Top 10 toppled executives 2009
File photo of Huang Guangyu. [Agencies] Huang Guangyu, former chairman and founder of Gome, one of the leading home appliance retailers in China, is expected to face charges of Bribery and Insider Trading. Sources say investigations are close to completion, and the case will go to court by the end of December 2009. However, Yang Zhaodong, Huang's lawyer, says the charges are yet to be confirmed. Huang has hired several of the country's top lawyers to defend him. Legal experts say the debate...

Woman's blood alcohol content topples state records
A Sturgis woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90, according to Meade County State's Attorney Jesse Sondreal.

South Dakota drunk driver Marguerite Engle's blood alcohol level may have broken state record
An absolutely bombed South Dakota woman - found passed out in stolen cars twice this month - had a blood alcohol level nearly nine times the legal limit, authorities said. State Troopers discovered Marguerite Engle , 45, slumped behind the wheel of a stolen delivery van Dec. 1. The dazed drunkard recorded a mind-boggling .708 blood alcohol content - believed to be the highest in state history. Meade County State 's Attorney Jesse Sondreal said the highest blood alcohol level previously...

Hang up on the cell phone ban idea

Tower Ticker: Rod Blagojevich to be on Donald Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice'; NBC star says apparently
Corroborating widespread reports during the series' taping in October, NBC on Monday finally announced that deposed Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is among the desperate-for-attention or just-plain-desperate competitors on developer Donald Trump's game show, "The Celebrity Apprentice." NBC's own Jimmy Fallon, in response to initial reports, said Blagojevich's inclusion was "part of Trump's plan to make his own hair look normal." Not everyone...

Kirk Hits Reverse Thrusters On Cap and Trade
Rep. Mark Kirk’s “aye” vote in the House of Representatives was something of a surprise and something of a mistake, if one reads the tea leaves. Now his back-pedal is odd: “About Cap and Trade: I voted for it because it was in the narrow interests of my Congressional District. But as your representative, representing the entire state of Illinois, I will vote ‘No’ on that bill coming up.” The logic, if one calls it that, is odd but the result is a...

American Needle Inc. v. National Football League
American Needle Inc. filed suit in an Illinois federal District Court against the National Football League ("NFL") and Reebok International Ltd. alleging that the teams' exclusive licensing agreement with Reebok violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. American Needle argued that because individual NFL teams separately own their team logos and trademarks, their collective agreement to authorize NFL Properties to award the exclusive headwear license to Reebok, was in fact a conspiracy to restrict...

Trib poll: 40 percent of Illinois Republicans appear to have pro-choice views
A Tribune poll last month of likely Republican primary voters found half believe more restrictions should be placed on Abortion, 32 percent said current regulations should remain in place and only 8 percent said fewer restrictions should be imposed. That split is definitely not as clear-cut as some on the Right might have you think. Only half of all Republicans want more restrictions, while 40 percent said do nothing or loosen restrictions? This is just another reason why running too far to...

Giannoulias Up With Two More Spots in Illinois Senate Race
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) has put up two more television spots with less than a month to go before the Feb. 2 primary. Giannoulias' duo of 30-second spots, called " Values " and " Heroes ," are intended to display the Democrat's accomplishments in office over the past four years. A Giannoulias campaign aide would not divulge the size of the ad buy, but he confirmed that the spots were airing in three markets: Chicago, southern Illinois and the Champaign and Decatur areas....

Congressman Peter Roskam - Serving the 6th District of Illinois
Just weeks ago, Jose Luis Perez fled the United States before Law Enforcement officials could arrest him, but not before he allegedly scammed $56 million in Taxpayer money by defrauding Medicare. Described by the FBI as an "international traveler," Perez is just one of many criminals to take Medicare for millions of Taxpayer Dollars before jetting for safer and more exotic locales abroad. As Washington intensely Debates Health-care reform, the cost of Care has simultaneously emerged as the...

Republican Ryan proposes tollway lease
Former Attorney General Jim Ryan held a rare news conference Monday to talk about his Budget proposals in the Republican campaign for governor and denied he was sitting on his front-runner status less than a month before the Feb. 2 primary. Holding his first formal Chicago-area news conference, at his campaign headquarters in west suburban Elmhurst, Ryan proposed the long-term lease or sale of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority as a way to generate billions of dollars to fund public works...

