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Crime/Corruption (News/Activism)

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  • Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval (0 down to 48% A)

    11/22/2009 2:22:35 PM PST · by PawtucketPatriot71 · 6 replies · 228+ views
    Gallup ^ | 11-22-09 | Gallup
    Not even Gallup can help boost The Ones numbers. DeMint was right, Health Care will be his Waterloo.
  • Secret Plot To Let 50 Million African Workers Into EU (To pay for healthcare and pensions)

    11/22/2009 1:01:10 PM PST · by sadsacke · 23 replies · 429+ views
    Daily Express ^ | 11-11-09 | Nick Fagge
    MORE than 50 million African workers are to be invited to Europe in a far-reaching secretive migration deal, the Daily Express can reveal today. The report, by the EU statistical agency Eurostat, warns that vast numbers of migrants could be needed to meet the shortfall in two years if Europe is to have a hope of funding the pension and health needs of its growing elderly population. It states: “Countries with low fertility rates could require a significant number of immigrants over the coming dec­ades if they want to maintain the existing number of people of working age.  “Having sufficient people...
  • Hostility among foes in global warming debate

    11/22/2009 12:08:46 PM PST · by ricks_place · 11 replies · 425+ views
    Washington Post ^ | November 22, 2009 | Juliet Eilperin
    Electronic files that were stolen from a prominent climate research center and made public last week provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes battle to shape the public perception of global warming. While few U.S. politicians bother to question whether humans are changing the world's climate -- nearly three years ago the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded the evidence was unequivocal -- public debate persists. And the newly disclosed private exchanges among climate scientists at Britain's Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia reveal an intellectual circle that appears to feel very much under attack, and...
  • Six held in gang rape of West Philadelphia woman

    11/22/2009 11:43:08 AM PST · by Chet 99 · 37 replies · 1,629+ views
    Six held in gang rape of West Philadelphia woman By Sam Wood INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Police tonight are holding six males, ranging in age from 16 to 52, all charged in the assault of a young woman they dragged out of a Chinese take-out in West Philadelphia, and then gang-raped inside a nearby apartment. The attack ended only after people heard the woman's screams and called 911. Police arrested all six at the scene, an apartment across from Li Lai Chinese restaurant at 5609 Walnut St. Police said the attack happened late Thursday night. The 24-year-old victim was inside Li...
  • Poor California: No money and no leadership (only one candidate talking about budget.. Tom Campbell)

    11/22/2009 10:28:01 AM PST · by NormsRevenge · 14 replies · 359+ views
    LA Times ^ | 11/22/09 | Cathleen Decker
    In the new movie "2012," whose video trailers were bombarding television airwaves last week, the world as we know it gives way three years hence under a siege of floods, eruptions, undulating continents and earthquakes. In other words, it's not much different from what is happening in California, fiscally speaking, except that the state will be lucky to hang on that long. To recap: the state's chief budget analyst reported last week that California faces a $21-billion deficit through the next fiscal year. For the two budget years after that, deficits will total $44 billion more, the analyst said. Those...
  • Sweeteners For The South (Louisiana Purchase: $300 Million For Landrieu)

    11/22/2009 10:16:34 AM PST · by raptor22 · 28 replies · 564+ views
    Washington Post ^ | November 22, 2009 | Dana Milbank
    Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase. On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state. And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going...
  • GAO Stands By Job-Creation Estimate

    11/22/2009 9:58:35 AM PST · by Nachum · 12 replies · 262+ views
    WSJ ^ | 11/22/09 | LOUISE RADNOFSKY
    WASHINGTON -- The government agency charged with overseeing the economic-stimulus program says it doesn't plan to change its position that the package directly created or saved 640,329.17 jobs through September, despite its own admission and statements from the White House that the number is not accurate. Ed Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, said that the number would not be changed. The Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress, issued a report last week saying that there were "significant issues to be addressed" in the accuracy of reports. The report said that "many entries...
  • 'Obama Pride' Official Starts 'Church Outing' Website to Expose (or Smear) Catholic Priests

