I hope this isn’t what happened to the Taco Bell dog…
The issue here isn’t that there isn’t beef in the Taco Bell “beef” filling…
It’s that the filling (By the litigant claim) is only 36% beef, which by FDA rules doesn’t qualify as being advertised as either beef,,, or “Taco filling”…
Leaving the question as to what is the other 64%?
Years ago, an untrue Urban Legend about Jack in the Box serving Kangaroo Meat in their tacos and burgers nearly tanked the franchise. I think Taco Bell had better be very careful about handling this one…
An appeals court has ordered former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for mayor of Chicago, saying he does not meet the residency requirement for candidates.
Attorney Burt Odelson, who represents clients challenging Emanuel’s residency, told the Associated Press about the 2-1 ruling from the Illinois appeals court.
Odelson’s clients say Emanuel is not eligible because he spent much of the past two years living in Washington as President Obama’s top aide.
Kevin Forde, Emanuel’s lawyer, told the Chicago Sun-Timesthat the 2-1 ruling is “a surprise.”
Michael Dorf, an Illinois election lawyer not involved in the case, said the dispute is “absolutely headed for the state Supreme Court.”
Dorf told USA TODAY’s Judy Keen that he listened to the appellate court arguments last week and “thought Emanuel’s side had the better piece of it.”
“Common sense clearly works in Emanuel’s favor,” Dorf said.
Emanuel, a hard-charging congressman before Obama tapped him for White Hosue duty, is leading polls conducted by theChicago Tribune and various unions for the mayor’s job. Emanuel, a former top fundraiser and aide to President Bill Clinton, also leads in fundraising with $11.7 million in receipts.
The election is on Feb. 22 and the winner will succeed Richard M. Daley, the city’s longest-serving mayor.
Earlier this month, an Illinois judge upheld the ruling of a Chicago elections board that Emanuel meets the residency requirement. The legal challenge arose because Emanuel rented out his Chicago house while serving as White House chief of staff.
A suicide bomber set off an explosion this morning in the baggage arrival section of the Domodedovo Airport, which is the principal International Airport in Moscow. At least 39 people were killed and over 160 were injured.
The commentator here talks about “Airport Security”. Unfortunately the one area of an airport which is not secured is the arrivals area. In most airports, people can enter or exit that area from the Arrivals area of the airport at will without going through any security scanning. It would not have been difficult for a terrorist to sneak into that area pretending to be someone meeting an arriving passenger.
The ugly truth is Airport Security is really about protecting the expensive airplanes and facilities… Not the passengers.
No word on who the terrorists might be, or what their motivation is yet. Russia, like America certainly has a large enough whack-job population for this to have been a “statement” by a crazy.
Bob Barr, a former U.S. congressman, is advising Jean-Claude Duvalier as the Haitian ex-dictator seeks to unlock frozen funds left in Swiss banks after he fled to Paris exile amid a 1986 rebellion.
Duvalier “is very interested in trying to get those funds freed up, not for himself, but so they can be used to help the situation in Haiti,” Barr said by phone from Port-au-Prince yesterday. Barr, 62, was a Republican representative from Georgia in 1995-2003 and ran for president in 2008 on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Barr accompanied Duvalier Jan. 21 as the former dictator made his first public comments since his Jan. 16 return to his homeland from a 25-year exile. Also accompanying Duvalier were two other American lawyers, Ed Marger of Jasper, Georgia, and Mike Puglise of Snellville, Georgia, according to a statement issued by Barr’s office.
The 59-year-old Duvalier, also known as “Baby Doc,” apologized to victims of abuses during his government, vowed to help the quake-ravaged nation rebuild and said he expected to face “persecution” upon his return. Haitian authorities opened a corruption case against him two days after his return.
The former dictator said his desire to help Haiti rebuild from last year’s quake that killed more than 300,000 “far outweighs any harassment I could face,” according to a video of his speech posted on the website of the daily Nouvelliste.
