By Bill Trott (Reuters) - Activist and writer Elie Wiesel, the World War Two death camp survivor who won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust victims, died on Saturday. He was 87. Wiesel was a philosopher, speaker, playwright and professor who also campaigned for the tyrannized and forgotten around the world. He died at his home in … [Read more...] about Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate, dies at 87
For Members Only: Reporters Not Welcome
For Members Only: Reporters Not Welcome by Evan Sarzin Let’s visit one of the original thirteen colonies and a battleground state still. North Carolina! In Fayetteville Earl Phillip, the state director for the Donald Trump campaign, was about to give a speech when he spied an enemy of the state seated in Golden Corral, a convivial setting for a political rally. Motioning … [Read more...] about For Members Only: Reporters Not Welcome
Bangladesh police storm restaurant to rescue hostages
Bangladeshi police stormed a Dhaka restaurant on Saturday to free 20 hostages, including several foreigners, who were trapped inside after gunmen launched an attack. "Our commandos have stormed into the restaurant. Intense gunfighting on," Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, a deputy director at the Rapid Action Battalion force, told Reuters news agency. Islamic State of Iraq and the… … [Read more...] about Bangladesh police storm restaurant to rescue hostages
How The Supreme Court Has Changed Without Scalia. (Hint: It’s For The Better.)
I have written that if I could take only one Supreme Court reporter with me to a desert island, it would be Dahlia Lithwick, who year in and year out writes the most penetrating analyses of the top court. This observation from a Slate magazine piece following a draconian Texas abortion law being overturned nails it: It seems clear the court is experiencing the same … [Read more...] about How The Supreme Court Has Changed Without Scalia. (Hint: It’s For The Better.)
Independence Day 2016
While on July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies proclaimed their independence from Great Britain, the war to cement their independence had already been fought for a year and would continue for another seven years, claiming the lives of approximately 25,000 Patriots. Sadly, the War of Independence would be just the first of a score of wars and major conflicts that would follow … [Read more...] about Independence Day 2016
The Press Fights Back
In an earlier piece, I said Donald Trump had buffaloed the press and that it was time for the media to use the L word and call him out for his constant lying. Well, there are signs, at long last, that the press is adjusting its outdated “journalism nice” rules to deal with a person whose lying is unique in modern political history. The clearest example was yesterday’s New York … [Read more...] about The Press Fights Back
When Prosecutors Parade, Criminal Justice Becomes a Circus
When Prosecutors Parade, Criminal Justice Becomes a Circus Stephen Cooper and Donnie W. Bethel Call us ‘old school’, but like the Honorable Scott Milne Matheson, Jr., "lawyers, especially prosecutors, should not in [our] judgment, 'try their cases in the press.'" In 1990, Judge Matheson, then a distinguished law professor (who would later serve as the United States … [Read more...] about When Prosecutors Parade, Criminal Justice Becomes a Circus
Attorney general defends meeting with Bill Clinton amid email probe
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Loretta Lynch has spent the past two days fending off questions about her private meeting on a government jet with former President Bill Clinton, whose wife's use of a personal email server while serving as secretary of state is being investigated by the Justice Department. The 30-minute conversation Monday night, Lynch said,… … [Read more...] about Attorney general defends meeting with Bill Clinton amid email probe
Politifact.com on Trump v. Clinton
Non-partisan fact-check website Politifact.com compares presumptive nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump has more statements rated Pants on Fire, 30, than the 21 other candidates for president we’ve fact-checked this cycle combined. Ninety-five of the 158 fact-checks of claims made by Trump have been rated False or Pants on Fire. Add in Mostly False and that … [Read more...] about Politifact.com on Trump v. Clinton
Trump: The 1040 you’ll never see (Guest Voice)
Trump: The 1040 You’ll Never See By Andrew Feinberg Filing Status—Huge Agriculture—My golf courses receive tax breaks for agricultural use. If a goat poops on your New Jersey property you can be designated a working farm. Hey, we’re real farmers at Trump Golf. We raise greens fees. Ha! Our government is so stupid. Health savings account deduction—Can we talk about … [Read more...] about Trump: The 1040 you’ll never see (Guest Voice)
#EndorseThis: To Fix Terrorism, Trump Wants To ‘Fight Fire With Fire’
