Tuesday, May 31, 2011
HUGE WIN FOR STATES' RIGHT AGAINST OBAMA'S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE !!!
INVESTORS DAILY . COM
BORDER WIN FOR ARIZONA ***
Posted 05/27/2011 06:32 PM ET
Immigration: In a victory for states' rights, the Supreme Court has upheld the state law requiring businesses to verify immigration status of employees and revoking their business licenses if they knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Yes, we can control our borders, and states do have the right to protect their citizens and their own borders. That was the meaning of a 5-3 decision last Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court validating Arizona's 2007 law requiring businesses to use E-Verify, a voluntary federal program to determine if workers are eligible to work here.
The Obama administration has argued that immigration and border enforcement is a federal responsibility and that efforts such as Arizona's are a usurpation of federal powers and even a contradiction of federal law. It has been a responsibility the feds have largely shirked.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that while federal law makes the E-Verify checks voluntary, it does not bar individual states from making them mandatory and that doing so enforces federal law rather than contradicting it.
Roberts found "no basis in law, fact or logic" for the administration's position that Arizona should be prevented from requiring use of E-Verify in the name of federal "preemption of state activity." The states are free to enforce federal law even if the feds are unwilling to do so.
Because this statute, signed into law by former Arizona governor and current Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, didn't impose criminal penalties and dealt only with business licenses, it didn't impinge on federal authority.
"Arizona's procedures simply implement the sanctions that Congress expressly allowed the states to pursue through licensing laws," the chief justice wrote.
The decision has interesting implications for SB1070, the Arizona law that gave police expanded powers to check the immigration status of individuals they encounter during their police work if they have probable cause to believe the person is here illegally.
Subscribe to the IBD Editorials Podcast SB1070 has been challenged by the Obama administration in court, and both a federal district and a federal appeals court have blocked key parts from taking effect, agreeing that it infringes on federal authority. Defenders argue that it, like the upheld E-Verify statute, also mimics existing federal law.
"The Supreme Court today said that as long as the state relies upon federal definitions of immigration status and relies upon federal determination of any particular alien's status, then the state is not in conflict with federal law," says Kris W. Kobach, a lawyer who helped write both laws and who last year was elected Kansas' secretary of state. "That is exactly what SB1070 does."
Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer has announced her state's intention to take the challenges to SB1070 to the U.S. Supreme Court. She is confident that "Arizona will prevail in its fight to protect its citizens." The feds would be hard-pressed to explain why they want to prohibit what they have specifically authorized various jurisdictions and trained their officers to do, namely enforce federal immigration law.
Critics of Arizona's enlisting local police to enforce federal immigration law fail to note the existence of the federal 287(g) program, which trains local police to do just that. The Department of Homeland Security has memoranda of agreement with some 70 state and local law enforcement agencies to participate in 287(g) partnerships to enforce federal law. Nine of these jurisdictions are in Arizona, and all were inked while Napolitano was Arizona governor.
Now that Arizona's mandatory E-Verify with business sanctions has been upheld, we expect and hope that many more states will follow suit. We're a nation of immigrants — legal immigrants — but we are also a nation of laws. The White House should be enforcing its own laws and not waging a legal war against Arizona for doing what the feds have failed to do.
BORDER WIN FOR ARIZONA ***
Posted 05/27/2011 06:32 PM ET
Immigration: In a victory for states' rights, the Supreme Court has upheld the state law requiring businesses to verify immigration status of employees and revoking their business licenses if they knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Yes, we can control our borders, and states do have the right to protect their citizens and their own borders. That was the meaning of a 5-3 decision last Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court validating Arizona's 2007 law requiring businesses to use E-Verify, a voluntary federal program to determine if workers are eligible to work here.
The Obama administration has argued that immigration and border enforcement is a federal responsibility and that efforts such as Arizona's are a usurpation of federal powers and even a contradiction of federal law. It has been a responsibility the feds have largely shirked.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that while federal law makes the E-Verify checks voluntary, it does not bar individual states from making them mandatory and that doing so enforces federal law rather than contradicting it.
Roberts found "no basis in law, fact or logic" for the administration's position that Arizona should be prevented from requiring use of E-Verify in the name of federal "preemption of state activity." The states are free to enforce federal law even if the feds are unwilling to do so.
Because this statute, signed into law by former Arizona governor and current Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, didn't impose criminal penalties and dealt only with business licenses, it didn't impinge on federal authority.
"Arizona's procedures simply implement the sanctions that Congress expressly allowed the states to pursue through licensing laws," the chief justice wrote.
The decision has interesting implications for SB1070, the Arizona law that gave police expanded powers to check the immigration status of individuals they encounter during their police work if they have probable cause to believe the person is here illegally.
Subscribe to the IBD Editorials Podcast SB1070 has been challenged by the Obama administration in court, and both a federal district and a federal appeals court have blocked key parts from taking effect, agreeing that it infringes on federal authority. Defenders argue that it, like the upheld E-Verify statute, also mimics existing federal law.
"The Supreme Court today said that as long as the state relies upon federal definitions of immigration status and relies upon federal determination of any particular alien's status, then the state is not in conflict with federal law," says Kris W. Kobach, a lawyer who helped write both laws and who last year was elected Kansas' secretary of state. "That is exactly what SB1070 does."
Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer has announced her state's intention to take the challenges to SB1070 to the U.S. Supreme Court. She is confident that "Arizona will prevail in its fight to protect its citizens." The feds would be hard-pressed to explain why they want to prohibit what they have specifically authorized various jurisdictions and trained their officers to do, namely enforce federal immigration law.
Critics of Arizona's enlisting local police to enforce federal immigration law fail to note the existence of the federal 287(g) program, which trains local police to do just that. The Department of Homeland Security has memoranda of agreement with some 70 state and local law enforcement agencies to participate in 287(g) partnerships to enforce federal law. Nine of these jurisdictions are in Arizona, and all were inked while Napolitano was Arizona governor.
Now that Arizona's mandatory E-Verify with business sanctions has been upheld, we expect and hope that many more states will follow suit. We're a nation of immigrants — legal immigrants — but we are also a nation of laws. The White House should be enforcing its own laws and not waging a legal war against Arizona for doing what the feds have failed to do.
PATRIOT UPDATE: OBAMA JUSTICE DEPARTMENT THREATENS AIRCRAFT HIJACKING AGAINST U.S. STATE'S WHO ENFORCE THE LAWS & BORDERS OF THE U.S.A.!
RED WHITE BLUE NEWS:
UNITED STATES' BORDER SECURITY-
Anti-TSA Groping Bill killed in Texas by DOJ
RWB News: In a stunning eleventh-hour play, the DOJ has done it again in bullying and threatening a U.S. state into complying to their wishes. I interviewed the author of HB 1937, Tx. Rep. David Simpson, just as his first-ever bill was dying. Please support freshman Congressman Simpson in any way you can–send him a letter or call his office offering encouragement and support. He put up a good “David” fight, but the DOJ–in their Goliath way–won this round.
Original Article By: Patriot Update
The Department of “Justice” strikes again–this time, they waited until the final hour to all but kill the proposed Texas anti-groping bill, HB 1937.
HB 1937 would have made it a misdemeanor for TSA personnel to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person including through the clothing.” The penalties for violating HB 1937 would have included a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
I spoke to the bill’s author Texas Representative David Simpson in a telephone interview just moments before the bill died. The freshman congressman, who had introduced HB 1937 as his first bill, sounded extremely weary when telling me at approximately 3:15 PST that his bill was “all but over” and that he was exhausted from the fight.
In a move that has become very familiar, the Department of Justice waited until the last possible moment to distribute a letter which can only be considered economic blackmail. The letter basically said that if HB 1937 passed, the DOJ would shut down all Texas airlines.
Part of the more threatening section of the letter stated:
“If HR [sic] 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute. Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
We urge that you consider the ramifications of this bill before casting your vote.”
“It was lies,” said Rep. Simpson. “They deliberately delayed the letter until the last minute. We had 30 people supporting it until the letter and then 12 people backed off just before the final vote.”
From Rep. Simpson’s website he wrote, “Instead of threatening to shut down flights in Texas, why doesn’t the TSA just show us their statutory authority to grope or ogle our private parts? All that HB 1937 does is require that the TSA abide by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.”
Simpson continued on his site, “We aren’t even prohibiting the pat-downs, per se. We’re just saying you can’t go straight to third base. You have to have a reason-you have to have probable cause-before groping someone’s sexual organs.”
Rep. Simpson told me, “It was a Gonzalez moment” (referring to the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico 175 years ago, ‘when a small band of Texans stood in defiance of Gonzalez, turning back the attempt to deprive them of their weapon of defense, a single cannon.’)
On his website, he wrote:
“…we find ourselves at such a watershed moment today. The federal government is attempting to deprive the citizens of Texas of their constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 9, of the Texas Constitution. If we do not stand up for our citizens in the face of this depravation of their personal rights and dignity, who will?
Time is critical. If the bill does not pass the Senate tonight [Tuesday], it may very well be dead until the next legislative session. Meanwhile, our wives, our children, our mothers and grandmothers, will be rudely violated by federal employees out of control.”
And then, HB 1937 died.
“We thought Governor Perry would step up more than he did but he just didn’t act on it. But then again our Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was also against it. It’s just regrettable,” Simpson said, his voice starting to sound hoarse.
(Note to my fellow Texans: Remember the name Lt. Governor David Dewhurst when reelection time comes around…)
I asked Rep. Simpson why he was so passionate about the TSA/sexual groping issue and for a moment he didn’t sound quite as tired when citing several cases in which the TSA has overstepped their “security” boundaries.
“We have case after case with people who’ve been unreasonably touched at airports,” Simpson said, including testimony from a young autistic boy who was so upset he started yelling while being touched.
The issue became even more personal for Representative Simpson when his own teenage daughter was scheduled to fly.
“It was right when they were putting in the scanners and starting to enforce the pat-downs,” he said. “We’d already booked her flight and couldn’t get out of it.” Luckily, his daughter was able to avoid the scanners and private touching—but this lit the fire that led Rep. Simpson to author HB 1937.
“Where does it stop?” he asked. “What if terrorists start putting things inside their bodies? What happens to us then?”
I asked Rep. Simpson if the bill can be re-written and re-introduced; unfortunately he said the last day for session ended today (May 25th). The next session starts in 2012.