    11/22/2009 9:54:33 AM PST · by Nachum · 15 replies · 404+ views
    Newsbusters ^ | 11/22/09 | Tim Graham
    Blogger Amanda Hess of the Washington City Paper suggests a new story for The Washington Post on the gay left waging war on the Catholic Church over the city council's imposition of "gay marriage" rules without a referendum: A new Web site hopes to use the oldest trick in the book to combat the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage: A good, old-fashioned forced outing! At ChurchOuting.org, you’re invited to scroll through a list of every Achbishop, Bishop, and Reverend in the Archdiocese of Washington, zero in on one you know is gay, and then submit your “detailed account of...
  • Chicago zoning inspector in kickback case back at work

    11/22/2009 9:18:13 AM PST · by AtlasStalled · 2 replies · 176+ views
    Chicago Tribune ^ | 11/22/09 | Todd Lighty
    A politically connected zoning investigator has returned to work at City Hall barely a week after he admitted to accepting bribes of cash and gifts to repeatedly overlook zoning violations. William Wellhausen — who pleaded guilty Nov. 3 and was brought back to the job the following Monday — said he’s clueless why that happened. “I have no idea. You’ll have to ask the city,” Wellhausen said before hanging up the telephone at the city’s Landmarks Commission, where he is doing clerical work. Court records show that Wellhausen took bribes ranging from $100 to $8,000, including a $200 Bloomingdales gift...
  • Who Diverted The Hasan Investigation Into Suspension?

    11/22/2009 8:59:05 AM PST · by ricks_place · 3 replies · 546+ views
    The Strata-Sphere ^ | 11/19/09 | AJStrata
    I have been writing extensively on the curious coincidence that after the Obama administration came into office it was not long before the ongoing investigation in Major Hasan was prematurely ended. Each day new information comes to light deepening my suspicions that the liberally ideologically driven AG Holder and President Obama recklessly shut down investigation into US citizens initiated through leads detected by the NSA and now authorized under the FISA changes President Bush implemented (and Holder and Obama opposed). As the number of clear and disturbing dots keep becoming apparent in the reporting on this story, one has to...
  • Lawyer's girlfriend in racketeering case faces further charges

    11/22/2009 8:47:18 AM PST · by AtlasStalled · 2 replies · 497+ views
    Star-Ledger ^ | 11/22/09 | Star-Ledger
    With her silver running sneakers, manicured nails and brown doe eyes, Yolanda Jauregui looked almost out of place as she slid beside her lawyer for a recent federal criminal hearing in Newark. But prosecutors say the petite brunette is the girlfriend and criminal partner of Paul W. Bergrin, a defense lawyer charged with killing witnesses to keep his clients out of prison. Jauregui plotted murders and trafficked in narcotics, they say. She also had a knack for sniffing out informants. * * * The new charges against Jauregui, who has a 13-year-old daughter, also could have consequences for Bergrin, a...
  • Despite Cloture Win, ObamaCare Still has a Long Way to Go to Become Reality - Step by Step

    11/22/2009 8:46:09 AM PST · by Syncro · 51 replies · 964+ views
    Freedom's Lighthouse ^ | November 22, 2009 | Brian
    Despite Cloture Win, ObamaCare Still has a Long Way to Go to Become Reality - Step by Step #fullpost{display:inline;}Democrats succeeded tonight in winning the first cloture vote on the Senate Health Care Bill which allows it to move forward to a debate / amendment phase. But Martin Gold and Tom Curry spell out just how far "ObamaCare" has to go before it becomes a reality. It's a longer road than I understood, and than you may think: With the Senate having approved a motion to proceed to debate on the health insurance overhaul, legislation is still far from being signed...
  • The Reason Lou Dobbs Left CNN???

