Archive for July, 2008

Israeli PM Olmert announces will step down after Kadima primaries

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July 31, 2008 in Government and World. 0 Comments

Courtesy YNetNews:

In dramatic public address, Olmert announces Wednesday evening he will not seek reelection in upcoming Kadima primaries. Confirming he will step down once new chairman is elected, Olmert pledges fight to clear his name

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Wednesday evening he would not seek reelection in the upcoming Kadima primaries. Olmert said he would step down after a new chairman is elected within his party on September 17th.

“I have decided I won’t run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections,” Olmert said in a surprise announcement from his official residence in Jerusalem.

“When a new (Kadima party) chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively.”

“I want to make it clear â€“ I am proud to be a citizen of a country where the prime minister can be investigated like a regular citizen,” Olmert said. “It is the duty of the police to investigate, and the duty of the prosecution to instruct the police. The prime minister is not above the law.”

I will step aside properly in an honourable and responsible way, and afterwards I will prove my innocence,” he said.

“From my first day in office I was forced to defend myself against relentless attacks from self-appointed ‘fighters for justice’ who sought to depose me from my position, when the ends sanctified all the means.”

“I continue to believe with all my heart that the achievement of peace, combating terror, strengthening our security, and the realization of a different type of relationship with our neighbors are all necessary goals for the future of the State of Israel.”

Timing is everything

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Prison Blogging

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texas_betsy

July 30, 2008 in Law and Justice. 0 Comments

Mother Jones magazine has a great article up right now about a man who has been blogging from jail. Well, not exactly. He has been blogging on paper, getting an aunt to type his notes, and then his father to put them on the blog. Fascinating story. Here are a few bits:

Blogging Behind Bars

Commentary: An immigrant drug lord lands in America’s worst jail, and lives to blog about it.

By David Gelles

July 30, 2008

But while he did time in maximum security under the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” in America, Attwood also did something most prisoners can’t; he took his father’s suggestion and started blogging covertly about his daily life. At first, Attwood’s aunt was the blog smuggler. When she visited him at the Madison Street Jail, he handed her a scrap of paper tucked into a stack of legal documentsâ€”his first blog post. Once home, she transcribed the post and emailed it to Attwood’s father, Derick, in England. A few days later, Derick activated “Jon’s Jail Journal” on Blogspot. There he posted his son’s first blog entry from prison. Its title: “Deep Shit.” It began:

We have had no running water for three days. The toilets in our cells are full of faeces and urine. On the second day of the water outage I knew we were in trouble when the mound in our steel throne peaked above sea level.

[snip]

hortly after that, the BBC did a story on Attwood. Suddenly the blog was getting 10,000 hits a month. In time, “Jon’s Jail Journal” became more than just a way for Attwood to vent about prison conditions. Derick put up a wish list for Attwood on Amazon.com. Soon, strangers were sending Attwood hundreds of books. “It got to the point that so many books were coming in that we had to take the Amazon wish list down,” says Derick. In turn, Attwood donated them to the prison library. “I had never really read fiction,” Attwood says. That changed. “I had a John Updike phase, a Brett Easton Ellis phase. I read all of Murakami, all of Vonnegut, all of Tom Wolfe.” Shortly before his release, he read a biography of Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist imprisoned for eight years for criticizing Stalin. Solzhenitsyn chronicled life in the grim labor camps of Kazakhstan.

[snip]

Many readers comment on the blog posts, and Attwood’s father says his email address book now has more than 4,000 entries from people who have contacted his son. These relationships, Attwood says, have helped him feel connected to life beyond the prison walls. “People write to me from Singapore to New Zealand, the Netherlands, China, Siberia,” he says. “I write to up to 50 people a month, and all of those people have come about as a result of the blog. They can see that I’ve transformed the negative into the positive.” After nearly 3,000 days and hundreds of blog posts, Attwood was released last year.

You can read Jon’s Jail Journal here.

diploma fraud uncovered

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July 30, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Wouldn’t it be nice if the cheaters were always to get caught?

Buyers of bogus degrees named

from Raw Story Breaking News

Hundreds of people working in the military, government and education are on a list of almost 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying phony and counterfeit high school and college degrees from a Spokane diploma mill. The complete list of buyers, which the U.S. Department of Justice has refused to release to the public, has been obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

Here’s the list. Do we recongnize any names?

A preliminary analysis of the list by The Spokesman-Review shows 135 individuals with ties to the military, 39 with links to educational institutions and 17 employed by government agencies. Those numbers were derived from e-mail addresses that are part of the list obtained by the newspaper.

However, the exact number of individuals with ties to the military, government and education is believed to be far greater because many of those buyers used their personal e-mail accounts.

[snip]

Only one buyer â€“ former deputy U.S. marshal David F. Brodhagen, who was forced into early retirement â€“ has been charged criminally as an outgrowth of the case.

At least one other deputy U.S. marshal, Michael Cameron, is on the list showing he bought a criminal justice degree from the Spokane diploma mill.