Bring on the GOP Slugfest
Jeb Golinkin has been a strong advocate for selecting Congressman Mark Kirk as the GOP standard-bearer for the 2010 Senate election in Illinois. Kirk, Golinkin

al-Marri v. Spagone
Whether a U.S. resident arrested in the U.S. can be indefinitely detained as an "enemy combatant" in a Military brig without criminal charges or trial. CASE DISMISSED March 6, 2009 Ali al-Marri was lawfully residing in the U.S. when he was arrested at his home in Peoria, Illinois, and charged with violating various criminal laws. One month prior to trial, the government withdrew those charges and transferred al-Marri to Military custody after former President Bush declared al-Marri to...

Ill. candidate Hynes goes after Quinn on early-release issue
Hynes SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Well, that didn’t take long. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes today announced a major new campaign commercial going after Gov. Pat Quinn for his administration’s recent secret early release of 1,700 state Prison inmates to save money in the cash-strapped state Budget. Quinn admits the move was a mistake, but has been blaming it on his state Prison director and hoping the issue will go away. The new ad from Hynes (who is challenging Quinn for...

Ill. candidate Hynes goes after Quinn on early-release issue
Hynes SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Well, that didn’t take long. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes today announced a major new campaign commercial going after Gov. Pat Quinn for his administration’s recent secret early release of 1,700 state Prison inmates to save money in the cash-strapped state Budget. Quinn admits the move was a mistake, but has been blaming it on his state Prison director and hoping the issue will go away. The new ad from Hynes (who is challenging Quinn for...

Rod Blagojevich Will Star on 'Celebrity Apprentice' Despite Prosecutors' Concerns
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich , under federal indictment for Corruption, is one of the stars of the next season of the NBC reality show, "Celebrity Apprentice." The show is hosted and produced by Donald Trump and will premier on March 14. Blagojevich was removed from office a year ago after being indicted and impeached. Get the new PD toolbar! "I'm a big admirer of Donald Trump's," Blagojevich said in an interview on "Access Hollywood." "Here's someone who has known great...

Illinois to take detainees
Washington -- President Barack Obama has directed the Federal Government to buy the near-empty state Prison in rural Thomson, Ill., to house Federal inmates and up to 100 Detainees from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba, officials said late Monday. The official announcement is planned for Tuesday and follows weeks of consideration of the Thomson Correctional Center as a site for Guantanamo Detainees. The decision is part of a complicated plan for shutting down the...

Radical Fundraiser Becomes Illinois Police Chaplain
Previously on the IPT blog we stressed the need for the Defense Department's Islamic Chaplaincy program to adopt a stricter vetting process, citing historically radical imams who have served in the program. Now the same can be said for the chaplaincy program for the Illinois State Police. The Mosque Foundation website reports that Sheikh Kifah Mustapha recently completed a four day training session in Springfield, Illinois to become the first certified Muslim chaplain for the Illinois State...

Sting catches alleged terrorist in plot to blow up courthouse
A would-be terrorist was arrested in Springfield, Illinois, for allegedly attempting to detonate a truck bomb to blow up a federal building and kill its occupants, officials said Thursday.

U.S. to house Guantanamo detainees in Illinois, officials say
Reporting from Washington - President Obama has directed the Federal Government to buy a nearly empty state Prison in rural Illinois to house up to 100 Detainees held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said late Monday. The administration plans to announce today that the Government will acquire the Thomson Correctional Center to house Federal inmates as well as a limited number of Detainees. Local officials have promoted the idea, in part because the project would...

Deregulation Now
As we enter a New decade, the political mood of the country can be captured in one word: glum. In particular, there is widespread recognition at the state level that conditions have reached near crisis proportions. In states like California, Illinois and New York, large deficits and service cutbacks loom everywhere, as traditional Tax bases can no longer support the ambitious entitlement programs that rest precariously upon them. Tax Revenues are down 10% across all states, even as taxes are...

In latest sign of trouble for Democrats, two senators, one governor ditch re-election plans
Now, with Dodd, Dorgan and Ritter out, Republicans have even more to crow about, if not better opportunities to pick up Democratic-held seats. Democrats, who have a 60-40 Senate majority that includes two independents who vote with them, now will have to defend four open seats in the Senate. The others are Delaware and Illinois, where Sens. Ted Kaufman, who replaced Vice President Joe Biden, and Roland Burris, who replaced Obama, aren't running for full terms. Among governors, Democrats are...

Madigan: Asian carp injunction request is invalid
Chicago - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan contends Michigan and other Great Lakes states do not have the legal authority to demand the closing of canal locks within Illinois. Madigan filed her response Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court to a request from several states for an injunction to close the locks to protect the lakes and their $7 billion fishery from the voracious Asian carp. Michigan last month asked the high Court to sever a century-old connection between the lakes and...