Charges Against Duvalier
Haitian authorities accused Duvalier of criminal conspiracy, embezzlement and corruption, prosecutor Aristidas Auguste told Radio Metropole. Duvalier allegedly stole public funds during his rule and hid them in Swiss bank accounts, Enrico Monfrini, a Switzerland-based lawyer representing the Haitian government, told Metropole.
A new Swiss law set to take effect Feb. 1 may allow authorities to return to Haiti as much as $7.3 million frozen in Duvalier’s accounts, said Jenny Piaget, a spokeswoman for the Swiss foreign affairs department.
Duvalier’s 15-year rule began in 1971 when his father, Francois Duvalier, known as “Papa Doc,” appointed him president for life. The Duvaliers oversaw the killings of 20,000 to 30,000 civilians, many at the hands of the Tonton Macoutes secret police, according to Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International, which has pressed for Duvalier to be tried for crimes against humanity, said the corruption case is “a positive step, but it is not enough,” according to a Jan. 18 statement.
When asked about the crimes against humanity charges, Barr, who is advising Duvalier and not representing him as a lawyer, said “allegations are the cheapest commodity on the market.”
Sort of like the “allegations” against a sitting President…Which were the cheapest “commodity” of all?
For those of you who don’t catch the “Brass Ankle” reference... Although in this case, I pre-apologize to the folks in that group for the intimation that Barr could be part of it.
I think almost everyone recognizes that the job of the Police is dangerous. But in the last few days nearly a dozen officers have been shot, with several killed in the past 48 hours…
I think the Nazi flag behind Glenn Beck in this video is apropos. Here, Glenn Beck calls for his followers to kill those “radicals in Washington” and “Shoot them in the head”.
Think – maybe it’s time for Mr Beck to take a long “powder” in a Federal Prison…And not the Club Fed.
This is a very good article, in that it goes beyond the rhetoric to looking at the root causes of the black-blue alliance. Well worth a read to get beyond the trash, and racist rhetoric advanced by conservatives. The core rationale for black folks supporting Democrats is economic…
Now that the economy is changing, the response to prevailing economic conditions, and creation of a new economic model which includes black folks is paramount.
The Black and Democrat Alliance has a lot more to do with factors such as jobs, economic security, and distrust of small government than just race...
When we talk about American social models and the need to go beyond what I’m calling the blue social model and on to liberalism 5.0, race needs to be discussed. The collapse of the blue social model, a shift from federal to local power and a shift from government to the private sector are not race-neutral topics. It’s not just the underclass in the inner cities who face problems as the old models of subsidy and support become less sustainable; middle class African Americans compared to whites tend to work disproportionately in public sector jobs or in private sector jobs like health care that are heavily subsidized by government transfers. A pension crisis for state or federal workers will hit African-American families harder, proportionately, than white ones; municipal layoffs and bankruptcies will have a disproportionate effect on both the African-Americans who depend on these services and those who are paid to provide them.
If you believe as I do that the old model is going to have to change because we just can’t pay for it anymore — and if you also believe that a less bureaucratic and less statist society can be a richer and a happier one — you need to think seriously about what this means for the group in American life most closely tied to the failing blue system.
And to understand the politics and emotions swirling around politics today, you have to come to grips with the racial subtext in the conversation about the breakup of Big Blue.
Not that I am trying to guilt-trip white America. Most white Americans strongly believe that the struggle for racial equality is a vital component of American life. Not everyone agrees with what should be done going forward, but you have to turn over the rocks and look hard to find people who want to turn the clock back – say, towards the kind of legal segregation I grew up under in the Jim Crow South. The conversation we need to have about the next stage of liberal thought isn’t about race blackmail and pious PC. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr Kermit Gosnell, who now sits in jail without bond awaiting the trial for the murder of 8 babies, ran a practice which should have raised red flags with city and state authorities for over 15 years. A huge amount of the responsibility for this butcher’s continued ability to kill and maim was due to the unwillingness of the medical authorities to investigate or to take action. Not only the state regulatory boards, but the medical establishment bears the shame and guilt of allowing Dr Gosnell to continue his butchery on poor, and desperate women.
