August 26, 2013

Hey Trump, WHERE'S YOUR ETHICS CERTIFICATE? The Donald Gets HIT With Massive FRAUD SUIT By NY

NO,...YOU'RE FIRED!......





ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's attorney general sued Donald Trump for $40 million Saturday, saying the real estate mogul helped run a phony "Trump University" that promised to make students rich but instead steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars, and even failed to deliver promised apprenticeships.

Of course, The Donald has fired back:





The Ethics Of The Bloviating Birther


The bombast of Donald Trump was known long before The Apprentice and, as Lawrence O'Donnell hints, may have been the only reason why studio executives agreed to the program in the first place (see below). But Trump was born to sit in the limelight, even if it consisted only of cheap neon: his name became ubiquitous with success simply because it appeared across his holdings. Plastering one's name on objects as a measure of success is not new, but Trump did it to iconic places such as the Plaza Hotel in New York. Plus Trump Towers, Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Entertainment Resorts, etc., etc., etc. Donald Trump went from promoting real estate ventures to promoting Donald Trump. Trump's political antics after The Apprentice clearly showed that he never wanted to slip back into the role of real estate mogul: he became a publicity hound in the style of Sarah Palin, coming up with statements and proposals to arouse controversy and speculation about his political intent. He even evolved into a proud birther, facetiously claiming to have exclusive knowledge about Obama's birth through private investigators he had employed. (See interview with Wolf Blitzer below). Critics of Trump's bombast eventually disregard him as irrelevant, but with the situation of the State of New York's lawsuit, the question is posed: when is such bombast unethical? Trump certainly cannot claim that his persona was used without his promotion. Had the use of his name been unauthorized, that would have been one thing, but the use of the celebrity himself - his imprimatur and presence in promotion, his promises of success is quite another. If all the "students" of the "university" got was three days filled with zilch - no real insightful training on real estate - for $1500 (up to $35,000), then it was clear fraud. If apprenticeships were promised to the higher payees and none were delivered, then there was fraud. And if Trump presented himself as a truly successful businessman, a true entrepreneurial billionaire, then it was fraud.




$40 million is still $40 million



In the reasoning of Lawrence O'Donnell, Trump would not acquiesced to a reality show if he didn't need the money: why would a true billionaire want to host a reality show? The cracks in the flimsy Trump veneer came some five years ago, when Trump Entertainment Resorts (mostly the Atlantic City casinos) were close to bankruptcy. He had to sell his fabled Palm Beach estate last June (128 rooms - the lucky buyer, Russian fertilizer mogul Dmitri Rybolovlev, plans to demolish it because of "mold&quot . A true billionaire would not likely sniff about a $40 million lawsuit, but perhaps Trump's sense of entitlement, sense of self and sense of avariciousness is overwhelming: As New York Magazine writer Lisa Miller opined about research regarding the rich:













cont'


http://www.opednews.com/articles/Mr-Trump-Where-s-Your-Et-by-Rev-Dan-Vojir-Donald-Trump_Ethics_Fraud-130826-926.html

August 25, 2013

LIARS On PARADE

August 24, 2013

Take Note, Democrats. THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!

KY Gov Praise of Obamacare Leaves McConnell, Rand Dumbfounded........



Lord love Democratic Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear. Speaking to a crowd of Kentucky voters at a fundraising breakfast, Beshear took the opportunity to praise the American Care Act (also known as Obamacare) to the overwhelming support of the audience and take subtle jabs at those who were opposing Obamacare, which include Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul who were also attending.






Ouch. That had to hurt Mitch McConnell especially, who is in a serious fight to retain his seat against challenger Alison Grimes. The National Journal reports that Beshear got very pointed with his criticism:






THIS is what I want to see Democrats doing as we near the 2014 mid-terms. Be unapologetic. Put the Democratic agenda in human terms everyone can understand. Push Republicans back on their heels and force them to defend their record.


Take note, Democrats. This is how you do it.




http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/ky-gov-praise-obamacare-leaves-mcconn

August 24, 2013

NJ Senate Candidate To Single Mothers: STOP RELYING ON FOOD STAMPS AND GO TO WORK!

