Tag Archives: dennis

Woman Alleges Dennis Hastert Sexually Abused Her Brother

Mother Jones

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On Friday, an Illinois woman alleged in an interview with ABC News that Dennis Hastert sexually abused her late brother while the former House speaker worked as a teacher and wrestling coach at her brother’s high school.

Jolene Reinboldt, who contacted ABC and other news outlets with the same allegations nearly ten years ago, said she first learned about the abuse when her brother, Steve, revealed he was gay eight years after graduating high school in Yorkville, Illinois.

“I asked him, when was your first same sex experience,” she said in the interview. “He just looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert.’ I was stunned.”

Jolene said when she asked why he never told authorities about the abuse, Steve responded, “Who is ever going to believe me?” Steve passed away in 1999 of AIDS.

Last week, Hastert was indicted on federal charges for lying to the FBI and trying to conceal secret payments to cover up “past misconduct.” Soon after, the Los Angeles Times reported the misconduct was “about sex” and large payments to a former male student, identified only as Individual A, to stay silent about the alleged abuse.

Jolene said FBI officials showed up at her house two weeks ago to inform her of Hastert’s imminent indictment and to ask her about Steve.

Friday’s interview marks the first time a possible victim has been publicly named.

Watch the interview below:

ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News

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Woman Alleges Dennis Hastert Sexually Abused Her Brother

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One Perfect Tweet Sums Up Why Climate Denial in Congress Is So Dangerous

Mother Jones

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Here’s the good news: Yesterday the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of an amendment to the Keystone XL bill that says “climate change is real and not a hoax.” Good work, ladies and gentlemen! Glad we got that on the record, only 25 years after scientists agreed on it.

Here’s the bad news: Turns out the vote was just an excuse for James Inhofe (Okla.) to say, as he has many times before: Sure, climate change is real. The climate changes all the time. But humans aren’t the cause.

His evidence for this dismissal of the mainstream scientific consensus? The bible.

Oy vey.

Now here’s the really bad news: This same gentleman from Oklahoma recently became the chairman of the very Senate committee that oversees environmental policy. And two of his climate change-denying peers will chair other subcommittees that oversee vital climate science.

In case it isn’t self-evident why these facts are so terrible, we have our lovely readers to sum it up:

Thanks, Sharon Dennis!

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One Perfect Tweet Sums Up Why Climate Denial in Congress Is So Dangerous

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Meet Another GOP Candidate Who’s Pretending He’s Pro-Choice

Mother Jones

Over the past few weeks, a number of Republican candidates have run deceptive advertisements or used sneaky language to paper over their hardline views on reproductive rights. Pols who’ve done this include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Senate hopeful Scott Brown in New Hampshire, and Colorado gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. Now you can add another name to the list of pro-life GOPers who are suddenly talking about choice: Oregon’s Dennis Richardson.

Richardson, a Republican state representative running for governor, cut an ad (watch it above) featuring a self-described “pro-choice Democrat” named Michelle Horgan. Speaking directly into the camera, Horgan says: “I trust Dennis. He’ll uphold Oregon’s laws to protect my right to choose, and he’ll work hard for Oregon families.”

The language in Richardson’s ad—”He’ll uphold Oregon’s laws to protect my right to choose”—hews closely to the rhetoric used by Walker, Brown, and Beauprez. All of those Republicans have previously sought to restrict women’s reproductive rights (Walker supports eliminating all abortions). But during this election season, they have each tried to strike a moderate tone on the issue.

Richardson’s ad is particularly brazen given his long record of opposing abortion rights. He wrote a letter to the Oregonian in 1990 saying that “a woman relinquishes her unfettered right to control her own body when her actions cause the conception of a baby.” As a state legislator, he sponsored legislation to give unborn fetuses the rights of humans and to require parental notification for abortions. In 2007, he voted against mandating that hospitals offer emergency contraception to women who have been sexually assaulted.

What’s more, Richardson has the endorsement and full-throated support of Oregon Right to Life, the state’s main anti-abortion-rights group. Oregon Right to Life’s PAC has donated $80,000 to Richardson’s campaign. (Right to Life’s $50,000 check in September remains the fourth-largest cash contribution of Richardson’s entire campaign.) In an email blast to its list, the group touted Richardson as “an excellent gubernatorial candidate” who, if elected, would offer the “opportunity to reclaim political ground and hopefully start changing the way Oregon politics treat the abortion issue. We might actually be able to end our ‘reign’ as the only state in America lacking a single restriction on abortion.”

No mistaking that message: In Richardson, the pro-life community sees an opportunity to finally start curbing abortion access in the state of Oregon. But you probably won’t see that message in Richardson’s campaign ads any time soon.

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Meet Another GOP Candidate Who’s Pretending He’s Pro-Choice

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Green Job Spotlight: Store Manager Provides Like-New Computers at Likable Prices

ComputerWorks store manager John Kwalick helps turn old computers into something new.

When customers walk into the ComputerWorks store inside Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Lawrenceville location, they often ask for Johnny.

“The people just love him,” says Dennis Abbott, computer and electronics recycling manager. “He’s able to communicate with customers, no matter what age or ethnic group.”

Fan-favorite Johnny is John Kwalick, the ComputerWorks manager. In that role, he’s responsible for all the activities in the store, including pricing, customer complaints, refurbishing computers, and programming better systems for tracking work orders and handling other operational efficiencies.

Since coming to the store in 2009, he’s been popular with almost everyone who walks through the door. “He’s just so knowledgeable and has such great communication skills,” says Abbott, who manages Kwalick.

As it turns out, the feeling is mutual. “I love dealing with the customers’ issues and computer problems,” he says. “It’s something new every day; it’s never the same. I like the changing factor of it.”

Recycling = Job Training

Unlike other computer stores, which often have the goal to push out as many new units as possible, ComputerWorks focuses on refurbishing older computers whenever practical. “Other places just want to sell you a new computer,” Abbott says. “We’ll take the time to explain whether it’s viable to upgrade or not.”

Adds Kwalick: “Most of these older computers are still good and can do the same thing as a newer computer can for basic work.”

When upgrading isn’t possible, they recycle the parts through a partnership with Dell Reconnect, a computer-recycling program that’s kept more than 324 million pounds of e-waste out of landfills since 2004.

As a result, green jobs are created for people, with Kwalick’s position being just one example. “We think about recycling every day here,” he says. “It’s just part of the way we operate.”

The program also creates jobs for people with disabilities, who take apart the machines and categorize what’s inside so that recyclers don’t have to do disassembly down the line. In fact, donating one working computer to Dell Reconnect equates to 6.8 hours of job training for a Goodwill employee.

Next page: A Win-Win

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Green Job Spotlight: Store Manager Provides Like-New Computers at Likable Prices

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