Results tagged “presidentbush”

Many neo-conservatives both in the Bush White House and Congress have argued that in a post-9/11 world torture is a necessary and viable method of obtaining information from detained enemy combatants. Others have argued that torture discredits the U.S. abroad, breeds anti-American sentiment, places our soldiers at risk, and contradicts most of mankind’s reasonable standards as to what is and is not moral. Here’s an overview of the United States’ recent relationship with torture:

Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama exchanged blows in Ohio Tuesday leading up to next week’s primary in that state. 161 delegates are at stake. The exchange of criticism focused largely on Clinton’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. On free trade, there appears to be little difference in the candidates’ rhetoric and voting records. Clinton, however, faces a challenge on the issue that Obama does not.

A federal lawsuit filed in December says that President Bush's housing czar, Alphonso Jackson, pressured the Philadelphia Housing Authority to transfer land worth $2 million to Kenny Gamble, a music producer turned developer, and retaliated when the agency would not knuckle under.

Here's an article about the complex planning going into tonight's Democratic presidential debates at Drexel.

The city has ordered Judge Rayford A. Means to fix the two rooming houses he owns in Southwest Philadelphia, which are apparently infested with rodents, have faulty plumbing, sagging floors and broken ceilings, and are also overcrowded.

Nominations are being accepted now for the Citadel Heart of Learning Awards, which honor the best educators in Chester County. Anyone can submit a nomination online at www.citadelheartoflearning.com between October 1st and December 31st.

News from the court: North Philadelphia Democratic ward leader Carlos Matos was sentenced yesterday "to three years in prison and fined $50,000 for bribing three Atlantic City councilmen in the hope they would help him get a role in several development projects." Meanwhile, Richard Kitcherman, the 31-year-old Philadelphian convicted of killing and dismembering his father in July of 2005, will be sentenced today.

We think this might qualify as some sort of meta-volunteer experience: Philly is hosting this year's National Conference on Volunteering and Service, and Greater Philadelphia Cares is looking for a few good volunteers to help everything move along smoothly. Volunteers will (fittingly) be involved in every aspect of the conference, which runs July 16-18 at the Convention Center. Best of all, this is one of those deals where you get concrete rewards on top of the do-good feeling: sign up for 1 three-hour shift, and you can attend the conference for just $150 (regular rates range from $325 to $770). Sign up for 3 three-hour shifts, and you get to go for free.

Yesterday was President's Bush first press conference this year. If you missed the conference and you haven't read about it, you can read the transcript here. Since I am a teacher, I had the day off yesterday, so as I was casually changing the channel, in my pajamas, I began to notice that every channel had President Bush on. Boy, was I pissed—he was ruining my daytime television romp. Before I switched to my DVR to watch the previous night's episode of "House", I watched the President stumble over his words for a few minutes. I then noticed myself screaming explicitives at the TV. That is when I knew I had to stop watching.

Happy Holidays!

Breaking
the law, breaking the law. We -ist folks love us some crime, and no
misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week,
join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged.

Gothamist gets us started with
"Law
& Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking
pictures on the MTA. So, why
are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a group
of Asian men was attacked
by a group of white guys in Queens. Finally, Boy
George reports for his court mandated community service. Sweet.

Londonist brings us the tale
of poor Bob Hoskins, shaken
at his near-miss with terrorists. Meanwhile, Interpol
sweeps in to reclaim a lost Peruvian artifact. Then, there's the
slasher
who claims he got his weapon from President Bush. Ouch!

Phillyist's bus system, SEPTA,
is fighting
crime in a whole new way, and it would be a crime in and of itself
for you not
to read this story about Oreo the cat. Oh, and can
we agree that requesting "Piano Man" at a piano bar should be
illegal?

Torontoist's thorough
coverage
of the XVI
International AIDS Conference, doesn't fit into the "crime" theme,
but it's too great to pass up. But we're back on track with their href="http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2006/08/toronto_bike_po.php">post
on bike rack vulnerability and an
interview with a controversial crime fighter.

DCist brings us a murder
that gets more mysterious by the day, and we're considering a life
of crime ourselves, if it'll allow us to dine
out like DCist. And if it's not illegal to sell
soiled mattresses, it should be.

SFist muses on the negligent behavior of a public transit employee, covered the
questionable confession of a man arrested for the murder of
JonBenet Ramsey, and delineated the highway robbery that is the Bay Area real estate market.