100% PURE, KOCHED-UP, RETHUG WEASEL!!...............



New Jersey Senate candidate Steve Lonegan (R) told MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki on Saturday that single mothers don’t need to rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, because his mother raised a family by working hard and building a successful career following the death of her husband.



Lonegan, who is the former New Jersey head for the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, encouraged single mothers to roll up their sleeves and go to work, adding that free market policies and less government will free “individuals to achieve their best potential.”


http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/24/2522701/jersey-senate-candidate-single-mothers-need-food-stamps/

August 24, 2013

COPS KILLED THIS GUY! - Man Choked & Dragged Down Stairs

PHOENIX, AZ — A 44-year-old man climbed onto the roof of his apartment and began acting strangely. Police arrived to help him down, but instead ended up killing him with a series of offensive maneuvers including tasing him while in a choke-hold, and finally dragging his lifeless body down a staircase, with his skull banging against every step.

Michael Angel Ruiz is the son of a retired LAPD detective and had a history of drug addiction. On July 28, for reasons unknown, he climbed onto the roof of his apartment. Witnesses called the police to protect his safety. This turned out to have been a fatal decision.

Ruiz, while he may not have been sober, was not acting aggressively towards anyone. Police attempted to get him to come down without success. They resorted to tasing him on the roof, a violation of Phoenix Police Department's own department policy against using a stun gun on someone who is in danger of falling, reported Sara Goldenberg of ABC 15 Arizona. Witnesses say that police tased him several times on the rooftop.

After sustaining electric shocks from police, Ruiz complied with requests to come off the roof. Video taken by witnesses shows him hopping down to a balcony. An unidentified Phoenix police officer immediately greeted him with a choke-hold. Police used overwhelming force on the man, who had still shown no signs of aggression. Witness Gary Carthen told ABC 15 that Ruiz was "getting choked out and tased at the same time." He remained in a choke-hold for at least three minutes, reported KPHO.
Ruiz being dragged down the stairs, with his head banging against every step. (Source: ABC 15)


The most disturbing moments were to come. Michael Ruiz, now fully restrained, was dragged down the concrete stairs on his face. As deputies held his arms behind his back, they allowed his head to dangle and thump against every stair. At this point Ruiz may have already lost consciousness, and was making no attempt to lift his head. Video shows him lifelessly suffering head trauma on the descent down the stair case.

"I just felt sick to my stomach," said Richard Erickson, the man's father, to ABC 15. "I'd never seen anything like this before, even when I was with the police department."

Ruiz had to be resuscitated at the scene, but was determined to be brain-dead at the hospital, according to KPHO. His family took him off of life-support on August 2.

Michael Angel Ruiz (Source: ABC 15)

Michael Angel Ruiz (Source: ABC 15)

Witness Verna Young said she could audibly hear the thumps of his face against the stairs. "I started crying 'cause that's not right, to hurt nobody like that," she said. "He didn't deserve that. He was a nice person, very nice."

"I miss him a lot. He was a good man," said Michael's father. Ruiz left behind 2 children and a wife.

Phoenix Police are remaining tight-lipped about their treatment of Michael Ruiz and an "administrative investigation" will commence.

Video coverage of the incident can be viewed here.

Give the city of Phoenix some feedback on the incident at the following locations:

Phoenix Police Department
Information Line: (602) 262-7626
Email: Contact Us
Follow Phoenix PD on Facebook: City of Phoenix Police Department

Phoenix City Hall
Phone: 602-262-6011
Email: contactus@phoenix.gov

August 23, 2013

NIXON TAPES: Ronald Reagan's Call of Support

One crook (Ronnie Raygun) giving another fellow crook (Nixon) moral support.....

August 23, 2013

International Law REQUIRED Manning To Be A Whistleblower

TRANSCRIPT:


JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.

On Wednesday, Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing 700,000 documents related to U.S. diplomacy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now joining us to get right into it is Vijay Prashad. Vijay is going to be the Edward Said chair at American University in Beirut this year. And he's the author of many books, including The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. And he writes regularly for The Hindu, CounterPunch, and Frontline magazine, where he has an essay on Bradley Manning's trial.
Thanks for joining us, Vijay.