Although he’s very tired today, I know Representative David Simpson isn’t giving up his fight anytime soon. The young Freshman Congressman from East Texas may have seen the thuggery that happens in Mr. Obama’s Department of Justice first-hand–but this hasn’t deterred him in the least.
As he wrote on his website, “Someone must make a stand against the atrocities of our government agents. As Reagan said, ‘If not us, who? And if not now, when?’”
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’d like to add that if you are as frustrated about this as I am, there are things we can do. Several other states are trying to pass their own anti-groping/TSA laws (a few include Idaho, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire). If you live in these states, call your local and state Congressmen and tell them you support their anti-groping bill. Make them hear you! Freshmen Representatives like David Simpson may be the Davids to the DOJ’s Goliaths—but something much more powerful than a rock is our VOTE and our congressmen know this full-well these days. I also recommend you call Governor Rick Perry’s office right now. Let them know you continue to support bills like HB 1937 and that you are also disappointed with Lt. Governor David Dewhurst for helping to defeat it. Gov. Perry’s telephone number is: 512-463-2000. I’ve tried to locate the names of the 12 Texas Congressmen who caved in to the DOJ’s threats; I haven’t found them yet, but as soon as I do, I will update this report. A-MM)
Ann-Marie Murrell is a columnist for RWB News. She is also an exclusive columnist for Patriot Update and writes feature columns for Michael Reagan’s Reagan Report and more. Click here to follow Ann-Marie on Facebook.
Join RWBNews on Facebook
UNITED STATES' BORDER SECURITY-
Anti-TSA Groping Bill killed in Texas by DOJ
RWB News: In a stunning eleventh-hour play, the DOJ has done it again in bullying and threatening a U.S. state into complying to their wishes. I interviewed the author of HB 1937, Tx. Rep. David Simpson, just as his first-ever bill was dying. Please support freshman Congressman Simpson in any way you can–send him a letter or call his office offering encouragement and support. He put up a good “David” fight, but the DOJ–in their Goliath way–won this round.
Original Article By: Patriot Update
The Department of “Justice” strikes again–this time, they waited until the final hour to all but kill the proposed Texas anti-groping bill, HB 1937.
HB 1937 would have made it a misdemeanor for TSA personnel to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person including through the clothing.” The penalties for violating HB 1937 would have included a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
I spoke to the bill’s author Texas Representative David Simpson in a telephone interview just moments before the bill died. The freshman congressman, who had introduced HB 1937 as his first bill, sounded extremely weary when telling me at approximately 3:15 PST that his bill was “all but over” and that he was exhausted from the fight.
In a move that has become very familiar, the Department of Justice waited until the last possible moment to distribute a letter which can only be considered economic blackmail. The letter basically said that if HB 1937 passed, the DOJ would shut down all Texas airlines.
Part of the more threatening section of the letter stated:
“If HR [sic] 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute. Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
We urge that you consider the ramifications of this bill before casting your vote.”
“It was lies,” said Rep. Simpson. “They deliberately delayed the letter until the last minute. We had 30 people supporting it until the letter and then 12 people backed off just before the final vote.”
From Rep. Simpson’s website he wrote, “Instead of threatening to shut down flights in Texas, why doesn’t the TSA just show us their statutory authority to grope or ogle our private parts? All that HB 1937 does is require that the TSA abide by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.”
Simpson continued on his site, “We aren’t even prohibiting the pat-downs, per se. We’re just saying you can’t go straight to third base. You have to have a reason-you have to have probable cause-before groping someone’s sexual organs.”
Rep. Simpson told me, “It was a Gonzalez moment” (referring to the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico 175 years ago, ‘when a small band of Texans stood in defiance of Gonzalez, turning back the attempt to deprive them of their weapon of defense, a single cannon.’)
On his website, he wrote:
“…we find ourselves at such a watershed moment today. The federal government is attempting to deprive the citizens of Texas of their constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 9, of the Texas Constitution. If we do not stand up for our citizens in the face of this depravation of their personal rights and dignity, who will?
Time is critical. If the bill does not pass the Senate tonight [Tuesday], it may very well be dead until the next legislative session. Meanwhile, our wives, our children, our mothers and grandmothers, will be rudely violated by federal employees out of control.”
And then, HB 1937 died.
“We thought Governor Perry would step up more than he did but he just didn’t act on it. But then again our Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was also against it. It’s just regrettable,” Simpson said, his voice starting to sound hoarse.
(Note to my fellow Texans: Remember the name Lt. Governor David Dewhurst when reelection time comes around…)
I asked Rep. Simpson why he was so passionate about the TSA/sexual groping issue and for a moment he didn’t sound quite as tired when citing several cases in which the TSA has overstepped their “security” boundaries.
“We have case after case with people who’ve been unreasonably touched at airports,” Simpson said, including testimony from a young autistic boy who was so upset he started yelling while being touched.
The issue became even more personal for Representative Simpson when his own teenage daughter was scheduled to fly.
“It was right when they were putting in the scanners and starting to enforce the pat-downs,” he said. “We’d already booked her flight and couldn’t get out of it.” Luckily, his daughter was able to avoid the scanners and private touching—but this lit the fire that led Rep. Simpson to author HB 1937.
“Where does it stop?” he asked. “What if terrorists start putting things inside their bodies? What happens to us then?”
I asked Rep. Simpson if the bill can be re-written and re-introduced; unfortunately he said the last day for session ended today (May 25th). The next session starts in 2012.
Although he’s very tired today, I know Representative David Simpson isn’t giving up his fight anytime soon. The young Freshman Congressman from East Texas may have seen the thuggery that happens in Mr. Obama’s Department of Justice first-hand–but this hasn’t deterred him in the least.
As he wrote on his website, “Someone must make a stand against the atrocities of our government agents. As Reagan said, ‘If not us, who? And if not now, when?’”
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’d like to add that if you are as frustrated about this as I am, there are things we can do. Several other states are trying to pass their own anti-groping/TSA laws (a few include Idaho, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire). If you live in these states, call your local and state Congressmen and tell them you support their anti-groping bill. Make them hear you! Freshmen Representatives like David Simpson may be the Davids to the DOJ’s Goliaths—but something much more powerful than a rock is our VOTE and our congressmen know this full-well these days. I also recommend you call Governor Rick Perry’s office right now. Let them know you continue to support bills like HB 1937 and that you are also disappointed with Lt. Governor David Dewhurst for helping to defeat it. Gov. Perry’s telephone number is: 512-463-2000. I’ve tried to locate the names of the 12 Texas Congressmen who caved in to the DOJ’s threats; I haven’t found them yet, but as soon as I do, I will update this report. A-MM)
Ann-Marie Murrell is a columnist for RWB News. She is also an exclusive columnist for Patriot Update and writes feature columns for Michael Reagan’s Reagan Report and more. Click here to follow Ann-Marie on Facebook.
Join RWBNews on Facebook
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE THREATENS TO HIJACK PRIVATE AIRLINES TO PREVENT ENFORCEMENT OF STATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING LAWS & ILLEGAL PAT-DOWNS!
Texas Human Trafficking Legislation
In addition to federal law, there is a need for comprehensive state legislation to combat human trafficking. Because state and local agencies are likely the first to encounter human trafficking crimes and have immediate accessibility to the perpetrators and victims, local agencies can sometimes meet the urgent needs of trafficking victims more efficiently than the federal government. States that have legislation criminalizing human trafficking, such as Texas, are able to assist prosecutorial efforts, identify greater numbers of victims, and marshal state resources to find and prosecute human traffickers. Moreover, having both federal and state legislation creates a “unified front” against the proliferation of human trafficking anywhere in the United States: Traffickers should not be afforded the opportunity to escape prosecution for their crimes by moving to a state with more lenient or nonexistent human trafficking laws.
In 2003, Texas was the first state to pass legislation criminalizing human trafficking. In Texas, a person commits an offense of human trafficking if the person “knowingly traffics another person with the intent or knowledge that the trafficked person will engage in forced labor or services.” Under the Texas law, a minor is considered a person under 18, and the term “traffic” is not dependent on the element of “transport.” In addition, Texas law imposes greater penalties on the offender when the victim is under 18 years old. Trafficking of a minor is a first degree felony, but trafficking of an adult is a second degree felony.
In 2009, Texas’ 81st Legislature passed some very important laws to expand the body of anti-trafficking legislation in the state. Legislation passed this session will establish a statewide taskforce in the Office of Attorney General. This will allow for increased awareness and communication among the multiple state agencies charged with dealing with the complex issues surrounding human trafficking. The task force will also become the single point of contact for the state with federal partners. In addition, new legislation now mandates a four-hour training course for police officers who will first licensed in 2011 or for those who pursue the next level of licensing. The legislation also established a voluntary four-hour training course to be included in the officers’ continuing education curriculum. Other laws approved this session will inject compassion into the treatment of victims of prostitution, by recognizing that prostitution is most often an involuntary activity. The legislature created a defense to prostitution specifically for victims of human trafficking. Another change that passed last session will ease the burden of proof for prosecutors. No more will they be required to prove that the trafficker knew the victim was a minor. If the defendant is convicted of trafficking and the victim is a minor, the harsher penalty of a first degree felony will automatically attach. The 81st Legislature also created an avenue for human trafficking victims to sue their trafficker in civil court. Now, these victims can pursue monetary damages against their trafficker for the physical and emotional harm they suffered at the trafficker’s hands.
Illegitimate business will take a huge hit after this legislation sessions ends, as well. The legislature gave Harris County ordinance granting authority to regulate illegitimate massage parlors in Harris County. This will create liability for those businesses who attempt to evade city ordinances by moving out of Houston.
New legislation also requires sexually oriented businesses to maintain identification records, which allows for easier discovery and prosecution for business owners who exploit child sex workers.
Finally, the 81st Legislature also passed a law that will allow municipalities to access to the National Crime Identification Center when a sexually oriented business applies for a license.
