Joe Lieberman, chairman of the senate homeland security committee, may be delighted with Amazon for cutting off access for Wikileaks, but its customers are not. There are growing calls for a boycott of the company — particularly as a review of the Wikileaks material has disclosed important information such as the efforts of the Obama Administration to block investigations into torture.
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One of the little reported details from the latest batch of Wikileaks material are cables showing that the Obama Administration worked hard behind the scenes not only to prevent any investigation of torture in the United States but shutdown efforts abroad to enforce the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. This includes threatening the Spanish that, if they did not derail a judicial investigation, it would have serious consequences in bilateral relations. I discussed these cables on Countdown.
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Nigeria will file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and officials from Halliburton Co. and four other companies in a bribery case involving $180 million. It is rather ironic that Cheney can go around bragging about torturing people, but will be charged criminally with a bribe in Nigeria. I will be discussing this and the Wikileaks case tonight on Countdown.
There is an intriguing lawsuit filed in Washington where Greenpeace has alleged that Dow Chemical, Sasol North America and their contractors engaged in a two-year campaign of illegal espionage against it, including taping telephones and stealing documents.
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It is time for another entry in the series “Things That Tick Me Off” where I mindless vent my anger or frustration in a theraputic rage. The winner this time is Versailles and its director, Jean-Jacques Aillagon. I recently visited Versailles for the first time and was shocked to find that the director had placed the art of Takashi Murakami through the palace. I will not hide my general dislike of Murakami’s art which seems a mix of Disney and Pez art, but the placement of the large pieces entirely destroyed the historical context and experience for visitors at Versailles.
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There is an interesting phenomenon developing in California where the foreclosure of mansions is leading to an outbreak of squatters who boldly move in and refuse to vacate. Neighbors say that Dawud Walli is one such man.
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Televangelist Rev. Marcus Lamb has become the latest preacher to publicly admit to having an affair. However, this disclosure came with an allegation of extortion. Lamb appeared with his wife, Joni Lamb, to admit to an affair on this show “Celebration” and alleged that three people had demanded $7.5 million or they would reveal the affair.
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The U.S. Copyright Group has long been criticized for its tactics in pursuing people for copyright infringement of movies or music. Critics charge that USCG coerces people to settle for thousands of dollars to avoid high litigation costs and penalties. USCG sues thousands of people in a given year to force such settlements in what is legitimately described as a factory operation by Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver. One attorney, Graham Syfert, says he tried to even the playing field by publishing a “self-help” guide on how laypersons can fight USCG. The attorneys at USCG reportedly responded by suing Syfert.
David J. LeBlanc Jr. will be going to jail for five years for a horrific crime of beating a newborn calf to death in front of friends after the New Orleans Saints lost to the Dallas Cowboys last season. Also convicted in the case were Dwayne J. Jenkins, 36, Christopher R. Murphy, 27 and Carnie B. Smith, 29. Smith stole the calf to be beated to death by LeBlanc.
Recently, we have following laws targeting homeless persons — laws that could apply to a wide range of conduct but enforced only against this one group. San Francisco has now joined this group with a law barring people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. This is why the two men on the San Francisco seal are shown standing. There were three but one made the mistake of sitting down.
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We usually do not track the latest STD data, but this one is quite remarkable. Alaskan officials are reporting a 69 percent increase in gonorrhea in just one year — 2008 to 2009. This is one area where viewers might not want to “follow me there” to Alaska, as touted on the Sarah Palin’s Alaska.
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Rick Ehlert, 44, wanted a memorable cruise on the Holland America MS Ryndam and he certainly got it. The Californian is facing both criminal and civil liability after he reportedly dropped the anchor of the cruise ship and deployed a life bouy.
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The D.C. Council has unanimously approved a law that makes it a crime to wear a mask while protesting outside of a resident. This bizarre law was passed because animal rights activists have been protesting outside of residences in Washington. The problem is that the law could be used to curtail free speech and gives the police another arbitrary basis to arrest protesters.
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While democracy appears on the skids in Russia as Putin expands his power, there is one sliver of good news coming out of Moscow. The Duma has finally acknowledged that it was Josef Stalin himself who ordered the murder of roughly 20,000 Polish officers, intellectuals, and leaders in the forests of Katyn.
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We have another witch burning in Africa. Madam Hemmah, 72, is a grandmother who was burned to death — allegedly at the instigation of an evangelist preacher, Pastor Samuel Fletcher Sagoe, 55. Many evangelists in Africa believe in witches. Indeed, one of Sarah Palin’s favorite ministers described himself as a witchhunter from Kenya.
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