    11/22/2009 8:31:19 AM PST · by hope · 38 replies · 2,487+ views
    From the ugly truth forum: "I KNEW this was going to happen. (That way Obama wasn't lying when he said illegals would not be able to get medical coverage under his ObamaCare plan. His simple fix is to make them all legal first.) EVERY ONE--PLEASE TAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO THIS--IT TELLS ABOUT THE BILL GOING THRU CONGRESS RIGHT NOW REGARDING IMMIGRATION. " EVEN CNN IS GETTING UPSET ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!! Pass this on after you watch it. NOTICE THAT THIS IS FROM CNN, NOT FOX!!! This from CNN news:
  • CRU Files Betray Climate Alarmists' Funding Hypocrisy (follow the AGW money)

    11/22/2009 7:16:55 AM PST · by milwguy · 13 replies · 372+ views
    american thinker ^ | 11/22/2009 | Marc Sheppard
    It seems that while scientists who accept funding from oil companies are branded as bought-and-paid-for shills, those financed by renewable energy interests remain unchallenged authorities in their fields. Words can’t adequately express my astonishment. it’s actually the second document (potential-funding.doc) that tells the more compelling tale. In addition to four government sources of potential CRU funding, it lists an equal number of “energy agencies” they might put the bite on. Three -- the Carbon Trust, the Northern Energy Initiative and the Energy Saving Trust -- are UK-based consultancy and funding specialists promoting “new energy” technologies with the goal of reducing...
  • Old People Should Just Die Already

    11/22/2009 7:16:22 AM PST · by george76 · 66 replies · 990+ views
    Silver Planet ^ | 06/18/2009 | Sara Myers
    Think how much money we could save! In his June 13 New York Times op-ed, Tyler Cowen wrote, “Medicare expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget.” The title of the article was “Something’s Got to Give in Medicare Spending.” Got it. Old people cost too much money to keep alive—and you younger disabled people on Medicare, you’re not helping either. So, what’s Mr. Cowen’s solution? Let’s limit health care benefits to old and disabled people. Boggles the mind. One of the proposals coming out of the Obama administration is to limit end-of-life care. What exactly does that mean? In 1974,...
  • Can sex offenders be cured?

    11/22/2009 7:07:33 AM PST · by markomalley · 37 replies · 690+ views
    South Bend Tribune ^ | 11/22/2009 | Alicia Gallegos
    Despite a disturbing criminal past, friends and family believed Michael Lindsey had made significant strides in the decades he spent behind bars. For more than 20 years, the man was a model prisoner, espousing deep religious beliefs, completing law courses and assisting other inmates with criminal cases. Upon his initial release, officials say the man complied with all parole regulations, fulfilled treatment requirements and was holding down a full-time job and adjusting well to married life. "I thought if anybody in the world can make it on release, it would be Mike," said prison minister Tim Blakley, who has known...
  • Malign Neglect: Political correctness and institutional stupidity in the case of Nidal Malik Hasan

    11/22/2009 5:53:05 AM PST · by reaganaut1 · 3 replies · 263+ views
    Weekly Standard ^ | November 30, 2009 (print) | Stephen F. Hayes
    ... [W]hy--after eight years of restructuring our national security and intelligence infrastructure to prevent such failures--[were] there were grave errors [in the surveillance of Hasan] that cost 13 people their lives. The answer to that question is becoming all too clear: a deadly combination of political correctness and institutional stupidity. And in the days since the Fort Hood attack, those characteristics have remained on prominent display--both at the top of the Justice Department and in its ranks. During an exchange at the Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Herb Kohl, a Democrat from Wisconsin, reminded Holder that the FBI had known about...
  • What does a senate vote on health care reform cost these days? (Call Orkin . Get Rid Of the Rats!)

    11/22/2009 5:36:02 AM PST · by IbJensen · 16 replies · 372+ views
    American Thinker ^ | November 22, 2009 | Rick Moran
    Well, if you're Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, the wages of sin just got pretty darned expensive, as Jonathan Karl at ABC News reports: On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for "certain states recovering from a major disaster." The section spends two pages defining which "states" would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that "during the preceding 7 fiscal years" have been declared a "major disaster area." I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been...
  • Unborn children for sale in S Korea

    11/22/2009 5:25:38 AM PST · by NativeNewYorker · 2 replies · 147+ views
    aljazeera ^ | 11/22/09
    Al Jazeera surfed community boards on popular Korean internet sites, and found an underground trade where pregnant women can sell their unborn children. The few cases that have surfaced have alarmed the government so much that it is believed to have formed a special task force to bring human-trafficking laws up to date, Al Jazeera's Steve Chao says.
  • Bureaucrats With Badges (The Joke Known As The TSA)