In addition to federal law, there is a need for comprehensive state legislation to combat human trafficking. Because state and local agencies are likely the first to encounter human trafficking crimes and have immediate accessibility to the perpetrators and victims, local agencies can sometimes meet the urgent needs of trafficking victims more efficiently than the federal government. States that have legislation criminalizing human trafficking, such as Texas, are able to assist prosecutorial efforts, identify greater numbers of victims, and marshal state resources to find and prosecute human traffickers. Moreover, having both federal and state legislation creates a “unified front” against the proliferation of human trafficking anywhere in the United States: Traffickers should not be afforded the opportunity to escape prosecution for their crimes by moving to a state with more lenient or nonexistent human trafficking laws.
In 2003, Texas was the first state to pass legislation criminalizing human trafficking. In Texas, a person commits an offense of human trafficking if the person “knowingly traffics another person with the intent or knowledge that the trafficked person will engage in forced labor or services.” Under the Texas law, a minor is considered a person under 18, and the term “traffic” is not dependent on the element of “transport.” In addition, Texas law imposes greater penalties on the offender when the victim is under 18 years old. Trafficking of a minor is a first degree felony, but trafficking of an adult is a second degree felony.
In 2009, Texas’ 81st Legislature passed some very important laws to expand the body of anti-trafficking legislation in the state. Legislation passed this session will establish a statewide taskforce in the Office of Attorney General. This will allow for increased awareness and communication among the multiple state agencies charged with dealing with the complex issues surrounding human trafficking. The task force will also become the single point of contact for the state with federal partners. In addition, new legislation now mandates a four-hour training course for police officers who will first licensed in 2011 or for those who pursue the next level of licensing. The legislation also established a voluntary four-hour training course to be included in the officers’ continuing education curriculum. Other laws approved this session will inject compassion into the treatment of victims of prostitution, by recognizing that prostitution is most often an involuntary activity. The legislature created a defense to prostitution specifically for victims of human trafficking. Another change that passed last session will ease the burden of proof for prosecutors. No more will they be required to prove that the trafficker knew the victim was a minor. If the defendant is convicted of trafficking and the victim is a minor, the harsher penalty of a first degree felony will automatically attach. The 81st Legislature also created an avenue for human trafficking victims to sue their trafficker in civil court. Now, these victims can pursue monetary damages against their trafficker for the physical and emotional harm they suffered at the trafficker’s hands.
Illegitimate business will take a huge hit after this legislation sessions ends, as well. The legislature gave Harris County ordinance granting authority to regulate illegitimate massage parlors in Harris County. This will create liability for those businesses who attempt to evade city ordinances by moving out of Houston.
New legislation also requires sexually oriented businesses to maintain identification records, which allows for easier discovery and prosecution for business owners who exploit child sex workers.
Finally, the 81st Legislature also passed a law that will allow municipalities to access to the National Crime Identification Center when a sexually oriented business applies for a license.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
CAN THE FAA OR ANY FEDERAL AGENCY BE TRUSTED...
Can the FAA Be Trusted to Fix Air Traffic Control?
By JOHN MERLINE, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted 05/17/2011 01:51 PM ET
An air traffic controller drinks a cup of coffee while working in a terminal radar approach control room Monday, April 18, 2011 at the Atlanta TRACON...
An air traffic controller drinks a cup of coffee while working in a terminal radar approach control room Monday, April 18, 2011 at the Atlanta TRACON... View Enlarged Image
Five years ago, a Comair flight taxied onto the wrong runway at the airport in Lexington, Ky., and crashed on takeoff, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard. It turned out that the lone air controller on duty who should have caught the mistake was operating on two hours of sleep. Two years before that, a tired controller nearly let two commercial jets collide on an LAX runway.
Now, in the wake of a raft of air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules to combat fatigue. But this problem has dogged the FAA for years.
Fatigue is just one piece of a long history of FAA management problems with the air traffic control (ATC) system, according to an IBD review of government reports and audits and various news accounts. Just last week, the Transportation Department's inspector general announced two audits focusing on air traffic controller mistakes.
To some, this record calls into question whether the FAA can be trusted to fix the problems plaguing the ATC.
Reason Foundation transportation expert Robert Poole, for example, argues that the FAA's problems stem from its dual role as operator and regulator of air traffic control, which he says "creates a potential conflict of interest."
FAA head Randy Babbitt said recently that "employees at the FAA work diligently every day to run the safest air transportation system in the world." And an FAA spokesman told IBD that while the Air Traffic Organization is part of the FAA, "it's regulated by another group that is independent of the ATO's chain of command."
Still, federal reports and audits point to several ongoing problems with the ATC:
Fatigue: A 1989 Government Accountability Office warned the ATC system was plagued with shortages, heavy work loads and excessive overtime. A 2009 Department of Transportation inspector general report found a "number of factors" leading to fatigue among controllers. A National Transportation Safety Board member complained that "for 30 years, the board has identified fatigue as an issue with controllers' schedules."
Inexperienced controllers: The FAA tries to limit the number of trainees at control towers for safety reasons, saying in 2005 that it would "ensure an appropriate ratio." But a 2008 IG report found too many trainees at more than one in five air traffic control facilities. A 2010 report warned that new controllers, many of whom had no prior experience, were being assigned to some of the busiest airports.
Training problems: The FAA also has struggled to replace a long-anticipated wave of retirements. The GAO repeatedly warned that the FAA didn't have a comprehensive plan to fill the gap. And IG reports repeatedly identified problems with the FAA's training program, including a finding this year that it had been vastly underestimating its trainee washout rate.
Lax workplace environment: The FAA has had trouble enforcing strict workplace rules. In 2009, a plane crashed into a tourist helicopter at a New York airport — killing nine — while the air traffic controller was on the phone with his girlfriend. Last year a controller brought his kid to work and let him issue orders to pilots. Earlier this year a New York controller complained to the FAA about barely supervised colleagues chatting, texting and watching movies while on the job.
"Things like this have happened all along," former Transportation inspector general Mary Schiavo told Time.com.
Mounting errors: FAA data show that mistakes by air traffic controllers climbed 53% between 2009 and 2010. The FAA says this reflects a new reporting system, but the IG says it could also be due to too many green controllers. Its new audit will try to answer why mistakes have shot up, and whether the FAA properly tracks near-mid-air collisions.
And when confronted with problems, the FAA at times has acted more like a PR agency than an aggressive safety regulator. Shortly after the 2006 Kentucky crash, for example, a spokesperson claimed "we would never have a controller controlling traffic who was too tired to work."
Poole and others say what's needed is for the ATC should be spun off entirely from the FAA, noting that Canada did this in 1996, creating a private nonprofit, Nav Canada, which won last year's International Air Transport Association award for best air navigation service provider.
But this reform idea has failed to gain traction here, and isn't likely to do so anytime soon. One reason: the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which gave more than $2 million in campaign cash in 2010, is no fan.
"NATCA believes air traffic control is an inherently governmental function," spokesman Doug Church told IBD.
GOLDSTEIN WILL EXPLAIN SEXUAL HARASSMENT & DEATH THREATS BY THEIR AGENTS ON AMTRAK WHILE HUMAN TRAFFICKING PASSENGERS & HOLDING THEM HOSTAGE!
Senator Charles Schumer and Jesse Jackson, Jr. engaged over the last fourteen days in hostage-taking of myself across Illinois State lines with assistance from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Continental Airline Transportation Company, Amtrak Police and Employees demanding US Taxpayer Stimulus Dollars, FBI Agents, and Federal National Transportation Security Personnel.
This hostage taking included leaving transport property and engaging in terrorist activities on housing property with HUD employees and ACORN within the Washington, DC area and Dallas Texas and Chicago.
These employees made open death threats, led passengers on Amtrak trains to be concerned for their safety when many foreign African-speaking Muslim men made announcements of delay based on an "Inconvenient Truth in the Weather System", and hostilely engaged in the material support of human trafficking, death threats, and the intimidation and retaliation of Republican Passengers, Voters, and those who would openly testify against Charles Schumer, Rahm Emanuel, Brizard, Jesse Jackson, Robert Zidek, Rod Blagojevich, or any of their union and FBI and/or Federal employees who have hijacked Federal Indict against a former sitting Governor of the State of Illinois involving their own State and Federal crimes and corruption.
The numberous terrorists activities which were just committed by these particularly Congress members and Federal Agents are still being drafted in Federal Criminal Cases which are Pending.
ALL ARE ADVISED THAT THE UNITED STATES' TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, PARTICULARLY IN ILLINOIS HAS INDEED BEEN HIJACKED AND IS OPERATED OPENLY BY TERRORISTS MATERIALLY SUPPORTED BY BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S GANGSTA GOVERNMENT!
BUT....THEY WILL EXPLAIN LATER WHEN FUTURE INDICTMENTS, WHICH ARE PENDING AND WILL BE FILED AGAINST ALL THE INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED, INCLUDING CAPITOL HILL POLICE OFFICERS AND JAMES MADISON BUILDING EMPLOYEES OF THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING!
FBI Agent in Blagojevich retrial: Bug sweeps don't always amount to much
By Natasha Korecki on May 12, 2011 2:15 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Reporting with Lark Turner
The morning after the Chicago Tribune outed that FBI recordings were underway of Rod Blagojevich and John Wyma was cooperating, his brother is heard on the phone talking to the Friends of Blagojevich administrative assistant, Chrissy Jacobs.
"Well, I'm freakin' out," Jacobs is heard saying on the Dec. 5, 2008 recorded call. Jacobs worked out of the Ravenswood campaign offices, along with Robert.
"Well, don't," Robert Blagojevich tells her on the call. "I mean it, there's always somethin' new everyday we gotta deal with."
Jacobs says she wants to talk to him about what was going on. He tells her to hold off until they see each other.
"I'd rather do it on the cell where no one can hear us," she says, now with irony, of course, because her words are being broadcast inside a federal courtroom. At the defense table, Rod Blagojevich is smiling.
"Well, I don't know about that," Robert Blagojevich responds. "Um it, we've had the place swept. I'd rather not talk on the phone."
"...you, you did have it? You did have it? Okay," Jacobs says.
The call is played as FBI Special Agent Dan Cain is back on the witness stand and he briefly talks about sweeping of bugs. He explains that sweeps can happen and the person looking might still not find the listening device.
Cain didn't bring up the Illinois State Police, but the Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that two top State Police officials --Larry Trent and Charles Brueggemann -- aided the FBI's efforts in placing the bugs in the campaign offices. Then, when Blagojevich asked the State Police to sweep those offices, the State Police made sure they weren't detected. Phone records show Trent and Brueggemann were in frequent talks with the FBI during significant dates in the Blagojevich investigative timeline.
