White Collar Crime: Toys R Us gets Embezzled

If you walk into any Toys R Us facility whether it's a store or distribution center you can expect that there is that magical eye in the sky, big brother watching your every move, from customer to employee. You can also expect that there is a security guard wondering the area as well. This fact is most noticeable in the DC's where there are cameras on walls and posted on pillars throughout; uniformed security people making rounds to keep the goods safe from thieving hands even if those "suppose" thieving hands are that of the people they pay to load and unload and store their goods on shelves. With all of TRU's efforts to keep thieves at bay, maybe corporate should turn their suspicious eyes inwards, towards themselves.

Reuters reported on March 23, 2016 that Federal Authorities arrested one of Toy R Us's company directors of transportation for inbound and oubound freight. The director, according to the complaint filed, allegedly loaded the company's ECASH card  (ECASH cards are sort of like a company debit card) with funds that were suppose to go to truck driver accounts to be used for things like meals, lodging and repairs. The complaint claims that the director, whose name has been withheld, withdrew funds 117 times over the past three years (starting in May 2013), using ATM's both here in the U.S. and in Europe. The director is also said to have transferred $600,000 directly into his bank account over the same period of time. In total it is believed that up $2m had been taken.

Toys R Us released a statement saying:


"Because this is an active investigation, we are limited in what we can say publicly at this time. However, we can tell you that integrity is at the center of all that we do at Toys R Us..."

TRU's statement goes on to say that upon discovering that a criminal act had occurred that they immediately contacted law enforcement.

However, this isn't the first act of this type of white collar crime to hit the TRU family. In September 2011 Toys R Us manager in Britain, Paul Hopes, embezzled $6m in funds to pay for sexual services. Hopes is currently is serving a 7 year term behind bars and has been ordered by British courts to pay back the stolen funds.

Hopes was a purchasing manager with TRU for 23 years.

Employees at one of the company's District Centers, speaking anonymously do to the fact that it is against policy rules to use social media and talk about the company, jokingly stated that they have been asking for higher wages "...now we know why they [TRU] keep turning us down."

Election 2016: Rubio gets TRUMPED in Florida

Time Magazine once proclaimed Marco Rubio the GOP's hope for the future. That future may now be in doubt as the the Republican Party's rising star went  supernova as Rubio found himself lambasted by Donald Trump in his home state of Florida last evening. Essentially killing any and all hope of getting to the Republican convention much less getting the party's nomination.

Rubio seemed somewhat out of place throughout the primaries, having only won a small handful of them. First taking the moral high road then getting into mud slinging, going tit-for-tat with the bombastic Trump then back to morals. And if we have learned one thing on the GOP voters they are not swayed by wishy washy  candidates.

What lies next for the Senator now is up in the air. Was his loss to Trump an indication that Florida voters are now looking towards a new person to fill his seat. If anything, Tuesday's primary shows that Marco Rubio may be ripe for the picking come his seats election time. Some rumors paint a different sort of picture. One that has the 44 year-old Cuban-American looking perhaps at a new commander and chief job. That of Governor of the state that had just sent him packing.

Will we see Rubio's star rise once again or will the man sink into the black hole of political obscurity? Only time will tell.

Islam the Religion of Peace Unless You Disagree

In 2012 Blogger Raif Badawi was arrested for his views posted upon his blog "Saudi Arabian Liberals", where he advocated secularism and hosted political and religious debate in the highly charged religious atmosphere of Saudi Arabia. In 2013 Badawi was convicted with the crimes of violating the Kingdom's information technology laws and insulting Islam and was sentenced to seven years behind bars along with 600 lashes to be filled out through his incarceration.

When appealed, Saudi Arabian Courts increased his sentence to ten years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi received his first set of 19 public lashing in January of this year.

However the Raif Badawi story is just one of many when it comes to speaking your mind in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Courts have recently sentenced to death Palestinian-born poet Ashraf Fayadh for his 2008 book of poetry, " Insructions Within ". Citing his work contained evidence of atheism and destructive thoughts. Originally Fayadh was given the sentence of four years and 800 lashes, however, a new court panel concluded that his punishment was to light and a decision of death was handed out instead.

