Courts & Law

Conservative activist judges chicanery to nullify executive authority

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Friday news dump headline was that a panel of conservative activist judges of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board last year exceeded his constitutional authority. Court Rejects Obama Move to Fill Posts.

Per usual, the lazy "lamestream media" followed the lead of the conservative media entertainment complex asserting that "President Obama violated the Constitution," a bright shiny object to distract from the real scandal of what these conservative activist judges had done — nullify a provision of the Constitution.

Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo does an excellent job of explaining what really has occurred here. Will Conservative Judges Help Republicans Nullify The Recess Appointment Power?:

An expansive Friday decision by a three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of
Appeals panel threatens to cripple two government agencies and
significantly limit the president’s power to bypass the Senate
confirmation process by making recess appointments.

If ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, the opinion in a case
involving the National Labor Relations Board will also strengthen the
Senate minority’s incentive to block top-level presidential appointments
— and empower a controversial GOP strategy of nullifying certain
executive branch agencies by refusing to allow their designated leaders
to be confirmed.

‘Ray Theon, where are you?’: Tucson bride seeks corporate master for domination

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Tucson bride051by Pamela Powers Hannley

In tough times, even the most independent woman may find herself turning to traditional feminine tactics to secure her financial future– like marrying a sugar daddy.

And what better sugar daddy could a woman find than a corporate person? As reported earlier by this blogger, seven New York City brides married and pledged allegiance to seven corporate masters… er… grooms on the steps of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, January 19, the third anniversary of the Citizens United decision by the US Supreme Court.

Occupy Tucson activist and former mayoral candidate Mary DeCamp had hoped to find her corporate master– Ray Theon— at the federal building in downtown Tucson on Friday, but alas the lovely bride and her "father" (pictured here) were disappointed when the groom didn't show. (Did "Ray" think he was not worthy of Mary when he saw her "father" holding the "Corporations are not people" sign?)

According to DeCamp, she searched around the federal building and the Bank of America building for "Ray" but couldn't find him. 

"Excuse me sir, you look very corporate, are you a corporation?  I hear corporations are 'persons' now, and they have free speech," DeCamp asked passersby.  "I want to find one, hopefully Ray Theon, who will marry me and make me a rich bride. Yoo Hoo, Raaaay!  Ray Theon!  Come out, come out, wherever you are!  I want to get married now." 

Approximately 24 activists from Move to Amend, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILF), Occupy All Streets, Code Pink, Raging Grannies, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson were on hand to help DeCamp find a corporate person to own and dominate her for the rest of her life. More photos after the jump.

Our society must move beyond violence against women

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Domestic violence_20b10e08caby Pamela Powers Hannley

This week the story of domestic violence charges against former Mexican American Studies (MAS) Director Sean Arce bubbled up on the Arizona Daily Independent (ADI) blog and on Facebook, where discussions continue to roil. Prior to ADI's initial blog post on December 27, 2012, rumors were swirling around regarding what happened on December 9, 2012, the night Arce and his compadres celebrated his birthday. Now we have ADI's account– written from the police report and reaction from people across the political spectrum, including this blogger. Unfortunately, none of the lame stream media outlets have chosen to cover this story.

Did Arce aggressively confront his ex-wife in a local restaurant? Did he follow her home, break into the house, and break windows– causing Essence Arce to flee? That is for the courts to decide, but, in my opinion, the police report (which alludes to dried blood on Arce's hands when he was arrested) is very damming. 

My goal here is not to try Arce's case in the court of public opinion, but to point out that IF the domestic violence charges against him are true, we have yet another local case of a powerful man abusing his power and acting in a violent or at least highly inappropriate manner toward women. In recent months, Arizona has seen SIX powerful men charged with domestic violence or sexual harassment.

Women are murdered every day in this country by husbands, lovers, and former partners. In the workplace, women are subjected to harassment and discrimination. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. For more details, continue reading after the jump.

Blogging like a fugitive

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McAfee-smby Pamela Powers Hannley

In recent months, John McAfee's life has been the stuff B movies are made of.

In a nutshell, the expatriot anti-virus software pioneer had six guard dogs and "a contingent of armed guards" patrolling his estate in Belize; his neighbors didn't like the aggressive, barking dogs, and one filed a formal complaint; the dogs were poisoned; a few days later the neighbor was shot dead; McAfee went into hiding– including burying himself in his yard (to hide from police in Belize) and faking a heart attack (to be released from jail in Guatemala).  

As if that's not enough to keep a guy busy, apparently McAfee had the time to blog during his ordeal. 

Ragan's PR Daily says that bloggers can take a few queues from McAfee's blog to spice up their writing. How does one "blog like a fugitive"? Read tips from the article after the jump. (Image: John McAfee on his property in Belize. Credit: Brian Finke.)

The Filibuster in Federal Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This might prove interesting — or not. While the plaintiffs' arguments are correct, I suspect the Court will grant the motion to dismiss, taking the easy way out by citing separation of powers doctrine and comity between the branches of government to say that this is a political question for which the Court lacks the power to compel the Senate to do anything. Senate filibuster faces federal court challenge:

Even as Democrats are pushing to change the rules of the Senate, a federal court plans to consider a legal challenge to the chamber’s rules Monday.

Four House Democrats and the nonpartisan political reform group Common Cause are suing to end the use of the filibuster, calling it “an accident of history,” and unconstitutional “because they are inconsistent with the principle of majority rule.”

The Democratic lawmakers, Reps. Keith Ellison (Minn.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), John Lewis (Ga.) and Mike Michaud (Minn.), are joined by three other challengers, Erika Andiola, Celso Mireles and Caesar Vargas, who Common Cause says are being “denied a path to American citizenship” because of repeated filibusters of legislation that would grant young people brought to the United States illegally an opportunity to apply for citizenship. 

In court papers, the group argues that the filibuster “replaces majority rule with rule by the minority” by requiring at least 60 senators to vote to end debate on a bill.