The State Police alerted the FBI to the sweep requests, and the FBI
had the ability to make the bugs inert, according to law enforcement sources. In at least one sweep, a State Police technician pretended not to detect a bug during his sweep, the Sun-Times has reported.
WE'LL EXPLAIN LATER, CLAIMS GOLDSTEIN.....AS MORE FEDERAL INDICTMENTS ARE DRAFTED!
John Wyma (right) leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after testimony in the Rod Blagojevich corruption retrial.
»Rod Blagojevich Retrial Continues with Patrick Magoon's Testimony
FOX Chicago News
Chicago - Testimony resumed Monday as the retrial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich enters its third week of witnesses. Children's Memorial Hospital CEO Patrick Magoon, the subject of the alleged hospital shakedown, testified Monday afternoon.
Complete Rod Blagojevich Trial Coverage >>
Key Points :
•Lobbyist John Wyma, a friend and former aide to Blagojevich, was back on the witness stand Monday morning. It was Wyma who triggered the federal probe into the ex-governor's alleged shakedowns when he agreed to cooperated with federal investigators in fall 2008.
•Testimony this week is expected to move beyond Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell the senate seat once held by President Obama to other alleged shakedowns. After Wyma, prosecutors expect to call Children's Memorial CEO Patrick Magoon to the stand. He testified at the first Blagojevich trial that Blagojevich demanded a campaign contribution before he would approve an increase in reimbursements for doctors at Children's and other hospitals around the state.
•In response to a motion filed by the Chicago Tribune, redacted versions of four responses from the prosecution to motions in the case were unsealed Monday. (Read: PDF 1 , PDF 2 , PDF 3 , PDF 4) The judge also denied a motion by the defense asking for the release of FBI interviews with Obama, saying Obama likely didn't know about the alleged senate seat shakedown.
UPDATE: 4:15 p.m.
Krozel was in charge of fundraising at Prairie Construction.
After a lunch meeting with Blagojevich, Monk, and officers of Prairie Construction, Krozel said Monk wanted to know if he was going to raise any money. Krozel said he did not tell Monk no, since he was concerned that answer would put the $6 billion road improvement program in jeopardy.
The prosecution showed Krozel a press release from Oct. 15, 2008 regarding the $1.8 billion Tollway project. It does not mention any other projects totaling $6 billion.
Krozel talk with Blagojevich after this press release, and said that the Governor said more road projects would come. Then, Blagojevich asked for a status update on Krozel's fundraising. Krozel told him he was working on it (even though he wasn't). He didn't tell Blagojevich the Illinois Road Builders Association had been subpoenaed in Oct. 2008 about campaign fundraising.
The defense objected and the judge sustained.
The judge sent the jury home for the day. Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The next witnesses will be Lon Monk and John Johnston.
UPDATE: 3:50 p.m.
Krozel said he didn't think Blagojevich could get the legislature to pass other parts of the Capital Improvement Bill because his popularity was waning.
Krozel said that Blagojevich delayed announcing the $1.8 billion road improvement project, and that it was dependent on how much money Krozel could raise.
Krozel said people needed work and the bill was important.
UPDATE: 3:45 p.m.
Krozel said that Blagojevich wanted him to fundraise before Jan. 1, 2009, when the new ethics law went into effect. Krozel said he told Blagojevich he'd get back to him. Blagojevich brought up a few road construction projects, and before the meeting was over, Blagojevich brought up fundraising again.
Krozel said he understood Blagojevich wanted him to raise campaign money and that the road improvement projects were dependent on the fundraising.
UPDATE: 3:25 p.m.
The jury is back in the room. Goldstein asks Magoon if he understood the rate increase was going through as of Dec. 8, 2009. The prosecution objected, and the defense is done.
The prosecution called the next witness, Gerald Krozel, a construction executive. At the last trial, Krozel testified about the alleged Tollway shakedown.
UPDATE: 3:20 p.m.
With the jury still out of the room, the judge allowed Goldstein to ask Magoon a few questions regarding events after Dec. 9, 2008, to see if they can be asked in front of the jury later on.
Magoon said he base salary in 2008 was around $600,000. He was the chair-elect of the Illinois Hospital Association, a group which lobbies and has a political action committee which donates to politicians. Magoon said he did not know dollar amounts that might have been given.
Magoon personally contributed $500 to $1,000 to Blagojevich between 2002 and 2008, and also held fundraisers for other politicians, including John Cullerton.
Magoon said the pediatric rate increase took effect in the first quarter of 2009.
Magoon said he was uncomfortable with the idea of telling Rob Blagojevich he wouldn't raise money. He said he had no intention of fundraising, and that putting one next to the other seemed to be an exchange.
The judge said that Goldstein is not allowed to ask any of these questions in front of the jury, and he will explain why later.
UPDATE: 3:05 p.m.
Goldstein showed Magoon an attachment to an email he sent to Blagojevich.
Magoon testified again about the email he sent to his staff about the rate increase being approved, and that Blagojevich asked them to keep it quiet.
On Oct. 22, 2008, Rob Blagojevich called Magoon to secure $25,000 from board members, friends and associates. He did not threaten Magoon or the rate increase. Rob did say the money needed to be raised by Jan. 1, 2009.
Court is now on a short break.
UPDATE: 2:50 p.m.
On cross-examination, Goldstein asked Magoon how doctors at CMH are paid; they are given salaries. Magoon also testified that he asked a board member to ask Dusty Baker to call Blagojevich.
Magoon testified that when Blagojevich called him on Sept. 23, 2008, Blagojevich said the rate increase was approved and asked for background information, but did not ask for money.
UPDATE: 2:45 p.m.
Magoon testified that he met Blagojevich when Blagojevich was a Congressman, and that when he became Governor, he'd seem him once or twice a year at bill signing events at the hospital.
In June 2008, Magoon wrote to Blagojevich that if the All Kids program was going to achieve its goal, the hospital would need a rate increase to do so. He said Blagojevich did not respond.
But on Sept. 23, 2008, Blagojevich did call, and Magoon restated in an email to one of the Governor's assistants the need for a pediatric rate increase to make sure all kids covered by the All Kids program would receive access to a pediatric specialist.
Blagojevich called Magoon after he spoke with Dusty Baker, and said that he would help Magoon with the rate increase. He asked Magoon to send him a background document and made no mention of fundraising.
On Oct. 17, 2008, Magoon emailed his staff to say that Blagojevich had approved the rate increase, but that he didn't want much attention brought to the matter at this time.
Magoon said he got a second call from Blagojevich's office while he was in Florida, saying the rate increase was approved. It was going to take effect on Jan. 1, 2009, and CMH would get $10 million. But, he was told, to keep it quietly.
Magoon then got a call from Rob Blagojevich, which he returned the same day, "because he is the governor's brother," and Magoon confirmed that he wrote himself a note that the Blagojevich administration wanted $25,000 for Blagojevich by Jan. 1, 2009.
Magoon said he told Rob it wasn't appropriate to talk about this at work, and asked Rob to call him on his cell phone.
Magoon said he had no intention of raising any money for Blagojevich, and that the rate increase appeared to be linked to the donation because Blagojevich said to keep the rate increase quiet, and then Rob Blagojevich calls up asking for a $25,000 donation.
Magoon said he believed the rate increase would not be approved if he didn't raise the money.
Magoon said he knew that if Blagojevich knew there was no donation coming, he would have taken the rate increase off the table. So Magoon stopped taking his calls, and instead asking his staff to take messages.
UPDATE: 2:29 p.m.
Court was called into session after lunch and the prosecution called Patrick Magoon to the witness stand. Magoon, 58, is the president and CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital.
Magoon said approximately 140,000 children from around the world are treated at the hospital. He testified 90 percent of the staff of the hospital are pediatric specialists.
Magoon said a little more than 50 percent of child patients are eligible for Medicare, under which doctors are reimbursed about 33 percent of the total cost of care. Children’s Memorial Hospital loses money on Medicare reimbursement, Magoon said, but doesn’t turn away any patients.
In 2008, Magoon testified the hospital lost about $23 million due to Medicare reimbursement rates.
UPDATE: 2:02 p.m.
After lunch, the prosecution wanted to call Patrick Magoon as its next witness. The defense said they wanted to ask Magoon about his involvement with the Illinois Hospital Association and any political contributions he may have made in the past.
The defense wants to show the jury that when Blagojevich wanted to “get Magoon for $50,000,” it was merely asking for a donation similar to ones Magoon made in the past.
The judge did not agree. The defense said Wyma alluded to Magoon’s past contributions in his testimony, but the judge said it was not relevant at this time.
The prosecution argued that the defense should not be allowed to ask other witnesses, like Gerald Krozel, if they made political contributions in the past, but the judge said they should wait to see where the defense goes with it and deal with it at the time.
The judge said regarding if Magoon could testify to any events after Dec. 5, 2008, he would deal with that at a later time, but before Magoon was done testifying.
UPDATE: 12:31 p.m.
The jury and witness were allowed back into court and cross-examination of Wyma resumed. Wyma testified he got a subpoena in Oct., 2008 and he decided to interview with the government. Wyam said he got a lawyer before meeting with the government.
Wyma said he was testifying as part of a proffer agreement, meaning the content of what he says in court cannot be used against him, but he can still be prosecuted based on other evidence if he is involved in a crime.
The judge told the Blagojevich defense to save arguments for what a witness did not say for its closing arguments.
Wyma confirmed that the government asked him to go to an Oct. 22, 2008 Friends of Blagojevich meeting and report back, which he did.
After a few questions, the judge warned the defense that they were getting too close to closing arguments and asked them to wrap up.
Wyma confirmed that in a Nov. 13, 2008 phone call with Doug Scofield, Wyma and Scofield spoke about Blagojevich wanting a 501 (c)(4) nonprofit organization in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to the Senate.
After a few more objections, the defense was done with cross-examination.
The prosecution asked a few more questions of Wyma on re-direct. The prosecution asked Wyma about the Oct. 22, 2008 meeting in which Blagojevich said he didn’t want to mix government and fundraising. Wyma said he understood Blagojevich to be saying the ask should go forward, but that Blagojevich did not want to make the ask himself and so he was asking who the best person to do it would be.