    11/22/2009 5:20:21 AM PST · by IbJensen · 27 replies · 1,016+ views
    The American Spectator ^ | November 21, 2009 | Mark Hyman
    Montana's Conrad Burns tells a sad, but revealing story about government bureaucrats and their rules. Shortly after the Transportation Security Administration assumed control of airport security and Burns was still serving in Congress he was at Washington's National Airport for a flight home. National is the airport used almost exclusively by members of Congress to fly in and out of the nation's capital. Burns showed his U.S. Senate identification to a TSA agent who refused to accept it, telling him she was not familiar with the government-issued photo ID. He had to produce another form of picture ID she demanded....
  • Obama retreat on war: The return to pre-2001 criminal law mind-set

    11/22/2009 4:09:24 AM PST · by markomalley · 4 replies · 295+ views
    Washington Times ^ | 11/22/2009 | Jeffrey T. Kuhner
    The war on terror is over. The decision to prosecute the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, along with his al Qaeda cohorts, in federal court marks a political watershed. President Obama seeks to return America to a pre-Sept. 11, 2001, mind-set. Terrorism is to be treated - as in the 1990s - as a criminal law enforcement matter. The administration's decision to hold Mohammed's trial in a New York City civilian court, just a few blocks away from ground zero, is irresponsible and grotesque. Foreign terrorists who commit atrocities against American civilians will be given...
  • Florida Officer Fired for Free Ice Cream

    11/22/2009 4:04:21 AM PST · by The Magical Mischief Tour · 10 replies · 996+ views
    South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | 11/21/2009 | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
    Nov. 20--For former Officer Michael Brown, the police credo "to serve and protect" includes two free scoops of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. "We protect you, why can't you hook me up?" Brown told a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop employee April 20 after the store closed for the day, according to internal affair's documents released Friday. Feeling intimidated, the employee gave Brown two scoops of his flavor of choice for which he did not pay. He shared it with his then girlfriend about 10:45 p.m. outside the shop in the 1100 block of East Atlantic Avenue. Police Chief Tony...
  • Armed pols: An unfortunate Chicago tradition

    11/22/2009 3:07:14 AM PST · by rellimpank · 14 replies · 859+ views
    Chicago Tribune ^ | 22 nov 09 | Steve Chapman
    Last week, the body of Chicago school board president Michael Scott was found in the Chicago River with a single bullet wound in his head. The big story was that this powerful, well-connected public official had, according to the Cook County medical examiner, committed suicide. The less-noticed story was that he did it with an illegal weapon. After all, handgun ownership is not allowed in Chicago, which has one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, and Scott killed himself with a .380-caliber sidearm. Unlike most Chicagoans, Scott could have been a legal handgun owner. Because he had...
  • Slain for his subway seat: Exterminator stabs D train straphanger to death after seat scuffle

    11/22/2009 2:22:15 AM PST · by tlb · 61 replies · 1,024+ views
    New York Daily News ^ | November 21st 2009 | Barry Paddock, Rocco Parascandola and Samuel Goldsmith
    A bugged-out exterminator went berserk ...fatally plunging a knife into a fellow straphanger's neck after they argued over a seat. Cops rushed to the train and nabbed the alleged killer thanks to a quick-thinking train conductor, who locked the doors. Jerry Sanchez, 37, got on the northbound train at Rockefeller Center about 2 a.m. He confronted Dwight Johnson, demanding he move a bag from the seat where the attacker wanted to sit. Johnson, believed to be homeless, refused and punched Sanchez in the face. Sanchez pulled out a steak knife and stabbed him several times in the neck and face....
  • Michelle Obama looks to garden for state banquet menu

    11/22/2009 2:08:02 AM PST · by bruinbirdman · 36 replies · 910+ views
    The Times ^ | 11/22/2009 | Christina Lamb
    The first dinner party in a new house is a test for every hostess and an awkward eater is the last thing she needs. In Michelle Obama’s case, not only is her first guest of honour an abstemious vegetarian, but the whole world will be watching. Michelle Obama has been overseeing preparations for the state banquet down to the finest details On Tuesday the Obamas host their first state banquet since taking office in January. After the staid years of President George W Bush, who liked to be in bed by 9pm, Washington is desperate for some glamour. “Official Washington...
  • Islamic center in Maryland keeps ties to Iran

