Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

June 2017

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 14, 2017 13 Comments
Attorney Cynthia Nunez, the guardian of the children of one of the doctors accused of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls in Michigan, has claimed that a local mosque paid for the surgeries. The court held a hearing on Tuesday "in which the state is seeking to terminate the parental rights of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, the lead defendant in Detroit's historic genital cutting case." Nagarwala and her attorney Shannon Smith denied Nunez's allegations.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 14, 2017 45 Comments
A gunman opened fire on the GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and numerous aides were shot. From Fox News:
The shots were reported on East Monroe Street in Del Ray, Alexandria police said on Twitter at 7:30 a.m. The location was near a YMCA.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 14, 2017 31 Comments
The progressive concept of cultural appropriation has gone international. A group of advocates for indigenous peoples wants the United Nations to make the practice a crime. What could go wrong? The CBC reports via Yahoo News:
Cultural appropriation: Make it illegal worldwide, Indigenous advocates say Indigenous advocates from around the world are calling on a UN committee to ban the appropriation of Indigenous cultures — and to do it quickly. Delegates from 189 countries, including Canada, are in Geneva this week as part of a specialized international committee within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 13, 2017 26 Comments
Watching Attorney General Jeff Sessions testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was both an inspiring and infuriating experience. When it comes to inspiration, there's Jeff Sessions. He did as well as he possibly could in slaying the media and Democratic innuendo machine. For several months we have heard conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory about Sessions based on "contacts" with the Russian ambassador. The theory that a mere "contact" was evidence of impropriety never made sense, certainly not for an Ambassador who seems to be a well-traveled fixture on the D.C. political circuit.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 13, 2017 41 Comments
I recently noted there was a bizarre rendition of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Julius Caesar, in which the title character resembled President Donald Trump. What I did not report at the time is that I called my banking institution of 19 years, Bank of America, and warned them that their continued sponsorship of this travesty would cost them my long-term business. Clearly, I wasn't the only one either, as the corporation and another sponsor have cut ties to the New York City theater that produced the play.
Delta Airlines and Bank of America pulled out of their sponsorship of New York’s Public Theater on Sunday over a production of “Julius Caesar” that reimagines the main character as President Trump.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 13, 2017 6 Comments
Reuters has discovered that Canada has detained at least five times as many Mexicans than in the previous two years due to new visa requirements. This stat is interesting considering the fact that Canada has portrayed itself as welcoming and America as a bad guy to Mexicans. From Reuters:
Canada's detention of Mexicans surged more than tenfold from 24 in November to 331 in April, the data show. The number of Mexicans filing refugee claims more than quadrupled from November to March.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 13, 2017 3 Comments
Hamas provoked the 2014 Gaza war through relentless rocket launches at Israel. In retaliating, Israel faced a dilemma -- Hamas used the Gaza civilian population as human shields. Hamas also intimidated journalist into trying to cover up this human shield strategy so that the media focused primarily on the civilians killed or injured when Israel attacked rocket launch sites. And it worked. Civilian casualties (which were exaggerated by Hamas-controlled Gaza health authorities) created a media and international firestorm meant to limit Israel's ability to defend itself.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 13, 2017 15 Comments
Tuesday, Attorney General Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee to answer questions about former FBI Director Comey and Russia. The hearing began at 2:30 EST. We updated this post real-time during the hearing, so you'll find highlights in sequential order.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 13, 2017 9 Comments
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced that he would like to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. From CBS News:
In a release following the call, Zinke said, "Designating a monument that - including state land - encompasses almost 1.5 million-acres where multiple-use management is hindered or prohibited is not the best use of the land."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 13, 2017 10 Comments
German authorities made large welfare payments to a Muslim family while it was fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, German media reports say. Local newspapers did not reveal the actual amount involved in the fraud, but the ‘Jihadi family’ receiving family allowances, unemployment benefits, and child care payments could have pocketed tens of thousands of Euros in a span of one year while serving in the ranks for the terrorist organisation. German authorities downplayed the latest revelations as a mere oversight caused by the 'faulty communication' between the Police, City and Federal Agencies. The State of Lower Saxony, where the city of Wolfsburg is located, is notorious for migrant welfare frauds. Earlier this year, the state refugee agency in Lower Saxony fired an employee for exposing over 300 cases of welfare fraud committed by migrants.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 13, 2017 15 Comments
This weekend, I recounted the astonishing immaturity of California's junior U.S. Senator Kamala Harris during several hearings in which she participated. However, our state's senior U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, may be attempting to salvage some of California's former reputation of producing serious politicians. Feinstein recently stated that perhaps the time has come to look into Comey’s testimony that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to minimize the nature of his investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 13, 2017 17 Comments
In the wake of the Kathy Griffin severed-head fiasco, and the Central Park play depicting the assassination of President Trump, you'd think that pundits might have the good sense to lay off metaphors invoking the violent death of the president. But today comes law prof Jonathan Turley with yet another sanguinary simile. Appearing on Morning Joe to discuss President Trump's executive order on travel, Turley suggested that President Trump's tweets on the subject are undermining his case. Then Turley went there: "it's like a presidential version of death by cop. Every time you seem to make advances, the president seems to stand up and say 'shoot me, shoot me.'"
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH