The Orbis

Another one bites the dust

Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned last week after news broke of his inappropriate e-mail and instant messenger exchanges with a then-sixteen-year-old former congressional page that took place last year. Foley's communications with the page, which contained sexual advances, were brought to the attention of the page's sponsor, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), but Alexander did not investigate the matter and simply passed word of it on to Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Now that Foley has resigned, Republicans will need to find a new co-chairman for €" seriously €" the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus.

Air rage hits the Heartland

A man was detained at a Milwaukee airport security checkpoint for half an hour after screeners found that he had written "Kip Hawley is an idiot," on a plastic bag containing his toiletries. Ryan Bird, of Wisconsin, said he wrote the message to protest the unreasonable rules for travelers implemented by the Transportation Security Administration, of which Hawley is the head. "I'm frustrated that poorly trained TSA people can pull random passengers out of line and pat them down like common criminals," he said. Boo-hoo, thought a supervisor who reportedly told Bird that he was not entitled to express his opinions "in here," referring to the screening area.

Bush's bill allowing torture passes Congress

Congress recently passed a bill that, among other things, stops any retroactive legal action against the Bush Administration for torturing and mistreating detainees and also gives the President greater latitude in detaining so-called enemy combatants. After the recent Supreme Court ruling that Geneva Conventions must also apply to prisoners of war, the bill's passing came as a huge victory for President Bush, who has routinely violated Geneva Conventions in conducting his war on terror. The New York Times has called this bill "our generation's version of the Alien and Sedition Acts." And CNN commentator Jack Cafferty noted before the bill passed the Senate that "at least Nixon had Gerald Ford to do his dirty work for him. Bush is trying to pardon himself."

Bill Clinton smacks down Fox News

In a recent Fox News interview with the former president, he was asked why he didn't "do more to put bin Laden and al-Qaeda out of business when [he was] president." This question came in the wake of ABC's proagandistic documentary "The Path to 9/11", which falsely depicted Clinton as having had the opportunity to capture Bin Laden but instead let him go. Clinton rolled up his sleeves, leaned forward in his seat (to the visual discomfort of Wallace) and not only refuted the neocons who blamed him for 9/11, but exposed the intent of the interviewer for "doing Fox's bidding" and conducting their "right-wing hit-job" on him. He went on to accuse Wallace of "[asking him] questions you don't ask the other side."

Homeless men go head-to-head

The 4th annual Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa this past month brought together more than 500 homeless men from 48 countries for a soccer tournament aimed at giving its participants a sense of purpose and a motivation to sober up. A crowd of over 2,000 showed up to cheer on the competitors, and some aggressively accosted the homeless participants, begging for autographs. Some fans distracted the players, who were trying to focus on the competition, to such an extent that Donald Brown of the British team felt compelled to submit a letter-to-the editor to the local newspaper saying the bothersome fans were as unwelcome as hangovers.

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