After ripping Dana Haynes’ cervix, uterus and bowel during a botched abortion, Kermit Gosnell – the West Philadelphia doctor now charged with murder – kept her bleeding and writhing in pain for four hours without calling for help, city prosecutors contend.
The doctor called an ambulance only after Haynes’ cousins yelled to be let into his Women’s Medical Society clinic and ordered him to do so. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, doctors found that most of the nearly 17-week fetus still remained in Haynes’ uterus. She needed extensive surgery and stayed at HUP for five days.
Haynes’ November 2006 case represents just one of many examples in which authorities – particularly state officials – failed to investigate alarm bells that warned something awful was happening at Gosnell’s clinic, according to the 261-page grand-jury report released by the District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the “abilities to rule by the law” of the conservative justices appointed by the Bushes is the wealth their family members suddenly came into when they were appointed to he bench. Need a vote in a critical case? Drop $500k in Virginia Thomas’ PAC. Hire a judges kids for a high paying job…
By all rights, Scalia and Thomas (and Roberts) should be removed from the bench and join the ranks of Orange Jumpsuited criminal politicians.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to report his wife’s income from a conservative think tank on financial disclosure forms for at least five years, the watchdog group Common Cause said Friday.
Between 2003 and 2007, Virginia Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, earned $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, according to a Common Cause review of the foundation’s IRS records. Thomas failed to note the income in his Supreme Court financial disclosure forms for those years, instead checking a box labeled “none” where “spousal noninvestment income” would be disclosed.
A Supreme Court spokesperson could not be reached for comment late Friday. But Virginia Thomas’ employment by the Heritage Foundation was well known at the time.
Virginia Thomas also has been active in the group Liberty Central, an organization she founded to restore the “founding principles” of limited government and individual liberty.
In his 2009 disclosure, Justice Thomas also reported spousal income as “none.” Common Cause contends that Liberty Central paid Virginia Thomas an unknown salary that year.
Federal judges are bound by law to disclose the source of spousal income, according to Stephen Gillers, a professor at NYU School of Law. Thomas’ omission — which could be interpreted as a violation of that law — could lead to some form of penalty, Gillers said.
Charles Koch’s invitation to their 2011 secretive retreat, to be held in Palm Springs, Ca., on January 30-31, states that the “action-oriented program brings together top experts and leaders to discuss – and offer solutions to counter – the most critical threats to our free society.” It added that past “meetings have featured such notable leaders as Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas,” along with a host conservative leaders and elected officials, like Glenn Beck, Haley Barbour and Jim DeMint.
Common Cause President Bob Edgar said the group has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to examine whether Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have stepped aside rather than vote in the Citizens United case.
The case, handed down a year ago on Friday (Jan. 21), struck down a portion of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law that had barred corporate expenditures for political advertisements during campaign season.
Mr. Edgar said the justices were featured speakers at invitation-only retreats sponsored by Koch Industries, a private company whose officials have played an active role supporting Republican candidates and conservative causes.
He also said Justice Thomas may have had an undisclosed financial conflict of interest through his wife’s work as founder and CEO of a conservative advocacy group, Liberty Central. Edgar said the group stood to benefit from the Citizens United decision through easier fundraising and easier political spending. [Ms. Thomas has since stepped down as CEO of the group.]
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is facing an uncertain future following the decision of Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter to walk away from the embattled civil rights organization.
The Rev. Bernice King said this week that she would not take the helm of the group that her father founded in 1957 and that elected her president in 2009.
The once-proud organization has split into two factions, had its finances scrutinized and saw its former chairman indicted last week on theft charges.
Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young says the group might have run its course and that Bernice King made a wise decision. He says “we should’ve closed it down years ago.”
Young was a close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., as the group led nonviolent protests for equality for African-Americans and social justice.
This one is a bit sudden. Apparently MSNBC management was still simmering over the incident after the election where Olbermann had donated to several Democrat candidates…
Bad move, MSNBC!