The defense tried to conduct a re-cross of Wyma, but could not get a question in. Court then broke for lunch.
UPDATE: 11:34 a.m.
With the jury and witness out of the room, the judge asked defense attorneys why the line of questioning about Wyma’s client Provena was relevant. The defense said Wyma entered an immunity agreement with the government about Blagojevich before Wyma spoke to them about Provena, and the defense argued the government took a sympathetic stance to Wyma’s involvement in the case against Provena since he was acting as a confidential source in the Blagojevich case.
Judge James Zagel said the issue was not relevant because Provena is not a part of the trial, and said the defense was trying to put the government on trial. Zagel said this is not the venue for that complaint and it is not relevant to the trial.
The judge said the defense’s line of questioning looked like an attempt to mislead the jury and to cloud Wyma’s credibility. The defense attorney said they were not trying to discredit the U.S. Attorney’s Office but did admit they were trying to discredit Wyma.
After more back-and-forth between the judge and defense, Zagel said the defense needs more information than it has to pursue the line of questioning about Provena. The defense did say Tony Rezko and Stuart Levine are both potential witnesses that could allow them to enter it into evidence because they also were involved with Provena.
After resuming from a short break, the defense attorney told the judge the questions he wanted to ask Wyma about Provena were allowed based on a judge’s ruling in the first trial.
The defense read part of a transcript from the previous trial. The prosecution said the defense was being misleading because it left out the part where Wyma said he merely negotiated a deal, but didn’t participate in the deal.
The prosecution argued that the Provena situation did not affect Wyma’s decision to cooperate with the govnerment.
The judge said he would adhere to his ruling and said the defense could not ask any more questions about Provena.
UPDATE: 11:34 a.m.
Wyma confirmed that he got a call from Rahm Emanuel to find out why state funds had not been released to a charter school in his Chicago congressional district. Emanuel was a congressman at the time.
Wyma testified he didn’t know of any issues regarding the funding until Emanuel called about it and said he called Bradley Tusk after talking to Emanuel. Tusk said he had also received a call from Emanuel, Wyma testified.
Wyma confirmed either Blagojevich or Lon Monk asked him to ask Emanuel about having a fundraiser for Blagojevich and school funding wasn’t mentioned at the time of the request.
Wyma testified he agreed to make the request but didn’t because he thought the timing was wrong. Wyma said he made the ask after the funding issue was resolved.
The defense asked Wyma about a federal grand jury subpoena he received in Oct. 2008 regarding one of his clients, Provena, a hospital system.
Wyma testified he met with the FBI regarding the client, but the judge ruled the line of questioning was irrelevant. The judge sent the jury and witness out of the room to discuss the line of questioning.
UPDATE: 11:23 a.m.
The defense began questioning Wyma on the alleged Tollway shakedown, but a prosecution’s objection was sustained.
The defense returned to asking about an Oct. 8, 2008 meeting at the Friends of Blagojevich campaign office. Wyma testified they talked about more than just Children’s Memorial Hospital at the meeting.
Wyma testified Blagojevich asked Lon Monk at the meeting if he was going to meeting with Gerald Krozel from the road builders industry.
After a few sustained objections by the prosecution, Wyma testified after a meeting, Blagojevich told Wyma he was going to have Monk ask Krozel for a $500,000 contribution. Wyma testified in the same sentence, Blagoejvich said he was going to announce a $1.8 billion Tollway project.
Wyam confirmed that Blagojevich didn’t tell him that if Krozel did not make the donation, then he wouldn’t announce the project, but Wyma testified that was the “spirit” of what Blagojevich told him.
Wyma testified Blagojevich said, “If they don’t perform, f*** them.” The hammered at the meaning of “f*** them”,
According to Wyma, the exact phrasing from Blagojevich was "I’m about to announce a $1.8 billion dollar. I could have made a larger announcement. I have Lon [Monk] going to Krozel for $500,000. If they don’t perform, f*** them."
The defense asked a number of questions about the meaning of “f*** them” but the judge sustained numerous objections. The judge told the defense to save it for their closing arguments.
UPDATE: 10:57 a.m.
The defense questioned Wyma about an Oct. 9, 2008 voicemail from Rod’s brother Rob Blagojevich regarding Children’s Memorial Hospital.
Wyma testified he understood that Blagojevich wanted a contribution from Magoon because Blagojevich was doing something beneficial for the hospital, and he said that at the Oct. 22, 2008 meeting at the campaign office, the group discussed who and how to ask for a donation from Children’s Memorial in exchange for the rate increase.
At the meeting, Wyma confirmed, Blagojevich said he didn’t want to mix government and fundraising. Then Blagojevich asked who should ask Children’s for a donation, Wyma testified.
Wyma testified he and former Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee talked about the rate increase, and then the defense asked again if Blagojevich said he didn’t want to mix government and fundraising.
UPDATE: 10:39 a.m.
After a sidebar, the Blagojevich defense began its cross-examination of John Wyma. Wyma testified he met Blagojevich in 1996 to 1997 when Blagojevich had just been elected to Congress.
Wyma confirmed that his working relationship with Blagojevich became a friendship that remained intact over years. Wyma later became a lobbyist for Children’s Memorial Hospital and was paid $120,000 per year for the work.
The defense tried to ask about where the money for the pediatric rate increase to Children’s would have gone, but the judge sustained an objection from the prosecution that the line of questioning was “out of bounds.”
Wyma testified he went to three meetings at the Friends of Blagojevich campaign office, two of which were fundraising related. Wyma said Children’s Memorial Hospital was discussed at meetings on Oct. 8 and Oct. 22, 2008.
After one of these meetings, Wyma testified, Blagojevich said he wanted to “get Magoon,” which Wyma took to mean he wanted money from Magoon in exchange for the rate increase.
The defense badgered Wyma with questions asking if he told Blagojevich that Magoon could donate $25,000 but not $50,000, but Wyma replied no, he told Blagojevich the timing was wrong.
Wyma testified he told Blagojevich Children’s Memorial as a nonprofit, but said he did not tell Blagojevich it would take time to raise a fundraiser or a $25,00 contribution.
UPDATE: 9:48 a.m.
Court was called into session for the day. Judge James Zagel began handling three matters before the jury was brought in for Wyma’s cross-examination.
The judge heard a motion filed by the prosecution on Friday regarding filing charts that will help summarize the "voluminous" amounts of evidence and tapes they want to present as evidence. The defense filed a response to it Monday morning. Zagel granted the prosecution's request.
The judge also needed to hear a motion filed by the defense on Friday asking again for the release of the FBI'S report on their interview with Obama about the senate seat. The judge denied the motion, saying that the motion assumes Obama knew about the "asks" for the senate seat and didn't report them, whereas the judge said there is no indication Obama knew about the "asks."
"In all honesty, it is quite possible that the victim [Obama] was busy with other matters at the time," Zagel said.
Third, the judge said he needed to handle a scheduling issue with the defense but wanted to talk to them in a sidebar first. Beforehand, the prosecution present issues regarding testimony on the Children's Memorial Hospital alleged shakedown and a phone call between Patrick Magoon and Robert Blagojevich, Rod's brother.
The defense also brought up an issue regarding Bob Greenlee's testimony, but the judge said he would deal with that after Wyma's testimony. The attorneys went into sidebar with the judge.
GERMANY, EUROPEAN PARTNERS SUMMON SYRIAN AMBASSADORS, THREATEN MORE SANCTIONS!
Germany, European partners summon Syrian ambassadors, threaten more sanctions
By Associated Press,
Published: May 11
BERLIN — European countries summoned Syrian ambassadors Wednesday to threaten a new round of sanctions that will target the country’s leadership if it doesn’t halt the repression of protesters, Germany said.
As Europe stepped up the pressure on Damascus, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon demanded full access for humanitarian workers in Syria, which has blocked an international team from entering to make an independent assessment of the country’s aid needs.
( Associated Press ) -
In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone Tuesday May 10, 2011 and acquired by the AP, Syrian anti-government protesters carry candles during a rally in the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria. Syrian activists and eyewitnesses said on Wednesday that the army is shelling residential areas in the central city of Homs.
.Syria’s ambassador to Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for Wednesday afternoon as part of “a concerted European action,” ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said.
He says European officials will explain to Syrian envoys sanctions that have been imposed over recent days and warn that “a second package that also includes the Syrian leadership” will follow quickly if President Bashar Assad’s regime does not immediately change course.
The EU has decided to impose sanctions on 13 Syrian officials, prohibiting them from traveling anywhere in the 27-nation bloc.
The first round of sanctions doesn’t target President Bashar Assad himself, but Peschke said a second round would “immediately affect the leadership of the state” and indicated that it would include Assad. He refused to specify what the new sanctions might entail.
Syrian authorities appear determined to crush an uprising which began in the southern city of Daraa in mid-March and quickly spread nationwide.
Assad has dispatched army troops backed by tanks to Homs and other communities across the country, and his security troops have carried out sweeping arrests in an attempt to intimidate would-be protesters and quell dissent.
Peschke said that, to avoid further sanctions, Syria must halt violence against demonstrators and others, and embark on a credible course of reform.
“That is, as far as we can judge, not the case” at present, he added. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that the next sanctions step will follow very quickly.”
He did not give a more specific time frame.
In Geneva, U.N. secretary-general Ban urged Assad to allow a U.N. team to enter Daraa.
“I am disappointed that our humanitarian assessment team has not yet been given the access it needs and was promised by the Syrian authorities,” Ban told reporters. He said Assad had promised that the team would be allowed into the city.
Ban said the U.N.’s humanitarian agency needs to get on the ground there so it can undertake an impartial review.
But the Syrian army was shelling residential areas in central Syria on Wednesday, a sharp escalation of the government’s effort to put down a popular nationwide revolt against Assad’s rule, according to activists and witnesses.
Assad has promised reforms and ditched the emergency laws the government has been using for a half-century to detain people, widely viewed as symbolic overtures to appease protesters.
“I urge again President Assad to heed the calls of the people for reform and freedom, and to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators,” Ban said.
____
Melissa Eddy contributed from Berlin and John Heilprin contributed from Geneva.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By Associated Press,
Published: May 11
BERLIN — European countries summoned Syrian ambassadors Wednesday to threaten a new round of sanctions that will target the country’s leadership if it doesn’t halt the repression of protesters, Germany said.
