Smoke Nazis never declare victory. Not content with making it an offense to puff at work or in public–and in some places, private cars and apartments–one man went to court for dropping his cigarette ash on a pavement. Smoker Daniel Slaney ended up in court after the computer programmer, 37, was having a quick smoke [...]

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The story of an Illinois high school making a gay pornographic play required reading for seniors has been reported since March 7th, but it has been ignored for the most part with only a handful of news outlets having taken on this issue. The fact that a public high school that requires such reading doesn’t [...]

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Gloria and Jeffery talk until Jack runs them out of the living room. He says their time is up in there for now. When Gloria starts to argue Jack says it is a court order so she and Jeffery leave the room. Jack later asks Jeffery if he has had a chance to talk to [...]

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Lily and Emma are preparing for a wedding for Ameera and Noah. Ameera wants to get married there at the farm instead of in a church. Noah asks Luke to be his best man and Luke agrees. Luke helps Noah write his wedding vows. Aaron is at the farm talking to Luke telling him he [...]

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Eddie comes in and tells Ava that he doesn’t think the woman in the picture that she has is the same woman that her Patch is with. She tells him that this is the bitch that stole her Patch. He looks at the picture again which is of Hope and Steve and he says no, [...]

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“She was an ambitious lawyer and TV commentator who starting going to Atlantic City casinos to relax, and soon was getting high-roller treatment that included limousines whisking her to the resort….But her gambling spun out of control…She says her losses totaled nearly $1 million. “Now she’s chasing the longest of long shots: a $20 million [...]

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BILL CAMPBELL, FORMER GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL By John Donovan of RoyalDutchShellPlc.com Below is the full content – every word – of a statement former Shell Group Auditor Bill Campbell has sent to Shell, the HSE, the news media and other interested parties. This article was first published to coincide with a related report [...]

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Geraldine Ferraro sent a letter to Hillary Clinton this afternoon informing her that she was stepping down from her post on Clinton’s finance committee. “I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign,” Ferraro [...]

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Well, as the idiom goes, the bigger they come, the harder they fall. This is especially true when the pious or vigilante type turns out to be a hypocrite. Elliot Spitzer, the caped crusader of White Collar Crime, has fallen hard, and oh-so low. Now, Mr. Spitzer, it is true, was not famed for busting [...]

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The Secret History of the CIA by Joseph J Trento is a revealing look at the origin of the Central Intelligence Agency, and its evolution over the years. Joseph J Trento presents the CIA as an organization full of corruption, self-serving bureaucracy, and an almost cultural denial of the facts.

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Since his death, there have been numerous books and specials about King, but almost all of them have been solely historical in their focus. The interesting question is, how much of Dr. King’s message still applies to America today?

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Barack Obama has presented himself as the oracle of all that is hopeful. A man who can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans alike. A man of great conviction and real straight talk who promises that his 15 minutes as a Senator more than qualifies him to be leader of the free world. However, once [...]

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I normally don’t blog political anymore. I got burnt out on politics during the ’04 election period. The political discussion during that time became reduced to a shouting match between all parties and actual discourse was thrown out the window. However I will blog about the politics of crime if I’m so moved. It took [...]

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Maybe it takes one to know one, but CNN is nonetheless a little red in the face over the gaffe of turning to a man with a troubled past in “adult entertainment” — so to speak — as an analyst for the Elliot Spitzer prostitution story. CNN has apologized for offering up as an analyst [...]

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From The Gathering Storm Blog Hold your cookies folks. You’re not gonna believe this one from the files of a liberal professor that doesn’t have a clue to what’s going on. You see, you’ve been working under a false assumption Mr. Kaffir. According to a UCLA study, It’s oil, not Islam, that’s responsible for oppressed [...]

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Classic television shows are wonderful.  They are sweetly simplistic and often contain some great writing and plot devices.  So many television shows are simply based on the older shows and it is refreshing to go back to the source every now and again.  Well, here is one more chance for all of us to do [...]

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Somehow, the indie movie went from being a freeform beautiful thing to a formulaic output from major studio divisions.  They have a dysfunctional family in them, there is a journey of some sort, be it physical or otherwise, and then there is a resolution of sorts.  Depending on the indie film, the resolution could either [...]

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[It is no secret that Cheney favors an attack on Iran. We may be facing national disaster along these lines before the unholy pair are out of office. Cheney at last report is heading over there at this moment. Many reports have warned that an attack on Iran could stimulate massive retaliation -- against our [...]

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My mother watches Walker, Texas Ranger.  She likes the Lifetime channel and Hallmark movies.  I’ve never quite taken her as an accurate barometer of what cultural artifacts are worthwhile.  She likes what she does and that’s fine for her.  I don’t begrudge people what they like.  I don’t understand what she sees in Walker, but [...]

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Personally, I never understood why Beowulf was such a classic piece of literature.  Yeah, it’s old, but does age alone create a classic?  For instance, Shakespeare is an antiquity, but he is also one of the greatest masters of the English language who has ever lived.  But Beowulf?  No one knows who wrote it, it’s [...]

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On March 6th, Queens District Attorney, Richard Brown announced a series of indictments against a major counterfeiting ring. Although based in New York City, the group was operating nationwide. The ring was obtained skimmed card information from hackers in China. Subsequent news reports have stated that skimmed information was obtained from hackers in the Ukraine, [...]

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Bringing a television series to a conclusion is often less than a satisfying experience for casual viewers and fans alike.  There are lose ends to wrap up, a tone to set for unresolved issues, and generally an effective conclusion to bring about.  Some shows choose to leave us at a disadvantage, to mirror life in [...]

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As a child, I watched the Power Rangers series on Saturday mornings. Those stories of brightly colored violence were some of the first adventures that I had a personal attachment to. It was excitement and monsters and explosions. So many things spring from the attachment to that show, my like of Japanese creature films, the [...]

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Influential literary magazine Foreword has announced the finalists for the 2007 Book Of The Year Awards (BOTYA). This magazine specializes in reviewing independently published books, and is a mainstay for librarians across the country. For most authors a mere mention in the publication is a huge boost, to get nominated for the BOTYA is a [...]

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Nicknamed “Eliot Ness” when he served as the state’s overzealous white collar crime-fighting Attorney General, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) will forever be remembered by a new moniker: Client 9.   Spitzer found himself on the wrong side of a federal wiretap, caught arranging to meet a $5,000- an-hour call girl at a hotel in Washington, [...]

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  Benedict XVI indeed is presenting a new methodology of Catholic evangelization and catechesis. The most succinct manner of classifying his new age of Catholic global teachings is this, He is moving towards a kinder, gentler Church for the new millennium. That does not imply there will be a dramatic shift from the authoritarian paradigm [...]

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Dirty money raised by Mr. Mehmet Celebi is in the hands of Senator Hillary Clinton. Celebi was listed on Clinton’s campaign website as a “Hill-raiser,”, those who have raised more than $100,000. Celebi was also nominated as a Democratic Convention by the Clinton campaign. At issue, Celebi helped produce a film called “Valley of the [...]

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I never understood soap operas. Never. They are underdeveloped characters, completely unbelievable plot lines, and sappy music. Yet they stay on television year after year, growing in popularity and keeping the underachieving satiated. Well, there’s a new one out on DVD. Starting this February 12th, now available as a DVD boxed set from ABC Television [...]

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Offstumped continues with its series of thanks to Congress President and UPA Chariman Sonia Gandhi with a special focus on educational backwardness. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Arjun Singh had this to say on the most educationally backward districts. Backwardness is defined as Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) less than National Average. A quick analysis [...]

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