Shanghaiist brings us this
video of "one
of the worst cover bands we have seen in China", which isn't
illegal, but should be. We're unclear on the legal status of an "invisible
monster cock", and we'd prefer to stay that way. Price
gouging on drinks is a criminal act, in our opinion.

Chicagoist gets thrown in the
hoosgow by readers
who hate the Annual Air & Water Show. Should bottle service be illegal? Chicagoist's commenters debate that,
too. And the criminally overdiscussed (and we say this even as we
trotted this out as a theme last week) gets the Chicagoist
commenter treatment, as well.

LAist exposes the questionable ethics of 's marketing, tells us how to make the
criminally tasty Moscow
mule, and creates
a criminal amount of garbage.

Houstonist blows us away with
the announcement that they
wear pantyhose. Someone call the fashion police! Houston's city
council takes a bite
out of shoddy newspaper rack crime. The only real criminals in
Houston seem to be flying
roaches. (No, not those kind.)

Those miscreants at Bostonist
take their shot at our
newest public enemy number one, Mel Gibson. Public enemy number
two? Gold
bricking spammers. Number three? Bad
mergers.

Seattlest gets a
photo of missing person Bettie Page, breaks some laws of their own
by getting "drunk
on clandestine vodka, and yell(ing) at passing cars." When is
domestic violence kinda understandable? Now.

Austinist's lovable rogues
tell us about issues in their
state's gubernatorial race, eagerly anticipate the arrival of the
criminally hilarious Onion, and bemoan
the firing of a teacher who committed the crime of (gasp!) partial
nudity.

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network.

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the second time ever (or first, if you consider the newness of Sampaist), we present you with all the -ists that aren't us.

Several roads were closed late Sunday afternoon, and traffic for the Betsy Ross Bridge was detoured to the Ben Franklin and Tacony-Palmyra bridges, when a tanker truck overturned on the ramp connecting Route 90 to Route 130, spilling its load of fuel. Hazardous material crews were called in to clean up the mess. Sadly, the driver of the truck died in the accident.

People are already gathering at the Park Hyatt at Broad and Walnut to see President George W. Bush pimp his Strategy for Victory for Iraq. The sold out presentation to the World Affairs CouncilPresident's speech is due to start shortly before noon, will last approximately 40 minutes, and - at the insistence of the White House - will not have a 'question and answer' session following the speech.

Having invaded Iraq two years ago, we're not sure why there's a plan for victory being presented .

Philly is a liberal town. If President George W. Bush picks a local judge to nominate for Supreme Court justice, that should be a good thing, right? Alas, no -- President Bush managed to find Philadelphia's most extreme Right Wing judge, Samuel Alito, to nominate. He's so conservative that his nickname is 'Scalito', a reference to his Antonin Scalia-like tendencies.

Looks like Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter is the voice of sanity among Republicans when it comes to the Supreme Court and the replacement of the recently retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. And as chair of the Senate Judicial Committee, his words likely have some sway.

We've got some good news and some bad news.

At least 40 people are dead and 300 injured in a series of blasts around London, effectively crippling the city. There have reportedly three explosions on the tube and one explosion on a double decker bus, and an al Qaeda-affiliated group has claimed responsibility. British Prime Minister Tony Blair interrupted his work at the G8 Summit to make a statement, calling the attacks "barbaric". Blair will leave the G8 Summit and return to London later today. The conference will continue in his absence. President Bush's response to the tragic events has been to encourage U.S. residents to be vigilant. Hey, way to go with the fear mongering. Our heartfelt prayers and good wishes go out to all of you in London and at our sister site, Londonist, which is providing up-to-the-minute coverage of the attacks.

So, Live 8 is over and we're all sufficiently motivated to learn about the upcoming G8 Summit, what President Bush is or isn't doing for Africa, and find the addresses for your local representatives, Congresspeople, Senators, and the President, intent on writing regular letters about the issues that concern us, right? And here's a free hint, kids -- the 2006 mid-term elections are fast approaching. May we suggest you register to vote now? No doubt, you've had your eyes opened to the plight of global poverty and you're ready to make a difference. Great! We're sure you've been wondering how to start right here at home while putting pressure on legislators to forgive African debt. After all, 18% of families in Philadelphia live below the poverty line, and there's an awful lot you can do to reach out and work together to improve the lives of thousands of poverty-stricken city residents.