VIJAY PRASHAD, PROF. INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, TRINITY COLLEGE: Pleasure.


DESVARIEUX: So, Vijay, let's just get right into it. What was your reaction to the sentence?


PRASHAD: It's 35 years. It's less than the 90 years that the prosecution wanted. It's a lot more than the zero years that Bradley Manning should have received.

But let's put these 35 years in context. A few years ago, a former CIA analyst, John Kiriakou, was sentenced to what was at that time the longest sentence for a whistleblower. And Mr. Kiriakou got two and a half years as a sentence. So that's the first thing that we should recognize, that this is by far the longest sentence handed down to a whistleblower in U.S. history, much longer than the two and a half years, which was the previous sentence.

You know, the other quite stunning thing is simultaneously with Bradley Manning's, you know, sentencing period, also the trial, has been the sentencing period of another case, another U.S. military person, Sergeant Robert Bales, who in 2012 went on a so-called rampage in Afghanistan and killed at least 16 of Afghan civilians in cold blood. And it is likely likely that Sergeant Robert Bales will receive ten years in prison. So if you just take the 30 years in context, it's a lot longer than the previous whistleblower's sentence of two and a half years, and it might be even longer than the sentence handed down to a sergeant who killed 16 people in cold blood. Mr. Manning, as far as we know, has killed nobody.


DESVARIEUX: Okay. You mention the length of the sentence. But some are even criticizing just him going to jail for exposing war crimes. And if you compare that to those that were--ordered the use of torture, like Bush and Cheney, and how they haven't even faced prosecution, what do you make of that argument?


PRASHAD: Well, that's the fundamental argument. I mean, the question of whether Mr. Manning is--you know, did break any laws or not. It should be said that this judge understood that the government case was excessive. In other words, she threw out the charge that he was aiding and abetting the enemy, an absurd charge on the face of it.

I mean, the United States has extremely weak whistleblower protections. So, you know, let's put it this way. It's not a surprise that Bradley Manning was found, you know, guilty and has been given such a hefty sentence in terms of U.S. law.

I think it's outrageous in terms of international law. It's outrageous in the face of, you know, the reason why Mr. Manning felt beholden to release this information. And that comes to at least two war crimes for which he had seen evidence, one the Apache helicopter sitting in 2007 in Baghdad, in Iraq, and the second one in Granai in Afghanistan in--I think, in 2009. These two direct video depictions of war crime, what he thought were were crimes, you know, were not being taken seriously by the chain of command. That is the reason why Bradley Manning decided to release this information.

So in terms of international law, Mr. Manning should be celebrated as a hero. He should spend no time in addition to the three years that he spent, including the 112 days that the judge says that he should be spared from because of ill-treatment in Quantico. He should be released forthwith. And he should be celebrated.

But because there are no real whistleblower protections in the United States, Mr. Manning, it was inevitable, was going to face a long sentence. And, you know, the game, obviously, is not up. So we shall see what happens next. But there is no sign that there'll be any reduction of his sentence either by his superiors in Washington state or [incompr.] Washington, D.C., or indeed by the Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the final board of the military as far as this case is concerned.


DESVARIEUX: And we should also note that Manning will have to serve a third of his term before he's even eligible for parole, a third of the sentence.

Let's switch gears a little bit, Vijay, and let's talk about the mainstream media. How do you feel they covered the manic trial and this entire case? And what do you feel was missing from the mainstream press?


PRASHAD: Well, the first thing, I think, to pay attention to is that the mainstream media gives a wide latitude to the managers of the U.S. system vis-à-vis questions of legality and illegality, particularly on the terms of warfare. So when the Iraq War was being considered openly in the United States, the press was very reticent to ask questions. You know, in fact, many of the important newspapers in particular and the TV channels certainly became cheerleaders for the war. You know, people forget that The New York Times, whose editorial board so frequently likes to appear, you know, as if it is on the mountain of Olympus, you know, passing judgment on the world, was at the same time the paymaster of Judy Miller, who was one of the lead reporters to waive the red flag in front of the American or at least the George Bush-led bull. So in that sense, the media has never been good on warfare in general.