    11/22/2009 2:06:36 AM PST · by markomalley · 4 replies · 216+ views
    Washington Times ^ | 11/22/2009 | Mehdi Jedinia
    A Potomac, Md., Islamic center maintains links to Iran despite its claims that it is independent of a foundation that is being sued by the U.S. government on charges of funneling money to the Islamic republic. Ali Mohammadi, the current manager of the Islamic Education Center (IEC) of Maryland, told The Washington Times that the center's only relationship to the Alavi Foundation is that of tenant to landlord. He quoted a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office as saying that forfeiture proceedings initiated earlier this month against the foundation - which also owns property in New York and other states...
  • [EU Pres] Herman Van Rompuy: now communist sister tells why she disagrees with his politics

    11/22/2009 12:01:45 AM PST · by bruinbirdman · 3 replies · 282+ views
    The Telegraph ^ | 11/22/2009 | Justin Stares in Brussels
    Christine Van Rompuy has given up talking to her brother about politics. The siblings' political paths diverged when in their youth - and in a recent election campaign her party produced a leaflet which mercilessly lampooned him as a clown. Herman Van Rompuy was mercilessly cartooned as a clown - in a leaflet produced by his sister's rival party After witnessing the Belgian Government's attempts to privatise the health service, Christine decided to take up the cause of the common worker and is now actively involved in the Belgian Workers' Party, the only remaining nationwide political party in a country...
  • "Global Warming" SCAM - A Further Look (Incredible Forensics)

    11/21/2009 11:52:01 PM PST · by Windflier · 25 replies · 1,463+ views
    The Market Ticker ^ | November 21st, 2009 | Karl Denninger
    Please note - in my "past life" I ran an ISP, and am a qualified expert in these matters. I write spam filtering software commercially and have since 1995, being the author of the first ISP-centered spam interdiction package. As such when it comes to issues like Internet mail transport I can easily speak to what is supposed to be present - and what is not. Further, I want to note that my interest in this has absolutely nothing to do with the underlying claim - "Is Man-Made Global Warming Real?" Rather, my interest in this is whether or not...
  • Herman Van Rompuy: Europe's first president to push for 'Euro tax'

    11/21/2009 11:27:44 PM PST · by bruinbirdman · 4 replies · 317+ views
    The Telegraph ^ | 11/22/2009 | Bruno Waterfield and Justin Stares in Brussels and Colin Freeman
    Europe's first president, is to join forces with the European Commission to push for sweeping new tax raising powers for Brussels. Within days of taking office in January, the former Belgian prime minister will put his weight behind controversial proposals already floated by the commission's head, José Manuel Barroso, for a new "Euro tax". Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech He will add credence to Mr Barroso's plans, to be formally tabled in the New Year, by...
  • Higher Taxes on Rich: Discrimination Based on Race?

    11/21/2009 11:10:44 PM PST · by bogusname · 6 replies · 488+ views
    CFP ^ | November 21, 2009 | John Lillpop
    Not only do liberals want to tax the so-called rich in order to fund health care for illegal aliens and other uninsured millions, now a prominent member of the U.S. Senate has proposed a tax on the well to do to pay for Obama’s quagmire in Afghanistan. As reported at Bloomberg.com, in part: “Higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for more troops sent to Afghanistan and NATO should provide half of the new soldiers, said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.” Levin’s un-American scheme may actually find support among leftists who hate the rich more than...
  • Grief alone doesn't explain Daley's rant (Michael Scott death)

    11/21/2009 11:01:03 PM PST · by STARWISE · 25 replies · 1,119+ views
    Chicago Sun Times ^ | 11-21-09 | Carin Marin
    Grief and anger, like clouds of a coming storm, moved back and forth across the landscape of Mayor Daley's face in public appearances last week. And why not? Michael Scott, his longtime, loyal friend, was dead. Suddenly. Violently. By his own hand, according to the Cook County medical examiner. When we lose someone we love, particularly like that, don't we ask ourselves what it was we failed to see? Or failed to do? Our own helplessness adds rage to sorrow. It's understandable. It's human. That's the best explanation I can come up with for what happened Wednesday at the mayor's...
  • Healthcare bill passes first Senate test