Also on the list are William R. Church, a senior military adviser working in the White House, and George Michael Navadel, a U.S. State Department computer systems negotiator, who paid $5,400 for a doctorate in network engineering.

Duwayne Huss, an employee of Nuclear Management Co., operator of two nuclear plants in Minnesota, bought degrees in nuclear engineering and accounting.

“I can’t give you information about our employees,” company spokeswoman Mary Sadock said Monday when asked if Huss was still employed.

Author Bonita E. Broyles, who has written a series of books about prescription dosages and nursing care, bought a doctorate in education for $2,225, the list shows.

[snip]

In the education field, Bart G. Anderson, superintendent of a school district in Columbus, Ohio, bought a doctoral degree in public administration, and Douglas Lane Gill, who worked as an ROTC instructor for the Norwalk Public Schools in Bridgeport, Conn., bought two degrees. Investigators are attempting to determine whether Gill was reimbursed by the federal government for the $1,431 he paid for his advanced education.

Support the Troops?

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texas_betsy

July 30, 2008 in Government, Health Care and Military. 0 Comments

How is it that repiglicans still have the reputation for supporting the troops and dems the reputation for spitting on them? MORE evidence to the contrary!

GOP BLOCKS EFFORT TO AID PARALYZED VETS

from Raw Story Breaking News

John Byrne
Published: Wednesday July 30, 2008

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has done it again.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Act, named for the actor who was made famous by his portrayal of superman and later became a champion of the disabled, along with his late wife (pictured at right), is part of a broad package created by Democrats which lumps together 36 bills.

It would have allocated $25 million for research on spinal cord injuries, rehabilitation and measures to improve the quality of life for paralyzed Americans. The effort is backed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, which claims 19,000 members. Some 200,000 Americans suffer spinal cord-related injuries.

â€œWe have a war with many veterans who suffer some from spinal cord injuries or paralysis,â€ said Lee Page, associate advocacy director for Paralyzed Veterans for America told the Navy Times Tuesday.

The overall bill, dubbed the Advancing Americaâ€™s Priorities Act, was blocked by a 50-42 vote, short of the 60 votes need to overcome a filibuster. It was created in an effort to draw attention to Sen. Tom Coburn, a stalwart crusader for tightening the pursestrings of government.

The bill also included funding for victims of torture, disability, and disease.

The House passed the Reeve bill in 2007, but the Senate has never followed suit.

The Democrats’ package bundled numerous uncontroversial proposals in an attempt to overcome procedural hurdles Coburn has imposed. Dr. Coburn is famous for his efforts to moonlight as a physician while serving in Congress, and was blocked by the Senate when he attempted to continue delivering babies while in office. He’s also known for his annual screening of films warning congressional staffers of venereal disease.

Republicans blasted the bill as an attempt to bait them and distract from measures to deal with high gas prices.

“They’re using every trick to get us away from dealing with high gas prices,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

A Step Backward For Voting System Transparency

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July 29, 2008 in Election Fraud, Government and US News. 0 Comments

Courtesy Slashdot:

Verified Voting is reporting that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) introduced the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act (S. 3212). While having many commendable features, this bill also has a few stinkers, including language that would exempt from any verification requirement those paperless voting systems purchased before January 1, 2009 to meet HAVA’s accessibility requirements. This would leave millions of voters (particularly those with disabilities) dependent on insecure paperless electronic machines for years to come. The Senate Rules and Administration Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow, so if you have an opinion, now is the time to make yourself heard. Rush Holt has a much better bill.

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Knoxville Terrorist Shooting & the Liberal Media

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texas_betsy

July 29, 2008 in Media. 0 Comments

How would this story look if the “gunman” had been darker-skinned, named Ahmed, or was born in the middle east? First off, imagine this story all over page 1 of the New York times, instead of buried deep within the paper. All additions are red.

Baseless Hate for Liberals and Gay People Drove Gunman Terrorist, Police FBI taskforce Say

By SHAILA DEWAN, New York Times

Published: July 29, 2008

A man The terrorist who the police say entered a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday and shot eight people, brutally killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday.

â€œIt appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement,â€ Chief Owen said of the suspect, Jim D. Adkisson, 58. â€œWe have recovered a four-page letter manifesto in which he describes his feelings and the reason that he claims he committed these offenses.â€

According to a search warrant for Mr. Adkissonâ€™s house filed by the police, during interrogation Mr. Adkisson admitted to the shooting and said â€œhe had targeted the church because of its liberal leanings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country.â€

Mr. Adkisson was not a member of the church and congregants said they did not recognize him, but two people said his former wife had once attended the church, Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist.

Mr. Adkisson was arrested at the scene and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder hate crimes, terrorism, and murder. More charges are expected, and Chief Owen said the police were treating the shooting as a hate crime.

The authorities and witnesses said the gunman the terrorist, carrying a guitar case that concealed a 12-gauge shotgun, entered the church just as a childrenâ€™s performance of â€œAnnie Jr.â€ started.