International outcry over the death penalty urged Western intellectuals and the literary community to hold rallies and sign petitions calling to set Fayadh free. In February their efforts paid-off somewhat as the case was retried for a third time leading to Fayadh receiving an eight year sentence along with 800 lashes.

*Mona Kareen, a New York based writer and friend of Fayadh, is translating the controversial book from Arabic to English for the independent Brooklyn based publishers The Operating System. " Most of it [the book] is about the experience of being a refugee in an oil kingdom. Specifically as Palestinian refugee born and raised in Saudi Arabia. Fayadh challenges [the] common narrative in which migrations end in Western countries. His work calls into question the role of Arab states... Highlights the marginalization of refugees in Arab society. " Mona Kareem goes on to say that Fayadh's poetic protests are inherently political and this is why the government of Saudi Arabia has come after him.

Saudi Arabia is home for 240,000 Palestinian refugees however they are excluded from laws that allow expatriates to purse citizenship and exist in limbo of statelessness. When it comes to other refugees in the Arab Kingdom who break laws many are deported, although, in the case of Ashrah Fayadh, whom is a Palestinian but born and raised in Saudi Arabia, he has no state to be deported too.

Today the 35 year-old poet sits in jai. No longer writes. Preparing for a new process of appeals. Looking at a reality of years of prison. His one and only care is that people don't forget him. But forget him they will. Many don't care about what goes on the other side of the world, about things they no nothing or care about. If the West in looking for change in places like Saudi Arabia they are never going to find it as the governments turn blind eyes to the abuses that are delivered Daily for those trying for change. Obama and other Western governments talk about trying to spur openness and freedom in places such as Iran but continue to allow our supposed allies in the region carte blanche when comes to their own Human Rights Violations.

*Mona Kareem is a researcher for the advocacy group Migrant-Rights.org and is currently a PhD candidate in the Comparative Literature Program at Binghamton University. You can find her at MonaKareem.blogspot.com

Trump Cruz'n to Victory?

With no surprise Donald Trump had a good Super Tuesday. Not great, but good with his seven impressive wins. Ted Cruz on the other hand went from survival to having a good night in the primaries with Marco Rubio --while finally earning his first win-- being less than impressive.

So where does this leave us?

With his wins, Trump appears to be on a clear path to the nomination of the Republican Party. And with the line being drawn with the March 15th primaries it looks like the RNC is changing strategies when it comes to taking on the front runner.

Lindsey Graham on Tuesday night suggested that it might be time to rally around Ted Cruz if they have any hopes in taking down Donald Trump. No small feat --and in truth, no small announcement. Especially when you look at Graham and his dislike of the Texan Senator.

If Super Tuesday taught us anything about Trump is that there are chinks in his armor. Possibly with his wavering on the KKK and David Duke endorsement of his Presidency. But if the RNC ends up pulling off a small coup and Cruz ends up taking a few of the winner take all states is it fair to say that come convention time, with Trump looking to unify and get backing from the RNC, that he may be forced to take Cruz as a running mate?

Only time will tell on that matter.

Election 2016: The Business of Politics and the Secret to Trump's Success

Since the turn of the century the mainstay and established GOP powerhouses are slow when it comes to running Presidential elections and from the looks of things 2016 is going to no different.

Back in 2008 the GOP found themselves so focused on the Hillary Clinton Campaign that they failed to take notice or even respect the fact that the rising star of Barack Obama was gaining ground with his ability to organize an army of pavement pounders to get out his message --Even Hillary herself was caught off guard. Despite the fact that his background was community organizer. In the end the GOP ran their standard "trusted" campaign with the McCain nom. To combat Obama and to try to get ahead of their "supposed" war on women (never mind the Clintons' version) lead to the GOP's great faux pas in that of making Sarah Palin the VP choice. 2012, in the end, would be no different despite their wins in the mid-terms, with their pick in the stiff, robotic form of Mitt Romney. The only smart thing they seemed to do back in '12 was try to court the younger vote, break the mold that has been the stagnating the Republicans for two decades that they are old, rich and white with the some what unlikable Paul Ryan (hey, he digs "Rage Against the Machine"). 