    11/21/2009 9:37:37 PM PST · by bogusname · 19 replies · 480+ views
    Reuters ^ | Nov 21, 2009 | John Whitesides
    sweeping healthcare overhaul narrowly cleared its first hurdle in the Senate on Saturday, with Democrats casting 60 party-line votes to open debate on the biggest healthcare changes in decades. In the first Senate test for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, Democrats unanimously backed a procedural motion to open debate over the opposition of 39 Republicans. Republican George Voinovich did not vote. Democrats needed 60 votes to approve the motion in the 100-member Senate and had no margin for error -- they control exactly 60 votes...
  • Hacked Climate Scientists Emails Reveal Truth

    11/21/2009 9:04:07 PM PST · by 2ndDivisionVet · 27 replies · 855+ views
    Outside The Beltway ^ | November 21, 2009 | James Joyner
    The University of East Anglia mail server was hacked earlier in the week and a string of private correspondences between esteemed climate scientists were published. In addition to some juicy internecine gossip becoming embarrassingly public, a few of the messages seem to reveal doubts about the evidence for global warming and at least one refers to a statistical “trick” being used to hide lower-than-predicted surface temperatures in recent years. James Delingpole dubs this “Climategate” and pronounces it “the final nail in the coffin of ‘Anthropogenic Global Warming.’” Andrew Bolt calls it evidence of a scandal involving most of the most...
  • ClimateGate and the Elitist Roots of Global Warming Alarmism

    11/21/2009 8:58:48 PM PST · by milwguy · 2 replies · 432+ views
    drroyspencer.com ^ | 11/21/2009 | roy spencer phd
    The hundreds of e-mails being made public after someone hacked into Phil Jones’ Climatic Research Unit (CRU) computer system offer a revealing peek inside the IPCC machine. It will take some time before we know whether any illegal activity has been uncovered (e.g. hiding or destruction of data to avoid Freedom of Information Act inquiries). Some commentators even think this is the beginning of the end for the IPCC. I doubt it. The scientists at the center of this row are defending themselves. Phil Jones has claimed that some of the more alarming statements in his e-mails have been taken...
  • Obama in Wonderland

    11/21/2009 8:34:31 PM PST · by Ooh-Ah · 11 replies · 794+ views
    American Spectator ^ | 11.20.09 | Ken Blackwell
    You have to wonder who briefed the Chief Executive for his interview with NBC News. The White House's resident admirer of Chairman Mao, Communications Director Anita Dunn, had already bailed out. Whoever it was must have been inspired by watching Alice in Wonderland. Many of us remember Alice in Wonderland. If we didn't read the Lewis Carroll classic, we at least watched the Disney cartoon version. (Some of us, parents of toddlers, may have watched it twenty times!) There's a scene in this fantasy film that I couldn't help thinking of when President Obama's interview was broadcast during his trip...
  • Final farewell to worst deal in history - AOL-Time Warner

    11/21/2009 8:22:46 PM PST · by bruinbirdman · 39 replies · 832+ views
    The Telegraph ^ | 11/21/2009
    AOL and Time Warner have finally called it quits. James Quinn looks at the souring of the dotcom match that appeared to have been made in mergers and acquisitions heaven It was an auspicious occasion, the business titans of the West standing shoulder to shoulder at the dawn of a new century. On the stage of the Shanghai International Convention Centre, in late September 1999, the crème de la crème of business achievement smiled at the hundreds of delegates, both Chinese and from around the world, who had gathered for the Fortune Global Forum. From AIG's Hank Greenberg to Viacom's...
  • U.S., Mexico align against common foe: brutal narcotics trade

    11/21/2009 8:18:15 PM PST · by AtlasStalled · 5 replies · 185+ views
    The Washington Post ^ | 11/22/09 | William Booth and Steve Fainaru
    After decades of mistrust and sometimes betrayal, Mexican and U.S. authorities are increasingly setting aside their differences to unite against a common enemy. According to interviews in Washington and Mexico City, the two countries are sharing sensitive intelligence and computer technology, military hardware and, perhaps most importantly, U.S. know-how to train and vet Mexican agents. Police and soldiers secretly on the cartels' payroll have long poisoned efforts at cross-border cooperation against some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. "The recognition by both sides, at the highest levels, that we have a shared responsibility for drug trafficking and serious crime...
  • FL-Sen. 2010: Crist’s office 'looking into' Rothstein appointment (as Feds probe $1B+ Ponzi scheme)