As Europe stepped up the pressure on Damascus, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon demanded full access for humanitarian workers in Syria, which has blocked an international team from entering to make an independent assessment of the country’s aid needs.
( Associated Press ) -
In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone Tuesday May 10, 2011 and acquired by the AP, Syrian anti-government protesters carry candles during a rally in the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria. Syrian activists and eyewitnesses said on Wednesday that the army is shelling residential areas in the central city of Homs.
.Syria’s ambassador to Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for Wednesday afternoon as part of “a concerted European action,” ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said.
He says European officials will explain to Syrian envoys sanctions that have been imposed over recent days and warn that “a second package that also includes the Syrian leadership” will follow quickly if President Bashar Assad’s regime does not immediately change course.
The EU has decided to impose sanctions on 13 Syrian officials, prohibiting them from traveling anywhere in the 27-nation bloc.
The first round of sanctions doesn’t target President Bashar Assad himself, but Peschke said a second round would “immediately affect the leadership of the state” and indicated that it would include Assad. He refused to specify what the new sanctions might entail.
Syrian authorities appear determined to crush an uprising which began in the southern city of Daraa in mid-March and quickly spread nationwide.
Assad has dispatched army troops backed by tanks to Homs and other communities across the country, and his security troops have carried out sweeping arrests in an attempt to intimidate would-be protesters and quell dissent.
Peschke said that, to avoid further sanctions, Syria must halt violence against demonstrators and others, and embark on a credible course of reform.
“That is, as far as we can judge, not the case” at present, he added. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that the next sanctions step will follow very quickly.”
He did not give a more specific time frame.
In Geneva, U.N. secretary-general Ban urged Assad to allow a U.N. team to enter Daraa.
“I am disappointed that our humanitarian assessment team has not yet been given the access it needs and was promised by the Syrian authorities,” Ban told reporters. He said Assad had promised that the team would be allowed into the city.
Ban said the U.N.’s humanitarian agency needs to get on the ground there so it can undertake an impartial review.
But the Syrian army was shelling residential areas in central Syria on Wednesday, a sharp escalation of the government’s effort to put down a popular nationwide revolt against Assad’s rule, according to activists and witnesses.
Assad has promised reforms and ditched the emergency laws the government has been using for a half-century to detain people, widely viewed as symbolic overtures to appease protesters.
“I urge again President Assad to heed the calls of the people for reform and freedom, and to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators,” Ban said.
____
Melissa Eddy contributed from Berlin and John Heilprin contributed from Geneva.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BLAGOJEVICH-GIFFORDS' CONNECTION
Jennifer Green, D.C. cop arrested in sting pleads guilty
April 26, 2011
Jennifer Green, Police, Washington D.C.A D.C. police officer accused of being a crooked cop pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of attempted second degree burglary.
Jennifer Green, 28, was charged with burglary and receiving stolen goods.
Police say the six-year-veteran was arrested during a sting operation in Northwest early last month.Green is on paid leave.
According to the charging document, Green met with a confidential informant on March 4.
The confidential informant was known to police because the person had a pending assault with a deadly weapon charge.
At Macombo’s lounge in Washington D.C., the confidential informant told Green that he knew of a residence that had money and drugs stashed in it. The owner of the apartment would be out of town and the informant planned to “hit” it, meaning burglarize it.
Green told the informant that he could do anything with the drugs but she “could use the money” according to the document.
The next day, the informant and Green met up at Green’s apartment. She was not duty at the time. She got into the informant’s car and brought a police radio with her.
The pair drove to a Safeway parking lot about a block from Quincy Street NW. The informant parked the vehicle, grabbed a crowbar from the backseat and then went into an apartment on Quincy Street.
The informant returned to the car with $1050 in pre-recorded District police money and a zip lock bag with soap pieces packaged to look like crack cocaine.
When the informant removed the zip lock bag, Green said, “Oh my God,” according to the document. The informant then handed the money to Green.
Green eventually took $610 of the money, according to the document.
Police arrested Green in front of her apartment after the informant dropped her off.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
The corruption retrial of former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich Retrial Moving Quickly
Published : Thursday, 12 May 2011, 10:26 AM CDT
FOX Chicago News
Chicago - The retrial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is moving along quickly as the prosecution’s streamlined case turned from the alleged senate seat shakedown to Children’s Memorial Hospital Wednesday.
Complete Rod Blagojevich Trial Coverage >>
Key Points :
•After Former Deputy Governor Robert Greenlee is cross-examined Thursday, John Wyma was expected to take the stand. He approached the FBI with information that launched the investigation into Blagojevich.
•Defense attorneys for former Blagojevich said they're being made to look foolish by the prosecution in Blagojevich's retrial and asked for a mistrial, but Federal Judge James Zagel denied the request. The defense complained Wednesday that when prosecutors repeatedly object and the judge doesn't let witnesses answer questions, the defense looks foolish and cross-examinations become meaningless.
•When the prosecution resumed, the jury heard an audio recording in which Blagojevich bitterly complained that Illinois voters didn't appreciate him. "I f***ing busted my ass and pissed people off and gave your grandmother a free f***ing ride on a bus. Okay? I gave your f***ing baby a chance to have health care. …And what do I get for that? Only 13 percent of you all out there think I'm doing a good job. So f*** all of you,” Blagojevich is heard saying on the recording.
•Greenlee testified Wednesday that Blagojevich delayed increases in spending for child health care because children's Memorial Hospital had not donated to his campaign. After the trial wrapped up for the day, Blagojevich blasted that testimony as a "lie".
UPDATE: 10:47 a.m.
With the jury back in the courtroom, the defense resumed questioning Greenlee about being approached by the FBI the morning of Dec. 9, 2008, the day Blagojevich was arrested.
Greenlee testified the FBI talked to him for less than 10 minutes and played audio recordings of his conversations. He said he was scared, hired a lawyer and began cooperating with the government.
Greenlee testified in a call with Blagojevich on Oct. 26, 2008, Blagojevich told him Lisa Madigan and Blagojevich himself were both potential appointees to the Senate, and Blagojevich mentioned the Health and Human Services Secretary position.
On Feb. 9, 2009, Greenlee testified he met with the FBI with his attorneys and U.S. attorneys. He said it was possible they talked about that phone call.
After an objection from the prosecution, the defense attorney showed Greenlee an FBI report of the meeting.
Greenlee said he still didn’t recall the meeting, but said it was possible it occurred even if he doesn’t remember what was specifically discussed.
The defense asked Greenlee if Blagojevich used the word “exchange” when Blagojevich told Greenlee he told Balanoff he wanted the HHS Secretary position for the senate seat. Greenlee said he wasn’t sure if that exact word was used even though he said it in his testimony Wednesday.
The defense showed Greenlee a copy of his sworn statement to the grand jury despite an overruled objection by the prosecution. In it, Greenlee said that Blagojevich had asked for the HHS position and felt he was unlikely to get it. The word “exchange” was not used in the sworn statement.
Greenlee testified in a Nov. 4, 2008 call , Blagojevich told him to research possible ambassadorships for him, which Greenlee did on Wikipedia. In another call later that day, Greenlee testified he understood Blagojevich to be talking about possibly appointing himself to the Senate.
UPDATE: 10:31 a.m.
The judge sent the jury out of the room to discuss cross-examination questions regarding the FBI. Defense attorney Aaron Goldstein asked Greenlee about talking to the FBI.
Greenlee said he had his first conversation with the FBI the morning of Dec. 9, 2008, and he began cooperating with them. The FBI came to his home the next day and played him snippets of some audio recordings. Greenlee testified he then hired an attorney.
Greenlee said at first he was worried about being prosecuted and sent to jail, but after talking to his attorneys, he decided to cooperate. He testified he spoke with the FBI about 10 times in 2010 and a few times before his testimony.
The defense wanted to pursue this line of questioning in front of the jury, but the prosecution argued it was not relevant. The defense kept asking Greenlee if he was afraid of being prosecuted.
Judge James Zagel said he was concerned the questions were too broad, inviting information that had no relevance to the case, and said Goldstein’s questions should be more precise. Zagel said he didn’t blame Goldstein for fishing, but the questions need to be specific.
The jury was allowed back into the court room.
UPDATE: 10:09 a.m.
Court was called into session for the day. The prosecution finished questioning Greenlee on the alleged Tollway shakedown, and defense attorney Aaron Goldstein began cross-examining the witness.
Goldstein asked Greenlee about a conversation between him and Blagojevich in which Blagojevich was upset with Greenlee for disagreeing with him about what he could get for the senate seat while on the phone with Fred Yang.
Greenlee testified when he said to Blagojevich in the call “I understand your play,” he was telling Blagojevich why he wanted to make the Madigan play for the senate seat, but he testified he was lying to Blagojevich when he said he believed it and when he said he liked the plan.
Greenlee testified he believed Blagojevich when he said supporters of Jesse Jackson Jr. would come through with money for the senate seat appointment.
At the time, Greenlee testified, he had been working for Blagojevich about six months, and he didn’t understand how Yang was connected to “Washington people.”
Greenlee testified he did not believe Blagojevich in a call from 2:09 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2008 because he had a prior conversation with him in which Blagojevich told Greenlee he was naïve to think people in Washington would want to help with state issues in Illinois.
Greenlee testified he did not know Blagojevich was in contact with Harry Reid about a Madigan deal or with N.J. Senator Robert Menendez, and that he knew John Harris was in contact with Rahm Emanuel but not necessarily about the Madigan deal.
Greenlee testified that a previous call with Blagojevich “rattled” him and that influenced him to lie to Blagojevich in the Dec. 4 call. Greenlee testified he did not quit working for Blagojevich before the governor was arrested but did have conversations with the FBI.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Blagojevich on wiretap: Obama aides 'pigs,' won't cut deal
He talks of giving Senate seat to Jesse Jackson Jr., cites campaign 'help'
May 05, 2011|By Bob Secter and Jeff Coen, Tribune reporters
Nancy Stone, Chicago TribuneRod Blagojevich thought he held a critical bargaining chip to muscle a lucrative job for himself out of the incoming Obama administration, and he was furious in late 2008 when it finally sunk in that he was wrong, according to tapes played at the former governor's corruption retrial on Thursday.