In the terms of the illegality of the war in general, that is, the illegality of the Iraq War, which is in a sense a crime against peace, that was never raised by the media. When war crimes were revealed, spectacularly in Abu Ghraib, you know, many, many instances of violence against civilians, bombings by aircraft at civilian neighborhoods, even the killing of journalists, as the killing of the Al Jazeera reporter during the war, you know, when his building was targeted, you know, these incidents also did not raise the ire of the American media. And, in fact, when a senior CNN producer at Davos, Switzerland, raised the question of targeting of journalists by American forces, he was forced, you know, by CNN and by pressure on CNN to resign.

So there has never been a good context for the American media as far as warfare and illegality is concerned. It's very difficult, therefore, to expect that at this late stage the American media would cover the Manning trial, would cover the verdict, would cover the sentencing with anything but the same kind of disregard for international law and disregard for the basic rights and sort of well-being of the world's citizens.


DESVARIEUX: Alright. Thank you so much for joining us, Vijay.


PRASHAD: My pleasure.


DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.




http://www.truth-out.org/video/item/18366-international-law-required-manning-to-be-a-whistleblower

August 22, 2013

CHENEY Did 'HURT' US By LEAKING Valerie Plame, NO 35 YEARS Like Manning

The day was June 22, 2005. In the congressional hearing room, former CIA agents and covert ops professionals were stating, one after the other, how the leak of Valerie Plame's undercover status as a spook had harmed the country. CIA officer Plame was engaged in nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East, that is, uncovering and stopping the movement of nuclear weapons, to and from the hands of terrorists. Special Operations Colonel Pat Lang told the committee:





It was two years after the most serious scandal of the Bush administration thus far, and the first one pundits were saying Bush or Cheney, or both, might not survive. An outraged intelligence community was frantically trying to backtrack over anyone who had ever been associated with Plame, because then his or her cover was blown as well. There was already no question that the leak came from the White House. Bush himself said July 12, 2007:





That much was not even up for grabs. Then somehow the Karl Rove-Bush spin machine went into action, and before it was over had everyone convinced that Plame, who graduated near the top of her class at the required FBI weapons school in Quantico, VA, was a prima donna and a crybaby. But the rest of the world didn't think it was funny. The Washington Post quoted a former diplomat worrying that:




People were going to die.

Now a young private, Bradley Manning, is being recommended for 35 years in prison by the military prosecutor. No one can point to exactly what national interest might have been harmed by Manning's disclosures. Even Manning doesn't know, although now it is undisputed that he was reporting war crimes in the process. Indeed, a military jury acquitted Manning of the charge of "aiding and abetting the enemy." With the leak from the Bush White House, later to be narrowed down to the vice president's office, vital intelligence networks years in the making were, as Lang said, going "down the drain." Only a Cheney underling was mildly punished for the Plame leak, falling on his sword to shield the vice president, and expecting people to believe that a control freak like Cheney knew nothing about the leak of Plame's name in order to retaliate against her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, for punching holes in George W. Bush's case for war against Iraq. Neither Scooter Libby or Dick Cheney will be sitting in jail for 35 years. But a young private might, for disclosures not nearly as explosive, or tangible in their assault on US national security. If a nuclear device is ever smuggled into the US, we might have Dick Cheney to thank for it. If the prosecutor gets his wish, then heretofore every time the name Bradley Manning is mentioned, it should be followed by another name: Valerie Plame.

cont'



http://www.opednews.com/articles/Cheney-did-hurt-US-by-le-by-Ralph-Lopez-130822-664.html

August 22, 2013

HE'S BACK!: Lanny Davis JOINS NYT-Clinton Fray

Former Clinton adviser Lanny J. Davis follows David Brock onto the field of battle, accusing the New York Times of anti-Hillary Clinton bias because of their Aug. 13 article about "unease" at the Clinton foundation:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/08/lanny-davis-joins-nytclinton-fray-170975.html?hp=l11

August 22, 2013

What WE SWORE To Uphold