Standing near the door of the sanctuary, he opened fire. Chief Owen said the man had fired only three blasts, but had 73 more rounds of ammunition with him. Mr. Adkissonâ€™s letter indicated that he expected to be shot and killed by the police when they arrived, Chief Owen said, but church members tackled and subdued him.

â€œHe certainly intended to take a lot of casualties,â€ Chief Owen said at a news conference Monday morning.

(snip)

Chief Owen said Mr. Adkisson had recently been notified that his monthly food stamp allotment would be reduced or discontinued.

Chief Owen said investigators had found only two several records of criminal activity for Mr. Adkisson, both charges of driving while intoxicated. But in 2000, his former wife, Liza Alexander, asked for an order of protection against him, saying he had threatened to â€œblow my brains out and then blow his own brains out.â€

The dead victims were identified as Linda Kraeger, 61, a visitor from another church, and Gregory McKendry Jr., 60, an usher who some witnesses said had used his body to shield others from the gunman.

Liberal media, eh?

Army Recruiters Threaten High School Students

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July 29, 2008 in Government, Law and Justice and Military. 0 Comments

Courtesy KVUE (Texas)

HOUSTON — With a war in Iraq and fighting on the rise in Afghanistan, the struggle to bring in new U.S. Army recruits is heating up again.
And Irving Gonzales, 18, got caught up in it all.

As his familyâ€™s oldest male, he feels he has to do whatever it takes to help out his single mom. For him, that means working long hours at his after-school job.

â€œMy mom was left struggling. I would give her more than half my paycheck,â€ Gonzales said.

Thatâ€™s why the Aldine High School senior started thinking about the Army â€“ and the tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses that can come with enlistment.

â€œThey were offering me school, they were offering me bonuses,â€ he said.

So Gonzales signed up â€“ but only to â€œpre-enlistâ€ in the Delayed Entry Program. DEP allows kids to try out the military without a binding commitment.

But the 11 News Defenders have found there is a problem: Army recruiters arenâ€™t sticking to the program and are bullying and even lying to potential recruits and their families to keep them from dropping out.

After he had a change of heart, Gonzalez became one such victim.

â€œIâ€™d rather just stay here, go to college,â€ he said he told his recruiter.

The reaction: Gonzalez said a recruiter told him if he did drop out, they would send him to jail.

Scared, Gonzales called Sgt. Glenn Marquette, a supervisor at the Greenspoint Recruiting Station.

Marquette told Gonzales there was no way out.

â€œYou signed a binding contract,â€ he said.

But that wasnâ€™t true.

Army recruiting regulations say delayed entry members can leave any time. They specifically mention â€œunder no circumstances will any (recruiter) threaten, coerce, manipulate, or intimidate (future soldiers), nor may they obstruct separation requests.â€

Further, they state: â€œAt no time will any (recruiter) tell a (Delayed Entry Program) member he or she must go in the Army or he or she will go to jail.â€

But when Gonzales asked Marquette what would happen if he just didnâ€™t show up for service, a phone recording captured this reply:

â€œThen guess what?â€ said Marquette. â€œYouâ€™re AWOL. Absent without leave. You want to go to school? You will not get no loans, because all college loans are federal and government loans. So youâ€™ll be black barred from that. As soon as you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, theyâ€™re gonna see youâ€™re a deserter, theyâ€™re going to apprehend you, take you to jail.â€

Marquette continued: â€œSo guess what? All that lovey-dovey ‘I wanna go to college’ and all that? Guess what? You just threw it out the window, because you just screwed your life.â€

Article Continues with Video @ Sourced Site.

Strong quake felt in Los Angeles

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July 29, 2008 in Disaster, State and Local and US News. 0 Comments

Courtesy BBC News:

A strong earthquake has been felt in the US city of Los Angeles.
The quake made buildings in the city shake and was felt as far south as San Diego, witnesses say, but so far there are no reports of casualties or damage.
The US Geological Survey said the tremor had a magnitude of 5.8, after initially measuring it at 5.6.
The epicentre of the quake was located 29 miles south-east of downtown Los Angeles, near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County, officials said.

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

Related: Map of Affected Area.â€¡

â€¡Courtesy US Global Survey

Senator ‘Tubes’ Goes Down

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July 29, 2008 in Government and Law and Justice. 0 Comments

Courtesy Rawstory:

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, has been indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.

Stevens, 84, has been dogged by a federal investigation into whether he pushed for fishing legislation that also benefited his son, an Alaska lobbyist.

From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed “his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation.” The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation him in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

death penalty returns to the US military

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texas_betsy

July 29, 2008 in Government and Military. 0 Comments

Thanks to Tengrain for pointing out this story:

The executionerâ€™s song

from Mock, Paper, Scissors by Tengrain

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday approved the execution of an Army private, the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military.

That man has never met an execution that he has not liked. A proper ghoul he is.

I am permanently and without reserve opposed to the death penalty. I only ask myself one question on the Death Penalty: could I ever flip the switch? And the answer is no.

I do not like the idea that the state can kill its citizens. It does keep me up at nights.