"The Obama … people are pigs," Blagojevich barked at John Harris, his chief of staff. "Ain't giving us anything."
That conversation, secretly recorded on a government wiretap, was played for jurors as prosecutors underscored charges that Blagojevich illegally tried to profit from his power to select a replacement for Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
The phone call was placed midday on Dec. 4, 2008, one month after Obama's election to the presidency and just hours before Blagojevich would learn that government agents had been eavesdropping on him as part of an intensifying corruption probe.
By then, according to testimony from Harris, Blagojevich had given up trying to get anything out of Obama and had become fixated on exploring alternative ways to cash in on the Senate seat.
Blagojevich appeared to be warming to the idea of naming Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate, a notion that the governor acknowledged to Harris seemed at first blush like a flip-flop.
Harris, on the call, reminded Blagojevich that he so loathed Jackson that just days before, the governor had snapped "no (expletive) way" when Jackson's name had been floated in connection with the Senate.
But Blagojevich had a reason for the change of heart. "Well, he's come to me with, through third parties, you know, with offers of campaign contributions and help," Blagojevich told Harris on the tape. "You know what I mean? 1.5 million they've, they're throwin' numbers around."
The former governor is charged with plotting to turn the seat over to Jackson in exchange for promises of $1.5 million in campaign cash for Blagojevich from Jackson supporters. Blagojevich denies the allegations, and Jackson has not been charged.
On the call, Blagojevich mentions in passing to Harris that he had also been kicking around the idea of filling the Senate seat with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan — another in a long line of Illinois politicians that the former governor despised.
If he was willing to swallow hard and consider Madigan, then why not take a fresh look at Jackson as well, Blagojevich told Harris.
THEY SAY THEY WANT AUTONOMY. ARE THEY EXEMPT, TOO, UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDERS & SPECIAL PRIVILEGES?
Mayor Gray, Councilmembers Arrested During Autonomy Protest
(Martin Austermuhle)
This evening, Mayor Vince Gray and several D.C. Councilmembers were arrested by Capitol Police as part of a demonstration in support of D.C. voting rights and autonomy.
Anywhere between 150 and 200 people attended the planned rally this afternoon, including Gray, D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown and Councilmembers Tommy Wells, Muriel Bowser, Yvette Alexander, Sekou Biddle and Michael A. Brown. This morning, Gray spoke out about the recent budget deal which included riders forcing vouchers and an abortion funding ban on the District, saying that he would have preferred a shutdown over "D.C. becoming the compromise" and that it was "hugely disappointing" that "both parties are in a situation where they aren't respecting our rights." He echoed those remarks during tonight's protest.
"Don't let today be a single moment," Gray told the crowd, also promising to get the abortion and voucher riders out of the bill. "It's time for respect," he added. Gray and the Councilmembers then sat in the middle of Constitution Avenue at 1st Street NE for about 20 minutes before police took action, arresting several citizens, including DC Vote Public Affairs Director Eugene Kinlow as crowds chanted "don't tread on D.C., we demand democracy."
The police initially appeared reluctant to arrest Gray and the the Councilmembers, but eventually made their way through the line around 6:05 p.m., arresting Gray, Kwame Brown, Michael Brown, Wells, Alexander, Bowser, Biddle and Shadow Representative Mike Panetta. Mayor Gray and the arrested Councilmembers were being processed at 67 K Street SW and should be released around 7:30 p.m. this evening as of 10:10, were still in custody.
During last fall's mayoral campaign, Gray said that he would be willing to go to jail as part of civil disobedience exercises for statehood, but added that he'd go "only if anyone here goes with me."
The last mayor to be arrested while in office was Sharon Pratt Kelly, who was arrested during a similar rally in 1993. Gray, of course, worked under Kelly's administration as the Director of the D.C. Department of Human Services.
NBCWashington.com has the video of Gray and Wells being arrested:
View more videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com.
Photos and reporting contributed by Martin Austermuhle.
MICROSOFT PURCHASES SKYPE FOR $.5 BILLION...HIGH SPEED INVESTMENTS --- FUTURES UP TODAY ON THE NEWS!
Microsoft agrees to buy Skype for $8.5B
By PETER SVENSSON
Posted 05/10/2011 10:38 AM ET
NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype SA for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history.
Buying Skype gives Microsoft access to a user base of about 170 million people who log in to Skype every month, using the Internet and Skype usernames as a complement to the traditional phone network and its phone numbers.
Microsoft said it will marry Skype's functions to its Xbox game console, Outlook email program and Windows smartphones. All of these platforms already have other options for Internet calling, but the addition of Skype users would expand their reach, making them more useful.
Microsoft said it will continue to support Skype on other software platforms.
The sellers include eBay Inc. and private equity firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.
Skype users made 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls last year. Most of that usage is free calling from computer to computer, which has made it difficult for the service to make money since entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis started the company in 2003. An average of about 8.8 million customers per month, or just over 5 percent of the user base, pay to use Skype to call out to the regular phone network.
The vast majority of paying Skype users is in Europe, where high country-to-country rates for traditional phone calls make Skype more popular than in the U.S., where state-to-state calling is cheap.
Skype is the largest provider of international calling services in the world, surpassing any single phone company, according to research firm TeleGeography.
Skype lost $7 million on revenue of $860 million last year, according to papers that the company has filed since announcing its intentions last summer to launch an initial public offering of stock. The IPO was later put on hold. Skype's long-term debt, net of cash, was $544 million at the end of 2010.
The Skype takeover tops Microsoft's biggest previous acquisition — a $6 billion purchase of the online ad service aQuantive in 2007.
Microsoft said Skype will become a new business division headed by Skype CEO Tony Bates, who will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Although it makes billions from its computer software, Microsoft has been accustomed to losing money on the Internet in a mostly futile attempt to catch up to Google Inc. in the lucrative online search market. Microsoft got so desperate that it made a $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc. three years ago, but withdrew the offer after Yahoo balked. Yahoo is now worth about half of what Microsoft offered.
Microsoft can well afford to buy Skype: On March 31, it had a cash hoard of $50.2 billion.
Microsoft would be Skype's second large-company owner. EBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, but its attempt to unite the phone service with its online shopping bazaar never worked out. It wound up selling a 70 percent stake in Skype to a group of investors led by private equity firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz for $2 billion 18 months ago.
Besides eBay, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, Skype's other major shareholders are Joltid and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
___
Peter Svensson can be reached at http://twitter.com/petersvensson
ARE OUT OF CONTROL NORTH AFRICANS & SOMALI PIRATES DESTROYING YOUR BUSINESS ECONOMY & COUNTRY? CONTACT MARK KIRK TODAY & GO TO IL WEBSITE FOR FREE AP!
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011
THE ARCHITECT OF MUCCA MOUNTAIN!
Bronze by Benjamin Victor.
Given in 2005.
Location: CVC Sarah Winnemucca (1844–1891) was a member of the Paiute tribe born in what would later become the state of Nevada. She was the daughter of the Chief Winnemucca and granddaughter of Chief Truckee. Her Paiute name was Thocmetony (or Tocmetoni), which means “shellflower”; it is not known why or when she took the name Sarah. Having a great facility with languages, she served as an interpreter and negotiator between her people and the U.S. Army. In 1878 when the Bannock Indians revolted and were being pursued by the U.S. Army under General Oliver Howard’s command, Sarah volunteered for a dangerous mission. Locating her father’s band being forcibly held by the Bannocks, she secretly led them away to army protection in a three-day ride over 230 miles of rugged terrain with little food or rest.
As a spokesperson for her people, she gave over 300 speeches to win support for them, and she met with President Rutherford B. Hayes and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz in 1880. Her 1883 autobiography, Life among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, was the first book written by a Native American woman. She started a school for Native Americans, where she taught children both in their native language and in English. She was married at least twice, first to Lieutenant Edward C. Bartlett and later to Lewis H. Hopkins. Sarah Winnemucca died in 1891.
The bronze statue depicts Sarah Winnemucca as she looked around the age of 35, with hair falling to her waist. She wears a dress adorned with fringe that swirls as if windswept; this and her stance impart a sense of movement. With her left arm she holds a book at her side, and in her right hand she holds a shellflower aloft. A plaque affixed to the pedestal reads
Sarah Winnemucca
[facsimile of her signature, “Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins”]
1844–1891
Nevada
Defender of Human rights
Educator
Author of first book by a Native woman
NUTTY ROGERS CONTINUES TO SPIN-AND-TOPPLE: FIFA CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLAND'S FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION!
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has written to the English FA seeking a full report on David Triesman's claims.
Six FIFA executive committee members have been accused of corruption.
Soccer's governing body last year banned two top-level officials in similar scenario
Presidential candidate denies claims that Qatar bribed two members for 2022 votes
(CNN) -- FIFA has requested evidence from England's Football Association following claims from its former chairman of corruption by four top-level members of world soccer's governing body.
It has also asked The Sunday Times newspaper to provide details about further claims that two more FIFA executive committee members were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
David Triesman was head of England's failed bid to host the 2018 tournament before standing down after being secretly taped by a reporter last May making accusations against rival candidate nations Spain and Russia.
On Tuesday, the former FA chairman told a British parliamentary committee that Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi had all sought favors in order to secure England's vote.
Triesman accuses FIFA members of seeking bribes for votes
You can't just accuse people just like that. It is fine to try to damage the reputation of somebody, but where is the proof?
The Sunday Times also submitted evidence to the UK House of Commons hearing alleging that FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma from the Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar.
FIFA has already suspended executive members Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii following similar accusations ahead of last December's World Cup ballot. Nigeria's Adamu is trying to overturn his three-year suspension from all football activities at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA said on Wednesday that its secretary general Jerome Valcke had written to Football Association chairman David Bernstein asking for a complete report from Triesman on the statements that he made as well as "any and all documentary evidence at his disposal in relation to those statements."
"He has also sent a letter to The Sunday Times to ask the newspaper to provide FIFA with any piece of evidence with regard to the statements made to MP John Whittingdale," FIFA said in a statement on its website.
Can Bin Hammam change FIFA for the better?
Valcke said in his letter that FIFA and its president Sepp Blatter were concerned about the accusations, and had also asked for a full record of Triesman's testimonies in the House of Commons.