The other burning question is what role MSNBC’s new owner Comcast played in the firing? And does this mean that Liberal Cable has been bought out by the right wing to silence Liberal voices? Is MSNBC on the way to becoming a Faux News KKKlone?
I wouldn’t terribly be surprised if MSNBC picks up Michael Steele.
Used to think Hermain Cain was a serious politician. Here, he sucks up to Hannity, and embraces his inner Lawn Jockey. This one gets the first Black Jockey of the Week Award for 2011. By accepting an interview on Hannity, he lowers himself to the level of Hannity’s favorite Uncle Tom – Jesse Lee Peterson. Admittedly, the choices for publicity on Faux go from the bad to the worse – but if Cain were really serious, why wouldn’t he try to get a booking on O’Reilly or one of the other Faux shows which don’t have as a central fixture a Minstrel Show?
This one is pretty good. An interview of Michael Steele by Maddow. Unfortunately, the interview – to the point this clip ends, dodges the central issue of the motivations behind the folks who started the anti-Steele campaign. And how the majority of the RNC could come up with totally different views of Steele’s “success”.
Don’t expect the Republican National Committee’s two black members to support Chairman Michael Steele in his re-election bid in January.
Ada Fisher, the black RNC committeewoman from North Carolina, has been an outspoken critic of Steele since she voted against him and for former South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson in 2009.
“Nobody asked the black members of the RNC what they felt, and I don’t know that the other people were courted or asked for their votes,” she said of that contest.
Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, Senate candidate and state party chairman, was touted as Republicans’ response to the first black president, Democrat Barack Obama. And even more recently, Republicans see Steele promoting his race as an asset to the party.
When Steele announced his bid for re-election on a conference call, he concluded by saying, “Who you elect as our next chairman will speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln,” according to the Washington Times. A prominent member of the RNC, James Bopp Jr., complained to the Times that Steele had used “the race card.” Steele responded by calling Bopp “an idiot” and accusing him of bitterness over a consulting contract the RNC canceled.
The racial tension comes after elections that saw huge Republican gains, including two black Republicans elected to the House. Reps.-elect Tim Scott of South Carolina and Allen West of Florida are the first black Republicans to serve in the House since Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts retired in 2003. Both Scott and West declined interviews for this story.
The chairman may be looking for new allies. Yet even the two black members of the RNC — out of 168 total members — have never rallied around Steele. Fisher, a retired physician, and Glenn McCall, a retired banker who serves as the committeeman from South Carolina, both supported Dawson for chairman of the RNC on all six ballots in 2009. Dawson, who was criticized for his former membership in a club that didn’t allow African-Americans, finished second to Steele. Fellow black Committeeman Keith Butler from Michigan, who has since left the committee, supported former Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis.
One of the central themes of Steele’s term was to make the Republican Party more inclusive – which included supporting the record number of black candidates running as Republicans, and resulting in the election of the first 2 black candidates to federal office in over a decade… Which were only the 3rd and 4th black Republican candidates elected out of the 6,525 House elections, and 500 Senate elections since Raygun. Yet black Republicans on the RNC didn’t support Steele…
Dr Kermit Gosnell, who now sits in jail without bond awaiting the trial for the murder of 8 babies, ran a practice which should have raised red flags with city and state authorities for over 15 years. A huge amount of the responsibility for this butcher’s continued ability to kill and maim was due to the unwillingness of the medical authorities to investigate or to take action. Not only the state regulatory boards, but the medical establishment bears the shame and guilt of allowing Dr Gosnell to continue his butchery on poor, and desperate women.
One of the “abilities to rule by the law” of the conservative justices appointed by the Bushes is the wealth their family members suddenly came into when they were appointed to he bench. Need a vote in a critical case? Drop $500k in Virginia Thomas’ PAC. Hire a judges kids for a high paying job…
Campaign finance ruling: Should Supreme Court justices have recused themselves?
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