Defendants urge Supreme Court to dismiss Asian carp case
Reporting from Chicago - With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to act on a lawsuit seeking to prevent Asian carp from infiltrating Lake Michigan, defendants said Tuesday that hysteria over questionable DNA research is whipping Upper Midwest states into a frenzy that could devastate Illinois' shipping industry. Michigan took the lawsuit to the Supreme Court last month, asking for an injunction to force Illinois to close two Chicago-area navigational locks to prevent the carp's spread into the...

Lawyer Says Third White House ‘Crasher’ Was Invited
Washington — The mystery man starring in a new movie in town — State Dinner Crashers: The Sequel — has come forward.

Blackwater, the CIA and Khost
A leading member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has told The Nation that she will launch an investigation into why two Blackwater contractors were among the dead in the December 30 Suicide bombing at the CIA station at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. "The Intelligence Committees and the public were led to believe that the CIA was phasing out its contracts with Blackwater and now we find out that there is this ongoing presence," said Illinois...

Even Little-Known Democrats Seem Dangerously Underwater -- By: Jim Geraghty
Fascinating : Asked, "if the election for your Member of Congress were held today, would you likely vote to re-elect Phil Hare?", only 39.5 percent of respondents in Illinois 17th Congressional District said "yes," and 47 percent said "no." This is a traditionally modestly Democratic District, where Obama carried 56 percent of the vote in 2008. This is not a seat that has been on most analysts' lists of likely competitive races...

US opposes waterways disruption
The Federal Government, saying that it, too, is worried about an invasive species of fish making its way into Lake Michigan, urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to turn aside the state of Michigan’s new plea for major Court-ordered steps to head off that migration.

Illinois Family Institute
"'For a library to provide children's books which promote homosexuality while denying ex-gay books smacks of Censorship and indoctrination of youth with a one-sided ideology,' said Griggs." The American Library Association's (ALA) "Intellectual Freedom Principles" state that "1) Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background,...

TUCSON TEA PARTY: Gabrielle Giffords Thinks You Are Stupid....
TUCSON Tea Party: Gabrielle Giffords Thinks You Are Stupid.

Strong aftershocks strike Chile
Lizeth Soto peers from the tent were she is sleeping with her family in Concepcion, Chile, Friday, March 5, 2010. Soto and her family are taking refugee in tents outside their home that was damaged during the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile's central coastal region last Feb. 27. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan) SANTIAGO, Chile - Two strong offshore tremors jolted the coastline of southern Chile on Friday morning striking close to the epicenter of the earthquake that devastated the...

Bank Tax Bummer -- By: Daniel Foster
The almighty CBO, which the Obama Administration meticulously built up as the ultimate arbiter of good policy, has scored the president's proposed bank tax, and it ain't pretty (emphasis added): March 5 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s proposal to impose a $90 billion fee on Financial firms that benefited from the government’s bail-out funding program would have a “small” effect on the companies and would be shouldered by customers, investors and...

Divya Gugnani: SOBE Burger Bash
New York welcomed me back with frigid temperatures and snow on the ground. Though I spent the past few days beachside, it's not like South Beach treated me much better. It was pretty chilly and windy down at the annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival . In fact, the only heat was that of the hot chefs that brought their A-game to Burger Bash hosted by Rachael Ray. As a novice judge at this event, I was ill-prepared for the gluttony. I started the day with a breakfast for...

Republicans nominate ex-Councilwoman Helen Sears to run for Hiram Monserrate's seat
Democrats worked overtime this weekend to scuttle a turncoat's plan to run on the Republican line for Hiram Monserrate 's seat - fearing a win would again gridlock the Senate in a 31-to-31 tie. Queens Republicans unanimously nominated former Councilwoman Helen Sears to run in the March 16 Special Election to fill Monserrate's seat. The disgraced pol was booted by his colleagues after a misdemeanor conviction for assaulting his girlfriend. A Sears win could lead to a nightmare scenario far...

Investigate John Ensign’s Hush Money
Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada admitted to an affair with Cindy Hampton, a female campaign staffer married to another staffer, Douglas Hampton, from his Senate office. Ensign then claimed that his out-of-the-blue confession was motivated by the husband's demand for an exorbitant sum of hush money. But by confessing his transgressions, Ensign prompted widespread scrutiny of a series of curious payments he made to The Hamptons during the period he said the affair took place. According...

