courts, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Pennsylvania Justice Identified In Pornographic Email Scandal

1412352742898_wps_1_Justice_Seamus_P_McCafferThere is a growing scandal over pornographic emails that has now snared a State Supreme Court Justice. There has been an ongoing investigation over pornographic emails being shared by employees at the attorney general’s office. That investigation has led to the disclosure of 54 emails sent from Justice Seamus McCaffery’s personal Comcast email address to an employee at the State Attorney General’s Office. In those emails were a reported 8 pornographic images and videos.
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Criminal law

Two Louisiana Teachers Arrested For Alleged Group Sex With Teenage Boy

Teacher SexWe have yet another scandal involving an underaged student and a teacher. However, the scandal in Gretna, Louisiana is different in that it involves two teachers in an alleged ménage à trios. Shelley Dufresne, 32, and Rachel Respess, 24, are accused of having group sex with a male student at Destrehan High School, about 23 miles west of New Orleans. What was most striking to me is how, if the allegation is true, these teachers put their lives and liberty at stake for such a relationship. The teenager reportedly bragged to friends that he was having sex with not one but two teachers.

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Academia, International, Politics, Society

Germany Abolishes Tuition For University Students

Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg220px-LinusPaulingGraduation1922Germany has long shown far greater foresight than the United States in the investment into science, infrastructure, and alternative energy — investments that are now giving the country huge returns as a leading economic system. With a decision of Lower Saxony, the German have now shown precisely how serious they are about keeping the country as one of the most educated in the world: they have eliminated all college and university tuition. The Germans view education as not just a right, but an essential component for continued growth.

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Bizarre, International, Media, Politics, Society

Nein Nachrichten: Germany Reportedly Considering Ban On Work Emails After 6 pm

Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg150px-(at).svgI have often praised Germany for its forward-leaning laws on the environment and other areas. However, Germany is following France in a move that I consider perfectly absurd: a ban on after-hours work emails. I will confess to attaining some Chicago school economic bias against certain forms of tax and regulatory policy. However, this is one area where the market should be left to its devices, literally.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Politics

Banks Have the Federal Prison System Handcuffed

department of treasury

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

I have written in the past about our large financial institutions and their uncanny ability to break the law and escape any criminal penalties at the corporate or personal level.  If the Department of Justice had actually indicted a Bank of America official and procured a criminal conviction, that Bank of America official could have assisted the corporate office in their no-bid contract to handle all of the federal prison systems inmate financial services and email services.

“A few blocks north, however, at the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center, there exists a market that Bank of America has locked down, literally. For the 790 federal prisoners incarcerated at MCC, Bank of America controls the provision of money transfers, e-messaging and some telephone services.

The bank’s monopoly extends across the federal Bureau of Prisons system—121 institutions housing 214,365 inmates. Since 2000, Bank of America has collected at least $76.3 million for its work on the program.” Readersupportednews  That would be $76.3 Million dollars in the Bank of America coffers without any need or worry about having to compete for this latest sweetheart deal.  Continue reading “Banks Have the Federal Prison System Handcuffed” →

Society

MEET THE PATTERSONS: BEARS-PACKERS RIVALRY YIELDS A BECKERS WEDDING

photo 1Given the game last week, the long-standing rivalry in football between the Bears and the Packers has only become more intense. As the Bears growl and the Packers . . . well do whatever angry cheese does, there would seem little hope for a dénouement between the great powers. However, this weekend, hope emerged in the most unlikely of places. In Illinois, my niece, Jessica Turley, a die-hard Bears fan, and Matt Patterson, a die-hard Packers fan, got married. That’s right, before a large crowd divided 50-50 between Bears and Packers families, Jessica and Matt tied the knot in a beautiful wedding to the joy of both families. The whole Turley family from Virginia joined the rest of the Turley clan (despite having our flight cancelled the day before) for the event, which was a huge amount of fun in Oak Brook. Madie was the flower girl. Sure, there are some who do not believe that either family should “intermarry” but these two brought not just two teams but two families together. So Middle East negotiators, Russian-Ukraine diplomats, farmers and ranchers, Carnivores and Vegans, take note. Peace is possible.

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Bizarre, Torts

Oregon Judge Dismisses Product Labeling Lawsuit Filed Against Nike By Convicted Pimp

Submitted By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

sirgiorgio-clardy-croppedIt only took half an hour for an Oregon court to dismiss a $100,000,000.00 lawsuit filed against Nike by a convicted pimp who sued the company for allegedly not warning consumers its product could be used as a deadly weapon.

The lawsuit was originally filed in January by Sirgiorgio Clardy, who is serving a one hundred year sentence for an assault stemming from the use of his shoes.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

The Laws Of Everett, Washington: The Unconstitutional And The Bizarre

Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

everett-logoToday we feature the City of Everett, Washington, a city with a few rather interesting municipal codes. Several ordinances on the book should serve as both lessons in unconstitutionality and comic relief. From prohibitions on certain public gatherings, to regulations on ducks to criminal impersonation of crossing guards, Everett can bring an assortment of entertainment for the unsuspecting tourist.

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