    11/21/2009 7:56:39 PM PST · by rabscuttle385 · 4 replies · 303+ views
    The South Florida Business Journal ^ | 2009-11-18 | Paul Brinkmann
    Gov. Charlie Crist’s office is “looking into” the possibility of removing embattled attorney Scott Rothstein from the state’s Judicial Nominating Committee. Rothstein has offered to surrender his license to practice law. But, he may remain a member of JNC unless, or until, he’s charged with a felony crime. Gov. Charlie Crist named Rothstein to the JNC in August 2008. “Typically, the governor would only step in when felony charges are filed against a public official,” said Sterling Ivey, Crist’s spokesman. “Whether we will act before that point in this case is not clear yet. Our legal office is looking into...
  • FL-Sen. 2010: Crist fundraiser accused of fraud (racketeering, Ponzi schemes, Canada, Morocco)

    11/21/2009 7:52:54 PM PST · by rabscuttle385 · 50 replies · 583+ views
    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- An attorney who was a major fundraiser for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist allegedly conducted an investment scam that cost investors millions, a lawsuit alleges. A group of investors said in a suit filed against Scott Rothstein that the co-partner of the Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler law firm took part in a scheme that cost the plaintiffs more than $100 million, The Miami Herald reported Friday.
  • Defense Attorney: Hasan Is Paralyzed From the Chest Down (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!)

    11/21/2009 7:22:07 PM PST · by Baladas · 125 replies · 2,164+ views
    ABC News ^ | Nov. 21, 2009 | MARK SCHONE
    Major Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 in the Fort Hood shooting spree, is paralyzed from the chest down and is not a flight risk, said his defense attorney after a hearing before a military magistrate in Hasan's hospital room Saturday. The accused Fort Hood shooter had his first court hearing in the intensive care unit of a San Antonio hospital at 1 p.m. His status has now been changed from pre-trial restriction to pre-trial confinement, meaning that he will be confined until his court martial. The military magistrate ruled that Hasan will stay at Brooke Army Medical Center for...
  • A Terror Suspect With Feet in East and West

    11/21/2009 6:20:52 PM PST · by reaganaut1 · 7 replies · 444+ views
    New York Times ^ | November 22, 2009 | Ginger Thompson
    The trip from a strict Pakistani boarding school to a bohemian bar in Philadelphia has defined David Headley’s life, according to those who know the middle-age man at the center of a global terrorism investigation. Raised by his father in Pakistan as a devout Muslim, Mr. Headley arrived back here at 17 to live with his American mother, a former socialite who ran a bar called the Khyber Pass. Today, Mr. Headley is an Islamic fundamentalist who once liked to get high. He has a traditional Pakistani wife, who lives with their children in Chicago, but also an American girlfriend...
  • Mass arrests made in downtown Denver beatings, robberies

    11/21/2009 3:38:11 PM PST · by Bob017 · 56 replies · 1,545+ views
    Denver Post ^ | 20 November 2009 | Jordan Steffen
    The Denver Police Department announced today that they have made 32 arrests during a sweep to end a four-month spree of what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district. A task force comprised of the Denver Police, FBI and the Denver District Attorney's Office investigated 26 incidents in which groups of black males verbally harassed and then assaulted white or Hispanic males, according to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman. Many of the victims were robbed after being assaulted. Three suspects, Allan Ford, Torrance McCall and one juvenile are still at large....
  • 'Mastermind' of Mumbai attack preaches at mosque in Lahore

    11/21/2009 3:22:54 PM PST · by george76 · 1 replies · 183+ views
    The Times ^ | November 21, 2009 | Zahid Hussain
    Come Friday prayers in Lahore, it is not hard to find the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed is neither in hiding nor in jail. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba is instead delivering a sermon to thousands of devoteees at the Jamia al-Qadsia mosque — one of the biggest in the city. “God has promised to make Muslims a superpower if we follow the right path,” Mr Saeed told his followers, who listened in rapt silence. Outside, policemen with machineguns stood guard and bearded security men frisked all those entering. “Our rulers are the slave of America and...
  • Girl, 10, Tasered by Police with Mother's Permission