The ruling body stated that it believed The Sunday Times "had already provided all of the evidence and documentation at its disposal" before these latest allegations.
"Nevertheless, FIFA asks the English newspaper to submit as soon as possible any other piece of evidence that it may be in possession of and which has not yet been sent to FIFA," it said.
"In particular, reference is made in the letter to the allegations regarding a 'whistleblower who had worked with the Qatar bid,' who allegedly made some declarations regarding the matter in question."
Mohamed Bin Hammam, who is Blatter's only rival at next month's presidential elections, denied on Wednesday that his native country had offered any such bribes.
"I can assure you nothing like this has happened from our side. If someone wants to damage reputations like this then they have to provide the proof," the the president of the Asian Football Confederation told the UK Press Association.
"You can't just accuse people just like that. It didn't happen. It is fine to say something, to try to damage the reputation of somebody, but where is the proof?"
Warner, accused by Triesman of demanding £2.5 million ($4 million) to build an education center in Trinidad, has also denied any wrongdoing.
"I never asked anybody for anything. When these guys came here, we promised to help," the 68-year-old told Trinidad newspaper Newsday.
"I showed them a place where they can put a playground. They promised to come back but they never did. That's all."
LUDICROUS: OSAMA INVITES RAPPER WHO PRAISES THE KILLING OF U.S. POLICE OFFICERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Obama's War Against White Police/Firemen
Talk radio personality Michael Savage once wrote, “Liberalism is a mental disorder.” Not only are the passions that animate left-wing policies and reverse racism irrational; they are life-threatening. The most jarring example is Barack Obama race war against police and fire departments everywhere from the heartland to Ground Zero.
Last month Obama’s Justice Department forced the city of Dayton, Ohio, to lower standards for hiring police and firemen, allegedly because not enough minorities passed. The Dayton Daily News reports that time is of the essence vital, since recent retirements “have left public safety forces near all-time lows.” Nonetheless, the Obama administration stepped in to keep police off the streets until he could saddle them with unqualified co-workers. Under the deal Dayton cut with Eric Holder’s department, city officials would hire people who scored as low as 63 percent on one section of the test and 58 percent on another – a failing mark on any conventional grade curve. The 748 people who passed the test will soon be joined by 258 new, incompetent public servants. No one will know one group from another except their HR department and the people whose lives they fail to save.
Even the local NAACP – which, as its name implies, can usually be counted on to support any policy that advances the interests of “colored people” – thinks Obama and Holder have gone too far. Dayton chapter President Derrick Forward has said, “The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed…If you lower the score for any group of people, you’re not getting the best qualified people for the job.” (In reality, the NAACP regularly supports these kinds of actions, but at least Forward does not.)
Most of us agree that the middle of a gunfight or an engulfed building is no place for on-the-job training. We’d prefer an expert. Not racial extortionists in the Obama White House.The administration’s legal assault on Dayton would be regrettable enough if it stood alone. However, it is but one front of Barack Obama’s race war against police and firemen.
A Full-Scale War on Safety
The most outrageous and underexposed targets of the PC grenade-throwers has been the people who rushed to save lives at Ground Zero on 9/11. More than 90 percent of minorities pass an exam administered by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), ten percent more than the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission considers adequate. If less than 80 percent of minorities pass a test, the EEOC automatically assumes the test is “racist.” That does not enter into this department – but Holder decided to hustle the department, anyway.
According to the DoJ, this test is “racist” because while 90 percent of blacks and Hispanics pass it, even more whites do. The Washington Times reported, “On Feb. 28, Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, submitted a proposed order for damages for rejected applicants who scored 25 or higher on the 85-question exams.”
Although nearly five percent of fire department positions are vacant, the Obama administration is again holding things up until the department agrees to its blackmail terms.
His officials demand the FDNY hire people who got 29 percent of the questions right, compete with back pay. New hires would also have seniority over those who had been hired after they flunked and have been working ever since.
It comes as no surprise those who are keeping the police from defending law-abiding citizens around the country are the same bureaucrats involved in the most lawless, racist excesses of the last two years.
The Black Panthers’ Allies Target New Honkies
The FDNY’s nemesis, Thomas Perez, may have perjured himself during hearings before the Civil Rights commission in May when he testified that there had been no “political leadership involved in the decision not to pursue” the Black Panther voter intimidation case. Judicial Watch subsequently reported it discovered significant political involvement.
This case’s lead attorney is Loretta King, whom Obama appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Justice Department whistleblower Christopher Coates testified that King “does not support equal enforcement” of the law, instructed him to stop asking job applicants if they would be willing to apply the law equally to all races, and “had been highly critical of the filing and civil prosecution of” a 2005 case against blacks in Mississippi who discriminated against whites.
The Black Panthers’ top advocates have joined forces to wage warfare against “the pigs.” So has Obama.
Obama Promised an “Activist Attorney General”
Barack Obama has led these actions, as he promised in a 2001 public radio interview. Obama told his interviewer, Gretchen Helfrich, that real change requires an “activist” executive branch and warned “without an activist Attorney General’s office and Justice Department that is able to come in and provide just the sheer resources that are required, many of these changes just don’t take place.” Now that these resources are at his disposal, he regularly harasses the law-abiding while protecting law-breakers.
The president has led the way in combating the police rhetorically. When national media asked him about Henry Louis Gates in 2009, Obama declared that while did not have “all the facts,” he nonetheless condemned Cambridge police for “acting stupidly.”
By appointing Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, Obama assured his presumption against the police – and testing standards – is enshrined on the High Court. Sotomayor twice ruled against New Have fireman Frank Ricci in the case Ricci v. DeStefano. Ricci was one of 19 white or Hispanic fireman denied promotions after they passed the test with flying colors. The pre-Sotomayor Supreme Court overturned her decision. Her supporters then tried to destroy Ricci’s reputation in the media.
The Ricci decision reflected Sotomayor’s racialist judicial activist philosophy. As a longtime head of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (now LatinoJustice PRLDEF). Sotomayor said she was proud of the organization’s “cases attacking civil service testing.” The “attack” in question targeted the New York Police Department. In the 1980s, the PRLDEF found too few minorities could pass the exam to receive a promotion, so Sotomayor branded it “racist.” Eventually, PRLDEF’s PR forced the police to replace it.
She similarly ruled in 2006 case Hayden v. Pataki that New York’s law barring convicted felons from voting until they are released from prison or complete parole is racist and thus unconstitutional, although societies have disenfranchised criminal felons since ancient Greece.
His second court nominee, Elena Kagan, similarly worships at the altar of Affirmative Action. These nominees will fight Obama’s racist battles long after he is gone.
No Quarter on the Culture Wars
Obama’s unjustified and aggressive shakedowns of the nation’s emergency personnel should underscore how deeply committed he is to racial extortion and how animated he is to destroy traditional sources of masculine, working class power. It is the same spirit that caused Robert Reich to declare the administration must assure stimulus funds do not benefit “white male construction workers.”
They should also force Americans to see how implacable are the advocates of “racial justice.” In practice, testing standards for class promotion, college or union admittance, civil service or public safety jobs are dumbed-down to the point that almost everyone passes – and the professional racial grievance industry is still not satisfied.
Obama’s war should be seen for what it is – a war on achievement, where those capable of passing the test, running a business, or performing a public service are held hostage until they siphon off part of their earnings and authority to those who cannot.
The envy, covetousness, and racism of the administration would be disturbing enough directed against any industry, but Obama’s special object of ire seems to be police, firemen, and – if one includes the “persecuted minority” of homosexuals and transgender people – the military. These are the forces that maintain public order, rescue the imperiled, and take dangerous offenders off the streets. These forces should demand the highest standards of their employees, because they are the ones upon whom our lives depend.
WYE: OBAMA'S FINANCIAL TERRORISTS FEAR GOOGLE & FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Bootup: Google facing US$500-million charge over ad investigation
Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
May 11, 2011 9:37 AM ET
Today in technology: Google Inc. reveals its profit from the last quarter was actually US$500-million lower as the Web search giant set aside the sum ahead of a potential U.S. Department of Justice settlement, Symantec Corp. warns nearly 100,000 Facebook apps leak personal information to advertisers and Ottawa patent firm Mosaid Technologies Inc. files fresh patent infringement claims against three companies.
Google ads under DOJ investigation
When the world’s largest search engine last reported quarterly net income of US$2.3-billion last month, it neglected to include the US$500-million Google accrued during the quarter to pay off a potential settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Bringing down total Q1 profit by 22% to US$1.8-billion, the company revealed the figure in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, which was first reported by the New York Times. The figure reported on April 14 was already below what Wall Street analysts were expecting from the Internet colossus, marking the first time in seven quarters when the company failed to exceed analyst targets.
“In May 2011, in connection with a potential resolution of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers, we accrued $500 million for the three month period ended March 31, 2011,” the Mountain View, Calif.-based company wrote in its submission.
“Although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of this matter, we believe it will not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.”
In an email to the Financial Post, a Google spokesperson declined to comment as the investigation is an ongoing legal matter.
Facebook apps spying on you by accident: Symantec
Another day, another reason to be concerned about privacy on Facebook. On Tuesday, the world’s largest security software provider accused the world’s largest social network of allowing advertisers access to personal user information. In a post on the official Symantec blog, the company said nearly 100,000 Facebook applications were enabling an accidental leakage of the personal data to third parties and that they had been doing so for years.
Luckily, Symantec said, most of those advertisers likely had no idea they were even able to access that data. Facebook has already been made aware of the issue and has already taken steps to plug the leakage. Douglas Purdy, director of developer relations for Facebook, said in the comments section of an article posted on TheNextWeb that advertisers and developers also had contractual obligations prohibiting them from sharing user data in a way that violates the company’s policies.
Facebook is no stranger to issues involving the integrity of personal data its users share with third party applications.
Mosaid files new lawsuits
After filing a patent infringement lawsuit against 17 companies including Research In Motion Ltd. in March over their alleged use of Mosaid’s WiFi technology, the Ottawa-based patent firm remains on the legal offensive. On Tuesday, the company launched another suit against Elpida Memory Inc., Buffalo Inc. and Axiontechhe, claiming those companies are infringing six Mosaid-held patents related to semiconductors. The company’s aggressive legal strategy has made it a very attractive investment opportunity in the eyes of at least one analyst.
jberkow@nationalpost.com
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