UW-Madison Faces Liberal Backlash In Polling Deal
The deal with the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute would give star political scientist Ken Goldstein a funding source and a platform to showcase his public opinion work. Graduate students and faculty would help and get to use the data. The university would build relationships with powerful conservatives - and perhaps boost Fundraising as a result. But months after the agreement was announced, it has turned into a fiasco. The university is distancing itself from the poll amid a liberal...

Report Faults Obama's Efforts at Transparency
The latest on President Obama, his Administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. Indeed, Mr. Obama’s Administration has posted White House visitor logs online, it has made public the once-classified memorandums on Torture policies in the George W. Bush Administration , and it has developed an internal system for archiving its own unclassified e-mail messages. But a new report released on Sunday by a private research group, the National...

The drum on the sceptics
Michael Connor claims Censorship: Quadrant Online previously reported that the ABC had invited Bob Carter to contribute to an online debate on The Drum following their publication of a series of five articles by Clive Hamilton. Left Internet newsletters and blog sites were outraged that sceptics were to be allowed to comment on their ABC. Professor Carter submitted his article, on James Hansen and the Hansenism cult, and the ABC has rejected his article - which Quadrant Online is privileged to...

Shaken Afghan City Seeks More Support From Kabul
Go to the Blog

Thai protesters threaten to throw blood at official buildings
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Anti-Government protesters threatened Monday to begin collecting hundreds of liters of blood to toss on official buildings as they step up their efforts to bring down Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's administration. They made the announcement an hour after Abhisit ignored a demand by the "red shirts" -- named for their clothing -- to dissolve parliament by noon Monday. Nattawut Saikua -- one of the leaders of the Anti-Government United Front for...

1199 Outspent the DCCC (But Not the NRCC) in the Scott Murphy Race
ALBANY-The Health Care workers union SEIU 1199 spent over $500,000 to help Scott Murphy defeat Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in their race to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in Congress. Federal campaign filings show the union invested more in independent expenditures than even the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee toward Murphy's victory, between their political action and political education committees. A memo from 1199's New York political director, Kevin Finnegan, to the SEIU...

World Relief rejects job applicant over his faith
Saad Mohammad Ali had volunteered for six months at World Relief, helping the agency resettle arriving Iraqi refuges, when a manager suggested he apply for an Arabic-speaking caseworker job. The 42-year-old SeaTac resident had been an interpreter for the U.S. government in Iraq before coming to the U.S. two years ago — himself as a refugee. With a degree in statistics, strong English skills and basic knowledge of American culture, Mohammad Ali, who now works as a baggage handler at...

U.S. shrugs off sighting of Mexican helicopter
BROWNSVILLE — U.S. officials Friday downplayed the sighting of a Mexican Military Helicopter hovering as long as 20 minutes over a residential area north of the Texas border this week, saying the incursion didn't cause alarm even though it hadn't been cleared in advance. U.S. agencies could offer no reports of a follow-up investigation and no indication whether a Mexican explanation had been asked for or given. Gov. Rick Perry's office released a statement late Friday, however, saying...

Kill The Bill Rally Pictures
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin You are using Internet Explorer 6, or older. We highly suggest that you seek out an alternative or newer web browser, to bring your web surfing experience up to current standards.  

Construction Employment Declines in Every State and D.C.
March 10, 2010 The construction Workforce was smaller in every state and the District of Columbia in January 2010 than it was just 12 months earlier, according to a new analysis of federal data released Wednesday by AGC. The data indicated just how widespread the construction downturn is, AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson said, noting that 38 states and D.C. experienced a double digit percentage drop in construction employment. Read the Press release here . The news was covered by the ...

Stocks fall early after mixed reports on unemployment, trade deficit; inflation jump in China
NEW YORK — Stocks fell in early trading Thursday after China reported a sharp jump in Inflation. Mixed U.S. economic news also held the market back. Overseas markets were mixed after China said its Inflation rate jumped 2.7 percent in February from 1.5 percent in January. Rapid Inflation could force China to raise Interest Rates. That, in turn, could slow one of the world's fastest-growing economies and put a damper on a global recovery. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said workers...

Barack Obama and his Health Care Denial ... The People Will Learn to Like It
  Any excuse to pass Obamacare … Barack Obama and the Democrats will use any excuse with regards to Health Care except for the polls that show that the will of the American people hate Obamacare.

George Washington Fighting A Bengal Tiger On A Sinking Boat During A Hurricane [PIC]
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Girl Scouts Gone Wild
I’ve seen more than a few boxes of Do-Si-Dos and Samoas around lately. It’s hard to look askance at the Girl Scouts when there’s so much sweetness in the air, but there is reason for keeping the Girl Scouts out of the “mom and apple pie” pantheon. For one thing, the organization has a Think Tank, a nongovernmental organization, and a welcome mat out to Planned Parenthood.   At a meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women this month, the...