Now we turn to 2016. Obama is done. Termed out. who will precede him to the oval office. And the cast of characters couldn't be more vast. Early on the media declared that the race was pretty over and was going to be Jeb Bush v. Hillary Clinton even before either candidate threw their hats into the proverbial ring. While the two played coy, pretending if they had to debate with themselves about if they wanted to get in, although we all knew that was going to be the case. Hillary at first was the media's and self declared nomination for the Demarcates and Jeb believed this to be the case for him as well. Then two things happened. Two possibly the strangest things in modern politics: Enter Socialist Bernie Sanders and businessman and media whore Donald Trump.  

At first Trump wasn't taken seriously. Looked on as possibly another Ralph Nader or if he ran as an independent maybe even a Ross Perot, as he descended down his golden escalator for his big announcement. But leave it to Trump to trump the field of naysayers. 

Since his announcement of running for President, Trump has been a thorn in the side of pretty much everyone. Leaving people in both parties and the media scratching their heads in wonderment.

To look at the Trump campaign you would think it was set for disaster from the onset. But in truth his weaknesses are some of his strengths. The real secret to his success is that Trump has been a media figure since the 1980's. And has been on the forefront of social media. Back in '08 the media was all about Obama and his Blackberry. How he would have to give it up. By '12 the Demarcates were running Facebook and Twitter ads recruiting the young to vote while the Republicans were still playing catch up. (If you look back as far as the 90's and Bill Clinton, where you saw him on MTV and late night TV playing the sax while the GOP dismissed him for it). Trump has been a household name for the last decade just with his Reality Television program The Apprentice. Everyone knows who Trump is. Knows what he's about. How he acts. At the moment their are no real skeletons waiting in the closet to come and derail his juggernaut. The man has no filter when it comes to his mouth --another thing that in the past has upset and killed other candidates-- and pretty much says whatever is on his mind. Trump has tapped a vein in today's society that is tired of the usual brand of bullshit politics. How they tell you what you want to hear and in the end have their own agenda. Or end up selling themselves too much and effectively tying themselves to the wrong agenda once in office. Which is another of his strengths --and something that Romney back in '12 failed to do: Donald Trump is mostly financing his entire campaign. And with Campaign strategies that Cruz and Rubio seem to be running, how until late, the field of prospective candidates is (was) so wide their thinking is all I have to do is stay close to the top spot and when the others start to fall away I'll be able to pick up momentum and votes. And if that didn't work out hope for a brokered convention where Cruz and Rubio stand a better chance than Trump for getting the party's nom. It's no wonder why Trump has dominated the race.

But since the Iowa Caucus (the only loss for Trump) and how the field has began to shrink (now down to 5) this strategy doesn't seem to be panning out the way they were hoping. The big boost both Cruz and Rubio were hoping for when Jeb finally called it quits didn't materialize. If anything it made the two other front runners look somewhat weaker. Out of the all the candidates only Cruz looks to win his home state. While Rubio did have a good last debate, acting like a man who wants to be president, Trump still has 16 point lead [02/25/16] on him with Cruz not far behind. On top of all that, Rubio's momentum from his debate win was cut short with Trump trotting out one time President hopeful Chris Christy with his endorsement for Trump. 

Feelings are that by the March 15th primaries the race for the GOP nomination will be locked in for Trump.

