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Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides. Abramoff was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981 to 1985, a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, allegedly financed by apartheid South Africa, and served on the board of directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. From 1994 to 2001 he was a top lobbyist for the firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, and then for Greenberg Traurig until March 2004. After a guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff Native American lobbying scandal and his dealings wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl Devaney
Earl Edward Devaney (June 8, 1947 – April 15, 2022) was an American government official who served as inspector general for the United States Department of the Interior and chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. Early life and education Devaney was born in Reading, Massachusetts on June 8, 1947. His father was the owner of several businesses; his mother worked as an actress and model. Devaney began his career in law enforcement in 1968 as a Massachusetts police officer. He attended Franklin & Marshall College, on whose football team he was an offensive lineman. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1970. Career U.S. Secret Service After graduating from college, Devaney became a special agent with the United States Secret Service.Obama picks F&M alum to oversee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SunCruz Casinos
SunCruz Casinos was one of many cruise lines that offered "cruises to nowhere," legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws. Four ships operated out of four ports including Jacksonville (''SunCruz VII''), Key Largo (''SunCruz I''), Myrtle Beach (''SunCruz VIII''), and Port Canaveral (''SunCruz XII''). On December 16, 2009, SunCruz Casinos was reported to be closing amid reports of owing $300,000 to the Canaveral Port Authority. Parent company Ocean Casino Cruises filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy December 28. At the time of the filing of bankruptcy, there were about 300 full-time and part-time employees. History In 1994 Gus Boulis, already a multi-millionaire by founding the Miami Subs sandwich shop franchise, bought a number of luxury yachts. He remodeled the yachts as casinos, and began to operate his "cruises to nowhere," sailing three miles from the Florida coast into what was then considered international waters. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig is a multinational law firm founded in Miami in 1967. As of 2022, the Greenberg Traurig is the 9th largest law firm in the United States. The firm has 43 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and approximately 2500 attorneys worldwide. Their largest office is in New York City. The firm was founded by Larry J. Hoffman, Mel Greenberg and Robert H. Traurig. It is the ninth largest law firm in the United States by headcount and ranks in the top 20 of the Am Law 100 by gross revenue, in the top 10 of the NLJ 500, and in the top 25 of the Global 200. History In the 1970s, Greenberg, Traurig and Hoffman became Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, and Quentel with the addition of attorneys Norman H. Lipoff and Albert D. Quentel as named shareholders. The late Florida governor Reubin Askew was a named shareholder in the early 1980s while he also sought the Democratic nomination for president. Larry Hoffman became managing pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington. In 2007 the firm ceased to exist, merging with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham to form K&L Gates. The "Gates" in the firm's name refers to William H. Gates Sr., father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Gates retired from the firm in 1998. History Formation In 1883, Harold Preston, born 1858 in Illinois, the son of Brig. Gen. Simon Manly Preston, arrived in Seattle and established his own law practice.''A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of The City of Seattle and County of King, Washington'' (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903), pages 118-120. Together with O.B. Thorgrimson, an attorney originally from Chicago, Preston expanded the practice throughout the early 1900s. In 1949 Jim Ellis joined the firm, and was integral in involving the firm in public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Think Tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations, but some are semi-autonomous agencies within government or are associated with particular political parties, businesses or the military. Think-tank funding often includes a combination of donations from very wealthy people and those not so wealthy, with many also accepting government grants. Think tanks publish articles and studies, and even draft legislation on particular matters of policy or society. This information is then used by governments, businesses, media organizations, social movements or other interest groups. Think tanks range from those associated with highly academic or scholarly activities to those that are overtly ideological and pushing for particular policies, with a wide range among them in terms of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as organized religion, parliamentary government, and property rights. Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually. Adherents of conservatism often oppose modernism and seek a return to traditional values, though different groups of conservatives may choose different traditional values to preserve. The first established use of the term in a political context originated in 1818 with François-René de Chateaubriand during the period of Bourbon Restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution. Historically associated with right-wing politics, the term ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Center For Public Policy Research
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Its founding CEO was Amy Ridenour, who was chairwoman. David A. Ridenour, her husband, is president, having served as vice president from 1986-2011. Policy areas NCPPR's work is in the areas of free markets, environmental and regulatory policy, retirement security, constitutional law, the First and Second Amendments, religious liberty, academic freedom, defense and foreign affairs. Particular areas of interest include global warming denial, endangered species, energy policy, environmental justice, job growth and economic prosperity, property rights, legal reform, health care, Medicare reform, Social Security, civil rights, foreign affairs/defense and United Nations reform/withdrawal. National Center for Public Policy Research is repeatedly cited as a member of the global warming denial organization Cooler Heads Coalition, which describes its object ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of South Africa In The Apartheid Era
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on ''baasskap'' (boss-hood or boss-ship), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's Minoritarianism, minority White South Africans, white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indian South Africans, Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into ''petty apartheid'', which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and ''grand apartheid'', which dictated housing and employment opportunities by race. The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Freedom Foundation
The International Freedom Foundation (IFF) was a self-described anti-communist group established in Washington, D.C. founded in 1986 by former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Its purported aim was to promote individual and collective freedoms worldwide: freedom of thought; free speech; free association; free enterprise; and, the free market principle. It came into being after the Democratic International, a 1985 meeting of anti-Communist rebels held at the headquarters of UNITA in Jamba, Angola. The IFF campaigned against regimes and movements it described as Soviet allies. To achieve its aim the IFF, with offices in London and Johannesburg, sponsored symposia with high-profile speakers such as Henry Kissinger. Among its eight periodicals, the IFF published a monthly newsletter—the ''Freedom Bulletin''—with three editions: International; UK/Europe; and, Republic of South Africa. The IFF ceased its activities in 1993. Funding According to a ''Newsday'' article entitled "Front for Apart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
College Republican National Committee
The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is a national organization for College Republicans — college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool for the party and has produced many prominent republican and conservative activists and introduced more party members to the Republican party than any other organization in the nation. The organizational structure of the College Republicans has changed significantly since its founding in 1892. Founded as an organization for the Republican National Committee, the College Republicans now operate as an independent 527 group. After the Young Republican National Federation was spun off from the College Republicans organization in 1972, the groups operate independently of one another. History Founding and early history The College Republicans were founded as the American Republican College League on May 17, 1892 at the University of Michigan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Ney
Robert William Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American politician from Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation took place after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. Before he pleaded guilty, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors. Ney's best-known congressional work was on the election reform efforts founded in the wake of the confused 2000 voting in Florida, and his support and backing for the "Stand Up For Steel" crusade and resulting laws. From 2001 to 2006, Ney was Chairman of the House Administration Committee. As chair of that committ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
