
Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul has been a guest on the show of wacky conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones multiple times in the past couple years.
For Jones, who runs the site Infowars.com and broadcasts his eponymous radio show out of Austin, 9/11 trutherism is only the beginning. He regularly devotes his show to investigating the Bilderberg Group, the "rise of FEMA," the Bohemian Grove, how to fight the New World Order, etc.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (42) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)The charges filed this week against nine members of the Hutaree Christian militia group have re-focused attention on the resurgence over the last year or so of the broader militia movement.
That resurgence has been driven in part, say experts, by the election of President Obama. But during the Obama era, threats of anti-government violence -- and even the real thing -- have become more widespread. In fact, with disaffected Americans from Massachusetts to California freaking out against the Feds en masse, it sometimes seems that going postal has become all the rage. Of course, in some cases, that anti-government animus long predates the election of our current president. But there seems to be something about the current climate that's contributing to the rash of incidents.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (41) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)A lawsuit filed by two former employees of Blackwater charges that the controversial security contractor defrauded the U.S. government, including charging it for strippers and prostitutes, the New York Times reports.
Perhaps the most explosive charge in the lawsuit -- filed by a married couple, Brad and Melan Davis, is that the company put a Filipino prostitute in Afghanistan on its payroll under the "Morale Welfare Recreation" category, then billed the government for her salary and plane tickets.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (35) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)A former FEMA worker and her cousin have been charged in Mississippi with stealing $721,000 in disaster relief money, including allegedly diverting $58,000 directly from three victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Lashonda Booker, who worked in FEMA's Biloxi office processing Katrina disaster assistance claims, is accused of conspiring with her cousin to divert FEMA funds to bank accounts Booker controlled, according to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney Jan. 8.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (9) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)Heckuva seminar, Brownie!
Michael Brown, the much-ridiculed former FEMA director who became a symbol of the Bush administration's disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, has landed a new gig: teaching a law-school class on the Patriot Act next spring.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (21) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is blocking an EPA nomination because he wants the agency to delay establishing safety procedures for formaldehyde. Meanwhile, major emitters of the dangerous chemical have been generous contributors to the senator's reelection campaign.
Vitter met yesterday with EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, who sought, unsuccessfully, to convince him to remove the hold he had placed on Paul Anastas, who has been nominated to be the EPA's assistant administrator in charge of its Office of Research and Development, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
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