Clark for Congress Lit. Piece | Outstate Politics
Last week I wrote about the first 6th Congressional District campaign literature I received from Maureen Reed . Only days later I received my first piece of literature from Tarryl Clark but have been too busy to get it up. So, without further adieu… The crux of the mailer is concerned with explaining why Clark is the most qualified and best candidate to take of Michele Bachmann in 2010. However, it also has several clear shots at Bachmann including a continued theme of questioning who the...

Alert: Tell the Government to Support Balanced Copyright!
The new Federal Copyright cop, Victoria Espinel, has asked for your opinions on how the U.S. Government should enforce Copyrights. Until March 24th, you have the chance to tell the Federal Government how Copyright enforcement and Copyright Infringement affect you, and how the Government can improve its enforcement policies. The request for comments seems geared to take in complaints from big media companies and other major holders of Copyrights, Patents, and trademarks-it starts out by...

Manning recovering from neck surgery
Indianapolis (AP) - Four-time league MVP Peyton Manning has undergone neck surgery to relieve pain caused by a pinched nerve. The Colts issued a statement Wednesday announcing the surgery. The team says the injury has caused intermittent pain in Manning’s neck for the past four years but never affected his training, practice or playing regimen. Manning stayed overnight at the Hospital and the surgery is not expected to prevent from participating in the team’s offseason...

A Solo Fundraiser For Espada
A reader forwarded this invitation he received to a fundraiser Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. is throwing for himself at the Albany restaurant Dale Miller next week. The cost to attend runs from $1,000 (patron) to $2,500 (friend), which put this among the higher end of events held within the shadow of the state Capitol. Checks are to be made out to New Yorkers for Espada, one of the senator's many campaign committees, which had a balance of $252,478 as of Jan. 15. (This is not, as...

For First Time, U.S. Will Submit Criticism of Its Own Human Rights Record to U.N. Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council has been criticized for disproportionately criticizing Israel at the expense of other situations around the world. In this March 2, 2009 photo, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki used the HRC as a platform to condemn the "illegitimate Zionist regime" and call for Israeli leaders to be indicted for Crimes Against Humanity. (AP Photo) (CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the State Department is soliciting comments...

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009) (V)
trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview main details combined details full cast and crew company credits tv schedule Awards & Reviews user reviews external reviews newsgroup reviews awards user ratings parents guide recommendations message board Plot & Quotes plot summary synopsis plot keywords Amazon.com summary memorable quotes Fun Stuff trivia goofs soundtrack listing crazy credits alternate versions movie...

Video: Stupak As Braveheart Holds The Line
I was looking for a video of Stupak’s appearance on Greta Van Susteren, and came upon this: Yowsa, this is pretty hardcore for Catholic Vote! Incidentally: Statement by Cardinal Francis George, OMI The Cost is too High; the Loss is too Great The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long and consistently advocated for the reform of the American Health Care system. Their experience in Health Care and in Catholic parishes has acquainted them with the anguish of mothers who are...

Dodd's 2nd shot at financial reform still leaves loopholes
Trying to fix the broken U.S. Financial System is no way to win a popularity contest. Standing by himself, Christopher Dodd , chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, on Monday announced his second attempt to plug loopholes in Financial Regulation and find ways to prevent a repeat of the crisis that overtook Wall Street in late 2008. His first attempt was declared dead on arrival last fall by his Senate colleagues. The House of Representatives passed its version of Financial Reform in...

Brooklyn resident without power blasts Con Ed for not being treated as a priority
Don't tell Mary Ann Marando of Brooklyn she's not a priority. The 63-year-old is fuming that she may not get her electricity back until the end of the week because only two other homes on her street lost power. "It's not fair," said Marando, who lives in Sheepshead Bay with a 1-year-old grandnephew and her 86-year-old mom, who relies on a nebulizer to breathe properly. Her two-family house lost power Saturday night when a neighbor's tree fell onto a nearby power line. Con Ed workers told...

House Republicans to force vote on Pelosi's Slaughter House solution
Just heard from GOP Hill folks: “House Republican leaders will announce this morning a plan to force a vote this week on a resolution that would require the Senate Health Care bill to be brought to an actual up-or-down vote. The likely text of the measure is below. If passed by the House, the resolution would prohibit Speaker Pelosi from implementing the "Slaughter Solution," the scheme by which House Democratic leaders are seeking to "deem" the Senate bill as passed without an...