Yesterday, Donald Trump responded to a terrorist attack by once again implying the unthinkable: America is losing the War on Terror because we haven't stooped to the terrorists' level. "We have to fight so viciously and violently, because we're dealing with violent people," Trump said "We can't do waterboarding - which may not be the nicest… … [Read more...] about #EndorseThis: To Fix Terrorism, Trump Wants To ‘Fight Fire With Fire’
Thoughts on Independence Day (Guest Voice)
Thoughts on Independence Day by Jordan Cooper President Thomas Jefferson once said blacks like sex, but love less deeply. He said they have inferior reasoning to whites. He said that black people are less healthy than whites. Let's stop proving him correct based on the statistics presented today. When I tell people I wrote speeches for the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb … [Read more...] about Thoughts on Independence Day (Guest Voice)
GOP leaders: Put your country before your party
WASHINGTON -- He can't do it, Republicans. It's time for you to admit that Donald Trump is incapable of even pretending to be an acceptable candidate for president. The question is which side of history you want to be on. Are you going to stand with him as the balloons drop on the last night of the convention, knowing he shares neither your views nor your values? Are … [Read more...] about GOP leaders: Put your country before your party
Benghazi conspiracy theorists turn on Trey Gowdy
WASHINGTON -- Et tu, Trey? A day after the House Benghazi committee released a final report that left Hillary Clinton relatively unscathed, conservative activists -- the conspiracy-minded ones who pressured House leaders to appoint the committee in the first place -- rounded on Chairman Trey Gowdy for failing to deliver the goods. "To say I was disappointed … [Read more...] about Benghazi conspiracy theorists turn on Trey Gowdy
Want a Brighter Future? Teach Financial Literacy.
Want a Brighter Future? Teach Financial Literacy by Brian Goebel If we want social mobility and effective government, we need our kids to be financially literate. [dropcap custom_class="normal"]Unless you are excited by the prospect of a 21st Century Wayne's World playing out in your house -- your kids living in your basement after they have graduated from college … [Read more...] about Want a Brighter Future? Teach Financial Literacy.
Discontent with Clinton and Trump
The discontent that American voters have with this year's Democrat and Republican presidential nominees is often highlighted in news reports and for good reason. A 06/29/16 Quinnipiac poll shows just how bad the discontent is. Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Tim Malloy states, "It would be difficult to imagine a less flattering from-the-gut reaction to Donald … [Read more...] about Discontent with Clinton and Trump
Surprise! Poconos’ Leading Newspaper Takes A Powder On Big Nestlé Water Story
The daily newspaper still serves as a kind of town square even in an age of social networking and 24/7 cable news coverage, and that is especially true in smaller communities. The Pocono Record is the sole media outlet of consequence in one such community -- Northeastern Pennsylvania -- but it failed its responsibility in remaining silent on its editorial pages regarding … [Read more...] about Surprise! Poconos’ Leading Newspaper Takes A Powder On Big Nestlé Water Story
Cartoon: BENGHAZI BROUHAHAHAHA
Benghzai Brouhahahaha by Clay Jones For a bunch of people who like to complain about government spending, taxes and even the collection of taxes, Republicans don’t have any inhibitions toward spending it on wasteful partisan politics, goose chases, manufactured scandals, and witch hunts. Republicans have spent over two years and $7 million of taxpayer money in a partisan … [Read more...] about Cartoon: BENGHAZI BROUHAHAHAHA
‘Stop whitewashing history!’ Thousands sign petition to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from playing Rumi
A petition to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from playing Persian poet Rumi in an upcoming biopic is gaining traction online, as thousands of supporters urge the Islamic scholar be played by a Middle Eastern actor. The petition calls the casting choice proposed by the film's screenwriter and producer "both ludicrous and offensive," and says by starring DiCaprio,… … [Read more...] about ‘Stop whitewashing history!’ Thousands sign petition to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from playing Rumi
Goodbye, Benghazi Sleuths. Take Your Tinfoil Hats.
To quote poet T. S. Eliot, the House Select Committee on Benghazi finally folded its tent Tuesday - "not with a bang, but a whimper." Most of us ---- with the exception of paranoid conspiracy theorists and fact-impaired trolls ---- have long assumed that this partisan Republican concoction would fail to nail Hillary Clinton for the deaths of those four Americans at the … [Read more...] about Goodbye, Benghazi Sleuths. Take Your Tinfoil Hats.