    11/21/2009 3:20:36 PM PST · by Dallas59 · 36 replies · 571+ views
    The Irish News ^ | 11/19/2009 | The Irish News
    A police officer in a small US town used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission to do so. Now the town’s mayor is calling for an investigation into whether the Taser use was appropriate. Officer Dustin Bradshaw said in a report that police were called to the home in Ozark, Arkansas on November 11 because of a domestic disturbance. When he arrived, the girl was curled up on the floor, screaming, the report said. Mr Bradshaw’s report said the girl screamed, kicked and resisted any time her mother tried to...
  • L.A. mayor selects new housing chief from Chicago

    11/21/2009 1:54:59 PM PST · by La Enchiladita · 18 replies · 248+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | Nov. 20, 2009 | Phil Willon
    Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced his selection of Douglas Guthrie to become the new general manager of the city’s Housing Department. Guthrie, a former top official at the Chicago Housing Authority, most recently worked with private ventures focused on affordable urban development and the redevelopment of old public housing into mixed-use city centers. Guthrie served for six years as president of Kimball Hill Urban Centers in Chicago, which built mixed-income affordable housing in many depressed city centers that most traditional developers would avoid, including a project with former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, one of...
  • Woman gets 40 years in sexual assault captured on video - Victim in January assault was a child.

    11/21/2009 1:54:39 PM PST · by kennedy · 18 replies · 1,288+ views
    Austin-American Statesmant ^ | November 21, 2009 | Steven Kreytak
    A woman accused of holding down a child while her husband sexually assaulted the girl — an act captured on video — pleaded guilty in a Travis County courtroom Friday and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Mariana Garcia's punishmentfor two counts of aggravated sexual assault was part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Charges are pending against Garcia's husband, Adrian Navarro, 30. Garcia, 24, showed little emotion during the proceedings before state District Judge Bob Perkins. At one point, prosecutor Joe Frederick asked her whether Navarro is her...
  • Central America demands billions in climate damages

    11/21/2009 1:54:00 PM PST · by decimon · 25 replies · 509+ views
    AFP ^ | Nov 21, 2009 | Unknown
    GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) – Central American nations will demand 105 billion dollars from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region's representatives said on Friday. Central American environment ministers gathered in Guatemala to discuss the so-called "ecological debt" owed to them and to set out a common position ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen next month.
  • Ft. Hood Shooter was a Transition Team Advisor to Homeland Security

    11/21/2009 1:46:35 PM PST · by txroadkill · 25 replies · 686+ views
    GWU ^ | 11/21/2009
    Nidal Hasan was an advisor to Homeland Security team.  Look on page 29 of the Homeland Security Institute link below. Go to page number 29, scroll down toward the bottom on the Left Column He is listed under "THINKING ANEW- SECURITY PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION", as Nidal Hasan, Uniformed Services University School of Medicine (8TH DOWN ON LEFT COLUMN PAGE 29).  http://www.gwumc.edu/hspi/old/PTTF_ProceedingsReport_05.19.09.pdf  
  • Gang killed five people for their body fat

    11/21/2009 1:36:42 PM PST · by Red Steel · 22 replies · 797+ views
    Daily Record ^ | November 21, 2009 | Donna Watson
    A GANG of killers who murdered to steal their victims' body fat have been arrested in Peru. Police said the three people held in the jungle province of Huanuco confessed to five killings and said they could sell one litre of fat for £10,000 to the cosmetic industry. The men said the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima, who police suspect sold it to companies in Europe. Police have found the head of one victim and several bottles of fat, which they displayed at a news conference. Suspect Elmer Segundo Castillejos, 29, led police to the head last month,...
  • OK after Last Saturday and tonight's debacle of a vote...

    11/21/2009 12:56:50 PM PST · by US Navy Vet · 34 replies · 1,068+ views
    21 Nov 2009 | US Navy Vet
    What will be the results of Election 2010