Is Trump a breathe of fresh air that the GOP needs if it wants to stay viable in the future? Or is this the beginning of the end of the Grand Ol' Party built on Lincoln? Fact is both are answers are correct. The Repubs need a new face. At first the Tea Party seemed to be the answer until it fell apart by being hijacked by big money people. However, when you look at the other side of the aisle and that of the Dems, they seem to be facing the same problems. Bernie Sanders has upset the cart that has kept the DNC in power for the last decade --first with effectively turning the last two years of Bush into lame duck and 8 in the oval office. Sanders has shown cracks that the Demarcates would rather stay hidden (with their own big money people issues). They are losing the young (their mainstay for years now) for promises of a better cheaper tomorrow as we see large crowds out for Bernie Sanders rallies and his #FeeltheBern dominate social media. One has to stop and think about why Sanders isn't on top of the DNC heap the same way Trump is for the GOP. Is it that the young fail to get out and vote or is it media bias as some claim. One fact is that Hillary has done a better job capture the African-American vote. In that case there, Sanders has a long road ahead for the nom which seems further and further away from him after each primary. However, the longer he stays in the race the Hillary Campaign seems to take more cracks. Giving the GOP a different set of talking points other than Benhazi.  

If the 2016 run for the white house has showed us anything is that people are done with status quo. 

It's All About "Pay to Play" in DC & the Chicago Way Still Rules

It's increasingly becoming more and more difficult for the general layman not associated with one of the political heavy weights who continue to keep a stranglehold on American politics to get his hat in the ring, his own voice heard without selling his soul. And on March 26th, 2014 the [American] Supreme Court made it clear that is the way they like to keep it. On the 26th the Justices (in a 5-4  decision) voted down a decades-old cap upon which (tried) to control on how much an individual can contribute in a two year election cycle. Citing Free Speech Issues. Seeming a political victory for the Koch Brothers and the Citizens United -- Citizens United who brought about the challenge of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (aka: the McCain-Feingold Law) that limited what is termed as soft money in campaign financing by prohibiting national political party committees from raising or spending any funds not subject to any funds not subject to the federal limits on both state and federal levels, and prohibited the running of advocacy ads mentioning a federal candidate within 60 days of a general election that is paid for by a corporation (including non-profit issue organizations) and unincorporated entities using corporate or Union treasury funds-- much to the (faux) chagrin on the Left side of the aisle who cried foul at the ruling. All-the-while, however, the Left side began to ramp up its own fundraising, calling out their own versions of the Koch Brothers who have deep pockets all their own.

The Bleeding Heart Honkies would like us all to believe that it is simply a right-side-of-the-aisle issue when it comes to rich donors. As it turns out, it seems that the left has pretty much outpaced the right with 1 % (Percenters) forking over multimillion dollar checks. Just a couple weeks ago Obama hosted (along with his old buddy Mayor (Emperor) Rahm Emanuel) two dinner parties in Chicago the cost of which was in the tens-of-thousands a plate. And with the current regime's policy of transparency the press wasn't invited to the big one with the real deep pocket donors. According to finical reports the left has raked in cash at a 3-1 pace against their rivals. And both PAC entities are set to rack up around a billion dollars for their efforts by the time the election gets into full swing.

Once again we find that if you don't have big backing money, well, you're are just not needed to come play in the hollowed hallways of government that is Washington DC. But if you think that it's only at the federal level you are going to be sorely disappointed. Both Political Parties are increasingly stuffing money into campaigns on many state levels as well as the march of the billionaire greenbacks finds its way to city halls and usually meaningless state races.

Where do we go from here? How does a (truly) Independent Candidate not get lost, pushed out of what is supposed to be By the People for the People style of electoral government? The Libertarian is pretty much a joke on the political stage and if you have your own deep pockets the Bleeding Heart Honkies combat you with their ads linking you to the right, the right cries that third parties just steal their votes. In truth, it's time for new revolution. And by that I mean a voter revolution. We need to stop listening to the propaganda that both parties shove down our throats on a daily basis and sweep out every single one who is up for reelection; stop voting party lines because neither party really has our interest at heart. And keep doing it until we the people finally get the government the America needs. Not the long term, professional jack-holes that plague the system we have now. Only then will we really see Hope and Change.